𝕍𝕠𝕝𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕤 | Lyney x Reader

9

Once again, you sat hunched over a desk in the mid-day light. Only, this time, you were in the House of the Hearth, rather than your own workshop. You lightly bit your lip in focus as you worked on the metal leg resting in front of you which, given enough time, should have been able to replace the one you'd lost. Luckily, you hadn't lost the original designs for it in the first place, and Lynette had even made a trip back to your workshop to grab them for you.

As soon as you'd woken up in the house this morning, you'd immediately gotten to work on this new project. Lyney said they'd brought you back here after you passed out in the submarine; worried for your condition. You were as good as new now, though, save for the missing limb that made it a little more difficult to get around.

You'd elected to make a few changes with this new version that you hoped would make it even better, not that you'd ever doubted your own genius. You were just glad the siblings had brought your toolbox in along with you, or it would have made this new design much harder to achieve.

The creek of a door opening behind you made its way to your ears, and you looked up to see the blonde magician entering the room a few seconds later from the hallway nearby. Upon seeing you, his cheeks went the slightest shade of pink, as if he was embarrassed. Though, you suspected there were more underlying emotions to it than just that.

In an attempt to alleviate some of the tension, you nodded at him before returning to your work. He stepped into the room now, gently closing the door behind him so that it barely made a sound.

"I didn't realize you were awake already," he said awkwardly before turning so his body was once again facing you, "Aren't you tired? Freminet is still sleeping deeply and probably won't be up for a while, after last night's dive." A 'dive' was an understatement, but knowing he'd been there too, you didn't point that out. Instead, you just shrugged.

"It's already pretty late in the day," you replied, "But I slept the whole way back, anyway. Plus, this gives me energy." You gestured towards the mechanical leg you were still crafting. Your inventions had always been what kept you going, after all.

If you'd taken one thing away from your time studying under Sandrone, it was her love of inventing, which then translated over to you. You loved to create things, and over time, it had become your main outlet and a way of expressing yourself. Even when she'd abandoned you and you were left with nothing, the prospect of inventing had gotten you through it, as well as helped you financially.

Lyney nodded at your words now but glanced at the desk, where an empty cup of coffee rested not far from your toolbox. An amused smile made its way onto his face now as he came over to the table. "Right, how could I forget how much your work energizes you?" He teased, picking up the empty cup and bringing it over to the kitchen with him.

You rolled your eyes, but there was no trace of anger or irritation behind it. Talking to Lyney like this made you oddly calm; as if interacting with an old friend. And though that title did somewhat fit him, you knew you wouldn't quite consider it a proper description of the relationship between you both.

The magician brought the cup over to the sink now, where he rinsed it off, even though you could have just as easily done so if he'd asked you to. This wasn't your house, after all.

"Where's Lynette?" You spoke up now as you continued tinkering with the metal leg in your hand, "Is she still asleep too?"

"No," he replied as he began making a pot of tea in the kitchen now. "She went out this morning to try and find a way to get us invitations to the Norberts' masquerade party. It is our only real option for finding out more about the kidnappers now."

"We're not going back down to the underwater base?" You asked, though as soon as you did, you realized you already knew the answer to that question.

"Of course not," Lyney replied, "I can't risk everyone's lives again. We barely got out with all of us in one piece, after all." He glanced at the absence of your left leg now though, clearing his throat awkwardly at the realization that his statement wasn't quite true. You just nodded though; not really bothered by the word choice.