Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had only been five minutes since Nicole had told Anby her brand new idea on how to cut down on expenses for the Cunning Hares, but to the shorter woman it felt like hours. I mean it was a completely out of the blue idea. Why would she suggest getting married….

“Anby? You there?? It wasn’t that bad of an idea!” Despite her initial shock she did have to admit that the idea wasn’t that bad, the tax benefits for married couples are really good in New Eridu, plus it’s not like a big expensive wedding is required they just need to get the legal documentation, only being about 100 dennies.

“It’s definitely better than the other ideas you’ve had recently” They desperately needed some kind of reprieve from financial issues and this was an alternative to scamming people.

“Exactly! And you’ll finally have a last name too” Anby could already feel the butterflies in her stomach, something about sharing a last name with Nicole made her nervous, but not in a don’t want to do it kind of nervous. Instead she was nervous that Nicole might think the idea was bad and take back the offer… she hopes that isn’t a sign of anything

“Sure why not, the tax benefits will help with our budgeting”

“Perfect! I already have the documents, we just need to sign them!”

“Why do you already have the documents?”

“Well because I got the idea while walking past the registration office, so i quickly asked what documents i would need and got them printed” The casual demeanour that Nicole has speaking about the two of them literally getting married somehow doesn’t surprise Anby, she’s used to Nicole doing a lot of different things to either save money or make money.

But this is different, even if it’s entirely platonic it’s still going to confuse people they meet and talk too.

But if it would make Nicole happy Anby would do anything, she deeply cares about the pink haired woman who saved her and took her in when no one else would, the woman who had finally let her be herself, not a tool, not a weapon, but she could finally be just Anby.

And she would be lying if she said she had thought of marrying Nicole before…

That was a long time ago back when Nicole first took her in. After all the good things she did, helping her get new clothes, giving her food and shelter, it was only a natural reaction. No one had treated her like that before…

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It had been a few days since they had sent off the documents, unfortunately they had picked a month where a lot of other people were also getting married, so they would have to wait a week or so to get the marriage certificate.

Nicole hates this, she wants her tax benefits as soon as she can get them. The longer this takes the less money they save. And the entire reason she was doing this was to save money!

Sure Anby was cute, anyone who saw her would admit that. But the entire reason they are getting married is to save money on taxes, although it was only around ten percent, that was still a lot of money to the Cunning Hares, and that's on top of lower insurance premiums and loans will be easier to get.

Nicole had definitely thought about marrying for money before, and despite how desperate she has been she always told herself she would at least be friends with whoever she married for cash, that way she wasn’t completely miserable and didn’t need get theory “inherritance”

And sure this wasn’t the same as marrying a rich person for their money but she still checked off one box, she does enjoy spending time around Anby.

Nothing will probably change between them anyway once they are officially married, they will still be good friends and still have each other. There is no reason to be weird about it

Maybe she should take Anby out to her favourite burger place to celebrate. Would that make it weird? Probably not right? Well if she says it’s to celebrate the marriage then maybe it makes it weird. She’ll say it’s to celebrate the tax benefits.

Although Anby probably doesn’t need a reason to get burgers….

Chapter Text

It had been a few months since their marriage of convenience, and unfortunately there was a new inconvenience. Not that Anby had anything against Nekomata, it was just that they only have three bedrooms in the place they stayed.

And now there are four of them. Someone is going to share a room with someone. Billy and Nicole were discussing in the other room about who may share with who, and Anby had an idea, the main issue isn’t just sharing a room it’s that they can’t get another bed on this short notice.

So the two of them sharing a room would also have to share a bed.

To Anby the solution is obvious, her and Nicole can just share a bed, it’s not like they haven’t before.

So why hasn’t Anby said this idea? She shouldn’t be nervous about this, it's nothing new. But it feels different now…

Maybe it’s the “marriage”. Something about sharing a bed with Nicole just feels…. Strange now, not in a bad way, but it just feels different….

