Chapter Text
Seven thought he knew everything. He was so sure he would put you in danger. So sure you were better of without him.
Seven didn't know >anything<
Seven zero seven defender of justice
God seven
707
7
Seven
"You should have deleted the app, and never gone into that apartment. You should leave the RFA. You're not safe"
He could hack into anything. He had your background. He had your medical history. He knew your parents were respectable citizens, with good jobs and a good home. He knew where you went to school. He knew you were a girl with good grades, raised well, never been in any serious trouble.
He knew you didn't belong with him.
Seven you know nothing! You are so damn stubborn and stupid and you just refuse to listen!
" Good people need to stay in this world and do good things."
So frustrating! So sossoso Frustrating.
“Seven” Your voice is steady. You should be proud of that. You wait, the seconds feel endless. A minute. Two minutes. You keep counting the seconds until you hit the five-minute mark. He is not replying. “Luciel…” You almost whisper his name. Not brave enough to say it confidently twice, but unable to let it go.
This has been going on since he entered the apartment basically. After the kidnapper-to-be left from the threat of blowing you all up, Seven made sure you where not cut from the glass. Or hurt in any other way. Then he retreated to a corner on the floor, telling you to leave him be and let him work. He had a lot of work to do and he needed to concentrate. This was important.
And yeah you got that. Making sure a bomb didn't blow you both to high heavens seemed like something to prioritize. Sure. Fine, 1 point to Seven. BUT. It was more. So much more. He was angry, he was stressed, and he was working himself to exhaustion trying to ignore it. You knew all the signs. Hell anyone would see what he was doing.
Escaping.
And that would be a normal reaction in this situation, except you knew this was nothing new for the hacker. Being in a life-threatening situation, working under extreme stress. He hinted a lot and told you straight several times how dangerous his job was. Well, he joked about it and made it sound way to casual. Most would dismiss him and think he was playing everything up. But you knew that was not true.
Being a jokester was easy. Playing around, saying shocking things in a light voice, cracking jokes about it. Everyone reacted the same to that kind of behavior. They would think you were a bit weird, they would laugh awkwardly, and they would think everything was bullshit. There was nothing more effective than telling the absolute truth in a light tone, to get people to never suspect a thing. You knew all about that
After all, it was your favorite way of hiding. The mask you always wore. Hiding in plain sight.
And as soon as Seven started to joke around with you, you sensed the kindred spirit. You knew his waters went deep. You knew he was hiding a crippling depression and serious self-esteem issues under his 707 persona. And you knew he was not desperately working to forget the danger you two were in. He was trying to hide from you. Oh, he cared about the danger a great deal. But that was only caused of him being terrified you would get hurt. But even that, hard for him to deal with as it was wouldn't have made him go into this much of a frenzy. You were sure he could've pushed past that and dealt with it. If it wasn't for his feelings.
He had feelings for you.
Everyone in the chat room had seen it. It was so obvious. Except for Seven. He refused. He didn't want this, he was furious, he was unraveling. You could see how all his walls were falling to pieces, crumbling faster then he could build them up. How he pulled away, trying to disengage emotionally, but failing every time. He was scared you would get hurt, being in contact with you. That's what he said, and that sure was part of it. But his deepest fear was you seeing >him< the real him. Not Seven, but Luciel. And you knew he was absolutely sure you would reject him. No one could love the real him. You were innocent and pure, and just like 707. But he was tainted.
But he was wrong
He. Was. So. Wrong.
It was very slight, but you had seen his shoulders tensed for a second when you used his real name. He kept typing away on the keyboard, but you could tell his heart wasn't in it. He kept making mistakes and deleting the same passage of code over and over.
You noticed a sharp pain in your hand and for a second you were confused. Then you realized you been digging your nails into the palms of your hands. Probably for a while. When you let go of the pressure and inspected your nails they were red. Great, good job me. You ignored it. Not important.
Breathe...
Breathe in, breathe out...
Breathe in, brea-
Nope. You couldn't do it. You just couldn't. Red hot anger boiled over and you went straight for Seven and snatched the headphones of his head. He started to splutter and grabbed after his headset. When he couldn't reach it he turned around and stared into your eyes. His golden eyes were filled with emotion, and you could see he was trying to suppress his own rage.”What. Are. You. Doing.”
“Trying to make sure you don't work yourself to death for one.” Your words had some bite to them, but you couldn't help it.
“I am no-” he interjected.
“YES, YOU ARE! “
He didn't break eye contact with you as he slowly raised to his feet, grabbing the headphones. You were going to resist, but for some reason your hands decided to betray you, letting go. Now he was eye to eye with you, but he still held your gaze.
Oh, damn it. he was so beautiful.
The anger started to drain away, it was impossible to look at him so close and keep being mad. And with the anger gone, all your bravado slipped away. You tried to break eye contact, to lower your gaze. But you were caught. You didn’t know how long you two stood there, just looking at each other. It felt like a hundred years.
