#BOS squire Thaddeus

[sealinne]

DJ Carl...

[kirain]

Bethesda came out with official stats for Lucy, Cooper, and Maximus, but I don't agree with them ... so I made my own! I also added Norm and Thaddeus and gave all of them three perks to match their SPECIALs.

Lucy:

Cooper:

Maximus:

Norm:

Thaddeus:

[deaf-solitude]

In The Shadow of the Valley Pt. 1 (Squire!Thaddeus x Knight!Reader)

Pairing: Thaddeus x Knight!Reader

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings/Tags: Future graphic violence, injury and blood, no use of Y/N, placeholder knight name for the reader, mostly gender-neutral but reader is called “sir” at some points, the reader is called “my lord” a lot too, reader is also a bit of an asshole but dw they soften up

Summary: You’re a knight sworn to the Brotherhood of Steel, and you’ve just lost your asshole squire to a yao guai. Maybe it’s for the better, as you prefer to work alone anyway. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood thinks otherwise and quickly sends you a replacement. Turns out that the replacement is someone you never wished to meet again, but thankfully, he didn’t know it was you! Not yet, at least.

TDLR; What if Thaddeus was assigned to be your squire instead of Maximus’?

((A/N)) I have no defence for this. I’m so weak for pathetic men it's not even funny 😔 I’m planning on making this a 3 or 4 parter, so this parts a little on the shirt side for simplicity’s sake. Also I swear I’ve been trying to work on some Umbrella Academy stuff, but I got major writer's block for one of my requests that I was super excited to write. I’m hoping this little fallout tangent will kickstart my motivation. Anyway, enjoy my brain rot-induced fanfic bc there’s not enough appreciation for my boy Thaddeus lmao

You really wished you didn’t have to have a squire tagging along with you constantly. Okay, sure, you didn’t want to be carrying that overly-massive bag of shit yourself, but all they ever did was get in the way and die.

That’s how you found yourself in your current position, gripping your radio tightly between your metal-clad hands.

”No, I do not need another squire! Do not send one-“

”A replacement squire is currently on its way to you. Hold position.”

You groaned loudly as you released the call button, feeling inclined to rip the radio out of your suit and be done with the person on the other side of the transmission. You could do this all by yourself. There was no reason to waste yet another squire on a mission that could easily be completed by you and you alone.

Your last squire already had you walking a fine line between focusing on the mission and focusing on not smashing his head into a wall, though the yao guai he pissed off had beaten you to it. You looked back at the cave behind you, where your squire’s mauled body currently resided, deciding to move away from it in favour of getting yourself back on your intended path.

You didn’t stray too far from the general area, however, begrudgingly waiting for the Brotherhood transport to deliver your new squire. You leaned against a tree in wait, sighing heavily as you tilted your head back.

You were starting to regret ever joining this odd faction, though you supposed you didn’t have many other places to turn to as an abandoned child. Some knights had picked you up off the side of the road one day, where you were protecting an injured dog from a small band of rad roaches. You’d been caring for it for days, bringing it any food and water you could scavenge, and you weren’t going to give up on it so easily.

The makeshift spear you made with your small pocket knife tied around the end of a stick made them laugh, and they quickly shot the roaches before offering to take you back to the Brotherhood. They told you that you could help people just like you helped the dog. You, with your big heart and even bigger ambitions, agreed to go with them.

From that foggy interaction, you specifically remembered the look of the squires’ faces when you so readily agreed to tag along. They almost looked remorseful. You understood why now: the Brotherhood was not a very welcoming place to wannabe heroes. You understood that quickly.

…You never did see that dog again.

You weren’t sure how much time passed, maybe a half hour or so, before you could hear the familiar sound of an approaching vertibird. You sighed, pushing off of the tree and straightening up your stance. Here we fucking go.

You hardly had it in you to look up as your new squire rappelled down, the oversized bag he was carrying falling to the ground with a loud thump while he clumsily unhooked his harness.

He had already started talking before he even turned around, sending the rappel lines back up to the vertibird. “Oh, Knight Mire!” You barely registered the familiar voice before you saw his face, and it took everything in you not to scream or curse him out.

It was fucking Thaddeus.

He kept talking even as you froze in place, getting down on one knee and going on some spiel about how he was honoured to be in your charge, but it was drowned out by the ringing in your ears. You were going to strangle this man.

You and Thaddeus didn’t have the… best history. Arriving at the Brotherhood airbase around the same time some other kid—Maximus—did, you were both subject to his horrible bullying for a while. You were able to stand up to him after a while, giving Thaddeus a thorough beating for shoving you past your breaking point in your first few weeks there. You were pulled off of him by some officers and thoroughly scolded by Elder Quintus but returned to normal duties soon enough.

Thaddeus had enough of you after that, avoiding you at all costs as long as you weren’t near Maximus, who was now his group’s primary target. As nice as the younger kid was, he never had it in him to fight back against them. You decided to keep away from him regardless, not wanting to get caught up with those assholes again. Another infraction could’ve meant a much more severe punishment for you, and that was not something you were interested in.

“Uh, Knight Mire?” You were snapped out of your thoughts and looked down at Thaddeus, who was still kneeling and looking up at you with some expression of concern or anxiety. Did he not… recognize you? No, of course, he didn’t: he didn’t know your last name, and as far as he was aware, you were dead as soon as Quintus sent you off base years ago. Being sent off base almost always resulted in death.

Good. That was good.

”Rise, squire,” you commanded, your voice garbled by the voice modifier in your helmet. Thaddeus scrambled to his feet, his posture tense and his arms held closely to his sides. You inspected him a little longer, taking note of his skittish demeanour before brushing past him to resume travelling to your original destination.

“You’ll do,” you commented briefly as you passed him, hardly giving him a second glance to see if he was following.

Thaddeus was a bit taken aback by your words, pausing for a moment to mumble to himself: ”I’ll do…? Do for what?” He blinked and shook his head, rushing to fall in line behind you. He struggled to carry the pack that was nearly as big as he was, stumbling every couple of steps as he tried to balance himself.

”What do we have to do?” He questioned quickly, trying to keep pace with you. Great, still as talkative as he used to be. You could never forget his stupid rants, though they used to be more ill-intended, when he would muster up every possible insult and demeaning phrase he could to try and get you all upset. It worked against him, in the end.

You were tempted to pick up your pace and leave the fucker behind—there was no way he’d be able to keep up with you with that thing on his back—but you decided against it, lest the Brotherhood send you another squire.

”You just have to lug my shit around and try not to die,” you answered begrudgingly, “I will do everything else. That’s all you need to know.” You didn’t need another brainless squire getting in the way of your missions, so you hoped he’d take the hint and shut his mouth. But when did he ever?

”B-but the officers said you’d fill me in-”

You stopped suddenly, causing Thaddeus to run into you. You turned to glare at him the best you could from behind your helmet, but all Thaddeus could see was the intimidating blank stare of your metal face covering as you looked down at him.