She could feel the butterflies in her stomach, it was normal to feel strange sharing a bed with someone right? Especially with such an attractive woman……

Not that she likes Nicole that way!! She can just admit when her best friend has beautiful eye, a charming smile, that cute mole under her right eye, giant ti-

NOT THE POINT! She was getting off track, she should just suggest her idea and be done with it. Who knows maybe Billy will offer to sleep on the couch for the night. And maybe she won’t have to think about this again.

Just when she thinks she’s in the clear Nicole and Billy seem to have come to a conclusion in the other room and walked to where Anby was stood, it was Nicole who spoke first

“Hey Anby would you be okay with us sharing my bed?” Shit. She could already feel the blush creeping up her face.

“Uhhhhh ye-yeah sur-e…” Before she could think it over she had already answered. Fuck.

“Awesome! Thank you so much~” And before Anby could even process the slightly flirty intonation Nicole had already walked off, most likely to find Nekomata. Leaving Anby alone with her thoughts

Well not alone but she had forgotten Billy was even there, she was too busy thinking and overthinking. What did Nicole mean by that? Probably nothing she might not have purposely used that kinda tone, maybe she was just looking too far into it. That was probably it, Nicole did that kinda stuff alot. It wasn’t the first time she had spoken to Anby in that kind of flirtatious tone, and she does it with others too. Although now Anby doesn’t want her to be talking to other women like that…. Or anyone else… She hopes this doesn’t mean anything

Again she was getting off track. She should probably move some of her stuff into Nicole’s room. She may as well just so that Nekomata has somewhere to put things and so that Anby can more easily access her gear.

And it will help her keep her mind off….. Things.

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After moving a majority of her belongings into Nicole’s room she was exhausted, and it was late. She just wanted to get some sleep, and so did Nicole…

Unfortunately for Anby, Nicole’s habit of saving dennies extended to sleepwear, she had always said that only the clothes that people see had to be nice. Anby didn’t know this now meant sleeping in her underwear, she could swear Nicole used to have pyjamas.

Another nail in her proverbial coffin is that the beds they could afford couldn’t exactly fit two people and have plenty of room between them. Meaning they were probably going to be very close…. Almost pressed up against each other…….

Anby set down her headphones and finally mustered up the courage to climb into bed. She knew she would have to face away while sleeping.. If she didn’t she would see Nicole’s big boo-

Again not the point, plus she preferred facing this way while she slept anyway.

It wasn't too long until she felt Nicole’s hand on her shoulder. Her warm soft, gentle hand…

“Are you comfortable Anby?" She sounded concerned, it was like her to get worried about Anby, especially since they cared so much about each other….

Before answering her question Anby turned over in the bed to face her

“Of course I am, we’ve done this before, remember?” Anby was doing her best to hide the nervousness in her voice, her eyes were met with Nicole’s, she could feel her warmth. Both physical and emotional.

“Just making sure~” She said while cupping Anby’s face in one of her hands. She feels so… Safe and so… Warm…

Anby couldn’t help but almost fall asleep. Maybe things are different now. But maybe it’s not a bad thing. Despite trying to hold out until the other woman fell asleep, she couldn’t resist the feeling of a nice warm bed with a pretty girl laying next to her, and she quickly fell into a nice quiet slumber.

Maybe being married isn't so bad.

Chapter Text

Waking up next to someone else was a strange feeling for Nicole, especially when the other person was so close. She could basically feel Anby’s breath on the back of her neck.

She almost wanted to go back to sleep and enjoy the soft closeness of it all. At first when she had the idea to share a bed with Anby she thought it would just be for one night. Now she’s going to need to convince Anby that they don’t need to buy her a new bed….

Well obviously if Anby is uncomfortable sleeping in the same bed as her after tonight she won’t force her to…

But that was the best damn night of sleep she has had in years. She had no idea how comforting it would feel just having Anby be in the same bed while she slept. If she gets used to this she won’t be able to go back.

Plus Anby is pretty cute while she sleeps, well she’s cute all the time….

Nevermind.

Nicole had let her thoughts wander too much, she has a busy day ahead of her and needs to get up. And she probably also should wake Anby up.

It only takes a few nudges to finally wake up the shorter woman sleeping at her side, who then groggily rubbed her eyes and sat up

“Huh? What time is it??” Why does she look so adorable like this?

