#lupburns

lup: i want to see my little boy!

magnus, carrying barry bridal style: here he comes!

TazRarePair18  Pairing: Magnus/Lup (technically also set in the 1000 places continuity, so also /Barry, but it isn’t specifically referenced)

Day 1

Magnus is carving a figure of a dog outside in the grass when he hears the pneumatic whoosh of the Starblaster’s hatch opening. His back is to the ship, the better to appreciate the view, but the sound of heavy boots in the grass and the long strides of their wearer tell him all he needs to know about who is coming to keep him company.

When she reaches him, she barely even pauses before draping herself gracelessly over his back, arms thrown over his shoulders. She tucks her chin into the curve of his neck, the side of her face pressed up against his own, and sighs as she settles.

“Hello,” he says. He’s both used to the twins’ special brand of affection and grateful for it. It’s nice not being the only tactile person on the ship. 

“Whatcha working on?” Lup asks.

“Can you tell?” he asks, holding it up for her inspection. It’s about half done, the rough shape of it dug from the wood, but he hasn’t started in on the details yet. 

“Not a duck,” she says, and he laughs.

“No, not a duck.”

“It’s a dog, right? Or a wolf?”

“Yeah, something vaguely dog-shaped,” he says, setting his knife back against the soft wood. “We’ll see how it turns out.”

“What are you doing out here all alone, Maggie?” she asks him, and then he feels her tense against him. “Oh shit, am I intruding? Did you want to be alone?”

“Nah, I just didn’t want to get shavings all over the kitchen again,” he says. “Plus, its such a nice day, and nothing on this plane has tried to kill us yet, definitely gotta take advantage of that.”

“Says the idiot who went head to head with a manticore two cycles ago.”

“I won, didn’t I?”

“And with only a little blood loss to show for it,” she says, and despite the teasing there’s something like pride in her voice. It puts a lightness in his chest and a smile on his face, and for a while neither of them say anything else as Magnus carves and the breeze blows gently over the grass. 

Lup is the first to break the silence. “Mags you missed a spot,” she says, reaching a lazy finger toward the little figure in his hands. He instinctively moves it out of reach, and she lets her hand flop back against his chest. 

By now, Magnus also knows the difference between genuine advice and the mischievous games of a bored elf. He keeps carving and waits for Lup’s next move.

After a moment, she reaches out a hand again, her movements a little quicker, her reach a little farther, but he evades her again.

“Maaaaaggie,” she sing-songs.

“Yes Lup?”

She doesn’t answer, and so he waits for the next attack. This time he plans to be ready. 

She’s patient, almost to the point where he thinks she’s given up, but then she lunges, using her legs for leverage, and her hips hit his shoulder as she goes for the figure, and he barely manages to keep it from her. 

In a flash, he tosses his knife and the dog carving to the side, and before she can escape him, sets his hands against Lup’s ribs and shows no mercy. She shrieks and unbalances, pitches even farther forward, into his lap, nearly upside down as he tickles her. She laughs, and yells at him indignantly between her bouts of laughter, shouting his name, slapping at his knees, trying to twist herself around to get her hands on him to fight back, but he has the far superior position and the advantage of surprise and isn’t about to give up either.  

They tussle until he decides she’s had enough, when she’s flushed and breathless with laughter, her hair and eyes wild with joy and maybe a little bit of murder. She ends up on her back in his lap when he finally relents, both of them breathing hard and grinning harder. Part of him is waiting for her counter attack, but she breathes out a sigh, uneven with the remnants of her laughter, and closes her eyes. 

“I am so going to kill you for that,” she says. Magnus brushes a few curls out of her eyes. She’s vexing and magnificent. He thinks about kissing her. 

“Take your time,” he tells her, idly tracing the line of her jaw with his fingers.

"Lulu!” Taako calls from the deck behind them.

“Or not,” Magnus says.

“What?” Lup yells back to Taako.

“Come help me make dinner!”

“Yeah ok one sec!” she yells, and then lowers her voice again and smiles at Magnus wryly. “Saved by my brother,” she says, and he helps her to her feet. “I’ll tell him you owe him one.”

“Please don’t,” Magnus says, as she straightens her clothes out. “I owe him too many already.”

“Shoulda thought of that before you started a war, Burnsides!” she calls over her shoulder as she walks back through the grass to the Starblaster. 

She will most definitely be getting him back, Magnus thinks to himself as he gathers up his carving and his tools. A little backup might not be the worst idea.