Unconsciously your hands drifted up to your face to hide. You covered your mouth and nose, it was just too much.
He's looking, he's seeing, he sees you, he knows you, hide, hide, Hide!
Seven was about to put his headset on again, but he stops and drops it on the floor instead. Then before you can react he snatches your hands. You don't understand why, but when he breaks eye contact you can finally move again. You look down to see what all the fuzz is about, and then you realize he's looking at your bloody nails. Oh hell. “what is this?” He snaps.
You flinch at the harshness in his tone. Automatically you try to back away. At first, he keeps holding your hands, but when he realize how scared you are he let go.
“I d-didn't. I w-wasn't. “ Seven stutters, then he swallows hard and tries again. “What I mean is what happened.” His whole demeanor changes with those words and the words were spoken so softly. Sevens temper evaporates just like that, and he looks at you with kind eyes. Too kind eyes. “ hey, it's OK. Shhh. I'm here.”
You start to cry from how kind and caring he sounds. You can't help it. You just don't understand. Is he not mad anymore? Your hands go up to your face again as you absentmindedly start to chew on one of them
“[mc]?” He asks softly.
You look at his golden pools again, but don't feel like you can respond aloud right now.
“Do you think you could stop that?” He gestures to your hand in your mouth.
You freeze again. You didn’t even realize you were doing it right in front of him. You were so stupid, how could you not control yourself? He is right _there_. He is going to get so mad he will-
“Listen it's OK. I just. Uhm, I just want to look at your hands. Is that OK with you?”
You were kind of in a daze. You stopped chewing at your hand from confusion alone.
Seeing you stop Seven slowly stretched his hand out, making sure you followed what he was doing. “can I?”
You were puzzled by his behavior. You kinda wanted to know what his game was so you nodded to his question.
With your consent, he stepped forward, but you could see he was ready to back off at the slightest hint of discomfort from you. He gently grabbed one hand then the other. When you didn’t protest he brought them up and examined them.
Your breath caught in your throat as he found the claw marks in your palm.
Seven saw this and gave you a calm smile. “I'm not mad. You hear me? I'm not going to yell at you. Try to relax. If you can.”
You were sure he could see the error codes starting up in your brain at this. Nothing made sense about how he acted.
“it's not that deep. We don't really have to worry about it, but I would like to clean the wounds just in case.”
“Uhh... I guess?” Such great conversation skills. Much wow. At least you stopped nodding like a puppet. High five
brain!
“I know you only been here for a week, but did you happen to bring any first aid supplies with you?” Seven ask.
You shake your head “Maybe there is some in the bathroom? I think I saw a box the other day…” You hesitantly say.
“Alright.” He nods at your suggestion. You expected seven to go look himself, but he takes your least injured hand in his and makes you go with him.
First, you think it's to stop you from hurting yourself again, and that makes you kinda mad. You don't know why but it feels like he should trust you. But then it does not seem to you that's the case. He is not watching you like he is expecting something. He just sticks... Close. Really close. Its... Weird. Not bad weird. Just weird. And kinda soothing. His presence is really calm right now. You felt a bit giddy actually.
“God Seven to the rescue again! ~” He suddenly burst out.
You didn't even notice when you two entered the bathroom, and on top of that, he had already found the first aid kit. You smile at his sing-song voice. “haha, what?”
“ I forgot. It was such a long time ago. But it was I, Seven Zero Seven! I made sure to equip this humble abode with the necessary tools to protect a young lady in need!” He let go of your hand and pulled the kit above his head with both hands. “ dun-dun-DUN-DUN” He proudly exclaimed.
You couldn't help it, you burst into laughter. “Of course. The all-seeing defender of justice knows all!” You happily agree.
“SEVEN
ZERO
SEVEN”
You both shouted his name at the same time, and looking into the eyes of each other you started to laugh hysterically. After dabbing some tears of laughter from your eyes you smirked. “I knew it.”
He looked at you curiously “you knew what?”
“That yo-” You stopped, brain catching up with your mouth. You were so pleased to see that this part of him wasn't just a mask, that it actually was the real Luciel. Sure not the whole of him, but no one was that simple. This was the first time he acted as his chat persona since arriving here.
You had been sure that he lied when he said it wasn't the real him. But this was confirmation. You knew it would break the fragile, happy mood to tell him that however. “ahhh, nevermind. Quest complete! We need to clean these right?”
You were sure he was too smart to fall for such a flimsy distraction, but he seemed to let it go anyway. Phew. Seven just smiled at you gently and led you out of the bathroom. By your hand again. Still not letting go, he pulled out a big bowl from a cupboard and filled it with hot water and some soap. All one handed. You were still confused about his behavior but you sure as hell would not complain about it. He sat you down at the kitchen table, and your heart thumped in your chest. He took out some cotton pads and started to clean your nails with the water he brought. This was ridiculous. You could just have cleaned your hands in the sink yourself. Why did he go through all this trouble? But once again you didn't dare voice your opinion for fear of him snapping out of whatever this was.