“It’s only around eight AM, cutie~” Nicole’s face went pure white once she realised what she has said

She didn’t have time to see Anby’s reaction because she was too busy trying to rush out of the room and get dressed as quickly as she could while coming up with some bullshit excuse on why she needs to leave so quickly

“I- uhhh need to leave for something important sorry Anby bye.” Unfortunately she couldn’t quite come up with an excuse on time and instead just left without another word

What was she thinking! She was already worried that this ‘marriage’ might change their relationship but calling her a cutie straight to her face definitely will!

She should just put this behind her and worry about what she has to do today…

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For who knows how long Anby was wondering if she was still asleep. Surely Nicole wouldn’t just call her a cutie to her face like that? Especially not after they slept in the same bed together…

Although if she was dreaming Nicole would have stayed right? Not that she dreams about Nicole in that way! But if she did then Nicole probably would not just run straight out with a bad excuse…

Oh god it was real.

It was probably just some teasing gone wrong right? Anby could feel the heat in her face growing the more she thought about it. No matter how hard she tries she can't keep her thoughts together.

Nicole wasn’t flirting with her right? Surely not… Their marriage was purely platonic. Yeah Nicole most likely doesn’t have feelings for her….

Anby could feel a tinge of pain in her chest admitting that to herself. But she knew she was most likely right.

It was most definitely just Nicole trying to tease her then getting embarrassed when she realised how it sounded….

Anby tries to pretend that she doesn't know why this hurts, but deep down she knows why.

She knows Nicole deserves better. Someone who is….. Real…

Despite how long it’s been she can’t escape this feeling. No matter how much reassurance she gets, part of her will always feel…. Fake. Mass produced..

If it was any of the others in Silver Squad in her position would anything change? Is Anby even her own person?

“I miss Nicole…”

She’s so pathetic. No wonder she couldn’t save them. Does she even deserve this fake marriage to Nicole?

She should get out of bed.

When she finally does find the will to pull herself out of bed and get changed she knows that if she heads downstairs Nicole won’t be there.

At least she is heading into a Hollow today, she’ll be able to get rid of these pent up emotions there.

Taking her issues out on Ethereals is probably the only way she has…

At least she gets paid for it, and she’s good at that.

When she’s fighting she doesn’t have to worry about being real, she was made for it.

It’s all she was made for…

Chapter Text

Anby’s sword tore through the weak Ethereal in front of her, leaving her with only one remaining to dispatch. And she had left the strongest for last.

The Dullahan type Ethereal charged her down with its shield out front, she barely managed to dive out of the way at the last minute. Before she can properly find her footing the Ethereal slashes at her with its blade, which she meets with hers.

Managing to parry the strike she finally rights herself and stands before her opponent, blocking another incoming strike as she assesses the situation.

She notices the shield is cracked, if she focuses her strikes there then the Ethereal will be much more vulnerable allowing her larger windows to attack.

She dodges backwards, attempting to goad the creature into another shield charge, and when her enemy falls for the bait she attempts to follow up with a strike to the weak point of the shield, however her blade is caught on the many protrusions of the shield.

And when the Ethereal pulls the shield back her sword stays stuck. This is bad, she needs to get that sword back as quickly as possible. The best way to do so would be to take advantage of its recovery after a powerful strike.

Anby sprints for cover behind old abandoned cargo crates as she thinks up a plan. She would have to bait out something big from the beast, putting herself at a pretty large risk.

She wasn’t unfamiliar with using risky strategies like this, however the last time she did Nicole got very upset and almost started crying about how she didn’t want to lose her…

Maybe Anby can come up with a safer plan, like somehow staggering the Ethereal. That would be difficult without her sword, but maybe she could find some long left behind construction equipment or lost Hollow Raider weapon to allow her this window.

And she better get moving because she can hear the Dullahan starting to slice into the cargo crate she’s crouched behind.

She bolts out from behind her cover, narrowly sliding under the sword of the Ethereal as she tries to run clear of it, she can feel her heartbeat in her throat as she keeps running, never looking back to see how close it is. Purely trusting her instinct on when to dodge.

