#mithrax x reader

The house of light was busy tucking in their young and swaddling their hatchlings for the night when the guardian transmatted in. the noise startled some, who poked their heads out of the shelter. The guardian was crumpled over, blood slowly pouring out onto the charred ground beneath them. They looked up at the eliskni who continued to just stare. 

“Where...where is he?” you said. The dregs and vandals looked around at each other. 

“Misraaks?” you asked, using one of the only few eliskni words you knew, hoping they would understand. They chittered to each other and then one vandal disappeared from the group. You sighed in relief, trying to even out your breathing. You looked down, removing your hand from your stomach. It was caked in blood and a small puddle was forming on the ground in front of you. You went to look back up at the eliskni but noticed two pairs of glowing blue eyes near you. A dreg had climbed down from their shelter and was approaching you. You tried to smile, but it hurt too much to do so. You watched as they inched towards you and outstretched an arm, three-clawed fingers holding a vial filled with a swirling purple liquid. 

“I…” you began to speak, but then remembered that the dreg in front of you probably wouldn't understand what you were saying anyway. 

“Nama,” you told them. They seemed confused, pulling back their arm, but then outstretched it again. 

“Bet-er.” they tried to say, croaking out the sounds. You just shook your head and looked at the ground, not sure how to communicate to this dreg that ether wasn't going to help you or heal your wounds. Soon, however, you could hear a deep and commanding voice speaking eliskni to the dreg. You didn't understand what was being said, but the dreg walked away, back towards the shelter. You looked back up and saw that Mithrax had finally shown up. He said nothing, but scooped you up off the ground carefully, shouting something to the others in eliskni, and carried you off into the house of light’s shelter. Off somewhere in the back, in a more secluded area was where Mithrax stayed. He placed you down on a makeshift bed, turning around to grab some things from a nearby stash. 

“What happened?” Was all he asked, still fussing with a stash with his back turned to you.

“They’re safe.” You choked out. “Your people are safe. I got them out in time, not…” you paused. “Not a single eliskni was harmed.”

Mithrax hummed in response, turning around with bandages and some kind of small metal container. “Then I assume you got harmed protecting one of the eliskni. I thank you. Now, let me help you in return.” Mithrax came closer to you, kneeling in front of you. He slowly reached forward, gently grabbing your hand that still clutched your stomach. you looked up at him, knowing it was going to hurt and reluctant to move. Even though his face was covered by metal, you could still see the sympathy pouring through. 

You inhaled sharply, pulling back your hand. It was slightly stuck, dried blood and residue caking the skin to the cloth of your armor. Your fingers were covered in six different shades of red, black, and brown, and you assumed your armor looked the same. Mithrax used another hand to tap the ground with a claw, silently asking you to lay down. You followed his instructions, albeit slowly. The ripped and burned skin stretched from your movements, making you croak out in pain. 

Mithrax got to work, gently pulling away what was left of your armor around the wound. There was a sharp stinging, and you could only assume he was applying some sort of medicine. Looking up to inspect only added to the pain, so you didn’t. 

He made a small chirping noise, “You know I have to ask,” he started, talking as he continued to work. “Where’s your ghost? What happened to him?” 

You winced, both from the pain and because of the question. “He uh...got hit. A little damaged, but fine. Not...not capable of any light abilities though.” You explained, taking deep breaths between your sentences. 

Mithrax hummed. “I could have our scribes take a look at him if you’d like. They might be able to help.”

“I appreciate the offer...but he’ll be fine. Just needs some time...and possibly a new shell.” You chuckled but it turned into a sharp cough. 

He hummed again and made a chitter noise out of satisfaction. “I need you to sit up, can you manage that?” 

“Can try.” You said, moving to sit up. Mithrax put a clawed hand on your back to help you. Your stomach area hurt, hurt like hell, but the pain wasn’t as strong as when you had first arrived in the Botza District. You assumed whatever Mithrax had put on the wound was helping with that. Once you were sitting up he went to wrap a bandage around your midriff. 

You dared to look down and caught sight of the damage as Mithrax worked to cover it. His clawed fingers working slowly, so he didn’t accidentally scratch you or fumble with the bandage, to cover the charred skin. Most of that section of your armor was burned or melted, and it looked like Mithrax had done his best to pick away what pieces had melted to the skin beneath. The area was covered in black and dark red, and the sight of your own charred skin was sickening. You looked away as Mithrax finished wrapping it, covering the ugly mix of blacks and reds with a bright white. 

“Thank you.” You whispered, your voice coarse from dryness. 

“The least I can do for saving my people. Now,” he tucked the end of the bandage into its self and sat back on his knees. “I recommend you stay here, at least for the night. Trying to make it back to the city could make it worse. I can have Eido take a look at your Ghost, but I would understand if you’d rather wait until you get back.”

You hummed, and nodded once, pulling out a bundle of cloth from one of your ammo stash pockets. You unfolded it carefully, exposing your ghost. His light was dimmed, and a good chunk of his shell was missing. You stared at him for a while, guilt pinging around inside of you. 

