There was one thing that got on his highly strung nerves some days more than others when it came to this war. In his experience of his twenty-two years of life, the most volatile, menacing, pain-in-ass woman that called herself a warrior and took the cake above all else.

Snow, fucking Snow, he nicknamed her accordingly, for she was a fucken ice queen.

She had been the one from his youth, she had been given a crystal like the four of them had and told to wait till the timeskeeper came back into their lives.

Snow was the very same warrior that he would gladly feed to any monster on any given day, and by all means, it did not mean he had to tolerate her existence, nor was it set in stone that she was important. Anyone could use that crystal.

Matthew also knew that the same timeskeeper left Cid a few other crystals to find further warriors for fighting the war, from what was explained to him by Cid. The timeskeeper also instructed the Headmaster to build the academies as they were today and survive.

Cryptic and oddly disturbing in hindsight, but a saving grace nonetheless. What he can't place together is why her.

The foul-mouthed, abusive and arrogant warrior that held no regard for her life and that of others around her. Besides her acidic and selfish personality, the only constant aspect about her was that she was fixated on her revenge against Ezra. Truth be told, they all were.

Every single person he ever met was fixated on that goal; Snow just seemed to take it to a whole new level as the years went by. She, like them, from what he could gather, was no exception to the very fact that they weren't chosen but gifted a crystal.

He doesn't believe in fate and destiny; there was no preordained path you're meant to follow. There is no clever method to the madness; you're a fool to think otherwise.

Even if Teddy believed differently, Matthew knew better.

His thoughts on this war are what he could control; the other thing he could control would be eventually finding Snow in real life—taking the crystal from her cold hands and ensuring that she stopped interfering in his plans of war against their enemy.

Snow knew how to fuck up some of his carefully laid decisions since he met her at the ripe age of twelve.

Uncontrolled as they were as warriors back then, brimming with potential, they were and still are a force to be reckoned with. Snow's downfall, Matthew found, was that she adhered to nobody, followed no one and did what she felt like doing regardless of the consequences.

Today was another perfect example; when he had been out at the Eastern border with Toni, Richie, and Jesse just before evening fell, they discovered a trail of dead monster's bodies in the wake of her fit of rage.

Butchered, slaughtered, beheaded, decapitated.

Who the fuck has the time and patience to decapitate monsters into literal pieces?

She left the scene a bloody mess, which is entirely her style, the mildew grass evident of the violence that took place.

Only when they realized there was nothing else for them there on the outskirts, no other form of animal for miles on end, and with no way forward into the region due to the barrier, did they find themselves back home that night.

Reporting to Cid on what they had seen, the Headmaster wrapped up the meeting shortly after that, confirming that the funeral was now set, the publishing houses were officially notified, and the news would be widespread by early morning.

The courts understood what was expected of them, and the Academies were now on standby if something happened between now and then.

It left Matthew finally sitting in the cafeteria that absurdly late night; he felt his palms itch, and a lot would take place in the days to come. The measure they would need to go to to ensure the funeral did not backfire in any more deaths meant very little sleep for himself and the soldiers of Allegiant.

Contemplating leaving the plans for the funeral for tomorrow, showering and getting some sleep was his best option to sort out the chaos in his head, and he began to pack up.

Peering up around the cafeteria amongst the diagrams of the funeral's structure in the Isadorian capital, he inspected that he was alone, bar a few older soldiers that seemed to be studying rather than taking notice of their Commander.

Collecting the remaining tablets, his attention was pulled to a student entering the cafeteria, appearing, if he had to guess, that she had just come from the training arena.

Sweat glistening from her beady-toned and slightly tanned skin, her micro pants left a lot for his imagination. Were their outfits really that short?

Her plain white t-shirt clung to her upper body so well; while she was slender and had no curves to her body, Eko's physique was pure lean muscle.

Staring for longer than he should, it didn't help him when he knew exactly what was under that clothing and the exact sounds that she would make in her height of passion for him.

Come to think of it, right now; it was something his body craved at an irrational rate.

Smiling to himself in those closing thoughts forced the man to rise from the table. Collecting everything before him and pushing the seat backwards, he convinced himself that far more essential things had presented themselves to him.

--- ---

The brunette had been releasing her hair out of her high ponytail, contemplating her order for dinner. After the workout session along the Eastern border and returning to the chaos that was Madison that had been nonstop on her plan after the funeral, her cousin eventually fell asleep.

Eko felt it best to train, to control the anxiety in her heart, and when the hours had passed, and when she rid her mind of what consumed her, it was her stomach that began grumbling, which meant her feet had found their way here.

That was also how she felt a certain someone hovering near her, to her delight. She didn't know where he came from, but she knew his cologne; her senses were heightened enough because of the crystal to know certain things like that now.

Eko grinned; he was a delightful distraction from reality, "there are people here."

"There are." Matthew's voice was dangerously low; he took in her scent ever so discretely, nuzzling the side of her neck as he passed her by.

It was absurd how her heart palpitated as it did.

"We should go somewhere they can't watch unless you're into that type of thing?" A dangerous conversation began with dangerous words, almost a secret of the darkest known pleasure whispered between them.

Eko cocked her head over her shoulder, and ever so slowly, sky blue pierced his own as the perilous words fell from her lips that ignited their game. "Do you give in?"

Matthew gritted his teeth, laughing a fraction, and he nodded, submitting to her. "I do. My room, shower."

Then just like that, she felt him continue walking past her, her head casually moving from staring at him to the menu before causally rolling towards the exit of the cafeteria.

Sky blue keenly watched the back of the man that she was about to fuck in the next ten minutes.

"Do you want something to eat, dear?"

The elderly man that worked the cafeteria interrupted her thoughts, and her head spun back to him.

"Just a takeaway roll, something easy." Eko replied, and with a short smile, the man disappeared to the back.

It left the brunette standing there with her insides clenching hungrily.

No longer was it for food, no, even if she knew she needed to scoff it down on the way to him.

She desperately needed only one thing, and she would sedate that sexual hunger when she got her hands on him.

Gootttaa love when a man submits > VOTE TO SEE MORE SMUT YOU CHEEKY MONKEYS