Warnings: little bit of angst (nothing too bad), mentions of being in pain
Summary: Sevika has been avoiding you ever since you helped her relax to lessen the pain in her arm. It’s like she doesn’t want you around anymore. Then one night, she does.
Word count: 2.5k
Notes: hhhhhhshshjjgggh. Sevika getting the pampering she deserves. Fluff. All the fluff.
ft. Silco the art critic.
“These are good, as usual.” Silco spoke, looking over some notes you had given him. Intel gathered from your time on guard duty. You were standing in front of his desk, impatiently fiddling with the handle of your toolbox.
“There hasn’t been a lot of suspicious activity lately, but that’s probably a good thing. I tried to map out some more building details.” you commented.
“Although..” Silco said, placing the notes down on his desk and pointing at some markings on the page, “Try not to draw on them too much if you can. It’s distracting.”
He was talking about the doodles you had made while writing down your intel. Small little scribbles that helped you relax during your work. He took a closer look at one of the drawings.
“What are these?” he asked, seeming genuinely interested in what you had drawn.
“Oh. Some gears, I guess.” you replied. “I like working on machines in my spare time.”
He looked up at you. “They’re good drawings. Just keep them off your official paperwork.”
“Will do. Sorry.” you replied, a bit embarrassed. “Speaking of machinery.. Is Sevika here? I think her metal arm could use a tune-up, it has been more than a week..”
“She just left. She’s probably at the bar, I wouldn’t bother her if I were you.”
Just left? Again? She knows you usually stop by at this time. She always waits. But lately, for some reason she hasn’t..
“Why is that, sir?” you asked him.
“She doesn’t like to be interrupted when she’s not working. And her disposition has been even more sour than usual lately.” He replied, leaning back in his chair. “That’s all I needed from you today. You may go home now.”
You nodded and turned around, headed for the door.
“Don’t bother bringing the toolbox next time.” he added, stopping you in your tracks. “If she needed your help, she would have asked by now.”
That comment left you with a bit of an ache in your chest as you finally closed the door behind you.
Making your way through the dim hallways of the headquarters, you tried to make sense of whatever was going on. The last time you had an actual conversation with Sevika was back when you had given her the massage in Silco’s office. Looking back on it, that entire situation had been weird, but at the time it felt completely natural. In the moment she had seemed to enjoy it and you certainly had as well. Almost right after it had happened, you were already doubting whether or not it had been a good idea. Maybe you had accidentally made her feel uncomfortable. Maybe she only wanted you around so you could work on her mechanical arm and she would have someone to talk to every once in a while. Or maybe she had finally realized that you were just a weird guard with a knack for cool machinery who was just a little bit too obsessed with her. There had to be a reason why she had been avoiding you ever since. As you approached the front door to exit the building, you heard the guards outside speak up. Someone was approaching.
“I left something in my office.” you heard through the still closed doors. It was Sevika.
You froze in place when you heard her voice. But you were also eager to see her again. Maybe you could finally talk to her. No time to prepare though. The doors opened and there she was, noticing you standing in the hallway right away. She was surprised to see you.
“Oh. You’re here.” she said, breaking eye contact with you almost as quickly as she had entered the building.
“Yeah, I’m here.” there was annoyance in your voice. “Again. Same as yesterday. And the day before.”
She tried to walk past you, but you blocked her path. It was mostly for show, though. It wasn’t like you could actually physically prevent this mountain of a woman from moving past you. She glanced down at you, also looking annoyed.
“Why do you keep leaving before I’m back? You always wait for me!” you said, not bothering to hide the fact that you were upset. You could feel your face starting to become red. You didn’t want to start a fight with her, but you simply had too many bottled up emotions to be able to be polite about it.
“Calm down. I didn’t need your help with my arm, that’s all.” she huffed.
“Why don’t you just say so then?”
Sevika frowned at you. “Since when do I have to?”
“Well, that’s just..” You tried to reply, but stumbled over your words. Sevika interrupted you.