“Is he…?” Mithrax asked sympathetically. 

“No. No. He isn’t. He can’t be. He’s not.” You told him, more roughly than you wanted to sound. But you couldn’t think about that. You didn’t want to. Your ghost was fine, just fine. He had to be. mithrax reached forward to take a hold of Ghost and you flinched. 

“I’ll handle him with care, I promise. Eido will be careful as well. You have my word.” Mithrax was aware that ghosts and eliskni never really mixed, especially after the spider had started dealing with the guardians. So he didn’t prod, letting you decide on your own time. You rewrapped Ghost delicately, as if he would just fall apart in your hands any second, and slowly handed him to Mithrax. He looked at you before standing up, cradling your ghost in his top two hands carefully. 

“I’ll give this to Eido and be right back.” He told you, leaving the makeshift room. You then realized how quiet it actually was here. No civilians were calling out to Guardians, no one thousand conversations going on at once, and no constant hum of ships flying in and out of the hangar. The only sounds were the occasional chippers and chitters from the eliskni, and the soft whirl of the nearby machines. You took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, having a moment to relish in your nearly successful mission. Every eliskni you were guiding to their new house had made it without getting hurt and you were still alive. You hoped the same could be said for your ghost.

Mithrax came back a few moments later empty-handed. 

“Eido says she’ll do what she can, but it may take some time.” He told you. “I know it will not make your wounds or your ghost heal any faster, but thank you. Those eliskni you saved owe you their lives. House Light is forever grateful for all that you do for us.” 

You smiled a little. “Well somebody’s gotta. Between Laskmi and the prejudice she’s spreading, you and your people need all the help you can get.” 

He only hummed in response. “You should rest, let your wounds heal while Eido fixes your ghost.” 

“Yeah.” You halfheartedly agreed. You knew he was right, but you also knew that as soon as you closed your eyes you were going to fall into a bout of nightmares. 

“Then,” he started, making a move to leave the room. “I’ll see you again in the morning.” 

“Wait!” You said abruptly. Mithrax stopped, turning around swiftly from the urgency in your voice. “I...um…” you lost your words in your throat. “Stay. Please.” You choked out. Mithrax’s appearance softened, but he didn’t say anything as he strode over back towards you, sitting down crossed-legged near to you. You took it upon yourself to scoot yourself closer to him, inching across the floor carefully so that you didn’t ruin the bandaging, until you were right next to him. 

Now that you were closer to him you could hear the soft whirling of the machinery attached to him, and the quiet purring whenever he breathed in. He was hesitant to move, not sure what to do with a human so close to him. You leaned onto him, relaxing into the cool metallic plates that made up his armor. You sighed contently and he began to relax, you could feel his muscles de-tense underneath you. He looped a pair of arms around you, one around your shoulder and one around your waist, loosely. He smelled like gun oil and ether, his robotic arm around your shoulders whirling softly in your ear. Between the in-fighting and the rescuing and the protecting and the war against the vex, this was a moment of peace that you hadn’t known you needed so badly. The steady rhythm of the noises around you helped your eyes fall closed, the welcoming grip of sleep pulling you in. 

You woke up in the same room, at first unsure of where you were but soon remembered the day before. Someone, you assumed Mithrax, had moved you in your sleep. Instead of where the two of you had sat for the night you were now on the makeshift bed, a sleeping bag beneath you and the cold concrete floor, and an extra blanket has been draped over you. You looked around the room, nothing much had changed since the day before, except Mithrax was nowhere to be seen. With a sigh you threw the blanket off of you, tucking it between the wall and sleeping bag. You sat up slowly, expecting a sharp bolt of pain from your wound, but surprisingly the pain was only minimal. Looking down you saw that the bandages were surprisingly white, Mithrax must have changed them to fresh ones some time in the middle of the night, and the majority of your armor was missing from your body. You saw that all of it was folded and piled neatly on a nearby table. How long had you been asleep if Mithrax had enough time to do all of this? Regardless, you pushed yourself to get up, which was easier said than done considering you could barely twist or move your midsection, but you managed. You walked slowly, stretching out your sore muscles at the same time. 

Soon you made your way out of the bedroom and grabbed the attention of all the nearby eliskni. You smiled sheepishly from all the new attention, but they soon went back to whatever they were doing before. You supposed that they were just curious about the new movement in the shelter and that they didn’t really care what you were up to. Most eliskni around the camp knew who you were, you were around enough for them to recognize you from other guardians. So when you walked through the shelter of the camp most paid you no mind, they trusted you well enough. 

That is until you got to the main part of the shelter, where there was a big chunk of concrete missing from the wall, which provided the eliskni who were in charge of guarding the place a good vantage point of the only transmat zone left in the Botza District. Two guards who watched the inside of the camp whispered to each other when they saw you approach and then one scurried off on all limbs. The other just stood there and watched you for a bit before making a motion with a hand that told you to come closer to him. 

