Welcome back everyone! It feels surreal that I really am going to finish Mika and Kurda's story the way I've been dreaming about in my head for SO many years now! What's even better is that somehow there are still people reading CDF FanFiction in 2020. From FF net, to AO3, to Tumblr, you guys have been amazing and I'm sorry I made you cry so much. I've had so much fun with all of this, and I truly have fallen back in love with writing more than ever. Mika and Kurda have come so far and I'm so proud of them and I love them so much!

AND YES I CALLED IT ENDGAME, at first it as an inside joke with myself until I thought of something better, but then I realized there is no better title for this. Because 1) I suck at titles and it's one of my top Murda songs so I said fuck it! And 2) I've realized that the Shandom will always be an "inevitable" part of my life, and I. Am. Roxypony. (if you're not a Marvel fan I apologize. And even if you are, I still apologize. Couldn't resist).

Here we go!

Chapter 1: You And Me, We Got Big Reputations

Song: End Game by Taylor Swift (yet another song from Reputation that is an absolute Murda anthem!)


I wanna be your endgame
I wanna be your first string
I wanna be your A-Team
I wanna be your endgame, endgame
Big reputation, big reputation
Ooh you and me we got big reputations, ah
And you heard about me, ooh
I got some big enemies

Big reputation, big reputation
Ooh you and me would be a big conversation, ah
And I heard about you, ooh
You like the bad ones too

You may remember the time, quite a few years ago now, when after much observation Kurda developed a theory that there were three separate personalities dwelling inside the dark-clad vessel known as Mika Ver Leth. That list goes as such:

Type 1: Mika The Prince.

Type 2: Mika The Dad.

Type 3: Mika The Co-Parent.

When Kurda first developed the Mika Personality Theory in his mind, the concept of ever upgrading Type 3's title to Mika The Significant Other hadn't been part of the plan, in the cards, on the horizon, or anywhere else you could imagine. But life changes in unprecedented ways. Sometimes you change with it.

Kurda remembered the first time he'd ever sat in on a meeting with Mika. They were both Generals back then. Kurda was newly appointed whereas Mika was quite seasoned and on the brink of his promotion to Prince. The topic of discussion was how to deal with a Vampire cub who'd left his mentor and been taken in by a Vampaneze. Mika and Arrow wanted the young man put on trial for his disloyalty. The other Generals quickly sided with them like lemmings - nobody ever disagreed with the formidable duo. Well, almost nobody. Kurda spoke up naturally, with something extremely righteous, along the lines of:

"If the cub left his mentor voluntarily, then and the Vampaneze in question hasn't broken any of our laws. If they aren't harming anyone, don't see what legal action we can take here."

And Mika of course had retorted with something snotty and obnoxious like,

"Shut it, Smahlt. The adults are talking."

And that in turn had earned him a smack upside the head from Paris and a poorly-concealed high-five under the table from Arrow. Exchanges like this were as much a part of the daily routine as eating breakfast. Naturally Kurda found it irritating and rather tiring. But he also knew that if he truly was as poor an excuse for a Vampire as they implied, he wouldn't be here sitting in on meetings like these. So he didn't let it go to his head. He knew his worth and didn't concern himself with the opinions of Neanderthals like Mika and Arrow.

Fast-forward to now.

Mika still had his moments, but age and experience had tempered his knee-jerk reaction to go straight for the throat of anyone who crossed him. Kurda was still a fountain of unpopular opinions but he'd gotten better at figuring out the proper time and place to share them, and how to manipulate a conversation in his favour. And Arrow was still Arrow, but he was trying. Bless his heart.

After the day of Paris and Seba's wedding, the day everything changed, Kurda made it clear to Mika that he didn't expect any sort of preferential treatment on a professional level. Even though their relationship had evolved in ways they hadn't anticipated, their responsibilities to the clan remained as high-priority as ever. Whenever they were in the public eye, they took great care to project the same level of professionalism they always had.

But that simply meant they had to get a little creative about how they flirted while on the job.

For example, Kurda found it infinitely frustrating how distracting it was every time there was any sort of meeting in the Hall of Princes because when Mika gets bored or contemplative, he has this way of leaning back in his throne, crossing his arms, and tilting his head ever so slightly. Sometimes he bites his lip absent-mindedly. And Kurda once made the mistake of telling Mika that he found this all incredibly enticing. And if you know Mika, you won't be surprised that that comment went straight to his head and now he does it all the time when he knows Kurda is watching. It's all very subtle.