“You will follow my command while we’re out in the Wasteland, or you will die. Is that clear?” You growled, taking a step towards Thaddeus while he took two steps back.

“Y-yes, my lord! I-I would never doubt you, m-my lord!” He responded enthusiastically, albeit nervously, eager to stay on your good side. That was going to get old fast. You turned back around to continue walking, slightly picking up your pace as Thaddeus hesitantly began following again.

”M-may I ask you something, though?”

You were unable to stop the sigh that came out of your mouth, the sound garbled and distorted coming out of your voice modifier. That made Thaddeus visibly shrink back, his mouth snapping shut at your disdain.

”Right, no! N-no time for talking. We-we have a mission to complete!” He exclaimed with a finger pointed in the air, unable to expel the shake in his voice from your previous order. Silence fell over the two of you for all of one minute before it was broken: “Do you think we’ll get in any fights out here?”

You were going to kill him, you were sure of it.

[number1yisuchongfan]

Okay I have two AUs flicking about in my brain and it both deals with the same situation happening:

“What if Norm was left behind by Hank when he went to go get his kids from Shady Sands? Leaving him with Rose and Moldaver because Hank saw no reason to keep him around.”

Norm as part of the NCR:

NCR!Norm has been raised by Moldaver and the rest of those who survived Shady Sands, growing up knowing his mother’s fate and growing to hate his father and Lucy in some extent. He gets to go to Vault 33 with the raiders and Moldaver, getting to see what woman his older sister has grown into, and finally gets to meets his father again. And he’s disgusted, he’s horrified, and most of all, he’s PISSED because Hank made Lucy believe that Norm never even existed.

So he joins in on the raid, but unlike most of the other raiders, he’s not fighting because though he’s been hardened by the life he’s lived under Moldaver; he’s not going to kill innocent people. He hacks doors, takes down security, helps make the bomb, and finally gets to tell his dad off for abandoning him as a baby.

He works with computers, helps Moldaver with her projects and research, beats everyone in the NCR headquarters at arcade and video games, and is still quiet, but now he’s a bit brasher, a bit more of a fighter, and definitely much more depressive. He also wears Rose’s necklace

Moldaver tells him to calm himself, to rather prepare himself to go pick up Wilzig and CX404 from Ma June’s, and he reluctantly agrees. Leads him to go get Wilzig, realizing he’s already left, and then getting tangled up in some BoS bullshit. He’s forced to tag along, seeing how they’re the only people who can help him track them down, and soon learns to let himself get away from all the anger and bitterness that has plagued him for his whole life.

Norm in this AU is a bitter, young man who has gained the confidence and courage he desperately wanted in the show, but at the loss of those around him and the community he desperately craves.

Norm as part of the BoS:

BoS!Norm ended up in the Brotherhood’s care around the same time as Maximus, Rose giving him up for his own safety and leaving him just with her necklace

Norm is a scribe, he never wanted to be a scribe but they put him as one either way, and he’s one of the youngest scribes on the base. He mainly gets coffee and cleaning duties, but sometimes he just likes watching the Aspirants dueling and doing their jobs. He finds it a nice escape away from how boring being a scribe is.

He watches them from afar, wanting to be like them so badly, but this is the job he was assigned and he’s not gonna fuss. Norm likes the safety that just working with numbers and computers bring him.

His name isn’t Norm in this AU, the Brotherhood gave him a new name, Philo (Greek name derived from the Greek word Philos which means “Lover” & “Friend”), and he takes his job very seriously. He’s also got the biggest, fattest crush on Thaddeus, even after seeing him being a bully, and personally requested to join him on his journey with the other man.

He’s idealistic and truly believes in the BoS’s mission and goals but finds himself miserable and disillusioned with the poor leadership and twisting words of its mission for committing  atrocities.

He meets Lucy near the end, and he’s completely taken aback that she recognizes the necklace, and that’s when he learns that she’s his older sister, that he does have family, and then realizes he was left behind and given up. Lil man goes through an entire identity crisis over this realization as Lucy is so awkward cuz she was told Norm died with their mother during the famine. Also I have some art of Norm in his BoS scribe outfit!

In both, Norm is still lonely, the black sheep, the person who constantly questions, but at least he feels wanted and needed within his communities. In the NCR AU, he’s Moldaver’s son and second-in-command despite his age, and in the BoS AU, he’s a scribe who does his part for the Brotherhood and finds peace with it.

He’s just so fascinating to play around with lol

[dust-sound]

I 100% started watching Fallout for The Ghoul, and I'm only half thru episode four but

I actually love the dynamic between Max and Thaddeus and the whole abusive military cult thing BoS has going on.

Max being a dick just because he can (and for some petty vengeance), but then saving Thaddeus when it came down to it (and Thaddeus being surprised? That a knight would save a squire?) is just ticking some v specific boxes for me.

[gabriellerudessa]

What's that theory you mentioned about the All-Male BoS faction?

Oh! Hi!

So. Along the first season this chapter show a lot of weird traits, beyond the being all-male (in the Aspirant camp in the first episode there seems to be some women, but not in Filly).

I don't know if you've played Fallout New Vegas, Anon, but a lot of these traits remember a lot another faction presented in it, the Caesar's Legion, which makes me (and others, there's a reddit thread I'll link in the end) think that this Chapter got mixed up with the Legion in some way.

The first trait: some of the flags in Filly.

There are both white and red flags, what we have come to expect of the Brotherhood, and yellow and red flags. These colors are the ones used by Caesar's Legion in Fallout New Vegas.

The already mentioned all-male: the Legion only allowed men to fight, women were relegated to heal, have babies, cook and so on and, very specifically and only some, be priestesses. There were some female Aspirants in the training camp; it may be that they will be reserved for less combatant ranks, like Scribes.

The treatment of Squires: previously Squires were usually kids that did common and non-dangerous menial labor in the Chapters; in this they are treated as cannon fodder and are branded, something not previously shown for the BoS afair. Caesar's Legion had a similar approach to lower ranks. It may be just be because they wanted to lean into the "medieval aspects", but it may be for other reasons.

The names: Elder Cleric Quintus clearly says that they gave Maximus his name. Both Maximus, Titus and Quintus are roman names. The Legion in Fallout New Vegas has the practice of changing names to roman ones. Thaddeus and Dane seem to be an exception, but overall they fit.

Location: While in the series the training camp location is not mentioned, the filming location is Utah. It may not mean anything, but if it's intended as being the actual location in-series, well, the Legion dominated Utah before attempting to expand in the Mojave (a place we will be visiting in the next season)

In the first episode, Quintus refers to them as "a legion" as the Knights are leaving. It may just be some figure of speech because of the whole soldier thing, but it may also be literal.

