#norm maclean fanfiction

[jwillbiteyourfingersoff]

Ch.1 : Meet Cute

Norm Maclean loves his sister, and after Betty finds out about his discovery in vault 31, he is forced out into the wastelands to "find her"

Norm Maclean/Gn!Surface!Reader

Ch: 2

Another day in an unloving wasteland, in an unloving life, and undignified exile. Getting adopted then expelled from the brotherhood of steel in 6 months had to be some kind of laughable record. Stalking through the desolate stretches of sand and broken down buildings put a hamper on my mood, but sitting alone in one of said buildings and finding some rations and a place to rest let my sour mood settle for a while. Taking the goggles from my eyes and laying them besides the palette, hand still on my hostler, I closed my eyes for a possible 30 minutes of sweet escape from the world surrounding me.

This slumber, of course, was interrupted by the sounds of approaching feet. An eye shoots open, the hand still resting lightly on my pistol tightens, readying to shoot an angry cannibal (or maybe a ghoul?) straight between the eyes. “Fuck off unless you want your brains as some fresh paint for these walls.” I bark, pointing my pistol at the entrance of the half destroyed structure. The footsteps stop, and a small noise seems to come from the entrance. I walk closer, pistol still aimed and ready, trying to sneak a peek outside the slanted door. I see someone dressed in all blue, yellow accents curving their suit and…

“Holy shit.” I whisper, not believing what I’m seeing for a moment. “A… vault dweller?” I lower my gun slightly as I continue to scan the man before me. He's slim, slight in his build, almost mousey. His hair is fluffed and he looks like hes actually most likely showered in the past week. “I thought all y’all were dead. What are you doing up here?” I question him, gun now less of a concern to keep up at all times.

“I-” The vault boy croaks before coughing, “My name is Norm. I’m looking for my sister.” He raises his hand up to his sides as he takes a very small step forward, showing his lack of weapons and threat to me as best he can. “Her name is Lucy, she has a suit with a 33 on it like me.” He continues to speak cautiously and slowly, as if trying to communicate with an animal. “I don't want trouble or to hurt you, I just want to know if you've seen her.” He looks at me, sincere and hiding his fear well.

I study his face. Hes admittedly quite cute, but that might be because he doesn't look like he's starving and rotting at the same time. His big brown eyes feel… trustable. Truly a unique trait on the surface, same as his uncracked lips and clean(ish) face. “I haven't seen your sister, vault boy.” He seems to deflate a bit, some of the hopeful energy he carries seems to vanish.

“Oh. Alright, then. Have a…” He looks behind me, into the sand filled, ramshackle building, “…palatable rest of your day.” He begins to walk backwards, and I lower my gun. He lets out a sigh of relief and turns around as I do so. He begins stomping through the sand away from me, but something makes me want him to stay.

“You know, a vaulty like you ain't gonna make it long alone out here.” I yell after him. “The only reason I didn't shoot ya is because I don't like killing people who ain't carrying no weapons.” I re-holster my gun, putting my hands on my hips as I watch him try to ignore me. “Not a lot of people are gonna be as kind, especially not to a vaulty like you.” He stops for a moment, turning to look at me in a mix of annoyance and fear. “That 33 might as well be a big ol target on your back.”

He turns to look at me fully, facing me as he seems to scan me “And why should I trust what you say?”

I shrug “Shouldn't, really. But if you want someone who don't kill for fun or food, I’m the best you got for miles.” Leaning against the door, I cross my arms. We stare at one another for a long while, him searching for answers in a purposefully cryptic face. “This is the only livable shelter for a long while, I’m willing to share as long as you promise not to steal any of my shit.” The deal comes out of the blue even for me, often I’m not willing to share my spaces but something about him seemed different. Maybe it was because he was a vaulty, their whole shtick was being harmless and wanting to help right?

Hey y'all! this is the first chapter in a series that I'm gonna be doing about Norm post-season 1, hope y'all like it :]

[scarletttries]

When Fallout Characters Fall In Love... (Fallout Show Request)

Pairings: Cooper Howard/The Ghoul x Reader, Maximus x Reader, Norm x Reader

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has sent in a request for the Fallout show, please keep them coming as this is definitely the show that I'm thinking about the most at the moment! Also let me know if you want a part two of these headcanons or something similar :)

The Ghoul:

- Cooper Howard couldn't put his finger on exactly when he had accepted that the life he now led would be one devoid of love, but it was a hollow feeling he carried in his chest wherever the wasteland took him. Maybe it was in the decades he'd spent wandering and gaining a reputation as a heartless cowboy without an ounce of mercy. Or the fact that he hadn't met anyone that had stirred up a single emotion inside him, fearing the aching betrayal of his wife would haunt him even as lifetimes passed. Maybe it came to him in the way he flinched each time he caught his reflection in the few unbroken windows he passed, flesh slowly forming caverns and creases where once there were only the faintest of lines that showed endless signs of life. The wasteland was no place for love. That's what he had decided.

- But even in the fall of civilization there's room for a surprise, and you were certainly one of those..

- He heard rumour of you before your bounty crossed his desk, a runaway scientist from a mysterious body known only as The Institute, a target to everyone for the sheer volume of classified knowledge you might possess.

- A life on the run was no easy one, and Cooper knew that better than anyone, so it didn't take long for him to track you down to a small town just on the outskirts of the radiation's no man's land. His gun was cocked as he strutted towards the half open door of the rundown house he'd narrowed your location down to, glancing at the poster in his hand one last time before he burst inside. Even from the poorly illustrated version of you, he could see your eyes were kind, almost hopeful, like you still believed science could make right what had gone so wrong in the last 200 years. He almost felt a tinge of guilt as he steeled himself for a fight, saying a silent prayer that you wouldn't be behind the walls in front of him.

- Stepping in carefully he expected traps, or an army of robots to jump to arms, but instead he found you travelling alone, a small satchel of papers clutched in your arms as you stared him down with a calm resolve that caught him more off guard than any weapon.

"Do you still believe there's hope for this world Mr Howard?" Your voice was soft, not the trembling fear he was so used to hearing. You stared up at him without a trace of disgust in your expression, your eyes locked on his as he considered your question, and then lowered his weapon.

"And what if I do?" His heart ached at the question, so hardened by years of cynicism that even the idea of hope and goodness were almost too heavy to bear. He felt more human than he had in years as you slowly inched towards him, the creaking floorboards beneath you cutting through a tense silence that had The Ghoul feeling like he was back on a movie set, everything so perfectly orchestrated to have his stomach in knots. And then you extended your hand to him and gave him the most genuine smile he could remember receiving in this whole sorry chapter of his after-life,

"Then I think we could really make a difference. Together." Your pip-boy screeched as his irradiated hand stretched out to reach yours, but you didn't flinch, gently squeezing the twisted flesh as you shook on what you bought felt in the depths of your souls was going to be a meaningful partnership.

- It would be a straight forward life trying to use your research to get the world back on track for there to be joy and peace again. But with The Ghoul by your side you can expect; a personal bodyguard who cares more about your safety than his own by far, a gleaming look of pride in his eyes any time you tell him which Cooper Howard film was your favourite, the slow and steady acceptance that he is still worthy of love even in his new twisted form, and Cooper being endlessly grateful that you are the person who wants to give that love to him.

Maximus:

- All Maximus had ever wanted was to be a knight of the Brotherhood. He wakes up every morning and does his best every day just to try and earn his spot in this family of welded metal and unflinching loyalty. It wasn't until you arrived on the base that he started to realise there were other ways he might form a family.

- A nearby village had been half destroyed by raiders until the Brotherhood stepped in, clearing out the violent scavengers and bringing anyone with skills they could utilise back to base for assessment. Maximus was sitting alone, nursing the most recent wounds inflicted by his so-called brothers when he watched you march in alongside two soldiers, the final evacuee of your faded community, a distance in your eyes that he felt akin with from his own home's destruction. You could feel his eyes on you before you spotted him, a rag damp with blood pressed to his nose as he sat huddled against a corrugated iron shack.