But Kurda knows Mika just as well. He knows his strengths and weaknesses. And topping the list of completely random and arbitrary things he finds sexy is Kurda Wearing Black. So at least once a week, Kurda swipes one of Mika's four thousand black shirts and casually wears it around. If they both happen to end up in the same meeting, Kurda makes a point of leaning forward slightly, running a hand through his white-gold hair, and lazily smiling in the way he knows drives Mika crazy. And if Kurda's feeling really devious, just when the meeting is almost over he'll start a new conversation just to drag it out even longer.

Of course, they still argue like it's their day job. And in a way, it sort of is. Just last week in the Hall of Princes, Kurda was sitting at the round table with Mika, Arrow, and Paris going over some proposed changes to a few of the more (in his opinion) outdated rules concerning the Trials of Initiation. Mika had an objection. It was reasonable, but Kurda was frustrated nonetheless.

"You are such a pain in the ass!" Kurda had exclaimed at last after a lengthy debate, slapping the table in vexation and abandoning all semblance of professionalism.

"That's not what you said last night." Mika retorted swiftly, with a completely straight face.

Kurda groaned and facepalmed so hard it almost left a permanent mark. Arrow looked confused for a moment, then he got it and began to laugh so hard he almost fell out of his chair. Paris rolled his eyes and rubbed his fingertips against his temples. Mika leaned back in his chair and smiled across at Kurda in that annoyingly self-congratulatory way that only he could. The way that made Kurda want to strangle him but also rip his clothes off at the same time. Yes, a lot of things stayed the same in their everyday lives. Such as the fact that got on each other's last nerve at least once a day.

But some things did change. That list is considerably shorter than the list of that which stayed the same, but sometimes the small things make the biggest difference.

Mika sometimes forgets that it's not normal to be constantly stressed out. Or that it's not healthy to run on less than five hours of sleep per night. But after about a month of consistently sharing his coffin with Kurda, Mika realized how much calmer he felt overall. And he concluded that could only mean one thing: he was slowly losing his mind and forgetting to worry about all of the things he was supposed to be worrying about. One night while getting ready to go to bed, he voiced these concerns to Kurda.

"So let me get this straight." Said Kurda, trying to keep a straight face. "You feel like there's something wrong with you because you AREN'T constantly on the verge of a panic attack?"

"Well, it sounds ridiculous when you put it like that." Mika replied with a scowl, throwing a pillow at Kurda. "Forget it."

"I'm sorry! I know what you mean, really." Kurda backpedaled quickly, but unable to keep himself from smiling. He wrapped his arms around Mika's neck and kissed him gently.

"Look at me. You're not losing your marbles. You're not going soft. You couldn't if you tried." Kurda told him in a voice that was soft but determined. "The world won't end if you just let yourself be happy."

Mika's hands came to rest on Kurda's hips and exhaled slowly.

"I don't know how you do it." Said Mika quietly.

"Do what?"

"Everything. Like... I don't even recognize myself these days. You're so good for me."

Kurda chuckled softly as he slowly lowered his body into Mika's coffin for the night.

"All I do is love you, Mika. Everything else is all you. Now get in here."

"Five more minutes." Said Mika with a rueful smile. He ambled over to his desk and sat down in his leather bound chair. "I have make the schedule for tomorrow. Then I have to finish outlining all the points I want covered in the onboarding program for the new guards. Paris wants to roll that out in the next couple days."

Kurda rolled his eyes.

"See? This is why you don't need to worry about losing your edge, or whatever. You're incapable of not being a workoholic."

"You're no better." Mika smirked. "At least I don't bring maps to bed."

Kurda had propped himself up on several pillows in the coffin and was lazily sketching something on a clipboard.

"Whatever you say, babe." Kurda sighed absent-mindedly, looking back at his map. Then he paused. 'Babe' was not part of the roster of various terms of endearment he used for Mika. So far the roster was limited to the following names.

1 - Mika (obviously)

2 - Sire Ver Leth (used only in a sarcastic manner of course)

3 - You Idiot (this one popped out more than Kurda cared to admit)

He hadn't meant to say it. It just slipped out before he had a chance to think about it. He watched Mika pause noticeably, turn halfway around in his chair and open his mouth as though about to say something about it. Kurda could only see half of Mika's face but he could tell he thinking about it and deciding whether he liked it or not. Then Mika silently turned back around so his back was facing Kurda once again. Kurda smiled to himself and mentally added "#4: Babe" to the list.

