Tough, Like a Fawn in the Woods With a Machine Gun

34 She/Her

[ezlebe]

Chapters: 1/3 Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters Characters: Lewis Nixon, Richard Winters Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Developing Relationship, Blood and Injury, Pre-Relationship, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood and Violence, McDonald’s, Dreams and Nightmares, Prequel Series: Part 1 of outside the laws of nature Summary:

A stranger is sitting on the big desk up front of the lecture hall when they walk in, arms crossed low over his chest and seeming to watch the students walk in. He’s handsome with a pair of thin wire frames and a square jaw covered by a thick beard, somewhat tussled black hair, and nothing at all like Bollinger – their chemistry professor on the wrong side of seventy.

“Hi there,” the man says, voice lifting to raise over the dull roar of the class, prompting it to quiet. “I’ll be the assistant professor this semester taking over for Bolly, uh…” He obviously peeks down at a paper in front of him. “Professor Bollinger.”

Dick glances over to Rick to share a curious look just as the man turns around to go behind the desk. He then watches the professor start to sketch out a series of vaguely recognizable compounds, arms above his head and shoulders flexing underneath a thin dress shirt, and it takes far too long for Dick to realize the new professor has also been talking.

[ezlebe]

Chapter 2 -

“Hey,” Reagan says, abruptly reaching out and grabbing Dick at the elbow, then just as quickly letting him go with an abashed look on his face. “You stay safe, okay?”

“Okay,” Dick says, slowly, furrowing his brows slightly before turning to look Reagan straight on. “Aren’t you coming to the funeral?”

Reagan hesitates but doesn’t outright reject the offer. “Wouldn’t that be weird?”

Dick shakes his head. “He thought you were alright.”

“Did he?” Reagan says, with a wide blink and a slight upward twist at the corner of his mouth. “You talked about me?”

“Not directly,” Dick says, lying, as he reaches down to pick up his plate and mug from the table. “But in general.”

[ezlebe]

Chapters: 1/3 Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters Characters: Lewis Nixon, Richard Winters Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Developing Relationship, Blood and Injury, Pre-Relationship, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood and Violence, McDonald's, Dreams and Nightmares, Prequel Series: Part 1 of outside the laws of nature Summary:

A stranger is sitting on the big desk up front of the lecture hall when they walk in, arms crossed low over his chest and seeming to watch the students walk in. He’s handsome with a pair of thin wire frames and a square jaw covered by a thick beard, somewhat tussled black hair, and nothing at all like Bollinger – their chemistry professor on the wrong side of seventy.

“Hi there,” the man says, voice lifting to raise over the dull roar of the class, prompting it to quiet. “I’ll be the assistant professor this semester taking over for Bolly, uh…” He obviously peeks down at a paper in front of him. “Professor Bollinger.”

Dick glances over to Rick to share a curious look just as the man turns around to go behind the desk. He then watches the professor start to sketch out a series of vaguely recognizable compounds, arms above his head and shoulders flexing underneath a thin dress shirt, and it takes far too long for Dick to realize the new professor has also been talking.

[ezlebe]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Superman (Movie 2025), Superman - All Media Types Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Clark Kent/Lex Luthor Characters: Clark Kent, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Mercy Graves Additional Tags: Identity Reveal, First Time, enemies to frenemies to lovers, Comic Book Science, Canon-Typical Violence, Series of Vignettes, Lex Luthor Being an Asshole Summary:

Lex snatches the phone and glowers at the paused video with a very different, technically familiar man hunched with their nose in their screen behind White in the same place as the newspaper photo. “That is Clark Kent.”

“Yes, sir,” the CO says, annoyingly hesitant, “I-I mean, he looks a little different in this one, sure –”

“A little?” Lex snaps, then taps a knuckle at the paper on the desk. “Are you fucking blind?”

The CO rolls her lips between her teeth.

Lex growls under his breath and minimizes the browser, bringing up the first social media site that comes up on autocomplete. He searches Clark Kent, taps on the ‘Reporter :)’ result and scowls when he sees it gets updated about once a millennium. It is, also, that same face from the press conference, not the one in the paper. He scrolls, and scrolls, and–

Wait. That’s what it is – it’s all videos. He doesn’t see a single still photo in the lot.

