#Chapter VII

[ellemany]

Stressed Out - Chapter VII

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Vacuum

Recommended Music: 505 - Artic Monkeys

Vacuum is a space where there is no matter, that is, empty.

 Viper feels a vacuum inside herself due to the lack of Chamber. And, with nightfall, she considers filling that void somehow. Even if it means taking down her pride and sending him a message.

It took three episodes of a reality show with a questionable quality and two pepperoni pizzas for Reyna and Fade give up trying to cheer Viper after throwing cruel truths in her face. Viper escorted them to the door with her head low. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so defeated.

Reyna gave her an awkward hug and Fade did the same, patting her on the back.

- Everything will get better… - Viper took a deep breath, irritated by the mediocrely generic phrase. Fade smiled, walking away from her. – See you!

Viper nodded but held Fade's hand, preventing her from leaving.

- Can you… - Viper pressed her lips, looking at their hands together. – Can you... Not expose Chamber? He deserves it, but… - Viper swallowed it dry, shaking the other's hand.

Chamber might have been a filthy sneaky idiot, but he had the decency to tell Viper that he hid a lot of things. Viper clearly remembered them lying on the bed, glued to each other, while he admitted he still couldn't talk about it to her. Chamber passed his thumb by her arm, as if the gesture brought comfort to himself.

Viper understood it. She also had secrets locked in seven keys she didn't want to expose.

But knowing that at some point he would have the courage to open up to her, it gave her a sense of responsibility for him and his secrets.

Chamber was still her filthy sneaky idiot.

Fade blinked a few times, surprised at the request. She smiled comfortingly at Viper, feeling privileged to be able to see a melted heart in someone cold as ice.

- Sure...

Viper nodded, dropping Fade's hand and crossing her arms.

- Thanks...

Fade smirked and turned around, leaving the apartment.

- We'll see you tomorrow!

Viper tried to force a smile. She ended up making a tired grimace and closed the door. She reflected on what she had just done.

Viper might not be the most caring person in the world. However, she could not deny that she felt the need to protect Chamber. She'd gotten used to taking care of him. She thought of the tests of previous experiments, when Chamber arrived at the lab with that same look of defeat that he had exhibited in the infirmary. Viper knew exactly what he needed without using words. She would go to his desk and hold his face, forcing him to raise his head to look at her. A low look never matched him. Viper would ask about "what went wrong this time?", reminding him that each failure was a learning opportunity. He would pass his hands around his waist, muttering the list of defects he had missed before testing the new weapon. She would complain that he had to do more than one check, in addition to improving a minimal little thing in the project that only she would give importance, while kissing his face to heal the emotional wound, assuring him that she was there to take care of everything. She would offer him a Snickers and sit on his lap to make the adjustments he had missed. He'd watch she work, in that way that she pretended she didn't notice so she wouldn't blush.

Chamber must have been devastated that Viper didn't go talk to him after discover of the flaw in their project.

Because Viper was devastated to let her man face it all alone.

The scientist shook her head, pushing away her dark thoughts. What a silly thing she was to let her heart guide her mind.

She looked the apartment. There was nothing interesting to watch or play on TV, as she didn't know which movie Chamber would choose for them to see and he wasn't there to support her legs while she was playing.  She wasn't in the mood to eat either. She felt a weight fall on her shoulders just to consider the idea of going back to the lab. She decided to go to bed and, hopefully, sleep.

While waiting for sleep to come, Viper made one of the worst decisions anyone with a relationship issue could make.

Lying on her bed, she reread the messages with Chamber. The heart was tight, and the mouth formed a sad smile for the way they were. It's been four days since she'd make a grimace for a nickname in French he gave her. It's been four days since they gossiped about the life of one of the agents. It's been four days since they talked about some random subject that only they understood. By the heavens, she heard old audios out of sheer nostalgia for the sweet way he spoke to her. Viper thought she was the most ridiculous little being on the planet for doing all that and still couldn't stop torturing herself in that mediocre way.

Viper touched the cell phone screen, watching the letters on the keyboard. She typed slowly, afraid of the words she was forming.

"I miss you"

She read the message a few times, wondering if she really wanted to let him know how she felt, until she noticed the subtle change in the messaging app screen, right below his name.

"Fabron"

"Typing..."

Her eyes shone and she sat on the bed. She deleted her own message and waited for his. She stared at the screen, nibbling her fingertip. Until the message changed to a simple "online". Her shoulders fell instantly, only to stiffen again by changing the message back to "Typing...". Two minutes passed like an eternity in the blink of an eye, with no new message.

Viper held her phone with both hands, writing quickly.

"Do you want to say something?"

The finger stopped before sending. She waited a little longer, thinking he would finally send his message. But the "typing" was gone, as was his online status. She reread her own message. Once, twice. Erased it.

Viper threw her cell phone beside her on the bed, lying on it again and hugging a pillow. She missed hugging Chamber to sleep. She missed his nasal breath when he had just returned from Bind and how he looked like a baby when he slept.