- Despite the sheer joylessness of the situation, Max couldn't stop himself from sporting a smile, waving at you like you had locked eyes across the schoolyard not some barren military base. Whatever he hoped for in that moment seemed to pay off as you waved back, a small laugh escaping your lips at the absurdity of his blood soaked grin. He watched as the knights around you escorted you to the medical tent for a check up, waiting until they left their guard posts beside you to sneak behind the off-white fabric, following some unknown instinct he'd never felt call to him before. You bolted upright where you perched on one of the medical beds as he appeared, visibly relaxing when you recognised him from outside and once again waving in his direction. His mouth worked faster than his brain in that moment, heart hammering in his chest as the words gushed out with his new found affections,

"I used to live in Shady Sands. I know what it's like to have your home destroyed, your family hurt, everything changing all at once. But you're safe here with the Brotherhood, and even if it doesn't feel like it today, things are going to be okay eventually. Also I'm Maximus and if you ever need to talk to someone, I'm, like, around all the time, and no one else really wants to talk to me so I'm probably going to be available... " He trailed off as he tried to recover what had ended up a far more embarrassing sentence than he'd hoped, his lungs burning as he realised he'd forgotten to take a breath through his whole winding spiel. But when you smiled at him any shame seemed to float away, and as you patted the bed and nodded for him to take a seat beside you, the once lonely squire suddenly felt much closer to finding a family than he had surrounded by his brothers.

- As you settle into life on the base, you and Maximus only grow closer. Expect; late nights of sneaking out of your dorm so you and Max can stare up the stars and plot your escape from this life, fantasising about what a life beyond these walls and this world could be like for the two of you, someone who has your back no matter how bad things get and how low you feel, and truly some of the most god awful flirting you will ever hear.

Norm:

- Growing up in the Vault, Norm had always been told the value of belonging to a community, and how everyone in the vault was just a big happy family. But none of that stopped Norm feeling like an outsider, like he didn't quite operate on the same wavelength as the rest of the cheerful strangers he shared his deep underground walls with. After a few of the annual exchanges between vaults, he had all but given up on hoping to meet anyone he felt he could actually feel close to.

- When his overseer father had finally decided it was his turn to continue the vault's legacy and be part of what Norm considered an archaic tradition of arranged marriages between the linked vaults, Norm couldn't have been more resistant. He pleaded for the council to reject his nomination, begging them not to force some young hopeful to be subjected to his notable lack of enthusiasm for the rest of their life in this dutiful swap, but with limited options of eligible young men, he soon found himself staring down the doors of your vault. The suit previously used by his fellow bachelors had been tailored to within an inch of its life to try and fit his slight frame, the shoulders still feeling like they hung off him, threatening to swallow him up along with ground as he watched the round door slowly start to roll open.

- He thought this whole thing was stupid and outdated, and he knew there was no way he could actually find someone to love and love him in return behind those doors, so why was his stomach so full of butterflies as slowly your face started to appear in the artificial light of Vault 33. He waited to see you throw him a false smile, going through the motions as much as he had planned to, or even a look of disappointment that he was not the man you had been picturing as the door crept open. Instead he really thought he saw sincerity in your eyes, a thoughtful understanding as he choked out his name, his stammering not going unnoticed by his sister who quietly chuckled behind him.

"It's really nice to meet you, Norm." You spoke each word with intention, like it wasn't just a rehearsed greeting but an honest confession that sent sparks flying in the air between you.

- Suddenly the pressure of matrimony didn't feel so all consuming. And maybe this system was more advanced than he had appreciated. And there might be a small chance that he wasn't destined to spend his life feeling like he was on the outside, that he might finally have someone that could take him as he is, darkness and light, for better or for worse.

- Whether you stay in the vaults, or make your move to the surface world, with Norm by your side you can expect: Sarcastic comments muttered under his breath at inopportune moments just to see the way you fail to contain your laughter, being the sounding board for all of each other's thoughts and feelings no matter how serious or silly they might be, Norm clinging to your side through everything knowing that he only feels himself when he's stood in your light, and being the one person Norm would do absolutely anything for, bringing out the bravery and intelligence that was always just below the surface of this sweet man.

[im-a-simp-for-hight-differences]

There needs to be more Norm fanfiction out there. Justice for my wet cat Norm!

Edit: Thaddeus also deserves some love. Also why is there no cute road trip fic’s with these two!

Edit 2: Highly recommended reading“I Wonder Why” by @number1yisuchongfan! It’s quickly become my favourite fanfiction!

[aka-tua-braindump]

Me: trying to figure out how to fit in smut between the canon events of vault 33 during the series.

Like would norm even want to get down or would he be too involved in his investigation???

A welcome distraction? Or not? I don't even knowwwwwww

He seems like the kind who would hyperfocus and not want distractions...

[pedropascalforpresident]

I'm not one to gatekeep so...

here's 2 new chapters of Road To Mojave 🥰

[cubeshapedlemon]

i have this running joke with myself where when im scrolling tumblr and i find a fanfic that has an amazing prompt and tags that i actively look for i go well i guess❗️ i guess i have to read it ❗️and then i snuggle into my comforter kicking my feet and smiling while i read it

[mochminnie]

Okie Dokie (Norm MacLean)

Pairing: Norm MacLean x Cassandra "Cassie" Lang (Original Character/Reader)

Trope: Rivals to Lovers

Ideas for writing for Norm

Character: Cassandra ‘Cassie’

Affirmation: Vault 33 

Occupation/Hobbies: Nurse and teaches Sex Ed Class

Volunteer: Kitchen Duty, Cleaning Duty, Food Delivery,

Computers and Information Maintenance

Book Club w/ Lucy and Sometimes hosts

Sewing/Crocheting/Embroidery Club, Young Pipefitter's Association with Lucy and Steph, Gymnastics club, Dance Club, Intermediate Phys. Ed., and Riflery, Enjoys watching and reading with Lucy, Secretly plays Pip boy games

Friends: Lucy, Steph, Chet, Norm (Rivals, Love Interest? Frenemies)

Personality: Good Hearted Caring and Kind, Creative, Sassy, Fun and as cheerful as Steph and Lucy, Stubborn, Competitive, Teasing, Willing to fight what is right and is a head strong fighter, Had a feeling Vault 32 is suspicious and somethings not right and not adding up, Investigator, Speaks her mind, Wanted to go into the surface with Lucy and curious what’s it like up there. But isn’t as naive as Lucy. Doesn’t believe in the death penalty and that the Raiders should go back to the surface and they could possibly plot killing them again. She's patient but shows the most anger and frustration towards Norman.

Physical Appearance: Simple Makeup Simple curled Lashes, Blush, Lip Gloss, Brown Eyes, Long Black Hair, Curtain Bangs and strands Voluminous Curls and likes to change the hair style, Curvous/chubby figure, Height short around the same height as Norm. Wearing the Blue and Yellow Vault Jumpsuit. 

Norm and Cassie being the smartest in class. Which causes them to have a rivalry and Norm getting angry and frustrated since Cassie is good at almost everything. But it is mostly one sided in Norm’s side which comes to Cassie thinking. Norm doesn’t like her due to his coldness and endless amounts of teasing and anger towards Cassie. They bicker. 

Norm lacks enthusiasm and what do the vault 33 council members Reg McPhee, Woody Thomas, Betty Pearson, and Hank MacLean do? They always pair them together as punishment as a way for Norm and Cassie to get along. 

Hank and Lucy tease Norm how he could have a possible crush on Cassie. Chet always being clueless and Stephanie knew there was some sort of sexual tension between them.

Idea 1: Steph and Cassie gushing over Montey and making comments Cassie, "Wow he is a looker isn't he wow. He's so Handsome!" Steph, "Lucky." And Norm made a face like Bert. Norm was Confused more Jealous. And he proceeds to tease that he isn't much of a good guy and could have red flags. Norm, "Like I said he could have a tumor!"

