Something Amiss (Hoodie x Reader)

Twenty One: Needles And Pins

You were met with nothing but silence, the gentle noises of the lake before you. And the slightly less quiet splashes and grunts of fish man off in the distance, continuing his long struggle with some kind of really strong trout, probably.

Maybe you'd overstepped with the question. You had to hold back a physical cringe attack as soon as the words left your lips - you didn't want to sound too interested in Hoodie's motives. You really shouldn't have cared that much, but the need to understand and get your bearings was stronger than your will to go on blindly hating the man.

Hoodie didn't seem to know how to answer. Your first instinct was that you were being ignored, but he soon turned his eyes to yours, giving you a long and unreadable stare. Dare you say it, the guy seemed lost for words. Which was out of character, so far as you'd noted. Not because he was a chatterbox - he was far from a ray of fucking sunshine - but because when he decided to talk, he tended to speak with calculation, sarcasm, and big ass words.

As he turned back to the lake, back further to you than it was before, he finally spoke. "Do you want the short version or the long one?"

"Uhh..." how were you supposed to know? You just wanted an explanation. You wanted to know why he'd apparently been looking out for Harry, when his buddies had clearly wanted your brother dead. Also, self-indulgently, why he'd saved your life on a handful of occasions. He was stalling, you could tell - you just didn't know why.

"Both?"

His jaw clenched as he continued to stare right ahead, probably frustrated with your answer - but it hadn't been exactly a fair question, you didn't have any fucking context.

"My job is to clear up collateral damage. Keep tabs on people."

Could've guessed that. You suppressed an eye roll as he spoke, still livid with the whole situation but aware that he was getting to the point. You hoped.

"I thought Harry would have been a good addition to the team." Devoid of emotion, he only rattled the facts off, eyes hardening. "Masky disagreed. He wanted just get on with it and kill you both."

You felt your heart sink down to your stomach.

"But at that point, you didn't know anything. So it made sense to leave you alive. I overruled him on that and he got mad." Masky was sounding like more and more of a little bitch.

You sighed as he shut his mouth, probably intending to leave it there. But he knew what you wanted to know, and you'd push until he fucking told you the full truth.

"Right," you began, "so why'd you just decide to start fucking with me for no reason, then?" You recalled the way he'd taunted you, moving objects and leaving things amiss. Showing up in your apartment just to scare you. If he'd just stayed hidden, none of this might have happened. If you'd remained clueless, like he'd said, maybe things could have ended differently. The way he'd acted was nothing but fucking cruel.

Then again, it seemed Harry still would have died either way. Masky had made sure of that, driving him up the wall the way he did.

"It was nothing personal." Hoodie deadpanned.

You blinked. What the fuck? Did he just toy with his stalking victims on the regular, then? Send them cryptic videos just to see their terrified faces from a distance?

You clenched your jaw. "You sadistic son of a bitch." You didn't scream the insult, not wanting to draw fish guy's attention to the two of you. God knows you wanted to, though. This man had terrified you, tormented you, and to him it'd been all easy fun and games.

Hoodie shrugged nonchalantly at your words, not even glancing at you. No guilt. No remorse. Nothing to suggest that what he'd done to you was at all morally wrong.