(Day 6 of @rqgfemslashweek - RQG Specials)
Just a calm summer’s day for these two monster hunters <3
[ID: Digital art of Bette and Cleo from RQG’s MOTW Special. The drawing is in sepia tones with a texture to replicate an old photograph. They are sitting on the back of a car parked on the side of the road in a hilly countryside. Bette is a white woman with long hair held in a headband. She is wearing a button down shirt with a large belt and a long skirt. A ghost trail is coming out of the bottom of the skirt where her feet should be. Cleo is a black woman with a short afro held in a bandana. She is wearing a sleeveless sweater tank and bell bottom pants. Bette is smiling sadly while looking at Cleo, who's smiling with her eyes closed relaxedly. Across the top are the words “Bette + Cleo, Summer 1975” written in pencil. End ID]
Kiko has an unusual fear for someone who works on airships.
“Look! You can see my village from here!”
Kiko had been eager to see the area where Azu grew up. She’d barely spent any time in Africa at all, and never any time in Kenya, as her jobs on airships tended to remain more localized around Japan. But as things grew more serious with Azu, she wanted to learn and experience every aspect of her life.
However, that now meant that she was stood at the top of a mountain, with Azu at her side and a dangerous drop in front of them. Sure, they weren’t that close, but close enough.
“Oh, yeah! There it is!” Kiko replied, hoping that Azu didn’t notice the tremor in her voice.
She did, though, of course.
“Are you alright?” She turned to Kiko. “Was it the hike up here?”
Kiko shook her head. “I’m fine. I just… yeah, I’m fine.”
Azu slumped. “Was it something with my family? I know they can be a lot, and we have spent several days with them…”
“No! Your family is amazing, Azu, seriously!” Kiko reached out and grabbed Azu’s hand, squeezing it gently. “I mean, I do appreciate the break of climbing up here so we can take a few days for ourselves, but… that’s not what’s going on. I’m…” She took a deep breath. “I’m afraid of heights.”
For a moment, Azu stared at her, and then she laughed.
“What? It’s not funny!”
“No, no, it isn’t, I am sorry,” Azu said, and she covered her smile behind a hand. “It’s just… you work on airships. Flying ships! In the sky! Hundreds of feet in the air!”
“Yeah, and it’s fine as long as I’m on the ship. If I don’t look over the edge, it’s all good. But here, there’s just a bit of rock and then a very long drop and no harness to catch me if I fall.”
“You don’t have to stand so close to the edge, then,” Azu suggested, and she took several steps back in demonstration. Kiko moved back as well, and then Azu wrapped her arms around Kiko’s waist from behind. “And I may not be a harness, but hopefully I can catch you if you start to fall.”
Kiko smiled and leaned her head back against Azu. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry for laughing.”
“It’s alright, it is pretty funny when you think about it.”
They both chuckled and held onto each other as they stared out at the horizon. Azu started to point out other interesting areas, offering up factoids and stories from her life. Kiko listened intently, eager to know more about Azu as she remained safe and secure in her arms.
(Day 3 of @rqgfemslashweek - AU/Canon Divergence)
May I interest you in a very elaborate RQG AU that ultimately leads up to Azu and Kiko having a dramatic sword fight? (more details on what I call the Mutiny AU in the read more)
[ID: Digital art of Azu and Kiko on the deck of the airship in the rain with two other drawings on the sides. Azu is a muscular Black orc with close shaved hair. She is wearing full body armor and carries an axe. Kiko is a muscular Japanese human with dark hair that goes to her mid-back. She is wearing a plain sleeveless shirt, pants, boots, and a bandana around her neck and carries a pirate sword. The main image is of Azu facing up towards Kiko, who looks down angrily as she stands with a foot up on a railing on the deck of the airship. Behind her at the ship’s wheel is Amelia Earhart, a white gnome with short hair wearing a large coat and goggles.
In the drawing in the top left, Kiko is yelling angrily and swinging her sword down on Azu. Azu is straining back tears as she holds up the handle of her axe to block the attack. In the drawing in the bottom right, Kiko is sitting on the ground with a hand held around her other arm as if injured. Azu, with a fresh cut on her face, is kneeling in front of her, axe held down, bitterly smiling as she talks to Kiko. The background is dark and near monochrome with some blue and purple hues. The sky above is stormy with a streak of lightning. End ID]
So remember when during that first date where Kiko said that she would follow Earhart anywhere because of her connection to her adopted dad? I think that was a set up for if Zolf’s mutiny plan had to have happened that there would be at least one person on the ship who would not want to join in. So this AU is basically: Earhart starts steering the ship directly into harm’s way without the crew’s approval, they start the mutiny, the only one not on board is Kiko so she breaks out into full swashbuckling pirate mode to protect Earhart.
