Armor

Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine, unless otherwise noted.

Edited by: Hoenn Master96 and Thomas A. Hawk and DinoJake

This one-shot is CANON with The Lost Civilization

Four Years Since the Fall of the Alatreon

Levin stared straight ahead, his gaze intent on his Dark Metal right arm, and the sturdy metal handle gripped tightly by the fingers. He had to be careful about this. He'd been training fervently to get his strength and reactions back up to par for the last three months now, not to mention the four years before that just to learn how to control the limbs properly. But even so, he couldn't afford to get careless, or things could easily end in disaster for him…

With a flick of his wrist, Levin snapped the frying pan up, sending two thick slices of toast flipping into the air. He hadn't sent them as straight up as he'd been hoping to, however, and quickly stepped back as he tried to keep the pan under where the slices would fall. Thankfully, he managed to get himself under them, and though one of them nicked the edge, both slices fell back into the pan. That was a little closer than he would've liked; it had been a little risky, flipping them rather than just using a spatula, but things had turned out well.

It was his turn to cook for himself and Ellie today and he'd splurged a bit on some finer food, and he was rather proud of the meal he'd prepared. He was currently working on toasting some sliced Jumbo Bread, which had been greased with a fresh layer of Buffalo Butter. On the other burner was a wide pot, where the main course had been cooking for hours, a fairly large King Turkey simmering in Goldenfish Brew. He'd been looking forward to it most of the day, and was hoping that it would turn out as well as he wanted it to. The toast looked ready now, and Levin tossed both slices onto a nearby plate, before turning his attention to the pot, glancing inside to make sure things were looking alright. Levin had to admit he was enjoying himself; it was nice to get away from all the training he'd been doing recently.

He'd spent the last three months training tirelessly to get himself back into hunting shape. While he'd been trying to keep fit ever since leaving Loc Lac, he had let himself go a bit in the last four years. There was only so much you could do when you only had one arm and a glorified peg leg. He wasn't entirely sure how he compared to his former hunting career, but at his best guess his strength had dwindled to about what it had been around when he and Ellie had battled the Barioth. More than enough for the Hunter's Exam, but its was still not on par with Ellie, where Levin wanted to be. He was getting there though, slowly but surely.

If he thought about it in a training sense, cooking proved to be surprisingly useful dexterity training for his dark arm. The subtlety required to properly cut, stir, and fry whatever he made really required a precise touch, and the determination to do things right was rapidly making him more sure of himself with his grip and finger movements. Sure the food would probably taste just fine even if it was a little sloppy, but he figured he might as well do his best in the kitchen. The alternative was letting Ellie cook, and while she was certainly improving, Levin was still better than her, and he actually liked cooking.

It was one of the few things he didn't mind spending a little bit more money on. He enjoyed seeing immediate results in the form of good food, as opposed to waiting until the Hunter's Exam to find out whether his training had been fruitful. Ellie was confident in him, and his friends in town all were sure he'd do well, but he didn't want to get overconfident. He knew from experience that the Guild liked to throw curveballs during the exams, and he didn't want to slip up after being caught off guard.

But those were thoughts for tomorrow, when he started training again. Tonight he just needed to make sure he didn't burn the food.

There was a clicking from the front door as the tumblers in the lock turned, and Levin grinned to himself as he heard Ellie push her way into their house. "Levin, I'm back!"

"Welcome home," Levin called from the kitchen, placing a lid over the boiling pot in front of him and turning towards the entryway as Ellie passed by, carrying a wooden crate in her arms and grinning excitedly. "What's in the box?"

"Something I've needed for a long time now, I guarantee you that," Ellie replied with a smirk, patting the top of the box. With a quick motion, she turned towards the stairs leading up to their bedroom. "Give me a minute to get ready, and I'll show it to you. I think you'll like it!"

"Looking forward to it," Levin called after her as he returned his attention to the stove, tossing another log into the flames below. Ellie had been excited about something or another the last few days; Levin had his suspicions, but he figured it'd be best to let her tell him herself.

He returned his attentions to the stovetop as he heard Ellie rummaging around up in their bedroom. He couldn't afford to get slack with this meal and ruin it; Goldenfish Brew was a bastard to get a hold of in this town. Besides, they couldn't afford it too often anyway, not yet; once Levin got back into hunting, they'd start making enough to be able to spend a little bit more on fancy food, but for now they were just riding high off of the windfall from Ellie's last hunt.