Idea 2: Cassie Showing off to Steph and Lucy the corset, skirt, dresses she made were vault colors Blue and Yellow. And Norm said wearing it everyday would be against the rules.

He gets turned on by the thought of Cassie wearing the corset and skirt that he gets an erection.

Idea 3: Cassie and Norm being the smart ones, the investigators figuring everything about the history behind the vault. To make sure they both don’t get caught. Cassie kisses Norm as a distraction. 

Idea 4: Cassie was this close to join Lucy up on the surface to help save their dad. But Norm stopped her. “Norm what the hell was that for? I was this close. this close to go with Lucy. What, you don’t want me to help save your dad? Is this your way to come back at me?”

“You care about me?  Bullshit! When did you ever care about me? You care about me more than your sister?” 

Idea 5: They are bickering than they kiss from sexual frustration. And do the deed together.

Author’s Note: this will be posted on Wattpad & A03 @mochminnie

What do you guys think about Cassie and Norm? Do you like the title ahaha I love Lucy’s Catchphrase “Okey Dokey😄”

[ballad-of-birdy-lamb]

Fallout Masterlist!!!

Request list Rules for requesting Following requirements ___

Lucy Maclean:

__

Norm Maclean:

__

Cooper Howard:

__

Maximus:

__

___

[lostinthewiind]

It has come to my attention that I'll probably need to rewatch Fallout before writing in-depth for it because I've forgotten a bunch of little details.

BUT - send in any fic requests/ideas you have in the meantime and I'll get started on them ASAP! (I'm also playing Fallout 4 so if anyone wants any Nick Valentine or Hancock fics too 👀)

[number1yisuchongfan]

The Concerto🎻🎶

Summary:

I promised you that first night, and I made a vow to you that I swear I can achieve for you before I cross that line, so let me keep it before I must leave. Goodbye, my friend, I hope I didn’t disappoint you….

Who’s-Who Character Guide:

Norm MacLean - Jayce Talis

Thaddeus - Viktor

Veronica - Sky Young

Bud Askins - Cecil B. Heimerdinger

Chet - Sheriff Marcus

Lucy MacLean - Caitlyn Kiramman

Hank MacLean - Cassandra Kiramman

Stephanie Harper - Mel Mededra

(Monty might, lowkey, be Maddie Nolan?)

Word Count: 5.8K • Rating: Teen • Chapters: 1/1

(Read on Ao3 Here)

“Can you hand me my wrench, Thad?”

A hum to his left, and cool steel was soon pressed into Norm’s waiting palm and the minute his fingers wrapped itself around the flat shaft, he went to work tightening up some loose bolts on their newest prototype for a HexGem-powered robot’s chassis. They hadn’t decided its purpose yet, all they had the general idea of it being to help with unloading heavy and dangerous items from boats and airships, but who cared about the nitty gritty at the moment?

“I don’t get how you could lay on the ground doing that all day,” Thaddeus mused to the air, leaning back in his chair with his ankle resting comfortably in Norm’s own empty chair, a cup of coffee in his hand. “I’d much rather be outside working with my hands on something else. Something real.”

“Well, once I’m done with these last few tweaks to this hunk of junk,” Norm gritted, tightening a bolt a bit tighter and huffing at the squeaking that erupted from the metal body. “We can work on your agrochemical theory of HexTech I promise, we’ll go to the countryside and everything.”

“That’s not what I meant, Norm. I meant going out to eat somewhere and working on anything else but this,” Norm used his feet to roll himself and the dolly he was using to keep his head and back from the cold concrete floor below out from underneath the robot, his brow raised. “The Distinguished Innovator's Competition can wait for a few more hours. It’s not for another week.”

“I know it can but this is the first time I’m sure nothing is going to blow up,” Norm huffed, sitting up with a grunt as Thaddeus looked out their lab’s giant glass windows with a small smile. “What are you smiling about now?”

“Oh nothing,” ‘oh nothing’ my butt…

Norm got up on shaky legs as he grumbled at that nothing response, tossing his wrench and stained leather gloves onto their shared desk all while Thaddeus watched, sipping his coffee still with that smile that meant nothing good was going to come out of his mouth. “You just have some oil on your cheek, better clean it before it stains your skin black.”

“What?” Norm gawked as he bolted to their lab’s mirror with an urgency he normally only left to coffee-induced panic attacks before deadlines and hungover depressive episodes, quickly cleaning it away with a handkerchief that he really did hope didn’t make it any worse.

The other man made a noise, a mix between a chuckle and an exasperated sigh, as he watched Norm readjust his tie and fluff up his hair in the tiny, cracked mirror. The main door opened with a loud creaking, light footsteps following meaning Veronica, their assistant (and Norm’s close friend), was here with more coffee and reports for them both. “How are the both of you? I hope it’s not too tiring or stressful with the robot or anything, it looks great so far.”

“It’s so far steady and should be ready in time, Miss Chey. The HexGem hasn’t rejected the casing we made for it so it doesn’t burn through the metal of the golem,” Thaddeus smiled with a glint in his turquoise eyes as he met Veronica’s own honey-brown, Norm tried not to let his jealousy pike up as he went back to his mirror to readjust his ascot some more. “Though, that ass over there is refusing to do anything but work, practically had to beg this guy to go out for a bite.”

Veronica snorted loudly, smiling brightly. “You should’ve seen him before he was younger, he’d overwork himself to the point he’d vomit from the stress it took on him.”

“It’s not my fault that my father put a lot of pressure on me at such a young age, Veronica,” Norm said with a pout, fixing his hair one last time before turning around to grab his waistcoat. “Now, I'm craving something Ionian with a kick, maybe Pallasi?”

From the furrowed brow he got from Thaddeus and the confused glint, he hadn’t got a clue what he was saying. “Noodles, Thad, do you want noodles?”

“As long as there’s some crab, I don’t care,” Thaddeus got up, slowly and carefully as he let his weight fall upon his braced leg with a soft hiss. Veronica, ever the doting person she was, was by his side in an instant with a soft smile and his walking stick (technically it’s a cane, but Thaddeus was ashamed to call it that) in her outreached palm. “Thank you.”

“Of course, Thaddeus,” Veronica purred with a smile, watching with a smile as both mechanics moved out towards the main door to leave. “I’ll do some diagnostics on your robot, Norm!”

“Thank you, Veronica!” Norm called out as Thaddeus pulled the heavy metal door shut with a grunt, leaning against his walking stick as Norm pulled on his waistcoat with a small huff. He really did like her, being his friend in all, but her infatuation with Thaddeus was always a sticking point. “I know this little pop-up near the Academy gardens that has the best Pallasi-Style Ionian noodles in all of Piltover, plus their tea-smoked yellow crab is to die for.”

𒊹︎> •~𐬾☢︎︎𐬿~• <𒊹︎

“Don’t you have anything better to do than waste away in the lab or in your rooms back at the instate outside of our work hours?” Norm asked, waving his chopsticks about as he watched Thaddeus peel and toss honey-brown egg shells into a tiny bowl the pop-up had offered him. “Like come to one of my family’s parties for once! You live in our home and you appear with me in the papers. People do ask about you and want to know the other half of HexTech for themselves.”

The auburn haired man scoffed at that statement, not believing the words for a second, and Norm pouted. “Sure, and embarrass your dad with the sight of a coughing ex-miner mingling with his son more than he has to? Sure, I’ll even wear a jester costume to make myself more of a laughing stock.”

“You wouldn’t embarrass him,” Norm tried to shoot back but he couldn’t lie even to himself. His father was a judgmental man, especially with those from the Underground, and Thaddeus even if hide his thoughts or feelings (which he did well), he’d still manage to get Councilorman MacLean gritting his teeth in frustration. “Or me. I’m sure they’d respect you, and I get awfully lonely…”

“Doesn’t that Bruce guy still attend? Why not dance with him? Or even the assistant to Professor L. Hawthorne?” Thaddeus offers up, and Norm watches as the other man soon after stuff his face with the honey colored tea egg and take a hardy bite.

