#saladin x jolder

[ice-6caydesqueen]

I know theirs more but I completely forgot the others

[littleshebear]

70: “After everything we’ve been through, you still don’t think that I love you?” Saladin/Jolder

It’s official. I can’t drabble. This also turned into a fic. Mushy slices of life in the development of Saladin and Jolder’s relationship, with bonus bemused Radegast and Perun. 

The First Time. 

Saladin x Jolder | Lord Saladin Forge | Lady Jolder | Lord Radegast | Lady Perun | The Iron Lords | Romance

The first time she sees him, there’s a battle in full swing outside the compound. It frightens her to imagine who would be mad enough to attack this warlord head-on but the opportunity to escape is too good to pass up. She charges through the hallways, trying to remember the route they’d taken when they locked her up down here. That shoulder charge she’d made into a locked, solid oak door had hurt and she didn’t have her ghost to heal her. No matter. She could still run and she’s fast. This time, she’ll be fast enough to get away. She rounds a corner and nearly runs into him. They pause, her wild, green eyes staring into his curious dark ones. She reacts first, smashing her fist into his nose. She doesn’t wait to see if her punch was strong enough to have driven his skull into his brain. She helps herself to his side-arm, trips over his prone form and carries on running.

She darts from room to room, frantic, searching for what was stolen from her when the warlord took her prisoner. “It’s okay, I’m coming, it’s okay, it’s okay,” she repeats over and over, like a mantra. If she says it often enough, it will become true. She turns away from another fruitless search through a storeroom and he’s there, waiting in the doorway. There isn’t a mark on his face. Another lightbearer.

“Easy,” he raises his hands when she levels his stolen side-arm at him.

“I don’t know who you people are or why you have an issue with Lord Whatshisname, but I’ve got no quarrel with you.” She motions for him to step aside with the barrel of the gun. “Please stay out of my way.”

“Were you captive here?”

She nods, brushing matted red hair away from her face with her free hand.

He slowly, gingerly offers her a hand. “Come with us. You’ll be safe.”

She shakes her head. “Nuh-uh. I’m not going with another warlord. No way.”

“We’re not warlords. We’re different. Besides…” He lets his hands drop to his sides. “You’re not going to shoot me.”

“And how do you know that?” She raises her chin, doing her best to seem implacable. Defiant.

“Because that gun isn’t loaded.”

Her eyes dart toward the gun and suppresses a sigh as she realises that the chamber is indeed empty.

He proffers his hand again. “Come with me.”

“I can’t. They took my ghost.” She swallows hard. “I don’t know where they took him. It’s dark where he is, he’s scared.”

“I’ll help you find your ghost, then we can get out of here.”

“Will I have to fight?” She keeps the gun trained on him but the barrel droops slightly.

“Only if you choose to.”

She finally lowers the gun. “I’m Jolder,” she states, some of the tremor leaving her voice.

“Saladin Forge.”

When she eventually places her hand in his, it feels like safety.

-/

The first time he sees her smile is only a few minutes after their first meeting. Saladin had caught a guard, held him up against a wall and asked what had become of Jolder’s Ghost. When he refused to divulge the location, Saladin made a noise in his throat that could only be described as a growl and switched to a far less polite line of questioning. He soon gave directions to the location of Jolder’s Ghost. Saladin disarmed the hapless mortal and sent him on his way with what Saladin probably thought was a light clip on the back of the head but was possibly concussion-inducing for him.

Jolder kneels on the floor in front of the lock box that she had just broken her Ghost out of. She cradles her ghost in both hands, assuring him that everything will be alright from now on. She looks to Saladin for confirmation. She breaks into a brilliant grin, happy, grateful tears forming track marks in the grime on her face.

To Saladin, it’s a sight of transformative beauty in an otherwise ugly world and he’ll remember it forever.

-/

The first time she catches herself staring, she’s seated outside his workshop. He picked out some pieces of armour for her and she’s supposed to be adjusting it to her size, polishing, customising. She instead finds herself fascinated by watching Saladin work on a field-forged machine gun. She’s engrossed with how engrossed he is. There’s something so compelling about a man consumed with his work. She watches thick fingers, that have no right to be as delicate and dextrous as they, are build, scrap and rebuild until he’s satisfied. She then finds herself marvelling at how the sun highlights the grey scattered through his black hair, how his eye colour shifts like tiger’s eye depending on how the light strikes them.

He finally looks up from his work and asks how she’s getting on with her own project. She drops her gaze to the pauldron she’s fitting a buckle to and assures him that everything is indeed fine, praying that he cannot discern the blush in her cheeks.

-/

The first time she catches him staring, she’s taking a break from running combat drills with Perun. She sits on the wall of their current hideout, kicking her feet over the edge. She seems so relaxed, you would be forgiven for thinking they weren’t a small group of Lightbearers effecting a revolution against the Warlord hegemony.

She takes a swig from a canteen, tips her head back and closes her eyes in bliss. Saladin nearly drops the sketching charcoal clutched between his fingers but rallies when she turns her gaze towards him. She realises his worst fears when she hops down off the wall and walks towards him.

“What are you working on?” She asks, hooking the canteen to her belt.

“Just…” He leafs frantically through his sketchbook, “I had some ideas.”

Jolder takes the sketchbook from him, “Uniforms?” She grins at him. “Are you designing us uniforms?”

“Not uniforms,” he explains, pointing to the sketches she has the book open at, “Just shared heraldry? If we become established I feel like we should have an…”

“Aesthetic?” Jolder fills in.

“A philosophy.” Saladin corrects her. “Our detractors call us the Iron Wolves. I don’t see that as an insult, so I say we adopt it. Wolves are social animals. They take care of their pack, they look out for one another. Like we do.”

“And the trees?” Jolder asks, gliding her fingers down another sketch, cocking her head in interest.

Saladin shrugs. “Roots. I feel like this will go way beyond what we’ve sown here.”

Jolder nods in approval and leafs through the rest of the designs. “These are amazing. Have you shown them to Radagast? He’d love them.” She keeps leafing through once she hits blank pages, despite the tension in Saladin’s demeanour when she does so. She eventually hits pages that are decidedly not blank. She pauses to see what Saladin has drawn there. She sees herself looking out at her. Herself, sitting on their own boundary wall. Studies of her hands, her face, her eyes especially. She stops still, taking in the image of herself rendered many times over in charcoal.

He snatches the book back from her, and stalks back towards his quarters with the sketchbook clutched to his chest.   

-/

The first time they spar, they do not hold back. Both have budding black eyes, they have bloody noses but they smile through their injuries. These are lightbearer drills, they don’t abide by the usual rules. Saladin locks his ankle behind hers and Jolder tumbles towards the ground, laughing as she goes. By any metric, she’s lost, she’s pinned by him. He waits for her to yield. She threads her fingers through his and smirks seductively at him, very much aware how heavily they’re both breathing. He falls for her flirtatious gambit hook, line and sinker. Once she senses him relax, she brings her leg up between his and ignores his yelp of pain as she strikes his crotch. She flips hims beneath her and laughs uproariously when Radegast calls the match.

-/

The first time she kisses him, it’s a surprise to them both. The battle had been hard, they had died death after death driving the Fallen back but their ranks finally broke. Saladin leans forward, bracing his hands against his knees. He allows himself a smile, his one concession to triumphalism in the wake of victory.

Jolder is far more effusive. She charges towards him, crying, “We won!” She launches into a play by play of the day’s events, gesticulating wildly about strategies that they’d pulled off,  how they’d known what the other was planning without having to speak, how their combat was more like dancing, as they knew each other’s steps. Her enthusiastic recounting of the battle finally elicits a laugh from him and she responds by grabbing his head in both hands and pulling him towards her. She plants a kiss fully on his lips. When she finally releases him, he stares back at her in a daze. She holds his gaze for an uncomfortable beat before excusing herself, mumbling something about checking on the mortal conscripts from the village they were defending.

From the ridge above, Radegast and Perun convene. “The East flank held,” Radegast states tiredly, but not without pride.

“Did you doubt it?”

“No,” He stretches, his overworked joints and muscles creaking as he did so. “But I understand the odds you were up against. You fought well.”