After several minutes, Mika extinguished the candle on his desk and joined Kurda in the coffin. Kurda was still at work so Mika elected to lay down on Kurda's legs and place his head in his lap like some sort of large affectionate dog who thought it was much smaller than it actually was. Kurda sighed resignedly but realized if he rested his clipboard on Mika's back it was actually the perfect height. Plus it gave him an arm rest. He adjusted accordingly and carried on his work with the map with one hand while running the other through Mika's hair.

"Who's the workaholic again?" Mika murmured after a few more minutes had passed.

"Other people are allowed to work hard. You don't have a monopoly on ambition." Kurda smirked.

Mika was still face-down on Kurda's midsection but Kurda could still hear a quick, muffled laugh. Kurda set his pencil and clipboard on the floor and maneuvered his body slowly until he was laying on his side with his arms around Mika.

"This is nice." Mika informed him drowsily. He didn't often get to be little spoon.

"Mmhm. Don't get used to it." Kurda whispered back, taking great care to make sure his lips brushed against Mika's upper spine. Mika shuddered at the sudden tickle, then rolled back over so he could get revenge by kissing the little spot on Kurda's neck he knew was always ticklish.

We met when I was young
Reconnected when we were little bit older
Both sprung, I got issues and chips on both of my shoulders
Reputation precedes me, in rumors I'm knee deep
The truth is it's easier to ignore it, believe me

Even when we'd argue, we don't do it for long
And you understand the good and bad, end up in the song
For all your beautiful traits, and the way you do it with ease
For all my flaws, paranoia, and insecurities

I've made mistakes, and made some choices that's hard to deny
After the storm, something was born on the fourth of July
I've passed days without fun, this endgame is the one
With four words on the tip of my tongue, I'll never say

Other things don't change so much. Mika found it just slightly funny that even after everything that had transpired in the past couple months, Arrow still didn't entirely trust Kurda. It didn't bother Mika, though. He knew it wasn't personal. It all boiled down to Arrow's impenetrable mental block that stood between his hatred of the Vampaneze and his ability to place complete faith in someone who saw a grey area between the two clans.

"Mika, I've come to accept him as a friend. And I love that he makes you happy. As far as that goes, you both have my full support. But when it comes to politics... I'm sorry. This is the best I can do." Arrow explained one night as the two of them sat alone in the Hall of Princes as they so often did. A meeting between the Princes and a few Generals had just concluded in which Arrow callously shot down all of Kurda's suggestions one by one. Where work was concerned, Mika never showed Kurda an ounce of favouritism over the other Generals. As you know, Mika and Kurda still disagree on plenty of things. But in this case he felt Arrow had been unfair so he cautiously called his friend out once everyone else had left.

"I understand." Mika had sighed after hearing Arrow out. "I know how hard you've been trying to find a common ground with him these last few years. And vice versa; everyone knows he wasn't exactly in your fan club when we first started running in the same circles. But you've both come so far. I can't describe how much I appreciate that. Really." He shot Arrow a sidelong look that was casual but held a certain amount of gravity and Arrow knew he truly meant what he said. He roughly clapped Mika on the shoulder with a tired smile.

"It can't be easy going through life when one of your great loves is Vampire Mountain's infamous peace-mongering pacifist and the other is... well, me." Arrow chortled. Mika rolled his eyes and swatted Arrow's shoulder.

"I always considered myself to be highly opinionated. I never learned how to be a neutral party until I found myself stuck in the middle of you two, like some kind of gods-damned referee. Sometimes I agree with you. Sometimes I agree with him. Other times I think you're both full of shit." Mika admitted with a wry grin.

Arrow scoffed.

"When did you become so moderate? Boring."

"Probably the time I watched you and Kurda get into it because he wanted to abolish some old rule, can't remember now. But the two of you yelled at each other for so long that even the nosiest spectators got bored and left. That was when I decided extremism was overrated and I'd much rather sit and watch you two duke it out." Mika informed him with a dry smile. Arrow scratched his head thoughtfully, clearly travelling down memory lane.

"Was that the time when he threw a plate at my head, then I flipped the table?"

