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massiv3tr33p3rsona · 20 days ago

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Hidden | Terrance X Wynnie (Black Fem OC)

Hidden Part I.

Pairing: Terrance (Foe) x Winona ‘Wynnie/Wyn’ (Black Fem OC)

Summary: Years after escaping her ex-husband’s cult and getting him locked up, Wynnie arrives to OuterMore after being selected for their two year space program. She is assigned to Terrance, who begins to get to know her on a much deeper level in order to prepare for the mission.

Warnings: MINOR DNI!, mostly buildup, fluff, sexual tension, PTSD (fem), mentioning of grooming/abusive behavior/trauma, emotional feelings, fear, cursing, smoking, non-canon

Dividers Made By: @cursed-carmine @thecutestgrotto

Parts: II • III • IV • V • VI • Epilogue

A/N I: Excited to write about Terrance again as I had a series on my previous account. This is a little different from it, but a remake of that one is coming later on.

THIS IS MY WORK, SO PLEASE DO NOT STEAL IT.

April 2065

Pulling up to a spot at the OuterMore Headquarters in Des Monies, Wynnie, a 5’6 brownskin woman, parks the car and turns it off, looking around the area.

In the middle of a grassy area, the building and its launch site stood tall. The sunlight shines brightly, which triggers something in her as she begins to breath harshly.

She looks down and closes her eyes, squeezing the steering wheel as she begins to attempt to calm herself down, tears running.

“You’re free. You’re free. You’re free.” she repeated the chants, feeling it work.

The memory of her ex-cult leader husband being verbally abuse to her doesn’t play this, making her sigh in relief.

“Thank god.” as she wipes away her tears.

Getting out her car and locking it, she adjusts her white ruffled dress, hair and matching tote bag before walking to the building, her pace picking up with each step.

Entering the building, she takes in the four floor level spacious lobby.

The OM logo being on the carpet, the windows behind the reception desk showing the inside of the lab and the spaceship she’ll be riding in two months from now, spacesuits, and group photos of past missions on the walls.

“Welcome to the OuterMore headquarters, where we go better to be further.” greeted the female receptionist as Wynnie walked up.

“I have an appointment with one of your agents.” she said in a shy tone.

“Alright, and what is your name?” as the woman taps on her tablet.

“Winona. Or Wynnie. Have no idea which name is listed.”

The receptionist nods as she scrolls, looking for her name. She clicks on something before looking up, sending her a small smile.

“You’re all checked in. Have a seat. Your agent will be out very soon.”

Wynnie nods before walking to find a seat in the slightly vacant lobby, examining.

Feeling very anxious with sitting around someone, she chooses the seat in a slightly dark corner. As she waits, she begins to fidget with her sunflower ring on her point, which the charm spins, helping her relax a bit.

This particular flower reminds her of a positive time from her childhood. Well, the only thing she can remember after years of cruel treatment from the cult she was forced into.

All of this goes back to when she was 14 years old: her grandmother, her only legal guardian, unexpectedly died. Despite leaving her with a savings account and a few other things, she was put into a foster care as none of her family members were willing to take her in.

She remained there for the rest of her teenage years until she was adopted by this middle-age white couple three months before her 17th birthday. They treated her nice and lovingly, which is something she has always wanted from people who actually care about her.

But all that will come crashing down and she didn’t realize until it was too late.

On her birthday, she and her parents drove to West Virginia, where she was told that there was a special gift they had waiting for her.

As they pulled up to a random house in a rural area, she is handed a white robe and mask, being told to put it on as this is part of the surprise. She obliges and they walk in, with them helping her as she couldn’t see much out.

As she was waiting, she gets snatched up by a stranger, thrown into a random room, where the door locks on the outside, making it very hard to escape. As she banged on the door, begging to get out, she realized that no one was coming to save her, giving up.

The door opens, with masked members walking in, forming a circle around her.

Then, a man wearing a red shawl and a demon designed mask walked in, bowing to her. He reveals himself as the Adonai, leader of Tolons, a new religious group whose ideology focused on a new modern balance that people should start aligning themselves more to save themselves: conspiracy theorism and spirituality.

He stated that she was selected to be the new Adonica, his new wife as the current one was not fulfilling her duties that he required anymore, stating that she will be trained to be obedient and remain pure as he wanted.

She refused, said that her parents won’t let this happen, which is when he revealed the actual truth: he planted those parents into adopting her, ordering them to find them someone that was not only what he required, but had something he wanted, which was more money.

During the training, she was taught to: wear a covering anytime she had to go somewhere in public as not wearing one would be violating his trust, any form of light she sees without dark is a sign that evil is around her, and being pure is something he demands as her innocence is something rare to find in today’s world.

A.k.a., using this as a manipulation tactic to groom her and brainwash the rest.

Along with this, she was verbally abused by him and many members that he had on a higher level, forcing herself to accustom to these conditions to survive.

She and the Adonai wed on her 18th birthday, which was a birthday she’ll never forget, refusing to tell anyone what happened that day, but assures that he didn’t force himself on her, not even during the next three years she was there.

She thought her life was officially over, believing there was no way out of this since they were watching her every move.

Until the day she finally escaped.

While out with a few Tolons members, the van they traveled in broke down, making everyone get out. As they waited for someone to get them, Wynnie saw this as her only chance of freedom, running as fast as she could away from them.

She hid for a few days before going to the local police, telling them who she was, what was going on in Tolons, and how they need to believe her as she wasn’t making any of this up.

Which they did.

Turns out, they and the Feds have been building a case of taking them down as they are occurring looking for a wanted, man who has numerous of charges across a lot of states, ranging from fraud to attempted murder. They swooped in and arrested him, revealing his real name as Alfonso.

As the trials occurred, Wynnie found out that they were never legally married as Alfonso wasn’t even divorced from his first wife, making the marriage invalid. Not only did he steal everyone’s money, he took out numerous loans in everyone’s name for financial gain, including her, which leaves her with endless amount of debt and having to enroll into a government assistance program.

Now 26 and far from the media frenzy after the trial concluded with him being sentenced to life in prison, she is looking forward to figuring out the next step in her life, regaining memories, things, and abilities she was good at, while also balancing the long-term effects of PTSD coming out randomly.

Which is why she’s here as she was selected for the upcoming mission, ask to come in person since she doesn’t have an actual address listed under her.

She’ll be part of the Group 70 mission, which will launch after Group 46 returns in two months.

The sound of the doors barging open startles Wynnie, making her jump up.

A group of scientists and engineers walk out, having conversations among themselves as they pass her, making her sit down and lay back.

A pair of footsteps is heard, making her look over.

She sees a tall, black man walking to the reception desk, greeting the receptionist with a smile as he grabs a folder and begins reading it, intrigued by what he sees.

Wynnie takes in his looks, noticing how he looks quite different from the engineers and scientists she saw.

Wearing a pinkish brown polo shirt, light brown dress pants, and brown dress shoes, he is a slim but chiseled man, with arms showing some veins, rocking a low fade with a scruffy beard, sharp jawline, slight brown skin tone, baggy eyes were a mixture of a blueish-green color, and dark pink curved lips, whoever he is.

Wynnie found him attractive.

But, she felt insecure as she doesn’t think he’ll ever go for someone like her due to her issues.

He looks up, locking eyes with her, making her turn away.

Shit! He saw me, she said, cursing herself.

She looks back a bit to see if he was standing there. Instead, he was walking to her, which made her scared.

“I can’t do this.” she utters, getting up quickly to leave.

“Winona, wait.” said the man, a British accent coming out, standing in front of her so she doesn’t move.

She looks down immediately, which confused him.

“Um….Is there a reason you’re not looking at me? Understandable if it’s a medical condition, but I’m a little lo…” he said, trailing off with the last word.

Wynnie lifts her head up, showing her face. His eyes, which were glowing green under the bulb they were under, softening a bit.

“….do I know you from somewhere? You look familiar?” he asked, examining her face.

Suddenly, a reflex takes over as her mood suddenly changes, with her now looking visibly distressed.

“BACK UP!” she yells, holding her hands up in defense.

That scared him as he stepped back, holding his hands up as he tries to calm her down.

“Woah. I didn’t do anything to you.” he replied.

“But you were about to!”

“Lower your voice.” as he stepped closer.

“Or what? You’re gonna drag him in here to threaten to harm me in some way?!”

The man looks at her very confused, not understanding where she’s getting this idea from as he sees security coming over, but motion them to stop.

“….drag who in here? It says you don’t have no one in your file.” as he holds up her folder.

“Alfonso. Adonai. Whatever he wants to call himself. Him.”

“Ok. What is he to you?”

She was about to say something but pauses, closing her eyes for a second. When she opens them, she’s back to her usual self, as if nothing happened.

“What’s going on?” she asked, confused on why he’s standing there.

“……Winona. Who’s Alfonso?” he asked, a worrying look on his face.

She looks at her hands, putting them down instantly as she realizes she once again overreacted and looks around, seeing people watching them.

“Oh my god…” she whispered, collapsing into her seat.

Her breathing becomes pitchy as the man kneels in front of her, gently squeezing her hands.

“Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.” he said, mimicking the inhale-exhale motion.

She follows, squeezing his hands back as she begins to calm down, looking down as she begins to cry.

“No, no.” he whispered, taking out a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to her.

She takes it and begins wiping her tears, feeling him rubbing her hand as he sits next to her.

“Don’t feel ashamed.” he added, motioning to everyone that he has it under control.

“It’s hard not to.” she replied, clearing her throat.

“How come?”

“….that’s just how I am. After being in a cult for a while. Easily scared……afraid of light…..being caught talking to another man.” she said, sniffling.

The man looks at her folder, rereading her notes as he slowly tried to piece together the information she just gave him.

“…..oh wow.” he said, a apologetic expression on his face.

“We didn’t realize you were the one who escaped Tolons and got everyone locked up, including……your husband.” he added, a slightly irritated tone on the last word.

“He wasn’t really my husband since he wasn’t even legally divorced from his first wife. That hasn’t changed what he did to me and others who suffered.” she said, lifting her head.

The man nods, feeling bad for asking her who he was to her.

“I do apologize.” he said.

“It’s not your fault. You probably won’t be the last to not realize who am I. I do live a pretty quiet life away from everyone else.” as she looks at him.

“And we just met.” she added, watching a small smile appear on his face.

“Well, if you’re not comfortable with doing the space program at the moment, we can always put you on the waitlist and contact you.” he said as he got up.

“No, I’m fine!” she said loudly, immediately clasping her mouth in embarrassment.

He laughs a bit, holding his hand out.

“I think this conversation should be had in private. You might feel more comfortable instead of being out here.” he said, staring at her.

Wynnie looks at his hand, questioning if she should go or not.

Hesitating a bit, she grabs it and helps her up, grabbing her bag and handing it to her.

“Atta girl.” he mumbled, gently removing his hand.

He motions her to follow him to the doors, in which he opens one. He watches her walkthrough it before following, closing the door behind him.

Wynnie in the spacious hallway, with the massive windows showing the inside of the lab.

“I’m….Winona by the way.” she said shyly, looking at him.

“I know.” he nodded, smiling a bit.

“I’m Terrance. I’ll be your agent throughout this whole experience.”

She nods as she walks up to one of windows, looking down at the floor inside.

With the rocket being on the right, the floor was filled with groups of engineers and scientists working on different things, from running tests on the spacesuits or oxygen to building items that are needed.

Feeling the lights become overbearing the longer she stood there, she closed her eyes, feeling her head beginning to hurt.

She hears a click sound and looks up. The blinds begin coming down, covering the windows, which dimmed the light a bit.

“Much better?” asked Terrance, leaned up against the wall where the button was.

Wynnie nods, smiling a bit.

He walks to a door, typing a code in before opening it.

“This is my office. Come in.” he said, motioning her to walk in.

She looks back at the window before walking forward, heading inside with Terrence following behind.

Hearing him close the door, she takes in his office’s area, which is beautifully decorated in black velvet furniture.

“You can have a seat in front of the coffee table. We’ll get started soon, just let me settle in.” Terrence said, pointing at the table.

Wynnie nods before taking a seat, still looking around.

A picture of him with a group of other people in spacesuits, with a sign that says ‘Test Group’ standing in front of them.

His degrees with MIT frames around it and certifications hanging up on the wall. A small United Kingdom flag in a cup of writing utensils on his desk, along with a Jamaican flag.

“Thirsty?” he asked, heading to his fridge.

“Just a water.” she replied, squeezing on her handle.

He replied with ‘mmhm’ as he opened the door, taking out two bottles of water. He walks back over, placing a bottle in front of her before taking the seat in front of her.

