#f!gubberson!reader

[lovers-paradise]

The Science Of Love - Riley Ruckus/Gubberson!Reader

A/N: Riley and Rosco make a new friend for life... you. 

Explaining love to someone like Riley Ruckus was never going to go well. You knew that, as much as you knew she tolerated you, her ‘pet human’ purely for your own slightly murderous intent, your scientific skills proving more than a little alluring to her. She seems, in the end, to accept you as a colleague, watching you pet her precious Rosco with clear bemusement. Roscoe is supposed to stop humans from getting too close to her, but he likes you. So she watches, waits and tries to pretend that she isn’t starting to fall for you. She will never admit it. She tells herself, although you only hear about that later. She watches you as you seek out the latest host for Scout, smiles a little, then laughs almost manically when you capture them both. Scout, of course, screams the whole time as you snip her free, carrying her back to the start, considering setting the puppet on fire even as you leave the host bleeding in Rosco’s hallway. The host, of course, had made it almost to the end, to the ‘tea party’ set. The host, barely alive, slashes at Riley’s ‘host’, almost killing Riley and Roscoe in the process. Roscoe is quick enough to get away, Riley and her host are not quite so lucky, the host is dying by the time you get back to them. There’s a choice to be made. Let Riley die with her host or bring her… home. “Riley…” She’s almost glassy-eyed now and you move to cut her free from her host, biting back a sob of pain even as she looks at you. “Don’t leave me…” She sounds different, not harsh, not angry, just broken. “I won’t.” You mean it. She won’t take you over. She’s still whimpering just a little as you sew her into place, your eyes locked on hers. She seems sure you will, you must, give your whole self to her. You don’t. Not completely. She has your hand, of course, which is enough. She is not, completely, in control. “How?” Riley. Questioning as ever and you smile just slightly. “We’ve always been the same Riley, this just makes sense.” It wasn’t always true. You both could have been safe, you both could have stayed innocent. Both you and Riley had started out innocent. Mortimer had twisted Riley up, breaking her soul in the process. Owen, your own father, had done much the same. His reckless attack on Riley, breaking her jaw enough that you even now can see the scars on her skin, breaking you even as he twists himself further. A one-night stand should never have been how you came to be. He had yelled, snarled, proven more broken than you ever imagined, but by the time he hurt Riley, the one good thing he ever gave you, your own soul had fractured under the pressure. She was still back then, as you fixed her jaw, careful to still her with soft touches even as she retained her host. Now though, of course, she is yours. Bound to you as much as you always were to her. Rosco now, barking and huffing, races to you both and you barely hide your giggle when the dog licks both your cheeks, ruffling his fur. “Yeah bud, we’re okay.” Later, much later, settling into your new life, you’ll wonder how you got so lucky, how you ever managed to survive a father who had never deserved you. Then, of course, Scout finds a new host and you know that somehow, someway, you and Riley must stop another attempt to escape.