"Yes. I was holding Grace at the time, she was really young. But she slept through the whole thing somehow. Even when I had to basically throw her at Seba so I could go stop you two from killing each other." Mika reminisced with distinct fondness. Arrow smiled ruefully and chuckled to himself.

"But honestly, Mika. I hope you never feel that I dislike Kurda, or that I don't respect him. It's not that I think he's a bad vampire. I mean, if he was really that bad I never would have let you go out with him in the first place."

Mika snorted derisively.

"Arrow, if you hadn't knocked some sense into me that night I'd be married to Arra right now. Don't worry, I know you don't hate Kurda."

"It's just... you know how much I struggle with these things. I can't help it. I'll never be able to see the gray areas like you can. I'm not that strong." Arrow continued, his voice taking on a sad tone and with that, Mika knew this conversation was officially past joking and he quickly reached out and grasped Arrow's forearm.

"It's okay, Arrow. You're doing your best. I know it's not that simple. Trust me, I get it." Mika replied determinedly. "I'd never expect you to agree with Kurda's political endeavours, nor do I expect him to agree with yours. All I'm saying is... play nice while we're all at work together. And yes, I'm aware he's no better at it than you are, so I've had this conversation with him as well."

"You two talk about me?" Arrow looked up with a faintly bemused smile.

"Well, we all live in one big rock and see the same dozen people every day of our lives so everyone's bound to come up at one point or another. And for what it's worth, he feels the same way. I promise Kurda doesn't actually think you're a moron. No matter how often he tells you."

"And I don't actually think he's an airheaded clown." Arrow added softly. "But under no circumstances do I permit you to ever tell him that."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Mika affirmed, closing his eyes contentedly and leaning back into his throne. Slowly but surely, he was getting used to being happy.

I don't wanna touch you (I don't wanna be)
Just anther ex-love (You don't wanna see)
I don't wanna miss you (I don't wanna miss you)
Like the other girls do
I don't wanna hurt you (I just wanna be)
Drinkin' on a beach with (You all over me)
I know what they all say
But I ain't tryna play

Mika and Kurda kept things private for three months after Paris and Seba's wedding. They agreed it would be better to leave some space between the dissolution of Mika and Arra's relationship and the beginning of Mika and Kurda's to keep the clan from gossiping.

Mika is a planner, so you'd assume he would have figured out well in advance how best to take things public. But he hadn't quite gotten that far before the cat got out of the bag. Or more appropriately, he inadvertently let the cat out of the bag.

It was early one evening and it happened in the Hall of Princes - as most important things did. The hall was fairly full; Paris had just finished delivering an update from Vancha on his latest brush with a Romanian Vampaneze troop. Mika and Arrow had shared a couple closing notes and Paris had dismissed the hall. Kurda and a couple other Generals had been standing with them on the throne platform. Mika had casually stood up from his throne to enjoy a nice stretch. And for whatever reason. Kurda turned to Mika to say something, and when Mika's primary instinct told him to give Kurda a quick, causal kiss on the cheek. Neither of them thought anything of it, for the first millisecond. For whatever reason, some uncivilized cretin in the front row took it upon himself to shout out a highly derogatory remark at the two of them. The type of remark that isn't worth repeating.

Before either Mika or Kurda could process it and react accordingly, Arrow had launched himself like a fighter jet out of his throne and landed twenty feet away, squarely on top of the aforementioned cretin and he did it so forcefully he knocked the entire pew down with him. Arrow kept him pinned to the floor and roared savagely into his face for almost five minutes - a steady stream of threats of severe bodily harm if he ever dared to disrespect anyone ever again. When he finally paused for breath, the other man's face was white as a sheet and he looked on the verge of fainting in terror. Arrow looked over his shoulder to see Mika bent over laughing hysterically at Arrow, while Kurda stood beside him with his hand over his mouth looking absolutely mortified. And then there was Paris, still sitting in his throne with his palm covering his face. With the exception of Mika's guffaws, the rest of the room was completely silent. There was so much to process; the unexpected kiss, Arrow's lighting-fast protective instincts, and of course the fact that the notoriously irritable Sire Ver Leth was shedding actual tears of laughter right there in front of the entire room. (We know Mika is quite capable of laughter, but the majority of the clan did not). It was an eventful evening for everyone. And that was the iconic day in which Mika and Kurda's new relationship finally became officially recognized as public knowledge. Mika never again wondered if Arrow still had his back, and couldn't imagine why he'd ever questioned it in the first place.

