Village of sorrow ~ Ethan Winters x Reader

How Love Drives a Man

Note: This chapter contains sexual themes and nsfw content. Reader discretion is advised.

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Chapter XXV.
Wordcount: 18598

"Want to tell me what you're worried about?" He questioned calmly, "When you're out shooting-- Tell me why you doubt yourself. You're a natural with a gun."

The both of you were laying on the bed, heads facing the ceiling and backs down on the mattress. The clothes under your armor was sticking to your skin, but due to your lack of energy- you didn't feel the need to take it off immediately. Ethan still had his jacket on as well, the soft padding inside likely acting as a warm blanket.

Warmth vibrated down your fingers.

The metal cup with steaming tea was situated upon your stomach, and warm steam blew up in a steady translucent flow from it. Ethan was still waiting on his new cup, for the prior had accidentally spilled when the dazing blonde nearly fell asleep on the couch. That's why he joined your meditative state on the bed, to kill time by engaging in some idle conversation. His fingers were knitted into eachother on top of his torso, a relaxed gaze gracing his features.

You gnawed on the dry parts of your lips and frowned, index finger tantalizingly running around the hot metal rim of your cup. "...A natural you say?"

"That even a question?" His voice sounded raspy and soft, so soft and tired from all the stress he had rammed onto his vocal cords today.

The sound of shifting fabric followed this inquiry, letting you know that the young father had turned his head towards you. "Hey, c'mon. You can fire a Remington like you've been doing it for years-- and you're asking me for confirmation if you're a natural? It's okay to be nervous, alright? Nothin' wrong with some healthy second guessing. --But have some faith in yourself. Trust me when I say there's nothing to be afraid of. Not when you can shoot like you do."

You sighed, but knew your companion was right despite what your anxious grip might've told you when out in the field. It was almost eery how fast you had gotten used to shooting. But was it really that questionable? When tasked with defending your very life, will your brain not push you to make the most out of every little encounter and grow from it without fault? Still, something wasn't right about the ability to getting used to killing and shooting so quickly. Something was nagging your mind, but you couldn't make up what it was.

You left a quiet silence to linger in the air, allowing your brain to rack up a good summary to answer his question. It wasn't necessarily that you doubted your ability to shoot. As he said, hitting the target wasn't that big of a deal.

Hm...

After a little while you opened your mouth and began talking, a small cramp occurring in your neck from the static position you had been in. You couldn't have the tea spill on the bed from too much movement.

"... Huh, well, maybe I'm just afraid of how easy it is to kill. It shows me how easy it is to get killed, too. A single bullet in through the head, a knife in the neck- that is all there is to it. Your whole life, everything you've done, your dreams, your future--gone in less than a second. Now, that scares me."

A long silence fell and Ethan felt the muscles in his neck tense.

That was exactly how he thought about killing at the start. When he realized how incredibly easy it was to take a life, he himself started feeling more fragile as well.

The first time he was faced by this fear wasn't in Dulvey, no- it was a longer time ago.

He must've been around age...