Thanks so much for the reviews - you all rock!

Sorry for the delay in posting this - getting smashed at work at the moment and have had a hard time getting a moment for myself. Hopefully will have my last few prompts done soon... Maybe...

This chapter is VanLu centric fluff... I really wanted to try and write smut, but I'm super shit at it... So it might happen, it might not... The answer is in the bottom of a bottle of red on Friday night!

Pradesh Week has been awesome - have loved reading everyone's stories!

Shout out again to Desna, who created these wonderful OC's (seriously, why can't men be like Zen and Cris IRL?!) and writes such epic fics x

Chapter 4. Concede.

Arman had commandeered an air ship straight away - it was one of the perks of being a well known ambassador - and waved from the dock as it left with most of his children aboard just a few hours before sunset. Kaleb had been uncharacteristically tight lipped on the details of the extraction, and generally that meant it was either something the ambassador didn't want to know about, or something he shouldn't be privy to due to his position. Either way, he trusted his son's judgement without question.

He had already alerted his King of the Pergrandian filth that his youngest son and pseudo daughter had 'gifted' him, and Princess Kurino had collected him along with a small envoy of Steel Councilmen. Altiene had asked no questions about the appearance of the crippled man - he'd been conspiring for years to take down the man who'd slaughtered an entire embassy of his people. Arman suspected that, despite the Pradesh patriarch and the Queen of Caros being the ones to initial the job, his King had definitely had a hand in it.

The passengers aboard the Bellona had two days until it arrived in Sin, so Lucy decided she'd practice gate jumping, something Capricorn had taught her just before she'd left on the job with Amalie, to distract herself from the enigma that was Vander. She knew what the Boscan culture was like; that men and women didn't have the hang ups that Fiorian's did about sex, that they embraced outward affection and women weren't judged based on their sexual partners. She wanted to explore that, hell, she wanted to embrace it! She'd been with several men besides her ex in Magnolia, but they didn't make her heart flutter or her core heat up like the Shadowquip mage did whenever he gave her one of his lopsided smirks, but his carefree kisses were causing havoc with her brain especially when he didn't follow it up by trying to get into her panties. Bickslow had given her joking warnings about his younger brother being a man whore before they'd gotten to Bosco, and she tried valiantly to cling to those cautions and not get swept away. She tried to convince herself that she just wanted to sleep with him but was failing miserably - she wasn't stupid and knew that her brain would turn it into some sort of romantic fantasy and she'd end up with a broken heart, so she resolved to avoid being alone with the Shadowquip or allowing him to catch her off guard with anymore of those damned kisses.

Sitting down in the hull of the ship, in a quiet nook among what she suspected was weaponry in nondescript boxes, Lucy forced herself to concentrate. Gate jumping was supposed to get easier, to become more natural, but at the moment it took focus. Her lands weren't great, she ended up on her backside more often than not and had the bruises to show for it. She'd explored the boat thoroughly - the sprinter ship wasn't as luxurious as the air ship that had taken them to Bosco but much quicker - and focused on the lounge located in the stern as she tugged on her magic like her goat spirit had taught her. The feeling of the ground dropping out from her was unnerving and made her stomach lurch, but a second later she felt herself land on something soft and opened her eyes to find the very man she'd been set on avoiding staring back at her with mild shock... And that goddamned smirk.

"Well, shit," the blonde cursed, quickly pulling on her magic again to get back to where she'd started. Her landing wasn't pretty but Lucy managed to stay upright. Her moment of celebration was crashed by Vander materialising beside her.

"Playing hard to get, estralla?" he asked, lips brushing her ear before neatly avoiding her shocked reflex kick. "I do like the chase..."

"You wish, pequeña sombra," she snapped, smug that she'd remembered words from a language she'd not spoken in years and resolute to glitterbomb his shadowy ass later, as she tugged at the magic again to gate jump to the deck. A small part of her was pissed that he found her aversion to his disingenuous advances a game.

