Fictif Last Legacy: x reader oneshots

Sage doesn't want to intimidate you

this can be read with or without having finished Sage's latest chapter!! <3 but if you have read it, I'm always super curious to hear thoughts or what bits everyone liked!! I'm a big sucker for a) Sage being soft and b) dramatic plot twists, so my favourite parts were Sage trying his best to talk about his feelings, the beautiful art above, and the very last scene at the end... D:

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Given the number of sticky situations you both find yourselves in, Sage decides it's time you learn how to restrain an opponent who would otherwise completely outmatch you. His technique sounds effective in theory... but the thing is, he'll only let you practice the first few steps on him, then Sage will say you've got the hang of it before you ever finish the full hold.

"You don't want me using your own tricks on you?" you tease one day, when you wonder why this is. Sage clearly wants you to be able to defend yourself, he's not even opposed to you taking a swing at him in the name of training.

"'course I do," Sage shrugs. He offers a crooked grin as he tries his best to sidestep the question. "Hey, if ever you wanna hold me down and-"

"Not happening, Sage," you say flatly. You're amused when Sage's ears immediately droop, caught-out.

"...sorry," he mutters roughly. His tail gives an involuntary swish, which you've come to read as Sage being annoyed at himself.

"Are you worried about feeling trapped?" you ask, gentler this time. "I... I don't actually think you would be. But no matter what, if you ever said to stop or let go-"

"That's not it," Sage snaps, then winces at his harsh tone, his eyes closing. When he opens them, you can tell he's bracing himself to tell you something he's not proud of, that he's readying for the moment where you'll think slightly less of him as a result.

"If you do the hold properly- which is the whole point, got it?" He glares at you to make this clear. "Then yeah, even a scumbag like me won't be getting loose, and no, I don't want you to practice letting go!"

You wait, knowing there's more to why this bothers him.

"...I just... don't want you to see me when I'm backed into a corner," Sage mutters. "-don't want you to see my face and..."

He trails off, his eyes shadowed as his mouth sets to a grim line. You start to wonder if Sage is worried he might look threatening- even if it's just a glimpse of the way he might fight with someone else, Sage would clearly rather a great many things than have that directed at you.

"I do trust you, you know," you say, holding up a hand to stop him before Sage interrupts. "And I know you'll say I shouldn't."

Sage's brow furrows. He looks increasingly wary, as if you're about to point out something he's hellbent on trying to ignore.

"But the thing is. The person who already trusts you the most around me... is you," you say quietly. "If you didn't, you wouldn't be here."

Sage keeps his gaze fixed on you, until you're almost sure he's going to get up and storm from the room. Instead, Sage lets out a slow breath, he drops his stare to his legs sprawled out in front of him, his calloused hands in his lap.

Sage is capable of a lot of things, you think. Forgiving himself is one of them.

"We've still... got some time," Sage says after a while, his voice slightly roughened as he motions to you and whatever fancy speech you just made. He holds his hand out to you, in case you want to help pull him to his feet. "Think you can put up with me a bit longer?"

-

Later that night, despite Sage making you swear to give it all you've got, and you making Sage promise not to go easy on you...

Sage collapses with a soft 'oof' and barely struggles as you pin him to the floor. You hold him so lightly that he could pretty much clear his throat and he'd be free of you.

Sage nods at you reassuringly as you cross his arms over his chest, you're leaning just the barest fraction of your weight into him to keep him down. He looks so content, so comfortable to let himself be gently tossed around by you, and you feel this is the right start.

"Aah, hair in my eye-" says Sage, squinting and pulling such a face at his braid that you take pity on him and release one of his arms. Sage immediately slouches himself even further into the ground than you thought possible, groaning and shaking his head in defeat. "Night take me. Did I not just say-"

"Okay, okay!" you start laughing, pinning his arm right back in place as if that didn't happen. "I get it! It's not a drill!"

Sage chuckles a little as he lets you off the hook, pleased with himself.

"Heh. Right, I'm gonna try a bit harder now."

You keep Sage down with a bit more effort, though you'd hardly call Sage's half-hearted shoving a genuine attempt to escape. He smirks at your dry expression, trying not to be too amused.

"Huh. So you're ready for the big guns then."

You roll your eyes, poised to impress Sage with his own restraint technique if he actually starts trying to fight you.

"Ready?" Sage's tone is all too playful.

"And here I thought you were going to take me by surprise."

With a smug wink, Sage gives you a few more seconds to brace yourself, before you're suddenly flipped over and onto your back so quickly that you're not even sure what happened. The most embarrassing bit is that Sage didn't even have to use both his hands, he's effortlessly restraining both your wrists with one hand, while he managed to quickly move his other palm beneath your head to soften the impact as you hit the floor.

"All's well that ends well," Sage cackles, letting you go and leaning on his elbow beside you instead. "Your grip was off. But hey, that wasn't half-bad for a first try."

"Don't flatter me!" you start helplessly laughing as you realise, just like everything else, learning a foolproof technique is still going to take practice.

"Why? You make me feel better all the time," Sage snorts, then reddens a little, as if he hadn't meant to say as much. "I mean... y'know. Just you... taking me serious. Sometimes. And not humouring me all the time."

Sage flops onto his back and blushes at the ceiling, so he doesn't have to see if any of that made sense to you. Slowly, you climb to lay on top of him, folding your arms over his chest and resting your chin on your hands. Sage just raises his head to peek up at you, looking at you with an odd sort of affection, then catching himself and looking stern.

"Anyway, I was being serious," Sage huffs. "No-one gets it on the first go."

You grin at him over your arms, you're only winding him up a bit. Sage shuffles, his hands tentatively lingering over your back, as if he's not sure whether he's allowed to hold you now that you've finished semi-aggressively tackling each other. He rests his palms just below your shoulders in what you think might be an attempt at a hug.

I'm glad you're here, you want to tell him. I'm glad you stayed.

Sage's limbs feel heavy as he keeps-up his gentle embrace. You can feel the slow rise and fall of his chest beneath you.

"I'll keep practicing," you say softly, your words sincere. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you either."

Sage makes a gruff sound of protest. He's looking at you again, his hug a little tighter, his eyes a little sad.

"It's me," he mutters eventually, as if sooner or later, whatever he has coming is going to catch up. "But..."

Sage's expression is oddly serious as his mouth crumples to a frown.

"I'll... make sure you won't have to," says Sage, trying his best to hearten you, and you wish it didn't sound like an apology.