“The villagers fought, I just told them were to stand.” She takes a swing from her canteen before upending the remainder over her head, rubbing the worst of the battle grime from her close-cropped hair.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” he tails off, observing the scene below and shaking his head in wry amusement.

“What is it?” Perun follows his gaze then chuckles. “Oh. Those two. Besotted.”

“Completely.”

“Clueless.”

“Utterly.”

“How long do you think they’ll carry on dancing around each other?” asks Perun, watching Saladin wander around in confused little circles as he tries to decide what to do following Jolder’s spontaneous display of affection.

“It’ll be some time next year if the consensus in Efrideet’s betting pool is anything to go by.”

“Efrideet’s what?” Perun snorts in amusement at their latest recruit’s antics. “That girl. She’s playing with fire.”

“They’ll probably see the funny side,” Radegast muses.

“Jolder will see the funny side. Saladin will eviscerate her when he finds out.”

Radegast chuckles, “They’re a strange pair, it’s true.”

“They’re good for one another. They balance each other out. They’ll figure it out.” Perun pauses, coming to a decision. “Put me down for twenty glimmer. I reckon they’ll get it together by the first snow this year.

“That soon?”

“Eh,” she shrugs, “I’m rooting for them.”

-/

The first time they make love is well after winter’s bite set in, long after Perun lost her stake in the betting pool. His touch is as reverential and hesitant, as though he’s afraid that this was all some misunderstanding and it could be called off at any moment.

His doubts are put paid to when she announces her climax by calling his name, allows him to flip her beneath him and Traveler help him, she’s digging her nails into his back.

In the peace of the afterglow, he lies on his back, Jolder’s head nestled in the hollow of his shoulder. She absently traces her fingers back and forth along his chest. Saladin stares at the ceiling, part of him not quite believing that what just happened did in fact happen.

“The others are probably wondering where we got to.”

Jolder chuckles, remembering Efrideet’s pool. “They’re really not.”

-/

The first time he raises his voice at her in anger is the last. He’s tired, the last battle with the Fallen was exhausting and demoralising. The town he was defending could not be saved, an evacuation was the best he could muster. Jolder approaches, cognisant of his scowl but determined to lift his mood.

“You got them out, that’s great!” Saladin cringes at the contrast between the bereft villagers and Jolder’s encouraging smiles.

“Not all of them,” he grunts in response, walking past her.

“Saladin,” she insists to his turned back. “All of these people are alive because of you. You should be proud.”

Logically, she know she’s right. He knows today is a net gain but he’s seen so much anguish, so much grief today that he doesn’t have the energy for Jolder’s relentless positivity.

“We saved these ones, yes, but how many did we lose?” He thunders, rounding on her. “Do you even know? Not everything is for the best, Jolder, not every cloud has a silver lining!”

She flinches as if struck by a physical blow. “I’ll make sure they all get a hot meal, don’t worry.” She turns away from him. “I’ll see you later.”

Saladin spends the remainder of the day dealing with the fall out from the battle, writing field reports, organising refugee housing, all with the cold creep of guilt worming its way up his spine. Once the day’s work is done, he turns to the task of working up the courage to knock on her door. When she calls him in, she doesn’t seem angry. He would have preferred that. She’s seated on her couch, her knees drawn up to her chest. She sports an expression of worry that he doesn’t feel he deserves.

“I’m sorry,” he says in a defeated whisper.

“You’re too hard on yourself. You did a good thing today, I just wanted you to see that.”

“I know. I had no call to speak to you like that.”

She stares at him for an excruciating moment, those normally vivacious green eyes wide and sad. The tension finally breaks when she holds her hand to him, clenching and unclenching her fingers in a beckoning motion. He puts his hand in hers and kneels before her in contrition. She doesn’t have the patience for this knightly performance so she pulls him into her arms.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats, not sure if it’s for his benefit or hers.

“It’s okay,” she assures him, trailing her fingers through his dark curls.

“No, it is not,” he mumbles into her shoulder.

“You care, that’s all,” she assures him, dropping a kiss on his head for emphasis. “I wouldn’t love you so much if you didn’t.”

“I have bad days sometimes,” he tightens his arms around her. He can’t remember the last time he allowed himself to be this vulnerable around someone else. It definitely hasn’t happened in this life before. “I should never have taken it out on you.”

“You have as many bad days as you want,” she pulls back to rest her brow against his, cradling his head in her hands. “I’ll ride them out with you.”

-/

Saladin waits for Jolder at the base of the ship’s gangplank. He scowls up at the castle before them, telling himself that his black mood is down to the warlord who challenged them. When Jolder emerges his breath stops momentarily. The shine of her armour, the way she hefts her battle-axe, the confidence in her gait, the impeccably applied “warpaint.” He never tires of the sight. She halts beside him and fixes him with an interrogatory stare.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he demurs. She cocks her head, sceptical and unimpressed. They’ve been friends, comrades in arms and lovers for decades now. His taciturn protestations don’t work on her anymore. He opens his mouth to speak, flounders, then again. His third attempt succeeds. “I volunteered to be your second.”

“You did.”

“You chose Efrideet.”

“I did.” She allows him a window of silence to give him a chance to explain his bad mood but he doesn’t avail himself of the opportunity. “Perun advised in favour of Efrideet.” She receives a grunt in response. “She worries that you can get too emotional.”

“I’m not emotional!” he snaps, before immediately clamping his mouth shut in embarrassment. Jolder shoots him an indulgent smile, that look of patient benevolence that never fails to break through his irritable facade.

“Talk to me, tell me what’s wrong.”

“I thought,” he falters, “I assumed…” He finally settles on, “We’re a team.”

“We are,” she assures him, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder, “But this isn’t about us. This is about stopping Rience.” She leans her axe against the ship and frames his face in her hands. “Saladin. After everything we’ve been through, you still don’t think that I love you?”

“I-I don’t always feel like I deserve it. I hear what people say. He’s moody, what does she see in him? She’s so happy, he’s so miserable. We’re an odd couple, everyone says so.”

She brings her lips to his, doing her best to reassure him. “I don’t care what ‘people’ say and ‘everyone’ can go hang. I love you. I’m grateful you found me that day. I’m so glad it was you.”

Saladin’s lips twitch into a smile. “You punched me.”

“But you came after me, you still made sure I was safe, helped me. You’re a good man, that’s why I love you, moods and all. Don’t ever doubt that. Now…” She picks up her axe and takes his arm. “Come cheer me on.”

Rience’s champion waits for her with a cocky smirk on his face. Jolder nods politely to him. “Melig, isn’t it?”

“Lady wolf.”

Jolder and Saladin exchange a knowing look. “I like wolves,” states Jolder before donning her helm.

In the end, she doesn’t need a second. Rience and his champion underestimate her and the rest of the Iron Wolves as he calls them. A warlord might have lands, soldiers to command, poisons, neurojammers and all manner of things to help him win a battle. None of it matters. Jolder has a pack. As she listens to them cheer her on, one voice stands out. It’s not the loudest, not the most strident. He’s gruff and serious but it is his words that spur her to victory.

[littleshebear]

101 fluffy prompts

FALLING IN LOVE

001: "You're really soft."

002: "You smell nice."

003: "I'm here for my daily fix of hugs and kisses."

004: "Is it possible to love too much?"

005: "I don't wanna get up-- you're comfy."

006: "I will always be there protect you."

007: "I'm cold. Come closer."

008: "I love you a lot, but please stop trying to cook me dinner, you suck.”

009: "The stars look especially lovely tonight."

010: "I've never seen such gorgeous eyes before."

011: "May I have this dance?"

012: "I can't stop thinking about you."

013: "You'll never feel alone with me by your side."

014: "Let's get to know each other over dinner."

015: "All I want is you."

016: "I could never leave you, I love you too much!"

017: "A fairytale with a happy ending always brings a smile to my face."

018: "I want to hear you sing."

019: "I don't think anyone could ever be as lovely as you."

020: "You look incredible in that."

021: "He/She's quite stunning, isn't he/she?"

022: "Sometimes I just can't control myself when around you."

023: "Do you believe in love at first sight?"

024: "I think I'm in love."

025: "I’d like it if you stayed.

026: "People are jerks, but not you."

027: "I'll share the blankets with you."

