Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Amir gracefully skid into the garage, his feet slipping from underneath him a few times as he wobbled, arms flailing as he tried to keep his balance. He finally came to a nerve-rackingly close stop near the garage PC, shivering from the cold. Despite how fast he ran, he still managed to accumulate a small amount of snow on him that made the skin on his face cold to the touch, and he shook wildly to clear it off, like a kubrow running in from a storm as the security doors quickly clamored closed behind him. It had started snowing heavily the night before, and it only started to taper off in the last hour, leaving him slipping & sliding through the streets as he finished his last delivery.

“All set, boss! AHHHH.. Sol, I need a hot shower, Icanbarelyfeelmyface.” He tapped his cheeks lightly, the cold metal contacts of his gloves chilling them even more by accident, and he hesitantly chuckled at Arthur, who stood at the PC staring at him. “OwwOwOw. Nope.. ThatsSOmuchworse.”

The stoic man glared at him, knowing that if he had been even the slightest bit sloppier with his trajectory, he would have plowed right into the desk & destroyed the PC he stood at. Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh as he picked up his clipboard, flipping the first page up, reading for a moment.

“Alright Amir.. That’s your last one for today.. Sign here–” He extended the clipboard out towards him, but before Arthur could even finish, Amir vanished, accompanied by a rush of wind. Papers suddenly spiraled all around him, as the distinct clinking of his ring hitting the glass token jar rang out. With another rush of wind, the papers he had scattered suddenly wooshed towards the automatic glass doors of the garage, following Amir's exit path like air escaping violently from a balloon. Arthur sighed loudly and looked down at the clipboard, flipping the first page up to find Amir’s signature hastily scrawled diagonally across the ‘sign here’ line of the mission form.

“Well.. at least he signed it this time..YOU BETTER’VE ONLY TAKEN ONE TOKEN AMIR! I KNOW HOW MANY ARE IN THERE–!” He turned to shout after him, knowing it was no use & that he was probably already near the entry to the backroom. “–Your husband can come collect their own!!.. Sol damn wanker.” He muttered teasingly under his breath with a light smile as he proceeded to start cleaning up all the bounty postings and other papers Amir had aggressively scattered as he exited the garage.

Amir had indeed used his speed to sprint up the stairs and zip towards the backroom, coming to a clumsy slide of a stop as he reached the portal threshold. Clearing his throat, he smiled and placed his hand on his chest dramatically, taking in a deep breath as he called out sweetly,

“Oohh hoooney, I’m hooome!” and stepped through the portal, the obols ringing through the main room as he entered. “..Heeellooo..?” He questioned as he spun around, looking for any sign of Nyght, but only finding it curiously quiet instead. Suddenly, he felt something rub against his shin roughly, and he looked down to find Nyght’s smallest infested kubrow staring up at him lovingly, looking for attention.

“Oohh, hey Emberscale! Youpoorbaaaaby. Did mom go on a mission to the future? Yestheydid! Ibettheydid!” He reached down and scritched gently under what he thought was probably her chin, causing her infested mandibles to expand horizontally outwards, her long multi-tendriled tongue lazily flopping out to one side & swaying. She panted at him happily with a low rumble, and he tried to stifle a small noise of alarmed confusion, not intending to hurt her feelings, but jerking his hand back instinctively. “Ooohhh that’s NEVER gonna stop being weird. Oooook welp.. Hot shower time.. No, nooo baby you can NOT come with.” He grumpily exhaled, and gently shooed the infested critter away, trying to point her to all the toys in the pet corner of the main room.

Successfully distracting the tiny critter, he rushed up the back stairs to get ready for his shower. Dropping his glasses on the dresser as he grabbed a towel, he swiftly ran back down the stairs & slipped into the makeshift bathroom Nyght had built underneath them. He carefully adjusted the screen that acted as a privacy barrier as he got undressed, throwing his armor, accessories, and towel over the top of it, starting the water.