[ezlebe]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Haven (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Duke Crocker/Nathan Wuornos Characters: Nathan Wuornos, Duke Crocker, Audrey Parker (Haven), Evidence "Evi" Ryan Additional Tags: Season/Series 02, Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Past Relationship(s), Breaking Up & Making Up Summary:

“Nathan, Audrey –” Duke gestures at the woman next to him. “This is Evi.”

Evi offers a pointed nod. “Evi Crocker.”

Nathan tightens his jaw, looks at Duke, and speaks without thinking at all. “I never took you for a polygamist.”

“You have a – ?” Audrey stops short, turning on her heels toward Nathan. “What?”

“What the fuck, Nathan.” Duke says, voice pitching, “You’re the one who forced –” His eyes get big while the rest of his face seems to come loose. “You didn’t file the paperwork, did you?”

Nathan wets his lips. “I got busy.” He refuses to look away from the challenge of Duke’s outright disbelief, although Audrey appearing like she’s about to vibrate to pieces about makes him want to jump off the dock.

Duke is uncharacteristically silent for a pair of beats, then scoffs with a jerky gesture. “For a decade?”

[ezlebe]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters Characters: Richard Winters, Lewis Nixon, Joseph Liebgott, David Kenyon Webster, Edward "Babe" Heffron, Anna | Augusta Chiwy, Renee LeMaire, Band of Brothers Ensemble Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Smokejumpers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Wildfires, Canon-Typical Violence, Rescue, Established Relationship Summary:

“Ah, Dick,” Sink says, pressing his lips in a flat line, as he regards Dick for a pair of seconds, then gradually stepping back with a weak cough. “I’ll have to admit I… didn’t expect you this quick.”

“Why haven’t I been notified of being mobilized?” Dick asks, glancing down to Strayer at the desk, then back up to Sink with a slight lift of his chin. He hasn’t felt half this insecure in his position since Sobel got sent down to Idaho. “Half the units are moving, but I haven’t gotten so much as an update.”

“You’re not on this one,” Strayer says, looking up from his toughbook on the desk with a peer that mostly lands on Sink. “We’ve got a conflict with personnel out in the field.”

“Conflict?” Dick repeats, as he looks up at the board, only to pause, staring at the coordinates and the label of the fire reports far too close to his name.

Only, it isn’t his name up there, is it?

[ezlebe]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: ½ Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters Characters: Harry Welsh, Lewis Nixon, Richard Winters Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Mutual Pining, First Kiss, PASIV Devices, Canon Compliant, Simulation Devices, Memory Related, Misconceptions Summary:

Dick stares at the tan, soundproofed wall behind the medical staff more than directly at them, while doing his best to pay more attention to the sting and the ache in the flesh of his arm, than where, and why, and when, and how he got to be sitting across at the desk.

“Did you find the exercise worth your time, Captain?”

Dick thinks about the fact he’d lived four years in a single shift, and almost laughs out loud – though not happily. “My time? Yes, sir.”

[ezlebe]

Chapter 2 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/61746976/chapters/158546632

Dick sees Lewis Nixon – the real one – for the first time crossing a street in front of a café; the one roughly between the apartment that Dick had figured he lived in, after walking the area the night before, and the park that’s in the videos. He has his little dog tucked under his arm and a pair of big sunglasses on, talking into his phone with a visible curl of dissatisfaction at his lips.

He looks good.

He looks a little like he just rolled out of bed, hungover, at 1PM, but good. If anything, it is that which makes Dick get up, as he gets further away, deciding sooner is better than later to bump into him.

[ezlebe]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters Characters: Harry Welsh, Lewis Nixon, Richard Winters Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Mutual Pining, First Kiss, PASIV Devices, Canon Compliant, Simulation Devices, Memory Related, Misconceptions Summary:

Dick stares at the tan, soundproofed wall behind the medical staff more than directly at them, while doing his best to pay more attention to the sting and the ache in the flesh of his arm, than where, and why, and when, and how he got to be sitting across at the desk.

“Did you find the exercise worth your time, Captain?”

Dick thinks about the fact he’d lived four years in a single shift, and almost laughs out loud – though not happily. “My time? Yes, sir.”

[ezlebe]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters Characters: Lewis Nixon, Richard Winters, Harry Welsh, Doris Ryer Nixon Additional Tags: Murder, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Temporary Amnesia, First Kiss, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism Summary:

“What?” Harry says, sputtering while he wipes the blood whisky from his mouth with a gag. “What?”

