A03 fanfic: A Spy in the Desert
❤️Excerpt❤️ from chapter 46
(Yeah, I know he technically had a shirt on in this scene but I wanted to draw that BACK)
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
As if she’d been summoned, in walked Reina with a large backpack strapped to her. Her expression was unreadable as she looked at both of them, pausing in the lamplight of the doorway. Logan’s heart beat into his throat nervously. She’d pulled her short hair back into braids, the shorter parts of it still hung loosely around her shoulders, and she wore a pair of jeans with an Atara University t-shirt. She glanced between them, pursing her lips.
“What is this? The awkward room?” She gave a tentative smile.
“Rainy…” Logan’s jaw felt slack, the relief washed over him like a clean, hot shower. “Ya came.”
“Well, I felt bad that Haru was stuck with you walking around half naked.” She pitched a lip up, walking a few steps forward and swinging the pack off her shoulder and onto the floor so she could dig in it.
“Oh, you didn’ seem ta mind.” He said, grinning from ear to ear. She glowered at him and Haru smacked a hand to his face with an inward groan.
“Nice job taking my advice on subtlety.” He jeered, low enough so that Reina couldn’t hear, then in a louder voice spoke to her as he stirred the concoction in the mortar. “How was sand sledding, Reina? Who won?”
“What?” Haru and Logan asked together.
“Unsuur strapped his pet rock onto a sandsled and it ended up beating everybody that was actually racing.” She chuckled and blindly threw a shirt and pants at Logan, who caught them with his injured side and hissed in pain.
“Weird guy.” Logan said, putting the clothing on the table gingerly.
“He’s growing on me.” Reina smirked to herself, and Logan couldn’t help but feel a small pang of irrational jealousy. He couldn’t even get her to look at him right now and the man who’s friends with a rock could keep her attention. Click. Shink. Click. Shink.
“So… er-” Logan didn’t know how to start. He looked over to Haru desperately for guidance, but his friend merely cocked a brow at him as if to say dig your own grave. Logan closed the knife and placed it on the table, then threw the white shirt she’d brought him through his arms carefully, beginning to button it. “Does this mean I’m off the hot coals here?”
Reina did not respond, she just looked at him, her expression amused. He gave her a tentative grin, and she tilted her head and returned the smile. He blew out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in, and felt his body relax as she walked closer. Then, without warning, she reeled back and slapped him hard against his left cheek. Logan stared at her wide eyed, a hand pressed to his stinging flesh, and she sighed and sunk into the chair next to him.
“I feel much better.” She said, face serene.
“Me too.” Haru held his stomach against the laughs rolling from him. “Thanks Reina, he’s been needing that for weeks.”
“Hardy har.” Logan grumbled, rubbing his cheek sullenly. Then, he turned to her with a softer expression, trying to get her to meet his eyes. “It’s late. Are ya plannin’ on stayin’ the night? Yer not gonna go back in the dark, right?”
“I’ll be fine.” She opened the front flap on her pack and handed him a small, thin package. “Found that in your house… and I figured you might want it.”
He gently ripped into the fragile brown paper that had been taped over it, realizing that it was a simple wooden frame with a pane of glass. The wood, inlaid with swirling white patterns, was familiar to him. He ripped further down to expose the photo. It was one of the photos from his old apartment. Howlett held him, a child no older than Andy was, on his lap. They both sat smiling and waving at the photographer in black and white.
“I…” For once, Logan was rendered speechless. He set the frame facedown and looked away, coughing into his hand, and suppressing the tears that threatened to rise. Haru took the frame and smiled warmly at it. They hadn’t been able to go back after the temple bombing. It had been a year since he’d seen his pa’s face.
“You don’t have to say anything.” Reina looked away, blushing. “I also brought some pastries that Mabel made for me. We can share them if you’d like.”
“Thanks Reina.” Haru gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder before returning to his bomb making, taking the mortar from the fire with a small metal instrument and spooning the thick sludge into a bowl with the dye and baking soda. “Hey Logan, why don’t you show Reina her new room.”
“I… what?” Reina scrunched her eyebrows together, looking over to Logan in confusion.
“Ah, yeah, almost forgot.” Logan stood and offered her a hand. She just stared blankly at it, and he instead shoved it in his pocket awkwardly. Okay, so she was still a little mad at him. He deserved it after putting her through the wringer for eight months. “Follow me.”
Logan led her down the hallway into the small chamber that they had sat in a few nights ago during the sandstorm. His throat bobbed at the memory of her hand in his, how close she’d been to him that night. He gestured her forward through a thick curtain that was held up by rebar. She paused, looking at the room with wide eyes.
“So, I know ya have trouble sleepin’ here.” He rubbed his neck, feeling incredibly nervous as she walked around what lay in the middle. A small hut that Haru had helped him construct out of an old shipping container and metal sheets. It wasn’t large, just wide enough to hold a bed, with a door that latched shut from the inside. “I thought that if ya had somethin’ to sleep in, a room to yerself and all that… it wouldn’t be so bad if ya got stuck here again.”
“You… did this all for me?” Reina placed a hand on the metal roof of the structure and looked over at him, eyes a bit shiny. Logan looked upward sheepishly. He’d never been smooth when it came to giving important gifts to people, all the emotional stuff made him embarrassed. Her honey eyes bore into him.
“Well… er-yeah.” He said. “Yer a part of our team now, and I care about ya gettin’ a good night’s sleep. I don’t mind sharin’ a space with Haru, but I know yer privacy is important and… well… I know it’s nothin’ special.”
“It is special…” Reina walked to him with a shy smile. “This was… really thoughtful.”
“Well,” Logan chuckled, gazing into her eyes. “I think about ya a lot so…”
She extended her hand, then gripped the collar of his shirt. For a brief moment Logan thought she might slap him again and was completely caught off guard when she tugged him down into her. His lips met with hers, soft and supple, and he breathed sharply out his nose, drawing her further into him, ignoring the pain in his arm as he held her body against his.
She draped her arms around his neck, lips moving in rhythm to his own, their kisses growing hungrier as time ceased around them. She bit his bottom lip, and he growled in approval, twisting her sideways against the wall, wrapping his hand into her silken black hair and pressing himself to her. There was not an inch of their bodies that weren’t melded together. Still, he wanted to be closer to her. He wanted to be inside her. His body ached with need as the force of the kiss unraveled him.
Do you think 46 chapters was enough build up?😘
You are a master of slow build
Girl, you are the reason I pull my hair out at night
Voting ended onJul 12, 2024
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