(I am by no means an experienced fic writer so here is the scene summed up to the best of my ability. To set the mood, imagine they are on the deck of the ship as it passes through a dramatic thunderstorm)
Knowing that she is horribly outnumbered, Azu attempts to talk to Kiko to convince her to give up peacefully. Kiko feels cornered with Earhart behind her so she jumps down to start attacking Azu. (insert heavy rainfall here) Azu, following Aphrodite’s “Do no more harm than necessary”, and also because this takes place after their first date so Azu already has feelings for Kiko, can’t bring herself to fight back. Even alone Azu could easily take down Kiko but that’s not what she wants. All Azu can do is block her attacks and attempt to talk her out of fighting.
Kiko gets a few good hits in and Azu gets a few inspirational words out in return. (Lightning intermittent) Kiko is nearly brought down emotionally through Azu’s power of love and friendship, but still has some fight in her. In one last moment where it looks like Kiko might throw Azu off the ship or deal some other type of killing blow, Azu deems a small bit of fighting back necessary and gives a non-lethal swing at Kiko.
Kiko realizes just how much Azu is holding back, letting her in on both how much power Azu /really/ has and how much Azu cares for her to not have knocked her out immediately as soon as they started fighting. Kiko finally gives up and Azu kindly tells her that she understands why she wanted to protect Earhart, but that it’s time to let go and move on if she’s not going to respect her safety and let her recklessly get killed. (both symbolic and literal storm clears up) Kiko realizes that can trust Azu, who values her as more than just a crewmate.
Azu reaches out a hand to Kiko, helping her up and giving her a tight hug now that they both feel safe. Maybe they cry a bit. Earhart is apprehended and they continue sailing on to Svalbard. Nothing bad happens to them ever again :)
yes this was very much fueled by my gayass desire for more women to have homoerotic sword fights with each other so as thank you for reading all the self indulgent bullshit here is a much softer AzuKiko
[ID: A digital sketch of Azu and Kiko shown from the side in shades of purple. Azu is wearing a large coat over her armor. Kiko is wearing a coat and her hair is up in a ponytail. Their eyes are closed, they are holding hands and kissing. End ID]
Sometimes Sasha feels that she doesn’t fit in a relationship with Azu and Kiko, but they’re always there to remind her that they love her and want her with them.
Sasha loved being on airships, and getting to fly alongside Kiko and Azu made finding work aboard one after the world was saved a dream come true. There weren’t many people to stab, but the ships held lots of small spaces for Sasha to crawl into when she needed some time alone.
But when she wasn’t alone, her two lovers were there with her.
Sasha had never expected to find some sort of happily ever after, not by herself, not with someone special, and certainly not with two someones. Most days, Sasha felt safe in knowing that there were people who loved her and that they would do anything for her, and that she loved them even when she had closed herself off to caring for so long.
Some other days… she had a harder time feeling worthy of anything.
While Sasha was a part of their trio, sometimes she felt like the odd one out. Azu and Kiko were both open with their emotions and they liked to cuddle and hug and kiss when Sasha often had a harder time with those aspects of a relationship. Though they insisted that they didn’t mind, the doubt still plagued her.
And one day, when she saw Azu and Kiko together on the deck, sat close together on a bench, blushing and giggling like teenagers, that doubt ran rampant.
At least Sasha knew plenty of places to hide and mope in peace. There was a small corner of the engine room where no one would find her, hidden amongst the steam and the veil of moving mechanisms.
She wasn’t sure how long she stayed there. Long enough that her stomach began to rumble, but she’d gotten used to three meals a day so that didn’t mean much; even the meager meals produced on the airship were lifetimes better than most of the food in Other London, save for a good ole eel in a bun, of course. Sooner or later, she would have to emerge and tend to her duties. For now, though, she would stay put and remind herself that she was meant to be alone.
“Sasha? Sasha, are you in here?”