“You know what,” Lewis says, not bothering any attempt to hide the lisp of his voice. He’s not sure that Harry really does know, though; he knows that Harry’s probably seen Dracula, or Nosferatu, but he might also think that Lewis is just plain cracked.

“I knew there was a reason you never let me have any,” Harry says, kicking at the Vat69 bottle, as he wipes at his face and mouth with a dirty ball of gloves.

Lewis groans while shoving his head into his hands. He stares at the ground, waiting... and waiting, but Harry doesn’t do more than continue to make disgusted noises in front of him. “Why aren’t you off to get a pitchfork and mob?”

“Too tired, honestly,” Harry says, while throwing the gloves into the back of the foxhole. “I can’t run through the snow.”

[ezlebe]

All Sorts (11374 words) by ezlebe Chapters: 1/3 Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters, Kathy Page/OFC Characters: Richard Winters, Lewis Nixon, Kathy Page, Original Female Character(s) Additional Tags: Marriage of Convenience, Mutual Pining, Internalized Homophobia, Period-Typical Homophobia, boston marriage, Misunderstandings, Halloween Summary: “He spoke of you, as well,” Dick lies, tightly, forcing himself to look Kathy in the face with a smile. “And Dorothy.” “Dorothy, yes, a bit of a joke,” Kathy smiles up at Dick, then seems to remember herself when he doesn’t understand. “An in-joke,” she amends, quietly, seeming to feel awkward, all of a sudden losing her confidence with a slight shift on her feet. “We’re up to Salem with Carol. I was hoping, actually, to extend an invitation to come visit.” Dick nods with a drop of his head, vaguely recognizing the name. “Carol is your sister, right?” “Yes, my…” Kathy goes silent for a pair of beats, before she furrows her brows with a different sort of peer up at Dick. She holds it for a few beats, until her face smooths into a startlingly more bland, emotionless smile. “My sister. You can let Lewis know I stopped by?”

[ezlebe]

Chapter 2 -

“But you didn’t…” Nix pauses, then exhales an awkward, sharp breath. “Go out.” “I’m not a shut-in, Lew.” “No, fuck,” Nix says, scrubbing a pair of fingers between his brows with a waggle of his head. “I just mean… some hairpins I dropped in OCS wouldn’t have been picked up.” Dick feels his brow furrow in tight. “Hairpins?” Nix gestures with a spinning sort of hand in front of himself. “Hairpins.” Dick narrows an eye. “Exchanging violets?” Nix says, equally bafflingly, “Wearing suede shoes?” Dick sighs hard through his nose. “You know how I feel about riddles.”

[ezlebe]

Chapter 3 (End) -

Nix wets his lower lip, then rolls his head to the side with an exasperated sigh. “You were right.” “About – ?” Kathy takes a sharp breath. “Oh, was I?” She says, as she sets her hands to her hips. “That will make tonight so much easier.” “Will it?” Nix says, leaning into the banister with a longing glance toward the door behind Dick. “Oh, yes,” Kathy says, with a saccharine sort of pleasantness on her tongue. “It was so hard not to take the micky out of you.” Nix scoffs hard from the back of his throat. “You did.” “Not in any way I really wanted to,” Kathy says, narrowing an eye, then abruptly pausing and turning on both her heels to settle Dick with a sharp sort of smirk where he is a step behind her in the entryway. “You’re far too good looking to be wasting yourself on someone like him.” “Already?” Nix says, protesting ineffectively halfway up the staircase. “I would disagree,” Dick says, a bit sternly, if in a way that he hopes she picks up as playing along while being entirely sincere. “Good,” Kathy says, her voice pitching, just slightly, while a wider smile breaks across her mouth. “You ought to.”

