#[ noore and maverick tbt. ]

[fantasmalforces]

The sight of Maverick bleeding and clutching his head had been enough to set off alarms within the ringmaster as she hurried him to her private quarters. She sat him down, tenderly began to rinse the wound, and begged him to tell her what had happened.

And her stomach sank. Yuma had done this to him.

Her mind began to swirl as she thought about what had transpired for this to occur. Trembling hands washed the cloth and reluctantly picked up the bottle of hydrogen peroxide to rub in. It wasn't her first choice, but it was all she had. Hands steadied as Maverick told her what happened. What was said to earn the lieutenant's rage. The air grew stiff as Noore tended to the wound, hand "accidentally" slipping to press the harsh liquid further into the wound and create a vicious sting.

"You're kidding me. Really? That's what you think?" Oh, her tone was a lot more intense than it had been mere moments ago. "Is that not any different than what people say about you? That you're nothing more than a violent beast that belongs in the pit?"

She scoffed and withdrew, throwing the damp rag into his hands.

"Clean it yourself. I'm going to go talk to Piper and Yuma about this."

The initial sharp surge of pain against his scalp forced Maverick to wince and let out a hiss in response. He tried to shirk away from her motion, the shock to his nervous system traveling down his spine and into other patches of skin where synapses often malfunctioned and left his with a lingering sensation somewhere between discomforting numbness and friction burn. The patched of old scars were suddenly alight with a flaring sensation in addition to the thrum of his own heartbeat he felt in the ache in his skull. He looked at her, expression both confused and thoroughly agonized.

“I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true— it’s fact of nature, Noore! Rabbits are promiscuous creatures! They’ve evolved that way as a survival mechanism! I never said it was a right or good thing, I just stated that it was true! And Piper herself doesn’t have the best reputation— Goddess’ sake, she even said she slept around for some three years after leaving Hoyt by her own admission—“ never mind that he had gotten that information from eavesdropping on a private conversation with Holly, “Does Yuma not have a right to know and consider the fact that her partner is likely to cheat on her? There’s no reason to be shocked. And if she was, it’s only because Piper never told her. That proves she has something to hide, doesn’t it?” Wow. He really thought he was justified here, wasn’t he?

It didn’t matter. The response Noore retaliated with made him flinch— actually flinch. The look on his face was akin to a small kitten that had been kicked by someone or loved. Confused and hurt, but now for a different reason. The ached in his heart far surpassed anything physical he could experience. The glare she gave him and even the hypothetical implication of her calling him some savage beast made his heart throb, made his guts twist in ways that he could not explain. “It is different!” He tried to justify. “Tigers are not animals that fight for sport! We kill because to survive! To eat and protect ourselves— it is not our nature to be needlessly violent! We don’t belong in the arena, people only say that because they fear us and they find it is easier to hate us than it is to understand us!”

He didn’t understand why she was angry and it was breaking his heart. He just thought he was being honest! Tigerfolk weren’t promiscuous— they formed lifelong and loyal bonds. If their was cheating, it was a rare deviance. Not like rabbitfolk who made it a habit to sleep around. What didn’t she understand? Why was she mad? He caught the rag before it could hit his chest, looking at it and then up at her, watching her as she moved to walk out. “Noore—“ he tried to call out to her but she ignored him, and before he could try and move to get up and follow her she was gone. She’d left him alone to think about what he had done. And he did.

He just didn’t think he’d done anything wrong.

[fantasmalforces]

// @maximuses Big Noore and Mav vibes🥺❤️

Summer is for Dorne: OBERYN MARTELL & ELLARIA SAND in “Two Swords”

[fantasmalforces]

“  it’s  difficult  to  be  so  close  but  not  be  able  to  kiss  you.  ” -> Noore and Maverick || @maximuses

. * ･ ｡ﾟ☆ Secret Love Prompts // ACCEPTING ☆ ｡ﾟ･* .

On any other occasion Maverick wouldn’t be caught dead in the Shanath Arena. He detested the place. He detested the senselessly cruel pitting of innocent beasts against men in some barbaric and utterly useless show of strength. Because even that was a veil. There was no true strength to be seen. All this carnage? It was just for show! Utterly disgusting... Yet he faced an odd conundrum.

Noore was here.

And he’d come to love Noore. He’d come to realize that she was just another animal trapped in this place, left at the hands and the mercy of cruel human masters who would snuff her out like a useless flame at a moment’s notice. She truly suffered in the ways he had suffered. She knew his pain. She knew it unlike anyone else in the world had. And in that realization came interaction, intimacy, and eventually love. He hated this place, but he loved Noore. And he wanted to be here with her, make sure she was safe. Make sure that he had a good word to give Pagan that might spare her from the axe of his harsh judgment, or the scalpel of Yuma’s harsh punishments at his command, or the hammer of Paul’s cruel brutality.

He’d been lounging in the equivalent of a VIP section. A Caesar’s seat. He leaned back to avoid seeing the arena below but Noore was right in front of him, preaching to the crowd. She dropped her arm and he heard the gates open. She retreated back to the shadows just at his side, her voice low and almost lost to the roars and cheers of the crowd.

“It’s difficult to be so close but not able to kiss you.”

They’d been keeping this little ploy up for a while. They didn’t want the others finding out in case they tried to ply one or the other as blackmail. Not to mention the inevitable shit that would come up about reputations and images. But even knowing all that, how could they deny what their hearts were yearning?

Maverick lazily glanced about, setting down the glass of wine in his hand on the small table beside him. He lifted his hand, his fingertips brushing against the back of hers. He felt her shiver and saw her look down at him. She looked worried but she also looked relieved, reaffirmed by the minimal contact that she could get through the rest of this performance without finally breaking and crumbling before the crowds of bloodthirsty savages she’d created.