A few minutes passed, and the meal looked as though it was getting close to done, the King Turkey growing nice and juicy as it simmered in the brew. Levin supposed that was as good as it was going to get, and carefully removed the pot from the stove, carrying it over to the table. All he'd need to do now was make sure the Jumbo Bread was set out, and the meal would be ready whenever Ellie finished whatever she was-

"Son of a bitch!"

Levin nearly dropped the pot to the floor at the sudden outburst, loud enough to echo clearly through the halls of their home. A string of curses continued to roll down the stairs from the upper floor as Levin hurried to put the pot onto the table, before worriedly making his way upstairs. Ellie didn't sound hurt, and she wasn't calling for help or anything, so what had gotten her shouting like that?

As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, he pushed into their room. "Ellie, what's-"

Levin's words caught in his throat, however, and his eyes widened in shock. Ellie stood in front of a tall mirror, a mixed look of confusion and rage on her face as she stared at her appearance. She turned about every few moments, looking at herself from a different angle, but each time she spat another curse, growling venomously at what she saw.

It was a new armor set, apparently… or maybe most of one? Deep blue scales and plates were woven together into a tight-knit creation, bound tightly to produce a solid barrier against attack. Sturdy greaves and loose-fitting leggings wrapped around Ellie's feet and legs, with several thin but very sharp-looking spikes jutting out from the boots. A very form-fitting bracer and armguard wrapped around one arm, made of the same materials and providing solid defense, and in one hand the huntress held a wide, very spiky helmet that included a dark blue faceplate to protect the mouth and nose.

However, while it seemed as though this armor did well to protect her lower legs, head, and one arm, the rest of it seemed… lacking. As in, there didn't seem to be anything at all protecting her right arm or torso.

The trouble started at her thighs, where the leggings, while doing a good job with everything below the knees, openly exposed Ellie's inner thighs. Above that, where there should have been some type of faulds, there only seemed to be a purple fur belt wrapping around her waist and supporting the leggings. A loose sash hung down just under her navel, though it didn't seem to do much more than just barely cover what looked to be a dark blue pair of monster-hide spats, which had about as much material to it as a pair of underwear.

Above that, her torso was almost completely bare. A silvery fishnet mesh wrapped tightly around her abdomen, exposing most of the flesh beneath to open air. It connected to a pair of binders, made of those same deep blue scales, which covered Ellie's chest, winding tightly over her breasts and tying together in the back. Her right arm was almost completely unguarded, save for a single glove and some white bindings that wrapped up her forearm. All in all, the entire ensemble left very little to the imagination.

"This can't be all…" Ellie was muttering to herself. She shot a desperate look over towards the wooden crate on the bed, but it was completely empty, save for a few scraps of packaging. "There's got to be more to this than… damn it, damn it, damn it!"

"What are you wearing?"

Ellie spun about, a look of horror on her face as she shrunk back, trying to hide herself, her face blooming scarlet as she staggered backwards. She swung the helmet in her hands up to try and cover her bare abdomen, but Levin only stared blankly at her. Eventually it seemed to occur to her that it wasn't anything Levin hadn't seen before and she lowered the helmet, her shoulders sagging defeatedly. Her face still had a lingering red tint, however, and she was fidgeting nervously under his gaze.

"It's… it's Nargacuga armor."

"You… bought new armor?" Levin asked. He was having trouble keeping his eyes on Ellie's face; they just kept drifting downwards. "Um… why? I mean, your Silver Sol armor doesn't look like it's in bad shape…"

"No, my Sol armor's fine," Ellie sighed, tossing the helm onto their bed. "I'm not replacing it or anything."

"So… why did you-"

"Because Shinra's a bastard!" Ellie snapped. "He's a crude little dirtbag, but damn it, he's the only person that's skilled enough to fix my armor when it's dinged up. But I can't keep running up to that hidden forge he's got up in the mountains and paying him a small fortune to repair it! I need something I can use that other smiths will be able to fix for me. This was supposed to be my solution, but… Damn it, this is the Qurupeco armor all over again, but worse!"

"Yeah… worse," Levin muttered, earning an irate glower from Ellie. "Um… is it missing some pieces or something?"