Elder Cleric Quintus behavior in general: specifically the last episode, his words to Maximus sound a bit weird on a BoS standpoint. Usually the BoS talks about technology to be feared and kept away. The last Elder we had talking about controlling and using it in such a way was Father Elijah, in FNV DLC Dead Money and the man was fucking nuts.

Titus threat to Maximus: Second episode, I think. He talks about Maximus being hung by his lungs, if I remember correctly. While the Brotherhood is violent, the threat and punishment sounds excessive. On the other hand, the Legion crucified people and others, so...

I'm pretty sure there are more signs I'm forgetting atm, but there's a lot of details that really make this Chapter very weird.

If it is the case, how this happened? I bet on either the Chapter taking in legionnaires after Caesar's death (if they go through the route where there was no one to heal his brain cancer and he did die), or a frumentarii, one of Caesar's spies, that infiltrated in the Brotherhood through some means and ascended the ranks. My bets for this would be Quintus. Considering that the Chapter in New Vegas was declining, I wouldn't find it weird if they decided on taking external recruits, despite being something that the Brotherhood condemns, and ended up with legionnaires that brought a lot of things that they hadn't before.

The reddit thread about it

[syrupwit]

Thinking about Maximus from the Fallout TV series

I think Lucy would have saved Knight Titus and the Ghoul would have gleefully murdered him. Maximus just doesn't help him.

He's the most interesting of the three main characters to me -- my secondary character favorite is Norm -- because he's so unpredictable. There are clear next steps for Lucy and the Ghoul, and it's easy for me to imagine what happens to them in the end; it's not as easy with Maximus, which made me anxious about him for the entire first season lol.

I think he has some absence or emptiness regarding identity. Part of it might be from childhood trauma, living in a military cult that breaks its members down, and abuse/bullying. Then, as a squire, he's Dane's replacement, who still potentially (to the viewer and the Brotherhood) hurt his friend to get ahead and is thus illegitimate. Then he's impersonating Titus, trying to act the way he thinks Titus should have acted, trying on having power and making mistakes. And then he's just some guy -- who Lucy, and even briefly Thaddeus, *like* -- until he has to go back to the Brotherhood and, at the end of the season, take credit for something he didn't do. I'm still developing this thought.

I'm not sure that I ship ship him and Lucy, but they're very sweet and I like that (1) her first thought on seeing him is clearly "a knight in shining armor! my natural ally!", (2) idk they genuinely like each other.

Tangent, and not a convincing argument by itself, but I'm wondering if the names like Quintus, Maximus, Titus, are meant to hint at a Legion origin for this chapter of the Brotherhood or some merging with ex-Legion groups. Previous BoS characters mostly don't have these types of names, although there are a few.

(I am doing a rewatch so i will be adding onto this)

[deaf-solitude]

In The Shadow of the Valley Pt. 2 (Squire!Thaddeus x Knight!Reader)

Pairing: Thaddeus x Knight!Reader

Word Count: 4.5k

Warnings/Tags: Future graphic violence, injury and blood, branding, stitching, no use of Y/N, placeholder knight name for the reader, mostly gender-neutral but reader is called “sir” at some points, the reader is called “my lord” a lot too, reader is also a bit of an asshole but dw they soften up

Summary: You’re a knight sworn to the Brotherhood of Steel, and you’ve just lost your asshole squire to a yao guai. Maybe it’s for the better, as you prefer to work alone anyway. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood thinks otherwise and quickly sends you a replacement. Turns out that the replacement is someone you never wished to meet again, but thankfully, he didn’t know it was you! Not yet, at least.

TDLR; What if Thaddeus was assigned to be your squire instead of Maximus’?

((A/N)) I’m back!!! I’m having a lot of fun writing this, so this might turn out longer than I initially intended lol. Also I hope that I’m not too inconsistent with lore/game mechanics, I just started playing Fallout 4 last week and I haven’t gotten very far yet ToT. Anyway, enjoy!!

———

Maybe you wouldn’t kill him. Not before something else did, at least.

You were still on the path of your mission, trying to gain a bit more ground before night fell. However, a pack of sleeping junkyard dogs currently stood between you and a viable camping spot underneath a rocky outcrop, and you were not in the mood to fend them off of both you and Thaddeus. You were both crouched down behind some nearly-dead bushes, trying to figure out how to get around them without waking them up.

God, this would’ve been so much easier without having to worry about the well-being of a squire. You’d rather not be two for two for dead squires in one day.

“What do we do?” Thaddeus whispered noisily, causing some of the dogs’ ears to twitch. You whipped your head around in a manner that meant ‘shut up’, but the pneumatics of your armour made more noise than you intended. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see a few of the dogs quickly lift their heads, on high alert. You and Thaddeus stared at each other, frozen in place in hopes that the dogs just… wouldn’t see you behind the bare bushes.

That unfortunately did not happen, and the feral growling of the hounds spotting you quickly spurred you into action. You pushed Thaddeus further into the brush and stepped out into the clearing, drawing your gun and beginning to take shots at the pack of dogs. A couple dropped, but the rest were eager to get a bite in on you.

“My lord, w-wait!” Thaddeus yelped, stumbling back due to the weight of his pack and falling onto his ass. He struggled to get back up, to help you as a good squire should, but he was having trouble getting the strap of his bag off from where he lay on the ground. Good, that’s what you intended.

“Fuckin’ mutts,” you grumbled, hastily blocking a lunging dog and throwing it to the floor. That didn’t deter it in the slightest, recovering before it lunged for you again. It got a good grip on a protruding piece of your armour, and you spun around trying to hit it off. “Fuck! Motherfucker, get off!”

Thaddeus became more panicked as he heard you shouting, finally slipping out of the strap and aiming his gun at the dog latched onto you. “I’ve got you, my lord!” He yelled, before blindly firing off a shot in hopes he’d hit the dog. The bullet missed, ricocheting off of your armour and startling Thaddeus further as it whizzed by his head.

“Thaddeus!” You yelled in warning, trying to prevent him from getting in harm's way. You weren’t known for things going your way, though.

One of the dogs had split off from you when Thaddeus fired his gun, now set on getting a chunk out of the unprotected human. You saw the prowling animal before Thaddeus did, but in trying to get rid of the one on you, you were too slow to react in time.

Thaddeus screamed as the dog lunged for him, quickly turning his head away and firing blindly again in the direction of his attacker. Every shot missed, and the dog caught hold of Thaddeus’ arm, trying to drag him to the ground.

“Fuck! Knight Mire! Help me!” Thaddeus screamed in alarm, wincing as the dog’s teeth tore through his jacket sleeve and into the flesh of his arm. He cursed loudly again, trying to play tug of war with a feral dog and his arm.

