#max writes things sometimes | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

acanvasofabillionsuns · 9 months ago

Text

IT'S STILL VALENTINE'S DAY, HAVE THE PROMISED VALENTINE'S DAY FIC

Summary: Nimona's got a girlfriend, and her family insists on meeting her. Warnings: uhhh none? Wordcount: irdk man. probably between 1-2k

Nimona didn’t spend all of her time in the kingdom. That would drive her crazy, with all the people who hated her, specifically, with a single-minded intensity. She found herself drawn to the place, never staying away for very long (she’d managed a decade, once, and then whatever drove her back to Gloreth’s kingdom had kept her there for a couple centuries afterward until she got itchy enough to leave again), but she did leave every now and then. It might’ve been more often, if not for the intense regulations and constant patrols that made slipping out and back in again so very difficult.

She’d actually gone to explore just a little under a year before everything went down with Ballister and the Director and people starting to Actually Not Hate Her. And though this change was definitely something that Nimona wanted — needed — to see play out, she had a very good reason to leave the city again so soon.

Someone was waiting for her, after all.

At the thought, Nimona stretched and rolled into a stand. She trotted away from her sunspot to find Ballister, enjoying the patter of her little cat feet against the ground.

She found him in his workshop, tinkering away at something she didn’t care to examine as a peppy tune cheered out from his radio. She leaped and landed delicately on top of it, one paw gently pressing the stop button.

“Heya, Boss, got a question for ya.”

“Nimona?” Ballister squinted down at her. Even after a week, there was still some mush in his eyes when he looked at her, like he still couldn’t believe she’d come back. “You didn’t have to pause my music. What’s up?”

Nimona shot him a catty little smirk before asking, “Do you know what the security for the wall is like these days? Like, if I left, would it trip any alarms or anything?” She’d heard something about them opening the wall, but as she’d spent all of her time here, it was only scant mentions.

Ballister turned to face her fullywith a look of alarm. She had his full, serious attention now, but, like, why? Was it because she’d (indirectly) referenced her sacrifice and what she’d missed while reforming? Because she was totally fine now.

“Is everything okay?” Ballister asked, flashing sad eyes at her. And Nimona was the cat here, geez.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Nothing to worry about.” She batted a paw over her ear so she wouldn’t have to face Ballister’s sad look, even if for a few seconds. “I just wanna go visit my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?!”

“Girlfriend??” came Ambrosius’s echo, even more bewildered than Ballister. He peeked his head around the doorway. “Who has a girlfriend?”

“Nimona!” Ballister turned to him, and they shared incredulous looks.

“Since when??”

“Now, apparently!”

“Since before I even met either of you two bozos,” Nimona interjected, tail lashing in annoyance. What was so shocking about her having a girlfriend? They were partners, clearly they were familiar with gay people.

“Why haven’t you mentioned her before?” Ballister asked, turning back to Nimona with another sad look.

“I don’t know if you remember,” Nimona drawled, “but we were kind of going through a lot of things. Not much time for irrelevant stuff like my relationship status.” Also she hadn’t been in a great spot mentally, spiraling over all the negatives in her life, and good things like her girlfriend had been hard to think about. But that was also irrelevant.

Ballister’s face fell a bit in realization, and Ambrosius snorted.

“She’s got you there, Bal.”

“Oh, hush.” Ballister flapped a hand at him without looking. “Who is she? Would we know her?”

“I doubt it,” Nimona snorted. “She’s outside the walls. That’s why I asked about security.”

“Outside the walls?” Ambrosius and Ballister echoed in identical concerned tones.

“Yeah.” Nimona rolled her eyes. “So…? Am I going to have to sneak out? Do you think I could just guilt trip them into letting me? Would I set off any alarms if I just went for it? What’s the situation here?”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Ballister spread his arms and shook his head. “Back up. You have a girlfriend?”

“Yep.”

“Outside the walls.”

“Yes.”

“That you’ve never mentioned before.”

“Like I said, never really seemed like the right time.”

Ballister stared at her for a moment, then put his head in hands. “Nope. Not computing.”

This was starting to get annoying. “What, do you want to meet her?”

“Yes, actually.” Ballister raised his head to stare at Nimona almost challengingly. “I do want to meet her.”