“What brought you over here to the states?” she asked, breaking the silence.

Terrance looked up as he picked up a box and placed it on the table, opening it.

“Got offered full ride scholarships to a lot of schools, but MIT was the one who had the best program to me. So, came over here and spent six years studying while getting to know much about the culture here.” as he takes out a bracelet, tablet, a box with four dots, and a recorder.

“Graduated with my bachelor’s in aerospace engineering, with a minor in astrophysics and my associates in astrobiology.” he added, a small smile on his face.

“And you came out here?” she asked, watching him laugh.

“OuterMore was amazed with my essays and the idea of cloning while the real human lives in space for a few years to bring the grand opportunity of everyone relocating up there when earth starts deteriorating even more, so I got hired immediately to develop the program after graduation.” he replied, turning on a switch as the machine began to run.

She nods, impressed with his resume as he stood up, motioning her to hand over her wrist, which she obliges.

“This is a bracelet that detects how much water you have in your body.” he said as he snaps it on.

“What’s in the box?” she asked, looking over.

“A machine we use on all clients to detect their oxygen, heart, and other vitals. Just so we have accurate information to write down and put into the other you.” as he grab the box and take off the cover.

“Using these.” he added, showing her the dots.

He takes one off and hands it to her, which she grabs.

“Where does this one go?” she asked.

“Over your heart. Wasn’t sure if you’re comfortable with me putting it on there, so…there you go.”

She nods, placing it over her heart, and watch it light up as he moves behind her, taking out two dots.

“The next two goes behind your ears, which helps us connect to your nervous system. Can you lift your hair up a bit?” he asked.

She does so, lifting up her curls as she feels him placing the dots on, gently pressing down to keep them in place.

He removes his hands, walking back into her view, as she lets go of her curls.

“And the last one is up to you to where you wanna place it.” he said, handing her the dot.

She grabs it, examining it as she looked at her legs, thinking about where she wants to put it. She placed it on the top of her fibula, watching it light up as Terrence sits back down, adjusting some of the buttons in the box.

“What’s the recorder for?” she asked.

“Our conversations are going to be recorded in case I miss something or it will help with developing your clone’s capabilities.” as he points at it.

“Anything you say to me will be kept strictly between us and no one else will have access to hearing it, unless I include it during the process of making you.”

“You swear?” she asked, looking at him.

“I do. As long as you’re fine with it.” he replied, a committed tone in his voice.

She held his gaze for a bit, slightly relaxing as she nods, placing her bag on the floor.

“Let’s start, shall we?” as he hits a button on the recorder, watching the red light come on.

He picks up his tablet and types on it, pulling up a list of questions as Wynnie watches.

“What’s your name?” he asks first.

“Winona. Or Wynnie, with a ‘Y’, to some people.”

“When your birthday?”

She hesitated for a bit, trying to find the answer in her head.

“August…..August 15th.” she replied.

“Mm.” he said, smiling a bit.

“Did I say it wrong?”

“No, no. You are right.” he assured.

“Just I never had a client whose birthday was the day after mines.” he added, amusement in his tone.

“Well….I’ll be turning 27 while in space, so I’ll have something *fun to look forward to this year.” she said, smiling a bit.

“28 for me.”

“You don’t look it.”

“…I look older or something?”

“No.” she said, shaking her head.

“You look younger than most of your colleagues here. And I mean it as a compliment.”

Terrance pauses, trying to not blush as he moves on to the next question.

“Where you coming from?”

“Iowa City.”

He exhales in disbelief.

“That’s a two hour drive from here. You driving that far?”

“Well, that’s the closest motel I can afford right now with assistance.”

His face softens, apologetic now.

“My apologies.” he said.

“Just doing the best I can right now.” she said shrugging.

“What kind of a car do you drive?”

“A 2010 Subaru Impreza.”

“Wow.” he whispered, typing in her answer.

“The program unfortunately doesn’t include coverage for self driving cars yet, so….yeah.”

“You’re not worried about it breaking down one day?”

She begins fidgeting with the sunflower charm, which he notices and makes note of.

“I have a bag of clothes, toothbrush, and other things just in case I get stuck somewhere. Hopefully there’s a shelter or something near that I can stay in.” she replied, looking away.

“Well, let’s hope that doesn’t happen at all during this as it gets really hot over here.” he said, laughing a bit.

She nods, not amused by his response. He clears his throat before continuing.

“Where were you born?”

“I….um don’t know.”

He looks up, confusion on his face.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean, I do know. It was, um…somewhere on the East Coast.” she added.

He nods, typing it in before she cuts him off.

“Sorry. It’s probably not helping, but I did lose my documents during my time in the cult.”

“Ahh. Makes more sense.” he replied.

“Yeah. They are sending me the copies of them. Should be here very soon.”

“Well, that saves me from asking the next…..” as he’s scrolling. “20ish questions then.”

“Damn, you need all that to know about me?” she asked, surprised at the amount of questions.

“It helps with making sure the other you is following the same mind you got going on. Even if you move away from some of it.”

“So…..this is also like a therapy session.”

He thought about it, almost wanting to counter-argument her, but realize she’s actually not that far off.

“You can say that.” he said, nodding in agreement.

“Figured.”

“Next question: what was it like during the three years of being in Tolons?”

She squeezes her hand close, feeling a little hesitant with answering as her heart begins to beat fast.

“Besides witnessing and going through the harm he caused, I lost the ability to write.”

“How?”

“I was the Adonica. He didn’t think it was necessary for me to write anything at all because “that’s not what a wife does.” Really, he was worried that if I written everything I saw and thought of, that would be evidence for the Feds to come after him and use.” as she rolled her eyes.

“And I’m gonna assume his followers were backing him up.”

“Yes. Because they know that he’s telling the “truth” since he knows how to talk to spirits, who exposes the secrets *they don’t want you to know about.”

“…..who’s they?”

She points at him, shrugging a bit.

“Exactly my point.”

Terrance nods, typing in her answer as she adjusts herself in her seat.

“So yeah. Because I did not get to write at all, I am forced to teach myself how to write again.” she begins to say.

“And how’s that’s going?”

She chewed on her lip a bit, fidgeting with her charm.

“…..I’m on the letter ‘M’. Writing in both print and cursive in my workbooks I use. Wrote some words in a journal I have, even if I don’t want to.” she replied, a little bit sad.

“Because of him haunting your mind with his taunts?” he asked, watching her rub her eye.

“More so of it being a bit humiliating that I’m almost 30, having to relearn things I grew up being taught on because of him trying to break me.” as she looks at him.

“I should be living a great life somewhere with the savings my grandmother left for me. In my dream career of……” she said, trailing off on the last word.

He waited patiently, hoping wherever she was going to say, comes out but she sighs, looking away.

“Don’t know what I wanted to do. Now I can’t even do that now.” she whispered.

“It’s never too late to start over. Even if you don’t want to.” he said in a caring tone.

“You gotta have something to do that. Unfortunately, I don’t. No diploma, no GED, no experience. Nothing.” she replied.

“You don’t have to beat yourself over it.”

“It’s hard not to when you had so much trust in people who you thought wanted to be your parents. Even in that short window.”

Terrance says ‘mhm’ quietly as Wynnie takes a sip of her water, seeing him focused on her movements.

“….are you noting how I move?” she asked.

He nods, fixing his shirt.

“Helps with accuracy. We want to make sure other you is still you while you’re away, so we have to apply with precision with the movements.”

“Including my face?”

“Especially that.”

She licks her lips, wiping her face a bit.

“Guess I have to relax it or she’ll look a bit older than what she actually is.” she mumbled.

“Doesn’t seem like you aged at all.” he said, making her look at him.

“You’re saying that to be nice.”

“I’m not. I’m being serious, Winona.”

“Yeah, okay.” she replied sarcastically.

Terrance shrugs a bit as he moves onto the next part.

“Was not writing the only thing you lost? Sorry if I added onto the question.” he asked.

“You’re fine. Just doing your job.” she replied, coughing a bit.

“But when he wanted to be nice to make sure I’m obeying, he gave me some privileges if I did well.” she added.

“Like what?”

“Playing the piano. I was trained very well, thanks to my grandmother. Guess he found that out from my adopted parents.”

“So on a random night of his choosing, he took me out, wearing the covering over my body, to some….music store. He knew a guy there, who I’m pretty sure got fired after the trial.”

Terrance chuckled, but stopped, feeling like it was big inappropriate to do that.

“You can laugh. It’s not like he’ll get his job back after being a contributor.” she said, reassuring him.

“Right.” as he nodded.

“But yeah. He let me play on the piano for two hours. Played all kinds of songs that I knew and he wanted to hear. Until I spoiled it all and he cuts the session.”

“Spoiled it?”

She laughs, a memory of him getting upset playing in her mind.

“Whenever I get done playing what’s always the last song, he always praised me, then adds a comment about how our children will be loved with the sound of my playing accompanying them as they grow up. And I ruin it by saying “it will be a cold day in hell before I let you coming anywhere near me with that rabble wight he calls a dick.” each time.”

“You found another term for unwashed thing?” he asked in an impressed voice.

“Had many ways thanks to the dictionary. Soiled slob, polluted shrimp, even churned dick because he fucking smelled like rotting fish and moldy cheese.” she responded, watching him laugh loudly.

“What, he hated washing?!” he asked in the midst of his laughs.

“He believed washing our bodies is how the government gets close to controlling us…..as he and others paid the water bill and was drinking it.”

They both laughed in unison, in awe at how stupid that sounds as she drinks more of her water.

“Wow. You went through hell with that man.” he replied, drinking some of his water.

“Yeah, I did.” as her smile faded a bit.

“I did.” she repeated, looking down at her ring.

“What…” as he looks at his tablet, trying to think of a calm way to ask the question.

“What was his…..reaction like? Was it the same with anyone who did something he didn’t lie or different for you?” he asks.

Wynnie closes her eyes tightly, feeling an attack coming as Terrance leans forward, about to get up, but she holds up her hand, stopping him.

She breathes in and out softly to subdue it, feeling herself relax as she opens her eyes, seeing him watching with a concerned look.

“We can skip the question if you want.” he said softly.

“I think I want to answer it since you asked.” she replied quietly, feeling tears forming.

He nods, sliding a tissue box to her, which she grabs as she wipes her eyes, sniffling a bit.

“Alfonso. You would think he was just a nice man, looking to do things for his family on a budget and very caring on the outside when you meet him. But no.” as she shook her head.

“His rage was……something I never seen before. Very violent, harmful. Having you worried that he might get you while you’re sleeping.”

“What did he do if you don’t mind me asking.” he asked cautiously.

“He never physically assaulted me. Gotta make that clear every time I have to talk about him. But he did hit others around me, didn’t matter if they did something or not. He was verbally abusive though. Threatening to harm me if I didn’t do something he requested, calling me a bunch of things but a child of God, insulting my intelligence or when I’m right about something, hated when I talked to some of the male members, just full on angry.” she replied, exhaling loud.

“It was worse when it went to emotional. He used tactics to scare me into not ever wanting to leave him as long as I was there. He beat on someone to a point they are badly hurt, self harmed himself, or whipped out a gun and threaten to shoot someone because I didn’t follow an order. He did this mostly to the women.”

Terrance looked away, feeling very sick about the details he’s hearing as she cries a bit.

“The worst part? Everyone who didn’t see an issue with it followed behind because they wanted to be like him. Why? He’s just a man who has unresolved issues, spreading shit he believes to be true in order to get money and control over people!” she yelled, anger consuming her.

She wiped her tears away roughly, her face slightly red as he watches, seeing her pain coming out.

“How he got away with it for so long? I still don’t know. And I don’t care to find it out either.” she added.

“……they failed you.” he said, exhaling loudly. “They failed the other victims as well.”

She nods slowly, letting the tears pour down as she sees him walk over, kneeling in front of her.

“But you shouldn’t let that linger in you for the rest of your life. It’s tough, but it’s not worth reliving it in your mind.”

“It’s hard not to, Terrance.” as she looks at him.

“I can be having a great day, doing….whatever. But as soon as I go to sleep, the night terrors start and it always gets worse that I have to literally sleep with some light over me. Even that ends up not working sometimes.” she added, shaking her head.

“…..what did your room look like?” he asked.

“…..no windows. Black walls. Just a lamp and a nightstand. Kept my personal things on my bed as the floor was filthy.” she replied.

He nodded, standing up and pressing pause on the recorder, confusing her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, seeing him pick up the tablet.

“What motel are you staying at?” as he types something.

“Um…..Starland.” as she wipes her face.

“What’s your room like there?”