Sasha snapped her head up and almost clanged it on a pipe when she heard Kiko’s voice calling for her. Part of her wanted to stay silent and let Kiko pass on, but instead she crawled out of her hiding place and stood, arms crossed and looking intently at the floor.
“There you are!” Kiko turned to the door and shouted down the passage, “She’s in here!”
“Yeah, I’m here. What’s going on?”
“We were worried about you. We hadn’t seen you in hours. Which, granted, isn’t all that surprising, but you’ve been sort of distant recently.”
Azu hurriedly entered the room and beamed when she saw Sasha.
“Well, you found me,” Sasha snapped. “What do you want?”
“We want to make sure you’re alright,” Azu said softly, her voice a melody against the din of machinery. “If you just need time to be alone, that’s fine, but please let us know. And if there’s something wrong, you know we’ll help you and support you.”
“Yeah,” Kiko added, nodding.
Sasha wanted to cry. They cared so much, and she didn’t deserve any of it.
“Can we go talk on the deck?” She asked.
“Of course.”
The three of them left the engine room and climbed back into the open air. Sasha led them to a more isolated area of the deck, where she leaned against the railing and gazed into the distance. Kiko and Azu each took a place on either side of her, not too close that she felt smothered, but not so far away that they weren’t there to comfort her.
Sasha took a while to get her thoughts sorted and to convince herself that, yes, she did need to say all of this, she shouldn’t just keep it all welled up inside of herself to rot and fester.
“Sometimes I think I don’t fit. With you two, you know.”
“What do you mean?” Azu asked.
There was such sincerity in her question. Did she really have no idea?
Sasha sighed. “You two are both outgoing and you like to hold each other and kiss each other and you two just fit so well together. And I’m just sort of… here. I realized I should just stop kidding myself that I belong in a relationship with the both of you.”
“Sasha!” Kiko exclaimed. “What, no, that’s… Can I touch you?”
She shrugged, and Kiko placed a hand on Sasha’s arm.
“Sasha, we love you. Just because you’re not as, I don’t know, openly romantic as we might be doesn’t mean anything.”
“You do fit with us,” Azu insisted.
Sasha let out a heavy breath and shook her head, not sure if she could even begin to believe that.
“You know, I sometimes feel like I don’t fit in with the two of you,” Kiko confessed. “You went through so much together before I came along, and I can never really know what all of that was like. And, yeah, it’s hard sometimes, but then I spend some time with one of you or both of you and I realize that it doesn’t matter so much. What matters is how we all work together now, and I think that what we have is wonderful.”
Azu nodded. “I agree. I love what we have together. Just because I have a different relationship with you, Sasha, than I do with Kiko doesn’t mean that either is superior. They’re just different. I can’t say that I’ve ever really felt like the odd one out here, because even when the two of you are talking about things I don’t understand or swinging from the ropes with ease while I clank around on deck, I just feel so happy at seeing the two people I love be happy together.”
Sasha glanced at Azu and Kiko on either side. “I don’t want to, like, waste your time with me or force yourself to pretend like you want me around when you don’t.”
“We’re not wasting our time.”
“And we do want you around.”
“Really?” Sasha spun around from the railing so that she could see both of them at the same time.
“Of course.”
“I might… I might need reminders of that sometimes,” Sasha admitted, the closest she would ever come to requesting outright validation. “And if it changes, just tell me, don’t quietly shut me out.”
“Promise.” Kiko smiled.
“Right, well… thanks.” Sasha smiled and looked back and forth between Azu and Kiko. “Can I have a hug?”
“Any time!” Azu cried, laughing, and then gently swooped in to scoop Sasha into her arms. Kiko stepped up to Sasha’s other side and hugged her as well, pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head as she did so.
Sasha gripped their arms tight. She didn’t want to let go.
“I love you. Both of you,” she said.
“I love you too,” they echoed, squeezing Sasha a little bit tighter as they did.
Back in Other London, deep below the earth, Sasha grew used to the idea that she was unlovable and unworthy of any care. But now, miles above the ground, she was starting to think that, maybe, she was loved after all.
We’re excited to announce the prompts for this year’s RQG Femslash Week! If you have any questions, please let us know and we’ll clarify for you.
