In The Shadow of the Valley Pt. 5 (Squire!Thaddeus x Knight!Reader)
Pairing: Thaddeus x Knight!Reader
Word Count: 2.7k
Warnings/Tags: graphic-ish violence, blood/milddd gore?, no use of y/n, placeholder knight name for the reader, mostly gender-neutral but reader is called "sir" at some points, the reader is called "my lord" sometimes too, gun use, mentions of cannibalism, cannibals, torture, death/murder (of non essential characters)
Summary: You're a knight sworn to the Brotherhood of Steel, and you've just lost your asshole squire to a yao guai. Maybe it's for the better, as you prefer to work alone anyway. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood thinks otherwise and quickly sends you a replacement. Turns out that the replacement is someone you never wished to meet again, but thankfully, he didn't know it was you! Not yet, at least.
TDLR; What if Thaddeus was your squire instead of Maximus?
In The Shadow of the Valley Pt. 3 (Squire!Thaddeus x Knight!Reader)
Pairing: Thaddeus x Knight!Reader
Word Count: 2.6k
Warnings/Tags: future graphic violence, no use of y/n, placeholder knight name for the reader, mostly gender-neutral but reader is called “sir” at some points, the reader is called “my lord” sometimes too, gun use?, not a whole lot going on in this one
Summary: You’re a knight sworn to the Brotherhood of Steel, and you’ve just lost your asshole squire to a yao guai. Maybe it’s for the better, as you prefer to work alone anyway. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood thinks otherwise and quickly sends you a replacement. Turns out that the replacement is someone you never wished to meet again, but thankfully, he didn’t know it was you! Not yet, at least.
TDLR; What if Thaddeus was your squire instead of Maximus’?
((A/N)) SO sorry for how long this took, I was so stumped the second half of this all week, so I just split it in half for now ToT. A bit shorter than I wanted it to be, but I figured I’d get something posted. Also shout out to wiki how for teaching me how to teach someone how to shoot a handgun lmao. If it’s inaccurate im sorry, I’ve never handled a gun in my life
That night went well, as far as you were concerned. Once it got late, Thaddeus insisted on taking the first watch, and while you were hesitant, you eventually relented after he started going on a spiel about having to prove himself to you. You slept buried in your sleeping bag and with your face covering on, and were happy to see it was still there when you woke up to take over the watch. Hopefully, he hadn’t gotten curious while you were sleeping.
What you weren’t too happy to find, however, was that you woke up on your own. After a bit of investigation, you found Thaddeus fast asleep on the outskirts of the camp, having slumped over when he drifted off. You didn't know how long he’d been asleep, and you debated waking the man up and scolding him, but you’d rather do that in the morning when he was more or less coherent. So instead, you settled down next to him and kept watch for the rest of the night and early morning.
When he finally awoke as the sun was rising, he almost didn’t realize where he was. It wasn't until he sat up, groggily rubbed his face, and then caught you staring at him out of the corner of his eye did it finally register in his sleep-fogged mind.
He nearly shrieked as he did, stumbling back and nearly falling over again. “Jesus, what the fuck! What are you doing?” Thaddeus exclaimed, putting a hand over his chest to calm his beating heart. You continued to stare at him, and a quirk of your brow finally got the gears turning his head as he deeply frowned.
“Don’t tell me I fell asleep.”
“You fell asleep,” you echoed, crossing your arms as an amused look shone through in your eyes. It was your turn to be the one jumping back when Thaddeus suddenly lurched forward, getting on his hands and knees to bow to you.
“I-I’m so sorry, Knight Mire! It-it won’t happen again, I-I swear!” He cried, squeezing his eyes shut as he expected some sort of scolding or punishment. All you did was grimace, scooting away from him a bit.
“God, dude, don't do that,” you groaned, not sure how to feel about Thaddeus begging for your forgiveness at your feet, “get up, it’s fine. Just… don’t do it again.”
Thaddeus’ head snapped up at your uncharacteristic reassurance, his eyes wide and unsure. “Wh-what?”