You promptly threw the dog on you to the ground when you heard Thaddeus’ screams, landing a solid stomp on it before rushing to your squire. With the dog preoccupied and trying to maul him, it was easy to get close and restrain it. When it refused to let go of him, you hesitated only slightly before resorting to putting your hands on its head, pressing them together and effectively crushing the dog’s skull. Its body went limp, and Thaddeus was able to rip his arm out of its loosened jaws with a whimper.

You didn’t have any time to check in on him before another dog jumped on your back, trying to rip at the back of your neck.

“Son of a bitch!” You shouted, trying to reach back and grab the dog, but your armour limited your mobility and you were unable to reach it. Thaddeus floundered where he stood, gripping his bleeding arm while trying to decide if he should help you or not.

“Uhm, m-my lord! Would y-you like me to-“

“Don’t fucking move!” You shouted at him, finally getting a shot in on the dog as you blasted it with your arm jet. It yowled, toppling off of you and attempting to limp away from the major burns you’d just given it. You shot it before it had the chance to escape, god forbid if it came back to bite you in the ass. There were only a few left now, and with some well-aimed shots from your gun, they fell quickly too.

You and Thaddeus stood still for a moment, still processing what had just happened while trying to catch your breaths. You carefully holstered your weapon while you stared at the bodies lying around, taking a breath before turning around to assess Thaddeus.

With your helmet facing towards him, he jumped, almost trying to hide his torn arm behind him. “A-ah! Am-amazing job, my lord! You-you really showed those m-mutts!” He exclaimed, a strained smile strewn across his face. You huffed, brushing past him to carry the pack instead. “O-oh you don’t h-have to do that-“

“Come on,” you beckoned, cutting him off and moving toward the outcrop you fought for with the pack slung over your shoulder. God, this thing was heavy. Thaddeus hesitated before following behind, his forced smile dropping as an anxious frown replaced it.

You threw the pack down against a nearby rock, assessing the small area. There were a few stray rocks scattered in a shape that looked like a circle, so you figured you’d get a small fire going in the middle of them once you’d dealt with Thaddeus. Speaking of Thaddeus, when you turned back around to rummage through the pack, he was already digging through it.

“You good?” You questioned, your scrambled voice causing the man to jump again. He whipped around, still trying to hide his arm behind him with a feigned smile.

“Yep! Never been better! Don’t you worry about me,” he rambled, beads of sweat welling up on his temple while he gripped a roll of bandages in his hand. You sighed, crossing your arms.

“Let me see it,” you ordered, making Thaddeus frown in panic.

“N-no!”

You raised your brow, which he couldn’t see, but he still sputtered at your silence from his sudden outburst.

“I-I mean- I’m fine, my lord, really. I-it’s nothing I can’t handle!” He reassured you, getting more nervous by the minute. You were not taking that for an answer. You carefully but firmly placed your hands on his shoulders, turning him sharply so you could get a look at his arm. Thaddeus whimpered in embarrassment, casting his eyes away from you while you inspected the wound.

It didn’t look good, that’s for sure. The dog had gotten a good grip on his arm, and the bite marks were deep. He was at least lucky enough that the dog didn’t thrash, as his flesh didn’t look too torn. It was still bleeding pretty bad, and you were sure it would be infected come the morning if it wasn’t properly looked after.

If you remembered anything from your time at the airbase, you knew Thaddeus was absolutely horrible at first aid. He’d stick a shitty expired stimpack in it and call it a day, which wouldn’t stave away any infection if he left it uncovered. But if you wanted to make sure it healed correctly, you’d need to get out of your power armour and help him. You hesitated but quickly thought of a way to keep your face hidden as you stepped back from Thaddeus.

“Wh-what are you doing?” He questioned you as you backed up against the outcrop wall, giving yourself just enough room to be able to get out from behind it. You hit the release of your armour once you were in position, scrambling to remove your arms so that you could fish a handkerchief out of your breast pocket before Thaddeus got too curious.

Tying it quickly around the lower half of your face, you stepped down and out from behind the armour, walking back over to Thaddeus.

“Give me that,” you muttered, hoping he wouldn’t recognize your eyes or voice while you held your hand out for the roll of bandage.

He just… stared at you for a good couple of seconds, his brain lagging to process that you’d just gotten out of your power armour to tend to him. After a little while, you started to worry that your cover had been blown until he seemed to come back to life, stuttering like a fool.

“I-I- My lord! R-really, it’s-it’s alright, I-“

You snatched the roll from his hands as he stammered, effectively shutting him up as you pushed him down to sit on the rock behind him.

“Take your jacket off,” you commanded, tucking the roll under your arm while you went to retrieve a stimpack from the pack that was next to Thaddeus. He was practically shaking at this odd behaviour from you, not understanding why you were doing this, but he complied anyway. He shrugged the jacket off quickly, along with the red button-up shirt underneath, leaving him in a white tank top.

You turned back to Thaddeus with a water bottle, rag, and stimpack in hand, positioning yourself in front of him to look at his arm. He looked up at you with that pathetic face you knew all too well: the one he’d pull when he would get yelled at by whoever he pissed off at the airbase. Though, you weren’t quite sure why he was making it now. It had been a miracle, but so far, you hadn’t degraded him too much.

“This is gonna sting a bit,” you admitted while unscrewing the cap of the water bottle. Thaddeus seemed surprised again, uneasily grasping at his pant legs.

“You-you’re gonna use clean water for a measly little bite? I’ve lived through worse,” he laughed nervously, unable to hide the twitches of pain that occasionally crossed his face.

You raised a brow, pausing. ”Would you rather die of infection? Because you and I both know the cheap ass stimpacks they give us aren’t very good at sterilizing wounds.”

Thaddeus visibly faltered at your words, not expecting such an argument from you. You were right, of course—he could remember plenty of times when an aspirant would get extremely sick from an improperly treated wound, and in the worst cases, they would die—but it didn't make him feel any better about wasting supplies on him.

“B-but why should we waste the water? I-I’m… just a squire, it’s my fault I was bit anyway. I got in the way,” he mumbled, his eyes downcast and his posture hunched like he was trying to make himself disappear. You sighed, carefully grabbing his arm to inspect one last time.

“Well, it’s a good thing I get to decide what we waste supplies on,” you quipped, unable to stop yourself from smiling a little. It seemed to have reached your eyes, though, since Thaddeus looked up and gave you a small, but grateful smile back.

“I just… didn't expect a knight to care so much,” he disclosed, wringing his hands out. That made you stop for a moment.

You hadn’t realized how much you softened up in the past few hours since you were so hell-bent on hating him when he was first dropped off. Well, it was understandable that you’d wanted to hate him. He was a bully, as far as you remembered. But this man in front of you? You hardly recognized this obedient and meek facade he put on, but his ramblings and blind loyalty were still the same.

That was it, you realized: he was familiar. You didn't get much of that in the wasteland, save for some worn-down landmarks, so you’d covet it where you could. Even if you had once hated each other, it was better than nothing. Besides, maybe having an acquaintance out here wouldn’t be too bad. You would never admit it, but you kind of missed having someone to look after, even if he was supposed to be looking after you. You never did like accepting help, though, even when you so readily handed it out.

