Chapter 0 - headache

Robin comes to visit him one night when Brady isn’t expecting it, and when he sees her, he is both excited and suddenly overcome with dread. Excited because he likes talking to Robin, or maybe it would be more accurate to just go ahead and say that he likes her, and if he’s being completely accurate, then he might as well also say that he likes her as more than a friend , as childish as the phrase may sound.

Because it is accurate, and he’s attracted to her even though he has absolutely no idea how to go about expressing that. She’s the sort of girl he could see himself spending his life with, but he definitely keeps that to himself, because he doesn’t know if it’s entirely appropriate, or if things might just be too weird for her if he tried pursuing her. Everything has always been complicated for him, so he doubts it’ll ever be simple.

But he is also filled with dread at the unexpected visit, because he is certain that a visit like that can’t mean anything good for him. She must be coming by to lecture him for how weak he is, or point out all his mistakes in their latest battle. There’s no way the tactician could be here for idle chitchat, no matter how much he wishes that were the case.

As Brady begins worrying about what she’s going to say to him, he can already feel himself growing defensive, and perhaps even irrationally so, but since he isn’t entirely rational, he can’t make that judgment for him. “You need somethin’?” he asks.

Nodding, Robin says, “I needed to ask you about something.”

“Yeah? Somethin’ like what?” He crosses his arms, preparing himself for the worst.

“Can I come in?”

It must be pretty serious, then. He almost wants to turn her away, but he lets her in, mumbling something as he does. When Robin is all settled, he notices a pained look to her face. Oh, yes, it must be very serious for her to look like that when she comes to yell at him. He’s nearly panicked now as he wonders how he’s going to face the lecture, and if he starts crying- when he starts crying- he wonders if she’ll think him pathetic or, worse, if she’ll think he’s faking it to try and get pity.

“You’re a really impressive healer,” she starts out. Letting him down gently, huh? Whatever she’s going to say next, he knows that he doesn’t want to hear it, that it’s going to hurt too much, and he finds himself interrupting her.

“Lemme guess, lemme guess,” he cuts in. “I’m a great healer, but I ain’t too impressive at anything else? Right? I just don’t cut it, do I?” His hands ball into fists, and he does what he can to fight the tears that are already welling up. “You don’t gotta get on my case about stuff, I know I ain’t the best at...at anything!”

“Brady…” She winces at his words, looking more pained than before.

“I’m...I’m doin’ my best!”

“That isn’t what I was going to talk to you about. Not at all, you know I don’t think that you’re not good enough…” Again, she winces.

“Then what was it? Huh?”  He’s still defensive, not sure if he believes her, and a little afraid to back down after building it up so much.

“I was trying to say, you’re an impressive healer, and I was wondering if you knew any tricks for getting rid of really bad headaches,” she mumbles, and suddenly, it all clicks into place. Her expression and the way she winces, the way she’s speaking a bit softer than usual, and he could kick himself for not noticing sooner.

The tears he's been trying to hold back begin to fall and he sniffs. “Oh, man, that’s...Robin, I-I wasn’t thinkin’, I didn’t…”

“You don’t need to be sad.”

“But I...but I…” Soon enough, he’s almost bawling, but he tries to keep those sounds to a minimum, since he doesn’t want to make her headache worse. “You came to me for help an’ I just bit at ya like that! You wanted help, an’ I…”

“There’s no need to cry over it. It was just a simple misunderstanding, right?” She offers him a smile before wincing again.

“I’m so sorry…”

“I forgive you, don’t worry about it. Just...do you have anything that might help?”

Taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, Brady manages to get his tears mostly under control. “Well, there ain’t much I can do with healing magic for somethin’ like that, and there aren’t many treatments outside of the basics, but ya probably already tried that, right?”

“Yeah, this one is pretty bad.”

“For a really tricky headache, I only know one thing that I could try to make for ya, but it’s, uh...I dunno if it’s what you’re lookin’ for.”

“I’m willing to try anything right now, unless it’s too much trouble to make. Do you not have everything you need?” As she speaks, he catches her wincing again, and he feels so bad for her that he wishes he could do more than just this.

“It’s not that, it’s just that...well, the side effects can be a little…” He gives a wave of his hand. “Nothin’ serious, but they’re there and a little different for everyone. I dunno if it’s worth yer while or not.”

“I don’t think you understand just how desperate I am,” she says. “If the side effects aren’t serious, I think I’ll take my chances.”
She looks like she’s feeling worse by the second, like it’s paining her to even make conversation, so he doesn’t take much convincing. Nodding, he says, “Alright, well, why doncha lay down and I’ll hop to it?”

“Thank you, Brady…”

“Don’t mention it, just try to get some rest or somethin’.” While he works, he’s very aware of the fact that he has a beautiful woman- and not just any beautiful woman, but the one he is currently interested in- so close to him. It’s hard for him to concentrate, and if it weren’t for the fact that he has to make sure he gets everything right, then he supposes he might make a lot of careless mistakes. But he does his best for Robin, and soon enough, he has it ready for her to drink.

