Airachnophobia (Airachnid X Male Reader)

17. It's Not a Date! (pt. 4)

The employees at the mall laser tag recognized Airachnid upon her arrival. It wasn't that impressive, since she was a very unique looking person, but nonetheless they knew, which was something. She held her head up high as she entered the only human domain she ruled. No one could match her in her realm, and whether it was due to her life span or training, she didn't really care.

Y/N followed just behind her, determined this time to compete with her score. She knew it would be futile, but it was still interesting to see him make the attempt. She had to admit, though, that her aim wasn't as impeccable as before. Her mind was weighted with the events of the past day.

The previous night, when Airachnid exposed her emotions to Y/N, he had just held her in response. It was unexpected, but if she was being honest, she hadn't wanted to get up. She had, though, after about an hour. The man holding her had passed out quickly, but she knew it would have been impossible to recharge with her spark working on overdrive.

There was a serious problem, though. She didn't know exactly what it made her feel, but she knew it wasn't going to be good for Y/N. First of all, if he made her feel that way again, she had her doubts that she would ever be able to go back to living without that feeling. It had done wonders for her mental state and self esteem, both of which had taken a bit of a nosedive after her two concurrent Decepticon torture sessions. Second, they were both going to go about their own lives very shortly. After all, she was only spending time among humans because of her favor to Y/N for saving her life. Twice.

Somehow, she had totally forgotten about that. She just kept feeling resentment towards everyone for forcing her into situation after situation. She hadn't wanted to be here in the first place, but she literally owed the man her life, and he knew it. She could only imagine how terrible he must have felt after he did his best to help her (albeit under threat of death) only for her to bail on him and get injured again. She did her best to focus on the game of laser tag and resolved to ask him about it afterwards.

Airachnid hit a final tag before the time expired, and then got down from her place in the rafters. Walking over to the glowing exit, she composed herself, hoping to talk to Y/N about everything. Somehow it had taken playing the game to get her thoughts together enough to realize that.

Once she found herself in the post-game room, it wasn't hard to find him. He was standing at the scoreboard, but something was off. He was smiling a little too hard. Airachnid looked at the points and gasped.

Y/N: 5600
Aira: 5590

"How?" She asked Y/N as she walked up behind him. She rubbed her eyes and looked again as if it would magically change the numbers. He turned to face her, his smile only growing.

"I could tell you were off your game when I looked up there. I took the opportunity." He explained, gesturing back to the board. He hadn't come close to beating her high score, but he had beaten the score she just got. Airachnid genuinely felt a little defeated. She almost forgot about her whole purpose, which would also make a good excuse for her loss.

"I had something on my mind. I need to talk to you." She grabbed Y/N by the hand and practically dragged him outside to the same bench from yesterday. "Sit." She commanded him, regretting it almost immediately as she realized her ego was still in control. She did her best to disintegrate it before she continued.

Y/N did as he was told, however, a solemn expression on his face. Airachnid vented quietly, looking around at the weather Earth had to offer that day. There was a slight breeze, but it was warm. The two feelings complemented each other quite nicely as they touched her faux human skin. Once she was calm, she sat down next to the man. He looked at her with a question in his eyes, but that wasn't what drew her attention. He was biting at his lips, likely due to nerves, Airachnid reasoned. Her focus, however, was on the way the soft forms were pushed and prodded by his denta (she couldn't remember the human word for them). It was mesmerizing.