“I care about protecting people, even if the Brotherhood has more or less lost sight of that with their tech bullshit,” you offered, beginning to pour some water on the wound to wash away the partially dried blood. Thaddeus winced at the feeling, but he perked up at your comment.

“The Brotherhood does protect people, though. I mean, if we let everyone run around all willy-nilly with post-war technology all the time, there’d be no one left to protect after they all kill each other,” Thaddeus interjected nonchalantly, causing your expression to harden slightly.

He was wrong. With what you’ve seen at the airbase and out here in the field, the Brotherhood had completely lost its way. You had seen how your fellow knights gave no regard for anyone other than themselves, looting and killing where they deemed fit, pushing people around for their own benefit. You were unsure of what they had been like before your time, but now? It felt like you were part of a band of technologically scavenging warmongers.

You were one of the few who hadn’t bought into it, and Thaddeus was one of the many who did.

You bit your tongue while you focused on Thaddeus’ arm because God forbid you said something out of line and he reported it back to the officers. They’d have your head on a stick before dawn. You simply nodded, your brows furrowed as you inspected his now clean wound. The bleeding had slowed, but not stopped, and you could now see just how deep the dog had gotten.

“I’m gonna have to stitch some of this up,” you concluded, not missing the way Thaddeus started shaking as you switched out the bottle of water for the stimpack you’d retrieved earlier.

“Wh-what? Stitches? N-no. No, no, no, just the stimpack will be fine,” he squeaked, attempting to reel his arm back in. You held him in a firm grip, though, readying the stimpack in your other hand.

You gave him a frustrated glare. “It’ll heal faster if we stitch it.”

He shrunk back under your gaze, wanting to protest, but he knew that was a losing battle with you. You took his silence as compliance, and while he was looking away, you quickly jabbed his arm with the stimpack. He yelped, nearly jumping to his feet, but you expected that reaction and held him down.

“What the hell, man!” He squawked, his voice cracking from the pitch it was at. “Give a man a warning, Jesus!”

“I find it’s worse if you know it’s coming,” you shrugged, discarding the empty stimpack and digging in the pack again for some needle and thread. You could’ve sworn you heard Thaddeus whimper in fear while you were practically shoulder-deep in the big ass bag he brought with him. For someone who you thought would’ve seen much worse, he was very squeamish.

That proved stitching his wound to be difficult.

The process was arduous with Thaddeus twitching and shrieking every time you made a new stitch, and he needed quite a few of them. You were just about ready to take back everything you’d previously thought about, one complaint away from hitting him over the head and leaving him here.

“There, you big baby. We’re done,” you grumbled, cutting the extra thread with your pocket knife and quickly bandaging up his arm. He loudly sighed in relief, slumping over with exhaustion.

“Oh, thank God,” he whined, sounding like he was on the verge of tears, “that was horrible.” He snatched his arm back when you were finally done, running his fingers along the starchy fabric as if it would stop the stinging sensation below it

You rolled your eyes at his theatrics, putting all of the supplies you had used back in the pack, and marched off to start a fire. Thaddeus watched you go, chewing on the inside of his cheek before rising to his feet to follow you.

The fire wasn’t hard to start up on your own—you’d done so hundreds of times before—but Thaddeus’ eyes burning into the back of your head had you on edge. A simple glare up at him had him scrambling, averting his gaze as he turned his body around altogether. It wasn’t long before you had a fire going, and had cooked some of the rations packed in Thaddeus’ bag.

The two of you sat down on opposite rocks with food in hand, the fire between you and illuminating your faces. Thaddeus fiddled with his utensil as silence fell over the two of you, seeming to mull something over in his mind before piping up: “Um… so… how long have you been working with the Brotherhood?”

You debated indulging in his questions as you carefully maneuvered a spoonful of corn under your makeshift mask and into your mouth. “Since I was a kid.” You relented, your voice quiet but firm. “Some knights picked me up off the side of the road when I was twelve or so,”

Thaddeus perked up at the new information. “Oh? I’ve-I’ve been with them for a long time, too, but I… don’t ever recall hearing about you. You… were stationed at the airbase, right?”

You paused, intently staring down at your rations. Should you tell him? The last thing you wanted was to spook him off, and you were not in the mood to warm up to another squire. Your gaze flickered back up to Thaddeus, who was staring at you with a tentative expression of fear that he’d yet again pushed his questions too far.

“I was. Maybe we just never crossed paths. I tended to keep to myself.” You shrugged, shovelling another spoonful of corn into your mouth. “I also didn't stick around for very long. I was maybe… sixteen when the Elder Cleric sent me off-base to train for knighthood.”

That part was mostly true, aside from the fact that you’d just blatantly lied about the two of you not knowing each other. Apparently, the Elder Cleric had seen “promise” in you after your altercation with Thaddeus, keeping a close eye on you until he decided you were cut out to be a knight a couple of years later.

“What? How come you didn’t get a ceremony? Or-or a send-off?” Thaddeus questioned, and now you were kicking yourself for saying anything.

“I did get a ceremony, it just wasn't public,” you grumbled, trying so hard to keep him off of your trail.

Thaddeus furrowed his brows. ”That’s weird.”

“You’re weird,” you fired back nonchalantly.

Thaddeus scrunched up his nose at your response before huffing out a laugh, shaking his head as he prodded at his food. “That makes two of us, then.”

It was your turn to snicker, the sound abrupt and quiet as you tried to hold it back the best you could. Thaddeus still heard it, though, and the giant grin on his face was enough to tell you that.

“I-I’m not weird.” You fumbled to recover, but you knew you weren’t wiping that smug smile off of Thaddeus’ face anytime soon.

“Suure,” Thaddeus hummed, finally taking his first bite of food, “That’s why you insisted on patching up my arm even though you could’ve just stuck a stimpak into it and called it a day.”

You huffed, shaking your head. “Oh, God forbid I take care of someone’s wounds. I didn’t know that giving medical aid was illegal now,” you joked, pulling another giddy laugh from Thaddeus.

You settled into a comfortable silence this time, and that soft smile lingered on your face as you stared down at your rations. This felt… nice. It had been so long since the last time you opened up like this with anyone. The back-and-forth banter was something you missed about being friendly with people, especially when everyone you’d met since taking up the knight mantle either ran in terror or tried to attack you.

As if on cue, Thaddeus jolted as he remembered something. “Oh! You should brand me!” He exclaimed excitedly, causing you to immediately lose any peace you had just gained as you frowned behind your handkerchief.

“Oh, fuck no. Do you even know how bad it hurts?” You groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose at the suggestion. Your last squire had insisted on being branded, too. When you had finally relented and gone through with it, he screamed like a little girl and wouldn’t stop complaining about how much it hurt for at least three days afterwards.