“One, I hate Bruce and you do as well so why suggest him in the first place,” Norm looked away and towards where the chef, a bird-like Vastaya was slicing up root vegetables and searing them on the burning hot stone griddle. “And second, Chauncey Amada and I are exes. Despite what he says happened, I’m the one who dumped him and Lloyd really should’ve picked a better assistant than him.”

Thaddeus scoffed, wiping his hands with a napkin and smiling wolfishly. “If it makes you feel better, when I was TA-ing for Professor Askins before we met; I purposely failed him by switching his grades about.”

Norm gawked, a bright smirk adoring his square face with a bit of selfish joy at his ex’s misery dawning in his eyes as well. “That was you? He was mad about getting such an awful grade on his biochemistry final when I was dating him that he broke his hand trying to punch a lamppost outside my dorm. Why did you do it?”

“He took the last sweet roll out of the commissary before I could get it,” came the rather simple response, Thaddeus moving to pluck up a crab leg with his fingers (he had refused to use chopsticks for some reason) and suffered it eagerly into his waiting mouth.

“Really?” Norm blinked, his chopsticks rattling against the porcelain bowl as he dropped them.

“Simple as that.” Another slurp as Thaddeus sucked his fingers and palm dry off the crab’s juices and their marinade the crab had been soaked in. “Sweet Janna, this shit is delicious.”

“I broke up with him over that, and other reasons, but that was one of them…” There had been many factors, one being the fact that Chauncey was an asshole prick who would trash his lab and get drunk with his friends on their date nights, but another was that he was a tad violent. Not towards Norm at all, the worst he did was insult him when they broke up, but he’d punch walls and lamp posts that led to not having to pay for their repairs. “Thank you.”

“For indirectly helping you make the decision to dump his ass?” Thaddeus filled in the blanks easily, like he always did, while plucking up another hunk of crab meat with his long fingers.

“For that, yes,” Norm snickered, feet swinging under the table and his cheeks getting a bit blushed at Thaddeus’s charming grin. “But for also getting me out of the lab, I hadn’t realized how much I needed this until just now.”

“I would call you a godawful workaholic,” Thaddeus began, licking his thumb and thin lips with a broad tongue. “But I’m also one so that’d be calling pot calling the kettle black kinda situation. I just could tell you needed a break and that you weren’t gonna take it until you passed out, plus… I was hungry.”

“Then please eat more,” Norm offered Thaddeus a napkin before the man wet his hands in bright red saliva. “We have a kitchenette in our lab for that exact reason, and I’m willing to eat with you if that makes you more comfortable.”

The other man’s foot tapped against the cobble floor with a grit. “I take so much as it is, Norm— Living in your home, using your money to pay for medical expenses— and I don’t wanna take anymore.”

“But you aren’t taking that much,” Norm took Thaddeus’s (clean) hand, thumb grazing over each knuckle. The other man paused in stuffing another chunk of dripping meat into his mouth, sauce dripping down his chin as he looked between their joined hands and Norm’s gentle gaze. “You may live in my home and I may help you pay for your checkups and physical therapy, but it’s alright to need help with things like this. I have enough money and I care about you.”

Thaddeus thought for a moment, watching Norm’s eyes before pulling his hand away and grabbing another napkin. “… You’re too nice.”

“And you’re just so awful,” Norm teased, swinging his feet under the table, hands pulling away, with a rather kind smile covering his lips that he saw warm up Thaddeus’s flat cheeks as well. “… So? Will you come to the party before the Distinguished Innovator’s Competition? It’s hosted in the Academy Banquet Hall this year after all so we wouldn’t be going too far away from the lab.”

“Maybe,” Thaddeus tossed his used napkin into Norm’s empty rice bowl, those buck teeth falling over his thin bottom lip as he wryly chuckled. “Just some rules.”

Norm nodded, “of course.”

“I’m not wearing some fancy Piltovan shit that’s gonna show off my body,” Thaddeus began, fingers swiftly plucking up another chunk of crab and swinging it about as he talked. It flung sauce about in thin strings, sticking to the table and the taller man’s thick fingers. “And I ain’t gonna play whatever game your dad wants me to play at this party. I get to decide what I wanna do; not him.”

“My father isn't evil,” Norm assured teasingly, and tried not to get too defensive at the scoff he got in return. “I promise.”

“Good, and one last thing,” Norm arched a brow, watching as Thaddeus stuffed the chunk of warm meat into his mouth, chewing as he spoke. Norm cringed. “I’m not kissing any person’s ass.”

“Will you at least stay by my side during the night?” Norm softly muttered, his expression a bit glum.

Thaddeus went soft, shoulders relaxing as his tongue quickly lapped up the bright orange red juice that stained his lips and the corners of his mouth.

“I just… I don’t want to be alone when I’m drunk,” came the skittish response, Norm’s eyes awkward and a tad apprehensive. A few unspoken words hung heavy between. Around him.

“I uh,” Thaddeus scratched his jaw as he spoke, nodding. “Sure. I’ll stay right by your side… like I already do.”

“Thank you, you’re my hero, Thad,” Norm batted his eyelashes as he breathed out his thanks, a charming smile on his lips and his face in a kind expression of gratitude.

Thaddeus may be from the Undercity, and he may be a bit sickly looking with his sunken eyes and his ankle brace, but he was still rather strong. He had nice muscles and his subtle tattoos that peeked from under his shirt collar gave him this… look. A good look. A tough look with his scarred brow and his nice muscles.

It’d scare anyone off, I’d scare Bruce off and away from him for the night, if Thaddeus’s face wasn’t so soft. It was round, plump even with his hollowing cheeks, with kind blue eyes that sparkled and glimmered like their HexTech gemstones did when brought to life by their machinery.

Norm remembered that first night, in Professor Askins’s laboratory in the main Academy building, that night when Thaddeus had pulled him close to chest after Councilor Harper had caught them trying to break into the Dean’s office.

“Oh fuck, this isn’t my bedroom! I’m sorry, Normy, but I guess I got the wrong door,” Thaddeus had cooed, hand on Norm’s hip had been tight and his awkward smile kind in a way that had wormed itself into the young man. “Sorry Councilwoman…”

She hadn’t bought it. Obviously.

Though the thought that Thaddeus considered him worthy enough to even pretend to take back to his room was completely breathtaking, and it stole his breath at the time. And it still did now, two years later, and he found himself falling even more in love with this so-called hard to love man from the Undercity.

“I’m not, really.”

Norm shook his head. “You are to me.”

𒊹︎> •~𐬾☢︎︎𐬿~• <𒊹︎

“A dance, Dr. MacLean? I notice you look quite alone over here and looking awfully bored tonight,” came a grating yet familiar voice to Norm’s left, a large gloved hand coming over his shoulder to lightly grip it. The short man gulped, hand on his champagne flute tightening as the women around him and who once been talking at him giggled and cooed to each other.

Norm’s eyes looked up, steeling his face the best he possibly could as that filthy palm ran down his back and to rest on his hip. “I’d rather not share a dance together right now, Officer Du Bois. Maybe later.”

“Oh? Do you have another dance partner in mind?” Bruce asked with genuine surprise it seems, his hand moving to fiddle with his tailcoat’s golden chain that connected his pocket watch to his coat, playing with the chain. “I don’t see anyone else asking for a dance with you.”

“Well, he’s just taking his time. He's a rather busy man with all his work in the lab and such,” Norm gently knocked the hand off his waist with a flick of his hip, sipping on his flute as he moved away towards the other women with a fake smile to the older Enfoncer. “I’m sure you’d understand.”

“But—”

“You’re just going to have to wait for it, Officer,” Norm turned his back, tailcoat fluttering and swaying with his rather dramatic turn like a pair of powder blue wings dipped in gold.

Bruce glared at him, harsh and full of dismay at the rejection, though didn’t follow and soon scoffed, walking away as Norm let out a deep, shaky breath.