Putting his hand under the running shower, he loudly gawked at the chilly water, making a small annoyed noise at himself as he realized he had forgotten to put the token in. Just as he reached up to insert it though, he heard something move behind him, & turned to look, finding that some of his belts had fallen off the screen & onto the floor.

“..Babe..?” He questioned softly, waiting for an answer, but not getting one after a few moments. He cleared his throat & shouted a bit louder, in case they had walked by & were now out of earshot, “I-I’m in the shower, if you’re home? I’llbeoutinabit!” He popped the token in, and reached to get the shampoo off the shelf while it warmed up, sighing loudly. As he was about to grab it though, his hand bumped against something solid in mid air that he couldn’t see, and he let out a yelp.

“AHHH, A GHOST?! Oh.. It’s.. just you. Nyght! Notfunnyman!” He grumbled loudly as a giggle that he recognized as Nyght’s voice echoed from the spot his hand had bumped against.

“Sorry sweetie. I wasn’t trying to scare you.” Nyght’s soft voice moved in closer to him as he tracked it moving behind him,

“Y-Yea well.. Imnotscared! You spooked me a little, at best.” He said confidently, as he returned to the shampoo he had been reaching for before, “You know.. for someone who has a shockingly similar amount of anxiety to me, you sure do enjoy sneaking up on people a little too much.” He bemoaned with a grin as he stepped under the water, which was now delightfully hot, exhaling loudly as it swiftly warmed his still somewhat cold skin. As he went to pour some shampoo into his hand however, he felt Nyght’s hand touch his hip, and he instantly froze. Eyeing where he thought they were standing nervously, he felt Nyght press themselves against him from behind, making him gasp as he realized they were naked too.

“Is there.. Something I can do to make it up to you..?” Nyght seductively whispered into his ear from behind, his breath catching in his throat as he felt their other hand slide around to the other side of his hips, slowly moving across his abdomen towards his crotch.

“I-I..uh..” They could feel his breathing accelerate, and they stopped moving for a moment, letting him settle before he continued to talk, “I actually.. wasntsureifyou..? I know.. showers are kind of your.. decompression time. I wasn’t sure if.. youdwanttojoin…”

He curled his lips over his teeth, humming a light moan through his rapid breathing, as their invisible hand suddenly moved downwards. Running their palm slowly along the length of his cock, he finally broke, as a ragged groan to fell from his lips as he leaned his arm against the wall for support. His cheeks rapidly flushed red from the heat of the shower water, but also from their slow, and somewhat unexpectedly sensual touch.

“I decompress in all sorts of ways.” They murmured as a small swirl of purple and cyan sparkles erupted around the two of them, Nyght dropping their void shift so he could see their hands on his body. They planted several light kisses on his back, causing him to inhale shallowly, his cock responding to them by pressing lightly upwards against their hand. Taking a moment however, Nyght could hear his breath quivering, as if he was hesitant, and they slowly moved their hand away, placing them back on his hips, “Buuut, I understand if this makes you uncomfortable. Do you want me to stop?”

“N-No..? M-Maybe? You just.. caught me off guard.. and.. IthinkIlikedit?..LIKEALOT? AND I really.. don’tknowhowtofeelaboutthat..” He managed to strain out roughly between gasping breaths of confused, but aroused surprise. Nyght’s hands slipped off his hips, and he felt their warmth against his back slowly dissipate. Turning quickly, he saw them backing away, hands raised up with a sweet, understanding smile,

“I get it! ..It’sokBabe. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to weird you out.” They apologetically reassured him, but he quickly interjected, grabbing their hand & intertwining their fingers,

“Nonono! Please stay? OhsolabovehowdoI..” He squeezed their hand, face practically glowing with blush as his eyes shimmered with fluster, continuing softly, “Last month, when you were.. Holdingmedown.. while you did things to me.. IREALLYlikedthat.” He made a small series of noises, like he was shuffling through several single syllable words, before finally spitting out, “Wouldyoudothatagain?”

