Afire Love- Paladin Danse x Reader (COMPLETE)

from within, part 1

wow a long chapter out two days after last update wow who is she?
"So you're telling me I need to build this," Proctor Ingram whispered in disbelief, holding the schematics. "Who drew this? A feral ghoul?"
"You'd be surprised. Do you think you can do it?" you said hopefully.
"We'll need lots of room... that busted up terminal at the airport should work... yes, I'm sure we have all of this here. We can do it. But I'm pretty sure we'll need a scribe to translate all this slop."
"Oh, that's great!" you chirped. "When can we get started?"
"As soon as possible, really. There's nothing keeping us from starting. We can start building tomorrow, if you'd like."
"Okay, tomorrow then. Thank you, Proctor."
"Ad Victoriam."
You left her in the bay and met with Danse next to his room. He had sent you to talk with Ingram while he talked with the Elder.
"What did he say?" you asked, pulling next to him.
"He's impressed by how much we got done in an evening. We also have permission to build on that destroyed terminal."
"That's what Ingram said. We should have the materials we need here."
You noticed that Danse's forehead was glistening and saw a panicky look in his eyes. You tilted your head a little bit. "Are you okay? Was that all he said?" He wasn't like that when you had left him.
"Y-yes, I'm fine," he said, taken aback by your comment. "Come on, we should start working on the- device, whatever he called it." He reached down and squeezed your hand.
"It's the middle of the night, we're going to bed if anything. What happened with Maxson?"
"I won't tell you what happened because I don't want you to worry. Let me do that part, okay?" He reached back up to caress your cheek.
You exhaled regretfully. "Okay, whatever you say." You looked at the door to his room. "Do you need me to stay with you for tonight?"
"No, I'll be fine. I'll walk to to your bed, alright?"
"Okay," you agreed awkwardly. He walked you down the hall in silence, but you knew both of your minds were racing.
What did Maxson do to him? you asked yourself as you lay down. Something told you it wasn't just about him. It was about you, too.

You woke up the next morning, still feeling tired. You had slept lightly that night. You sat up, the covers falling off your body, and swung your legs around the bed. Lifting your arms to the sky, you stretched and pulled your bag out from under the cot. You dug for the bag of pre-war eggs and ate a few before getting up.
You went down the hall to Danse's door and knocked on it. "Paladin?" There was no response; he must have gone down to the building site.
You flew the vertibird down to the airport and made your way through the yard to the leveled terminal. Danse was standing there with Ingram, sharing the big sheet of paper. Ingram was motioning around with her arms, Danse nodding every so often.
"Morning," you greeted them. "Where are we starting?"
"Well, first of all, we need to gather materials," she said. "There should be some crates inside with what we need. Then we need enough power."
"Okay, let's go get them then."
You followed Ingram across the area and waited for her to unlock a door. It clicked open and lead to the inside of the airport.
"Just this way," Ingram said. She led you through the main hallway and into the supply room. You hung back while she talked to a girl working at a terminal.
"Proctor Ingram, signing out steel, copper, circuitry..." she went on, reading everything from the list of materials. Once the girl had typed everything in, she spoke. "Okay Proctor, we've got you. Do you need help carrying it all out?"
"It's fine, we can take them," she replied as two other people began setting boxes down at your feet. They began piling up until they stopped coming at six. Ingram and Danse, who where in their power armor, carried two at a time with ease. For you, it was harder, but you eventually got the hang of it and caught up with them.
Once the boxes had been carried out, you started work on the generator. By following Virgil's plans, which Ingram had redone the night before, it wasn't that hard. A few off-duty initiates and knights stopped by to help. With the extra help, both of the generators were complete by noon.
A little bit of sweat had gathered on your forehead. "What's next?" you asked, wiping it of on your arm.
"Now we break," Ingram said. "We've worked all morning. Come back in thirty minutes!"
The crowd started to dissipate as you approached Danse. His forehead was shining, too, and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. His cheeks were flushed. "Wha- how are you not tired?" he panted.
"I'm not dressed in a full suit of power armor, for one," you laughed.
"Oh!" he exclaimed. He started to exit his armor. "That must be why..."
He stepped out of the empty frame and wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his orange uniform.
"We should get something for lunch," you suggested. "Are you hungry?"
"Hell yes, I'm starving. Let's go."