028: "I have never felt this way about anyone."

029: "I want this to never end..."

030: "Can I kiss you?"

LIVING TOGETHER

031: "I waxed the floors, grab your fluffy socks."

032: "Who changed the thermostat settings? I’m freezing to death."

033: "Can we just watch a movie and fall asleep on the couch?"

034: "You can put your cold feet on me."

035: "Your stray red item turned my whites pink."

036: "A thunderstorm is rolling through town and you’re scared of lightening/thunder so I’ll protect you."

037: "There was a power outage and now we have to have dinner by candlelight."

038: "Rock Paper Scissors to see who has to go talk to the neighbors upstairs for being too loud."

039: "I just came home to you crying while watching a movie, please tell me what’s going on."

040: "Our AC is out and it’s the middle of the summer."

041: "You found me crying on the kitchen floor in the middle of the night surrounded by a shattered jelly jar."

042: "My parents are coming over in 10 minutes so please put some clothes on"

043: "We’re repainting the apartment and going to the hardware store together to pick out color swatches."

044: "IF YOU USE UP ALL THE HOT WATER ONE MORE TIME IM GOING TO BAN YOU TO THE COUCH FOR A MONTH."

045: "We’re watching Toy Story 3 and we can’t stop crying."

WEDDINGS/PROPOSALS

046: "I caught the bouquet"

047: "My ex just invited me to their wedding and I need you to be my date so it doesn’t look like I’ve spent the last few years failing to get over them."

048: "We accidentally got married in Vegas oops"

049: "I’m really drunk, please help me get safely out of the way so I don’t ruin our friend’s wedding."

050: "I planned out this super romantic proposal and you just ruined it by beating me to whole proposing thing."

051: "I wasn’t planning on asking you, but it appeared to me that life is short. Will you marry me? "

052: "If you shove cake in my face this will be the worst wedding night of your life."

053: "Do you take this man/woman to be your lawfully wedded husband/wife? "

054: "May I have this dance, wife/husband? "

055: "You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m so happy I can finally call you my wife/husband."

056: "I jokingly told you that the only way I’d marry you was if you did this weird outlandish thing, and you actually did it, and I’m kind of charmed."

057: "This is probably a bad time, but marry me?"

MARRIED LIFE

058: "We’ve become the clingy newlyweds you always complained about. "

059: "Your ‘miracle hangover cure’ couldn’t possibly beat mine."

060: "I know you haven’t had the best experience with dogs in the past but look at its face please please can we keep it?"

061: "I wanted to surprise you for our anniversary, but everything that could go wrong, did go wrong."

062: "I beat you at Mario Kart and now you're banishing me to the couch for the night?”

063: "I surprised you with tickets to see our favorite band… WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU SURPRISED ME WITH TICKETS TO SEE THEM TOO?"

064: "I know we had a big fight but we still need to decorate the house for the holidays."

065: "Oh! Hey! Could you come and taste this to see if it's okay?"

066: "We’re arguing over book versus movie."

067: "I came home to a Nerf gun on the front porch and a note that says ‘Here is your weapon. I have one too. Loser cooks dinner. Good luck. xo’"

068: "We’ve been celebrating our wedding anniversary on the wrong day for the past nine years."

069: "You had a business trip and I missed you so much that I kind of tore up the house in your absence like a dog with separation anxiety… sorry?"

070: "We both have nowhere else to be so we get to spend our rare day off at home."

PREGNANCY

071: "I bet it’s a girl/boy."

072: "Do you think it’s possible that I…might be… pregnant? "

073: "I thought I was pregnant but the test must have been wrong. I’m not. "

074: "You’re lucky I’m pregnant!"

075: "Can you help me up, your child is pretty heavy."

076: "I could really use a foot rub right now."

077: "Your dad is really excited to meet you soon, it’s driving me crazy."

078: "Do you wanna know the sex of the baby?"

079: "The baby’s kicks are keeping me up at night."

080: "Did you feel that?"

081: "I can’t fit into my favorite dress anymore. "

082: "OH MY GOD I’M GOING INTO LABOR. WHAT DO WE DO NOW?!

083: "I can’t be pregnant… or….OH MY GOD! "

084: "I think you might be pregnant.”

085: "It’s 2 am but you’re craving cake and we’re both up anyway so let’s bake in our underwear."

PARENTING

086: "I knew it was a mistake to get the twins matching clothes."

087: "Sh…they’re asleep."

088: "I think someone had a little accident with the finger paint."

089: "Mondays are your diaper days."

090: "Our kid is totally the one who wanted to build a pillow fort, not me."

091: "Ooh…someone’s got a tummy ache."

092: "Are you sure you don’t want me to drop them off myself? I don’t think you could handle seeing them off alone."

093: "I told you we should have just gotten that German Shepherd puppy."

094: "What do you think for their punishment? Grounding? No video games? No going out for a week?"

095: "Mm…your kid before five in the morning."

096: "Come on now, I think you’re being too harsh. He/she’s just a kid. Remember all of the stupid things we used to do when we were their age?"

097: "So, how should we break the news that they’re going to have a new baby brother or sister?"

098: "I think we should have another."

099: "Why wasn’t I invited to your wedding?"

100: "Okay fine, one more story, but then you really have to go to bed."

101: "…They just grow up so fast."

[shaken-veil]

The Tale of two Helms #1 - Felwinter’s Wrath

So. This is the first part of a series of drabbles / one shots around Shaxx and Efrideet. Thank you @myssthyss a lot for the help with the title! Also thanks to @littleshebear @dngrs-untld-hrshps-unnmbrd & @seigephoenix for the help while writing this!

*Someone had to write it.*

~~

Lord Shaxx x Lady Efrideet / Pre-Relationship / *Not going to bother and tag every single Iron Lord* / Shenanigans / 

Felwinter Peak - The Iron Temple, around noon

“Shaxx, you will accompany me and Timur to the Cosmodrome. He found another lead on his research, that he wants to investigate.” Saladin stepped up in front of him, looking dead serious as always. Shaxx had his arms crossed over his chestplate, looking at his mentor from behind his helmet. “Can you not at least take the helmet off, when you’re at the temple?”

“The helmet is important for me.”, he replied rather deadpan. “Isn’t Timur able to defend himself?”

“It’s simple manners, Shaxx. This is a sacred place.” The Iron Lord paused and shook his head. He knew very well, that there would be no discussions with Shaxx about some subjects. He was as stubborn as an old goat, but then again, so was Saladin, at least Jolder and Perun said that. “It’s a request from Felwinter. He is busy with his new samples. I don’t understand much from his scientific talk.”

“Hm. Very well, Saladin. When are we leaving?” The younger man loosened his position and leaned back, more relaxed than before, against one of the stone pillars surrounding the temple.

“Tomorrow after sunrise.”

Shaxx waited until Saladin left him alone again and he made his way into the temple, passing by several members of the Iron Lords, a lot of them he didn’t even recognize. If he would go after Saladin, he would be one of them, once his training was finished. The thought made him frown.

His eyes found Lady Jolder, Lady Perun and Lord Gheleon discussing something very lively in the center of the great hall. He liked Jolder. She was a fearsome warrior and a strong personality, also a very welcome sparring partner. “Shaxx!”, the female Titan in question waved him over.

He looked around for a second and then almost jogged over to the group. “Jolder! Ready to land in the dirt again?!” Shaxx had an indoor voice. It was naturally very loud, but without him yelling, which was also the cause of some other people in the hall to turn around and look at them, only to shake their heads and return to business.

“Don’t show off. I let you win.” She gave him a bright smile. How could someone so charming be with Saladin, was beyond him. Still it seemed like they were good for each other. “I heard you’re heading out with the old man. Be careful, alright?”

“Ha! Don’t worry about me, rather than about Saladin not breaking a hip!” They shared a laugh. The corners of Perun’s mouth twitched slightly, almost breaking a smile, only Gheleon crossed his arms over his chest and he frowned deeply.

“Why are Titans always so loud?”, he complained and looked away.

“We are not, you are just a ray of sunshine.”, Jolder replied with a cheeky smirk, pure sarcasm in her tone.

“She is certainly right.”, Perun agreed.