“Ooohhh..” Nyght slowly nodded, and smiled deviously at him, “How about.. I give you a nice, relaxing scrub, while you think of a safe word.. and we’ll see where it goes? That way, we don’t waste this nice hot water, you can get warm & clean, and you have a couple minutes to think.”

“Ohh..yea..! Ok!” He smiled widely at them, the nervous look in his eyes quickly vanishing, as they reached to take the soap from his hand, leaning back as he turned around to face the shower controls.

Slowly, Nyght’s slippery, soaped hands, started rubbing his shoulders, moving down along his back, and then up it again, sliding over his arms. The soft floral scent helped him relax a little, and his shoulders loosened as they moved their hands around to gently scrub his torso, greedily dragging their fingers deeply across his thighs from behind. As they massaged the soap into a lather meticulously through his hair & across his body, they watched his stance finally loosen up, making sure to spend a little extra time massaging his head just how he liked when he needs to unwind.

Their hands finally came around & they gently rested them on his chest as they hugged him from behind. He had been so caught up in the feeling of their hands running all over his body so soothingly, that thinking of a safe word had slipped his mind entirely, as if it had been scrubbed away along with the soap.

“Just the fun bit left.. Do you want to do anything? And.. did you think of a word?” They murmured quietly behind his shoulder.

“I do! Aaand.. Ididnot.” He snickered with a guilty smirk on his face, as they giggled, their hug tightening around him.

“Mmmk.. How about.. Uh.. Maybe just a color? You said traffic signals have three colors.. right? Green is go.. yellow is slow down.. Aaaaand red means stop?”

“Yea.. yeathatsright. That sounds good..!” He breathed out slowly as their hands traveled down to his hips, grabbing tightly, speaking firmly as close to his ear as they could without standing on their tip toes,

“Ok..you’re going to say ‘Yellow’ or ‘Red’ if you need a minute, or if I do something you don’t like & you need me to stop. This time.. if you say ‘No’ specifically, I’m gonna stop too.. Ok? Just in case, cause it’s the first time we’re trying this.. but try to use the color?”

“Right.. Yeayeaok.. like a test drive..?” He looked over his shoulder to them somewhat nervously, and they looked up at him from behind,

“Ya, like a test drive–” Nyght chuckled lightly and slid one of their hands from his hip down to his crotch, slowly starting to run their hand over his cock again, causing him to gasp and lean his arm on the shower wall once more, “–Except you’re the car, and I’m going for a ride.”

“..wha–? oHHhh~!” He moaned loudly, feeling them start to stroke his cock harder, as they nibbled at his back. “Aahh!?”

They smiled and bit him a little harder, causing him to stand up straight with a moan, allowing them to press their whole body against him from behind, causing him to blush and inhale sharply, not expecting them to be quite so aggressive. Their lightly soapy hands easily slid up and down the shaft of his hardening cock, their palm firmly pressing against the base of it as they stroked him off at a slowly increasing pace. Something about their aggressive demeanor felt extra, and was making his mind swirl into a happily thoughtless mood, making him moan loudly. His hand searched the wall desperately, looking for anything he could grab onto for support, finding a towel bar & grabbing it tightly.

Nyght’s other hand on his hip moved to grab his ass greedily, lifting it a bit as they squeezed it, suddenly growling deeply into his back. They kept their steady pace pumping his cock as they groped his ass, but now thrust their hips against him in sync with their hand movements, making his head fall back in delight. A singular thought bubble abruptly floated to the forefront of his mind, causing his face to flush with heat from the extremely lewd thought. For some reason, he imagined Nyght fucking him from behind while they stroked him off, and for some reason, it aroused him even more. The thought bubble popped and vanished however, just as swiftly as it had floated in, returning him to the present moment. Nyght gripped his stiffened cock securely and began to pump it like they were trying to squeeze something out of it, causing him to groan loudly,

