#killarey

(five word prompt ask meme)

It’s long before the Bureau, before they’re engaged, before they’re girlfriends, and Killian and Carey are a pair of small-time bounty hunters with a bend towards the chaotic good. They are currently wedged behind a portrait in a hidden crevice.

Their job this time is to sneak into a dictatorial governor’s castle (Carey’s forte) and take him out (Killian’s forte). It was mostly a charity endeavor (the guy was a dickhead and the people wanted him gone), but they’d been encouraged to steal all that they wished to. And oh, they would.

The infiltration had started well; they’d hid their weapons and gear under servant disguises and had made their way up to the lord’s private rooms with little issue.

Until, of course, someone noticed that the governor did not employ a dragonborn and an orc, and the castle had been put on lockdown.

Fuck, Killian tries to mutter, except Carey has one clawed, scaled hand fastened over her mouth, like she can’t be trusted to be quiet on her own. And listen, Killian is well-aware that she isn’t a rogue, that’s what Carey’s for, but c’mon, she has sense in her head.

(And Carey’s hand smells like… Carey, and it’s distracting, okay?)

Killian tries to tug Carey’s hand off her face so they can strategize about how to finish this job, but Carey just whaps it back on. She’s currently perched on Killian’s back, shoved into the back of their hiding place, and probably has a crossbow shoved into her gut.

Killian tries to free her mouth so she can say hey, we should probably get moving, but again Carey covers her mouth. It’s getting tiring.

“Quit it, or I’ll bite,” she mutters, her lips and tusks moving against Carey’s hand.

Carey whispers, “You bite and I’ll show you that these teeth aren’t just for show.”

“Fuck off already, Carey, we can bite each other later,” Killian hisses, and only when Carey tenses behind her does she realize exactly what she just said.

Oh, gods. Killian can feel herself blushing, and she’s about to bluster something to cover up the horrific crush she’s developed on her partner in the last few months -

They hear a guard’s footsteps. They freeze.

So does the guard.

“Who’s there?”

They barely breathe.

“Show yourself!”

Killian can feel Carey’s hands creep to her daggers, and Killian readies herself in kind.

Then the portrait is tugged aside, and the guard is standing there with an axe, but he isn’t for very long -

- because he’s on the ground, Killian having punched his lights out, and Carey leaps down from her shoulder and ties his hands and ankles together. Killian drags him into the crevice they were just hiding in and seals it shut.

The only sound was the crack of fist against jaw.

The two of them fistbump, and steal silently down the hall towards the governor’s chambers.

Absently, Killian pictures what a hickey from Carey must look like, and then shakes her head. She’s got a job to do.

"Well the f/f ships just don't get a lot of screentime so people aren't as interested." There is not a single ship in the series that gets more than a few short romantic scenes because it would require Griffin to roleplay a romance with either A) one of his family members or B) himself, something that he has understandably stated he's not keen on doing. Also, they do receive a decent amount of attention. The Balance arc literally closes with Carey and Killian's marriage. Hurley and Sloane's relationship is an impetus for most of the events in Petals to the Metal. The content is there.

"Yeah but people want a ship involving one of the PCs." Great! You got it! Danbrey is right there and gets miles less attention than Taakitz!

"Butbutbut! Dani doesn't have a clearly defined personality which makes people less interested!" I agree that Dani hasn't been given enough of a personality or motivation, and that in itself is a problem that I can only hope Griffin will eventually resolve (I'll be pissed if not). But with all due respect...y'all didn't wait for, say, Indrid to develop a strong personality before you started shipping him with Duck, when they had barely interacted, compared to Aubrey canonically dating Dani throughout the entire show up to that point. Plus, Aubrey's got personality in droves! It's not like there's no material there!

Just...what I don't like is the idea that the disparity has everything to do with the show itself and nothing to do with the fact that this is what happens all the damn time in fandom. It's obviously not bad to prefer M/M or M/F ships--you like what you like and there are a lot of good ones in TAZ. But don't act like there isn't a disparity there, or like this isn't a recurring pattern across fandoms of fans ignoring healthy and happy wlw ships.