You followed his request and walked over towards the dreg, who didn’t seem to mind your slow pace. When you were close enough to hear, he spoke.

“Eido. Light mesh-ene.” He said, really trying to pronounce the non-eliskni words with attention and care. You realized what he was trying to tell you even before he tried to use your language, Eido had fixed your ghost! He was okay! You were so overfilled with joy that you had a hard time sitting still while waiting for the other eliskni guard to come back with Eido in tow. 

The two did eventually show up. Eido towered over the two dregs, but not by much, and then it dawned on you that you had never actually seen Eido in person before. She looked a lot like her father, minus his helmet and splicer gear. She wore less fur than him and instead had the house of light’s colors crisscrossing all over her armor. 

“I hope you rested well. I am truly sorry that you were injured on your last mission, but those eliskni will be forever grateful.” She told you, her voice just as sweet and warm as it had been on the recordings she left around the Botza District. 

You nodded in agreement. “They’re safe, that’s all that mattered to me.” You confessed. 

She chuckled softly. “Speaking of which,” she started, and Ghost came fluttering out from behind her. “For all that you’ve done for us, I did what I could.” She finished. Ghost came zipping towards you and you held out your hands. He found his way to your cupped hands and nestled into them lovingly. You could feel tears start to well in your eyes and you weren’t sure if they were tears of happiness or guilt. 

Ghost looked mostly intact, his light was back to a strong bright blue and now the part of his shell that had been missing was carefully wielded over and patched with a type of metal you had seen before on fallen-esc weapons. A small sash of green cloth was draped over him, a small section of it emblazoned with the house of light regalia. You ran your fingers over the new piece of metal, looking down at him pitifully. But you inhaled sharply and gathered your words, stopping the tears that wanted to force themselves to fall. 

“Thank you. Oh, thank you so much. I thought...I thought I was gonna lose him.” You told Eido. 

“It was the least I could do.” She replied. “I know it’s not as good of a job as someone in the city could’ve done, but I hope it’s sufficient enough.” 

“It’s perfect.” You said in a soft voice, gently running the green cloth that adorned his shell between your fingers. Ghost was loving the attention you were giving him, but when the silence was broken by loud, but soft, footsteps, Ghost took it upon himself to disappear. He was gone from sight but you could still feel his energized Light nearby. 

The footsteps had ended up belonging to Mithrax, who had also heard from wandering voices that you were up and walking around. When his tall figure entered the room the remaining dregs and vandals exited out of a sign of curtsy for the three of you, leaving you alone to talk in private. 

“I hope Eido’s work was sufficient enough to keep your Ghost up and running,” Mithrax said to you and then turned to his daughter. “If you wouldn’t mind, Eido, I would like to debrief the guardian of their next mission alone.” He said to her. Eido looked like she wanted to say something, but ended up just nodding her head in response and left towards the back of the camp. 

“Another mission already?” You asked. You knew Mithrax had to be joking, he knew as well as you did that you could barely move right now, let alone fight against the enemy.

“You know you move around a lot when you’re asleep.” He said as if you hadn’t even asked about the previously mentioned topic. He leaned against a nearby support beam, crossing both sets of arms across his chest. You were small compared to his towering form, and his statement made you feel even smaller. You could feel your face start to heat up and you weren’t sure what to say. 

“What um...what did I do?” You choked out like a child who had been caught doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing. 

“Well,” he started, shifting his weight between legs. “You started shaking at first, and your fingers twitched.” He explained. Others had told you before that you did such things right before you woke up screaming from a nightmare, but you didn’t remember any nightmares from the night before. Mithrax continued.

“You seemed like you were in pain, a type of pain I see many a time amongst the younger children. But then your hand fell into one of mine, and you seemed to calm down.” He told you. You were a little embarrassed, to say the least. You hadn’t meant to be so clingy, but what with the vex and the way they charged at you, and the way you had had to practically jump between an eliskni hatchling and a blast from a minotaur, and the damage your ghost had taken when the vex aimed for him while he was trying to heal you, you were rightfully a little rattled and scared. You started to speak, you wanted to apologize, give a reason for your actions, but Mithrax beat you to it.

“If having company around helps you sleep better at night then you are welcome back here anytime.” He said. You couldn’t see his face, but you had a feeling he was smiling, his voice had that ring to it. 

“I think I’d like that.” You said, smiling as well. Truth be told you knew he was right. You never seemed to have nightmares when someone else you trusted was near you when you were asleep, and it made you breathe easier knowing that Mithrax didn’t seem to mind. With a content sigh, he pushed himself off of the beam he was leaning on and walked towards you. Maybe you weren’t paying attention, or maybe it just happened too fast, but you now found yourself wrapped up in all four of Mithrax’s arms, pulled into his warm embrace. 

“We have only taken up residence here for a short while, and you have already shown us extreme amounts of kindness and generosity. Allow me to return the favor any way I can.” He told you, and you responded by practically melting into his hug, breathing in the scent that you had come to love from the night before. That comforting smell of musty gun oil and electrifyingly sweet ether.