“AHHhh.. HHhhhRGHhhh SOSOSOTIGHT..” He managed to squeak out between heavy, breathless moans, leaning his head on the shower wall now, as he felt an orgasm hastily building in him. “N-Nyght! W-Wait..!” He huffed loudly, his other hand reaching for the wall now too as they continued, not stopping, and not slowing down, causing him to slouch helplessly against the wall. He groaned deeply as he started to thrust into their hand, his lustful urges taking over his movements. Before he could gather his thoughts though, he suddenly felt a rough grab on the back of his neck, holding him firmly, causing him to shiver in delight and involuntarily press his cock harder against their hand. Panting loudly, holding onto the towel bar tightly, he shivered as they spoke up,

“That’s my good boy.. But I didn’t say you could cum yet.” Nyghts smooth voice in his ear sent a pulse of desire shooting through him, as their grip on his cock loosened, but only momentarily. Moving around in front of him, they knelt on the floor and looked up at him with a mischievous grin. He breathed hard as he looked down at them, their eyes locking on his as they gently licked the tip of his cock, before delving down onto it as they grabbed his hips, their tongue pressing against the underneath of it as they sucked hard, not even backing off a little. “OooHHH SOL..”

Small sparks started to fly between them and across the wet shower floor, Nyght making a small elated noise as it nipped lightly at their nerves, pulling their mouth off his cock slowly, only to tease the tip it with their lips & tongue, as he called out desperately,

“W-waait AHhhhh!” his orgasm suddenly plateaued as he tried to hold it back, exclaiming loudly, “NYGHT..! AHH! Y-Yellow!! I don’t want to–!” They swiftly registered the safe word usage & carefully stood up to check on him.

“You ok?” They asked lovingly as they shook off some electricity clinging to them.

“–I.. don’t want to shock you again.. by accident!” He scrambled to think between heavy breathes, sitting at the edge of an orgasm cliff he could see the bottom of, as more sparks started to fly & sting significantly more painfully at Nyght. It was exactly the few moments he needed to catch his breath & think for a moment. With one fluid motion, he moved in on them, pinning them against the wall as he scooped up one leg in his hand, lifting it into the air with a grin.

“Ya..” He murmured softly, “..needed a minute to.. ask.. if I can cum now. Please?” He teased as Nyght exhaled a breath they didn’t realize they’d been holding. He leaned in and kissed them deeply, Nyght returning it with enthusiasm, wrapping their arms around his shoulders. He asked quietly again as their lips parted, “Can I..?” while he leaned down to kiss their neck, making them moan loudly as they felt the tip of his cock rub against their dripping wet entrance.

“Yea, come'r.” They softly encouraged him and he leaned forward and up, pushing his length slowly inside them, making them moan loudly as they wrapped a hand through his wet hair, grabbing a handful of it, holding him close to them with their other arm, as they inhaled sharply in delight from him suddenly sliding his full length in so easily, almost to the hilt. “FuuUUUCK... SOL that feels so good..”

Nyght started to moan and scream in delight as he started to thrust determinedly, one arm under their leg to hold it up, the other arm sitting on the wall, supporting his vigorous movement. After a moment of the slower thrusts, he started to grunt intensely and press into them faster more sharply, getting the entirely of his length deep inside. Nyght gasped loudly, starting to scream his name through panting breaths, as their muscles tensed around his cock, causing Amir to let out a loud bellow as he started to cum with ample, forceful jerks into them. Their nails started to dig into his back as they held on tightly through their simultaneous orgasms, Nyght letting out a howl of delight as they gasped loudly, feeling his cock throbbing inside them, their own orgasm racing through them. Breathing heavily, Amir leaned in and kissed them tenderly on the forehead, letting out a rough exhale as he finished, both of them warmly smiling in their shared bliss. They lovingly rested their foreheads together as his thrusts slowed to a stop & they both tried to catch their breath.