"Apparently not," the huntress hissed venomously. She reached towards the dresser and grabbed hold of a small note, holding it up. "I found that at the bottom of the crate. It gives a list of all the armor pieces included, and I'm wearing all of it."

Levin took the paper and scrolled down it, though it was quite a short list. He glanced back and forth between the sheet and Ellie, mentally checking off each individual part, before getting to the end and concluding that, yes, Ellie was indeed wearing everything on the list.

"Can't you, uh… can't you just return it or get a refund?" he asked, mentally kicking himself for the suggestion.

"When have you ever met a smith with a return policy?" Ellie grumbled. "Besides, it's not like I'd get any of my materials back doing that."

"Ah… yeah, good point," Levin muttered. Ellie sighed, crossing her arms and muttering a bevy of obscenities under her breath as she stared into the mirror. As Levin continued to stare at her, she shifted self-consciously, and he smirked slightly. "Well, you were right about one thing, Ellie."

"What's that?"

"I do like it."

Ellie rolled her eyes, but blushed slightly and smirked. "You would, wouldn't you? Still, that doesn't mean I'm not going back to the smith and demanding he tweak the design to cover more skin, no matter what excuse he gives about 'armor integrity' or whatever. For all the materials I had to gather to make this armor, I'll be damned if this revealing mess is all he could make from it all! All the fur and hide I carved could've made a coat as long as your old Ludroth armor."

That was true. Levin recalled Ellie returning from the Nargacuga hunt with a sizable crate of materials, from fur to scales, spikes to fangs, and even a good amount of webbing from its wings. She'd even managed to get some medullas from the beast, which were supposed to be fairly rare. The Nargacuga must have been quite large for her to gather so much, and from experience, Levin could tell that those supplies would be more than enough to provide a hunter with a good armor set. But this armor set… how much had Ellie given the smith, only to return with this?

"Maybe the smith nicked some of the goods you brought him?"

"That's what I'm thinking," Ellie growled. "I've seen smiths work miracles with armor, taking a couple handfuls of scales and plating, a bit of metal, and a horn, and turn it into a full armor set. How the hell did I give that guy two crates worth of materials and get… this in return?"

"Couldn't say… So what are you gonna do about it?"

"Well, that smith is never getting my business again for one! But first, I'm going back there, finding out what the hell he did with the rest of my materials, getting them back, and demanding that he tweak the design! Seriously, this is inexcusable! I could stand the mesh and chest wrap if there was a vest or something over it. And these… mercy, I can't even call them pants. I've worn swimsuits with the same amount of fabric!"

"You have? Maybe you could-"

"Don't start. I am too miffed right now for lewd remarks. These have to be able to be lengthened at least to my knees. And completely leaving my right arm unprotected is unforgivable! What made the smith think that this was a good idea at all?"

"I couldn't say…" Levin muttered. "Though… Ellie, if I may make a suggestion?"

Ellie paused her muttering, turning her gaze curiously at him. He tried his best to keep his eyes on her face and his expression serious, but he knew she saw him slip several times. "What kind of suggestion, Levin?"

"Well, I was thinking… maybe you could leave it like this," he said, striding slowly towards her. Ellie gave him an irked look, and he quickly raised his hands defensively. "Wait! What I mean is… maybe sort of… go with that vest idea. You know, get the materials back, and rather than tweaking the design, just… add onto it. Make a vest or coat to properly cover your torso. Make some decent faulds instead of that… sash-belt thing. Get another arm bracer. That should fix everything right? And you won't even have to argue with the smith about 'maintaining armor design integrity' or whatever."

"I see what you're saying… But that wouldn't really fix the problem, just hide it under some more materials. Why wouldn't I just have the whole thing altered, instead of simply 'covering it up', hmm?" Ellie asked wryly, but Levin could only grin sheepishly. His wife rolled her eyes, but Levin could see a small smile tugging at the edge of her lips as she motioned to herself. "Seriously? You like this kind of thing? Is this some sort of fetish?"

Levin shrugged, taking another couple steps towards her and brushing a hand over the mesh. "It might be. I was quite fond of that Qurupeco armor you used to wear all the time, after all. Maybe it's a psychological thing. You're wearing something that's supposed to be protective, defensive, used in battle against monsters dozens of times your size… and yet it's still so revealing, exposing your abs and legs and leaving very little to the imagination. It has its appeal… well, at least it does to me."

"I bet you played a lot of video games back in our time. The kinds where female characters wore 'battle armor' that would make strippers blush."