Shaxx put his hands on his waist and let his typical booming laughter, until something shattered in the hallway behind them. Their chatter died down and everyone turned towards the stairs. A single bottle clattered down the cold stone and broke on the bottom.

In the corner of his sight, he noticed something fleeing through the window on top of the corridor. It looked like a cloak? A hunter? A smile grew behind his helmet, but his attention quickly went back to Lady Perun, who knelt down in front of the destroyed bottle. “These belong to Felwinter. Someone must have ruined his research supplies. That’s not good.”

“Why would someone be that willing to get murdered and break Felwinter’s samples?”, Shaxx wondered, trying very hard not to sound amused.

“What happened here?!” Everyone flinched at Felwinter’s furious voice. Nobody wanted to cross the former Warlord. He believed into the Iron Lord’s cause without a question, though his methods were.. questionable sometimes. Not that Shaxx was one to judge. Usually he seemed more like a emotionless robot to him, but angering him was never a good idea. “My samples! Someone will answer for this!”

“If you will excuse me, I forgot to ask Saladin something.” Tactical retreat felt like the best option. He wouldn’t want to stand in Felwinter’s crossfire, when he was that mad. Of course, he didn’t forget to ask Saladin about something, he just needed a reason to leave and he could tell that at least Perun and Jolder caught his lie, but Shaxx wanted to find the unlucky person, who destroyed the Warlock’s precious research and maybe help them to get away.

For a man of his size, Shaxx managed to slip away from the Temple and around the wall surrounding it. He had no intention to climb Felwinter peak, not after Saladin made him do it so many times, but a familiar sight caught his eye, as he looked up at the mountain. A huntress sat on one of the rocks, facing away from the courtyard and the building. He knew this armor and most of all, this helmet. He let out a sharp whistle, loud enough to get her attention.

Lady Efrideet turned her gaze towards him and he could make out how her head slightly tilted to the side. A wordless question of what he wanted, but before Shaxx could call out to her, she jumped. Elegant like a wolf and silent like a shadow, she landed on one of the bigger stones, only a few feet above him. It was then, when he made the connection, watching her cloak fall into place around her. So she was the unlucky soul.

“What happend to ‘I never miss’, Efrideet?!” He let out one of his dark chuckles, obviously teasing her.

“Don’t be so loud! I really didn’t mean to stumble into Felwinter’s materials! Skorri was distracting me!” Even now, while being slightly upset, her melodic voice was a joy to hear and he couldn’t help but grin.

“Certainly missed your step there.”

“Shaxx! Please.” There was a quiet tremble in her voice. She was giggling, even if she tried to hide it. “I really don’t want to face Felwinter right now. Does he know?” She leaned forward and got a peak towards the temple entrance.

“As far as I know, he doesn’t. Do you think hiding up there is the right thing to do?”

“Do you need a reminder of the time when you hid away from Saladin, because you were drinking too hard the night before and wanted to avoid training!”, she snapped back, hands tensing around the stone. He just laughed and waved her down, after making clear that there was no angry Exo around.

“Sometimes..”, she said, as she landed next to him. “I feel like you’re the only one around here, who doesn’t shove a stick….into the backside of their armor.” Efrideet barely managed to correct herself, as she grabbed Shaxx’s gauntlet and dragged him along with her. He stumbled for a few steps. This woman was strong. One would think, that female Titans were so strong, but some of the Hunters were just as powerful. Efrideet was one of them.

As he fell in step beside her, they made their way back to the lower levels of the courtyard. “Efrideet, does Saladin bother you about your helmet as well?”

“No, why?”

Shaxx didn’t reply only gave an annoyed grunt and walked on. Why wasn’t he surprised by her answer? Maybe he could ask her to accompany them tomorrow? They could use an excellent shot like her at their backs, when they wandered into Fallen territory.

He almost crashed into her, when Efrideet suddenly stopped and sat down on the small stone railings, which were surrounding the whole area. She put up one of her feet and reached for the edge of her helmet, pulling it off in one swift movement, revealing her face to him. Slightly tanned skin, green eyes with a hint of gold in them and the brown hair moving with the cold breeze of Felwinter Peak, showing off a shine of red in the rare sunlight.

“Come with us tomorrow. We could use your help.”, he blurted out without a second thought. Shaxx usually just said, what was on his mind. He didn’t care much if people appreciated his honesty or not.

“To protect Timur? Or do you mean to carry the trash, he finds around?” She turned her eyes towards him and smiled.

“If you ask me, he doesn’t need any help and can do his research himself, but Saladin said Felwinter asked him. If he thinks, this is important enough, than keep the Fallen off our heels.” He snorted and cracked his knuckles. “On the other hand. I hunger for a worthy battle and find myself hoping, that trouble will come greet us!”

“Always so eager to fight.” She shook her head with a smirk and looked out onto old russia, the winter landscape spreading out on the foot of the mountain and covering the area to the mountains in the far back. “I will come with you, if Saladin allows it.”

“Excellent!”, he called out and slapped his flat hand onto her shoulder, but she didn’t even flinch a little.

[sylenth-l]

I love how you draw lore characters that don’t get enough fanart thank you for drawing them your an amazing artist

Will you ever draw Mara x sjur or Saladin x jolder :3

Thank you, nice anon!

I wanna keep doing this, there's still sooo many lore-only character I'd like to draw... My love for certain Hunter dorks really gets in the way though, can't stop drawing them asdhghsjdfghk

Regarding your question - I like both these ships, so maybe someday I will! Sjur is the real queen tbh and has helped me a great deal to find something to like about Mara & Saladin remembering Jolder's smile so fondly sounded awfully similar to Cayde missing Andal's laugh, so yeah. Both are good! 💞

[dngrs-untld-hrshps-unnmbrd]

Top Ten Ships

Thank you for tagging me @seigephoenix Just ten? Oh boy here we go...

1. Fem!Shep x Garrus

2. Lavellan x Solas, because I like pain.

3. Jareth x Sarah. Epilogue where she goes back at 18 to be his queen. You know she do.

4. Dr Struensee x Queen Caroline, because more pain why not

5. Violet Evergarden x Gilbert Bougainvillea. Haha more pain. 

6. Lord Saladin x Lady Jolder. PAIN.

7. Lord Melbourne x Queen Victoria. Screw history, frankly. 

8. RebelCaptain. Oh shit more pain :’)

9. Reylo. Die mad about it. 

10. Lupin x Tonks FOR FUCKS SAKE WHY DO I LIKE PAIN???

HOLY SHIT. ONLY ONE COUPLE MAKES IT IN THE END.

AND THAT’S IF YOU CHOOSE THAT ENDING AND EVEN THEN SURVIVAL AND POSSIBLE HAPPINESS IS ONLY IMPLIED.

But then Reylo’s story isn’t finished yet. Reylo all my hopes are pinned on you. LOL. Don’t fuck it up. I said don’t fuck it up! Oh god Kyle you’re fucking it up...

Oh wait there’s also Solavellan *stares into the camera like it’s the office*

I tag @littleshebear, @crazy-bone-lady, @tirednecromancer, @varyen, @gjallarhun, @diana-the-nightstalker and @ir-anuk

[seigephoenix]

10 Favorite Pairings

I was tagged by @scientistsalarian for this one. Top 10 favorite ships. Oh boy. Here we go.

1. Lucy and Natsu from Fairy Tail

2. Evfra x Ryder from Mass Effect Andromeda

3. Lord Saladin and Lady Jolder from Destiny

4. The Iron Bull x Inquisitor from Dragon Age Inquisition (I could not resist picking this gif)

5. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy - Batman the Animated Series

6. Thane Krios x Shepard - from Mass Effect Original Trilogy

7. Deadpool x Lady Death (which is kind of a problematic ship but I still like it) - Marvel

8. (Gonna show my age a bit here) Sailor Scouts x Shitennou (or Beryl's bad guys since she corrupted them) from Sailor Moon

9. Tony Stark x Pepper Pots - Marvel Cinematic Universe

10. Levy x Gajeel from Fairy Tail

I'm tagging @vorchagirl, @dngrs-untld-hrshps-unnmbrd, @ughorlesians, @inquisitorsmabari, @littleshebear, and @littlebutfiery

Absolutely no obligation or pressure. ^^

[a-lad-called-spades]

Guess who fell down the Saladin X Jolder pit 

This gal 

[ryuun0]

SIVA Herpes v2

Titan: Uh, Lord Saladin?