“Holy Sol Amir..” Nyght gasped with a smile, as he leaned in to kiss them passionately, Nyght running their fingers in a needy fashion through his soaked hair. As they broke the kiss, he smiled at them and spoke softly through heavy, slow breathes,

“You said.. You wanted a ride..!”

They both chuckled playfully, exchanging several soft kisses as they started coming down, when Amir suddenly yelped. He bucked upwards, his cock twitching deep inside them, causing them let out a squeak of surprise.

“AHH! WHAT!? Are you ok??” Nyght squealed in a slight panic, feeling his cock softening and slipping out as he continued to gasp, a full body shudder rippling across him. He ran out of the water to stand next to them against the wall, & whined with a dejected giggle as he leaned his head on theirs woefully,

“....WATERGOTCOOOOLD.”

Nyght started laughing, shaking their head as they bumped their shoulder against his with a tender smile, Amir reaching back to turn off the water. He turned to stare at them, eyes narrowing, with a devilish grin as he teasingly replied,

“Meanie! We used all my hard earned hot water for sex!”

“I mean.. doyouregretit..?” Nyght grinned deviously at him, and he turned back to them,

“I mean, NO, notforasecond.. But it’s the principle of the matter!” He joked, planting a small kiss on their head, taking a moment to take in the scent of their hair.

“Haha, sorry babe. I’ll get one of my tokens for you in a little bit..” They leaned their head on his shoulder, wrapping their arm around him as they snuggled, turning to plant a few gentle kisses on his shoulder as they ran their hands through his hair lovingly.

Chapter Text

Since his shower had been a little more vigorous than he had anticipated, Amir elected to lay on the couch upstairs quietly for a bit & play on his hand held game device. He laid on his back on the couch, holding the device up over his head as he nimbly tapped the buttons at a blinding speed. As he played, he could hear the whirring sounds of Nyght working at their foundry downstairs. Finishing a level though, he caught a hint of Nyght singing, and lowered his game device to his chest for a moment, sweetly smiling to himself as he listened. It was rare that Nyght became so relaxed, and focused, that they would forget he was home & start belting melodic songs, so he always stopped to enjoy listening to it when he was around,

“When the woorld gets too louuud~

Youu pull mee to saafetyyy,

Your love is my prootectiooon

Ohhh~ when I spiiin in daark clouuuds,

I know theey could break mee,

You turn in my direeection–”

Just as they were about to start the next verse though, Nyght’s kinepage started going off with a harsh ring, their singing instantly ceasing. The kinepage quickly stopped, and the silence that followed felt oddly heavy for some reason. Amir sat up, stretching his neck upwards as he adjusted his glasses, listening carefully. Instead of hearing Nyght returning to their singing, or the sounds of their foundry going though, the obols of the void portal chimed. He stood up, quickly holstering his gaming device as he started to walk over to the balcony, calling out,

“Babe..? Everything ok?” As he looked over the railing though, he could see that there was now a Frost Warframe standing in front of them. Nyght looked slightly alarmed, and Amir leaned to the left over the railing, watching the darkly colored Frost as it abruptly raised its arms, and grabbed Nyght’s shoulders. That definitely wasn’t their Frost.

His heart skipped a beat as his mind flooded with concern, letting it take over control & and rushing him into action. Hopping over the railing, he landed with a roll across the main floor, heading for the Warframe as he sprang upwards underneath it, catching what was the equivalent of its very thick neck with his hand, hoisting it into the air with his forward momentum. Within a second of standing to his full height, he had it pinned against the wall next to their foundry, sparks threateningly erupting from his arms. He breathed heavily as he stared it down, the Frost raising its hands in a passive manner, as Amir’s lightning continued to crackle around him and the foreign Warframe.

His eyes flicked back to Nyght who was blushing heavily from shocked surprise at his burst of strength. They sometimes forgot, that at the end of the day, he was still technically a Warframe, and was perfectly capable of tackling another one. He turned back to the Frost, his low & serious voice practically growling at it,

“Is this guy bothering you?” He pushed it roughly against the pillar, as Nyght yelped and grabbed Amir’s free arm quickly, getting shocked as they held him tightly,

“Nononono! Amir, w-wait! It’s ok!!”