"No, I- Well, maybe a couple."

Ellie raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you seriously suggesting that I keep this armor as is simply for your pleasure? This armor that I've spent nearly fifty thousand zenni on?"

Levin's eyes widened a bit at that. "Fifty… thousand?"

Ellie smirked. "Oh, yes, my dear, stingy husband. Fifty thousand. I've been saving up, you know. But do you really want to ignore that and turn this armor into the world's most expensive lingerie?"

"Well… just don't think of it like that. Think of it like… being economical."

"Economical."

"Right. Let's put it this way: you have yourself a new armor set, one that you can use on less dangerous hunts, one that you don't have to rely on Shinra to repair, which is all well and good. However, you just need to remove a vest and some faulds… and maybe those spiky boots too, and it has a secondary use. How often do you have something in your hunting arsenal that can be used in casual life, even under… more intimate conditions?"

Ellie stared flatly at him for several seconds, before bursting out in laughter. Levin chuckled sheepishly as her laughter finally began to subside, and Ellie finally righted herself, catching her breath. "Mercy, Levin, you are so bad at salesmanship, you know that? As if I couldn't tell you were trying to convince me for your own perverse desires."

"Yeah, well… I've never been subtle about those kind of things, I guess."

"That's true, I suppose. Mercy, you were relentless back when I first got my Qurupeco armor."

"Ha, I was pretty bad, wasn't I… but you weren't afraid to beat some sense into me when you thought I deserved it, and I apparently deserved it a lot. You never pulled your punches, either. You still don't, for that matter."

"Hmm… Well, you're a lot smarter and tactful than when we were both apprentices, so I don't have to knock some sense into you nearly so often as I used to. Though it still seems you allow yourself to act pretty lewd every now and then… like now, for example."

"Well, we are married, aren't we? Isn't that one of the boons of marriage, being able to comment on how much you enjoy your significant other's figure without reprisal? Besides…" Levin grinned, stepping closer to her and wrapping a hand around her waist. "While I may have gotten a bit more tactful over the years, it could be argued that you've become less so… or at least, you're certainly more playful than you used to be."

"Well… I suppose that may be true…" Ellie purred, wrapping her arms around Levin's neck and pulling his head down. "Maybe you're just being a bad influence on me, mister Levin."

"Oh, really?" Levin asked with a smirk. "Then please… allow me to live up to my poor reputation."

With that, Levin closed the distance, kissing Ellie passionately. His beloved returned the affection just as fervently, and as seconds passed into minutes, Levin slowly led her closer to the bed. However…

"You know, this isn't exactly fair," Ellie murmured, pulling away from him.

"What… what do you mean?" Levin asked, disappointment clear in his voice. Ellie rolled her eyes, motioning to her body.

"You know. This. This armor. Why am I the one wearing… exotic, exhibitionistic armor, when you get to prance around in full mail? Where's the sense in that? Where's the armor that caters to my tastes? That pulls my eyes to places they don't need to be during a hunt?"

"Uh… I don't-"

"I mean, I've seen some men wearing Narga armor! They're… Well, they're not great, but they're better than this! How come you get the adventure of a hunt and a nice view, and all I get is the hunt?"

"I can't really…"

Ellie had cocked her head thoughtfully, however, rolling something over in her mind. All of a sudden, a twisted, wicked smirk curled across her lips, and she gave Levin a predatory look, making him shiver fearfully.

"You know… I just thought of something," she said, a sickly sweet tone to her voice.

"Erm… what's that?" Levin asked nervously.

"I met a smith in Orage Dell a few months ago who told me she was capable of making quite an exceptional armor set, one that would go well with that switch axe you commissioned Shinra to make. She called it… Dober armor. I saw what it looked like, and I think we should make you that armor set."

"Um… And, uh, what… what does it look like?"

"Well now, I suppose I could tell you… but why ruin the surprise?" Ellie purred, though Levin noticed that her eyes were trailing slowly up and down his body.

"I really am being a bad influence on you… I guess that's fine? Ah, you said the smith was… a woman?"

"Mmhmm. One with whom I clearly share… similar tastes."

"Aha… right then. Well, I don't know if-"

"You get the Dober armor or this Narga armor gets buried under the floorboards and you never see it again."

"...Dober armor it is. Would I, uh… would I have to wear it in public?"

