Transparent (Eustass Kid X reader) (Modern AU)

Six

        "____?" Wire gaped in confusion, looking over the fancy dress she still wore. "I didn't know this is what you meant when you said you weren't going home."

"Neither did I. Can I come in?" She gestured into the shop, where several men were working hard tearing apart cars. Heat hesitated and ____ rolled her eyes. "Heat, a chop shop is the least of my concerns. I just need to talk to Eustass."

He wordlessly opened the door enough for her to slip inside. She didn't pause to ask a single question, eyes scanning the office and determining Kid was still upstairs resting. She quickly made it up the steps and didn't bother to knock before entering the bedroom.

Just in time to catch Kid struggling to pull on a new shirt.

"You're not above asking for help." She frowned, shutting the door with her heel and tossing her purse on the messy floor.

"Shut the fuck up." He growled, ____ didn't flinch. She came up behind him and gently tugged the shirt, allowing him to pull the graphic-tee down fully. She frowned, noticing it was one of the many she had gifted him. He probably didn't remember that.

"You wanted to talk?" She sighed, watching him turn around with a deep frown and solid gaze. He teetered a little, but braced himself on the dresser. "I'll listen, just this once, so make it good."

"I owe you." He grit, as if the words pained him to say. Knowing him, they probably did. ____ only let out another long sigh. "I don't know how to fill that debt."

"You can't." She admitted, making him shift back slightly. She turned her tired eyes up to his, neck craning. "Because you don't owe me for it. Killer does, and he already took care of it."

"I feel indebted to you." He snarled, nose crinkling. He let go of the dresser to gesture towards his chest, grunting as he did so. ___ took a moment to look over the long and nasty scars down his face, and somehow didn't find herself repulsed. "How do I make that stop."

"You don't think about it." She answered honestly. "You pretend it never happened, or that it wasn't a big deal. Whatever suits your fancy. Erase the guilt with denial."

"Can't I do something easier?" Kid spat his words with malice, but it wasn't at ____. He turned away to sit on the edge of the bed, and ____ moved to lean on the bathroom doorway across from him. "Money? Items? Fuck, drugs?! What do you want?"

It was like he was desperate, and she couldn't help the disappointed shake of her head.

"Eustass," he recoiled at the use of his last name, not liking the way it sounded on her lips. "All I want is to do what I've been doing. I don't need or want anything from you. We're past that."

"Why?"

"Because you made your decision." She frowned, giving him an incredulous look. "Because I made mine. I chose to move on, with or without you, and you made it perfectly clear where you stood on the outcome."

"I... made a mistake." He admitted, forcing his face to fall into something more calm. That was a first, the Kid ____ knew was always quick to fly off the handle. This Kid was doing his damndest to stay away from that.

"You made a lot of mistakes." She agreed, ignoring his flinch. Her lips felt like glue as she prepared to speak her next words. "But I... forgave you every time. This is no different."

He looked up with a start, catching her closed eye expression.

"I'm not going to pretend that I'm past it, because I'm not. You fucked up, you did a lot of damage on your way out of my life." She raised a finger, waving it determinedly in his direction. "And I'm angry at you for that. But that's all. Just angry. Disappointed."

"Nothing that I haven't been before." She finished, looking back up at him with a forced and thin smile.

"How do I-" he made a motion from his chest outward, gesturing vaguely to his emotions. "Do... that?"

"First, you stop that." ____ came and fell into the bed next to him, bouncing a little. She looked over what was left of his arm next to her before looking up to his uneasy face. She pointed at it. "That! Stop it. You're Eustass Kid, you reek of arrogance. This whole thing you're doing is sweet, but it's not the Eustass I know."

"I almost died." He deadpanned. "I get to have my fifteen minutes of humanity."

"Alright, I'll give you that one." She nodded, smirking as she tried not to chuckle. He let out a breathy scoff. "Second, you need to let it go."

He glared.

"I'm serious." Her hands folded in her lap, afraid they'd wander to offer him reassuring touches. "I know you too well for you to try and hide it. You look at me and it makes you feel like shit 'cause you remember what you said. Let it go. It's in the past, you can't take it back."

"Where does that leave us?" He sighed, and she guessed that it was probably the medicine mellowing him out.

"Honestly? Right where we were before."

"I'm not good at pretending." He jerked his good thumb over his shoulders. "They'll figure it out, if they haven't already."

"Killer knows, talk to him about it." ____ shrugged, licking her chapped lips. She let out a stressed breath and stood, hand delving into his wild locks to ruffle them. "You've got my number if you need anything. Take care of that arm, and let me know if you need help attaching a prosthetic."

"Where are you going?" He asked, mostly to satisfy his need to hear her voice. Kid looked over his shoulder to watch her start down the steps.

"To celebrate!" Kid scoffed as he heard her heel slip on a step, her letting out a short yelp of surprise. She recovered quickly, pretending it didn't happen.

"Goodnight, Eustass!"