Lord Saladan: Yes, young wolf?

Titan: Yeah, my Warlock girlfriend got infected by some of that SIVA stuff. I really wanna titan smash dat ass, if you know what I mean. *wink*

Lord Saladin: ...

Titan: Anyway! I don't wanna get infected so should I hit it or...?

Lord Saladin: *sigh* Here. *pulls out SIVA resistant condoms*

Titan: Thanks Lord Saladin! *leaves*

Lord Saladin: At least someone gets to use them... oh Jolder, how I wish to titan smash your ass...

[littleshebear]

Destiny Fanfiction Masterpost.

Just to keep things organised because holy hell, there’s quite a bit of it now. I’ll update with Ao3 links later once I’ve sorted through my poor, neglected Ao3 account. I’ve edited multiparts into chronological order as best I can. Not all of these have titles in the posts, I’ve since come up with titles for them. This took a long time so let me know if I’ve put in any broken links.

GENFIC AND CHARACTER STUDIES:

Memories (Someone We’ll Never Know):  The journey an Awoken child makes from the Reef, to Earth and the Last City. Work in progress, ongoing. Content warnings for canon typical violence, character death, childhood trauma, death of a parent.

Part one

Part two

Part three

Part four

Little Bird: The relationship between Amanda Holliday and Commander Zavala. Work in progress, ongoing. Content warnings for canon typical violence, childhood trauma, PTSD, death of a parent.

Part one. 

Part two.

Downtime:  Zavala’s ghost attempting to get her Guardian to unwind.

One shot, complete.

Various original character study drabbles: Hypatia- 9 #1

Hypatia -9 #2

Sasha

Krios

PAIRINGS

Shaxx x Zavala:

The Morning After Kiss meme response. Shaxx wakes up next to a certain awoken. Mild smut. 

The Great Hunt Kiss meme response. SHaxx loses a leg, Zavala makes a confession and an Ahamkara starts an argument about philosophy. Humour.

Faith:  Red war, established relationship. When Zavala arrives at the Farm, he doesn’t get the welcome he was expecting. Mildly smutty, angst, humour. 

Saladin x Jolder

A Killing Thing. Jolder helps Saladin deal with what it means to be a Light Bearer. Angst, canon typical violence, non-explicit sex. Content warning for an explicit mercy kill (she gets better), canon typical violence.

part one

part two

The Foundlings My take on how the wolf pack came to be at Felwinter Peak. Fluff, humour. Content warning for animal death. 

One shot (for now)

The Apology Jolder’s last thoughts before setting off the bomb in the SIVA replication chamber. Mega angst. Content warning for character death. 

one shot

Shaxx x Saladin

Second Fiddle Saladin ruminates on the causes of the rift between him and Shaxx.

One shot

Cayde x Zavala

Indulgence

Kiss meme response. Cayde and Zavala the morning after the night before. Zavala is a morning person, Cayde is not. Humour. 

one shot

Zavala x OC: Sera Kiss meme response featuring @bornandbredinsane‘s OC Serafina. Clandestine snogging fun times.

one shot

Zavala x OC: Sasha Dribs and drabs featuring Zavala and my OC Sasha, which I hope to collate into a coherent longfic at some point.

The Cut

Sasha finds herself dealing with memories she doesn’t understand. Romance, angst. 

Rash Decisions

Zavala reflects on his feelings for Sasha, in the Dark Age and the Present Day. Fluff, humour, some angst. 

Untitled kiss meme response

The night before a battle, Zavala and Sasha admit some things to eachother. Romance, angst. I’m probably gonna bin/repurpose this one because I’m not too happy with it. 

Zavala x Hawthorne

Again, these are a series of one shots written out of order that will likely be collated into a fic.

The Jerk Test 

Pre-relationship set on the Farm.

Vanguard Discipline

Hawthorne visits Zavala for a booty call and realises there may be FEELINGS bubbling under there too. NSFW. Content warnings for explicit sex, D/s dynamic, spanking. No minors plz. 

Battlegrounds At a party to celebrate the liberation of the City. Hawthorne has social anxiety but Zavala has her back. 

Intimacy

Follows on immediately from ‘Battlegrounds.’ A very drunk Hawthorne tries to figure out if she and Zavala are in a relationship or not. Romance, fluff.

And Sleep

Zavala helps Hawthorne sleep with a little poetry recital.Romance, fluff. 

Three Little Words

Hawthorne tries and fails to tell Zavala how she feels. Zavala is irritatingly attentive nonetheless. 

The Other Woman

Late night love-making leads to an impromptu confession from Hawthorne. Romance, fluff. NSFW. Content warning for explicit sex.

Matchmaking Amanda Finds Out. Mention of Holliday/Sloane because I think they’d be sweet. Humour.

Lifeline Hawthorne realises the difficulties inherent in relationships between mortals and immortals. Romance, angst. 

[littleshebear]

For the meme: Saladin/Jolder, #7 or #9!

Sorry this took so long, Nonny, it’s been a combination of real life being a bitch and what was intended to be a drabble ballooning to over 2,000 words. So you get a long-ass fic too, Nonny. I went with #7: Laughing kiss, I thought that would be more of a challenge with these two. Angst is the easy route with Saladin/Jolder. This starts out a touch angsty but ends with fluff, both metaphorical and literal. Foundlings.Saladin Forge | Lady Jolder | Saladin x Jolder | Iron Lords | Established Relationship | Fluff | Smooching | Excessive Cute | cw: brief mention of animal death 

“Saladin Forge, what have you done?”

Jolder should have known he’d been up to something. Thinking back, he’d been characteristically quiet after the battle. He always needed time to himself after a fight, but he was very gloomy this time, even for him. His mood had blackened significantly when they’d found the wolves. 

They couldn’t be sure who’s attack had done for them, theirs or the warlord’s but the result was depressingly clear to see. The poor beasts’ bodies were burned, scattered, mangled. Blood and gore marred the ground beneath them.

“It would have been quick,” Jolder had said, squeezing his hand in hers, “I doubt they felt anything.”

“That’s not the point,” he’d growled in response. “This had nothing to do with them. They were innocent.”

“Collateral damage, Saladin. It happens.” Radegast’s calm, measured contribution only served to make Saladin’s scowl deepen. The guilt settled on him, heavy, like drifting snow. He stalked off, separating himself from the rest of the group after mumbling an assurance to Jolder that he would be fine and that he would catch up to them later.

No one witnessed him return to Felwinter Peak. When Jolder finally saw him he was evasive and his normally pristine armour was caked in mud and grime. After a furtive couple of hours, he finally invited Jolder to follow him with a silent, conspiratorial nod of his head. Jolder wasn’t sure what to expect but it certainly wasn’t four wolf pups play-fighting on their bedroom floor.

“What did you do?” Jolder reiterates.

“I tracked back to their den, i wanted to make sure that the pack we killed didn’t have young. They did. So…” He shrugs, as if his actions were perfectly natural, the only reasonable response to the situation. “I crawled in after them.”

“You don’t know that we killed them.”

“They got caught in the crossfire of our fight.” He states simply, obviously in no mood to brook any argument. “We killed them, we’re responsible.”

Jolder shakes her head, “It was an accident.”

“That doesn’t make these cubs any less orphaned.”

Jolder drags her hands down her face and makes a strangulated noise, something between a groan and a growl. “Saladin,” she begins, imbuing her voice with as much compassion and understanding as possible. “I love you. Never doubt that. I love that you care so much but this?” She gestures to the pups, “This is a terrible idea!”

“What else was I supposed to do? Let them starve to death?”

“These are wild animals, they’re not pets.”

“I know that, I’m not keeping them-”

“They’re in our bedroom!” Jolder interjects.

I’m just taking care of them until they can take care of themselves.”

“Be practical,” Jolder presses her hands together and looks at him entreatingly,”How are you going to feed them? Do you have a secret supply of wolf’s milk stashed somewhere?”

“I think they’re weaned…” He glances back and forth between Jolder and the pups. “I think they’re weaned. Don’t they look weaned to you?”