Day 1: Firsts
Day 2: Fears
Day 3: AU/Canon Divergent
Day 4: Hurt/comfort
Day 5: Rare ship
Day 6: RQG Specials
Day 7: Goodbyes
Can’t wait to see what everyone creates! Tag your stuff with #RQGFemslash21 so that we can find it <3
[ID: a minimalistic graphic reading “femslash week prompts”, with ‘femslash week’ in a bold white serif font, with ‘prompts’ in a red cursive font under it on the right of the image. the left of the image is a minimalistic, torso-up red lineart of a person facing to the left. one arm is crooked, with their hand covering their face. flowers bloom from the back of their neck and over their wrist]
Sasha and Grizzop are rescued from Ancient Rome, and find themselves in quarantine in Japan with Azu and Hamid. While there, Sasha realizes some things about her feelings for Azu.
The solid bars and cold stone almost reminded Sasha of Other London. Even if she was locked up in some strange quarantine, at least the company was better, with Hamid sleeping soundly on a cot, Grizzop dozing off in a corner, and Azu sitting across from her.
Azu…
It would be easy to say nothing. Sasha was good at keeping her mouth shut. She pulled her knees up to her chest and closed her eyes tight, trying not to think on any of the feelings that rampaged around her chest.
“Sasha? Are you alright?”
“Yeah, fine. You?”
Azu cocked her head to the side and smiled ever so slightly at Sasha’s feigned apathy. “You’ve been through a lot. I want to make sure you’re okay.”
Sasha squeezed her knees tighter. “I’m just glad that you and Hamid and Einstein found a way to get me and Grizzop back to the present before we spent too long in the past. Rome wasn’t a good place, in any time.”
“Me too.”
When Azu smiled and beamed, overjoyed that they’d managed to rescue their friends, Sasha’s heart began to race again.
She was good at keeping her mouth shut. But maybe… maybe Azu deserved the truth.
Azu waited when Sasha opened her mouth to speak several times, even though no words came out right away. Eventually, Sasha said, “There’s more than the whole time-travel thing.”
“Oh?”
“I was scared.”
“I can’t blame you for that. You were nearly trapped in a strange place in a strange time.”
“It’s not just that,” Sasha snapped, more angrily than intended. She offered an apologetic look to Azu, then stared at her knees again as she continued. “I was most afraid that I’d never see you lot again. You, Hamid, Einstein, Zolf, Wilde… At least I would’ve had Grizzop, but it’s not the same.”
Azu nodded. “I understand. I can’t imagine losing everyone I know like that.” She shuddered at the thought.
“But, um… when it came to you… I missed you in a different way. Like, yeah, we were only gone for a bit, but I still missed all of you, because I thought we were gone for good. And when I missed you, it was different than how I missed Hamid.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know, that’s why it’s so confusing!” Sasha exclaimed. Grizzop stirred at the sound, but then his head lolled forward again. The symbol of Artemis was still held tightly in his hands.
Azu started to reach out her hand, to provide Sasha some comfort, then hesitated for fear of touching Sasha when she didn’t want to be touched.
“It’s like… when I’m with you, my stomach gets all twisted up in knots, but I want to be with you, I want the weird feeling,” Sasha pondered aloud, before lifting her head and speaking at Azu directly for the first time in the whole conversation. “I really like you, Azu. And not just as contractually obligated companions, or quest buddies, or…”
“Oh…”
“Yeah, I’m sorry.” Sasha looked away again. She should’ve just kept her mouth shut.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sasha watched Azu scooch a little bit closer to her in the cell.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m flattered. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have feelings for you as well.”
Sasha paused. “Wait, really?”
Azu chuckled, and Sasha couldn’t help but smile. “Is it that hard to believe? You’re incredible in so many ways, and I’ve been fortunate to get to know you at all.”
“Hmm… I know you like hugs and stuff. Do you think we could do a hug?”
“Of course.”
Sasha released the grip on her knees and slowly allowed herself to be embraced by Azu. She was warm and safe, and, after a moment of hesitation, Sasha buried her face in Azu’s shoulder and held her tight.
“I don’t know how to do this,” Sasha admitted when she finally extracted herself from the hug. “This whole ‘feelings’ thing.”
“We can figure it out,” Azu said with a smile. “We’ll take it day by day. What matters is that we have the chance to try now.”
Sasha smiled, then slowly and methodically reached out her hand so that she could hold onto Azu’s.
“I haven’t looked forward to much for a long time. I always expect it to go wrong. But this?” Sasha gestured between the two of them with her free hand. “I’m really looking forward to this. To you and me.”