"Only as often as I need to wear this armor in public, at least without the modifications I make to it."

"So they both go into the 'special occasions' box in the back of the closet then. When's the next caravan to Orage Dell head out?"

Ellie laughed huskily, wrapping her arms around Levin's neck and pulling him in. "I admire your enthusiasm, my dear mister Levin. However, such thoughts can wait, I think. I believe we were in the middle of something…"

"Ah, yes. How could I forget?" Levin smirked, tugging slightly at the mesh wrapping around Ellie's torso. "Thoughts on armor designs - well, ones for me - can wait for later. Not like your old Quru armor…"

"Just be happy you won't have to take the hunter's exam wearing something like that like I did," Ellie laughed. But then she tilted her head thoughtfully again and smirked evilly. "Actually…"

Levin pressed forward, kissing her and hopefully distracting her from the thought. With luck, he'd be able to keep her from coming back to that idea. They had more interesting things to think about at the moment anyway…

"Wait…" he muttered, pulling away and earning a frustrated look from Ellie. "What about dinner?"

"Is it done?"

"Mostly."

"Is anything in a position where the food is going to burn or the house is going to be set on fire?"

"No."

"Are there any other issues to worry about than it getting cold?"

"Well, I am rather proud of it…"

"Then forget about it for now," she replied with a smirk, grabbing him and pulling him back down. "We're just going to have to be extra famished when we finally get around to it, aren't we?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Six Years Since the Fall of the Alatreon

A wicked giggle echoed through the hallway as Heine stepped into his small house. The courier sighed, running his fingers through his long black hair in frustration before closing the door behind him. He knew that sound: Rena was plotting to surprise him with something. Unfortunately for her, she was still about as subtle as a train wreck. He'd just returned from a long, rather wearying journey from the southern fortress, and had intended to come home and pass out for the next… thirteen hours - that sounded good - but clearly Rena had other ideas. He wondered how long it had been since she'd snuck in, eagerly anticipating his return.

He supposed that saying she'd snuck into his house wasn't fair, though. He had given her a key to the place a few months ago, but he'd meant for her to use it when she came to visit him, not so that she could come and go whenever she pleased, especially when he was out traveling with the caravan. If she hadn't been out hunting or hanging with her friends though, he wouldn't put it past her to have slept here the last couple nights after spending several hours reading through the books he owned, as though she lived here herself.

Honestly though, anyone who visited would think she lived here anyway, since every time she got a new armor set or weapon, she'd come here to show it off, and tended to leave her old armor and weapon behind. As such, despite Heine not being a hunter, he had a small collection of hunting armors and materials gathering dust in his house, some of which would make even high-ranked hunters envious. There was a set of Arzuros armor that had been hanging in the closet the better part of a year now, some Gobul armor shoved under his couch, and a set of Duramboros armor piled up near the back door (Heine was using the helmet as a doorstop). His cupboards had several dozen potion bottles filling them, along with antidotes, hot and cool drinks, and even some demondrugs. His bookshelf had loose chunks of ore acting as bookends, including a couple sizable chunks of Fucium and Bathycite that Heine knew were pretty valuable.

And the great swords! Mercy, the great swords… The armor was bulky, sure, but they could sort of be hidden away, shoved into the far corners or buried. The swords were a whole different story though. Heine had always had a diminutive stature, and some of the blades were as tall as him! Even though he'd gotten a bit stronger in the last year, trying to move any of those blades without calling for help was an effort in futility.

It had started off simple enough. After everything that happened in the underground tunnels, Rena needed a new weapon to slay monsters, so she could get materials to make a better weapon for tougher monsters, so she could get materials to make an even better weapon for even tougher monsters; the great circular logic that all hunters were forced to adhere to. At first it had been a heavy iron sword she'd made with simple ores she'd gathered, but that had been quickly replaced by a tannish-colored thing made from a monster she'd been summoned to the desert to slay, some silly-named creature called the… Nibble-something.