She manages to get to another part of the abandoned construction site and starts scouring for anything she can swing. Unfortunately the only thing strong enough to potentially stagger her target is a large construction hammer, obviously made for someone much bigger than her.

She’ll probably only be able to get one swing off with it. But with its weight and power she should only have to hit the base of the shield to knock the sword free, then she can finish the job with her proper weapon.

She grabs the oversized hammer with both hands, and turns around facing down her opponent once again. It would be harder to dodge and parry while wielding this thing so she may have to improvise her defences.

The Ethereal swings and Anby has to momentarily drop her weapon to duck beneath the swords, once she has her hands on the hammer again she prepares to swing it, and the Ethereal prepares to block her swing. Perfect

The loud clanging sound that is made by the meeting of the hammer and the shield leaves Anby’s ears ringing, but she can still hear the sound of her clattering to the ground. She rolls past the Ethereal and once more has her rightful sword in her hands

The Dullahan goes for a horizontal strike with its shield, which is met with a flash of thunder. The shield splinters into pieces leaving the Ether mutant now exposed. Anby strikes again, another streak of blue thunder slicing through the body of the Ethereal.

This however does not stop its advance, their blades clash once more. Locked in a power struggle. With another use of her sword’s electric capabilities she manages to break through the bind and land a cut against the Etherreal, then another, and another, and another, and another.

With one final thunder infused strike to the core she finally manages to slay the Dullahan.

After a quick sigh of relief she marks her job as done and calls her proxy

“It’s finished, time to go home” She had switched off the communicator during her fight, she said it was so she could ‘lock in’ but she really just didn’t want Belle to to hear whatever she might say while taking out her issues on these Ethereals

Especially because she may tell her it's ‘unhealthy’ and to not do it again. But Anby already knows that. She doesn’t do it because it’s healthy she does it because it’s easy and lets her ignore her own thoughts for a while

“Got it, lead the way” Maybe Nicole would praise her for a job well done when she got home…

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When Anby had finally gotten home she was exhausted and could feel every slight injury. She was pretty good at ignoring minor injuries in the moment but it did always come back and bite her in the ass afterwards, usually ending up with her passed out on the couch and a very worried Nicole

Which is probably what's happening today too, although she really doesn’t want Nicole to be worried about her… Especially after what happened this morning.

Anby doesn’t want to make Nicole worry anymore then she needs to. So she’ll at least check to see if she needs to patch herself up before having a nap.

So she went to the kitchen to grab some basic supplies, just painkillers and some bandages. If she needed anything more she would definitely know.

Luckily no one else was home just yet. Which means no one would complain if she started bandaging herself on the couch.

She took off her green jacket to actually be able to see where she had been injured. Unfortunately someone had gotten home right before she could get to patch herself up. Fortunately it was Nicole

Anby could tell she was worried, why wouldn’t she be? Nicole gets worried every time she comes home injured

“ANBY!” without any other words Nicole rushed over towards her.

She was taken by surprise, Nicole had never reacted this way before. Sure she was always worried but never this worried by minor injuries.

“Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“Nicole I’m fine, all i need to do is clean the wounds and bandage them”

“Let me help” She never really was the type to help with this kind of stuff, especially if Anby could handle it herself. But Anby was tired so she definitely didn’t mind not having to do most of it

She handed the taller woman the rubbing alcohol and laid slightly back so that she could get a clear view of any wounds.

Nicole put a small amount of the alcohol onto a cotton ball and turned to Anby

“This is going to hurt, you ready?” Anby had done this plenty of times where you would think the pain wouldn’t bother her, but no matter how much she prepares herself it always gets to her

She felt Nicole’s hand start to pull away when she winced from the pain. So she grabbed her wrist to make sure she would keep disinfecting her wounds

“Anby? What are you doing?”

“It will only get worse if the wounds don’t get cleaned, i can handle a little pain”

She felt Nicole’s free hand cup her face

“Anby….. I’m glad it was you.”

“What?”

“When we first met, years ago. I’m glad it was you. I care about you so much Anby, more than you could ever imagine and I- “

Before she could finish her thought Anby placed her hand on her face.