Fine, see if I care! The gesture said.

“Who’s the lucky man?” One of the women, a tall cat-like Vastayan woman with a feathery headpiece moving about with her giggling, asking with a shrill giggle. Her long tail swayed about and curled around his heeled boot. “And when is he going to make an appearance tonight?”

“Yes, who is he? Oh please tell us, Dr. MacLean!” Another woman, a slender human woman who had traveled all the way from Noxus and wore a beautiful dress adorned with gold and rubies, pleaded with a pout of her golden lips.

“He should be here any minute, like I said to Officer Du Bois,” a long sip from his flute, his eyes shutting for a moment, “he is a rather busy man.”

The women pouted. Some more footsteps and another hand landed upon his shoulder, but this time, Norm didn’t fret over this touch.

“I haven’t seen Thaddeus yet,” Chet bent forward to whisper in his ear, his tall guardsman hat under his arm and his white gloves pristine. “Are you sure he’s actually going to come tonight? I know he hates this kind of event and stuff…”

“He’ll come. He promised me,” Norm assured, trying to seem polite from the growing sense of worry fuming in his gut at possibly being stood up once more. “If he doesn’t show up in a few more minutes, could you go to our lab and see if he’s in there?”

Chet nodded once, “of course.”

The younger man pulled out his keys, swiftly handing them over to the Deputy Sheriff of the Piltovan Police Department with a tight-lipped smile. “Just be quick with it.”

Chet nodded once more, leaning out of his space and nodding to a few of his officers standing near the entrances as they made their ways out of the Banquet Hall and down the Academy halls for the missing scientist.

“So?” One of the women asked, her thin brow raised. “Is he coming soon?”

“He’s on his way…” Norm began, looking about the room and especially towards the main entrance for the Grand Banquet Hall, gulping as less and less people moved through his golden doors. “He just got a bit lost.”

“Oh, Norm,” the Vastayan lady whispered, tail tightening while looking about the other women as her clawed, slender hand laid upon his shoulder with a pitiful expression. “That’s what men say to let you down easy.”

“Well, you don’t know him like how I know him,” Norm pulled away, freeing his boot, sipping from his flute once more as he turned away with yet another flick of tailcoat. Is this why Thaddeus didn’t want to come?

The pitiful stares, the demeaning looks, the lustful stares at his body wrapped tightly in clothes he didn’t have any choice in choosing for the evening. Norm moved easily and as elegantly as a bird despite being a bit buzzed, smiling the best he could and quickly disposing of his flute and picking up another from a passing waiter with a golden tray.

Norm looked about, trying to ignore all the stares and gazes upon him as he walked about the vaulted banquet hall, as his dark boots clicked on the patterned and polished black marble flooring below until he found himself at his sister’s side.

Lucy was dressed in an elegant flowing cobalt blue dress that was lined with Ionian pearls and Noxan gold, a cut in the side showing of her long leg, her ceremonial sword and leather adored scabbard from her old fencing days and her embroidered pinet heels, along with a fluffy stole boa made from the wool of a Targon Erbrok.

Her husband, Monty, a slender fox-like Vastaya with a sharp tail and a long snout, was comfortable holding her close as they talked to some Freljordian ambassadors.

“Ah, Dr. MacLean! The creator of HexTech!” One of the ambassadors, a tall ginger man with a thick beard and a heavy gut, purred, large hand landing on his shoulder with such force the small man gulped. “You are much smaller than I would have thought.”

“Co-Creator of HexTech, actually, my business partner, Thaddeus, is on his way to the party and I’m sure he’d love to hear your praise as much as I do,” Norm replied easily with a well-practiced smile for the ambassadors. Lucy smiled at him, lips curled up in her grin to show how much she cares about Thaddeus’s mention as he spoke, though the ambassadors seemed confused.

“And why have I never heard of this Thaddeus before, Doctor?” The other ambassador, a muscular woman in a tight pale dress that showed off her muscles, inquired.

“He’s a very private man naturally. He just… prefers it this way,” Norm explained with a swoon he tried to suppress but couldn’t, swishing his flute about and looking down into the amber reflected back to him. “He’s not into the limelight unlike myself and he tends to get anxious due to his background from the Undercity.”

“The Undercity? Where is that?” The male ambassador asked, confusion clear on his stocky, square face, thick brows furrowed.

“The more industrial part of Piltover,” Lucy swiftly explained with a lilting smile, looking to her baby brother with a look of surprise in her eyes at Norm actually bringing it up at such an event. “He used to work as a miner near the Cliffs and then as an assistant to Councilman Askins for his industrial robotics skills.”

“Ah, makes sense you would turn to him for help with HexTech then!” The male ambassador hollered out, patting the short man’s shoulder so roughly the champagne in Norm’s flute almost spilled out all over his powder blue suit. “He must be very smart then. You must show us him whenever he arrives so we can see if you are correct about his genius.”

“Incredibly so,” Norm replied with an awkward laugh he hoped to Janna he sounded natural in any manner. “And I will, as soon as he arrives, Ambassadors.”

They both nodded and laughed among themselves in another language, bowing with large, boisterous smiles, and soon left to mingle with others. Which meant his sister’s lovely stare was now on him. “What the heck was that?”

“I was simply answering their questions, Lucy,” Norm replied simply, sipping from his flute as Lucy shook her head and Monty’s ears perked.

“You know you can’t say that shit about the Undercity at these kinds of events,” the fox-like man snorted, tail flicking about and his pawed feet scratching at the marble floor. “What would your daddy say?”

“Oh he’d curse me out from even uttering it’s name I’m sure,” Norm sighed to himself. “But I don’t care. Thaddeus is important to me and I won’t have him forgotten by people no matter how much he wants to stay out of the light,” Norm looked to Lucy, brow raised, “so why did you ‘correct’ me? Thaddeus is from the Undercity and doesn’t try to hide it.”

“Like Monty said,” Norm rolled his eyes as his sister tutted him, snarling to himself at such a response. “What would Dad say if he heard you saying that?”

“I don’t care,” Norm gritted out.

Lucy shook her head, clearly exasperated as she took his flute away from him and passed it to Monty to hold. “You have to care about this one thing.”

“Care about what?”

Norm was nearly spooked by the sound of his partner, appearing from behind him, and lost control of his breath when he turned around to look at Thaddeus. He was flanked by Chet, who was holding Thaddeus’s walking stick and handing it to the robotist with a tilt of his head. Chet quickly left soon after with a nod.

“Thaddeus! I’m glad you could make it,” Lucy outreached her hand, pearly teeth smiling as the auburn haired man took her gloved hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles in polite fashion. Norm bristled at the sight, while Lucy just giggled and gave him a playful shove. “Oh stop it with the politeness! Norm here was starting to worry.”

“I’m really sorry, I just lost track of time and then I missed my ride and… I hope I wasn’t too late,” Thaddeus laughed awkwardly at the playfulness as he looked down to Norm, taking his cane and adjusting his tie with a heavy sigh.

Norm didn't mind his partner’s lateness now, gulping and taking a shaky breath, because holy…

Thaddeus was dressed in a rather dark outfit— a nearly black red velvet waistcoat embroidered with a flora design with matching high waisted velvet knickerbockers. His shirt was a lighter red (yet it was still dark enough that it came out nicely against his pale skin), cotton and tight around his forearms and biceps in a manner that was taking Norm’s breath away. Tied around his waist was a dark yet silvery sash that glittered about and shimmered in the hall’s chandelier light.

His shoes were plain, similar boots that he typically wore but clearly it had been polished lovingly and the silver accents shimmered. Around his neck, laid a white ascot— similar to one he wore when he was Professor Askins’s personal assistant and that first night they met properly— that held a tie pin, unlike his typical simple gold, was now a silvery one that was made to be similar to House MacLean’s emblem that held a bright blue crystal, one of their HexGems. Two wrenches holding the crystal in the middle.