“I’m sorry, I’m Jolder the titan, you must be confusing me with Jolder the wolf expert.”

“This is no time for sarcasm, Jolder,” Saladin says, frowning.

“This is the perfect time for sarcasm!” Jolder retorts, throwing her hands in the air. “You have no idea what you’re doing, you don’t know what to feed them, I’m not sure the others will be thrilled to know there are wolves running around under our roof, and okay, they’re cute now but in a few months they’ll have grown into massive, untameable murder-dogs.”

“They’re not going to be staying after they’re adults, I told you. Just until they can fend for themselves.”

“And who is going to teach them to hunt, you?”

Saladin shrugs. “Perun might help?” Jolder shoots him an exasperated, sceptical look. “She said she likes wolves,” Saladin adds by way of explanation.

“I think she likes them in the abstract, that doesn’t mean she’ll like them running around the Iron Temple.”

“Efrideet?” Saladin suggests, just the hint of a wince in his features.

“You know what?” Jolder laughs mirthlessly, “You’re probably right, she’s reckless enough to go along with this nonsense.”

Saladin looks away, suddenly distracted by movement in the corner of his eye. He sighs and crosses over to the bed, disentangling a pup from the bed clothes as it tries to burrow underneath. “No,” he admonishes gently, petting him behind his ears with his free hand. “Go play with your litter-mates.”

Jolder can’t help but hear the affection in Saladin’s voice and her heart sinks. “Please don’t get attached. The others might not like this. Don’t assume they’ll let you keep them.”

“I’ll tell the others…” He hesitates, depositing the pup on the floor, “…soon.”

“Keeping them secret will not go down well.”

“Fine,” he sighs, “I’ll tell them tomorrow.” He heads for the door. “Can you keep an eye on them for a while?”

“Where are you going?” Asks Jolder.

“I should put in an appearance at the forge and the armoury. My absence has probably been noticed. Then I’ll see if I can get them something to eat from the stores.”

“There’s probably some spare bones they could chew on, I guess.”

Saladin turns back to face her, looking horrified. “No! No bones. They splinter, they can cause a lot of damage to a pup.”

“So how do they manage in the wild?” Asks Jolder, incredulous.

“The adult wolves regurgitate partially digested meat for them.”

Jolder wrinkles her nose, “Please tell me you won’t be doing that?”

Saladin raises an eyebrow.

“That’s disgusting and not even remotely funny,” says Jolder, the look of revulsion still on her face.

Saladin chuckles and opens the door. “I’ll see you soon.” He turns his attention to the pups. “Be good,” he intones to them before leaving and closing the door after him.

Jolder sighs deeply and runs her hand through her hair as she watches the cubs. Two of them are play-fighting, rolling around and snapping at eachother. Jolder wonders if she should break it up at some point. The pup that had been so interested in the bedclothes now has his nose pressed firmly against Jolder’s boot, investigating her scent. Where’s the other one? She wonders. There were four, weren’t there?Jolder crosses the room to check the other side of the bed. Sure enough, there she is, squatting down on her haunches.

“Oh no,” breathes Jolder, “No, no, no, not that, not in here!” The pup stands, leaving a little puddle in her wake. She toddles over to Jolder and begins pawing at her leg, looking rather pleased with herself.

“Forge,” Jolder shakes her head, regarding the mess on the floor, “You did not think this through.”

~*~

Saladin makes his way back from the stores with some food for the pups. He doesn’t think the off-cuts of meat he swiped will be missed but he suspects he may be pushing it with the venison steaks. He hesitates before opening the door, hearing Jolder’s voice on the other side. He presses his ear to the door and listens.

“No, no! Put that down!” There’s a brief pause before he hears her again, “Okay, fine. I can get another one.”

Saladin opens the door very carefully, making as little noise as possible. He waits in the doorway, smiling softly at the scene in front of him. Jolder is seated, cross-legged on the floor, with the pups competing for a chance to climb on her.

“Okay,” She says, gently lifting them down off of her, “take turns, play nice. There’s enough Jolder for everyone.” Two of them begin playing tug of war with a tattered piece of cloth, that looks like it’s what’s left of Jolder’s Mark. They muster the most blood-curdling growls their little lungs can manage.

“It’s all right guys, honestly,” she says, quietly laughing at their antics, “I didn’t need that Mark, truly.” She turns her attention to the remaining two, who have flopped onto the floor beside her, positioning themselves to lay their heads on either side of her lap. “What’s up you two? You tired? Are you tired, little ones?” Jolder pets the wolves snuggled up against her, scratching behind their ears and talking gently to them.

“You okay, Fenrir?” She asks quietly. “Do you miss your family, hm?” The little wolf stretches and grumbles as if in answer. “I know, it’s rough. You’re lucky though, you have no idea how lucky you are that he was the one to find you.” The other pup rolls over on her back, yawning expansively.

Jolder carries on talking while absently rubbing the pup’s belly. “I was like you, you know. Alone, no family. But he found me too.” She laughs at a sudden recollection, “And then I punched him because I was scared and I didn’t know who he was, I didn’t know he was one of the good ones. Didn’t put him off though, he wanted to make sure I was okay, bloody nose and all.” Her smile fades a little, taking on a more wistful, distant look, while Saladin looks on, silently. He covers his mouth, hiding his smile behind his fist.

“And he is one of the good ones. The best, actually.” Jolder’s smile broadens again. “So you be good for him! Or I’ll hand you over to Felwinter, and you won’t like that, believe me.” She jostles the female pup playfully who responds by rolling over and leaping at her, licking at her face. The male pup takes this as an invitation to follow suit.

Jolder shrieks, “Raksha! Fenrir, no! Down!” For all her protestations, she giggles uncontrollably and ruffles the pups’ fur throughout the affectionate attack.

Saladin finally gives voice to the laughter that’s been threatening to escape since he saw Jolder with the cubs. Jolder gasps and looks up at him.

“How long have you been standing there?” She asks, wide-eyed.

“Long enough,” He replies, closing the door before any of his charges can escape. They rush over to him and alternate between nipping at his heels and glueing their noses to the bag containing the meat Saladin has procured for their dinner. He chuckles as he begins distributing the meat among them. “You’re not getting attached now, are you?”

“Shut up,” she’s smiling but the colour is rising in her cheeks. “Okay, they’re cute. But they won’t stay cute. I still say this is a bad idea.”

“You gave them names!” He settles on the floor beside her and nudges her.

“That doesn’t mean anything!” Jolder protests, pushing back against him. “I just thought it was easier than calling them, ‘Smelly Inconvenience One Through Four.’” She points at each cub in turn, “Okay. The one that’s running off with the best cut of meat? That’s Raksha. The one overseeing the feeding schedule? That’s Fenrir, he’s a bossy one. And the two that utterly destroyed my Mark are Luperca and Radegast. They’re trouble.”

“Radegast?” Saladin asks, his voice quavering with amusement.

“Yeah,” she shrugs, as though this is the most obvious thing in the world. “He looks like Radegast.”

“How can a wolf look like-” Saladin cocks his head when he looks at the newly-christened Radegast. “Oh, actually…”

Jolder snorts and collapses into giggles again, leaning against Saladin. He Puts his arm around her and whispers in her ear.

“Admit it. You like them.”

“They tore up my mark.”

“You were playing with them.”

“Luperca peed on the floor.”

“You named them.”

There’s a brief silence, then all Jolder can come back with is, “Shut up.” She tries to fashion a scowl but her smile breaks through. She tips her head to the side, granting his lips access to her neck. He kisses her softly, starting at her earlobe and working his way down the side of her neck. Jolder closes her eyes and bites her lip, doing her best to rein in that treacherous grin.  “This isn’t going to work.”

“What isn’t going to work?” He purrs.

“What you’re doing to my neck.”

“Was I doing something to your neck?” Saladin grazes his teeth lightly over her skin, eliciting a delighted squeal from her.

“Fine!” Jolder exclaims. “Fine you win. They’re adorable. You were right. It would have been wrong to leave them. Pleased?”

“Of course I’m pleased,” He encircles her in his arms and pulls her close, “You admitted you were wrong, I’m going to ask Tyra to record this in the annals.”

