Droplets On Heliotropes [Wanderer x Reader]

IV

"Balancing the books?" you repeated what Wanderer had just told you. "So that is how you see relationships..."

It fit to what you already assumed about him. That he had been through a harsh past was obvious, but there still wasn't a lot more you knew. Kusanali had told you a bit, as you had asked her about him the last time she had checked in on you. He is a puppet, she had mentioned. Was forced into contact with the wrong people, which in turn led him to commit many horrible crimes. It seems he has changed his ways though. And that was all you knew. Because it wasn't her story to tell, Kusanali had only given you vague information, but you didn't mind much, since you were a person that preferred to get to know people yourself, instead of through what others told you.

But even without much knowledge of his past, you could read a lot in his eyes, his behavior, his words. Undoubtedly he had been hurt more than once, brutally, to develop the kind of worldview he possessed. He was the kind of person that would need a hug more than anything, needed someone to hold him and focus just on him. An unlikely situation to occur, though, due to his own doing, mostly.

"Obviously," he answered your question about 'balancing the books'. "That's why I'm going to pay you back for saving me."

True, that was a thing that had happened. You sent him a warm smile. "You don't have to. It's my job to make sure my team is ok."

Had it been any other subordinate of yours, you would've ruffled your hand through their hair at this point, but you refrained from doing so with Wanderer, it didn't feel right in this moment. Instead, you focused on adjusting the blankets on the ground. The floor was quite hard in this small cave you had taken refuge from a sandstorm in, but at least the stone and earth saved some of the warmth, so you could spare a few blankets to lay them out in the inside of your tent.

"I don't want to owe anyone anything," he responded without taking your kind words into consideration. "So I will make it up to you."

Your hands smoothed the blanket down and you glanced at him through your lashes. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"We will see," he said, unbothered. Confident. "There will come a situation where you need my help, for sure."

"You do realize I'm stronger than you, right?" you teased him a little bit, flashing him a grin.

As so often, he gifted you his signature condescending laugh. "Believe that if you want to delude yourself."

You sat back on your heels, turned to him and watched him, thinking. Just how strong was he really? From what you had seen in fights, you assumed he was on par with you, but obviously you couldn't judge any strength he might keep hidden. Additionally, the fact that he was a puppet probably allowed him to last longer, with a lot more endurance and pain tolerance than a regular human.

He noticed you staring at him, lost in your thoughts. "What?"

Because it usually made things easier and quicker to resolve (and maybe because a part of you wanted to see his reaction), you decided to just speak your mind. "I'm interested in you."

It was satisfying to see how he lost his composure for a split second before returning to his usual smug self. "Because I am just so more interesting than others will ever be?" He covered it well, but you could still see the faintest blush on his cheeks. You smiled.

"You are an artificial life form," you started to explain your reasons to him. "I'm interested in how you were made."

"Well, you're not the first one." The familiar shadow whenever he remembered something unpleasant fell over his eyes. You didn't want to pry into that and continued.