Such a bold move for a man who hated to make them in situations like these.

Norm gulped tightly, pulling at his own cornflower blue tie to let some air into his throat and stop himself from choking out. Holy shit, I think I’m in love.

“You uh… you weren’t too late. More so fashionably late enough to not seem rude,” Norm slowly responded with a stutter, trying to calm his flushed face.

“That’s good,” Thaddeus’s walking stick tapped against the marble floor as he leaned against it, lessening the strain on his ankle brace. “I just wasn’t expecting all of…”

The scientist waved his hand about to the rest of the room, frowning before scratching at his stubbly chin. “This.”

“Well, I hope it isn’t too much,” Lucy quipped, fixing her stole boa with a gentle smile. “The Council really outdid themselves this year, didn’t they? It’s beautiful!”

Thaddeus hummed, nodding. “You could say that.”

“Would you like anything to drink? Eat perphaps?” Lucy motioned for two servers to come close, a smile on just face. Thaddeus huffed, hooking his cane on his arm, but still took a champagne flute and a tiny slice of bread covered in bright yellow caviar without much push back, stuffing his mouth with the hors-d’œuvre. “I’m glad, once again, you could make it. Whatever Norm did to make you come around I greatly appreciate it.”

Thaddeus thickly swallowed and Norm took a step forward, smiling up at his partner. “Well, all it took was some crab and some well-placed pleading for company.”

Lucy awe’d and Thaddeus shook his head when Monty barked out a laugh of his own. “I wouldn't call it ‘pleading;’ you more like… gently assured me it’d be worth my while and not a shitshow.”

Monty barked another bout of laughter out, slapping his knee almost at Thaddeus’s language while the two Piltovan around him awkwardly stared and chuckled along.

This might be a long night but, Norm thought as he gently hooked his arm around Thaddeus's own, smiling as sweetly as he could while chuckling. Those eyes landed on him, soft and gleaming, and did it make it worth all this embarrassment and anger he knew this night would cause him. As long as he’s by my side; I’ll be alright.

𒊹︎> •~𐬾☢︎︎𐬿~• <𒊹︎

“A dance?”

Thaddeus was sitting on a chair, nursing another flute of champagne in his hand, as Norm stood in front of him with an outreached palm. It was a risky move, truly, but Norm didn’t care much with how many glasses he’s had so far just tonight, and it seemed Thaddeus didn’t much mind either by that wry smile on his chin.

“I thought I was just here to provide security from that creep hitting on you and trying to get you alone,” Thaddeus seemed so perplexed by the hand offered to him, glancing between the palm covered in a black glove and the man who stood before him clad in powder blue and gold. “Not to actually dance.”

“Is that what I said while at lunch that day last week? I don’t remember saying anything like that,” Norm quirked a brow, tone teasing yet soft with affection was clear. “I distinctly remember calling you ‘my hero’ for agreeing to come.”

Thaddeus thought for a second, nodding his head as he curled his bottom lip to the side to bite at it. “I guess that’s right…”

“So will you? I'd love to enjoy our time here and give a big ‘f-you’ to the room and especially my father,” the younger man gushed, swiftly taking the flute and tossing it into a plant pot and taking the other man’s larger bare hand into his own gloved palm. He tugged the other scientist to his feet, playfully smirking. “I thought you’d love that.”

“Eh, that sounds fun…” Thaddeus doubtfully said, looking about the eyes that looked over at the buzzed young men that giggled out onto the dancefloor with furrowed brows and sneering mouths.

Boots clicked on the floor, Norm’s laughter gentle and kind as he pulled and tugged at those larger hands so they rested on his hip and the small of his back, while Norm’s own hands locked behind the taller man’s neck.

The music had slowed, the lead violist’s notes high and the rhythm it brought and seemed to flow through the younger bones so deeply moving him on each step he took.

“People are watching their Golden Boy dance with a slumprat.” Came through to Norm’s ear as Thaddeus matched his step with each low and high of the orchestra, matching his movements as he took the more traditionally masculine role of such a dance.

“Who cares about that?” Norm was twirled, on the tip of his black leather boot and the gold tipped tails of his vest twirling about with him as Thaddeus spung and soon dipped him down, voice in his ear heady and tight.

“Your dad is watching his son flaunt about with a dirty trencher, that’s who cares.” The quick twirl that lead to Norm outreaching his arm to the vaulted ceiling above as Thaddeus brought him to his chest was sickeningly tender, almost loving as the concerto sounded as though his own thoughts and Thaddeus’s own were mashed together, hand on his hip right.

“I could care less what he thought of me,” Norm brought his hand up, knuckles so gently running over Thaddeus’s chin as he plucked and spun about and soon dipped once more, an undignified sound leaving his throat as the violin fluttered and flitted about, the piltovan horns matching with enthusiasm, the drums booming off the stained glass windows. “All I care about is your opinion.”

A shift in the music matched the scoff from his partner, near violent in its change as Norm’s boots landed back on the ground and the hand on his hip tightened. Thaddeus spun them about, the short man’s feet only barely leaving the marble as he spun out and quickly pulled back in. “Councilwoman Harper is watching too.”

“Like I care.” Thaddeus’s hands couldn’t leave his back, his hips, and his waist, as he once again spun them about and dipped them forward to each lilt and flutter of the violin like the most beautiful dance of will-they-won’t-they a drunken dance like this could produce. “Fuck her.”

More spinning, so much it was making everything but that flustered grin and gleaming turquoise eyes that watched his every move with bated breath bleary and unimportant, the music growing and growing and growing.

It was like that first night, that perfect night, when they had been floating up in Askins’s lab, smiling and dancing about practically with their eyes falling on each other’s glowing eyes and floating hair.

That night had been perfect, bones full of electricity, and oh this joy that had filled him at that moment now took him in such a moment as now, his forehead pressed again Thaddeus’s breast pocket as large hands gripped at his waistcoat and fluttered him about to the sound they filled their soul and room.

The space between the hot, stuffy almost and full of cotton while their ears rang and their breaths shook with the force of it all.

“I…” Norm tried to begin, stepping away with a shaky palm, reality crashing in on him as he looked around Thaddeus to where his father was watching on with a glare, to where Stephanie was watching on with Lucy and Monty and chatting among them, to where Bruce was staring at him with fire in his dark eyes from near a pillow. All the gazes of the room were on him now, the ringing getting worse. “I-I shouldn’t have…”

The hand on the small of his back and hip left, a heated breath that reeked of sweet champagne and fish eggs came over his flush-red face. “I get it. You regret this…”

But you really don’t… I don’t regret it. I loved it! Why can’t I just say that?!?

Norm tried to speak, but nothing but a trembling squeak came out that sputtered into a pathetic whimper, his eyes watering and his hands trembling.

“Hey, don’t worry,” Thaddeus, oh sweet Thaddeus, brought his palm up to wash his tears away with a broad thumb, hand coming around his back and resting between his shoulder blades as he brought him back towards his family. “Everybody makes mistakes when they’ve drunk too much.”

Norm wanted to squeak, to exclaim at the top of his lungs he didn’t regret the dance, or anything this night has brought between them, but still. Nothing came out. Pathetic really.

“Sorry about that, Councilman MacLean,” Thaddeus calmly stated, handing Norm’s trembling hand to his father as he bowed.

“I think it’s best if you leave, Thaddeus. Before you ruin this night and destroy my boy’s reputation more than you’ve already done.”

Norm gawked at those words, looking between his father, who glared with daggers at the other man, and at Thaddeus, who shut his eyes as he scoffed and walked away with a click of his walking stick and a heavy frown.

But…

The young man wanted to say something, to make sense of all of this, but still. Nothing came, nothing was heard, and all he could was watch the crowd part for Thaddeus, as if a sea was opening to let the man go, letting go walk a shameful route for embarrassing such a high family with his mere presence, his existence.

How pitiful.

[jwillbiteyourfingersoff]

Ch.2 : Understanding You

Whats a sheltered vault dweller to do when their kicked from their home? How should they feel? What crushing pain and greif must they feel? More importantly, how do those damn arm-thingys work?