That blade didn't last a month though! She'd been so proud of that sword, but not long after getting it, she'd been called off to hunt some giant fish monster that had been migrating to nearby waters, and once she'd slain that beast (what was it called… Plesioth?) she'd rushed home and had the local smiths make her a great sword from those materials. Then Harker Renfield had sent her off to the Tundra in search of yet another subspecies that had allegedly appeared, some icy Barroth, and she'd returned with even more materials for yet another sword! Not a week after that, Harker had sent her off to the Flooded Forest to track down a Royal Ludroth that could apparently spit poison, and yet another weapon found its way to Heine's house. By that time she'd actually been developing a reputation for hunting down and slaying new and unusual monsters, so the Guild - the Guild itself! - had sent her and a few other hunters all the way over to the Misty Peaks near the Gahin border to hunt down a brightly-colored Rath pair up in the mountains. Heine wasn't even surprised by then that the huntress had returned with more than enough materials to make two more new swords…

It was turning into an obsession. Heine knew that most hunters owned maybe two or three weapons tops, maybe a couple more than that if they were particularly skilled in more than one weapon type. But Rena now had seven, and he had little doubt there'd be more piling up soon enough. At least she had started upgrading her existing weapons rather than just making new ones; she still had a lot of ores left over, and had used them to improve the iron blade she'd first gotten. It wouldn't make Heine's house any cleaner, but at least it wouldn't make it messier…

Rube, Rena's older brother and Heine's best friend, had joked that it was Rena's way of 'marking her territory', as though any female friends Heine had who came over to visit would see all the weapons and female hunting armor and be warded off. Heine didn't think Rena was that subtle though; Rena seemed more the type to throw someone out a window if she detected any untoward advances. Besides, Rena was an openly affectionate, touchy-feely sort of girl. When they were out in public, she was at least holding his hand if not outright wrapping her arms around him; anyone could tell they were in a relationship with a glance, and all of Perir had to know by now.

Viola, the wagonmaster of the trade caravan and one of Heine's good friends, had laughed when Heine had explained his woes to her and offered him a different explanation. She theorized that Rena was in fact being subtle, but with a different goal in mind. As far as Viola could tell, Rena was intentionally leaving her equipment at his home to get Heine used to the idea of her things being around. It was a slow process, where she'd slowly bring over more and more, until everything she owned was already there and she finally stopped pretty much living there, and just lived there. She was still chuckling when she told Heine that if he really wanted to avoid clutter, the only way out was to strike first and ask Rena to move in with him, but into a larger house with more room.

Honestly, Heine wouldn't have minded sharing a house with Rena, if only so he could find a place with enough room to actually store all of Rena's weapons and materials instead of just leaving them lying around like they did now. He'd heard some hunters had houses with rooms specifically designed to act as armories for all their hunting weapons, armors, supplies, and materials. Of course, there were other reasons why he'd like to live with Rena… but those didn't really need to be said. It certainly gave him something to think about as he and the rest of the caravan was returning from the south.

As he looked into the living room, he groaned quietly as he immediately caught sight of a new great sword propped up against the far wall. That made eight in Rena's collection. Maybe he should start tying them together and turning them into furniture, though the Rathalos one sparked every now and then, and getting creative with that one had a chance to burn his house down.

The new weapon was oddly designed, at least in Heine's opinion. Most of the blades Rena brought home were normal-looking: a massive slab of steel or monster materials sharpened to a point. This one didn't appear to be a single blade, however, with the hilt connected to a long spine where several dozen sharp razors sprouted out, ending with a single massive edge that hooked down at an odd angle. Heine had to admit it looked pretty dangerous, but what monster was this one made from? The materials looked sort of familiar, but Heine couldn't place it; he just didn't know enough about monsters.

However, Heine nearly tripped over something as he stepped into the living room, and looking down at the floor, he realized it was Rena's Jade Barroth armor. Heine wondered if she'd gotten a new set of armor as well; Rena's 'outdated' armor tended to find itself in a pile on the floor whenever she got a new set. She'd been wearing that one for a while now… had she gotten around to making a new armor set along with the weapon? Maybe it was the same monster? That would explain the timing, but it didn't explain why Rena was being so 'sneaky' at the moment. Rena had been surprisingly secretive the last few weeks about something or other, and Heine had suspected that it might be another weapon, but why wasn't Rena in here posing with her new equipment as was the norm? She'd practically burst his door down to show off when she'd gotten the Jade Barroth armor. Did it have to do with the design or-

"Welcome home, Heine." The courier jolted in surprise at the sultry voice behind him, spinning around. He hadn't heard her come up behind him! Maybe she was sneakier than he'd thought…