You sighed, pushing yourself up from where you were sitting and dusting yourself off. “I said get up. We have shit to do,” you instructed, refusing to repeat what little kindness had peeked through in your words. You stalked off to gather your stuff before Thaddeus could question you further, leaving your flabbergasted squire in your wake. He was frozen in place for a moment, the rocks on the ground still biting painfully into his knees as he watched you start to pack up camp.
You hadn’t punished him. Hell, you’d hardly even raised your voice at him. Thaddeus couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his face, and although he was still a little confused at your behaviour, he jumped to his feet once he realized he should probably be helping you.
The two of you ate quickly and packed up camp easily enough, but you stopped Thaddeus before he lugged that pack back onto his shoulder.
“You need this,” you mused, holding up a spare pipe pistol for Thaddeus since it seemed like he had misplaced his other gun in the fight with the dogs yesterday. You saw the rejection on his face before he had even opened his mouth with how he was nervously wringing his hands out.
“Uh, I… I don’t want it,” Thaddeus mumbled, refusing to meet your eye.
Your gaze hardened. “You need a gun, Thaddeus. It’s not a suggestion.”
Thaddeus seemed to get more nervous—or flustered if the pink tint of his cheeks was any indicator—by the minute. “Yeah, well it won't do me much good. I’m a terrible shot…” He mumbled, his brows furrowing. He hadn’t been so averse to using a gun yesterday, so you could only assume he was nervous he would completely miss again in front of you, his knight. You huffed an amused breath out of your nose at the thought.
“You better get practicing, then,” you chirped, shoving the pistol into Thaddeus’ unwilling hands. You were already stepping into your power armour by the time he decided to open his mouth to protest again. He instinctively shrunk back from your seven-foot metal frame as it powered up, his jaw clicking shut as his desire to argue swiftly left him.
You tilted your head at him, a bit surprised at the sudden change in demeanour. Was the armour really that intimidating? You supposed you wouldn’t know since you were usually the one wearing it. He was turning away to grab the pack before you had a chance to tease him about it.
Once the two of you had gathered everything, you were on your way again. You kept your eye on Thaddeus, making sure he could still carry the pack with his injured arm. He seemed to be doing alright as far as you could tell, as chatty as ever, but a quick check-in wouldn’t hurt.
“How’s that arm feeling?”
Thaddeus perked up at your sudden question, a confused expression falling across his face.
“Huh?”
You nodded at his bandaged arm, and he had to look down at it before he even seemed to remember what had happened to it.
“Oh! Pshh, yeah, it doesn’t even hurt anymore,” he waved you off, acting as if the injury never bothered him to begin with. You skeptically nodded, trying to pick out any irregularities in his behaviour. It was difficult to discern what was normal for him now since he had been acting so differently compared to when the two of you were younger. After a few minutes, you gave up on figuring out if his arm was still bothering him as he continued to talk your ear off.
Suddenly, Thaddeus hesitated for a moment, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he debated what he was going to say next. Eventually, he spit it out, nervously stumbling over his words.
“So… um- where are we going?”
He seemed reluctant to bring it up again, seeing as the last time he did, you had basically threatened his life over it. You bit the inside of your cheek, debating if it was worth telling him.
…Fuck, you might as well.
You explained that the Brotherhood had sent you to scout some raider group rumoured to be using post-war tech for… less than moral reasons. The Brotherhood wasn’t exactly sure what they were up to, so that's where the two of you came in.
Thaddeus’ face screwed up in confusion: this is the information you’d withheld from him? “It’s just a scouting mission?”
“You make it sound simple. We have no idea what we’re going up against,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes at Thaddeus’ underestimation of your task. “We don’t know how many of them there are, and we don’t know the extent of their tech supply or their knowledge of it…”
Thaddeus seemed to be getting more nervous the more you talked.
“So there’s a chance this could end up being a… a suicide mission?”
You glanced at Thaddeus, furrowing your brows at his immediate thought of death.