“Nicole…. I- feel the same way…”

Then Anby leaned towards the other woman, and gently kissed her on the lips. At first Nicole seemed surprised but quickly reciprocated.

Anby doesn’t know for how long the kiss went on for. It could have been five seconds or five hours. But each second felt like home. It was warm. Comforting.

She knew that no matter where her and Nicole went it would be home as long as they were together.

Chapter Text

Nicole’s mind was racing almost as fast as her heart. Anby had kissed her? She still is kissing her?

And she was enjoying it? Sure she could admit that Anby was cute, strong, reliable, adorable, and probably the best thing to ever happen to her but did she want to kiss her?

……Nevermind.

Maybe Anby thought what she said was a confession. Well it was kind of out of nowhere and during an already intimate moment. So she can see how she made that mistake….

Besides it’s not like she hated this, the soft and gentle hand on her face. The closeness. The kiss. If anything she liked it.

And she would be lying if she said she didn’t have some kind of feelings for Anby. Even before the “marriage” she had felt something for her, initially she had believed it was just because they had been so close for so long

But she’s been slowly realising how she truly feels.

Eventually the kiss broke, giving Nicole a moment to breathe, and to speak.

“Anby. I love you”

Even though they had just finished kissing for god knows how long Anby still went completely red when she heard that. Cute

Anby looked away from her, she was obviously completely flustered. Nicole was tempted to grab her by the face and kiss her again for how adorable she was being.

But she allowed her to regain her composure and finally say her piece

“Nicole…. I love you so much, I have for so long. But you deserve better”

“Anby. You are my best friend, there is no one else i want”

Nicole punctuated that by kissing Anby again, gently and quickly.

From the way that Anby looked like she was about to faint, she may have gotten the message
Or maybe she was just exhausted after all the work she had done today, plus it was getting kinda late. So maybe they should go to bed. Together. In the same bed…

Even just the thought of it made Nicole’s flutter a little. She could only imagine what it would do to Anby. Although it would probably be adorable

“Hey Anby, you look tired. Let's go to bed, shall we?”

Before the shorter woman could protest, not that she would. She was basically dragged away to their shared room

They both quickly got changed into their sleepwear and climbed into the bed.

Unlike last time they had slept in this bed together they did not leave much space between them

Anby was quick to take advantage of this and wrap her arms around Nicole bringing her in even closer than before.

“Hey Nicole…”

“Yeah Anby?”

“So are we dating now or are we for real married now?”

Nicole hadn’t considered this. It was an odd thing to think about. But before she could think of it any further Anby spoke up again

“It doesn’t matter anyway because I'm still gonna be calling you my wife any chance i get”

She could feel her entire face go completely flush. She almost didn’t manage to think of a reply

So she just kissed Anby on the forehead before finally responding.

“I’d hope that my wife would call me that”

She thought that would make Anby blush again, but all it did was make her kiss Nicole on the lips again.

This kiss was similar to their first, soft, gentle and going on forever

Anby adjusted her arms around Nicole’s waist and held her even tighter. And so the taller woman also wrapped her arms around Anby.

The only sensations that she could feel was Anby’s lips against hers and their bodies pressing together. It felt so intimate yet so comfortable.

When their kiss eventually broke they snuggled in even further. Up until now Nicole hadn’t noticed how strong Anby’s arms felt around her. She already knew Anby was much stronger than she looked but with her arms around her she could feel it.

She felt safe, and she knew that Anby did too. She could feel the gentle breathing of the shorter woman, indicating that she may have already fallen asleep.

So cute….

Nicole couldn’t get enough. Part of her thought this could be a dream and that she would wake up any second.

But she knows that when she wakes up tomorrow it will be next to her Wife.

Chapter Text

Anby didn’t want to get out of bed today, if she had her way she would spend all day in
Nicole’s arms. Maybe even all week.

The feeling was amazing, she felt so warm and so happy. It was even better than she had imagined.

Unfortunately for Anby she would not be able to spend all day cuddling with her wife. As Nicole had planned something to do when they were both free from any Inter-Knot
Commissions.

It wasn’t anything big, just a shopping trip for some basic supplies. It’s not like it would kill her to go. Besides it would just be her and Nicole anyway.

