Victor Stone had resigned himself to the fact that he was completely alone in the world. He had comrades, but they were completely organic. He had people he'd consider calling 'friend', but they were organic as well. They had secret identities. They...
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Author's Note: Sorry about the delay guys! I'm back at university now, and I'm working every other day, so I haven't had much time to write. I'm still here though! And I got a new cover made for this story! Yay for progress! 😂
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The day was clouded by a grey sky, an ocean of dull shades that insisted that the wind outside was going to freeze through any layer of clothing. Victor often wished that he could feel the cold. He'd despised it in his younger years, but now even that bitter chill would have been welcome to feeling nothing at all. It was an impossible hope...some far off dream that could never linger into reality. Still, he couldn't help but wish for it all the same.
"Hey, Mega Man." A tone as clear as water reached Victor's occupied mind. He suppressed the smile that threatened to appear on his face. It had been a very long time since he'd felt any level of comfort at the mere sound of someone's voice. "Whenever you're done sulking I'd like to go for a walk with you."
The urge to smile quickly left him as he turned to face the visage of Harper Reid. "You're crazy if you think I'm going outside with you again."
"Oh, come on, you're not still angry about the whole A.R.G.U.S thing, are you? That's ancient history..." Harper laughed as if the noise might frighten away the edges poking through the air that were throwing them into a tense, and admittedly uncomfortable, atmosphere.
"It was two weeks ago, Reid..." Victor sighed, more out of habit than anything else. After all, he no longer needed oxygen to sustain himself. He sometimes even forgot that he still had lungs buried somewhere beneath the hunks of alien metal.
"Might as well have been two years, right?" Harper pressed, though he wasn't certain what had given her the impression that they were on good terms now...he supposed the kiss had probably contributed to that mindset.
"I'm glad one of us can forget it so easily." Victor directed his gaze to the nearby window and watched the cold grey clouds trickle across the skyline.
Harper could be heard groaning in slight irritation. It was apparent that, though she understood his grudge, she no longer knew how to make amends. Even the kiss that they had shared, the silent confirmation of feelings long hidden, wasn't enough to bridge the gap that had formed between them.
The ex-soldier leaned her back against a wall on the opposite side of the room. There was nothing but silence and the slight shuffling of her jacket whenever she shifted her weight. Perhaps they would have stayed that way, in a perpetual state of silence, if Harper hadn't soon fallen into a fit of coughs. They were hoarse...and echoed in her chest horribly.
"Still sick?" He said, though the question was obviously rhetorical. "Are you ever going to tell me what the hell's wrong with you?"
Harper instantly became a little more uncomfortable. She dug her coarse, skinny fingers into her pocket and procured a pack of cigarettes. One was sticking out of the box readily, and she brought the revealed filter to her lips and yanked it out. Victor frowned as she repocketed the box and started searching for her lighter.