“There will be time for that and for us soon. You just have to make it through tonight. You’re doing well.” He offered her a gentle smile and beckoned her to lean down. In the shadows of his little VIP tent, no one could see the soft kiss they exchanged, nor the way Maverick spared a tender caress of her cheek, nor the way he murmured in honey sweet tones to her and made her blush and sigh with delight.

“You are the strongest woman I have ever known. You can do this. And when you are done, I will let you find peace in taking back some of the control you are so desperate to have again.”

[fantasmalforces]

“I–I’m trying my best! Fuck.” -> From Noore to Maverick, for some shippy angst || @maximuses

. * ･ ｡ﾟ☆ “Fuck” Sentence Prompts // CLOSED ☆ ｡ﾟ･* .

“I know you are-” Maverick tried to assure her before placing his hands over her own as they shuffled about the desk, searching wildly for something before his firm, gentle touched ceased the frantic movements. “Please, just calm down. Breathe. You’re alright.”

A tall order, he was sure. He knew that her anxiety was spurred on by old habits. The idea that if she did not act fast enough, did not produce results within an unspoken time limit, that there would be dire consequences to her was not lost on him. So he reassured her. “It’s alright. We’ll find it. Just settle down.” Of course, despite the rumors, Maverick was nowhere near Paul or Pagan’s level of cruelty. Of blatant sadism. He had no intentions of holding something above her head and making her perform like some kind of animal to get at it.

He took one of her hands and gently guided her to the couch, at first sitting down and then moving to lounge on its velvety surface with her. Noore reluctantly cuddled up to him, resting her head on his chest as he threaded his fingers through his hair. “I know this will take some getting used to,” he rumbled, noticing her blank, worried stare directed at the far wall. “But we will get there in time. You’ll realize eventually that you are safe here. And that I am not Paul or Pagan. But for now,” he hummed, placing a kiss to the crown of her head, “we will work on it.”

At that, he saw Noore’s eyes close and heard the deep exhale she let out. And he smiled knowing that she understood.

[fantasmalforces]

“I used to think this sort of thing was pointless but you’re really changing my mind here.” -> From Noore to Maverick... :3 || @maximuses

. * ･ ｡ﾟ☆ Random Prompts for Your Needs // CLOSED ☆ ｡ﾟ･* .

He supposed enough time in a war-torn wasteland like Kyrat might be enough to suck the joy out of anyone. He knew the horrors of war well-enough. Knew how life-drainingly, soul-crushingly bad it could be. Knew how enough exposure to it could desensitize one to the horrors it brought. Split-second decisions and someone’s death, the smell of gunpowder burned into your nostrils and stench of decay. The desperation of hunger, the pain of not being able to sleep from all the mortar fire. Th haunting dreams and the dead eyes in the mirror.

Maybe this human was more knowledgeable than most...

The compliment stroked his ego and, more curiously, made his heart flutter in a sense. He felt a craving to hear more for her, though less because he just wanted to reassure his pride and more to know that he was actually liked by her. He wanted her approval for... some reason. It was a strange feeling. He hadn’t felt the need to validate his worth in someone’s eyes for a long time. He’d gone so long building there idea that no one else’s opinion mattered if he was successful, but it was admittedly rather lonely at the top. And Noore was playing into that craving for something, minute and likely fleeting as it was.

“War has a way of blinding us from beauty. We take life for granted when all we know is destruction, never realizing that it’s still there.” He set down his glass and held her by the waist instead, his movements oddly tentative and almost unsure as he led her to the balcony. His free arm outstretched itself to the scene before them. The mountains were lovely. The flowers blooming over the hills while yaks traipsed though the meadows, stirring up pollen and seeking refuge in the shade of the vibrant cherry blossom trees beneath. The sweet smell of sap and lilies permeated the air and the sun was beginning to set over the ridge of the mountain, casting an orange glow across the sky. “But what is good remains, even in the face of adversity. And the most beautiful things of all—“ he paused, reaching over to a high-reaching branch and plucking one of the blossoms off of the stem to offer to Noore with a fond expression.

“Bloom in the face of it.”

[fantasmalforces]

"I hope you aren't busy."

Noore's voice was hard to miss as she slipped behind the doorway, sneaking up to the focused businessman and wrapping tender arms around his back. Gentle fingers traced along the lapels of his jacket, with even softer lips pressing against the scratchy stubble that grew on his jawline. Curious eyes peered at the work before them, allowing her hands to move upward and gently comb through his hair as the woman moved to slide into his lap. It had seemed she was intent on joining him in his task, whether he asked her to or not...

But the head scratches were a bonus.

- @maximuses

Maverick raised his head from where he’d been hunched over his desk, meticulously reviewing the official documents presented to him by the good lady of the castle. They were still negotiating exchange benefits between them— namely, what was a fair trade in exchange for her renowned and famous (and infamous) Maiden’s Blood wine. He offered to open it up to an international market and she agreed... but at what cost was still to be determined. The deliberation had been going on for weeks now.

In spite of the stress he was under, the concentration and the focus that these documents required, Maverick still relented to her touches. He leaned back into her, a rumbling purr escaping him. His hand rested over hers. He moved back to offer her room to take a seat, his instincts prompting him to hold her waist and keep her close to him. The smile that crossed his lips was beautiful and pure, his eyes creasing and adorned by little crow’s feet at the corners. “I suppose I am, but... I can always make time for you, darling.”

The cat leaned up, his usually charming smile on his lips as he pressed them to hers. Behind him, his tail swished in utter delight. The smell of her, the taste of her, the feeling of her warmth beneath his fingertips sent electricity through every atom in his body. It filled him with such delight to simply be with her. He was weak for his Noore and he knew it. And he’d never known he could feel such pleasure in being weak.