Nimona shifted to human to cross her arms at him. “Fine. You can come with me to visit her.”

Ballister crossed his arms right back. “Fine. We’ll do that then.”

“Good.”

“Awesome.”

“Incredible.”

“Glad we’ve got this sorted, then!” Ambrosius cut in, looking between the two of them hesitantly.

Nimona rolled her eyes and left the room, calling, “We’re leaving tomorrow!” over her shoulder.

—

“Nimona, how far away is this girlfriend?” Ballister asked for the third day in a row. He should be grateful they’d managed to secure a ship large enough for the three of them and supplies, or it would’ve taken a lot longer. Humans and their easily-tired legs — they’d already had to stop multiple times each day just for them to stretch. Because not-walking all day was apparently also a strain. This was why being Nimona was 100% better.

“Not far now,” she acquiesced.

She wasn’t actually entirely sure, having taken a much more leisurely, wandering route last time. But she’d gotten back to Gloreth’s kingdom in about three days, and Nimona going slowly was probably about equal to a ship making frequent stops. So it couldn’t be too far off.

An hour or so later she stiffened in excitement as she spotted a familiar crumbling skyscraper poking up through the trees. Ballister and Ambrosius both noticed, looking up from their books.

“What is it?” Ballister asked. “Are we there?”

“We’re close,” Nimona grinned, and then jumped out of the ship and twirled into a HummingBomber (minus the bombs, unfortunately), zipping ahead of the ship to look around. The city had changed radically since she’d been here last, with destroyed buildings made over to useable and what looked like a neighborhood with people in it.

Nimona swooped low, distantly registering the ship behind her scrambling to follow suit through the trees. Once she was close enough to the ground, she tumbled into a jaguar and roared with joy, sprinting towards the city.

There was an answering, much louder roar and a Mega Jaguar emerged from the city. Nimona pushed herself faster.

When they were only a few lengths apart, they both shifted back to human and ran the rest of the distance.

“Kipooooo!”

“Nimonaaaa!”

They collided, spinning in a hug and sinking to the ground to hold each other. Kipp began peppering her face in kisses and Nimona hugged her tight, trying to crystallize this moment in her memory.

There was noise behind her, electronic whirring and footsteps rapidly approaching, and Nimona almost bit at them before remembering who it was. She swallowed down the shark teeth and turned to give a nonthreatening grin to Ballister and Ambrosius.

“Guys, this is my girlfriend.”

Kipo had also tensed at the sound of them approaching, hugging Nimona closer to herself protectively. She relaxed when Nimona greeted them.

“Hi! I’m Kipo!”

“Hi,” Ambrosius said, taking over introductions. Ballister was examining the two of them, a thoughtful frown on his face. Nimona raised an eyebrow at him. Immediately the expression cleared and he shot her an encouraging smile. Nimona rolled her eyes and turned back to bury her face in Kipo’s shoulder, soaking it all in and letting the others’ words wash over her.

“Mona,” Kipo called quietly, tapping her shoulder. Nimona hummed and dragged her head up, smiling at her. “Do you want to show your friends around Las Vistas?”

“Sure!” Nimona stood in one fluid motion, pulling Kipo up with her. “I mean, you should really be the one to do it, it’s your dream and I haven’t been here in ages and I can see there’s so much new stuff and everything, but yeah, let’s go!”

“Oh my gosh, there’s so much to catch you up on,” Kipo gushed. “We’ve set up a couple new neighborhoods, and we’re figuring out a public transport system, and— oh, I can’t wait to show you!”

“I can’t wait to see!” Nimona grinned. Kipo’s joy was always so infectious.

Kipo’s grin widened and her arms shifted into paws. “Wanna race?”

Nimona crouched at the ready, shifting to match Kipo, before she remembered Ballister and Ambrosius and glanced back at them. Ballister was particularly wide-eyed, though they both seemed startled. Did they not realize Kipo was the Mega Jaguar? Or just that she could partially shift? They didn’t seem repulsed, either way, so it could wait. She stood back up and faced them.

“Would you guys want to be riders?” Nimona offered. It would complicate things a bit — Kipo would have to shift fully, and so Nimona would have to find a form to match her — but she wasn’t just going to leave them. If they really didn’t want to, they could all… walk. (Nimona really hoped they were fine being riders.)