“You’re being clingy.” she said. “I don’t need your help with the arm. Focus on your own work or go home.” her voice had a harsh tone to it. She straightened up and walked past you, lightly shoving you in the shoulder as she did. She walked off down the dark hallway leaving you standing there, feeling even worse than before.
…
A soft tune echoed through your apartment. You were curled up on your couch, a book in your hands and a soft blanket covering your body. A hot drink and a scented candle were placed on your coffee table and a new record you bought earlier that week was playing in the background. The events of the past few days had left you feeling in need of a self-care evening and this was just what you needed. You carefully placed your book down beside you to grab your drink from the table, softly humming along to the music. As you took a sip, you felt it was the perfect temperature. Not too hot, not too cold.. just right. Just like this evening.
Almost on cue, you heard a door slam shut in the apartment above you followed by heavy footsteps. Had to be Sevika, coming home after a long day. It was as if the universe was sending you a not-so-gentle reminder that you were still living in Zaun and Zaun didn’t give a shit about your need for some peace and quiet. You closed your eyes, still sipping the hot drink, and turned your calming music up a little louder. Not today, Zaun. Not today.
After finishing your drink, you picked up your book again and continued where you had left off. It was a gripping story, one you had been saving for a rainy day or an evening like this. A tale that could transport you to another world, one completely different from your own in all the right ways. As you tore through the pages, you tried not to let the noise from upstairs annoy you too much. Sporadic loud footsteps, thumping, even something that sounded like dishes hitting the floor. What the hell was Sevika even doing up there?
Losing yourself in the book, you continued to read well into the night. The noise from upstairs persisted but started to blend into the background more and more with every page you turned. Somewhere around 2 AM, you put your new record on repeat for what had to be the tenth time that evening. When you finally noticed the time, you decided it would probably be a good idea to get some sleep and not be a well-read zombie the next day. You reluctantly got up from your couch and picked up some dirty dishes scattered about your apartment. As you gave them a quick rinse, you heard some more loud footsteps in the apartment above you, followed by a door slamming shut. You sighed and hoped it would be the last of Sevika’s antics.
After putting on some simple pajamas, you went to blow out the candle on your coffee table but were interrupted by a knock on the door. You jumped up, startled by the sudden noise. You weren’t expecting visitors, especially not at this hour. Before you could ask yourself ‘who could this be?’, something clicked. The slamming of the door one floor above you, followed by the sudden absence of noise at this ungodly hour. Was Sevika at your door? A quick glance through the peephole confirmed it. You swung the door open.
In front of you stood Sevika in a tank top and sweatpants, something you immediately noticed because it was such an unusually casual look by her standards. She was gripping her metal arm with her other hand as if she was in pain. There was sweat on her forehead, some loose strands of hear stuck to it. Her eyes were half open and she was looking down at the ground. She looked like a mess.
“Sev, oh my god. What happened?” you asked, taken aback by seeing what state she was in.
She remained quiet for a moment before replying.
“It’s the arm again.” she mumbled, her voice weak and aching. “Nothing I do is working. Can you..”
Her face contorted in pain. “..please help me again.” she asked.
“Yes, yes of course.” you grabbed her by the hand, dragging her into your apartment.
She followed, groaning in pain as you got her to sit down on your couch. You ran to grab her a glass of water before you sat down beside her and put one of your hands on her back, slowly rubbing up and down to get her to calm down a little.
“How did it get this bad?” you asked, concerned. She looked like she had been going through it for hours.
“Guess I’ve been stressed.” she said, her voice still weak. She bent forward, bringing a hand up to her forehead. You moved you hand up to her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.
“What did you try? Painkillers? Alcohol? Did you visit the brothel to work off that stress?” you said with a sharp, sarcastic tone in your voice.
You felt like the state she was in didn’t take away from the fact that she had been acting awful to you lately. Sevika was a grown woman, she wasn't yours, she was free to do whatever she wanted. But she also had to know that you didn't like to be treated like shit and that you also didn’t like that she was a regular at the brothel.