“Oh ho, really? Don’t push your luck, Forge!” Jolder turns to straddle Saladin’s lap and puts her hands on his shoulders. Her push is gentle, but he acquiesces to her touch immediately, tumbling back onto the floor, laughing uproariously. She muffles his laughter with her lips, while he threads his fingers through her hair and cups her head in his hands.

Saladin breaks the away briefly to say a breathy, “Thank you,” before closing the gap between them again. His lips are softer now that his mirth has faded a little and she takes her time, luxuriating in the kiss, savouring his closeness. She eventually pulls back and rests her forehead against his.

“It’s worth it to see you this happy. One thing though.” She places her index finger over his lips and holds his gaze. “They’re sleeping in your workshop. They’re not spending the night in here.”

Saladin purses his lips before replying with a simple but sceptical, “Okay.”

“I mean it.”

“I believe you,” he assures her, even as his shoulders begin shaking, a portent of another laughing fit.

“Shut up.”

~*~

Jolder and Saladin lie in bed, any and all attempts at sleep thwarted by the sound of the pups crying from a couple of rooms away. Jolder does her best to ignore the pitiful whines, telling herself that they’ll tire themselves out. She finally throws off the covers and gets up when the howling starts.

“Traveler’s Light!” She hisses in the dark of their room, “They’re going to wake up the whole temple.” Saladin hears her pad across the floor and open the bedroom door. He then hears another door swing open and the crying stops and is immediately replaced by the sound of sixteen sets of claws skittering across the stone floor. He feels the bed being shaken from all sides, no doubt the pups scrabbling their way up onto the mattress.

“Ah-ah!” Jolder admonishes one of them. “That’s my spot. Move.” She slips back into bed beside him.

“We’ll figure out something more practical,” Saladin reassures her as the cubs lie down on the bed; one each on their feet, one wedged between them and one pressed up against the back of Saladin’s knees. “Maybe we can persuade Silimar to build a kennel?”

He feels her tense up in his arms. “Not right away? We’re not going to make them sleep outside right away, are we?” Jolder asks uncertainly. “They’re only babies.”

Saladin buries his face in her shoulder, stifling his laughter.

Jolder sighs. “Shut up.”

[littleshebear]

Headcanon for how a fight between Saladin/Jolder were to play out:

- Saladin gets very quiet when he's angry. Lots of sighs, stony glares, stage whispers.

- Jolder, on the other hand, becomes very garrulous, expounding on her point of view at great length because she just wants that great lunk to understand where she's coming from.

- Saladin sees this as browbeating.

- Jolder just keeps charging on.

-Saladin fixates on one tiny part of Jolder's speeches to take offense at. Wilful misinterpretation is a distinct possibility.

- Jolder gets derailed into a conversation about whether he's too easily offended (he is).

- Saladin goes into a massive sulk.

- Jolder eventually removes herself from the situation because she suspects he actually wants her to go and speak to him again but she's not going to validate that kind of behaviour.

- Saladin continues sulking but actually wants Jolder to come and speak to him again.

- Jolder leaves him to stew while she punches things to let off steam.

- Saladin continues to stew.

- Someone sensible like Radegast will tell him to stop cutting off his nose to spite his face.

- More stewing until Saladin acknowledges how miserable he is.

- Jolder will come home to discover some gesture on his part; all her weapons and armour newly polished for example, or she's suddenly in possession of a new set of eyeliners.

- Jolder will tell him she's sorry too. She wishes he was more willing to say it verbally but she knows how proud he is so she'll take it.

BONUS:

Headcanon for how a fight between Saladin/Shaxx would play out:

[littleshebear]

Writing Saladin/Jolder and Take Me To Church comes on my playlist. 

Aw yeah.

[littleshebear]

Destiny fanfic; The Apology.

Short, super angsty drabble because I hate myself. 

Saladin/Jolder | Siva | Drabble | Angst | Oh god, so much angst | I’m not kidding 

I’m so sorry, dear one, I don’t mean to make this harder for you. Please understand, I just wanted to see you one last time before I do this. I have to do this, there’s no other choice. Please don’t be angry with me. I’m doing this for you, for everyone.

No, no don’t come to me. You won’t make it in time, I was always faster than you, we always used to joke about it. Remember how you’d chase me round the statues in the courtyard at Felwinter Peak? You’d grab me around my waist and say, “You let me catch you,” and I did, every time. Why would I want to get away from you?

I can’t let you catch me, not today. What could you do if you did? I’m dying, I know it. It took my Ghost, it’s in my armour, I feel it crawling under my skin. I won’t be me for much longer, it will turn me against you and I couldn’t bear that.

Oh, don’t cry, my love. You’ll be all right. You’re stronger than you realise. You won’t believe me when I say this but you’ll love again, I’m sure of it. Don’t close off your heart, let people see it how I did. Let them see your bravery, your compassion. Let them see you. Please. For me.

I love you, Saladin Forge. Goodbye. Please forgive me. This was the only way. The door, I had to-

The door, I had to- The door, I had to- The door, I had to- The door, I had to- The door…

[littleshebear]

@canam77 apologising for quizzing me on my Saladin/Jolder headcanons.

Me:

[littleshebear]

Destiny fanfiction; A Killing Thing pt. 2.

Part 2 of 2. Jolder’s POV on what happened in the last chapter. far more sweet and fluffy this time. 

Lord Saladin | Lady Jolder | Saladin/Jolder | Iron Lords | The Dark Age | Canon Typical Violence | cw: Assisted suicide | cw: Character death (but they got better | Romance | Fluff |

Part One. 

AO3 Links: Chapter One. | Chapter two. 

The farmers have lit a bonfire in the centre of the village, and set up tables around it laden with food. Those with the talent for it play instruments and sing, while the remainder eat, drink and dance. The settlement isn’t completely safe, not yet but the local Warlord will think twice before attempting another attack and that is cause for celebration.

Jolder makes her way through the crowd, fielding heartfelt thank-yous, offers of food and drink, and the occasional marriage proposal from villagers who have over-indulged on alcohol. She smiles indulgently and says that were she not an Iron Lord, she’d definitely consider it. She scans the gathering and picks out her brothers and sisters from among the villagers. Skorri has joined the musicians, improvising along with their songs as best she can. Silimar is attempting to learn one of the villager’s dances, under the tutelage of Gheleon, who’s having limited success. Silimar is ungainly, he has no sense of timing but he won’t give up. Radegast is speaking with the village elders, always serious, always strategising. Felwinter walks circuits of the courtyard, observing the gathered people with a detached curiosity, as though they were subjects of a scientific experiment.

She finds the only one she was really looking for seated on a log that’s being used as a makeshift bench, on the periphery of the festivities. Saladin sits alone, his elbows resting on his knees, his shoulders hunched. He glances around periodically but refuses to make eye-contact with anyone. It’s as if he’s checking to make sure that his closed-off demeanour is doing its job. It is. No one approaches him, there’s none of the easy camaraderie Jolder experienced when she arrived at the gathering. Saladin may as well be screaming, ‘leave me alone,’ at the top of his lungs.

Jolder just watches him for a while, suddenly reminded of how he was when Radegast had first found him. He’d been so wary, so slow to trust, a wolf unsure if he’d truly found his new pack. She had made it her personal mission to break down his walls. It was a game at first, trying out different strategies to get a reaction out of him. Later, it became a serious challenge to herself, she genuinely wanted to know him, so she sought out every possible chink in his emotional armour. Today, he had finally let down the last of his defences and she found she didn’t know what to do about it. A simple “thank you,” would have been unforgivably trite and she wouldn’t dream of trying to laugh off what they had shared; how that would hurt his easily-bruised heart. She eventually sat up and pulled him into a wordless embrace that she suspected neither of them wanted to end. They knelt together in the blood-stained snow, until Jolder’s comm had crackled into life, with Radegast calling for an update. They hardly spoke on the journey back to the village, their only significant communication being Saladin offering her his arm for support when phantom pain flared up in her.

Jolder’s attention is diverted by the sound of approaching footsteps. She smiles as Perun draws level with her.

“Good work out there today,” Perun nods respectfully. “The Lightbearer give you any trouble?”

“No,” Jolder shakes her head. “No match for the Iron Grump over there. Poor guy didn’t know what hit him.”