He could have felt frustrated at himself for forgetting how many people were in the room when he kissed Kurda in that moment; he could've times it better. He could have felt annoyed that Arrow had taken it upon himself to cause a scene in the name of defending Mika's honour. He could've been livid that someone had the nerve to say THAT to their superior.

But, he realized late that night as he lay awake in his coffin with Kurda dozing peacefully in his arms, despite all of that, he didn't feel anything besides loved.

I hit you like bang
We tried to forget it, but we just couldn't
And I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em
Reputation precedes me, they told you I'm crazy
I swear I don't love the drama, it loves me
And I can't let you go, your hand print's on my soul
It's like your eyes are liquor, it's like your body is gold
You've been calling my bluff on all my usual tricks
So here's the truth from my red lips

Kurda honestly didn't know what to expect from life once their relationship was out in the open. Mika's title came with some built-in protection from negativity at least. No intelligent vampire would dare voice any sort of disapproval, especially after the display Arrow put on in the Hall of Princes. But it quickly became apparent that the rest of the clan's overall reaction to this new development was surprise.

"If I can speak candidly, Sire, out of all the vampires in the clan I must say Smahlt is the last one I would've wagered on you settling down with. I suppose it's true that opposites attract!" Kurda once overheard a visitor tell Mika after several mugs of ale. Mika remained unflustered but arched one eyebrow dangerously.

"That's General Smahlt to you." Mika told the other man coolly before changing the subject.

On another occasion, Kurda was on his way up from the Hall of Perta Vin-Grahl when he caught snippets of conversation from a small group of vampires who were polishing weapons in the armoury.

"Did you hear Crepsley and Sails were seen together somewhere on the East coast?"

"Aye. Quite a pair they are! I still can't believe Ver Leth let her get away. If Arra Sails gave me the time of day, I'd never let her out of my sight."

"She must've really done some damage for him to rebound to Kurda Smahlt. Charna's Guts! He's a decent vampire but imagine having to listen to that pacifist rhetoric every day of your life. I'd throw myself on the stakes."

"Perhaps Mika simply prefers blonds! Smahlt ain't my type but he's easy on the eyes!"

"Or perhaps the great Mika Ver Leth didn't want to risk being mated to someone with the potential to be better at him than... well, anything."

"If that's the case, he sure picked the right one!"

"Pffft. I give it a year. We all know how Sire Ver Leth is. Nothing's ever good enough for him. He'll get bored and move on eventually. If he's smart he'll try to win Sails back. If I had any money I'd bet on it!"

The group laughed raucously and Kurda bristled from the other side of the door. He was livid. He fumed silently for the next day and a half until he found himself in the Hall of Baker Wrent helping Vanez score assessments for the newest General prospects. The resident group of cubs, which included Cyrus, were gathered in the room as well, eagerly learning from the more seasoned Vampires. One of the prospects had graduated all the way to the top of the bars. He called down to his peers, very smugly, trying to goad someone into challenging him.

"I accept!" Kurda snapped, a lot more aggressively than he normally would have. It wasn't the first time he'd accepted a challenge on the bars (as you may recall) but it was one of the few times he'd done it sober.

"Where are you going? You're supposed to be marking these." Vanez complained indignantly but Kurda was already scaling the bars. The fight didn't last long but it was good. The young prospect was skilled but Kurda was ultimately quicker. After a few near misses, Kurda finally overpowered the other man and sent him toppling. He grabbed a lower set of bars on the way down and pulled himself up, where he sat glaring up at Kurda. Kurda felt a surge of adrenaline rush through his body, they'd all think twice before they questioned his skills again. Assholes.

He spun around to face the crowd below, with every intention of shouting something boastful and highly uncharacteristic of him. But he did that just a little too quickly. In his haste, his foot slipped and he was thrown off balance. It was a long way to the floor. He felt his body crunch unpleasantly against one, two, three different rungs before he finally became one with the floor.

He didn't quite black out but he certainly wasn't entirely with it either. Over the ringing in his ears he could hear Cyrus calling his name in alarm, and Vanez shushing him.

"Charna's Guts, Smahlt! Since when do you show off like a complete buffoon?" The one-eyed Games Master grumbled as he made his way over. "Lie still, don't try to get up."

He saw Vanez's face come looming into focus above him as he inspected the damage. Kurda was really starting to feel it now.