You couldn't help staring at him while he was busy though. What you felt right now... It was not just that you liked Seven. Everything he showed you, it was so much. You have known him for a week for crying out loud! It wasn't even 24 hours since you met him IRL. But there was not a single doubt in your mind. You loved him. You wanted to be with him forever. You really did. You would fight if you had to. You would fight _him_ if you had too.
You were so used to your thoughts being all jumbled up, contradictory and messy. To never be able to make a decision without freaking about if it was the right one. This clarity... Was nice.
You didn't even notice he was done until he spoke up.
“ [mc] it's late, you really should sleep.” He said, from nowhere.
He never thought of himself, did he? “ What? You should too!” You pulled back your newly cleaned hands and crossed your arms.
“I can't. I have to keep working. I have to catch the hacker.” There was frenzied desperation in his eyes as he said it.
You studied his tense face. The bags under his eyes were almost black. “But Seven, you been awake much longer than me!” You looked at the clock. “It's the middle of the night. You have been here for a full day. And you didn’t sleep at home either last night did you?” You expected him to laugh it off, but he didn't.
He looked at you very seriously. “ I HAVE to work.” There was no room for discussion in the tone of his voice”
OK, you knew you wouldn't win this one. And you kinda got it. But it was stupid to work untill collapsing. You were sure he would be more effective if he took some time to actually rest. But you could see in his eyes there was no chance. “ OK. I get it. I do. But I have one condition.”
He sighed. “ what is it?”
“Please, please for everything that's holy. For sweet baby Jesus. Eat something.” You pleaded, going so far as to drop down on your knees in a praying gesture.
He chuckled. “ OK. I will. Happy?”
“Not particularly, but I'll take what I can get.” You said with a dry voice.
Once again seven surprised you and poked you on the nose. There didn't seem to be any reason for it, he just did. After that though, his eyes widened and he looked away. “OK, I’ll make us some food. It won't be good, bu-”
“Seven! Stop. Just stop trying to do EVERYTHING yourself. I'll cook.” Always so self-sacrificing you thought tiredly.
“you are hurt! It's late.” He was not ready to give up yet.
it's just some scratches. It's nothing. Trust me I done much…” Crap. Why did I say that?
Seven just responded with a sad smile and a nod.
You knew there was something there. But you didn't know what. And right now you didn't think there was anything you could do. Except making sure he at least ate something.
He stood up and put the bowl in the dishes. Then he started putting everything back in the first aid kit. You wanted to tell him not too, but you had a feeling him conceding on you making the food was some kind of small miracle already. You went over to the fridge to see what was there, and seven walked back to his corner. I guess that's it. Well, it was more interaction then you expected to receive today. You should be happy really. But you weren't happy. As soon as he was out of the kitchen you could feel yourself starting to fidget again. You thought you were OK now, but you supposed it had been more emotionally draining then you thought the last day.
There was the hacker of course. Sure he scared you. And to find out you were living with a bomb. A bomb that was just a few seconds from exploding at that. But if you were truthful that wasn't it. It was Seven. His coldness to you, his words earlier today. His denying there was anything between you. You were just about to take a bite out of your hand again when you heard the scraping of a chair. Startled you looked to your side, and right beside you sat Seven. His laptop in hand, and already typing up a storm. You turned around, so he wouldn't see the big smile on your stupid face.
Since you knew Seven really did need to work, and it was obvious sitting on a chair with the computer in his lap was not ideal, you just made some instant ramen. However, you did throw in some frozen vegetables in there. You might have put in extra in Sevens bowl, but that was your secret to keep. When it was done you nudged Seven with your elbow, hoping he would get it. It took a minute before he was done. Then he stood up, took the chair and put it back by the table. Then he put the chopsticks in his bowl of ramen, still looking at his laptop he held with one arm and grabbed the bowl. Like that he walked back to his corner. No, you didn't expect him to stop working while eating. But you hoped he would at least stay with you at the table.
But for what felt like the 20th time that day Seven surprised you. He dropped off the bowl of ramen in his corner then he came back, still with his laptop balanced on one arm. He went right to you, grabbed your hand, and after looking up momentarily to make sure you had your bowl, he dragged you with him to his corner. All the while he didn't say a single word. You just sat there for a while. Totally stunned. Then you decided you might as well eat.
After you were done eating Seven stood up again. And yes, he still had his laptop. He went to the bathroom, and you thought you would die. He was so funny. He came out fast enough, and then he proceeded to the bedroom. You had no idea what was going on this time, but soon he came back dragging your comforter and pillow with him. He plopped down on his spot again, just dropping your bedding beside you.
Seven was... Really weird. But that didn't stop you from smiling like you won the lottery as you rolled yourself in your comforter like a burrito. You fell asleep like that, close enough to Seven to feel his body heat. It was nice. Real fucking nice.