He'd been ready to greet Rena, but upon seeing her, and more specifically what she was wearing, his breath caught in his throat: Nargacuga armor! It had to be! He'd seen the designs for it advertised in the shops and smithies, and no other armor out there was quite so revealing, but how had Rena…? She'd never even mentioned hunting a Nargacuga before! Quite a bit of Rena's rich brown skin was showing, especially her abs, which was clearly visible through the torso mesh; the armor certainly left little of her tall and powerful body to the imagination. The only thing it really hid was her short brown hair, which was hidden under a short… mane-helmet, or something like that. The huntress sauntered closer to him as he gawked, a wicked gleam in her grey eyes as she puffed out her impressive chest proudly (which was pretty much right in Heine's face, considering his naturally short stature and Rena being a foot and a half taller than him).

"Well?" she asked.

It took a few seconds for Heine's distracted mind to register what Rena had just said. "Huh?" he sputtered. "Uh… well what?"

"Well… what do you think of my new armor set?" Rena asked, smirking as she pulled even closer to him.

"It's… it's Nargacuga armor," Heine muttered dumbly, and Rena nodded, taking another step towards him. "I didn't… I wasn't aware that you'd even fought a Nargacuga before…"

Rena hummed in amusement. "Well, there have been one or two that appear in the forests to the south. I had some spare time a month ago while you were transporting those monster goods up to the Compound, so I decided to take a couple of them down with some of my hunting buddies. It was close, but I managed to get just enough of the materials I needed for the armor. Lucky me, huh?"

"Yeah, really lucky…" Heine muttered. Rena was getting closer, and it was getting increasingly challenging for Heine to keep his attention on her face, if only because her chest was at eye level and Rena was making use of it. Mercy, this armor was worse than the Crimson Qurupeco armor she used to wear! "It, uh… you must have been able to get a decent amount of materials, since, uh, since you managed to get that great sword on the floor…"

"Oh, you saw that?" Rena asked playfully. Again she stepped forward, and now she was close enough to reach forward, and tug idly on the sleeve on his vest. "Well… the materials required are different. The sword needed razors and bone and talons, while the armor needed fur and hide and scales. I had just enough for both. Though… I suppose if I was missing one or two pieces of the armor set, I could still have shown it off to you, hmm?"

Heine shivered slightly at the thought, and Rena chuckled in amusement. "You… you're not going to be wearing this on hunts… or out in public, are you?"

Rena cocked her head thoughtfully, as though seriously contemplating whether or not she should. "Hmm… no, probably not. It's a little breezy for serious hunting, I think, and not as defensive as I prefer my armor sets to be, considering how slow my weapon is. This armor's more for quicker, nimbler hunters, and that's just not my style."

Heine frowned in confusion at the words, and his eyes jumped back up to Rena's face. "You're not? Then… then why did you even get the armor?"

"I just wanted to make sure you kept your promise to me, Heine," Rena purred, walking her fingers up his chest.

"P-promise?" Heine sputtered. "Uh… what promise?"

"The one where, if I got a set of Narga armor, you'd help me… make note of every single vulnerable point in the armor. Every gap, every hole, every single place where bare, raw skin is exposed to the air in this terribly flawed armor. Remember?"

It took a moment for Heine to recall what Rena was talking about; it was hard to really think too clearly about other things. "I… I remember, but, uh… I didn't… promise to do that, as I recall."

Rena's lower lip curled down into a faux-pout. "So you don't want to? You're not going to… search me all over for every revealing gap in this armor?"

Heine blinked at the words, before lowering his voice. "Well… I didn't say that…" he growled. Or at least, tried to growl. He wasn't very good at it, but Rena seemed pleased with the attempt. This time he took a step closer to her, standing right up next to her and brushing his fingers across the mesh around her abdomen. "I simply never promised to do such a thing."

"Oh really?" Rena asked with a delighted smile. "And what's the difference between what you did or didn't promise to do… and what you seem to be doing now?"

"It's the principle of the thing," Heine replied, tugging gently at the mesh; it really was surprisingly strong. "If I were to do it… if I were to seek out every single gap in this flawed armor… it wouldn't be because I promised to do it. It would be because I… wanted to do it."

"Oh ho! You really are growing bolder!" Rena laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close. With their height difference, Heine found his face shockingly close to Rena's bosom… though he imagined that was her intent. "Then I suppose the real question is… do you want to do it?"