“Um, blue and white walls. A decent looking bathroom and furniture. A lamp that doesn’t work. My own desk and vanity. A tv I don’t use as much besides for some movies I pay for. AC doesn’t really work, so I bought a fan.”

“You know the address?”

She looks down, reaching into her bag and grabbing her phone, unlocking it. Pulling up a file, she hands it to him, which he takes, sitting down.

“I am going to send you a sound machine.” as he types in the address.

“A sleep lamp. And two coolers. Should be coming tomorrow after our second session.” as he hands back her phone.

“What I want you to do is try to get a good sleep schedule. We want other you to have a good mind and relaxed body while you’re gone. Don’t worry, she’ll still have the same emotions most humans have. Journal everything that happens when you wake up and if you notice it’s getting better and better, it’s working.”

She takes her phone, confused as he hits the play button, resuming the recording.

“How can I pay you back?” she asked.

“You don’t need to. I got enough and can make it back easily.” he replied, adjusting his seat.

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“We’ll try another way. We got two months. I don’t want you giving up. You came too far for it to end like that.”

She smiles a bit, liking his comforting manner.

“Anyone ever said you have a nice voice?”

“Would be the richest man in the world if I got paid hearing that a lot.” he replied, smiling back at her.

A loud knock comes in, startling Wynnie as she jumps up, running to a corner in his office.

“Go away!” she yells, scaring Terrance.

She immediately drops to the floor, going into fetal position by hiding her face into her knees, hearing her breathing loud.

“…..loud and hard knocks is another one, isn’t it?” he asked, looking at her position.

“Yes.” she said quietly.

“Noted.” as he stood up.

“Probably just a co-worker dropping off something.” as he walks to the door.

“Make sure.”

He unlocks the top lock, before opening it, seeing his mid height, blonde hair, blue eyes co-worker, Lance, standing there with a file folder in his hands.

“Hello, Lance.” greeted Terrance in a low tone voice.

“Hey, Terrence! Sorry if I’m interrupting something, but Mel wanted me to drop this off.” said Lance, handing him the folder.

“Thanks.” as Terrence takes it.

“Not to be nosey, but….. did somebody scream in there after I knocked on the door?” he asked, trying to look inside.

Terrence blocked his view, making sure he doesn’t see Wynnie hiding on the floor.

“Yeah, my new assignment I just got assigned to. She has PTSD, so she’s a little sensitive to certain things.”

“Damn. Always getting the crazy ones around here.” he said, laughing a bit.

Terrence eyes him down, not amused by that comment as he steps back, grabbing the door.

“She’s not crazy. Just needs a little more help with healing before she goes up.” he replied, turning away.

“Have a good—“ is what he heard Lance say, but cut him off by closing the door.

“Asshole.” Terrence whispered as he reads through the folder while walking to Wynnie.

As he walks by the table, he presses the square button on the recorder, which stops the recording, watching the tape pop out.

He continues his journey, sitting down carefully in front of her, which makes her look up.

“He didn’t sound nice.” she said, watching him smile a bit.

“He’s a little bit of a dick that got reassigned here because no one else wants him.”

“Where is he supposed to be at?”

“Homeland Security. But don’t listen to him. He doesn’t…quite understand why I get assigned the special ones.”

“You can’t say you made this program from the bottom to him?” as she sits up, laying her legs out.

“Nahh. I just don’t pay him no mind.”

She nodded as he sits the folder next to him, leaning back a bit.

“How do you feel about me ending the session a bit early?”

“But we haven’t hit an hour.” she replied, pouting a bit.

“Well, most of the questions are in reference to things you don’t have at the moment and the rest are a bit getting deeper into your past and questioning your future plan after this is over, which I don’t wanna go to.” he said, a slight grimace in his voice.

“I do. It’s best we get it out of the way instead of me leaving now to go drive back two hours. And we’re not behind before the launch.”

“…..how about a break then? An hour or less. You did cry for quite a bit. I know your head slightly hurts.”

As soon as he said that, she felt a slight sting come into her head, making her rub it a bit.

“…deal.” she replied, blinking slowly.

He nodded before standing up, helping her afterwards before grabbing the tablet off the table.

“Have you eaten today?”

“…..you don’t have to buy me lunch. Your gift from earlier is just enough.” she said, waving her hand to decline.

“Well, I’m asking cause most of the places doesn’t take assistance program as payment.” he said, looking up.

“Why am I not surprised?” she said, sitting down.

“Still didn’t answer my question.” as he sat in the chair next to her.

“……only a muffin and a water.” she replied quietly.

“How do you feel about sushi? I know a great place that makes them and delivers to here.” as he types in the place.

“Never had it.”

“Ooh, you’re missing out.” as he hands her the tablet.

“Here’s the menu so you can take a look. If you don’t want that, we can get something else.” he added, a small smile on his face.

Wynnie takes it, reading through the menu carefully as Terrence watches, scanning over her face.

He takes note of her curved plumped lips, her thinned eyebrow, almond shaped eyes, curly brown hair, and subtle button nose with a hooped nose piercing as she looks up, seeing him staring.

They both hold each other’s eyes for a bit before she hands him back the tablet, looking away a bit.

“….the rock and roll & spicy tuna ones sound delicious.” she said, breaking the silence.

“They are.” he replied, adding her order to the cart before adding his.

“Did you also want a drink or you’re fine with the water I gave you?”

“I’m okay with the water.”

He nods before placing the order, sitting the tablet on the table.

“Should be here in 15 minutes. While we wait for it, let’s continue with some of the questions.” he said, pressing the button to begin recording again.

She nods, turning to face him as he begins asking the question.

They spend the rest of the day answering questions while eating the sushi, in which Wynnie was impressed with the taste and texture of it.

Noticing it was getting a bit late as the sun was setting, he ends the session and walks with her to her ca, making sure she’s safe.

Placing her bag and leftover sushi in the passenger seat, he walks over and helps her get in, adjusting her legs.

“Oh you don’t have to…” she begins to say, but is cut off by how warm and comfortable his hands felt against her skin.

He looks at her, seeing her eyes flutter as he reaches into his pocket to retrieve something.

“If anything happens…” as he hands her a folded piece of paper.

“Call me.” he added, watching her take it.

“Even if I’m two hours away?” she asked, reading it.

Terrance kneels, waving at some of his coworkers passing him before looking at her again.

“Even if you’re two hours away. Don’t like that you’re alone out there, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”

Wynnie nods, watching him close her door before stepping back.

“See you tomorrow, Terrance.” as she starts up the car.

“See you tomorrow, Winona.” he replied with a tender smile.

He waves as he watches back out carefully and drive away, seeing her exit at the end of the long road.

“Get home safe.” he whispered as he turns back to the building.

Two hours of driving on the dark roads later, Wynnie arrives to her home: the Starland Motel.

It sits a few minutes outside of downtown Iowa City, surrounded by a lot of street lights and one level homes.

She grabs her things before locking up her car, making sure everything’s fine before walking to the stairs.

She hears a door swinging open, making her stop and look to her left.

Seeing small clouds of smoke come out of the reception room, there stood the hotel manager and her landlord, Berlinda, a small Caucasian woman covered in tattoos, smoking a cigarette.

“Evening, Berlinda.” said Winona, waving at her.

“Thought that was you who pulled up.” Berlinda replied, coughing a bit.

She didn’t see Berlinda that much as the woman is always running around, fixing something around the motel or arguing with a customer who claims the wrong was up to what they expected.

However, when it came to her, she was always nice, having empathy for her as she recognized her face from the coverage of the trial, and never told anyone else about it.

“I been waiting for you to come back all day. I know you went to OuterMore, but you did get something in the mail.” she said, retrieving something from the room.

She pulls out a big envelope and walks up, handing it to Wynnie, who takes it, examines it.

“It feels a little thick, so I’m gonna assume it’s—“

“My missing documents.” said Wynnie, cutting her off as she smiles happily.

“Yep. Glad you finally have your stuff again.” said Berlinda, turning to walk.

“Oh, wait.”

Berlinda stops, turning back to face Wynnie.

“I’m going back there tomorrow. While I’m gone, a package my agent ordered for me is supposed to come. I don’t know how big it’s going to be, but can you watch out for it, please?” asked Wynnie.

“You bet your ass I can! You always good with me when it comes to your mail, don’t you worry. Now if this was Ms. Watkins’ nasty chitlins eating ass, it would be a different story.” said Berlinda, inhaling her cigarette before blowing the smoke out.

“Thank you. Good night.” she said, walking up the stairs.

Belinda nods before walking back into her room, leaving the door half open.

Wynnie walks along the hallway before stopping at a room with the number 15 on it. She takes out her keys and unlocks the door, pushing the door open.

Turning on the lights, she takes in the small room she told him about, noticing nothing has changed since she left.

“Home sweet home.” she utters as she puts her stuff on the table, walking the sushi to her refrigerator.

She does her nightly routine, which consists of washing her face, applying her skin care, brush her teeth, showering, and writing a bit in her workbooks before climbing to her bed.

She turns off the light, feeling her nerves rise a bit as she lays down, looking at the curtain covered window as she slowly falls asleep, hoping the terror isn’t too bad.

Wynnie wakes up in a very dark room, confused with how cold it was.

No windows.

Filthy floor.

And her stuff on the bed.

Immediately recognizes it as her old room from when she was still in Tolons.

She stood up, trying to find the exit, but keeps going through an endless loop, giving up.

Suddenly, she hears an uneasy sound of loud hitting and groaning filling in, making her cover her ears immediately.

“Please God, no.” she whispered, kneeling into a position.

It continued for a while, until it was replaced by evil laugh from a man, making her slowly look up.

Standing in front of her was a man wearing a red shawl and a demon designed mask with a grizzly smile, looking down at to her.

She noticed blood was pouring out of the mouth part, which made her crawl back until she hits something hard.

She looks up and sees another one looking down at her, blood pouring excessively out that it hits her, making her scream as she tries to get up.

However, she looks down, seeing that she sinking into the floor, which is now a pool of blood, struggling to fight her way out as the evil laughter grows louder.

“Don’t fight it, Wynnie.” she hears Alfonso say darkly, making her look up to see him sitting in a king styled designed chair.

“You’re home.” he added, getting up to walk to her.

“No, no, please!” she yells, feeling herself sinking lower and lower.

Alfonso stands in front of her, with the masked men standing behind watching her struggle, covered in their blood.

“Here. Let me help.” he said, kneeling down.

She tries to lift her arms up, but fail he places his hand over her forehead, pushing her down further as she screamed loudly. She feels something hot coming out of his hand, burning her horrifically.

Wynnie wakes up quickly, panting very violently as she tries to calm herself down, doing the method she does.

“You’re free. You’re free. You’re free.” she repeated, emotions taking over.

After a few minutes, she’s calm down, rubbing her head as she looks at the windows, seeing the sun is out.

She looks at the clock, which reads 8:15.

She gets up, heading to the bathroom to start the first step in her morning routine: showering.

She follows with brushing her teeth, washing her face and applying skincare, doing her hair in a updo-sidebang, applying bodycare and putting on her outfit.

Wearing an off-shoulder purple tie blouse, blue flared jeans, white platform sandals, she applied her favorite red lipstick before adding final touches, taking one last look in the mirror.

Grabbing the envelope and placing it in her bag, she leaves, making sure the door is locked before heading downstairs to her car.

Two hours of driving with coffee and a donut later, Wynnie walks into the building, seeing Terrance already standing there, waiting for her.

He’s in a white dress shirt, black business casual jacket, black dress plants, and black shoes, starting at her as she got close.

“Morning, Winona.” he greeted, a big smile on his face.

“Good morning to you as well.” she replied, sending a small smile back.

“You look….” as he looks at her outfit, taking it in.

“You look great.” he added. “Purple suits you well.”

She nodded as he begins walking to the doors, with her following behind him.

Entering his office, she places her bag on the table, taking out the envelope.

“When I came home yesterday, my landlord told me my documents came in the mail.” as she hands it to him.

He said ‘ah’ as he takes it, impressed that it’s here already.

“Did you take a look?” he asked, placing it on his desk.

“Not yet. I’m, um….a little nervous on what it contains.”

He nods, grabbing her folder before walking to the door.

“That’s normal. But we can talk about it after we go to the lab.”

“The lab?” as she raised her eyebrows.

He chuckles a bit as he raises his hands in reassurance.

“It’s nothing crazy. Just we have to get your measurements and body scan.”

“Oh. Is it going to hurt?” as she relaxes.

“No. It’s a quick and easy process.”

He opens the door, waiting for her to walk out.

“Plus, I want you to meet a good friend of mines. Come.” as he tilted his head towards the hallway.