Thaddeus put on his best pouty face at your denial. “Come on, it's tradition! To show my devotion to you!” He whined, and an odd feeling holed up in your chest from him saying he was devoted to you. “And I-I’m not officially your squire until you brand me!” Well, at least it was a better reason than your previous squire’s: he had just wanted to show it off to his friends the next time he was on base.

You pushed that worming feeling in your chest aside and glared at Thaddeus, but he didn’t shrink back this time. In fact, it almost encouraged him as he leaned forward with his hands linked together in a pleading gesture. “Please?”

You sighed heavily, unable to say no to his big blue puppy-dog eyes. You set your rations down and dragged your hands down your face before begrudgingly rising to your feet and trudging back over to your power armour. Thaddeus whooped obnoxiously behind you, putting a slight smile back on your face as you stepped into your armour. It whirred back to life as the back hatch closed, and you tested out the arms before walking back over to the fire.

Thaddeus watched intently as you stuck the tip of your hand guard into the hot flames, the metal ‘M’ and the area surrounding it heating up and turning a dangerous red. Once you started to feel the heat through your gauntlet, you pulled your hand back and turned to Thaddeus, who had immediately swivelled around so that you had access to his back.

Your hand wavered as you tried to recall the words of the declaration used for branding. You got it, mostly, and recited the words plainly: ”Thaddeus, it is your most sacred duty to protect the Brotherhood. After which, it is your most sacred duty to protect… me, Knight Mire.” You paused briefly while speaking, feeling like you were forgetting another sacred duty. After a moment of thinking, you still couldn’t recall what it could’ve been. Ah, forget it. If you couldn’t remember it, it was probably dumb anyway. You continued: “Do you accept?”

“Oh, yeah. You bet I do,” Thaddeus chuckled, showing no sign of discomfort or fear. You shrugged at this; maybe it would go better than you thought.

“Okay, hold still,” you concluded before pressing the back of your hot gauntlet to Thaddeus’ back. You jolted when he suddenly let out the most high-pitched scream you think you’d ever heard from him, but you made sure to keep your gauntlet still to prevent fucking up the brand. Shouts and groans spilled from Thaddeus’ lips as his skin continued to sizzle, but he miraculously kept still with deep breaths between each pained noise. You were almost worried he’d pass out from whatever pain he was feeling to have him react this strongly.

“Hold on, hold on, it’s almost done,” you quickly reassured, your stomach starting to flip at the sight and sound of this whole process. Branding was never something you particularly liked to witness. After another second or two, you pulled back your hand, causing Thaddeus to loudly sigh in relief as he fell forward onto his knees. He continued to heave and groan, shakily crawling over to one of the rocks and sitting up against it, careful not to aggravate his fresh brand. He laughed a bit, and when you could finally catch a glimpse of his face, he had the biggest grin stretched across it, which surprised you. It seemed like he… enjoyed it.

Thaddeus reached a hand back to hover over the brand, but he quickly reeled it back when he felt heat still radiating off of it. “Woo, still pretty hot,” he noted, his hand falling back into his lap. He glanced back over to you, his smile never faltering. “Thank you, Knight Mire.”

You were a bit perplexed at Thaddeus’ joyous mood, freezing you in place as you tried to process the fact that he was talking to you. Any squire you had branded previously—in a ceremony or otherwise—would either be still reeling in pain, giving you a death stare, or complaining about how much it hurt. “Um, you’re… welcome? I guess?” You answered hesitantly, stepping back to exit your armour again.

“Man, we need a duo name now!” Thaddeus exclaimed, and before you could protest the dumbest idea you’d heard in months, he had already started thinking aloud. “Thaddeus and Mire, the- umm,” Thaddeus put a shaky finger to his lips, attempting to conjure up a name for the two of you. You promptly rolled your eyes, sitting down and running the idea over in your head before you blurted out:

“Trademark. We’re trademarked.”

Thaddeus paused, looking at you with a puzzled expression before it clicked. “Oh my god, you’re right! TM! We’re the trademark boys, yeah!” He shouted happily, throwing his fists up in the air with a gleeful expression.

You couldn’t help the snort that escaped you at his exclamation. It sounded much more ridiculous coming from him, especially with how excited he was about it.

“What, so we’re like… The Trademark Boys with a TM on top of it? The Trademark Boys trademarked?” You jested, deciding to entertain the incredibly ridiculous thought.

Thaddeus pointed a finger at you, glad that you were catching on. “Exactly!”

“That’s… that's so stupid,” you sighed with a small laugh, shaking your head and pinching the bridge of your nose again.

“No, it’s genius,” Thaddeus corrected with a smirk, shrugging his red button-up shirt back on while making sure it didn't drag against his brand.

You rolled your eyes at him, returning to your half finished rations in a more joyful mood than you think you'd ever been in.

“Whatever you say, Thaddeus.”

[number1yisuchongfan]

Modern Fallout Tv show AU but Thaddeus is literally just Bo Thompson and Norm is late season Hannah Montana Rico Suave

[number1yisuchongfan]

He’s very silly to me, and yes, he did get his foot stuck in a bear trap, his body is subjected to pain and suffering in all of my AUs. Now he’s just country! (And living in a unsafe environment)

Thaddeus in this AU’s gotta hard life, shitty transphobic father who’s emotionally neglectful and abusive, mentally ill siblings who think less of him, shitty lil town that’s being exploited by colonialist who don’t care about the people they’re exploiting, and a complicated relationship with his religious background that put a wedge between his mother and him

I’ve gone further into how Thaddeus’s farm was like here (x) and here’s to Norm and Lucy’s lil cards for this AU here (x)

[deaf-solitude]

In The Shadow of the Valley Pt. 3 (Squire!Thaddeus x Knight!Reader)

Pairing: Thaddeus x Knight!Reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings/Tags: future graphic violence, no use of y/n, placeholder knight name for the reader, mostly gender-neutral but reader is called “sir” at some points, the reader is called “my lord” sometimes too, gun use?, not a whole lot going on in this one

Summary: You’re a knight sworn to the Brotherhood of Steel, and you’ve just lost your asshole squire to a yao guai. Maybe it’s for the better, as you prefer to work alone anyway. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood thinks otherwise and quickly sends you a replacement. Turns out that the replacement is someone you never wished to meet again, but thankfully, he didn’t know it was you! Not yet, at least.

TDLR; What if Thaddeus was your squire instead of Maximus’?

((A/N)) SO sorry for how long this took, I was so stumped the second half of this all week, so I just split it in half for now ToT. A bit shorter than I wanted it to be, but I figured I’d get something posted. Also shout out to wiki how for teaching me how to teach someone how to shoot a handgun lmao. If it’s inaccurate im sorry, I’ve never handled a gun in my life

That night went well, as far as you were concerned. Once it got late, Thaddeus insisted on taking the first watch, and while you were hesitant, you eventually relented after he started going on a spiel about having to prove himself to you. You slept buried in your sleeping bag and with your face covering on, and were happy to see it was still there when you woke up to take over the watch. Hopefully, he hadn’t gotten curious while you were sleeping.