"Well, I was going to try and get some sleep after such a long journey… But I suppose I wouldn't mind waiting a little longer. After all… there really are quite a few gaps in that armor, isn't there?"

"Better get started them," Rena murmured playfully.

However, as Heine stood on his toes to kiss her, Rena took a teasing step back, and her heel struck a piece of her Jade Barroth armor. Her eyes widened in surprise as she lost her balance, and she let out a shocked yelp, waving her arms to grab hold of something. But the only thing that was close enough to grab was Heine, and he was hardly sturdy enough for a woman like Rena to use as balance, and with a loud crash, the pair of them toppled to the floor.

"Ow…" Heine groaned painfully, rubbing his shoulder. "That hurt…"

"Yeah…" Rena grumbled, pushing herself up to a sitting position. She glanced down, realizing what had happened, and she chuckled sheepishly. "Heh, sorry. I guess that was my fault. Kinda… kinda killed the mood a little bit."

"Just a bit," Heine agreed, though the Narga armor was certainly a hard thing to ignore, mood or not. However, Heine supposed this did give him a chance he'd been hoping for… "You've got too many of these weapons just lying around, Rena. They're making a mess of things, and this isn't even your house!"

"Sorry…" Rena slouched a little where she sat, looking for all the world like a chastised puppy. A very big puppy, but a puppy nonetheless. Heine rarely scolded her for anything, so it usually had an effect when he actually got angry at her over something.

"This little place just isn't big enough for all the weapons and armor you leave around, you know? And I'm pretty sure I have more potions in my cupboards than food and spices."

"Sorry…" Rena muttered again. "I just… I like coming here, you know? And I…"

"I know you like it here, but this place is going to become really cluttered if you keep bringing in more weapons and armor and just leaving them here. Even if we are in a relationship, you can't just make a mess of someone else's home. So… so you should only do this kind of thing in a house where you live, got it? So, um… if you just lived with me, the problem would be solved."

Rena looked up, blinking in confusion at the words, before her eyes widened in realization and an excited smile lit up her expression.

"Of course, uh, of course this little house probably wouldn't be big enough for the two of us…" Heine continued, pretending not to notice. "You know, if, um, if you decided to do something like that. I know that they've, uh, been building those houses on the edge of town that are specifically made for hunters. The ones with the armories inside them, so weapons and armor don't clutter everything up… That would be really useful. But I'm just throwing ideas out there to simplify things, so if you-"

Heine suddenly yelped in shock as Rena swept over to him, knocking him onto his back as she pulled him into a tight hug and kissed him fiercely. Heine grunted in pain a little under the huntress' weight, but returned the affection as best he could. A minute or two later, Rena pulled away, grinning widely as she looked down on him.

"I rather like your idea, in case you couldn't tell."

"I, uh, I figured…"

"Hmm… now then…" Rena growled, straddling him and leaning her face close to his. "I believe we were in the middle of something, weren't we?"

"Ah… I think you may be right. Let's see… where was I?"

"Zero. Best get started, my dear Heine. There are quite a few gaps in this armor, and you'll need to find them all."

"Might take a while. Hopefully I won't get distracted."

"If you do… we can always start over. Now get started. Let's see how many you can find before getting too… distracted."

Author's Note: Please Review! Yay for more borderline smut! Gotta keep that T rating.

First new DLC in a while, huh?

Sorry, but I'm still working on chapter 14 of SOP, but hopefully this'll carry everyone over for another couple weeks. Hopefully the chapter will be done in time for the next release, but if not, the first chapter of my next big DLC story, Charon, is essentially done, so I can use that.

This was supposed to be a follow-up chapter to a DLC story involving Ellie hunting down a Nargacuga with a couple reader-submitted OCs, but it never quite came together like I wanted it to. I just couldn't get the story to work out right. This was supposed to be a "Subquest" chapter to that, but while the other story only got about a fifth written, I actually managed to finish this one since I didn't have to take it that seriously.

Playing: MH3U, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Pathfinder, Hyrule Warriors

Listening: The Shins, GenerikB livestreams, Neil Diamond, Pet Shop Boys, Animal Collective, AC/DC, Klute, Billy Joel, ThieveryCorporation, Keane, Revolutions Podcast, The Creative Writer's Toolbelt Podcast, The Legend of Zelda Orchestral Collection

Reading: Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari by Aneko Yusagi, Spellcross by Stefan Martello