Wynnie walks out, with him following, closing the door.

They walk to the door at the end of the hallway that leads into the lab, with him typing in a code on the pinpad, hearing it unlock before sliding open.

Heading down the stairs, Terrance leads the way as Wynnie takes in the busy floor, from one group making a liquid to print out the skins to another building parts of the bodies as another group works on coding in facial expressions on some heads.

“Very grip as you see.” said Terrance as he looks back, watching her look at everything.

Wynnie looks at one particular one, where the face, belonging to a short haired brunette white woman, was very still-like and eyes closed.

Suddenly, her eyes shot open and mouth stretches open, showing a haunting expression you would see in a horror film that it scared Wynnie, causing her to bump into Terrance very hard.

“That’s what I meant.” he whispered, gently moving her to the front.

“We’re almost there though.”

They walk into a direction where there is an area called SCANNING in the corner, surrounded by a few scientists and other people, in which Wynnie assumes are her fellow Group 70 members.

“Still working hard, I see?” as he walks up to a tall darkskin black woman, causing her to look up.

The woman laughs before dapping him up, beginning a conversation with him that Wynnie doesn’t hear as she takes it her looks.

Wearing a short sleeve black shirt, black jeans, black and white sneakers, she was very fit and muscular, has dimples each time she smiled, locs with gold cuffs in them, a massive dragon tattoo who’s head started on her hand and wrapped around her arm while her other arm was covered in a vine-like tattoo with different plants, she was a sight to see.

She wonders if her and Terrance had a thing with how close they are as he looked over, motioning her to come over.

“Winona, This is Mel. A good friend of mines since our MIT days who’s good at accurately, getting the correct measurements and scans of everybody’s other you. She’ll be doing yours.” he said, stepping to the side a bit.

“Nice to meet you.” said Mel with a bit of a twang, holding out her hand.

“Nice to meet you as well.” Wynnie replied, shaking it.

“You from DC?” she asked immediately, surprising Mel.

“See? Someone can recognize my accent, Terrance!” said Mel, nudging him in his chest.

“I didn’t say that!” he replied, rubbing the spot.

“I said you sound like a Southerner.” he added, making Mel chuckle.

“Whatever, tea boy. You from out there too?” as she looks at Wynnie again, watching her shake her head.

“No. I’m from somewhere on the East Coast, but I can recognize your accent real easily for some reason.” she replied in a shy tone.

“You don’t know where you’re from?”

Wynnie stops for a bit as she comes up with a sensible answer.

As she was about to reply, Terrance leans into Mel’s ear, covering himself with the folder to tell her something, watching her face change from confused to apologetic.

“My bad. Forgot about that part of your file.” she said.

“It’s fine. I know you didn’t mean no harm.” said Wynnie.

Mel nods as she takes the folder from Terrance, grabbing her lab coat behind her.

“Follow me this way so we can begin and I can send you back his way.” as she begins to walk.

“He doesn’t come along?” asked Wynnie.

“Oh no.” said Terrance, looking at her.

“When it comes to this, we assign the same sex scientist to do this part so the client doesn’t feel uncomfortable with their agent if of opposite sex does it.” he added, smiling a bit.

“Makes the process much easier.” said Mel.

Wynnie nods, watching her walk into a room, standing at the entrance to wait for her.

“You don’t mind if I take a look at your envelope while I’m waiting?” he asked.

“That’s fine.” she replied, sending a small smile.

She holds his gaze for a few more minutes before following Mel, walking past her to enter the room.

Mel waves at Terrance, who waves back, before clicking a button that slide the door closed. He looks around the floor before heading back to his office.

Inside the spacey silver swirled room, Wynnie sees a big machine hooked up to different wires as Mel sits the folder next to the clipboard on the table against the wall, putting on her coat.

“Okay, so first thing I’m gonna do is take your measurements and ask some questions before we do the scanning. Is that okay with you?” asked Mel, looking at her.

Wynnie nods as she watches her unravel the measuring tape, kneeling down and pushing her left pants leg. She wraps around her calf, tightening it a bit.

“What size shoe do you wear?” she asked, letting it go before standing up and writing on the clipboard.

“8.5.” Wynnie said softly.

“Same as your ring size?”

“No. My ring size is a 6.”

Mel says ‘mm’ before turning back to her, looking her up and down.

“Stand straight for me, please.”

Wynnie obliged, watching her place the end of the tape on the top of her waist before pulling the rest down her leg, stopping at the top of the foot.

“Are you vaccinated?” she asks next.

“Just re-upped last month.” said Wynnie.

Mel nods before writing down the numbers on the clipboard. She moves behind her, placing the end at the top of her head.

“Close your legs for me.”

Wynnie followed, feeling her pull the rest down her back, over her ass before stopping at the bottom heel of her foot, holding it for a few seconds.

“Any tattoos or scars?” as she steps into her view.

“And hold your arms out like this.” she added as she holds her arms out horizontally.

Wynnie followed, stretching her arms out as wide as she could, watching her lay the end in one hand before pulling to stretch the other.

“Four scars. Two tattoos. One covers the scar on my left hip, the second one covers the one on my right wrist. And the two others are the same. Just one is on my left rib and the other is on my back.” said Wynnie, watching her write it down.

Mel wraps the measuring tape around her chest, feeling it jump a bit.

“You know your cup size?”

“D.” she replied instantly, making her laugh.

“That was fast.” as Mel lets go, wrapping it around Wynnie’s waist.

“…you seemed curious.” as she looks up at her.

Mel’s eyes twinkle a bit, letting go of the tape as she walks over to the clipboard.

“I see why he’s taken a huge interest in you.” she said as she was writing.

“What do you mean?” asked Wynnie, a confused look on her face.

“Normally, Terrance doesn’t talk about the assignments in a thrilling way. Only your typical “he’s boring, but his background is interesting” conversations.” as she looks at her.

“I noticed a new dynamic in him after you went home yesterday” she added, an amused expression on her face.

“It’s like…you awoken something in him. Something I haven’t seen since we went to space as the test group.”

Wynnie was stunned, not noticing Terrance was out there waiting for her early on purpose.

“He told you this?” she asked.

“Hasn’t stopped talking about you since. And after one day? That’s rare of him.”

She smiles a bit, but drops it fast as she remembers Mel is in front of her.

“….hopefully I’m not coming between something that you and him have.” said Wynnie.

Mel’s eyes widen, shocked by what she said.

Then, she lets out a humorous laugh, covering her mouth so no one hears her.

Wynnie watches in confusion, trying to figure out if she said something funny.

“Winona.” as Mel catches her breath. “That’s the funniest shit you ever said.” with a laugh following.

“…so you’re not seeing him?”

“Absolutely not.” as she shook her head. “We’re best friends. Taught him a lot about this country that he wanted to know about. But he’s not someone I would go for personally.” as she walked towards the machine.

Wynnie followed behind, watching her go up to a switch box, flicking everything up except one and the machine turns on.

“Not that anything is wrong with him.” as Mel looks back.

“Just men are not my type.” she added.

Wynnie stood there, taken a back by that reveal as Mel laughs.

“But, you’re fine.” as she opens one of the doors.

“I also don’t go after any female assignment OuterMore picks for the missions. That’s a rule I set with myself when I got hired to develop the program.”

She goes up to the wall, typing something into an invisible pinpad and the door unlocks, sliding open as she steps inside.

Wynnie looks away, processing the new information she’s learning right now, feeling a bit tense.

“..are you saying he would date an assignment?” she asked, watching Mel walk out with a stack of folded clothes.

“That’s the thing: he doesn’t. Not even the widowed or divorced ones.” as she sits them on the table.

“But, he might just break that rule for you.” she added.

“How do you know he’s not just trying to score?”

Mel takes out a gown and hands it to her, watching her take it.

“He’s an introvert who rarely goes out on dates or parties. And treats women nicely. He does his job with delicate gestures and if you feel him feeling awful about something you say, it’s genuine.” as she smiled.

“Change into that, by the way. Keep your underwear on and remove jewelry if you have any on.” as she pointed at the gown.

Mel turns around, hearing Wynnie remove her clothes and ring, placing them on the table as she puts the gown on.

��All done.” said Wynnie, watching her turn around.

“Alright. Step inside the machine and I’ll explain what you have to do.” as Mel points towards it.

Wynnie walks up, anxiety building up as she gets closer.

She stops at the entrance, looking inside the glowing green room before looking at Mel, who was standing by the door, holding the clipboard. She nods, gently motioning her to walk in, in which she does.

“I’m gonna close the door a bit. Just so you’re covered and I can’t see you.” said Mel, grabbing the handle.

Wynnie nods as she hears the door close, hearing it creak.

Okay, so what you are going to do next is remove your gown and align yourself on the outlined feet in the middle of the platform as Mel leans into a mic so she can hear her.

Wynnie hesitates as she slowly removes the gown, tossing it out.

Staring in all of her glory and a thong, she looks at the blinking cameras in front and behind her, taking it the different flashing colors each one has.

Mel examines while adjusts some of them, using a switch box. She enhances the one pointed at the left side of Wynnie’s hip, seeing a much clearer view of the banquet of sunflowers tattoo over the jagged line scars.

“Okay, so for the next step, I need you to stand on the outline and straight.” she says, pushing a button to close the door.

Wynnie stands on it, adjusting her body as the light dims.

In a few minutes, you’re going to see a flash of white light hit you. That’s the first scan being done. Then, it’s gonna flash twice, signaling the second scan. The last one is going to shine a bright red flash, signaling the last one, she spoke into the mic, making Wynnie look up.

Mel flicks another switch, adding more darkness around the green lit room.

Throughout this, you need to be in an A frame pose and be still as it’s going to happen very, very fast. It’s okay if you blink after the first one because it is a bit bright, but be careful with blinking after the first one in the second scan, she said, looking at the screen.

Wynnie looks forward as she gets into that pose, seeing the cameras adjust a bit. The air gets a little hot, making her sweat a bit as a countdown begins.

3..2..1.

Suddenly, a quick FLASH of white light hits her, blinding her a bit, which makes her blink.

“Fuck.” she whispered, rubbing her eyes a bit.

Second one is coming in less than 30 seconds said Mel, watching the first scan prints appear on the monitor next to her.

Wynnie repositioned herself, blinking very quickly as she hears the countdown begin again.

Another quick FLASH of white light hits her, with another countdown following.

The second FLASH hits her, completing the second scan.

Wynnie rubs her quickly, the sting being a bit overbearing as she hears some of the cameras move rinto the center, all pointing at her.

Alright, last scan is coming in one minute. This one will shine a bright red, which will be the outer layer of other you. Don’t be freaked out at all of the cameras staring at you, Mel added.

The light in the room turns red, which made Wynnie uncomfortable, feeling heat growing inside of her.

“Please don’t.” she whispered, knowing that familiar feeling.

Her breathing becomes pitchy as the room darkens, with the countdown beginning.

Keep your eyes open, said Mel.

Wynnie widens her eyes, feeling them slowly tear up as 10 seconds is shown in a fast pace.

3..2..1.

A FLASH of red light hits her, completing the final scan.

And you’re all done, as Mel gets up, hitting a switch.

Wynnie collapses to the ground, rubbing her eyes fast as the attack comes over, making her squeeze her eyes and say the chant quickly.

“You’re free. You’re free. You’re free. You’re free.” she repeats, shaking a bit.

The door opens, with Mel coming in with her gown, startled by the scene.

She rushes over, wrapping the gown around her as she kneels down, comforting her.

“Breathe. Breathe. It’s over, you’re okay.” she said, feeling Wynnie relaxing a bit.

She softly blinks, looking over to see Mel next to her, feeling slightly embarrassed about what just happened.

“Sorry about that.” she said quietly.

“Don’t be. It’s perfectly fine to have that reaction.” said Mel, a small smile on her face.

The women get up, exiting the machine. Mel begins locking it up as Wynnie puts back on her clothes, feeling the cool air returning.

Sitting in his office again, Wynnie hears a snap, making her look back. She sees Terrance standing there, holding up a camera.

“For photo references.” he said, smiling a bit.

He snaps a quick picture of her before she looks forward, spinning her charm as he hits the recorder, sitting behind her.

“So, I looked into your envelope. It contained a lot of documents, from your birth certificate, your passport, to the last address you lived at. It also had a lot of photos and a few items you might be able to recognize.” he began, sitting a stack in front of him.

“I’m going to do is ask you some questions and hand you some of them to explain to me. Is that okay?”

Wynnie nods, looking up as she hears him move again.

“First question: what is your mission group’s number?”

“70.” she said, adjusting herself.