"Gods, you somehow managed to hit every bar on the way down." Vanez commented with suppressed concern. Then he looked over his shoulder and in a tone of very forced calm, he called out to the others, "Someone get Mika in here!"

Kurda mumbled incoherently. What he was trying to say was "Don't tell Mika!" but evidently all Vanez got from that was "Mika".

"It's okay, Kurda. Mika will be here in a minute. Just breathe. You're gonna be fine. Just sore for a while." Vanez told him with a wry smile.

Kurda groaned. This was the last thing he needed, to be lying here like a fragile baby bird fallen from the nest, unable to help itself. Gods damn it.

Not today, he told himself. I am NOT helpless. And with that, he sat up and lurched to his feet. Or at least he tried to. He made it about halfway before his vision went black and he collapsed messily back to the floor. The last thing he heard was Vanez scolding him.

When he came to his senses he realized he was no longer lying on the dusty stone floor under the bars, rather in a clean cot in the Hall of Recovery. He opened his eyes slowly and blinked a few times, orienting himself.

"Good morning, Sunshine. Care to tell me what the fuck that was all about?" Came a familiar voice from his left. He slowly tilted his head to come face-to-face with Mika who was lying next to him. Mika was on his back with his head tilted in Kurda's direction and his hands folded neatly over his chest. Clearly he'd been there a while.

"I told Vanez not to call you." Kurda mumbled groggily. "I was fine."

Mika raised his eyebrows and shot Kurda a look of exasperation. There was more to it than that, though. Kurda could see his face was lined with worry.

"Why the hell not?" Mika asked, as sharply as he could without raising his voice.

"Mika, everyone thinks I'm fragile!" Kurda replied hoarsely. "People fall off the bars all the time. They don't usually lie on the floor and wait for their big, strong boyfriend or whatever to come swooping in to save them. Do you have any idea how stupid that makes me look?!"

Mika stared back at Kurda incredulously and blinked a few times.

"Kurda, Vanez was afraid you'd broken your neck or back or something. He wasn't about to try to move you on his own, so of COURSE they came and got me. You could have been paralyzed, you absolute moron. How do you think I felt when I was sitting in the Hall of Khledon Lurt minding my own business when Cyrus comes running in screaming, making it sound like you're dying? That kid sure has a flair for the dramatic."

Kurda felt his face go red as the shame and guilt crept up on him. He really thought Vanez was merely underestimating him when he had simply been looking out for him.

"And all for what? What were you even doing up there?" Mika ranted, in a tone that sounded harsh. However, Kurda was acutely aware of how Mika's stress and worry tended to manifest itself in a way that came across as anger. "I thought you were just there to help grade the brats. And since when do you fall off the bars?! Sober, anyway. I know you're not interested in fighting but I also know you don't have a clumsy bone in your body."

Kurda glared back at him.

"I seem to recall you doing the same, not so long ago." He snapped, sounding a little more defensive than he would have liked.

"Yes, I fell off the bars as a direct result of my own carelessness. Thank you for proving my point." Mika shot back. "Vanez told me exactly what happened, Kurda. There was no reason for you to accept that challenge. It wasn't even directed at you. He said you were fighting recklessly. Last time I checked, that wasn't your method. So what's going on with you? Did you wake up this evening and suddenly feel like you had something to prove?"

"People don't take me seriously, Mika! It was fine when I was nobody. It never bothered me. But now I'm with you, and everyone knows it, and people are talking!" Kurda exclaimed at last. Mika frowned.

"When did you start caring what anyone thinks of you? You've never once apologized for being yourself. That's one of my favourite things about you... you know that." Mika countered with unmistakable dismay.

Kurda described the conversation he'd overheard the previous day. Mika exhaled a low huff of annoyance but didn't look overly bothered by it.

"So what, Kurda? If I'd stayed with Arra, instead they'd be bitching about how she was only in it to advance her career or whatever. People talk. That's it. And if there's nothing to talk about, they'll make something up. There's nothing you can do about it."

"They had a point, Mika. It's just that... you're so you. And I'm so... me."

"What does that even mean?!"

"It means there's always going to be a possibility that you're going to wake up one day and realize I'm not enough for you!" Kurda blurted out.

Mika's face fell and Kurda instantly wished he could take it back. Mika stared back at him for several moments with the most devastated expression of incredulity Kurda had ever seen.