Norm Maclean/Gn!Surface!Reader

Ch: 1

This vaulty is… something else. Hes quiet, reserved, and just generally uninterested in talking with or interacting with me. Hes been feverishly organizing and reorganizing his bag for the few hours we've spent in the same building, only stopping to pace and stare at his arm-thingy. Speaking of…

“Whats that thing on your arm?” I ask, languidly laying on the palette in the corner. His head swivels over to me, my voice breaking relative silence aside from the whistling of the wind. He looks down at his arm-thingy again, looking back over at me blankly for a moment before his brain stops loading.

“My… my pip boy?” He points to it on his arm, the chunky metal device snuggly fit to his wrist. The soft green glow illuminating the bottom of his face.

“Yeah, yeah, pip-thingy.” I wave my hand around in the air before pointing at it myself. “Whats it do?” I ask with genuine curiosity, never having encountered a vault dweller before. They were rare to see on the surface, often shunned or killed for the unique things they carried. I was quite honestly surprised he hadn't been killed yet. He hesitates for a moment, scanning me up and down before walking over to me and sitting down next to me.

“It… it does a lot of stuff.” He angles his pip-boy towards me. “You have a couple buttons, a few knobs…” He scrolls through a couple screens before one catches my eye.

“Wait, whats that special thing?” I poke his arm a couple times to get him to stop scrolling and scroll back.

“Oh uh…” He thinks for a moment “Its like… my ability report. Each letter stands for an ability or trait, like intelligence.” he points at the big I that has an 8 in its column. “It has an eight, which means I’m ranked an eight out of ten on intelligence in my vault. We get our rating based on a menagerie of tests we do every year or so.” He looks over his other scores, flipping past every letter. 

“Soooo, what I’m getting from your little screen is,” I wave my hands expressively around before standing up, bending back down a few inches from his face to make eye contact. “You're a smartass.”

He chuckles, a first for the entire time we've been sitting here together, and rolls his eyes. “You could say that, I suppose…”  He scootches back, getting up and looking down at me as he studies my face, then back down at his pip-boy. “I don't know why I still have it at this point.” He walks past me, his face dropping from the playful smirk he had on before back to the blank stare hes had most of the time we’ve been sitting together. “It shouldn’t really belong to me anymore, I’m not really a vault dweller at this point.” My head tilts to the side, one of my eyebrows shooting up in question.

“You’re wearing the vaulty uniform and got the vaulty tech, why wouldn’t you be a vaulty?” I roll my eyes at him, clearly not buying into what I’ve assumed is an over dramatization. He sighs, staring at me for a moment, opening and closing his mouth periodically seemingly trying to think of a retort. He can't. We revert back down into silence again, this time though, he's not pacing. He stares off into the wall in front of him. I start to feel… bad. We had been bantering before and I knew vaultys could be sensitive but this felt different than someone getting their hackles up over nothing. 

“Ya know,” I begin speaking, digging an arm into my bag and rooting around, “I’m technically not supposed to have these guns or this radway, but I stole it from my old guild.” I pull out two good quality blasters and a good ten radway packs from my bag, smiling lazily at him. He gawks at me for a second before shaking his head and getting a bit aggravated.

“Why are you telling me? Is this a threat or some kind of weird flex?” He yells at me, irritated and realizing my mistake I put that things back in my bag before I respond. He looks genuinely hurt, like I’d struck a fresh nerve.

“Look, I’m not trying to flex on you.” I crawl over to him across the ground, sitting cross legged a few feet across from him. “I wanted to show you that… well I guess, I’m not judging you.” I lean back on my hands, keeping eye contact. “Whatever you did, or whatever they did, or whatever happened regardless, I get getting kicked from a community you thought you could be a part of.” He stares into my eyes for, his blank expression felt like it burned and my face turned red in embarrassment. Had I said something wrong or ignorant? Shit, that was not my intention at all.

“Ok.” He finally responds. With the simple reply, he lays down, turning away from me in a ‘this conversation is over’ kind of way. For the first time in a while, I feel a bit of genuine dejection. I mean weren't vaultys supposed to be all welcoming and sweet? Naive and kind beyond any logical reasoning? What did I do to make this dweller so mad at me? The thoughts spun in my head as I layed down across the room, taking one last look at the back of his head before closing my eyes for another night of restless sleep.

So sorry on the long wait! Schools almost to an end for me (I got less than a month) so you can imagine the work I've been having to do. Anyways, I'm happy to continue this series considering how well it was received! Thanks to everyone who left notes on chapter one, yall were the serotonin boost I needed :3

[scarletttries]

When Fallout Characters Have Their First Kiss...(Fallout Show Request)

Pairings: Cooper Howard/The Ghoul x Reader, Maximus x Reader, Norm x Reader

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who voted on my last poll! It was so fun seeing the votes come in so I'll definitely do that again! Please keep sending in Fallout requests, or for any of the other poll options :)

The Ghoul:

- Life in the wastelands has always been tough, and Cooper Howard's skin has had to grow even tougher, literally and metaphorically. His defenses have slowly steeled themselves over the last two hundred years, every awful encounter and exchange adding another barricade around what was once a warm and friendly heart. He thought that tough exterior was what had kept him alive that long. He also thought your purpose in his life must have been to prove that thought wrong.

- From that first surprising encounter the ghoul found himself drawn to your gaze, your touch, your presence. The way you gave him all three so unflinchingly. Your eyes could look into his without disgust or pity, your hand never snatching away as if the slightest graze could curse you to the same cruel fate. Cooper tried to tell himself the kindest thing he could do for you was to keep your partnership of survival a strictly platonic one, but as nights in each other's company passed one by one he could feel himself inching closer and closer to the warmth you seemed to radiate towards him.

- So used to being in control of every situation, it only shook him more to feel so uncertain of your feelings and if he should act on his own. He feared you being the first person in a century to show him kindness had turned his brain entirely to confetti, that his heart had no choice but to hope you'd take it from his cavernous chest. But your kindness was who you were to everyone, regardless of what they deserved. It didn't mean anything about how you felt about him. So why couldn't he stop himself having that most dangerous hope that maybe his heart wasn't the only one aching with every step you passed side by side, hands hanging just shy of touching, so easy to grab and finally embrace that deep seated truth that this was becoming something more.

- Cooper prided himself on taking the brunt of any danger the world seemed to throw your way, happy to be stitched back together by your soft and caring hands. That day though, he'd been thrown from your side a moment too long and watched helplessly as a half-crazed raider slashed at you with some clumsily wielded machete. You did your best to hold them off, but before Cooper could rise to his feet and grab his pistol you'd taken a hit to the arm, blood dripping from the tip of the blade and red spreading across the tattered fabric of your shirt. The ghoul had never felt such rage encompassing him, ripping through the gang in a violent frenzy that he would have worried would frighten you if he wasn't so focused on his need for overkill.

- He's uncharastically quiet as he practically carries you back to camp, ignoring your insistence that it's just a scratch until he's been able to examine you himself by the familiar glow of your campfire. He kneels beside you and scrutinises your arm, always slightly captivated by how soft your skin has remained in this unforgiving wasteland. Once he realises that you're right, and you'll be just fine, he can feel the swell of relief and terror hitting him all at once, the awful realisation that he could have lost you without ever getting to try and be as close to you as he craves. So he stills his gaze on your face, eyes flickering down to your lips as he inches closer, bracing himself for the rejection of your retreat. Instead you meet him halfway, your lips more warm and soft than any he could remember. In that sweet moment Cooper Howard feels more alive, more human, more safe than he ever did before the bombs hit. He feels like his body is warming from the inside out, a rush of blood bringing him back to the man he once was.

- He may not look any different as he reluctantly pulls away to let you breathe, but he is a changed man inside from your kiss. He realises that it's not his callous cynicism that's kept him alive this long, but his once soft heart, desperate to find hope again. Hope that he's now found, with you.