Terrance takes out the first paper from the stack, handing it to her by gently tapping her shoulder. She takes it, reading it.

“What does that document say?”

“State of Maryland, Certificate of Live Birth.” she replied, reading over the words.

“My birth certificate.” she added, smiling a bit.

“What city does it say?” he asked as he types, moving the recorder closer to her.

“Columbia. Howard County.”

“Is it bringing back any memories?”

“A little bit. I know it’s between DC and Baltimore, but I can’t remember much.”

“What about the weather?”

“Oh that’s easy. Winter was hell due to how cold it gets. Summer too because of how hot it got. Fall and spring was okay, just not a fan of the bugs.” she said, hearing him laugh.

“How bout this?” he said softly as he hands her the next one, which she takes.

She looks at it, which is a photo that shows a woman in the hospital bed, holding a newborn baby as an older woman that looks similar to her stands near, both smiling. A man in an all white Navy uniform is at the end of the bed, holding a bouquet of flowers, that were a mixture of baby breath and lavender, and a huge “Its A Girl” Teddy Bear, making her get teary.

She recognizes this photo very well.

“The little baby is me.” as she points at herself.

“That’s my mom, who’s holding me. My grandmother, her mother, next to her. And my dad is the man.” she added, tears falling.

“I thought I lost this photo forever.” she said quietly.

“What were their names?” he asked, handing her the tissues.

She takes one, wiping her eyes as she sniffles, catching her breath.

“Mom’s was Dahlia. She was named after a rare flower that was growing in my grandmother’s garden. Had a need for growth since she bounced between jobs.”

“Clementine, or Tine, was my grandmother’s name. Got that name because when she was born, she had ginger hair, which was as bright as that. Was a florist and made money off selling flowers from the house since she couldn’t afford a shop. And why I like flowers a lot.” as she smiles a bit.

“She grew all types?” asked Terrance, watching her nod.

“Anything she could find to growing from the plant shop she went to. Was well respected around the community.” she replied, looking at the photo again.

“Cyrus was my daddy’s name. Don’t really know much about his personality or life other than him being in the Navy. Think this is the only photo of him I ever saw.” she added, tracing over his face.

“Why’s that?” he asks, a somberly look in his face.

“About a few weeks after I was born, he passed. Leaving my mother a widow and me without a dad. From what I was told, one of the ships he was working on caught on fire. He and I think, 20 others, got trapped. Died the same way my grandfather did.”

Terrance paused, exhaling loudly as she turns the photo around, seeing writing that said Baby Winona 8:15 AM MD.

“Did it..did it affect your relationship with her growing up?” he continued.

“I think it did.” as she nodded.

“I was a baby, but when I got older, my grandmother was the only one raising me. My mom wasn’t doing drugs, but she wasn’t mentally stable at all and my grandma couldn’t allow her to take me much longer.” as she laughed bitterly.

“Last time I remember seeing her was when I was 7. So, I have no idea if she’s even alive now.”

“Do you want to know?” he asked.

“No.” she answered quickly. “If she wanted to see me, she would’ve been there when the trials happened. Sounds selfish, but.” as she shrugged.

Terrance nods, reading the next question on his list.

“What’s the significance behind the sunflower ring?”

“My favorite flower. The one I always saw in the garden whenever I see her planting them. Even with the bad things, I’m always taken back to growing up with her and the house on that road. Felt like those were my happy days.”

“This house?” as he hands her a picture.

She takes it and looks at it, seeing a three story bricked house, a couple and their toddler daughter sitting on the steps, and a goldendoodle next to them.

“Yeah.” as she nods. “Had a garden full of them hidden in the back. Which made thieves interested.”

“Is that why she also got that dog?” he asked, hearing her laugh.

“No. When her and my granddad got married, they couldn’t figure out what kind of dog they wanted for their first house. So, they went to the pet shop that was in town and saw that he was the only different one since the rest were Dalmatians. Adopted him and called him Sunny since his fur shined brightly under the sun.”

“Did you get to meet him?”

“No. He died when my grandfather passed. Lived a long life. But he left behind 7 newborn puppies, so they adopted one of them, a girl, and named her—“

“Sunna?” as he hands another picture, which she looks at.

This time, its her as a toddler, her grandmother, and Sunna, wearing a sunflower collar, next to them.

“Yeah. Sunna.” she quietly said, smiling.

“My little ole Sunna, she always said. Was by her side from the moment she was born to the moment she passed.” she added, comparing both photos.

“And had her daddy’s eyes.” she added, smiling.

Terrance slowly gets up, moving to her left, but not enough for her to see him.

“What happened to the both of them if you don’t mind me asking?” he asked, taking a seat in the chair.

She exhales loudly, closing her eyes as she squeezes her hands close.

“She didn’t know she had epilepsy. There was a storm coming while everyone was sleeping, which is normal since it was the summer. So the storm went on like it always does. Hard rain, thundering, and lightning.”

She opens them, looking at her grandmother’s face in the picture.

“I guess the loud thunder woke her up and she was trying to go back to sleep. But, the lightning struck a few times and it was very bright, so it…scared her straight into that.”

Terrance looks away, wiping his eyes as she puts the photo on the side, looking at the background.

“Thought it was a little strange that she wasn’t up when I woke up. Didn’t know I was gonna find her lifeless.” as she laid back.

“As for Sunna, had to give her up since she’s not a service dog before I went into foster care. I cried very hard when I left, just holding her collar in my hand.”

“….you’re talking about this one, right?” he asked, holding something.

Wynnie turns around, seeing him with a bag that had the same exact collar from the picture. She snatches from him, surprising him as she looks at it, shocked that it was still existing.

“They had this?!” she asked loudly, looking at the tag, recognizing it’s the real things

“Yeah. They actually had a lot of your stuff. Guess they kept it in their facility after the raid.” as Terrance looks back at the rest of the things he laid out.

“….I didn’t mean to snatch it out of your hand like I did.” she said in an apologetic tone, looking at him.

“You’re fine.” as he smiled. “This is what I want from you. Be happy instead of dwelling on the bad stuff.”

Wynnie nods, looking at the collar again, smiling happily.

“I can show you the rest of what was in there if you want.” he said, adjusting his shirt.

She nods, getting up and sitting next to him as he pulls some documents and photos closer, seeing her eyes light up and admiring each one.

They spent the rest of the day looking at the stuff, with her wanting to avoid talking about some of them as she wasn’t ready, which he understood.

After departing in the parking lot again following the end of their session, when he reminds her about tracking her sleep, she drives back to Starland, parking the car and getting out with her stuff.

Entering her room, she notices the packages inside, confusing her as she wonder how they got in. Until she sees a piece of paper attached to one of them, making her grab and read it.

Hey Winona,

The packages came, but because I was gonna be gone by the time you came back and I don’t trust Bert to keep an eye on your stuff, I just put it in your room myself so you don’t have to worry.

- Berlinda :)

Wynnie nods, thanking her for thinking ahead to avoid her going down there and asking why he was in here.

She unboxes them, setting the coolers up on each side before putting the lamp and sound machine on her nightstand.

She does her nightly routine, but this time, does a journal entry of what she’s feeling like before sleep, noting sleepy and anxious.

Afterwards, she chooses the wave sound on the machine before dimming the light on the lamp, slowly falling asleep to that and the sounds of the cool air blowing on her.

The next morning, she wakes up very peaceful and relaxed. No night terror this time and she’s up before 8.

Terrance’s suggestion actually worked. She does feel a little better and excited for the day as she gets, heading to her journal to write.

May 2065

Dear Diary,

Today is May 19th. I been in Iowa for about a month and a half now. And in about 32 days, I’ll be heading to living in space for the next two years.

I thought we wouldn’t be anywhere close to done with making other me, but we about 90% done. They move hella fast, but I’m proud of how far I’ve grown.

My sleep schedule has improved a lot. The sound machine, coolers, and lamp have been helping with not having to relieve Alfonso’s terror every night. It’s still not fully gone, but I haven’t freaked out since the second week.

I been getting very comfortable with being around Terrance too, letting him inside of what I’ve been reluctant to show him without the fear of betraying coming over. It also seems like I’ve been trying to get to know more of him as well.

Every time he asks me about something, I answer. But then, I ask a follow up question that was similar to it. I expect him to shut it down by telling me it wasn’t my business, but he answers it.

Like for instance, he asked me about what do I expect when living out in space. I answered with a very long answer, but I know I said something about seeing Saturn. I asked him, and even Mel, about what was it like within those two years of living in space, being alone and all?

To be fair, I didn’t say the last part to Mel, but I accidentally said it to him, which made me feel bad. He laughed a bit, which made me nervous cause I wasn’t sure what he was gonna say. But, he said it’s hard, but you’ll start to get over it the more you look at the atmosphere around you that makes you appreciate space a little more and help you with what you want to do next when it’s over.

Which speaking of that…I been thinking about him a lot more than I should in a way I can’t explain. And I think he feels the same too.

I noticed lately that he takes a lot of pictures of me, even when he thinks I’m not looking. Even when he was noting my daily routine, he always looked at me in an amazed way, like whatever I was doing had him feeling lovey dovey?

Or maybe I’m reading it all wrong just because he’s nothing like Alfonso, so I’m not used to someone who genuinely likes listening to me answer their questions, watching me do something I like or I’m struggling with and they don’t shame me over it.

He likes taking care of me too. Buying me food, making sure I’m stocked up on things I need, and even checking up on me by texting or calling. Even when I don’t want to talk.

Am I in love with him? Is that what this is?

I was hidden from everything against my will during those dark years. And here comes this man, who is working with me to make my clone as I go to space, sweeping me off my feet with his ways that I never felt before.

I hope I’m right.

Wynnie is in the bathroom, curling her hair when she hears a knock on the door, making her pause.

Grabbing a bat she had hidden in the kitchen, she walks towards it cautiously, looking through the peephole to see who it was on the other side.

It was a man scrolling on his phone, who looked very familiar to Wynnie, but she couldn’t see his face. She opens the door carefully, holding the bat behind it.

The man looks up, revealing himself as Terrance, who smiles immediately.

"Oh, it’s just you.” she said, putting the bat next to the door.

“Good afternoon, Winona.” he replied.

She nods, looking at his outfit he’s wearing. A suede brown jacket, a button up white shirt, brown pants, and light brown shoes.

“You’re not hot?” she asked, watching him laugh a bit.

“I’m used to it. It’s a normal thing we do back home, so the heat doesn’t phase me.”

Wynnie says ‘hm’ as she looks at his shiny skin, which makes him look like he just got done working on a construction site, watching him lick his lips.

“Sorry, do you mind if I come in” he asked, breaking her gaze.

“Uh, sure. Yeah.” as she steps to the side, watching him walk in.

Closing the door, she watches him look around the room, taking in the space before turning around to look at her.

“Nice place.” as he sat on the couch.

“Thanks.” she replied.

He looks at the table, seeing some of her workbooks sitting there open, which makes her feel slightly embarrassed as he picks one up, examining it.

“Your writing is getting better.” he said, looking at some of the words.

“Thank you.” as she smiled a bit. “Wait, how did you find my room? I never gave you that.”

“Well. Your very..enthusiastic landlord pointed me to the direction. After I showed her proof that I was your agent since she didn’t believe off word of mouth, of course.” as he puts it down.

Something Berlinda would do.

“Right. What are you doing here? Its Saturday. You guys are off the weekend.” as she sat down in one of the chairs in front of him.

“Well, I came out here cause Mel mentioned to me that there was a flower show being held at the convention center.” as he leaned forward.

“Yeah, I heard about it. Very expensive to get in too.”

“Which is why I’m here.”

She watches him with confusion as he reaches into his jacket and pulls out two tickets, placing them in front of her gently.

“I want to take you to it.”

Wynnie looks at him slightly surprised, picking one of them up to read.

“Since you leave in a month, and this runs til July, I thought it would be a nice opportunity for you to go and see it. Maybe indulge more of your inner child.” he added, watching her look a bit conflicted.

“I don’t know, Terrance…”

“What’s holding you back?”

“..myself. Feels like I’m taking advantage of everything you’re doing for me without doing anything for you.” she replied, placing it back on the table.

Terrance exhaled before getting up, causing her to look up. He walks up and kneels in front of her, seeing her look away instantly.

“Wynnie. You’re not taking advantage of me. You haven’t been. You been listening to my advice on how to heal from him and that cult, which you have done greatly on. I’m proud of you.” as he turns her face to him.

She looks at him, feeling him touch her hand before he squeezes it.