“And he’s looking particularly grumpy just now,” Perun observes with a soft chuckle. She then regards Jolder with a searching look. “Everything alright with you and him?”

“Yes,” Jolder answers a little too quickly. “Why?”

“You’re normally joined at the hip but you’ve barely said two words to each other tonight. Something happen between you two?”

Jolder isn’t sure how to answer. It was certainly Something. Something violent, yet tender. Something sublime, yet intimate. How does she explain those contradictions? How does she put into words the way his voice soothed and took away her pain? How does she make Perun understand that if Jolder were to die her final death, and Saladin were the last thing she saw, it probably wouldn’t be a bad way to go?

She opts for a shrug and some misdirection. “The violence gets to him. He’s emotional. You know how he is.”

“You should speak to him. You can usually talk him out his moods.”

Jolder nods and looks back over to Saladin. While she was distracted by Perun, Saladin had been approached by two villagers, a man and a woman, both middle aged. Jolder can’t hear what they’re saying but they’re speaking earnestly to him, they obviously didn’t get the message that his body language was sending out. That, or they chose to ignore it because what they have to say is too important. The woman is clutching Saladin’s hand and looks ready to burst into tears. The man proffers a bottle of something or other to Saladin, who extricates his hand from the woman’s and steps backwards. He shakes his head, holding his hands up. He’s trying to refuse whatever gift they’re giving him but they’re insistent. Saladin eventually accepts the bottle and says an awkward thank you. The couple retreat backwards, scraping and bowing as they go, while Saladin nods his acknowledgement. He remains standing for a moment, clutching the bottle in front of him like a shield. He glances back and forth furtively, then sits back down. He resumes his hunched posture, rolling the bottle between his palms.

“What was that all about?” asks Perun..

“I have no idea,” responds Jolder.

“Go talk to him.” Perun says this as request from a mutual friend but it could almost be an order from their field commander. “He looks like he needs it.”

“Yeah,” Jolder sighs. “I will.” She ambles over towards Saladin with as much nonchalance as she can muster. She doesn’t wait for an invitation to sit, she just plants herself beside him before he can object. She’s gratified when she sees a slight relaxation in Saladin’s posture.

“How are you doing?” he asks. “Does it still hurt?”

Jolder gives a lopsided shrug. “It’s getting better. Twinges a little now and then. I think my brain is finally starting to accept that I don’t have a hole in my side anymore. I’m okay.” She tips her head towards the retreating couple who had accosted him. “What did they want?”

“While you were…” He pauses to search for the right word, “... down , I came across this raider. He swore it was his first raid, he swore he hadn’t fired a shot. I believed him.” His features cloud with what could be anger, sadness or both. “He was just a kid. I let him go.”

“Were they his family?”

Saladin nods. “His parents.”

“The Warlord sent that boy to raid his home village?”

Saladin sighs, “Some sick loyalty test maybe? I don’t know.”

“And the bottle?” A note of amusement creeps into Jolder’s tone.

“The local brew. I don’t think have much of value to offer by way of thanks. They insisted.” He takes a breath and continues before she can interrupt, “I know what you’re going to say, I’m a bleeding heart , it was a risk but I believed him and I was right, he made it home this morning.”

“That’s not what I was going to say.” She keeps her voice as gentle as she can, so that nothing she says can sound like admonishment. “I was going to say that you’re a good man.”

He snorts softly and lets his gaze drop to the ground.

“What’s wrong?” She lays her hand on his arm, “And please don’t say ‘nothing.’ I know you’re upset.”

“Fine.” Saladin places the bottle at his feet and speaks in a monotone. “We killed eleven people today. And we’re having a party.”

“We did. Twelve if you count me.”

“That was different,” Saladin shakes his head. “I did that to help you. You were suffering.”

“ Is it different? Yes, we killed eleven people but how many did we save ? How many would have died if they had made it here?  And you gave those people back their son. I’d say that justifies a party.”

“We’re dead people, brought back to kill. That's all we do. Can we honestly say we’re better than the people we fight?”

“You are nothing like them. Don’t ever think that. You're a protector, not a killer.” Jolder places her hand over Saladin’s and gives it a gentle squeeze. “And it won’t always be like this. We’re making a better world. The Risen who come after will be what they were meant to be; guardians, not conquerors. They’ll be like you.”

He threads his fingers through hers and leans in towards her, while Jolder cups his face with her free hand and pulls him closer until their foreheads touch.

“You’re a good man, Saladin Forge,” she whispers, tracing her thumb across his lower lip. They remain like this for a few moments, just leaning against each other, breathing the same air.

Saladin swallows hard and begins, “Jolder, I-”

“So are you two going to get a room, or what?” Saladin and Jolder pull apart, both glaring towards the interloper. Efrideet stands in front of them, hands on hips, with a mischievous smirk on her face. “Seriously. Do you have any idea how long the pool on you guys has been running now? So is this it? Is it happening? Can I cash out?”

“I don’t know, Efrideet,” Jolder says with mock-brightness, “See, someone just interrupted us.” Saladin just sets his lips in a thin line and growls deep in his chest.

Before Efrideet can respond, Radegast stalks up behind her and grabs her by the collar.

“Come along child,” he intones, steering her away, “Let the grown-ups talk.”

Saladin shakes his head, glowering as he watches Radegast manhandle Efrideet back to the main gathering despite her protests. Jolder tries to maintain her composure for a second or two before collapsing into laughter.

“It’s not funny,” Saladin grumbles. “That girl’s got no manners.”

“Come on, it’s a little bit funny.” She nudges him, jostling him. “They’re running a pool on us.”

“Hmm, and when I find out who’s in on that…” He sighs, picks up the bottle and pulls out the stopper. “I need a drink”.

“What are we drinking to?”

“How about a better world?” He raises the bottle in a toast before taking a swig. He passes it to Jolder who takes a draught. The liquid is warm and the flavour is an odd mix of sweet, sour and smoke.

She looks at the bottle in confusion, “What is that?”

“Kefir,” he answers, taking back the bottle and helping himself to another swig. “It’s made from fermented mare’s milk.”

“You’re telling me I just drank horse milk vodka?”

“Essentially,” he replies with a smirk.

“You know all that stuff I said about you being a good man? I take it back.” She wrinkles her nose and makes a staged retching sound.

Saladin laughs; a low, rumbling sound that makes Jolder’s stomach feel like it’s flipping over. She rests her head against his shoulder and the sit in companionable silence for a while.

It’s Jolder who finally speaks first. “So should we?”

“Should we what?”

“Get a room.” She feels him tense up. She slips her hand back into his. “Do you want to? I thought you did. After what happened today and, well,” she lets out a short, quiet laugh, “I’ve seen the way you look at me sometimes.”

“Everyone looks at you that way.”

She places a gentle hand on his cheek and turns him to face her. “You’re the only one I ever look back at.” She feels his hand begin to tremble beneath hers. She holds his gaze with her own and strokes his face with a feather light touch.

“Do you want me?”

“Yes,” he breathes.

“Do you trust me?”

She sees something break within him when she asks that question. His brows knot together and he exhales sharply. He swiftly closes the gap between them presses his lips against hers. Jolder whimpers softly against his mouth and puts her arms around his neck while Saladin takes her by the waist and pulls her to him. She presses into him as much as she can, she wants to be closer but their armour keeps them separate. It’ll have to go. She breaks away, panting slightly. She takes her hand in his and pulls him to his feet without any resistance. They make their way out of the village, walking faster and faster until they reach the edge of village when they break into a run, and don’t stop until they reach their ship.

They sprint up the gang plank and tumble into Jolder’s quarters. Saladin tangles his fingers in Joldler’s hair and kisses her feverishly, working his way from her lips, to her jaw and down her throat. Jolder does battle with the many (far too many) buckles and clasps on his armour, collapsing into giggles when one proves too stubborn for her shaking hands to undo.

When they finally shed their armour and clothing, when they are finally naked and entwined on her bed, she thinks back to what he'd said in the village. When she feels him move inside her and his heart beating next to hers, she knows he's wrong. They are not dead things. They are not killing things. They are alive, they are so alive.

A/N: I shamelessly stole, “Iron Grump” from @dngrs-untld-hrshps-unnmbrd because it is perfect.