“Well the plan is to make it out alive with useful information, so I hope not,” you snorted, “all we have to do is get close enough to scope out exactly what we’re up against, and then we’re out of there. In and out, quiet as hell, that’s it. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
Your words seemed to soothe Thaddeus’ nerves, but they had the opposite effect on your own: it would be a problem with Thaddeus bumbling around like a newborn brahmin. You spared another glance at him, watching as he fiddled around with the spare pipe pistol you’d given him. The weapon looked alien in his hands, and he handled it as such, his grip on the gun unsure and stiff. He claimed he was a terrible shot—you’d seen him yesterday with the hounds, you didn't doubt his claim—and it had your stomach churning with worry.
You stopped abruptly in place, Thaddeus immediately on alert as his head swivelled to try and spot danger. “What? What is it? Are there more mutts?” He cried, instinctively backing up so that he was closer to you.
You furrowed your brows, looking down at Thaddeus’ panicked face. “What? No,” you promptly answered, opening up your power armour again to step out. You made sure your face covering was still in place as you stood before Thaddeus, who looked at you with a puzzled expression.
“You said you were a terrible shot, right?” You questioned bluntly, causing Thaddeus’ face to flush.
“U-uh, yeah…”
You nodded, brushing past Thaddeus and unholstering the gun from his belt in the process. Your eyes searched for an easy target out in the barren wasteland, where there happened to be a convenient road sign a little ways back.
“Have you ever even been taught to use a gun properly?” You prodded, turning back around to stare at Thaddeus. He shrunk back under your gaze, a bead of sweat welling up on his temple.
“Of course! I just… um- didn’t pay attention all that much…” Thaddeus practically mumbled the last bit, clearing his throat to try and cover up his confession, but you’d heard it loud and clear. You rolled your eyes; of course, that was one of the lessons he skipped out on in favour of bullying Maximus.
“Great. Today’s your lucky day then,” you muttered, stepping back over to Thaddeus and putting the gun back in his hand. “We’re only spending one bullet on this.”
Thaddeus quickly nodded, still feeling a bit embarrassed that they even had to do this right now. He shrugged the pack off and let it drop to the floor with a thud, stretching his shoulder as it and his back were relieved from the strain of the weight.
You suddenly came up behind Thaddeus, and once he realized what you were doing, he nearly jumped out of his skin. He couldn’t stop his trembling as you took his hands in yours, your chest pressed against his back as you brought his hands up in front of him.
”Relax,” you huffed, but the close proximity of your voice to his ear had the exact opposite effect on Thaddeus. His arms were stiff, his breathing was shallow, and he was trying to keep his face from burning red. You chalked it up to embarrassment, paying Thaddeus no mind as you fiddled with his hands around the gun.
“Make sure your fingers aren’t near the slide,” you chided, moving his fingers down the grip a bit so they wouldn’t get nipped by the slide going back, “and don’t hold on so tight.” You sighed, noting how Thaddeus’ knuckles were practically turning white as the gun shook in his hands.
“S-sorry,” he breathed quietly, audibly swallowing as he loosened his hold a bit and tried to stop his quivering. Aside from the slight shake, he was holding the gun pretty well. That was a good start.
A glance down had you frowning again: his stance was totally off, and you wouldn’t be surprised if he were to fall to his ass from the gun’s recoil. You were quick to knock Thaddeus’ legs further apart with your knee, causing the man’s breath to hitch. You paid him no mind, nudging his non-dominant foot forward a bit too. Thaddeus nearly lost all composure when you slid your hands down his arms, a shiver running down his spine as you adjusted them to give him proper support. This was all seeming far too intimate for him, and much too annoying for you.
“I assume you know how to aim?” You quipped, pulling a scoff from Thaddeus’ lips.
“Of course I do!” He snapped, but you could only chuckle as you watched his ears turn red. Thaddeus proceeded to look down his sights with a determined expression, which was quickly undermined by your hand nudging his up just a touch higher. He glanced back at you with a glare that you were incapable of taking to heart when you saw how red his face was.