“You’re not used to someone doing nice things for you. I get it. It’s hard to get comfortable with that. But that doesn’t mean you have to feel bad about it if the person isn’t tripping about it. And I’m telling you I’m not.” as he stares at her.

“It’s my job to make sure you’re perfectly fine, whether I’m far or you’re asleep. That’s why I was assigned to you because they know I can transform you into a more happy and stable person. Everything you tell me, I come up with things I know you will love cause I see the way you instantly react when you see it. That’s what I’m looking for, Winona. A happy you ready for space.” as he smiles softly.

Wynnie blinks, not trying to cry as he takes out a handkerchief, wiping them away.

“So for the next few weeks we have left, I want you to accept the good things. Fuck the bad things, they don’t exist anymore. Just continue progressing for me. Can you do that?” he asked, looking at her.

She nods, smiling a bit as he got up, grabbing the tickets off the table.

“I’ll be downstairs while you get ready. Should be there in less than 15 since it’s not near the highway.” he said, walking to the door.

“I should be done soon. Just curling my hair.” she replied, seeing him nod.

“Alright. Don’t be too long, love.” as he opens the door, waving before he walked out.

Wynnie exhales, biting her lip as she feels her stomach flutter with butterflies over what he said.

Goddamn, he has her sprung.

10 minutes later, Terrance, leaning against his car, hears a door close, making him look at the stairs.

He sees Wynnie walking down, fixing her gold pendant earrings. Wearing a white milkmaid long dress with gold pattern, white sandals, and a brown straw bag, she looks perfectly dressed for someone attending a flower show.

“Atta girl.” he said as she walks towards him.

“Is it too much?” she asked, looking at it.

“No. I’m just underdressed.” he replied, making them both laugh.

He taps on the side of the car, which lifts the door up, hearing the car start. He helps her in, adjusting her dress before climbing it, watching it close.

“Do you not get worried it’ll malfunction and slice something off one day?” she asked, looking around the interior.

“No. We update these cars yearly to make sure it doesn’t happen, even if we stop making them.” he replied, tapping the car to move.

The car pulls out, jumping on the road and begins driving them to the convention center.

30 minutes later, they arrived and got their tickets scanned, beginning to walk through the doors, which was surrounded by walls of different flowers.

Wynnie’s eyes beamed, amazed by the different arrangements of each exhibition, from statues of people to dresses made of flower to the one built to hang like chandeliers from the ceiling.

“This is your first one?” asked Terrance, walking beside her.

“In a while. Used to go to the one in DC a lot when my grandma was still here.” as they passed rows of different colored Daffodils.

“Did she ever compete or they had requirements?”

She chuckles as she look at the pond filled with mini people wearing different petals as clothes or hairstyles, intrigued by the woman with jasmine as her dress and lavender as her cornrows.

“She did. After I begged her five years straight to do it. But they tried to play her when she first tried to enroll.” she replied, seeing him look at the exhibit below.

“What they do?”

“Because she didn’t belong to a shop or had a popular business outside of Columbia, they tried to charge her a seed fee, which is something unknown people had to pay to compete.”

“How much? $200?” he asked, thinking it couldn’t have been a lot.

“Add an extra zero.” she replied, seeing his eyes widen.

“$2,000?!” he yelps, accidentally making people turn to look at him.

He sends an apologetic smile, waving a bit, which Wynnie found cute as she looks at the next exhibit.

“They believed since the seeders’ exhibits are not going to come nowhere close to the experts and well respected, they should pay a lot of money for even submitting. She wanted to give up, but this guy, who used to buy flowers from her when he was a kid, heard about what happened, and not only did he pay her fee, he offered to build whatever design she was thinking of for free since he owned a construction company.” she replied, looking at the mini houses made with yarrows.

“So, she decided to do one based on the galaxy, but it was gonna be made out of night sky petunias since they were the closest ones to resemble it. Spray painted some sunflowers petals a glittery silver to make the stars.”

Terrance listens to her as she explained the different flowers used to make the planets and how she convinced them to see it when its dark as it would give it a luminous effect, watching her act very passionately as they walked through each exhibit.

“So, she showed it. It was sparkling in the darkness. The audience cheered. The judges took some notes without showing their true reactions and told us they’ll make their final decision when they finish looking at the rest.” as she sat on a bench.

He sat next to her, following her gaze at a portrait of Mona Lisa, made out of flowers.

“Those were the longest three days of my life. I thought she was getting played, assumed they already chose a winner before seeing hers. But she told me to be patient, and that she’s fine with whatever result comes out.” she continued.

“And she was proud to do this, accomplishing something I wished for her to do. Which is why she won, shocking everyone including me. Said they loved the determination in perfecting the details and how much support she had from the community that knows her, which made her a perfect underdog.”

She looks down at her ring, feeling some joy seeing the memory play in her head.

“What did she win?” he asked, making her look at him.

“$20,000 that went into my savings, her name on the trophy, a flower encyclopedia of that year’s edition that I cherished a lot, and free entry to the yearly flower show for life.”

“You had a lot of fun.” he said, a little smile on his face.

“I did. I did.” as her smile faded. “Now all of that is lost and in the past.”

He looks down, feeling bad as she got up, fixing her dress.

“Let’s move on, shall we?” she said, walking off.

He follows behind, watching her look at the art they’re passing.

A few minutes later, they are walking inside a room that is showcasing black women made of different flowers.

Wynnie is looking at the one where the woman is lying in a field of sunflowers, playing a guitar made of multicolored water lilies as some of them sits in her hair, amazed by it.

“What’s the significance with the sunflower and black women?” asked Terrance, coming next to her.

“Hm?” as she looks at him.

“Noticed every time I see the sunflower, one of you is associated with it. Is it a cultural thing?”

“I say so.” as she shrugged. “It can mean many different things to a lot of us. Which I always found interesting.”

“Like what?” as he leaned forward.

“Happiness due to its look. Good luck charm. Spirituality. Even helps build great relationships with people you feel like you can trust.”

“Is that why you choose it?”

“Actually, no.” as she turns to him with a little smile.

“I was actually a moonflower girl when I was first staring to knowing about the flowers in the garden.” she added, watching him be surprised.

“Little Wyn was not always a sunflower girl?” he asked in shocked tone, seeing her laugh.

“I was in love with the design and the concept of it glowing at night. So, I thought by blending that with the sunflower in a section, they would be the brightest flowers ever glowing at night.” as she moves down.

“Wow.” as he looks with delight, seeing her touch one that was allowed for the public to do.

“It was still the same, but I didn’t care because they looked cute together. Overtime, I started to become even more attached to the sunflower because of its yellow color. Drawing it, wearing it on my clothes, even had a little song I used to play on the piano.” as she picked it up, handing it to him.

He takes it, examining its petals and shape as she watched, seeing him gently touch its head.

“It’s almost like it’s delicate.” he said quietly, moving to its stem.

“It is. Needs its sunlight if you want it to last a while. And protection from the bad.” she said.

“Almost like you.” he utters, closing his mouth tightly after realizing what he said.

Wynnie looks at him, chucking lightly as she leans in, keeping her gaze.

“…You too.” as she touches his hand, feeling him jump back.

Terrance doesn’t say anything, smirking a little as he puts the flower back, gently grabbing her hand to walk, which takes her aback.

“So yeah.” as she coughs. “That explains why I like them so much.”

“It’s your symbol. Your…escapism.” he replied, feeling her squeeze his hand softly.

“Is that normal to have?”

“Of course. That defines you as a person who wants to get away from the bad.”

She smiles down as they went into another exhibition, with him leaning down to her ear.

“Just don’t let no one take that away from you again.” he whispered.

Wynnie nods, feeling him adjust his stance and pull her closer as they look as the huge display of glitter roses in a heart hanging up in front of them.

They spent the rest of day looking at more exhibits, with them catching each other’s looks, feeling the growing tension getting thicker and thicker.

Even when they were in the gift shop.

As Wynnie was looking at mini statues of flower people, she felt someone gently touching her, making her look back.

She saw Terrance there, looking at the mini plants in front of him as he was on the phone, talking to Mel while his hand traces over her arm.

He looks at her, realizing what he was doing and was about to pull away. She stopped him, bring his hand to her face. She rubs it against her face before placing soft kisses on it, hearing him softly groan as he watches, his lips twitching.

A sudden glass break broke them apart, making them go back to doing whatever they were doing and pretend that nothing happened. She bought nothing while he bought some things before they left, heading to the car.

Pulling into the parking lot of the diner, Terrance helps Wynnie out of the car, adjusting her dress before they walked in.

A soft 70s R&B song is playing as they walk up to a woman standing at the CHECK IN stand.

“Hello, welcome i—“ the elder black hostess began, stopping as she looked at Terrance.

“Terrance?! My OuterMore Guy I haven’t seen in three years?!” she yelps, watching him laugh as she hugs him, with him hugging back.

“Good to see you too, Ms. Gladys. Hope you’re holding up well.” said Terrance, looking at her.

“Always! You know they like working my ass as if I’m the only one here.”

He and Gladys laugh as the latter looks at Wynnie, who shyly waves back.

“Who’s this pretty woman you brought in here?” she asked gleefully.

“This is Winona. She’s my current assignment I’m helping with going to space soon. we’re just coming from the flower show.” he said, looking at Wynnie with fondness.

“Hello.” said Wynnie, watching Gladys nod.

“Ahh yes. I remember you explaining that program when you first started coming here. Congratulations on the big success, by the way.” she said happily.

“Coming here?” asked Wynnie, looking at him.

“Oh, let him explain it more when I sit y’all down so I don’t hold y’all up much longer.” as she grabbed menus from her stand, walking to the back.

They follow her to a table that is near the sign on the window, placing the menus on it.

“While y’all get settled in, may I get y’all something to drink?” she asked, taking out her pen and pad.

“I’ll do a Shirley Temple.” said Terrance.

“A Diet Coke.” said Wynnie as she sat down.

She shivers, in which he noticed. He removes his jacket, wrapping it around her, which she thanks him with a smile as he sits in front of her.

“Coming right up.” said Gladys, eyeing Terrance cheerily as she walked away, making him shake his head.

“So, you used to come here?” asked Wynnie, grabbing a menu.

“Yeah.” as he did the same. “Used to live out here since Iowa City had the rent price I could only afford when I first started with OuterMore.”

“This far?” she says sarcastically, remembering him being shocked at her, living out here from their first session.

“Yeah.” as he laughed. “This diner was my favorite place to go to for breakfast when I was leaving and dinner when I didn’t feel like cooking coming home.”

She nods, looking over the endless options as Gladys came back with their drinks, placing them in front of them.

“There you go.” she said, taking out the straws.

“Thank you.” both said in unison.

“Did you guys get a chance to look at the menu and figure out what you wanted to?”

“Oh, I already know what I want since it hasn’t changed. You ready, Wyn?” he asked, looking at her.

“Um…you can go ahead. I’m just debating between two dishes that sound good.” she replied.

He nods, looking at Gladys, who’s watching with a grin.

“I’ll start with the sample platter. Just incase she wants to try some of it.” he said, watching her write.

“What’s on that?”

“Chicken fingers, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks. Comes with honey mustard, ranch, BBQ sauce, and marinara. Pretty good.” said Gladys.

“Ooh. That does sound good.” she replied before resuming her reading.

“And then, I’ll do the cheeseburger deluxe. Same order: Swiss cheese, spicy mayo, no onions, and no pickles. Side of fries and broccoli. Medium.” he said, hearing Gladys laugh as she finished writing.

“Never forgot.” as she takes his menu. “And for you, Miss Winona?”

“I’ll do the honey barbecue chicken strip melt. Instead of the cheddar cheese, can I do provolone instead?” asked Winona.

“Sure, but that will be a $1.25 charge for the cheese change.”

“Oh. Then, I’ll just ke—“

“That’s fine with me.” said Terrance, cutting her off, which she looks at him surprised.

“Terrance, you don’t have to pay extra cause of my tastebuds.”

“And why not? It’s not like I can’t make it back the more time I spend with you.”

“Bu-“

“But nothing. Remember what I said earlier, pretty girl.”

She smiles humorously, trying to not show that him calling her that was adding to her growing fervor.

“…was that before or after you touched me?” she asked slyly.

Terrance looks at her surprised, biting his cheek a bit as he took a sip of his drink, beginning to feel hot as Wynnie watches with excitement.

“Am I interrupting something?” asked Gladys, looking at them back and forth.

“No.” they said in unison, looking at each other.

“Well then.” as she laughed. “What did you want for your sides?”

“I’ll do french fries and broccoli as well. Can I also get honey mustard on the side?” said Wynnie.

Gladys nods, writing it down before taking her menu.