A male voice suddenly buzzed through Frost with a warble of static static, Amir recognizing it as a transference signal maxing out, like Nyght’s did when they spoke from Gara,

“Oohh dude, sorry- I think you’ve got the wrong idea..?”

Amir narrowed his eyes and looked over to Nyght as they began to pull on his arm roughly, trying to get him off the Frost unsuccessfully, loudly adding,

“H-He’s my friend Amir! I was just surprised cause I hadn’t seen him in a long time! I didn’t recognize his Frost at first!”

With this additional information, the Warframe turned its head towards them, yelling in a strangely excited manner for someone caught in a choke hold against a wall,

“OH!! OHOHOH, NYGHT!? Is this the Volt you keep sending me pictures of!?” The Warframe turned back to Amir & looked him up and down curiously, “He’s.. scrawnier than I expected?”

“HEY. I HAVE a name. Also, whatdoyoumeantheysentyoupicturesofme? ALSO ALSO, I’m built for SPEED, THANKYOUVERYMUCH... AND ON TOP OF THAT, -HEY- WhotheHELLareYOUANYWAY?” Amir blurted out at a rapid fire pace, sneering at him. At one final pull from Nyght though, he backed away, dropping his hand from the Warframes neck, letting it fall the short distance to the floor with a dull thunk. The Frost turned to Nyght, as a playfully devious giggle came across the transference signal,

“Hey, if he’s build for speed..does that mean he’s also fast in be–” but before he could finish, they grabbed his helmet & shoved him hard, sending him off balance as he laughed hysterically, seemingly knowing he was in trouble, as Nyght dramatically yelled at him,

“HOLY SHIT, SHADOW, SHUT THE FUCK UP.”

Amir straightened up and unconsciously stepped back a bit, his face flushing with heat suddenly, as if he was the one who had just been yelled at. Having never heard Nyght raise their voice in that way to anyone before, he shook his head & took another step backwards. It had sent a shiver down his spine in an uncomfortable manner, threatening to send him running, recalling how his mother would some times yell at his dad. He looked between Nyght & the Frost Warframe nervously holding his breath, absolutely stunned and confused. It was then that Nyght noticed the look on Amirs face, & realized seeing them like that must have been a bit jarring for him, because they quickly added,

“..S-sorry babe. I’m not mad at him, I promise. Shadow is someone who I love like a brother, and who is VERY lucky I like him, cause he just LOVES to push my buttons–” but before they could finish, the male voice cut in again with a playful tone,

“Pleasehelp, they abuse me all the time–!” He complained dramatically with a wickedly deep cackling laugh, causing a small smile to curl a corner of Amirs lip, assured they were just play mocking one another. He snickered & watched as Nyght proceed to kick the Warframe in the shin, causing him to yelp as they retorted,

“You’re gonna be abused in a minute if you don’t get out of your Warframe so I can introduce you properly, you fuckin kuaka.”

“Oook ok, FIIIINE.” He groaned as a swirl of lavender & purple void energy surrounded Frost, and a man who appeared to be about Nyght’s age, stepped through the Warframe, floating to the floor gracefully.

He stood just about the same height as Amir, wearing similar armor to Nyght, but with poofy sleeves, and a more muted color palette of white gold metal, accented with grey and black fabric. The decorative armor he had on his chest plate was detailed & had a handful of cloth ribbons gracefully hanging down from the metal pieces that clicked onto it, making him look like some sort of dignitary.

His hair was short and flowed loosely, but was similarly vibrant in color to Nyghts, almost the same purple as the cloth parts of their armor, fading into a softer lavender at the tips. His short beard matched his darker hair color, and he had a floral tattoo on the right side of his face that looked like a cherry blossom tree, matching the lavender color of his hair tips. He wore an intricate, blindfold like covering over his eyes, made of a thin cloth mask held aloft by delicate metal filigree.