She fantasized about walking to his apartment and giving him a scolding for making her suffer so much for him. She'd scream and push him away for being a tremendous selfish proud narcissistic asshole and everything else he really was, just to pull him close and say she missed him so much that she was feeling sick. Viper really considered to do that.

But she was a person who liked to analyze everything pragmatically. Life wasn't a romantic comedy in which everything worked out with a kiss. It always had the after happily ever after. And generally, it wasn't that happy.

She could go on without him. Time would heal herr pain... Well, in thesis. Because Viper knew better than anyone that there were wounds that time did not heal. She realized she didn't want Chamber to become one more scar on her calloused heart.

She could go to him. But, it wasn't fair. He was the idiot in that situation. He was the one that didn't have the guts to send her a miserable message. He was the wrong one. Viper's wounded pride was reminding her how much she did her best to receive the worst from him. So, Chamber didn't deserve anything from her anymore.

That was her brain talking.

Viper stared at a wall, fighting a mental struggle between reason and emotion from various perspectives. She slept at around 3 a.m., after making an extensive list of the pros and cons of continuing to have a romantic relationship with Chamber. It wasn't hard to find reasons to want to have a relatively happy life with him. And even less hard was to find reasons to want to kick him off a cliff and never look at his face again. And, in fact, she dreamed of both hypotheses.

Hard was to decide how she would deal with him in the morning, when they would have a mission together.

>>> Next Chapter

[fieriframes]

[Nachos Pica Pica. Chapter VII 256 383. I'll eat everything on the menu, twice.]

[rwpohl]

dramatic methaphors of fascism and antifascism, leah hadomi 1996

[amereid1960]

التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011) من هشاشة الأسس القانونية إلى الإنحراف بالشرعية الدولية - دراسة قانونية

التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011) من هشاشة الأسس القانونية إلى الإنحراف بالشرعية الدولية – دراسة قانونية   التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011) من هشاشة الأسس القانونية إلى الإنحراف بالشرعية الدولية – دراسة قانونية الكاتب : عمار عنان الملخص: تتناول الدراسة بالتحليل والنقد على ضوء أحكام القانون الدولي مختلف جوانب التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011). سواء تعلق الأمر بقاعدة حظر…

[alewaanewspaper1960]

التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011) من هشاشة الأسس القانونية إلى الإنحراف بالشرعية الدولية - دراسة قانونية

التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011) من هشاشة الأسس القانونية إلى الإنحراف بالشرعية الدولية – دراسة قانونية   التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011) من هشاشة الأسس القانونية إلى الإنحراف بالشرعية الدولية – دراسة قانونية الكاتب : عمار عنان الملخص: تتناول الدراسة بالتحليل والنقد على ضوء أحكام القانون الدولي مختلف جوانب التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011). سواء تعلق الأمر بقاعدة حظر…

[saw-films]

Chester Bennington as Evan in Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (2010)

[izelleon]

miniroth and Banora Yapper #1

[caprart1]

First Friend

that's what it's called right

[acecroft]

COSTAS MANDYLOR as Detective Lieutenant Mark Hoffman in SAW 3D (2010)

[tinymintywolf]

a request from one of my patrons ✨

[jeriafterdark]

For @officially-tilly , "Where Devotion Lies"

Bird / Bluesky

[bread--hood]

"Tell me though ... was it worth it?"

[hellboys]

SAW 3D dir. kevin greutert

[demaparbat-hp]

Zuko looked up and locked eyes with his cousin, who was struck speechless. Then, ever so slowly, Lu Ten's lips twitched upwards. And then he smiled. And then he beamed. And then he nodded proudly once, just once, and vanished.

Lu Ten comes back in For the Spirits Chapter VII: Take Me South, only to leave Zuko with more questions than answers. Just how much is he truly aware of? When will he return? What is Zuko going to do now?

(What will the South bring?)

[amereid1960]

التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011) من هشاشة الأسس القانونية إلى الانحراف بالشرعية الدولية - دراسة قانونية

التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011) من هشاشة الأسس القانونية إلى الانحراف بالشرعية الدولية – دراسة قانونية التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011) من هشاشة الأسس القانونية إلى الانحراف بالشرعية الدولية – دراسة قانونية الكاتب : عمار عنان ملخص: تتناول الدراسة بالتحليل والنقد على ضوء أحكام القانون الدولي مختلف جوانب التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011). سواء تعلق الأمر بقاعدة حظر…

[alewaanewspaper1960]

التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011) من هشاشة الأسس القانونية إلى الانحراف بالشرعية الدولية - دراسة قانونية

التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011) من هشاشة الأسس القانونية إلى الانحراف بالشرعية الدولية – دراسة قانونية التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011) من هشاشة الأسس القانونية إلى الانحراف بالشرعية الدولية – دراسة قانونية الكاتب : عمار عنان ملخص: تتناول الدراسة بالتحليل والنقد على ضوء أحكام القانون الدولي مختلف جوانب التدخل العسكري لحلف الناتو في ليبيا (2011). سواء تعلق الأمر بقاعدة حظر…