Nekomata is busy with a commission and Billy is servicing his pistols. Anby didn’t mind it just being the two of them, for some obvious reasons, but also because there was some stuff she wanted to pick up anyways

And without Billy they wouldn’t need to worry about the trip getting longer every time he saw a store that sold Starlight Knight merch.

Anby had finally decided that she would be getting out of bed today. As nice as doing nothing today sounds, she did know that they needed to restock on some things.

She pulled her arms from around Nicole and gently placed a kiss on her forehead. She couldn’t stop smiling looking at her wife sleeping beside her.

It wasn’t long until Nicole woke up too, repaying Anby the kiss.

“Good morning Anby~”

The adorable sound of Nicole’s sleepy voice only made it harder for Anby to want to get out of bed.
“Morning Darling” Just after she replied she was pulled into a kiss by Nicole, who obviously had not had enough last night.

The kiss was short but still passionate. And just after it had finished Nicole sprung out of bed and began getting changed.

Anby lagged behind Nicole’s much more energetic pace, she was distracted by watching her half naked wife get ready. Can you blame her?

When Anby had finished getting ready she followed Nicole downstairs, thinking about what she was going to buy later. Maybe she could rent a movie.

Billy was stood over a counter looking at his half deconstructed pistol trying to clean out any dirt that had gotten into it

“How’s the gun cleaning going?” Anby walked over to see if the sisyphean task had already annoyed him.

Sure it was similar with cleaning her sword but she didn’t need to take it apart and worry about losing something in the process

Before he responded he put his head into his hands and his mood seemed to drop

“I think I lost a part”

Anby just patted him on the back to show solidarity before walking off to prepare her shopping trip.

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After picking up the essentials the pair had browsed a few other stores with Nicole picking up a new purse (that was on sale) and Anby trying a new kind of spicy chicken burger.

They even picked up Billy a new Starlight Knight model kit, and they made sure to grab Nekomata’s favourite kind of fish.

And now all they needed to do was rent a movie, Billy had been recommending a Tokusatsu monster movie for quite some time and Anby wanted to give it a try, she hadn’t really watched any similar movies so saw it as a perfect way to expand her taste.

Plus they were already near Random Play anyway after stopping for some coffee at the nearby cafe. So they may as well check in and see if they had the movie that Billy had recommended.

They were eagerly greeted at the counter by Belle

“Oh hey guys! What movie are you two looking for?”

“I don’t really remember the name but I remember that the main dinosaur monster fights a bunch of other monsters..” Anby wished she had paid closer attention to the title of the movie

“Is it one of those live action movies with those rubber suits?”

“Yeah I think so” Once that her guess was confirmed Belle quickly walked off and grabbed a movie off of the shelf and came back holding it

“It’s probably this one, if my intuition is correct”

The art on the box looked correct and the title sounded right. Although Anby was confused why they called it Final War if they kept making more movies afterwards…

“Thanks so much!” Nicole responded before Anby could quickly paying and dragging her out of the store

Once they were out of the store Anby was dragged into a nearby alley

“Anby, I want to make out” The desperation in her voice was obvious, and Anby didn’t want to keep her waiting

The kiss was long, passionate and desperate. Apparently Nicole had been struggling to keep her hands off of Anby this whole trip and with where her hands were going now it seemed she gave in

Anby pulled Nicole even closer, allowing the kiss to keep going until one of them ran out of breath.

But they were interrupted when they heard the sound of something hitting the floor.

The kiss breaks and Anby turns her head and she sees Belle looking completely shocked and on the floor is the videotape they had rented. Which they had forgotten in Nicole's rush to make out

“Uh so sorry to intrude but you forgot the tape….”

“Oh…. Thanks….”

The awkward air started to fade once Belle made her way back to the video store. Leaving the two considering what to do.

Anby decided that the movie could wait and pulled Nicole back into another kiss.

She had always prioritised Nicole, and now that she was her wife for real she always will. Now and forever they will always have each other no matter what happens.

Nicole would always be the love of Anby’s life.
And Anby Nicole’s. Now and forever.