The blonde failed to nail the next landing, falling to her backside again, but managed to startle Bickslow enough with her unexpected arrival that he let out a girlish squeal.

"Hey, Bicks."

"Where the fuck did you come from, Cosplayer?" the Seith mage finally asked with a grin, guild marked tongue lolling out. The blonde was glad he was wearing his helmet less, she rather liked being able to actually see his face when they talked.

"Magic," Lucy replied with a bright smile. She glanced around the deck, noticing the long shadows appearing as the sun went down. It was only a matter of time until the Shadowquip mage reappeared.

They played cat and mouse like that for hours, only stopping for a late dinner with Vander sitting next to the woman and 'accidentally' touching her throughout it. It was innocent to an observer, a bump of the knee here and brush of arms there, but his touch burned through the Celestial mage, making her even more hyper aware of his proximity than she already was. She refused to concede defeat, though, and gate jumped as soon as she'd finished despite her magic starting to run low and her landings becoming even less predictable.

It had been a saving grace, really, that the ship was surrounded by a magical shield to prevent its occupants falling overboard and those with ill intentions getting aboard once it was airborne.

Lucy was holding her poor head in her hands - the back of it had hit the barrier when she'd stumbled - when she sensed someone sit beside her. She warily opened one eye to find the Lunar Slayer cross legged beside her.

"He's not all bad, Goldy," the man told her, his rich baritone voice soothing her. Lucy suspected there was magic involved to make her relax like that, but couldn't find it in herself to care. She'd been on edge trying to put distance between herself and the Shadowquip, and it was honestly exhausting.

"I know," she muttered, rolling backwards to sprawl out on her back. The view of the stars was incredible from the air ship, unhindered by city lights and clouds. Maybe she could just sleep up here under her beloved constellations instead of the crowded bunk room.

Cristoff chuckled as he looked over the blonde woman, at the soft smile curving her full lips, her slightly calloused hands and sinfully long bare legs. The fact his younger brother hadn't shared pleasure with her yet meant he saw her as just a friend, or he had a deeper interest. The latter was the only thing keeping the Slayer from moving in on her. He'd give his brother until the end of this trip to decide.

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Lucy was woken by strong arms sliding underneath her, pulling her against a firm chest. She groggily looked up, starting when her eyes focused on the defined jaw of the very man she'd been trying to avoid.

"It's not the best idea to sleep up here, estralla," he told her softly, holding her tighter before she had the idea to start struggling. He was doing this to protect the ship and his family, he reasoned. It wasn't because her proximity soothed something he didn't even know was agitated inside of him. "The job was hush hush so we're not supposed to really be on this ship."

That seemed to put a stop to her objections before they formed, or so he'd thought. He'd been ready to set her down, let her find her own way to the bunk room, when he felt her nose press against his collarbone followed by a gentle scrape of the evil woman's teeth. He knew he deserved it, he'd been messing around with her all day even though it was obvious she was trying to avoid him.

"Don't start something you won't finish," Vander warned her, keeping his voice low. Maybe fucking her would get it out of his system, even if he copped hell for it later from his brothers and sisters who clearly adored her. The blonde shivered slightly in his arms at the words, her nose moving up the side of his neck to gently nip at his ear, making the man curse and abruptly drop her feet to the ground so he could grasp her chin and claim her mouth.

This kiss was different to the previous ones - those had been light hearted and teasing, but now Vander was determined to make her beg for more. He wanted her, had wanted her ever since she'd pranced into his life in her tiny ripped denim shorts with a smile like the sun. It was confusing to him, he'd never wanted anything other than pleasure before, but there was something about her that had hooked him in and he didn't even want to try and get away.

He was the one to pull back as her hands crept under his shirt and touched his sides lightly. He could see the doubt in her eyes, mistaking his retreat for rejection. Vander kissed her again soundly before pressed his forehead to hers.

"When we get back to Bosco... I promise to make you scream. I do want you, Lucy, but now, tonight, we need to sleep."

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