What you weren’t too happy to find, however, was that you woke up on your own. After a bit of investigation, you found Thaddeus fast asleep on the outskirts of the camp, having slumped over when he drifted off. You didn't know how long he’d been asleep, and you debated waking the man up and scolding him, but you’d rather do that in the morning when he was more or less coherent. So instead, you settled down next to him and kept watch for the rest of the night and early morning.

When he finally awoke as the sun was rising, he almost didn’t realize where he was. It wasn't until he sat up, groggily rubbed his face, and then caught you staring at him out of the corner of his eye did it finally register in his sleep-fogged mind.

He nearly shrieked as he did, stumbling back and nearly falling over again. “Jesus, what the fuck! What are you doing?” Thaddeus exclaimed, putting a hand over his chest to calm his beating heart. You continued to stare at him, and a quirk of your brow finally got the gears turning his head as he deeply frowned.

“Don’t tell me I fell asleep.”

“You fell asleep,” you echoed, crossing your arms as an amused look shone through in your eyes. It was your turn to be the one jumping back when Thaddeus suddenly lurched forward, getting on his hands and knees to bow to you.

“I-I’m so sorry, Knight Mire! It-it won’t happen again, I-I swear!” He cried, squeezing his eyes shut as he expected some sort of scolding or punishment. All you did was grimace, scooting away from him a bit.

“God, dude, don't do that,” you groaned, not sure how to feel about Thaddeus begging for your forgiveness at your feet, “get up, it’s fine. Just… don’t do it again.”

Thaddeus’ head snapped up at your uncharacteristic reassurance, his eyes wide and unsure. “Wh-what?”

You sighed, pushing yourself up from where you were sitting and dusting yourself off. “I said get up. We have shit to do,” you instructed, refusing to repeat what little kindness had peeked through in your words. You stalked off to gather your stuff before Thaddeus could question you further, leaving your flabbergasted squire in your wake. He was frozen in place for a moment, the rocks on the ground still biting painfully into his knees as he watched you start to pack up camp.

You hadn’t punished him. Hell, you’d hardly even raised your voice at him. Thaddeus couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his face, and although he was still a little confused at your behaviour, he jumped to his feet once he realized he should probably be helping you.

The two of you ate quickly and packed up camp easily enough, but you stopped Thaddeus before he lugged that pack back onto his shoulder.

“You need this,” you mused, holding up a spare pipe pistol for Thaddeus since it seemed like he had misplaced his other gun in the fight with the dogs yesterday. You saw the rejection on his face before he had even opened his mouth with how he was nervously wringing his hands out.

“Uh, I… I don’t want it,” Thaddeus mumbled, refusing to meet your eye.

Your gaze hardened. “You need a gun, Thaddeus. It’s not a suggestion.”

Thaddeus seemed to get more nervous—or flustered if the pink tint of his cheeks was any indicator—by the minute. “Yeah, well it won't do me much good. I’m a terrible shot…” He mumbled, his brows furrowing. He hadn’t been so averse to using a gun yesterday, so you could only assume he was nervous he would completely miss again in front of you, his knight. You huffed an amused breath out of your nose at the thought.

“You better get practicing, then,” you chirped, shoving the pistol into Thaddeus’ unwilling hands. You were already stepping into your power armour by the time he decided to open his mouth to protest again. He instinctively shrunk back from your seven-foot metal frame as it powered up, his jaw clicking shut as his desire to argue swiftly left him.

You tilted your head at him, a bit surprised at the sudden change in demeanour. Was the armour really that intimidating? You supposed you wouldn’t know since you were usually the one wearing it. He was turning away to grab the pack before you had a chance to tease him about it.

Once the two of you had gathered everything, you were on your way again. You kept your eye on Thaddeus, making sure he could still carry the pack with his injured arm. He seemed to be doing alright as far as you could tell, as chatty as ever, but a quick check-in wouldn’t hurt.

“How’s that arm feeling?”

Thaddeus perked up at your sudden question, a confused expression falling across his face.

“Huh?”

You nodded at his bandaged arm, and he had to look down at it before he even seemed to remember what had happened to it.

“Oh! Pshh, yeah, it doesn’t even hurt anymore,” he waved you off, acting as if the injury never bothered him to begin with. You skeptically nodded, trying to pick out any irregularities in his behaviour. It was difficult to discern what was normal for him now since he had been acting so differently compared to when the two of you were younger. After a few minutes, you gave up on figuring out if his arm was still bothering him as he continued to talk your ear off.

Suddenly, Thaddeus hesitated for a moment, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he debated what he was going to say next. Eventually, he spit it out, nervously stumbling over his words.

“So… um- where are we going?”

He seemed reluctant to bring it up again, seeing as the last time he did, you had basically threatened his life over it. You bit the inside of your cheek, debating if it was worth telling him.

…Fuck, you might as well.

You explained that the Brotherhood had sent you to scout some raider group rumoured to be using post-war tech for… less than moral reasons. The Brotherhood wasn’t exactly sure what they were up to, so that's where the two of you came in.

Thaddeus’ face screwed up in confusion: this is the information you’d withheld from him? “It’s just a scouting mission?”

“You make it sound simple. We have no idea what we’re going up against,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes at Thaddeus’ underestimation of your task. “We don’t know how many of them there are, and we don’t know the extent of their tech supply or their knowledge of it…”

Thaddeus seemed to be getting more nervous the more you talked.

“So there’s a chance this could end up being a… a suicide mission?”

You glanced at Thaddeus, furrowing your brows at his immediate thought of death.

“Well the plan is to make it out alive with useful information, so I hope not,” you snorted, “all we have to do is get close enough to scope out exactly what we’re up against, and then we’re out of there. In and out, quiet as hell, that’s it. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

Your words seemed to soothe Thaddeus’ nerves, but they had the opposite effect on your own: it would be a problem with Thaddeus bumbling around like a newborn brahmin. You spared another glance at him, watching as he fiddled around with the spare pipe pistol you’d given him. The weapon looked alien in his hands, and he handled it as such, his grip on the gun unsure and stiff. He claimed he was a terrible shot—you’d seen him yesterday with the hounds, you didn't doubt his claim—and it had your stomach churning with worry.

You stopped abruptly in place, Thaddeus immediately on alert as his head swivelled to try and spot danger. “What? What is it? Are there more mutts?” He cried, instinctively backing up so that he was closer to you.

You furrowed your brows, looking down at Thaddeus’ panicked face. “What? No,” you promptly answered, opening up your power armour again to step out. You made sure your face covering was still in place as you stood before Thaddeus, who looked at you with a puzzled expression.

