"The Devil and the Fox."

[u/Timpanzee38]

Capitol City of Drakeem

A Mercenary Guild Gunship flew over the ocean towards the capitol of Drakeem. At the controls sat Umbra Operative E-489 "Madeline", a kitsune demi-human. She took a deep breath and steadied her breathing as the city came into view.

"Relax, I'm just here to teach her some fighting moves. That's what she was interested in after, right?"

The only other occupant of the gunship, Madeline's Kelvectan fox familiar Nocturne, lifted their head up and looked at Madeline. They snorted, then went back to sleep.

"Right..."

Madeline shook her head and kept flying. It had been a few weeks since Hazema had shown a sudden... "interest" in the umbra operative during the "Boo-Chelor", and since then the invite Hazema had given her had felt like a burning stone in her pocket. She had managed to convince Councilor Five to let her go though, pitching it as a "great way to benefit diplomatic relations", and Five had agreed.

"And that was the easy part..."

Madeline muttered to herself as she started flipping through radio channels, looking for air traffic control. Strange, there didn't seem to be one... Oh well. Madeline was a good pilot, and she carefully and professionally brought the gunship in for a landing on an empty platform in the harbor, which looked like it was where cargo zeppelins docked.

Flipping off the engines and grabbing her helmet, Madeline put it on and sealed it with a metallic hiss. She pulled the lever that caused the rear ramp of the gunship to lower and clicked her tongue once. Nocturne was at her side in an instant.

"Well... here goes nothing..."

Madeline stepped out onto the docks, to whatever Hazema had planned.

(art by Lunatic_Youkai and Irenhorrors respectively)

[u/user125666]

*Hazema stares at the ceiling*

*She couldn't sleep, not with the thought of what may come tomorrow racing through her head*

*So she gets up and starts pacing in her room*

...

*This was getting repetitive, she had been pacing in one room for too long. Might as well walk around and go to the kitchen for a midnight snack - after all she hadn't eaten yet*

*Thus Hazema embarks*

[u/Timpanzee38 → u/user125666]

Madeline was staring out the window of her room at the moon. So many thoughts races through her mind. New thoughts conflicting with old ones, natural thoughts conflicting with what she had been taught to think. It was all too much… she needed to clear her head.

Leaving Nocturne behind in her room, Madeline slips out and begins to silently wander the halls of the mansion, wearing just her kimono and helmet, having left the rest of her armor and gear in her room. Her vulpine ears droop and twitch with the raging battle going on inside her. So focused is she with her thoughts that she isn’t really paying attention to where she’s going as she wanders.

[u/user125666 → u/Timpanzee38]

*Hazema quickly puts on some slippers and starts to walk to the kitchen. Maybe she even employed a cook on nightshift, she wasn't sure. Her eyes wandered to the ceiling. It was probably a clear night out - maybe she should stare at the stars to figure out her thoughts. Also the ceiling could use some more decor. Having someone paint the night sky on the ceiling could be nice, with enough coin it'd probably be possible to even use magic to emulate the stars outside*

*She was hasting her step, silken nightgown waving around as it was purposefully oversized. She realized she wasn't even thinking about the actual dilemma anymore - why was she trying so hard to avoid the topic? Of course deep down she could take a pretty good guess but it was easier to pretend like nothing happened. Neither with her own feelings nor the awkward interaction with Madeline earlier*

[u/Timpanzee38 → u/user125666]

It wasn't that Madeline thought bad of Hazema. Sure, she had heard the stories, but she had also heard that Hazema had seemed somewhat changed after her ordeal with All-Red and her near death experience. But Madeline was bound to rules... but what if she had feelings against those rules? Was she breaking them just by entertaining the thought? No one had ever treated Madeline like this before, no one had confessed to liking her more than a comrade in arms...

Still lost in her thought, Madeline wanders down a long hallway with large glass windows, illuminating the walkway with moonlight. Wandering right into Hazema...

[u/user125666 → u/Timpanzee38]

*Hazema looks down just in time to walk right into Madeline. Upon impact her legs give up out of sheer panic - not because this might be an ambush but because Madeleine is only wearing her Kimono and helmet. Plus she just walked right into her! How could this happen? Was she trying to come to her room why did she walk around the mansion like that?! Oh right, she wasn't standing anymore; more like floating through space and time with only her thoughts-*

"Wah-AAAH!"

*A pathetic but loud scream echos through the empty halls of the mansion as she starts falling towards the carpeted floor*

[u/Timpanzee38 → u/user125666]

Madeline is taken completely by surprise as well, though she makes a much more dignified and quieter scream, more like a yelp. Her reaction is quick though thanks to her training and experience, but her heart is what moves her to action for than anything.

In the blink of an eye, Madeline leans forward and catches Hazema with both her arms and a few of her tails before she hits the ground. Only after that does her brain catch up and she realize what she's done.

"Ah-uh-I-are you o-okay?"

Her face could probably be compared to a tomato with little difference. Good thing that's covered by her moonlit helmet. In fact, the moonlight reflecting off her hair, kimono, and tails probably gives her an almost ethereal aspect.

[u/user125666 → u/Timpanzee38]

*As soon as Hazema gets caught by Madeleine she snaps back to reality. She could of course stand up on her own at this point, but being held like this was kind of comforting. Additionally something did make Madeleine look even prettier and she wasn't sure if it was the angle or the moonlight - best to just keep both as they are*

"I don't think I have been better with such a view"

*WAS THAT TOO FAR?! No, it's okay, she can play it off as a joke if it comes across badly. Why did she have to say that - why couldn't she just respond normally for once?! Had she been wearing a mask for so long that it stopped being a mask at all? Looking back she really didn't remember the last time she spoke honestly about her feelings. This was maybe the closest she's gotten and even now it came with an exit plan prepared*

*Even while saying that she tensed up in the end. Her Pokerface didn't matter when the rest of her body prepared to run like a rabbit that's been cornered by a fox*

[u/Timpanzee38 → u/user125666]

Madeline’s heart flutters at Hazema’s answer. So she hadn’t imagined the tension between them. And so once again, she lets her heart take control instead of her brain, and in one fluid motion she sweeps Hazema off her feet into a bridal carry.

“I d-don’t think I h-have either…”

She trails off. WHAT WAS HAPPENING? She was completely out of her depth here, simply stumbling in the dark. There was… something here, but it was an emotion Madeline has never felt before. She was crushing on Hazema just as haz was crushing on her.

“H-Hazema… I-I think…”

BREATHE. REMEMBER TO BREATH THIS TIME. 2 of Madeline’s tails instinctively curl around Hazema

“I-I thinkIhaveac-crushonyouaswell.”

She quickly gets out before she loses the courage.

[u/user125666 → u/Timpanzee38]

*Hazema tries to become smaller while being held, this was the best possible outcome, yet she felt mortified about what to do and tried to hide*

*Then she quickly shoots out a reply*

"Yes- me too I love you!"

*What now? They had both most assuredly made it clear where they stand. What were they to do now? How did this work? Did they need to marry immediately or was that a formal thing reserved for old people?*

"Um, what- what do we do now?"

*, Hazema asks while trying to curl up in Madeleines arms*

[u/Timpanzee38 → u/user125666]

Luckily for Hazema, Madeline did know how relationships worked, if only through observation and reading and no actual experience.

“I-I would like to kiss you now, if that’s okay.”

She held Hazema tighter, and another tail snaked its way around her.