There was a ghostly glow that permeated through the thin cloth, andpulsed softly,shifting fromlavenderto cyan with a prominent, ever present cyan at the center, the final evidence that he was indeedanother Tenno. The Frost Warframe quickly dropped to its knees behind him as he finished materializing, arms folded, the sparkles fading as swiftly as they had appeared. Nyght smiled & motioned to the man next to them, finally able to introduce him properly,

“Amir, this is Shadow. He’s my best friend from waaaay back when we were kids on the Zariman.. and Shadow, this is my ..husband.. Amir Beckett.”

“You got MARRIED and you didn’t invite me?! You didn’t even TELL ME!?” He shouted indignantly, looking at Nyght with puppy dog eyes, suddenly remembering his manners, as he turned back, reaching out his hand to Amir. He took Shadows hand surprisingly slowly, still not sure of what to make of Nyghts complete character shift when he was around, and cautiously took it, shaking it as Nyght added,

“Itwasarecentdevelopment! I was going to invite you to the wedding ceremony! RELAAAX...” They lamented and waved their hand at him dismissively.

“So.. you’re another Tenno? Like Nyght?” Amir guardedly asked as he folded his arms, Shadow throwing his upwards into the air in an exaggerated fit of pretend rage, as he turned to Nyght.

“Areyouserious? You told me ALL about this fuckin goober, but you didn’t tell him anything about me? I’m HURT!” He dramatically swooned as Nyght turned to Shadow & stuck out their tongue out at him lazily, glaring at him with a mischievous grin,

“WELL if SOMEONE would use the right sol damn frequency when you’re on deep space missions, you might see LITERALLY ANY of the messages I sent you the past 2 weeks.. OR I might be able to.. I dunno ..Invite you to dinner or some shit, so I could INTRODUCE YOU??”

Amir grinned with a light chuckle, watching the two of them interact like loving, rival siblings, playfully taking verbal jabs at one another in turn. It was oddly heartwarming to see in person, not really having anyone like that himself growing up. He imagined that if him and Quincy were on more casual terms, that he could maybe someday have something with him, like what Nyght & Shadow had. The din of their playful arguing quickly blended into background noise as his imagination wandered, laughing heartily at some of Nyghts insults, which they hurled mercilessly at Shadow.

Out of the blue, he realized he had somehow become smitten with them all over again, admiring how relaxed & true to themselves Nyght was around him. They weren’t guarded like usual, and best of all, they weren’t afraid to be loud, excited, & playful during their interactions with him. Amir painfully smiled, realizing some of those behaviors they still kept hidden, even from him.

Chapter Text

As their exuberant verbal back and forth started to settle down, Nyght heard the melodic ring of their kinepage going off again, and reached into their pocket to dig it out. Flipping it open, they saw a message that was relayed from their orbiter, about a new priority mission. Quietly reading it, they turned to Shadow as they finished, reaching to show him the message on the kinepage,

“Did you know about this..?”

“Yes! ..BUT, that’s only part of the reason I came to visit. I SWEAR. It IS however.. a Priority Red, assigned to us, so I wanted to come collect you for it in person.”

“Us?” Nyght looked at the message again, placing one hand on their hip as they reread it, letting the hand with the kinpage fall to their side as they watched Shadow doubtfully. Amir could see their mood instantly shift to their more quiet & reserved self that was their baseline for every day interactions with most of the people in Hollvania, including some of the other Hex.

“Us. Like you and me– specifically. Nuke Squad Prime.” He answered flatly as Nyght looked nervously towards Amir who looks absolutely puzzled by the code name, then back to Shadow with a resigned sigh,

“This is going to take me away for a few days at least.. Why us? What do they need Nuke Squad Prime for specifically?” Nyght narrowed their eyes at Shadow, Amir looking back and forth between the two of them worriedly. He leaned in & reached to take the kinepage from Nyght, who handed it off to him without a second thought, and he opened it, taking a look at the message for himself.

