Taint

6. Birthday Suit (of Armor)

Reich's Arch Castle - Armory

11:32 pm

Leo dabbed the rag in his hands in a bottle of rubbing alcohol and ran it over the Sterling Valor laid over his knees. He scrubbed away the caked blood in practiced, mechanical strokes, revealing swathes of smooth steel underneath. When it was more or less clean, he switched to polish, meticulously buffing every single surface until he could see his reflection in it: an expressionless, bloodied face smeared in dirt and grease.

As he worked, he subconsciously listened for the sounds of soft panting and battle cries on the other side of the armory.

"Your flank is open," he called without even looking up. He would be right, invariably. Her flank was always open.

"Don't tease me..." He heard the feminine voice getting louder as she approached, her words interspersed with short pants for air.

"Nikola..." he muttered warningly as he saw her walk around behind him out of the corner of his eye. His hyperacute combat radar homed in on her, using a combination of the sound of her footsteps and the hairs on the back of his neck to pinpoint her location. He really didn't like having people in his blind spot. So he'd eradicated it.

Nikola was the exception. His spaulders thudded loudly against the floor as she lifted them off his shoulders. It was like the weight of the world flew away with them.

"Watch it," he said half-heartedly, tensing in anticipation. Nikola's fingers touched down on his tense muscles like rainfall from the heavens. Leo's eyes slipped closed as her fingertips kneaded into the stubborn knots and catches between his sinews.

"You really need to take those off more often," Nikola's words drifted like a haze through his mind awash with a new wave of pleasure at every move she made.

"Mmhm," an off-key tone sounded through his lips. A tiny smile curled Nikola's lips. She was rather proud of her ability to render a battle-hardened warrior incapable of sensate speech. She knew where all his major pressure junctures were: where his spaulders touched down on his shoulders, and where the strap that held the sheath of his father's greatsword touched down.

Nikola also happened to know that this was the best time to spring things on her uptight bodyguard.

"Soooo," she began, "remember what you promised me?"

"I dunno, Nikola..." Leo struggled to find the will to complain.

"You promised!" she insisted. Leo groaned.

"It's really not proper..."

"You're just a prude."

"If you put half this effort into your etiquette classes," he muttered, though he knew she wouldn't. Not today, not tomorrow, not as long as her kingdom was under siege by soulless monsters. The Council of Advisors put together to run the kingdom until she was could, hadn't really gotten the memo. While the world deteriorated beyond their walls, they simulated tea parties with their princess.

Leo also knew he wasn't exactly helping the royal agenda, and it became cringingly obvious as Nikola stepped back in front of him. She was wearing a pair of borrowed pants, her long petticoat tightened around her waist with a belt in a tunic fashion. Princess gowns, after all, weren't terrible convenient for secret swordfighting lessons with your bodyguard.

"Who's there to be polite to, anyway?" she snorted, "The horses?"

"How about me every now and then?" he smiled.

"Nyah," Nikola stuck her tongue out at him and then laughed. "Oh, pleeeease, Leo? I've been waiting for this forever!"

"Fine," he sighed, setting his sword aside and getting to his feet. Leo towered over the princess as he stepped in front of her, but she glowed with excitement in his shadow. "Ready?"