Sevika huffed slightly at your questions, not seeming happy about you bringing up any of those points. You felt a sting of guilt almost right away.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to –“ you added, but Sevika interrupted you.
“Don’t apologize. You’re allowed to be mean to me, I’ve not been good to you lately.”
“You have been kind of a bitch, yeah.” you chuckled. “No hard feelings though. But can I ask why?”
Sevika took a sip of water and sighed. “Too many reasons. None of them really your fault.” she rubbed her metal shoulder with her other hand. “We can go back to before I started acting like this. Just the usual chats and tinkering with the arm. Right now, just please..”
“Shh, it’s ok.” you said softly, motioning for her to get off the couch. “Grab a pillow and sit on the floor. Let me make it better.” You knew exactly what she needed from you right now.
Sevika did as you asked. She sat down on the floor and you placed yourself behind her on the couch. Your thighs underneath her armpits so her upper body could rest on you, her torso in between your legs, your hands on her shoulders. Just as you had done that one time in Silco’s office. Except now you were in your apartment and you were both in your pajamas.
“Remember how it goes?” you asked her.
“Breathe.” she replied.
“Good. Do it with me.”
You followed the instructions you had given her once before, step by step. Breathe in, hold, breathe out. Again. And again. Repeating the sequence with her until you could feel her breathing become less shaky. Then, you started to massage her shoulders, just as before. Slow, gentle movements, applying pressure deeply but not too hard.
You felt Sevika’s non-metal hand hold onto your shin before moving up to your knee, clinging onto you as if she was afraid you would leave her. She deeply sighed as you worked your way down to her arms, repeating what had worked on her before: mirrored movements on both her arms. Deeply kneading her muscles in her human arm, slowly running your fingers down the metal one in sync. Sevika started to lean into your touch more and tilted her head back a little. Her eyes were closed. You flashed back to the time in Silco’s office again. She looked much the same in this moment, only slightly more disheveled. It had only been a little over a week since then, but it had felt like at least a month without having her around.
“Did you not like this the last time?” you spoke up suddenly, but quietly.
“No, I did.” she replied. Her voice sounded calmer already. “Probably a little too much.”
“I didn’t make you uncomfortable?” you asked.
“No. No, you could never. Did I make you-”
“No, not at all.” you cut her off before she could finish her sentence.
“Good,” she sighed, “Because I've asked some of the girls at the brothel to try this on me.."
God. You felt your heart sink. Not the damn brothel again.
"..and I don't think I want to go back there again.."
..oh?
"..because this doesn’t seem to work if anyone other than you tries it.” she curled her fingers around your knee, rubbing it softly.
And that was all it took for you. Inhibitions be damned. You needed this moment, this feeling again.
You leaned forward and rested your head on hers, feeling her soft hair tickle your cheek. Trailing your hands up to her shoulders, then her collarbone and her neck, you explored the upper parts of her beautiful body. She hummed underneath your touch and leaned back into you, the back of her head coming to rest on your chest. You reached up to stroke her jawline, her cheeks, her forehead, you ran your fingers through her hair, touching all those places you had so desperately wanted to touch the last time she was with you. She didn’t stop you. She just melted more and more into your touch with every passing second. You lifted your head from hers and went back to her shoulders, rubbing in between her shoulder blades and back up to her neck, running into the choker she would always wear. The last time you had massaged her, you hadn’t dared to take it off her. This time though, you felt braver than ever. She didn’t protest as you undid the button and tossed the choker aside. Digging your fingers into the muscles of her neck deeply but gently, you earned another half sigh, half moan from her. A beautiful sound. Hypnotizing..