[ezlebe]

All Sorts (11374 words) by ezlebe Chapters: 1/3 Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters, Kathy Page/OFC Characters: Richard Winters, Lewis Nixon, Kathy Page, Original Female Character(s) Additional Tags: Marriage of Convenience, Mutual Pining, Internalized Homophobia, Period-Typical Homophobia, boston marriage, Misunderstandings, Halloween Summary: “He spoke of you, as well,” Dick lies, tightly, forcing himself to look Kathy in the face with a smile. “And Dorothy.” “Dorothy, yes, a bit of a joke,” Kathy smiles up at Dick, then seems to remember herself when he doesn’t understand. “An in-joke,” she amends, quietly, seeming to feel awkward, all of a sudden losing her confidence with a slight shift on her feet. “We’re up to Salem with Carol. I was hoping, actually, to extend an invitation to come visit.” Dick nods with a drop of his head, vaguely recognizing the name. “Carol is your sister, right?” “Yes, my…” Kathy goes silent for a pair of beats, before she furrows her brows with a different sort of peer up at Dick. She holds it for a few beats, until her face smooths into a startlingly more bland, emotionless smile. “My sister. You can let Lewis know I stopped by?”

[ezlebe]

Chapter 2 -

“But you didn’t…” Nix pauses, then exhales an awkward, sharp breath. “Go out.” “I’m not a shut-in, Lew.” “No, fuck,” Nix says, scrubbing a pair of fingers between his brows with a waggle of his head. “I just mean… some hairpins I dropped in OCS wouldn’t have been picked up.” Dick feels his brow furrow in tight. “Hairpins?” Nix gestures with a spinning sort of hand in front of himself. “Hairpins.” Dick narrows an eye. “Exchanging violets?” Nix says, equally bafflingly, “Wearing suede shoes?” Dick sighs hard through his nose. “You know how I feel about riddles.”

[ezlebe]

All Sorts (11374 words) by ezlebe Chapters: 1/3 Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters, Kathy Page/OFC Characters: Richard Winters, Lewis Nixon, Kathy Page, Original Female Character(s) Additional Tags: Marriage of Convenience, Mutual Pining, Internalized Homophobia, Period-Typical Homophobia, boston marriage, Misunderstandings, Halloween Summary: “He spoke of you, as well,” Dick lies, tightly, forcing himself to look Kathy in the face with a smile. “And Dorothy.” “Dorothy, yes, a bit of a joke,” Kathy smiles up at Dick, then seems to remember herself when he doesn’t understand. “An in-joke,” she amends, quietly, seeming to feel awkward, all of a sudden losing her confidence with a slight shift on her feet. “We’re up to Salem with Carol. I was hoping, actually, to extend an invitation to come visit.” Dick nods with a drop of his head, vaguely recognizing the name. “Carol is your sister, right?” “Yes, my…” Kathy goes silent for a pair of beats, before she furrows her brows with a different sort of peer up at Dick. She holds it for a few beats, until her face smooths into a startlingly more bland, emotionless smile. “My sister. You can let Lewis know I stopped by?”

[ezlebe]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: ½ Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters Characters: Lewis Nixon, Richard Winters Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Torture, Kidnapping, descriptions of violence, Protectiveness, Codependency, McDonald’s, Shapeshifters - Freeform, Getting Together, POV Alternating Summary:

“So tell me then,” the shapeshifter says, voice actually dropping into a whine. "What gave it away?“

Dick tightens his grip on the knife out with a hard clench of his jaw. “He’s never polite before noon, firstly, he’s got a muscle tick in his left eyebrow, secondly, and he never asks me if we’re going to go, he just says so,” he says, hearing his voice growing louder, the back of his throat tightening up, as emotion threatens to break it. “And he wouldn’t kiss me.”

“He wouldn’t – ?” The shapeshifter pants, “You serious? Fuck.” They start to laugh more croaking noises. “He definitely thinks about it enough that it seemed like he did it for real.”

[ezlebe]

Ch 2 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/57355954/chapters/146393788

Lewis feels a harsh twist beneath his sternum. “What did he do?” Dick just returns to freeing Lewis from the wall. A loud snap of the cutters echoes around the small space, then a cascade of metal discordant against the floor. “Seriously?” Lewis stretches his arms forward to cut the tingling from the tightness of his shoulders. He scowls down at the actual medieval cuffs around his wrists, irked at the sight of them, then looks back to Dick with a lift of his brows. “Was it bad?” Dick clears his throat, back to playing arch. “I don’t want you to –” Lewis turns around to stand up on his knees, quickly catching himself when he nearly tumbles straight onto his face at the sudden movement. He squeezes his eyes shut against a brief spin, then forces them back open.  “Fuck, it was that bad?” “No, you –” Dick rolls his lips together, then hums and his head tips to the side. “You didn’t do something.”

