Hidden (Nod x Reader)

Chapter 4

Ronin pushed Nod up against the wall, holding his shirt collar. "'Stay with the pod,' that's all you had to do!" he growled.

Nod protested. "Yeah, but I just thought—"

"Do you ever think about anyone besides yourself?"

"It wasn't his fault!" I exclaimed.

Ronin released Nod and turned on me. "And you. I expected as much from him, but I thought you knew better, soldier."

I gritted my teeth. "I'm not a soldier."

Ronin chuckled dryly. "Yeah, you've proved that much."

Shame crawled into my chest, memories of days past tickling the edges of my mind. I pushed them away. "Do you really think it would have made a difference if we were here?"

Ronin held up a hand. "I don't want to hear it. That was the last part of the queen that I—" He inhaled. "...that any of us will ever have."

"The queen gave it to me," MK spoke up. "I should have fought harder. I'll do whatever it takes to help you get it back."

"I appreciate the offer, but Wrathwood is too dangerous."

"You can't go alone!" MK protested. "Nim, tell him!"

The caterpillar shook his head. "Look, kid, the moon's coming up." He gestured out the window. "That's bloom-or-die time. So if no one has a better plan—"

Nod cut him off. "Why don't we sneak in? In disguise?"

"Great idea," Ronin said with fake enthusiasm. "I'll go as a grasshopper and you can be my cricket lady friend."

Nod rolled his eyes. "It's dangerous. I might get killed. I thought you'd like that."

"I don't have any Boggan armor handy," Ronin bit. "Do you?"

MK raised her hand slightly. "I...I know where we can get some."

***

We perched our birds on the window sill of the large, old house. It was one thing to see it in a memory, but it was another thing entirely to be here in present time. I swallowed.

"Hey," Nod said from in front of me. "You okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Just..." Nod slid off the bird and placed his hands on my waist, helping me dismount as well. "Just a little nervous, is all." I'm going to see my dad. The dad I left. The dad who I caused to spiral, chasing tiny things in the woods and marking up maps and toying with electronics just so he could—

"Y/n." I looked at him. "We're here for you, okay?" Nod's hands lingered, thumbs stroking beneath my rib cage. While the innocent touch was meant to be one of comfort, it still made my blood run hot.

I cleared my throat and stepped away. "Right. Thank you."

The window hinges squealed as MK pushed it open, making everyone wince.

"Sorry," she whispered harshly. We followed her inside.

"Hey, the Boggan armor? Where is it?" asked Nod.

MK gestured across the gaping chasm between the window sill and the desk. "Over there."

Ronin worked his shoulders. "Let's make this quick." He agilely leapt from the sill across the room, bouncing on a chair up to the desk.

Nod decided to take the low route, jumping amidst the heaps of jars—holding who knows what—beneath the sill until he reached the floor. I followed, then MK did.

Or, tried to. She suffered a few falls on the thick metal lids before she was able to get to where we were.

"You okay?" I asked her, trying to retain my laughs.