After what felt like a perfect eternity of rubbing Sevika’s muscles, you felt as if she was about to fall asleep in your hands. As you slowly ended the massage, she returned to lean her head back onto your chest, inviting you to rest your own head on hers again. You did and wrapped your hands around her, holding her in a loving embrace. Both her hands moved up to gently hold on to your arms, holding onto you like you were her anchor in a storm. You sat there for a moment, both feeling dazed and fuzzy and deeply relaxed. The silence between you felt filled without any words being spoken, but after a minute or two, you quietly spoke just a few words.
“You can stay here tonight if you want.”
“I’d like that..” Sevika replied in a breathless whisper.
You slowly let go of her, releasing her body from in between your legs. You blew out the candle on your table, almost burnt up by this point. You stuck out your hand, inviting her to take it. She did, and you guided her to your bed.
You laid down, holding open the blankets for her as she crawled in beside you. Laying on your back, you reached over to pull her close to you. Her strong body resting beside you, she laid her head on your chest and wrapped her non-metal arm around you. You held her close, stroking her hair. You both reveled in the comfortable silence of your apartment, your respective slow, steady breathing lulling both of you to sleep.
Notes: ne’er forget to blow out thy candles, lest thou burn thine entire house down.
I was writing half of this chapter with tears in my eyes. Mostly from my allergies acting up but also because I finally got around to writing this particular chapter. This one chapter is where my idea for the whole fic originated from. I also just realized the time in between me uploading this chapter and the last one almost perfectly mirrors the amount of time that has passed within the fic itself!
(steve harrington x hopper!reader / billy hargrove x hopper!reader)
IM BACK Bleh I suck @ updating 😖 I’m sorry BUT I’m getting better at cranking shit out. Like I wrote this whole part in an hour and a half? I think? I’m happy with my progress though, if you go back and look at part 1 compared to this part- like whattt !!! Any-who, thank you for all the support I love you guys. Also go check out ‘Stories Tucked Away’ by @harringtown its AMAZING- she literally made my dream come true and I love it and her. Also enjoy part 5 :p
catch up here
Warnings: Angst for sure at the very end but is that even a warning? a few curse words?
Part 5/?
Word count: 1.3k
Summery: Sometimes things just don’t go as planned and your world just come crashing down, but it’s a good thing that you have people in your life to be there to catch you when you fall.
><
After tossing and turning all night, thinking about what Billy could’ve been doing, the girls finally woke you up around 1 and asked you if you would take them to Max’s house and to just hang out for a while. Of course you said yes, why wouldn’t you?
The two teens get dressed and El packs a set of clothes for the night and the next day as you go to the kitchen and write a quick note and put it on the fridge.
‘Gone to take the girls out and about.. Be back later?’ - Y/N
You grab your keys off of the counter as they walk out of El’s room and start heading towards the front door. You don’t bother locking the door because you know Hop will be up soon, getting ready for work.
><
Upon arriving at Billy’s house you get a bad feeling about what’s been going on here, and you ask if you can just stay in the car but Max suggests that you come in with them. You nod your head and get out the car and follow them inside.
While they go and look around the room you’ve been in thousands of times, you decide to go into the bathroom to have a look around. What you find, is a little bit weird.
“Hey guys, you might wanna come have a look at this!” You call out.
They come down the hallway and into the bathroom to see you sitting on the side of the bathtub waving your hand around in the water that was once ice.
“Ice” they both say one after another
“Probably for his muscles or something, he works out like a maniac.”
“Yeah but he never complains about being sore or anything and has never told me about taking ice baths after working out.” you say in response getting up from the tub.
Walking out into the hallway and you head towards Billy’s room. You sit down on his bed and sighed, you missed being here, you missed him.
The girls call out your name in a panic, you stand up and walk to the door and see them walking out of the bathroom holding what seemed to be a fanny pack.
“We gotta go, now” Max says with worry in her voice.
“Okay, okay let’s get out of here.”
Once in the car you ask,
“Where to?”
“The pool” they say in unison
Almost as if on cue, there was a loud crash of thunder. Regardless, you listen to what the girls tell you and head towards the Hawkins pool. Thank goodness you had a few rain jackets behind your seat because as soon as the three of you got in your truck it was a constant downpour.
