STOCKHOLM // Punz x Reader

Four

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You wake up to what you think is three hours later to what you assumed was Punz talking to himself. You can't make any of it out, however. You groaned as you started getting a headache from the wall-toss from before. You started leaning upward, and Punz stopped talking.

"Didn't realize how easy you were to throw, sorry." He really meant his explanation. Not so much the apology.

"Eh, not like I haven't been knocked out before." You said, staying on the ground. For some odd reason Punz sat there across from you.

"How are you so calm? You keep surprising me, not gonna lie." Punz asked, making you smile.

"I know quite a bit about myself and my abilities. I simply need enough time to think and then most problems can be solved." You replied, head returning to the amount of missions you've done to make sure that all attention was focused on the war with the Falconiers. It was a nice job, you got a variety doing it, which was one of the things you loved about it.

"How can you have time like that if you're in the guard? From what I know, both of them are always fighting the other." Punz said, still curious.

"I'm a special guard." You said, and got up to sit in the bed, falling asleep not long later.

-  -  -

You wake up to what you recognized as Punz's footsteps. Why was he walking, and why wasn't he walking away? You opened your eyes to find yourself in Punz's arms. Realizing that he didn't know you were awake, you closed your eyes to feign sleep.

You started to question just why he was doing this. It was fairly unseemly, and easy to escape from.

Very quietly, you asked, "Punz, where are you taking me now?" You open one eye to see him staring down at you in shock.

"Listen, Y/N, this was my best option." He explained, shaking his head. "It was either to wake you up or carry you. I chose carry because I was afraid of being attacked by you when I woke you up." He sounded genuine.

"Alright, well, can I walk now?" You ask quietly, still unsure if there were others around. He almost dropped you right then and there, but decided on lightly setting you down instead. He stayed behind you for the entire walk, probably to keep you from running.

He led you into a different cell, it had a loaf of bread on a tray on it.

"They won't let you starve yet." Punz said as he closed the bars.

"Sure, a loaf of bread will keep me from starving all of my life." You said as you took a bite, starting to wake up fully. He scoffed at your reaction and slammed the door shut, locking it.

It was a heavy-looking iron door, gray - almost white - in color. With a slight hit on it, you could tell it was sturdy and would not be opening easily anytime soon. You couldn't help but laugh as the thoughts crossed your mind, pressing your face into the small window the door contained.

"Am I that dangerous to you Falconiers or something?" You ask the blond man, who only gave a harsh laugh. He seemed different, now. No longer the somewhat-seeming compassionate man who shyly told you his name.

"No, you really aren't. If I -- a mere assassin -- can take you down as easily as I have, then you are nowhere dangerous." He backed away from the window, sitting back on the ground outside of the door. "In fact, I doubt you're even valuable to us. All you are is that tyrant Ensidione's little plaything."

You blinked in surprise, not expecting any of those statements to leave him in that way. Sure, he was the enemy, and you shouldn't care -- no, you didn't care. Just stop thinking about what he said, it's nothing.

"Listen, bud," you speak calmly, almost as if this were a threat. "You only beat me because I was unarmed. Give me a weapon, then let's see who the real MVP is here."

He laughed, the sound drifting upwards and making your heart flutter. His laugh was as pretty as his eyes, with an icy feel to the sereneness. Like this moment could be frozen in time, and you'd be able to remember forever.

No, focus on escaping. You reminded yourself, ignoring Punz slightly until he said something that struck your interest.

"Hey, maybe after a few weeks of you not trying to escape, you could do a mock duel." He sounded sincere, like he genuinely wished you could. It was heartwarming.

"Yeah," you reply, all thoughts of escape disappearing. "That'd be nice."

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