“Alright. Food shouldn’t be too long since we ain’t *that busy right now. Be back to check on y’all just incase.

They nodded, watching her leave before turning the attention back to each other, their need growing.

“You look good wearing my jacket.” he said, looking at her seductively.

“Don’t get us in trouble.” she said, sipping her drink as he laughed.

“Like you didn’t just allude to me touching you in a different way in front of Ms. Gladys.”

“I know you wanted to. Since you couldn’t stop sneaking pictures of me while we were walking.”

“Its for your file. Not for personal use.” as he looked out of the window.

“…you also look adorable being in your comfort zone.” he added, feeling her eyes looking at him.

“Thank you.” she said quietly.

He looks at her, taking in her subtleness as she tugs on his jacket flap, watching her hair bounce.

An hour passes and they’re laughing over their food, discussing a funny memory of Terrance and Mel during their MIT days.

“I cannot picture you running down the streets of Boston streaking.” she said, holding in her laugh.

“I did cause I lost that bet to Mel.” as he chuckled. “The Kings let me down with letting the fucking Nets sweep.”

“That’s on you for being a Kings fan.” as she bit into her melt.

“I’m not. I like the Thunder.”

“Even worse.” as she was chewing.

He chuckled as he ate some of his fries, watching her softly eat the broccoli. They ate in silence for a few minutes before she stopped, watching him eat.

“Can I ask you something? It’s a little personal.” she said, watching him stop.

“Go for it.” as he leaned back.

“…do you miss London? Like do you ever feel a bit lonely out here?”

He thought about it, feeling her presence luring around him as a song and conversations from other people fills the room.

“I’ll say this: I don’t really think about it as much as I would for reasons I don’t want to talk about.” as he leans forward.

“However, I do miss my favorite cousin, my favorite aunts, a few uncles and other cousins. I miss the meals, the laughs, and the banter we always had together. And I do regret not going to my grandmother’s funeral when she passed.” he said, feeling sadness coming out.

“But because I couldn’t put my issues aside for that, I didn’t get to say goodbye. Nor hear her say how proud she was of me accomplishing my dreams of running this program. That’s all.” he added, seeing her have a gloomy expression on her face.

He continues eating, ending the conversation as she gently rubs his hand, feeling bad for asking.

“Sorry for your loss.” she said, seeing him look up.

“Don’t be. We all have or had to deal with it. It’s always up to you how you want to move on.” he replied, wrapping his hand around hers.

She smiles, feeling him relax a little more before looking out the window.

They got their food packed into to-go boxes as he paid, said goodbye to Ms Gladys, and got into the car, taking them back to Starland before he headed home.

Walking up the stairs to her room, he watched their area both ways as she unlocked the door, opening it.

“Well. Thank you for today, Terrance. I really appreciated it.” as she turns to look at him.

“Anytime, Wyn. Especially with the little we have left.” he replied, staring at her happily.

She nods as she turns to walk in, but is stopped by him grabbing her arm, making her look back.

“Yes?” she asked with a raised brow.

He brings his other arm from behind, revealing a medium-size paper bag in his hand.

“Here.” he said, handing it to her.

“What’s this?” as she takes it, placing her food and bag on the tv.

“Some things I think you might like. Open it.”

She smiles as she takes out a book, which was the new edition of the encyclopedia of flowers, her eyes lighting up instantaneously.

“There’s more in there.” he said, pointing at it.

She squints at him before reaching back in, pulling out three small rolls of paper, with him grabbing the bag to hold.

After placing the book against the wall, she unwrapped them one by one. The first one was a sunflower haired black woman figurine, which looked similar to her. The second one was a moonflower dress young girl with pigtails figurine. And the last one was a piano figurine, made out of bearded irises.

Joy and appreciation all over her.

“Thank you.” as she hugged him tightly.

“No problem.” he replied, hugging her back.

“But I still feel bad though!” as she playfully nudged him, watching him smile.

“I feel like I haven’t given you anything so far.”

“You don’t have to give anything I don’t already have. You’re already doing that by letting me be around you. Trusting me with everything we’ve done so far. That’s something at least.” he said, giving her reassurance.

“…even the unspoken?” she asked cutely.

Terrance smirks as looks her up and down, noticing her slight blushing.

“That too.” he whispered.

She nods before placing the figurines in the bag and taking it, putting it on the tv before stepping closer to him.

They look at each other shyly as he steps closer, closing in the distance between them.

He traces over her face, taking in her small little freckles as she looks at his eyes, which are shining a brownish-green color under the hallway lights.

Wynnie gasps softly, not used to a man being gentle with his moves as Terrance pushes her hair behind her ear, leaning in a bit.

He hears her breathing slowly as he does the same on the other side, feeling her lean against her door as he stops at her lips, looking at her.

He crashes his lips onto hers, hunger slightly taking over him. She wraps her arms around his back, fighting back with her tongue as he cups her ass, squeezing it a bit.

He breaks the kiss, looking down at her as they both pant hard, lips a little red.

She begins kissing him again, rubbing his neck as he lifts her up, carrying her inside and closing the door with his foot.

Laying her against the bed, he pushes her skirt up as he rubs her legs, laying in between them as she moans, rubbing her hands under his shirt over his abs, hearing his groan.

“You got me hard right now, you know?” he whispers as he breaks the kiss again, grabbing one of her hands and putting it over his growing member.

She squeezes it gently, shocked at how thick it was for someone as slim he was. She kisses him again before pushing him onto his back, getting on her knees as he watches with a lewd expression.

She grabs his belt and begins to unbuckle it, gently pulls his pants down and stops at his member moving a bit in his underwear. She plays soft kisses around it, hearing his breath hitch.

As Terrance was enjoying seeing this side of Wynnie, he started to feel a huge wave of guilt coming over, feeling like he shouldn’t be doing this with her as he shouldn’t be stepping over his boundaries.

She wraps her hands around the waist band, beginning to pull them down when his hands stops her, gently removing them as he sits up, making her look up in confusion.

“Sorry. But I can’t let this go further.” he said, helping her to the bed before standing up.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked, a worrying expression on her face.

“No.” as he pulls his pants up, buttoning them.

“I did. I crossed the line by kissing you when I shouldn’t have.” he added, seeing her look away.

“You’re my assignment. I’m suppose to be helping you for space and other you, not…going for my own needs.”

Wynnie feels heaviness coming into her body, feeling stung by his sudden decision to stop.

“….but I have needs too.” she said, sadness in her voice.

Terrance looks down, feeling awful for what he did, but felt like it was a good decision to make.

“I know. We both do. But it’s best we keep them *hidden and maybe wait until after you come back.” he said, stepping back.

Wynnie nods, looking up as he opens the door, stepping out.

“Good night, Winona.” as he looks back at her.

She doesn’t say anything, looking down as tears fall down her face, her pain slowly coming out.

He leaves, closing the door behind him.

Rubbing his face in humiliation, he walks down the stairs and gets into the car, looking up at her hotel room window. He lays back as the car pulls off, with rain beginning to pick up.

Wynnie collapses onto the bed, her cries filling the room as she lays in a fetal position.

She doesn’t know if she hates him for leaving her like this, or she understands why he stopped before he went too far. What she doesn’t know for sure if everything is going to be normal when she sees him on Monday for their next meeting.

Wynnie is sleeping in her bed peacefully after what happened last night with Terrance.

Suddenly, she is awoken by loud banging on the door, making her jump up. She looks at the clock, which read 7:15, annoying her.

“Who the fuck…” she began to say, marching to the door.

Grabbing the bat, she quickly unlocks and swings the door open, ready to fight whoever it is behind it.

She hold herself back when she notices Berlinda standing there, guilt over her face.

“Berlinda? What are you doing here so early? You don’t usually come in till 9:30.” she said, confused.

“I know. Bert called out, so I’m working his shift as well.” replied Berlinda.

“Oh. Sorry about that.”

“You’re good!” she exclaimed. “So good. How was your date to the flower show?”

Wynnie scoffed loudly, surprising her.

“Oh, it must’ve ended bad.” she replied, watching Wynnie shake her head.

“No, no. It wasn’t a date. He just wanted to take me cause I like flowe…” she began, noticing an envelope in her hands.

“What’s that?” she asked, worry come across her face.

“Sorry I have to do this, but I couldn’t let it happen without you knowing.” Berlinda began in a somberly tone.

“Have to do what?”

“You have to be out of here by 6:30 tomorrow night. There’s a new immediate change the policy and unfortunately, Starland can no longer take any government assistance program as payment.”

“What?!” said Wynnie, anger all over her.

“You have to be joking. I just paid y’all Friday!” she added, with Berlinda shaking her head.

“Trust me. I was surprised myself when I got the email. Especially with the timing because we have a dust storm that’s about to hit us soon.” she said, watching Wynnie’s eyes fill up.

“They can’t do that. It has to be illegal to evict someone after getting their payment.” she said softly.

“I checked and checked to see if maybe you can somehow get a case out of this. Unfortunately, you can’t as Iowa doesn’t have a law or it violates something like that. I’m sorry, Winona.”

Wynnie exhales loudly, now having to spend the day packing her things and figuring out what she’s gonna do for shelter after she sees Terrance tomorrow.

Berlinda hands her the envelope, in which she takes. She immediately opens it, seeing the money she’s giving her for the last month being in there.

“I’m not supposed to give you that back, but I just couldn’t let you go without returning it because I don’t know what you’re gonna do after tomorrow since it’s very last minute.” said Belinda.

Wynnie hugs her tightly, crying a bit as the latter hugs her back.

“Thank you, B. I’ll be fine because I’ll always figure it out. You been very good to me these two months I been staying here.” she said, smiling a bit.

“You’ll always have my help, Wynnie. Even if I’m far.” Berlinda replied, smiling back.

“Well, I’m gonna start packing so I don’t have to drive back to grab my things after tomorrow.”

“Alright. Let me know if you need extra boxes.”

Wynnie nods, seeing her walk away before closing the door, locking it immediately.

Suddenly, her breathing becomes pitchy, but this time, she lets it happen, letting out a heartbreaking scream as she collapses to the floor, crying.

Last night’s ending was already bad, but this morning is already starting off worse.

How the hell is she gonna find somewhere new to stay approximately 36 hours before the dust storm hits Iowa?

A/N II: I do apologize for it being a little slow, but i like to build up as Terrance is quite an alluring character. Please let me know if you want to be added to the tag list.

🏷️ : @iloveekeiarah @childishgambinaax @ziayamikaelson @ssamm1984 @turbulentvoids @fadingcherryblossompeach @angryflowerwitch @amethyst09 @motheroffae @cerya @thatitbitch @darkfairymoon @j0ysyndr0m3 @blaqueberryk @theogbadbitch @megamindsecretlair @zillasvilla @kumkaniudaku @that-one-anxious-mango @nahimjustfeelingit-writes

#hidden #foe #terrance #aaron pierre x black reader #aaron pierre x black!oc #aaron pierre #aaron pierre x reader #black fem oc #black fanfic writer #black fanfiction #aaronpierre #aaron pierre foe #Aaron Pierre x black OC #aaron pierre fanfic #foe fanfiction #foe fanfic

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justsomerandomfanfic · 3 months ago

Text

Even Demigods Take Breaks - Maui X Female Reader

Title: Even Demigods Take Breaks

Maui X Female Reader

Additional Characters: Moana, Moni (Mentioned), and Simea (Mentioned)

Requested By: Anon!

WC: 2,826

Warnings: Kind of long distance, loneliness, flirting, banter, teasing, nicknames, italics, mini angst, and fluff

It was always the same. Moana would leave, going somewhere new, somewhere exciting, and Maui would follow. And you'd smile, tell him to be careful, even when your heart clenched inside your chest. You knew you shouldn’t be worried, but you couldn’t help it. You loved him, and it was hard not to worry when he’d disappear for days at a time. And yes, you were lonely when he was gone. You missed him. You just wished he would stay a little longer, spend more time with you. It’s not that you wanted to clip his wings. You loved his spirit, his freedom. But sometimes, you just wished he’d land beside you and stay. Just for a while longer.

You sat alone on the beach, perched on a large, sun-warmed rock. Your body was hunched forward, forearms resting on its smooth surface. One hand pressed lazily into your cheek, the other trailed in the gentle water below, swirling it in slow, absent-minded circles. You were waiting for Moana and Maui. It had been four days since they left, and for each of those four days, you had come down to the beach, hoping to catch sight of them on the horizon. Every time, you would hold onto that flicker of hope, your eye scanning the endless blue. And every time, the sun would set, painting the sky in pretty soft oranges, pinks, and purple, and you’d rise from your spot. Heart a little heavy, you would walk home, only to come back and do it all over again the next day.