“You said you were a terrible shot, right?” You questioned bluntly, causing Thaddeus’ face to flush.

“U-uh, yeah…”

You nodded, brushing past Thaddeus and unholstering the gun from his belt in the process. Your eyes searched for an easy target out in the barren wasteland, where there happened to be a convenient road sign a little ways back.

“Have you ever even been taught to use a gun properly?” You prodded, turning back around to stare at Thaddeus. He shrunk back under your gaze, a bead of sweat welling up on his temple.

“Of course! I just… um- didn’t pay attention all that much…” Thaddeus practically mumbled the last bit, clearing his throat to try and cover up his confession, but you’d heard it loud and clear. You rolled your eyes; of course, that was one of the lessons he skipped out on in favour of bullying Maximus.

“Great. Today’s your lucky day then,” you muttered, stepping back over to Thaddeus and putting the gun back in his hand. “We’re only spending one bullet on this.”

Thaddeus quickly nodded, still feeling a bit embarrassed that they even had to do this right now. He shrugged the pack off and let it drop to the floor with a thud, stretching his shoulder as it and his back were relieved from the strain of the weight.

You suddenly came up behind Thaddeus, and once he realized what you were doing, he nearly jumped out of his skin. He couldn’t stop his trembling as you took his hands in yours, your chest pressed against his back as you brought his hands up in front of him.

”Relax,” you huffed, but the close proximity of your voice to his ear had the exact opposite effect on Thaddeus. His arms were stiff, his breathing was shallow, and he was trying to keep his face from burning red. You chalked it up to embarrassment, paying Thaddeus no mind as you fiddled with his hands around the gun.

“Make sure your fingers aren’t near the slide,” you chided, moving his fingers down the grip a bit so they wouldn’t get nipped by the slide going back, “and don’t hold on so tight.” You sighed, noting how Thaddeus’ knuckles were practically turning white as the gun shook in his hands.

“S-sorry,” he breathed quietly, audibly swallowing as he loosened his hold a bit and tried to stop his quivering. Aside from the slight shake, he was holding the gun pretty well. That was a good start.

A glance down had you frowning again: his stance was totally off, and you wouldn’t be surprised if he were to fall to his ass from the gun’s recoil. You were quick to knock Thaddeus’ legs further apart with your knee, causing the man’s breath to hitch. You paid him no mind, nudging his non-dominant foot forward a bit too. Thaddeus nearly lost all composure when you slid your hands down his arms, a shiver running down his spine as you adjusted them to give him proper support. This was all seeming far too intimate for him, and much too annoying for you.

“I assume you know how to aim?” You quipped, pulling a scoff from Thaddeus’ lips.

“Of course I do!” He snapped, but you could only chuckle as you watched his ears turn red. Thaddeus proceeded to look down his sights with a determined expression, which was quickly undermined by your hand nudging his up just a touch higher. He glanced back at you with a glare that you were incapable of taking to heart when you saw how red his face was.

Despite this, you were quick to take your hands off of him, backing up with them halfheartedly thrown in the air. “Sorry, sorry,” you mumbled out, an amused smile hidden by your face cover. You crossed your arms as you watched Thaddeus relax a bit now that you weren’t pressed up against his back.

“Remember to breathe,” you reminded him, “and follow through when you fire.”

“What does that even mean?” Thaddeus whined, attempting to slow his breathing now that he had some space.

You rolled your eyes again. “Keep holding the trigger back after you shoot and don’t move your arms an inch. Gives you a more accurate shot.”

“Okay, okay, geez,” Thaddeus muttered, trying to keep all of your tips in order.

“I thought you wanted my help?” You mused, entertained by how frustrated Thaddeus was getting at your nitpicking.

He sucked in a shaky breath, ignoring your remark, before calling out, “C-can I shoot now?”

“Yeah, whenever you’re ready,” you shrugged, sidestepping so that you weren’t behind Thaddeus anymore and could see the street sign. A few tense seconds ticked by before Thaddeus pulled the trigger, a loud bang emanating out and echoing in the wide-open wasteland. Thaddeus’ shoulders jumped at the sound, slightly throwing off his shot, but the quick pinging sound that followed had both of you blinking in surprise.

He hit it.

Just the edge of it, but he hit it.

Thaddeus turned back to you with a grin so wide it genuinely warmed your heart.

“I did it! I actually did it!” He cheered, throwing his hands in the air and obnoxiously whooping in excitement. A display that would’ve originally had you agitated now brought a smile to your covered face, laughing at Thaddeus’ elation.

“You sure did, bud,” you quipped, crossing your arms as a sense of pride welled up in your chest, “really showed that sign who’s boss.” Thaddeus stuck his tongue out at you, blowing a raspberry at your remark and pulling another warm laugh from your throat.

“Alright, alright,” you chuckled, waving Thaddeus off and turning to get back in your power armour, “let’s get a move on. We’ve still got quite a bit of ground to cover.”

Thaddeus holstered his gun once he saw you getting back in your armour, his smile stuck to his face as he watched you. He was trying hard to ignore the butterflies in his stomach that were caused by your laugh; a sound he’d scarcely heard but had already grown attached to. He cursed at himself, his eyes darting away from you as his face flushed softly again. He couldn’t be thinking of you like that, not when he was your squire.

Your garbled voice pulled him out of his stupor, “You coming?”

Thaddeus’ head snapped up like that of a puppy’s, the reddening of his face obvious as he fumbled to get the pack back onto his shoulder.

“Y-yeah, obviously,” he scoffed sarcastically, pulling another chuckle from you. This time he simply couldn’t ignore the fluttering in his chest or the way a smile threatened to break out into his face just from the sound.

You tilted your head as if motioning him to follow you. “Hurry up then, slowpoke.”

[deaf-solitude]

In The Shadow of the Valley Pt. 4 (Squire!Thaddeus x Knight!Reader)

Pairing: Thaddeus x Knight!Reader

Word Count: 4.6k

Warnings/Tags: graphic-ish violence (no major gore), no use of y/n, placeholder knight name for the reader, mostly gender-neutral but reader is called “sir” at some points, the reader is called “my lord” sometimes too, gun use, mentions of cannibalism, cannibals, torture, death/murder (of non essential characters)

Summary: You’re a knight sworn to the Brotherhood of Steel, and you’ve just lost your asshole squire to a yao guai. Maybe it’s for the better, as you prefer to work alone anyway. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood thinks otherwise and quickly sends you a replacement. Turns out that the replacement is someone you never wished to meet again, but thankfully, he didn’t know it was you! Not yet, at least.

TDLR; What if Thaddeus was your squire instead of Maximus’?

(A/N) hey pspspsps come get y’all FOOD (i can’t be bothered to format it to tumblr anymore, here’s the ao3 link)

[number1yisuchongfan]

Basically this Chapter’s fight scene in a nutshell