Sahed x reader (from Marionetta Webtoon) (gender neutral reader)

Part 3

You eventually started to head to the main area of the circus where you would be practicing, as you arrived you saw Sahed waiting for you. He was wearing black pants and a white short-sleeved shirt, showing all the tattoos in his arms, the intricate magical seals covered most of his forearms. Your eyes lingered for just a second before you snapped out of it 'what the hell' you mentally scolded yourself. 

"You're late" he said as you walked up 

"By 1 minute" you checked the clock. 

"Let's get this over with" he said as you walked to the middle of the ring 

"You've got to be kidding me" you commented, looking at the singular aerial lyra (the hoop thing). You guys would be working in very close proximity. Tonny explained the concept of the act, Dotty had come up with it so she was also there to teach you guys how to do it. 

"You could say 'just kidding' right now and I wouldn't even be upset" you commented, really hoping for a way out of this 

"Thanks for the offer y/n, but no" Tonny laughed, meaning that you were not going to be able to get out of this. You both got up on the hoop and they talked you through the routine. You guys worked through it slowly and you kept as far away from Sahed as possible. 

Unfortunately for you, the lyra was just over the size of a hula hoop so there wasn't very much space to attempt to avoid him. It also didn't help that you were constantly having to hold on to each other for the act. You tried to avoid thinking about the situation as much as you could 'it's just a lyra act. An act. He's just a random guy, not my annoying (mildly attractive) roommate' you convinced yourself. For one part you had to fully trust him to hold on to you as you completely let go of the hoop. You could feel your face turning slightly red as he held on to your middle. 

"Is this ok?" He asked quietly, noticing your face 

"y-yeah of course" you tried to play it cool as he studied your face. 'Goddammit he'd be so pretty if he wasn't annoying' you thought as you looked at him staring down at you. You were mad at yourself for thinking it but you couldn't deny the fact that he wasn't bad looking and as much as you hated it he made you a little bit nervous from time to time. 

"Wonderful!!!" Dotty shouted from the ground as she clapped her hands. 

"Now for the last part y/n needs to be at the top of the hoop so you'll have to help them flip up to there Sahed" she shouted the last part of the routine to you guys 

"Alright" he called back to her. It worked just fine and you managed to flip up to the top and lean down as she had explained to you. 

"Perfect, now Sahed just put your hand on their face for the last pose. After that the lights go out and you both get ready to flip down" she talked you through the ending.

"What???" You said as she explained the first part 

"For the act y/n. Pretend to get along please" Tonny said, sounding bored of the bickering between the two of you. He put his hand on the side of your face and you looked each other in the eyes. His hand was warm and you could actually feel your own heartbeat at the moment for whatever reason. Both of you just stayed like that for a moment. 

"Ok good! You can come down now" Dotty clapped her hands once more. You guys looked away from each other, now focusing on what Dotty was saying again. 

"After you" you said and he flipped down from the hoop. After that you flipped down to the bottom of the hoop, then to the ground. 

"Your face is pretty red" Sahed pointed out once you were down 

"So is yours" you shot back 

"It's hot in here" he said, deflecting your comment. 

"Yeah" you agreed quickly 

"So are we done?" He asked, looking to Tonny and Dotty 

"Yep, you're free to go" Tonny gestured to the door 

"Cool" you said, turning to leave. Sahed quickly followed you  but you did your best to ignore it

"We make a pretty good team you know" he said as you walked 

"I suppose" you agreed, not fully wanting to admit that you guys worked well together as far as the concept of the act went.

 "Don't try to act all aloof y/n. I saw that blush" he teased 

"Aerial is quite a workout. If course my face was sort of red" you played off his comment 

"Mhm" he laughed, walking a different way. He was probably going to see Rainah or something. 'Whatever, why do I care?' You thought as you kept walking back to your room. 

Once you were back in your room you decided to to some drawing to unwind until dinner. As you sat and pondered what to draw you leaned your face against your hand. Instantly you remembered how Sahed had put his hand there during the rehearsal 'aah' you thought, moving your hand away 'that was weird' you tried to shake off the thought. Somehow you couldn't come up with anything interesting to draw so you just drew a random circle, hoping to get some inspiration. 

The whole time you drew you kept thinking back to the practice, your new act, him. 'Dammit' you thought, annoyed that you couldn't focus, 'he broke my brain' you decided. After a while you'd managed to draw something, an eye. 'Basic' you thought as you stared at it. Everyone can draw and eye, that's nothing special. As you stared at it you realized that it looked like familiar 'Wait it kinda looks like-' you stopped yourself mid thought 'No. Absolutely not. No' you thought, shoving the drawing in your desk drawer. 

The eye looked very similar Sahed's.