"Not enough for me?" He croaked out in disbelief. "Not enough for me?! Kurda, you are everything. You're the best thing about me. If you haven't figured that out yet, I don't know what to tell you."

Kurda let out a low sigh of dismay at the shattered look on Mika's face. His head was starting to pound again. He tried to slide closer to Mika's side of the cot but his body protested angrily at even the slightest movement, and he winced in pain. Mika instead closed the space between them, leaning in and carefully cradling Kurda's upper body in his arms.

"Sorry." Kurda whispered. And he meant it. "Not my finest moment. I don't know what I was thinking... I wasn't thinking. I know you love me, Mika. I've never doubted you. I shouldn't have let it get to me. I love you so much."

He felt Mika's body relax beside him. He gently kissed Kurda's temple.

"I beat him though." Kurda added with a hint of vindication. "Kicked his ass."

A soft laugh reverberated through Mika's chest as he held Kurda close.

"Yeah? Which one was it?"

"Uh, Jakob Wiles I think. The short wide one."

"Hmm. He's got a good swing. Way to go." Mika replied appreciatively. "Wish I'd seen it."

"Thanks."

"Kurda, I wouldn't change a single thing about you. You're already perfect to me. But if you ever wanted to level up your fighting, I could help you. It would be my absolute pleasure." Mika commented with a sideways smile.

Kurda rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"I can think of infinite ways in which we could achieve absolute pleasure that DON'T involve me setting foot in the sorting halls again.

Mika snorted in great amusement.

"Works for me. I won't bring it up again. But if you ever change your mind, just say the word and I'm there. Anything you need, I got you."

"You're so generous." Kurda murmured, smiling sleepily and closing his eyes as he nestled his head against Mika's shoulder.

"By the way, next time you're under the impression that anyone thinks you're even remotely fragile, I want you to remember that when I'm having a bad day I think about the time you broke Dean Warwent's jaw for calling you my Trophy Wife." Mika added with a lazy smirk.

"I enjoyed that day a lot more than I should have." Kurda commented with a dark chuckle. "If there was ever a time to solve a problem with violence, that sure as hell was it."

"People still talk about that to me all the time, you know." Said Mika. "For what it's worth, you have more fans that you realize. Just because not everyone 'gets' you, doesn't mean they don't respect you. I've never known you to be insecure, so don't start now."

They fell silent for several minutes, but comfortably so. Kurda kept his eyes closed; the flickering torchlight was giving him a headache and he knew he had a concussion. Mika ran his hands in slow, comforting circles on Kurda's back, just gently enough so as not to disturb the bruises he could feel were already forming.

"So what's the diagnosis?" Kurda murmured eventually. "How much of me is broken?"

"Vanez figures you broke a bunch of ribs, and quite possibly fractured a vertebrae. He said you hit so many bars on the way down it broke your fall enough to avoid any major damage. Said the ribs aren't a big deal but you don't want to take chances with the vertebrae. So, bed rest for 48 hours." Mika informed him gently. "Sorry." He added as an afterthought.

"Thanks, Doctor Ver Leth." Kurda muttered in disappointment.

"Don't shoot the messenger." Mika chuckled. "Could've been much worse. You could've snapped your neck. Not even the toughest Vampire can walk that off."

"Well, it seems you're going to be stuck with me a little longer yet." Kurda replied sardonically. Mika exhaled a soft laugh and carefully leaned over so he could cup his hand around Kurda's face and kiss his lips thoroughly. When they parted, Mika was smiling again in that deeply mischievous way that only Kurda ever saw.

"Joke's on you, General Smahlt. That's how I like it."

I wanna be your endgame
I wanna be your first string
I wanna be your A Team
I wanna be your endgame,
Endgame


Alright that's chapter one finished! Hope you guys enjoyed it :) the plot is going to start ramping up a fair bit but I went easy on you guys for this one. I've been spoiling y'all with quite a few soft, cuddly Murda moments lately because as I've mentioned... later on in this story we will be catching up with the canon storyline and uh, well you know how that goes. Keep in mind I don't exactly have a history of being loyal to canon so don't get your kleenexes out yet. Just be warned it's not going to be sunshine and rainbows from start to finish.

PS- bonus points if you pick up on the sneaky reference from The Office I slipped in! (Season 9 episode 22 I believe).

Thanks for reading! A comment would be amazing if you're in the mood.

Love always!

- Roxy