Maximus:

- It was hard for Maximus to put his finger on exactly what he felt when he was around you. He knew his entire being ached to be near you, and even when he was, it somehow wasn't close enough. He knew that when you smiled it made him smile, no matter what the context or motivation. He knew that the longer he went without seeing you, the dimmer the world seemed to be, like you were his lens to all the joy and colour around him and he was lost in grey oblivion about it. Maximus felt a lot of things around you that he'd never felt before, but he didn't really know what to call it. And he certainly didn't know what to do with all those feelings.

- The Brotherhood wasn't exactly the best place to learn about feelings growing up, everything complex and difficult hidden behind a layer of steel and obedience. Thankfully if you put enough young people together, eventually gossip will reign supreme. And so Max heard about the idea of a crush from two tables over as he sat eating alone in the canteen. He strained to pick up the conversation between two of the older guys who'd been out on more missions, setting down his cutlery and shuffling closer as he heard one of them talk about the way his stomach was in knots every time one of the new recruits looked at him. By the time they'd described the hot flush in their cheeks when the object of their affections smiled, and how they plagued their every thought, Max was sat with his mouth hanging agape and a renewed sense of purpose for the next time you came knocking on his door to sneak out to see the stars.

- In fact he couldn't wait for that moment to come and instead you found him breathless and fighting with the opening of your tent when you came back from your latest supply run. Upon spotting you he quickly unravelled himself from the ropes that had captured his limbs in his stealthy attempts to sneak a peek inside, and offered his hand to you in such a matter of fact motion that you had to stifle a laugh at the serious expression on his face. He leads you to the quiet corner of camp the two of you frequent, a tarp tucked against a loose fence panel that almost feels like a loveseat made just for you.

"Do you know what a crush is?" Max looked equal parts concerned and excited as he tried to read your puzzled expression.

"Yes Max, do you?" You knew there was something growing in the way you and Maximus had come to rely on each other, and pass every free moment tangled in each other's company, but you also knew he didn't have the best understanding when it came to the more human parts of his life and didn't want to risk misreading the delicate situation.

"I think so, but what should you do when you have a crush on someone?" He looked up at you starry-eyed and hopeless, desperately wishing that you two could be far away from here and working all of this out without the horrors of war hanging over you. You could see the straining heart behind his wide-eyed gaze, his hand still nervously clinging to yours, and decided to take pity on the young soldier.

"Do you want me to show you?" You ask softly, inching closer to his face almost feeling the heat rising in his cheeks as he frantically nodded. Lifting the hand he hadn't claimed, you let your palm rest against his cheek, feeling his body start to tremble in anticipation of what might come next. You leaned in, eyes focusing on his soft full lips until they met yours, pressing gently into him until his brain caught up and finally he started to reciprocate. Unsure and desperate, his free hand found the small of your back, pulling you closer and making sure you wouldn't stop this wonderful feeling in a hurry. As your lips moved slowly against his, he found a rhythm with you, drinking in your sweet warmth and praying this moment would never end, because somehow this strange and overwhelming feeling was still so much better than the years of emptiness that had stretched before it. Finally you pull away from him, searching his eyes for some insight into how he's feeling after such a pivotal first for him. You're met by the widest smile you've ever seen, and a simple question, "Can we do that again?"

Norm:

- Norman Maclean couldn't help the overwhelming cynicism that flooded through him every time it was the day of another vault-exchanging wedding day. He wanted to enjoy the delicious array of food, without thinking about how insufferable it must be to suddenly live with a perfect stranger. He wanted to enthusiastically navigate the dancefloor like everyone else, without thinking about how the new couple must be feeling so uncomfortable despite how happy they looked. He wanted to be able to soak in the joy of that magical first kiss without feeling this strange hollow ache inside himself that he tried to write off as an aversion to the falseness of this whole charade. But as he watched yet another 'happy couple' lock lips or move intertwined across the dancefloor, a small part of him knew that his distaste for the day was down to one much more simple feeling: Envy.

- There wasn't even anyone in the vault he wanted to share those kinds of embraces with, but that knowledge did little to assuage the aching loneliness that was nestled deep under layers of logic and intelligence that he let guide him instead of his heart. Or at least there had never been anyone in the vault that had made him feel that way by the time the council decided it was his turn to take part in their little tradition of arranged marriages. And in a most pleasant surprise to the slight young man, he felt a touch of optimism as his wedding day rolled around and he found himself face to face with you. And in a twist of fate that had Norm quite unable to believe his own luck, he was destined to wed someone that stirred those same desperate, longing feelings inside him with no sign of relief.

- The short-lived, perfunctory kiss with which the two of you had sealed your vows had been enough to set his heart ablaze, even with the eyes of the vault on him, even though it only lasted for a split-second, even though he wished the circumstances were entirely different. And as the two of you found common ground and shared secret jokes as the night went on, Norm only found himself falling deeper under your spell and praying when the night was through that you wouldn't resent following him back to a room that might finally feel like home.

- As the music from the old record-player swelled you threaded your fingers through his and pulled him over the sparsely populated dancefloor, most of the Vault 33 having long given up on seeing Norm dance and retreated to their own private quarters. As the lights grew dimmer on the projected skyline you seemed only more beautiful in Norm's eyes, his slender arms finding your waist and holding onto you like he feared he might drift away in an ocean current that threatened to pull him back to reality. He watched the soft smile spread effortlessly across your face, the ease with which you swayed to the music making him dance before he even realised he was moving. His mind replayed the briefest touch of your lips and suddenly he found himself unable to concentrate on anything but closing the distance between you, every nerve in his body sending electricity through him that finally promised to illuminate the dark, aching loneliness that had resided in him for as long as he could remember.

- He prayed your smile was genuine as he stepped ever closer, taking a visibly deep breath before finally taking the plunge and landing what he hoped would be the first real kiss of many in your marriage. His chest pressed firmly against yours as he tried to remove all space between the two of you, every ounce of hope and affection pouring out into a kiss that had your head spinning, pure dedication from your new husband clear in his every touch. It felt all consuming to finally be so connected to another person, a feeling Norm feared would never find him but now seemed a tangible part of his present and future. By the time he pulled away his lungs ached and he worried his eyes would well up if you kept staring at him with such intensity. He felt himself freeze on the spot as he awaited your verdict; on his kiss, on the marriage, on him. A moment that stretched out an eternity passed before finally he watched a smile grace your lips, feeling your hand find his again as you said softly in his ear, an unfamiliar gleam in your eye,

"Which of these rooms is ours, husband?"

[awritingbookworm]

Okay- so, this is done! But- here's the surprise; this is going to be a bit of a series! So, I've got some prequel-oneshot type things on the way. There'll be at least four connected short stories following Lucy and Cooper. AND! When season two comes out, I'll probably do another fic in this universe following season two (and so on for following seasons). So stay tuned!

[aka-tua-braindump]

Please and thank you. 😊

[deedeeruin]

Dear dear Writers of Tumblr

You always feed me well and as soon as I start a new TV série or book or movie saga , I always KNOW I will have a fanfiction waiting for me in here somewhere about ANY character I want ...now..

Please can we have Norm MacLean X reader fanfic please ?! 🥺 Amen

(i never think I would like the character as much as I do 😔🫢)

(feel free to write smut xx)

[gabriellerudessa]

Me when I started the Norm Maclean x OC fic Compass: This slow burn will work well, at most a smut scene by the end... Yeah, I Can See It.

Me now, writing Chapter VI (I like to have things in advance for foreshadowing reasons) and exploring more the Psychology of Both Norm and Marigold: I don't know How Long I can reasonably throw Things at them that will Keep Their Hands Off Each Other because Norm can't talk smart or whatever without Marigold thinking "Must Smash" and Marigold can't flex her muscles or shoot things without Norm thinking "yes please, more" WTF How did it get like this What do you mean I'll probably have to write MORE than one smut scene before this fanfiction ends WTF?????