You hummed softly to yourself as you admired the way the water rippled and danced beneath your fingertips. But, suddenly, a voice rang out across the beach, Simea shouting for Moana from farther down the shore. The smile that spread across your face was instant and bright when your eyes caught sight of Moana’s boat gliding across the water, sail full, and heading straight to the island's shore. You sat up quickly, brushing strands of hair behind your ear as your gaze raised to the sky, catching sight of the large hawk. Excitement bubbled in your chest as you scrambled to your feet, kicking off the rock and running towards the shoreline, unable to take your eyes off the hawk as it dove toward the ground.

Maui flew in a loop midair, of course, before slamming down onto the beach, sending a burst of sand exploding in all directions. You huffed, more amused than annoyed as you swatted at your hair, brushing as much sand as you could off of you. He flipped his hair back dramatically, that same charming, smug grin stretching across his face as he looked around - his eyes finding yours.

He started toward you with that confident swagger in his step, casual like he hadn’t just disappeared for four days. The large hook in his hand swung at his side until he reached you, where he then stabbed it into the sand. Then, with a grin that could melt the sun, he opened his arms wide, clearly expecting his hug. And you didn’t waste a second.

You ran the short distance between you, practically launching yourself into his arms. You wrapped yourself around him as much as you physically could, holding him tightly, your cheek settling right over his heart. Its beat was strong beneath your skin, grounding you. Maui let out a low chuckle, arms folding around you as he held you close. He pressed his cheek on the top of your head, and you giggled when his dark curls flopped down over your face.

“Oops,” He murmured, expression soft as he raised his head slightly to look down at you. “Miss me?”

You nodded, “More than you know.” You answered, slipping right back into his embrace, arms tightening around him as you shut your eyes, taking in the warmth of him. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

Maui’s arms tensed slightly around you. He pulled back just enough to look down at you, the grin on his face fading slightly. “Hey… Uh,” He started, raising a hand from your waist to scratch the back of his neck, “I gotta tell you something.” Your heart sank a little as you looked back up at him. “I’m leaving again. Tomorrow.”

The words hit you like a wave, knocking the breath from your lungs. You blinked at him, frowning now, confusion and hurt creeping into your expression. “What? Why?”

He sighed, feeling guilty that he would be leaving you just when he got back to you. “Moana and I- we found an island. The people there are in trouble. We said we’d return tomorrow with more supplies to help them.” His voice was gentle, but certain. “It’s important.” You let out a slow breath, nodding, your eyes falling to the sand between you. You understood… Of course you did. But that didn’t make it any easier. Maui reached out, taking one of your hands in his, the other to your chin, gently lifting your face until your eyes met his again. “I’ll come back,” He said, voice low, steady. Promising.

You gave him a small, soft smile, nodding as your free hand moved up to his, curling your fingers around his and guiding that large calloused hand to rest against your cheek. You leaned into his palm. “I know,” You said, “You always do.”

Maui returned your smile before leaning down to press a lingering kiss to your forehead. His lips were soft, and warm, and the moment stayed with you even as he slowly pulled away. But, before either of you could speak again, you heard Moni calling out from father down the beach, calling for Maui.

He glanced in his direction, then looked back at you. His hand slipped from yours, only to ruffle your hair playfully, sand falling as the corner of his mouth raised into that breathtaking grin once more, “I’ll see you tonight.” He said and you nodded, watching as he then turned and made his way towards him.

And you just stood there for a moment, watching him as he fistbumped and laughed with Moni, a voice spoke up from beside you.

“Hey,” You turned slightly to see Moana standing there, arms crossed loosely as she followed your line of sight toward Maui. She glanced at you with a knowing smile. “He missed you too, you know,” She said, nudging your arm lightly. “Talked about you non-stop the entire trip. It was kind of adorable… And kind of annoying.”

You let out a soft laugh, eyes still on Maui as warmth bloomed in your chest. “Yeah?”

Moana nodded, grinning. “Yeah. You’ve got him wrapped around your finger, even if he’s too proud to admit it.”

You blinked at her, surprised, and heat rose faintly to your cheeks as you dropped your gaze to the sand, gently toeing at a small rock half-buried near your feet. You didn’t say anything, but the small smile lingering on your lips said enough.

There was a brief moment of quiet between you, the waves lapping gently against the shore. Then she spoke again, “Did he tell you we’re leaving again tomorrow?”

You sighed, your smile fading. “Yeah… He did.” You glanced back toward Maui and Moni, the storyteller showing Maui his latest work. “I hate to see him go again. Especially when I just got him back.”

Moana gave you a sympathetic look, her brows gently furrowed. “I’ll talk to him,” She said with quiet conviction. “Even demigods need to take a break. I can easily take care of this one on my own.”

You turned to her, eyes wide with concern and a flicker of hope. “Are you sure?”

Moana waved her hand dismissively, “Of course. Maui’s been working his butt off these past couple of weeks since we found Motufetū. He deserves a break, and you deserve some time with him.” She grinned, “I can handle things. It’s not like I haven’t dealt with a couple of island problems before. I mean, I am, myself, a demigod.”

You let out a sputtered laugh, bumping your hip against hers. “Please don’t tell me your new demigod powers are already going to your head.”

Moana laughed, nudging you back. “No promises.” She then paused for a moment, “But seriously, don’t worry. I’ll talk to him.”

~~~

Later that day, Moana found Maui standing near the edge of the village, gazing out toward the horizon. She approached with purpose in her step.

“Hey, kid,” Maui greeted, flashing his signature grin.

“I’m going alone tomorrow,” Moana said, cutting straight to the point.

That got his attention. “Wait, what? Why? You getting tired of me already or something, princess?” Maui teased, cocking his eyebrow with a grin.

Moana rolled her eyes, hands going to her hips. “Please. You’ve been working nonstop the past few weeks, and don’t try to deny it. I think you need to take a break.”

Maui let out a soft laugh, shaking his head. “Demigods don’t take breaks, Moana.”

She gave him a look, one of those pointed, no-nonsense stares that always managed to cut right through him, somehow. “Well, this one does. And so do you. Especially when there’s someone who’s been missing you like crazy.” She paused, “She waited on the beach for four days, Maui.”

Maui’s grin faded. He looked to the side, jaw ticking as he slowly nodded his head. “… You’re right,” He murmured. “Maybe I should take a break.” He should take a break, stay back on the island with you. He had been gone for too long. He missed you. Of course, he did. He felt terrible for leaving so often and for so many days, especially when he knew you were waiting, faithfully, patiently, always with that same soft smile whenever he returned. “Thanks, kid,” Maui said, giving her an appreciative smile before glancing around. “Where is she?”

“Probably tending her garden,” Moana replied casually.

That same charming spark returned to Maui’s eyes. “Perfect.”

He gave her a wink, then with a shimmer of light and a whoosh of wind, shifted back into a hawk, wings spread wide as he launched into the sky, soaring toward where he knew he’d find you. His sharp eyes scanned the trees until he spotted the garden - your garden. Tucked away near the edge of the village, colorful blooms dancing in the breeze, and right in the middle of it, you.

Kneeling beside a patch of bright orange hibiscus, your hands gently brushing the petals, lost in thought. Maui circled once overhead before swooping down, landing with a thud a few feet away, shifting back into his usual form; careful of your precious flowers. He took extra care with each step as he moved through your garden, his large frame oddly gentle in the space you'd cultivated so lovingly. He finally sat beside you, lowering himself into the soft grass with a little grunt.

“Hello, beautiful,” He said, voice warm and low.

You smiled up at him, brushing your hands off on your thighs, bits of soil still clinging to your fingers. “Hey, handsome,” You spoke, eyes lighting up, that flutter in your chest returning just at the sight of him.

The sun poured down over you, golden and warm, catching in your hair and kissing your skin, making you shimmer. Maui couldn’t help the way his breath hitched a little in his throat as he looked at you - really looked at you. You were radiant. Not just from the sunlight, not just from the earth and flowers around you, but from something within. And oh, what a sight you were. He let out a quiet sigh, his eyelids drooping slightly as he gazed at you, the smallest, softest smile tugging at his lips. You didn’t even know, did you? Just how much space you took up in his heart. You had snuck in so easily, so gently, that he hadn’t even realized how impossibly in love with you he’d become until it hit him all at once. He was so lucky. So incredibly lucky.

Lucky to have found someone who saw past the legend. Someone patient enough to wait four days just for him to come home. Kind enough to understand when he had to leave. Loving enough to make his heart ache in the best way. Understanding enough to never make him feel guilty, even when he probably deserved it.

If you were a goddess, he wouldn’t be surprised. Honestly, sometimes he wondered if maybe you were and just didn’t know it.

“Seriously,” He murmured, more to himself than you, “How did I get this lucky?”

You felt your cheeks burn as you dipped your head, the corners of your mouth twitching into a bashful smile. “Stop it,” You mumbled, brushing your fingers along the petals of the flower you’d just planted, trying to focus on anything but how flustered you suddenly were.

But Maui wasn’t having that. “I’m serious.”

You glanced up at him through your lashes, and when you saw the sincerity in his eyes, you gave a small nod. “I know,” You said quietly. Then, with a grin, you added, “I guess I’m pretty lucky too.”

That made him chuckle. “Darn right you are,” He said, puffing out his chest a bit before slinging a heavy, warm arm around your shoulders and pulling you into his side with ease. “Oh, by the way,” He continued, “I’m staying. I’m not going with Moana tomorrow.”

You blinked, eyes wide as you looked up at him. “Wait- really?”

“Yep.” He popped the ‘p’, grinning down at you, “I mean, I can’t just leave my girl all lonely again, now can I?”

You turned in his arm, slipping one hand to rest on his broad chest, the other joining it soon after as you looked up at him, “You deserve a good break, Maui,” You said, your voice soft but certain. “No fighting, no saving the world, no island-hopping - just being you. Just being Maui.”

“Yeah?” He murmured, tilting his head slightly “That actually sounds pretty good. Might finally get some decent sleep without any monsters screamin’ at me.”

You chuckled, gently patting his chest, “Exactly. You just focus on relaxing. Maybe let someone pamper you for once.”

Maui quirked an eyebrow, that playful spark reigniting in his expression. “Oh yeah? You volunteering?”

You shrugged with an innocent smile. “Maybe…”

He chuckled, amused by your teasing tone, before catching the way your eyes had drifted up toward the curls spilling over his shoulders. “What?” He asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes. “Why are you lookin’ at me like that?”

You grinned, biting back a giggle. “Can I braid your hair?”

Maui blinked. “What?”

You leaned up on your knees, eyes still sparkling with mischief. “Come on. Just a little braid. I promise it’ll be very relaxing.”

He stared at you like you’d just asked him to wear a coconut bra. “I’m Maui,” He said, gesturing to himself. “Shapeshifter. Demigod of the wind and sea. Hero to all.” He paused, deadpan. “Not exactly a ‘let-me-get-my-hair-braided’ kinda guy.”

You gave him your best puppy-dog eyes, jutting out your lip. “Please? Just a small one. I promise I won’t put flowers in it. Unless you want me to.”

He groaned dramatically, but the grin tugging at his lips betrayed him. “You’re lucky you’re cute,” He muttered, making you cheer as you moved behind him, gathering the thick curls.

“You’ll thank me when you realize how nice this is.”

“I highly doubt that,” He grumbled, though he was already sitting still, letting you run your fingers gently through the strands. But as your hands worked - slow, gentle, patient - his shoulders slowly relaxed. The warmth of the sun, the breeze carrying the scent of your flowers, and the feel of your fingers in his hair… Maui let out a sigh. “…Okay,” He mumbled, eyes drifting half-shut. “This isn’t terrible.”

You grinned to yourself, gently weaving the strands together. “Told you so.”

Maui only grunted in response, clearly too relaxed to argue. A comfortable silence settled between you, broken only by the soft rustle of leaves and the distant crash of waves against the shore.

When you finished, you leaned back slightly to admire your work, brushing a hand over his shoulder. “There. Perfect. Now you’re extra pretty.”

He glanced back at you with a smirk. “Extra pretty?”

You smiled sweetly. “Yep.”

He chuckled, “Well, if it made me extra pretty…” He reached back to grab your hand, pressing a soft kiss to your knuckles before tugging you gently forward and into his lap. “Then it’s totally worth it. Especially if you’re doing it.”

You let out a quiet laugh, resting against his chest as his arms wrapped around you, holding you close.

And for a while, neither of you spoke, just sat there in the golden hush of evening, wrapped in each other’s warmth as the sun slowly sank beneath the horizon.

~~~

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