#poweredbycoffeeandwine

[I love new york meme here but instead of BEYONCE?! it says DANSE?!]

Back to the regular timeline with Mads and her main D; as in Danse. 

Paladin Danse x Madelyn Hardy

691 words | Ao3

Danse had been shot.

Rather, he had taken a bullet meant for Madelyn, the .50caliber from the raider’s sniper wedging itself perfectly between the gap inhis power armor close to his shoulder. The firefight itself had been a surpriseas they departed from Bunker Hill, on their way back to the airport. But asthey crossed the bridge out of Charlestown, a group of raiders ambushed them.

Madelyn had barely fired off a few rounds before her tin-canpartner made contact with her side, pushing her against the nearby deliverytruck, shielding her body from the spray of bullets. That’s when ithappened. And despite Danse’s uncanny ability to shrug off virtually everythingthrown at him in the line of duty (she tried not to think about the time shealmost cooked him alive with the ArcJet reactor), the expression on his facetold her that this injury was different.

One expertly timed plasma grenade and some covering fire andthe raiders were cleared out, two wounded survivors clamoring off to theirfreeway hideaway. For once, Madelyn was too distracted to care about lettingthem get away. She’d send a Minuteman patrol for them later. Right then, shefocused on Danse, and the pained wince he held as he slowly—and much to hersurprise—exited his power armor.

“Whoa there, big guy,” she nervously laughed, stumblingalong with him as he fell forward, his knees buckling.

She leaned him up against the truck wheelhouse and for boththeir sakes, steadied her breathing—no need to start panicking before fullyassessing the situation. Though, when she pulled her hand away for a briefmoment, all she saw was blood staining her palm.

“Don’t look so grim,” he breathed, offering a small smile.

Madelyn gazed at him, off-put by his cynicism. Maybe it wasa side-effect of the wound, but she decided it was best to humor him. “You maybe a synth, Danse, but you can still die of blood-loss.”

“I’m not going to die of blood-loss, Mads,” he responded,flatly. That sounded more like the man she knew. The man she loved. Thethought had her flustered, heart fluttering—he was right—the injury only lookedbad, but he would be alright with proper medical attention. Still, it didn’tmean she couldn’t worry just a little.

“Usually about now you give me some kind of lecture aboutnot being well equipped for the field—” she shuffled through her pack for somebandages, wrapping them as efficiently as she could around his shoulder andbicep. Madelyn lowered her voice to mimic his. “Oh Knight, if only you’dwear your power armor!”

Danse grinned, despite the obvious pain. He happily allowedher to inject a stimpak before relaxing back. “I was enjoying being the damselin distress, actually.”

Madelyn laughed, leaning in closer to him as she finished uptightening the bandage. “You’ve been talking to Nick, haven’t you?”

When she was finished with her road-side nursing, shechecked her Pip-Boy, sighing in relief that they were only a few clicks awayfrom a settlement. “County Crossing isn’t far. There are Minutemen there thatcan help.”

“You’ll have to carry me.”

Madelyn blinked for a long moment. “Say what now?”

Danse smirked before repeating himself. “You’ll have to carryme.”

“Really. Me? Carry you?” she deadpanned. “You’reaware that you are a six-foot-tall, two-hundred something pound beefcake,right?”

“You can handle me,” the slyness of his tone had herblushing feverously, staring at him wide-eyed as he laughed. “Honestly, Mads.If I stand, I’ll just end up here again. And right now, we’re sitting ducks.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And how do you suppose I achievethis feat? I don’t even think a hit of Psycho would make me that strong.”

Danse flicked his eyes to his power-armor then back to herand she quickly got the hint, a hint she wasn’t overly fond of. She sighed, desperatelytrying to ignore the self-satisfied smile he was boasting.  

“I’m starting to think you got shot on purpose, just so youcould get me in your power armor,” she remarked.

“Maybe.”

x - x

Awwwww!!!!! I am so much in love with your new doggo-baby!!!!!

I have such a deep love for this movie - I’d completely forgotten that she’s a Disney princess now, too! What a fantastic comparison! Thank you, lovely!

*dies* I love this! Also… “old sea rat” lolololol.... For some reason that line made me think of Rizzo the Rat and it made me ridiculously happy. (Definitely not what you were going for I’m sure…)

SO would you believe that Rizzo the Rat in Muppet Treasure Island is exactly what I was thinking of?  I love the Muppets, like, a lot, and Rizzo and Pepe the King Prawn are my absolute favorites.  

He knows he must speak, but hedoesn’t know the words, can’t find his voice. He’s long thought about what hemight say, but now that she’s before him, it all slips away. He squeezes hishands into fists, pressing against his knees, drags his eyes to hers. “I shouldhave asked your forgiveness long ago,” an apology is all he has left, “I hopeyou can forgive me now.” There’s some small smile at the corners of her lips,something not like sadness in her expression. Reaching out from where she sits,brushing her hand over his.

“There’s nothing to forgiveFenris,” she tells him. “I’ve always understood.” For too long it’s been likebroken glass, shards upon shards, the guilt and the longing. Knowing what he’ddone, how he’d hurt her, and not seeing a way to fix it. Every word spoken,every errant touch, just another shard, the pinprick against rib. Their handstangle together as they stand, as he closes the distance between them.

“If I could go back, I would stay.Tell you how I felt,” he says as nose touches nose, brushing against eachother, a hand at the nape of her neck. She’s looking between his eyes and hismouth, licking her lips, swaying closer to him.

“What would you have said?”

Got a couple of days worth to catch up on here...

@slothquisitor said: GORGEOUS!

@sarcasmfish said: I want to move in with you!!  Snow!  Pretty!  Mountains!

I’m pretty lucky to live in Scotland. I’m never far from a beautiful view. There was no snow down in the town with us, but this was only a 15 minute drive from us. We had heavy rain last night, and looking up at the braes before I left this morning, it had all been washed away. You’re welcome to visit anytime, Fishy.

@rhetoricalrogue said: I’ve got a couple of lists under my prompts tag: http://rhetoricalrogue.tumblr.com/tagged/prompts

Ooh, thank you. I’ll check that next time I decide to take prompts. I hope you like the one I did for you, though. It was really fun to write.

@sarcasmfish said: Maker, this is cuuuuuute!  I love that she’s totally speaking from experience and sharing it with him.  I adore their interaction together!

@casforpenelope said: So cute!!! I love the "pup" endearment. So sweet.

Kids living through a war don’t have it easy. Even the heiress to a bannorn will struggle with what she’s seen and heard. But both Sai’s nieces have Cullen wrapped around their pinkies and he adores them. They’re the source of some of my best fluff.