Despite this, you were quick to take your hands off of him, backing up with them halfheartedly thrown in the air. “Sorry, sorry,” you mumbled out, an amused smile hidden by your face cover. You crossed your arms as you watched Thaddeus relax a bit now that you weren’t pressed up against his back.
“Remember to breathe,” you reminded him, “and follow through when you fire.”
“What does that even mean?” Thaddeus whined, attempting to slow his breathing now that he had some space.
You rolled your eyes again. “Keep holding the trigger back after you shoot and don’t move your arms an inch. Gives you a more accurate shot.”
“Okay, okay, geez,” Thaddeus muttered, trying to keep all of your tips in order.
“I thought you wanted my help?” You mused, entertained by how frustrated Thaddeus was getting at your nitpicking.
He sucked in a shaky breath, ignoring your remark, before calling out, “C-can I shoot now?”
“Yeah, whenever you’re ready,” you shrugged, sidestepping so that you weren’t behind Thaddeus anymore and could see the street sign. A few tense seconds ticked by before Thaddeus pulled the trigger, a loud bang emanating out and echoing in the wide-open wasteland. Thaddeus’ shoulders jumped at the sound, slightly throwing off his shot, but the quick pinging sound that followed had both of you blinking in surprise.
He hit it.
Just the edge of it, but he hit it.
Thaddeus turned back to you with a grin so wide it genuinely warmed your heart.
“I did it! I actually did it!” He cheered, throwing his hands in the air and obnoxiously whooping in excitement. A display that would’ve originally had you agitated now brought a smile to your covered face, laughing at Thaddeus’ elation.
“You sure did, bud,” you quipped, crossing your arms as a sense of pride welled up in your chest, “really showed that sign who’s boss.” Thaddeus stuck his tongue out at you, blowing a raspberry at your remark and pulling another warm laugh from your throat.
“Alright, alright,” you chuckled, waving Thaddeus off and turning to get back in your power armour, “let’s get a move on. We’ve still got quite a bit of ground to cover.”
Thaddeus holstered his gun once he saw you getting back in your armour, his smile stuck to his face as he watched you. He was trying hard to ignore the butterflies in his stomach that were caused by your laugh; a sound he’d scarcely heard but had already grown attached to. He cursed at himself, his eyes darting away from you as his face flushed softly again. He couldn’t be thinking of you like that, not when he was your squire.
Your garbled voice pulled him out of his stupor, “You coming?”
Thaddeus’ head snapped up like that of a puppy’s, the reddening of his face obvious as he fumbled to get the pack back onto his shoulder.
“Y-yeah, obviously,” he scoffed sarcastically, pulling another chuckle from you. This time he simply couldn’t ignore the fluttering in his chest or the way a smile threatened to break out into his face just from the sound.
You tilted your head as if motioning him to follow you. “Hurry up then, slowpoke.”
In The Shadow of the Valley Pt. 4 (Squire!Thaddeus x Knight!Reader)
Pairing: Thaddeus x Knight!Reader
Word Count: 4.6k
Warnings/Tags: graphic-ish violence (no major gore), no use of y/n, placeholder knight name for the reader, mostly gender-neutral but reader is called “sir” at some points, the reader is called “my lord” sometimes too, gun use, mentions of cannibalism, cannibals, torture, death/murder (of non essential characters)
Summary: You’re a knight sworn to the Brotherhood of Steel, and you’ve just lost your asshole squire to a yao guai. Maybe it’s for the better, as you prefer to work alone anyway. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood thinks otherwise and quickly sends you a replacement. Turns out that the replacement is someone you never wished to meet again, but thankfully, he didn’t know it was you! Not yet, at least.
TDLR; What if Thaddeus was your squire instead of Maximus’?
(A/N) hey pspspsps come get y’all FOOD (i can’t be bothered to format it to tumblr anymore, here’s the ao3 link)
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