“…Sure,” Ballister agreed, exchanging glances with Ambrosius, then repeated it more confidently when Nimona grinned in excitement. “We can do teams. Nimona and I and then Kipo and Ambrosius. If that works for everyone…?”

“Sure!” Kipo chirped. She shifted into her full form and bowed to allow Ambrosius to climb on.

Nimona beamed at Ballister. “What do you think we should do, Boss?” They could always go for a matching Mega Jaguar, though something with wings might be faster. There were also the other Mega Mutes to consider, though Ballister wouldn’t be familiar with them to pick one. Though… Ballister probably wouldn’t be familiar with anything big enough to compete with Kipo. “Bunny or dog? I guess I could do something else, but those are what I’m most familiar with, so they’re our best bet for winning.”

“Dog?” Ballister said, looking confused right up until he was scooped up onto a giant setter’s back. “I don’t know I’m ever surprised anymore,” he muttered fondly, patting a bit of Nimona’s head that was within reach.

Nimona barked instead of responding, because she didn’t think Ballister meant for her to hear that. And because mutes were a bit weird—she could shift into them, of course, but something about their changed physiology made shifting into a Timbercat feel different than a regular cat. It wasn’t hard or bad, more like stretching a stiff limb, a kind of pleasant strain. Mega Mutes amplified this feeling. Something about the “changed but still dumb” aspect made it easier to communicate nonverbally in their forms.

Kipo growled in response, a smooth rumble that grew louder until they were both vibrating with tension. Nimona barked and they both took off.

Nimona had picked her form for speed, but Kipo knew the area inside and out, and that won her the race. Nimona shifted to human, making sure Ballister landed safely on the ground, and pouted at Kipo. She let Ambrosius clamber off before shifting back. Nimona immediately pouted harder once she was back to human and Kipo giggled, coming over and kissing her.

“How do you like your second place prize?” Kipo murmured, placing another kiss on her cheek.

“I don’t know,” Nimona copied her low tone. “What’s the first place prize?”

“This.” Kipo kissed her again, slow and sweet. Nimona’s form rippled, near bursting with emotion. Her new bunny ears flopped on either side of her head and Kipo broke away to huff a laugh as they brushed against her. “Oh, these are cute.”

“Not as cute as you,” Nimona argued. Kipo blushed.

“Thank you.” She gave Nimona a soft smile, then put her hands on her hips and looked over Las Vistas. “Okay, I’m thinking we should start with a tour of the shopping district, and I can show you all the new stuff, and Ballister and Ambrosius—“ she glanced over for confirmation. Nimona nodded “—can see everything for the first time. And then I can take you home and show you the new neighborhood stuff on the way and you can see everyone.”

“Sounds good with us,” Ballister agreed, he and Ambrosius coming over at their names.

“Awesome!” Kipo clapped her hands together with a bright grin and began the tour.

—

Later, when they got a moment, Ballister pulled Nimona aside.

“Okay, so I know the animal people, mutes, aren’t really like you, but, Kipo?” He looked so hopeful for her. “She’s done human and jaguar stuff, is she— y’know? Like you?”

Nimona smiled at him and tried not to make it sad. “Not really. She’s got the two forms, and she can kind of half shift, but that’s it.”

“Oh,” Ballister’s face fell. “I mean, I’m happy for you, of course, but… I know how important finding someone like you can be.” He looked over at Ambrosius, who was chatting with Lio.

“Yeah, but she can still relate to some things,” Nimona told him. “I’m not totally alone.”

“That’s true.” Ballister smiled at her, a fond thing that always made Nimona’s insides squirm happily. “And you’ll always have us.”

“Yeah,” Nimona agreed, then darted in for a hug.

#i'm. so tired. it's been a long day #i will fix this up some for the ao3 version and that will go up. probably either like friday or next week #anyway thank you to max and percy for betaing (if it's kinda meh it's not their fault)#my fics #my writing #nimona #kipo and the age of wonderbeasts #if bal seems like he's backslid a bit then it's bc he's protective of nimona + still unlearning some things and those are mixing a bit weir #d. also he's a new parent and so he's going to say the wrong thing sometimes

11 notes · View notes