Gods and Monsters ~ Mad Maggie x reader

8

"Wow your pretty smart huh?" The man asked, I looked up from the wooden worktable in Benzo's shop. In my hands sat a prosthetic arm that I had been commissioned to modify. I had been working peacefully all morning, until now.

"E-excuse me?" He was a tall and lanky man, a few ginger curls peaked out from under his hood. He wasn't holding anything; he was just browsing. I had barely even noticed he was in the room. His footsteps were light, his breathing even lighter. He wore a dark jacket with the hood concealing his face.

"I said you're pretty smart." His voice was... strange. He didn't have a distinct Slavonian accent, no, his voice was like an amalgamation of different places.

"Oh, well thank y- "

"Were you trained?"

"Uhm, Benzo taught me- "

"So not professionally trained then, ok" He talked fast, never letting me finish a complete sentence. I felt my patience thinning out.

"Look if you're not here to buy something then- "

"How long have you been working here?" I didn't answer, it didn't matter though because he moved on very quickly "Have you ever built something... I don't know... really big?" I almost laughed, that was a childish question to ask. However, when I didn't answer, he moved towards me.

"Hey." I said, standing up. My chair let out a scream as it scraped along the floor. Panic began to set in, who the hell was he? I was all alone today. Liz hadn't spoke to me since the other day, Benzo was out, and my sons were at school.

"Please, just answer the question." He was now close to the table, far too close. He ran his hand along the wood, not looking up at me.

"I- I've never built anything on a military scale. I've repaired a few cars, a few MARVNS, but nothing... really big." He seemed satisfied with this.

"How long have you been working here for?"

"9 years."

"That's good... that's really good." He mumbled. We sat in silence for a minute before he reached over and grabbed my hand. His hands were bony and cold, the skin was wrinkled and sagged. He didn't sound old; his hair wasn't grey. Why did he feel like this? "I think you'll do nicely."

"What the fuck?" Liz asked, almost choking on her noodles when I finished telling her about the creepy guy. "When was this?"

"Like 5 hours ago." I said, leaning back into the couch. Johnny was sat at my feet, comb, and scissors in hand.

"Ma can you hurry, please?" He asked, lifting the supplies. I sighed, taking them from him. I combed a section of his dark brown hair before snipping off a good few inches. "Not too short!" He protested.

"That's weird that." Liz said, laughing to herself. "'You'll do nicely'? Ew, who even says that."

"I don't know but it freaked me out. And he just left afterwards! Just dropped my hand and walked out." No one talked, all that could be heard was the snipping of Johnny's hair.

"Maybe he's a serial killer." Johnny muttered under his breath.

"Johnny!" I shouted, yanking on his hair gently. He grabbed my wrist and laughed.

"What! Maybe he is!" Johnny sat there giggling to himself while I cut his hair. Liz swiftly moved the conversation over. She was rambling about some girl she had met but I was only half listening as I replayed the interaction with the man repeatedly. What if Johnny was right?

I could not sleep that night. I rarely ever got spooked like this, but Johnny's comment had sent me over the edge. Despite it being a sweltering night, my windows stayed firmly shut. I ignored any rustling or thumping I heard outside and tried to focus on sleeping... it didn't work. All I could hear was Carl snoring from across the hall. I groaned. I cannot believe I'm having another sleepless night.