Morality & Mortality (Artificer x Reader)

Delusive Bunker

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"But getting to it? That's not the hard part..."

"It's letting go"

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ACT 3

Gone Angels

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Scene 1:

Your P.O.V

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There was no dream last night, just a comforting warmth as you slowly drifted off to sleep, mumbling something about the stars as you laid your head on Artificer's lap. Your journal and writing implement were safely tucked away as you hummed an old lullaby to yourself.

You didn't particularly want to think about what had happened in the past few cycles that much. There was too much blood, trauma and both physical and psychological pain, that even the mere thought of going through anything remotely similar to your meltdown again made your breath hasten.

At least it was over, but last cycle wasn't really a fulfilling conclusion to any of your problems.

While yes, you've come to terms with what happened between you and your (now destroyed) home town, accepting what had happened didn't mean everything would be fixed in an instant. Artificer had helped you greatly though, but even cuddles were (unfortunately) a short term solution.

There were powers beyond anything you could imagine, voices spoken by deities from cycle-knows-where and the madness that came from blaming everything wrong with the world onto yourself, all for the egregious sin of survival.

It was too much to endure by yourself, but you pulled through without losing your mind.

Eventually, your groggy eyes slowly opened, and you saw the metal gate of a shelter above you. Seems like Artificer had the decency to drag your unconscious body into a safe place.

You must've passed out or something, you could deduce that due to your wet fur and lack of any major bloodstains that you had crossed a Karma Gate. Your fatigue was so great that it seemed that not even a waterfall could wake you from your slumber.

But that's enough of that, it's time to focus on the present.

Both your eyes and body noticed that Artificer had nuzzled her neck into yours, her warm skin brushing against your fur.

She was still sound asleep, probably absolutely exhausted from your earlier squabble. No words in the slugcat dictionary could express how much you were in debt to the female slugcat. You'd thank her properly soon enough, maybe after all of this blew over.

Although, you noticed for one reason or another, that your heart had started to beat faster and a small warmth started to creep up and bury itself in your face.

It didn't take long to figure out what the cause was.

Artificer was very close, in fact, your left arm was crushed by the weight of the slugcat beside you, however, your right arm was free to move. 

You slowly put your hand on her face, your fingers feeling the rough and warm texture of her cheek. Your thumb brushed over one of her many deep scars as you slowly started to press back into her embrace. It was surprising that she hadn't woken up and strangled you yet, but something in the back of your head insisted that she wouldn't mind your close contact.

"Arti?" You spoke softly, your goal was to simply check if the slugcat was awake, it was definitely not to rouse the beast from her slumber. 

Thankfully there was no response, so you sighed and leaned back into her, fully this time. The sides of your heads were touching and you saw one of her damaged ears flick a little.