“I mean you read the message..?” Shadow shrugged to Nyght and they mumbled in return,

“The Kinepage has a character limit.. A Priority Red Assassination was all that displayed.. Who is the target that they need us for?” Nyght scoffed as Shadow backed up to lean against the wall behind him, looking pensive.

“..Captain Vala Glarios.” He answered shortly with a shrug. Amir could see Nyght’s eye twitch as they opened their mouth to say something, then quickly closed it. They stared blankly for a moment at Shadow, quietly muttering the Captains last name again, rolling it around in their mouth as if the name felt familiar falling from their lips.

Amir looked back down at the kinepage, reading over the message again, feeling like something was off & interjected, defaulting to his usual behavior of trying to raise the mood in the room,

“I mean.. You don’t have to accept a mission right?” He looked hopefully at Nyght, who stopped muttering as they turned, landing their butt gracefully against their foundry, gently correct him,

“Not this one unfortunately. Priority Red is for.. Specifically skilled Tenno who work in small teams. In this case, me & Shadow.”

Amir grumbled, handing the kinepage back to Nyght with an annoyed exhale. Shadow perked up, bumping Nyght’s shoulder with his, while motioning his hand towards Amir, as he asked steadily,

“Wolfie.. Did you not tell him what we–?” Shadow locked eyes with Nyght & stopped talking immediately when he noticed their brow furling at him, answering him quietly at first,

“Shadow, I didn’t even remember what it was that we did until recently..” They pushed themselves off their foundry and gestured wildly in the air, making wide circular motions with their hands, laughing a bit. “Everything in my head is a jumbled, sol damn mess thanks to Duviri. I’m HONESTLY shocked I remember you! Also, ‘Hey babe, I used to assassinate high priority targets, & I was quite good at it. Me & my best friend even had a team nickname that was infamous among other Tenno’ isn’t exactly something that comes up over dinner.” Nyght snorted ruefully, shaking their head.

“IMEANOKFINE, point taken..?” He laughed loudly and shrugged as Nyght glared at him with a wicked smirk.

“WaitWaitWait... Assassinate..? INFAMOUSNICKNAME? Wolfie..?” Amir repeated with a hint of rising concern in his tone, somehow even more confused than he was a few moments ago, with the addition of the nickname Shadow used specifically to refer to Nyght. They shifted their weight as they grumbled, taking in a sharp inhale, preparing to answer Amirs’ questions,

“That’s.. his nickname for me.” Nyght folded their arms, a strangely bittersweet smile on their face as they continued to explain, “..When we were kids on the Zariman.. He called me that cause I got very good at stalking, killing, & defending myself... alone. I was able to avoid running with the other kids for quite some time.. until the food situation got bad enough that I had to group up with them. Even after I did though, I refused to give anyone my real name, so he just called me ‘Wolfie’ for ‘Lone Wolf’.”

“..Yea.. well..” Shadow now spoke more delicately to Nyght, “..You had a good reason not to, as I later learned.” He shrugged and placed a hand on one hip, as his other reached up and pat softly pat Nyght’s shoulder in an oddly understanding manner.

Amir blinked, his eyebrows raised in surprise, as he tried to process all this new information about his spouse. So many of the questions & thoughts he had all seemed equally important, making it hard to pick out just one thing to process, or ask about.

On the one hand, Nyghts personal nickname was absolutely bad ass, but on the other hand, so many things about their behavior suddenly made much more sense to him. Their constant guard for one, but also their ability to sneak up on any of the Hex, even by accident, many times without even using their void powers.

Above all though, it especially explained their fight of flight response, that functioned on a hair trigger, being stuck in ‘fight’ mode for the most part. For some reason thought, one question popped out of his mouth, before it even had time to filter through the rest of his hectic thoughts,

“..Can I come? On the mission?”