><
Once you got to the pool the El and Max reached behind the seat and pulled out two raincoats and got out of the truck and ran to the awning.
You decide to just stay in the truck and listen to your radio as you watch people run around in the rain trying to get home. After about 30 minutes they came running back to the truck and El had blood dripping down her nose. You knew that shit was about to go down.
The three of you decide on stopping for food before venturing on. You ride over to Starcourt and give the girls some money to go to the food court as you head over to none other than scoops. But before you can even get to the ice cream parlor you see Robin standing on one of the plant platforms.
“Watcha doing Rob?”
“I cracked it”
Steve and Dustin come walking up next to you,
“Cracked what?” Steve asks
“I cracked the code..” she says with a smile on her face, obviously feeling proud of herself.
You follow them back to scoops, buying a corn dog from one of the venders out in the middle of the mall on the way. You go back into the back room and listen to the plan out what their next moves should be for the next hour.
You hear a ding coming from out front and pop your head out the back door and see none other than El and Max waiting for you.
“Hey guys, I gotta go, ill meet up with you guys later, yeah?”
The trio waves you goodbye and you head off with your sister and her friend to take on your own adventure.
><
You guys drive around for a few hours trying to figure out where this ‘big red door’ was and it was starting to get dark.
“Maybe we should come back tomorrow its getting really dark out and I really should get you guys home-”
“No,” El says cutting you off, “this is important.”
“There!” Max says loudly.
You pull over on the side of the road and the three of you get out of the truck and head to the front door.
“Guys I really think we should knock-” you say as El uses her powers to unlock and open the door before you can even finish your sentence.
The three of you step into the house, you feel really weird about it but carry on anyways. You follow the red head down the hallway and see a family photo.
“Heather Holloway?”
“This is her house..” Max says
You stare at the picture for a second longer and you hear some laughing and music. Walking around the corner they come face to face with none other than your boyfriend, Billy Hargrove.
“Max, Y/N.” Billy says as he looks you up and down.
Max tries to cover up for why you had just barged into their home and El asks where Heather is. You just stare in disbelief that Billy, your Billy Hargrove was doing this to you right now.
The four of you talk for a few minutes and right before you go to leave you pull Billy to the side.
“Billy, I literally can not believe you right now.”
He doesn’t say anything, he just stares past you as El walks to your truck.
“Billy are you even listening to me right now? Hellooo?” You wave your hand in front of his face but he grabs your wrist and holds it tight, sure to leave a bruise, you wince at the pain.
You yanked your arm away from him and move into his view, making eye contact with him for the first time in days. He looked like he didn’t care that you were even there, seeing him eating dinner with another girl and her family broke your heart into pieces. Tears started to form in your eyes,
“Billy, I’m done. I'm done with all of this, I’m done with you. You've done nothing but avoid me for days, ignore my calls and this is what it's all about. Her.. How long have you two been a thing? Huh?” You got no response from him just a cold stare, “Alright, fine if this is what you want, were done. Fuck you Billy Hargrove.”
You turn around and walk to your truck, tears clouding your vision as you walked. With that, you got in your car and left. No looking back, this is what he’s wanted. Little did you know, that was not your Billy.
“Woah- Y/N what’s wrong? What happened?” Max asks, seeing your red eyes.
You turn to look at the two girls, “I dumped his ass.”
El leans her head on your shoulder as you crank your car and drive off. You drop the girls off at Max’s house and head to the store to buy some ice cream before heading to the cabin because man oh man were you gonna need it.
My dash is going to be filled with Chris (Andy) sex scenes and I’m just waiting.
Don’t know how I feel about it yet tho tbh but I watched the episode. I need them to just release all of it at this point because I’m impatient and want to just binge it
I know you all love to hate the current nightwing comic storyline, but consider Ric and Zaks friendship in the latest issue? William Cobb and Ric talking about Gotham? Cobb seeing right through the new nightwings and calling them frauds? Beas general presence?
