My Number One (001/Henry Creel/Vecna x Reader)

Love Language

Mr Ballard appeared to open his mouth as if to speak, but after a moment of thought, closed it again. Then, he did speak. "If you prove to me I can trust you, I'll tell you something very important."

What on Earth was going on? Was this one of Papa's experiments? Why was Mr Ballard in my bedroom, asking me if he could trust me with some important information? "What information?"

"I can't tell you," he murmured, tilting his head down lower towards me. "Until you earn your trust."

"How?" I squeaked. "How will you trust me?"

"If you don't tell anyone about this," he said, and took a few steps towards me so that he was inches away.

He hovered there above me, and I was afraid of what might come next. A beating, maybe?

But, no. Instead, he lifted my chin with his index finger and slowly moved his face towards mine, until it was against mine, our lips embraced.

I had no clue as to what this meant, so I did nothing, just stood there and allowed Mr Ballard's lips to move against mine like the tide on the sand.

Although I didn't know what it meant, I did know...that I liked it. It was inexplainable how. It almost felt like it had something to do with the fact that Mr Ballard was giving his time to me instead of the other test subjects, but that still didn't explain why I liked the lips thing. I imagined doing it with other people...002, perhaps...but it didn't make me feel the same way this did.

Then, an imaginary lightbulb lit above my head. It must've been Mr Ballard's power! I did wonder if it could've been a power of his that made me feel those strange emotions earlier on that day, so it all clicked together! But why? What did he get out of it?

I took a step backwards, ready to confront Mr Ballard about my realisation, but he grasped a hand on my back, his arm around me, pulling me closer.

"Wait," I managed.

He pulled back then, his breathing heavy, as was mine.

"You're one of us," I accused.

"What?"

"You have a power."

Mr Ballard's expression appeared stricken for a moment, but then he smoothed it over. "Why do you think that?"

"Because you make me feel funny. That thing you did with your lips...it must be your power."

He sighed. "Don't you remember the word I told you earlier?"

I thought. "Yes. Attraction. That is your power?"

"No," he whispered, moving closer again. "That is an emotion that almost every human is capable of feeling."

"Capable?"

"Everyone has the ability to feel attraction..." he said, placing his palm on the side of my face, "they just have to find the right person who attracts."

"Do...you attract?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

"I think so," he murmured. "You said you feel that feeling, didn't you?"

"Yes," I whispered.

Then, footsteps sounded in the hallway outside. We both fell silent, aware of the guards moving from room to room, ensuring every test subject was locked away and in bed.

Before we had enough time to move, one pair of shoes stopped outside my door, and with the twist of a lock, it began to slide open.