[ezlebe]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters Characters: Lewis Nixon, Richard Winters Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Torture, Kidnapping, descriptions of violence, Protectiveness, Codependency, McDonald's, Shapeshifters - Freeform, Getting Together, POV Alternating Summary:

“So tell me then,” the shapeshifter says, voice actually dropping into a whine. "What gave it away?"

Dick tightens his grip on the knife out with a hard clench of his jaw. “He’s never polite before noon, firstly, he’s got a muscle tick in his left eyebrow, secondly, and he never asks me if we’re going to go, he just says so,” he says, hearing his voice growing louder, the back of his throat tightening up, as emotion threatens to break it. “And he wouldn’t kiss me.”

“He wouldn’t – ?” The shapeshifter pants, “You serious? Fuck.” They start to laugh more croaking noises. “He definitely thinks about it enough that it seemed like he did it for real.”

[ezlebe]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters Characters: Lewis Nixon, Richard Winters Additional Tags: Episode: s01e05 Crossroads (Band of Brothers), Mutual Pining, Codependency, Introspection, Internalized Homophobia, Canon Divergence - Paris, Bruises Summary:

“Nix?” Dick says, jumping from the jeep, immediately on alert with his eyes moving behind Lewis before setting onto his face. “Something wrong?”

Lewis waves a hand toward the jeep, urging Dick to get back in, as he throws his rucksack in the back. “You forgot me.”

Dick furrows his brow, eyes following and bewildered while Lewis jumps in the jeep. “What?” He says, then turns bodily when Lewis moves to get in the back. “What happened to heading to England?”

“Slipped my mind you’d never been to Paris,” Lewis says, smirking some, then gesturing forward with a spin of fingers at the open door until Dick climbs in front. “You need a guide.” 

[ezlebe]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Joseph Liebgott/David Kenyon Webster Characters: Joseph Liebgott, David Kenyon Webster Additional Tags: Post-War, First Time, Gay Bar, Mutual Pining, Writers, Reunions Summary:

It’s just Joe's luck that he ends up reading the entire damned book in one go. The writing is good enough, he thinks, but mostly what keeps him going is he lived it.

Okay, a lot of it. He didn’t exactly live much, or none at all, of the relentless fucking. The book is from the view of a man who he can hear perfectly despite having not seen in nearly two years; a man who is assuredly not called Palme, nor who got a pass made on him by any sort of Major Summers, nor endlessly pursued a Corporal called Lovegod of all the unoriginal goddamned things.

Joe has work in five hours carting around morons and good working people, and he did not ask to be turned into some kind of fictional sex fiend made-to-measure for David fucking Webster.

[ezlebe]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Band of Brothers (TV 2001) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters Characters: Lewis Nixon, Richard Winters, Harry Welsh Additional Tags: Sleepwalking, Misunderstandings, Cohabitation, Codependency, Dreams Summary:

Lewis looks up from the contract, raising a brow, then stumbles up from the sofa when he sees Dick standing in the doorway. It’s not so odd, in itself, but Dick is in his skivvies and blinking into space, like he’s not quite sure why he’s even standing up.

“Hey, there,” Lewis says, reaching out and touching at a clammy shoulder with a wince. “You look peaky – you feel okay?”

“Nix is gone.”

“You found him, who else – ?” Lewis pauses, lifting slightly on his toes to better peer up at Dick’s face, into his half-open, glassy eyes, and falling back flat on his feet when he realizes Dick must still be asleep. He’s never seen him sleepwalk, or talk, but… it’s not necessarily impossible. “Hey, you need to go back to bed… I think.”

“Taylor sent Nix to Varsity.”

“What a bastard,” Lewis says, wry, as he gently pushes Dick up the stairs.

“The plane exploded,” Dick says, his voice tightening, lifting some from the bland drone.

[ezlebe]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Call of Duty (Video Games) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Nila "Nova" Brown/Rozlin "Roze" Helms Characters: Nila "Nova" Brown, Rozlin "Roze" Helms Additional Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Cunnilingus, Fingerfucking, Face-Sitting, Rescue Missions, Mercenaries, injuries Summary:

“Cor, look who it is,” Nila crows, dropping to a knee over the concrete pit, “By any other name –”

“Fuck off,” Roze snaps, blinking up from the pit with a typical scowl.

Nila makes a show of tutting, folding her hands on her thigh. “Now, is that any way to treat your rescuer, love?”