“Might wanna just stick by me,” he says. “Till you’re feelin’ better. I dunno if you should be walkin’ around feeling like that.”
“I’ll try not to keep you up all night…”

“Don’t worry about a thing. Even if ya gotta stay here, that’s not a problem. It’s my job to make sure ya feel better, right?” He doesn’t mention the fact that, as much as she may distract him and throw him off balance, he really doesn’t mind having her around at all. In fact, now that he knows that she’s not upset with him, he’d rather spend as much time with her as he possibly can, even if he’s far too shy to make a move, and far too decent to make a move on her when she isn’t feeling well.

The silence isn’t entirely uncomfortable, because at least he has an excuse for not making conversation to fill it, but as time goes on, Robin starts to shift more and more. At first, she had been completely still, but now she seems somewhat agitated, as she keeps fidgeting or readjusting how she lays. If she’s able to toss and turn like that, then her headache must be getting better, but there might be something new wrong with her to replace it, and Brady hopes that he’ll be able to help her, no matter what her problem is.

When she makes a soft noise, he nearly jumps, and a few moments later, she makes that noise again. It’s somewhere between a whimper and a squeak, and he can’t place it, though he’s certain it’s an indication of discomfort. By the third time she makes the noise, he can’t help speaking up and asking her, “What’s up?”

“Huh?”

“You seem...uncomfortable. Agitated or somethin’. How’s the headache?”

“I’m feeling better, actually,” she says. “At least, my head is, you really helped.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

She hesitates for a moment before she says, “What are...some of those side effects I might experience?”

“Uh, well, there’s nausea but that sometimes come with the headaches, might make ya sleepy, might make ya unable to sleep...that one really depends on the person, those are the most common ones. What’s up? Can’t relax?”

“Something like that.” She blushes and doesn’t meet his eye, and he starts to get a more clear picture of what’s going on, though he doesn’t want to believe it.

Or, he does want to believe it, he just knows that it’s too good to be true or, at least, even if it is true, there’s no way she’s going to want his help. But if she is experience that somewhat rare side effect...his hands are shaking as he tries to come up with a way to phrase it. He’s never been the most gifted with words, but this is a delicate subject to broach, and he knows he can’t afford to be crude.

“There are some...more weird ones, like, um, well...let’s just say, uh…” He can do this, he tells himself. He can do this. “An...increase...in, uh...sexual arousal?”

Why did he think he could do that?! And now it’s out there and there’s no taking it back, and sure, he said it the most blunt and clinical way he could think of, but he probably could have been more subtle! He wasn’t crude, but at what cost?! Obviously that isn’t what’s going on with her, and she’s going to be furious with him for saying something like that, and...and…

Blushing, Robin mumbles, “Thought so…”

“Wha…?”

“Oh! Um, I…I should probably get going, I shouldn’t have said something like that.” She sits up and then stands, not meeting his eye all the while, and Brady just stands there, slack-jawed, as he tries to process what is happening. He knows he should probably tell her not to go, but he can’t find the words to speak as she starts to walk past him.

Robin hesitates before turning back to face him. “Brady, what do you...think of me?”

“How’d’ya mean?”

“This is probably not something I should even be asking, but I mean as a person? Or maybe...as a woman?”

“R-Robin?”

“If that’s too weird, don’t answer. Forget I even said anything, I’m feeling kind of off, but I…just wanted to know.”

“I think...well, I think you’re just about the most beautiful woman I know,” he admits. He can’t believe any of this is happening, and is still trying to convince himself that he must have missed something, that this isn’t what he thinks it is.

But then Robin steps closer to him, looking up at him and murmuring, “Do you think you could help me out again?”

After promising himself he wouldn’t try to make a move on her tonight, it’s blowing him away that she’s the one making a move on him, but he can’t complain about something like that. He has no experience in such matters but he does his best, grabbing her by the shoulders and pressing his lips to hers, and she follows along with him clumsily. It seems that they’re mostly learning this together, but that’s fine with him. He can think of no one else he’d rather learn this with, and when she presses her body against his while she kisses him, he honestly doesn’t know how he’s going to be able to hold out long enough to make sure she’s satisfied.

And so, when they break the kiss and he leads her back to lay down, he says, “Lemme do somethin’ for ya first, I...wanna make sure this is good.”

“Alright,” she murmurs, and she helps him help her out of her clothes, as he struggles to figure out how everything works due to how unbelievably nervous he is about all of this. Soon enough, she’s laid bare before him and he knows that staring is rude and still he can’t help himself. She’s just so beautiful and he wants her so badly and he really doesn’t know how he’s supposed to contain himself, but he knows that he must.

He spreads her legs out before kneeling between them and praying that he knows how to do this right. Hesitantly, he runs his tongue along her entrance, before finally pressing inside of her. He takes a deep breath and buries himself in her, quickly losing himself in the task as he finds a rhythm that works well enough for him. When she begins moaning in appreciation, he can’t believe it; it’s working, he’s doing it right! He’s so happy he could cry, but he does what he can to hold back his tears until all is said and done.

Robin wraps her legs around his shoulders as if she wants to hold him there forever, and he is happier than he’s ever been. He really doesn’t even know what it is that he’s doing right, but he knows that he must be doing something right, and he keeps it up until she’s gasping out his name and writhing so much that he can barely keep up pace. But then she tenses completely, and when she relaxes again, she says, “That’s...oh, gods, Brady…”

He pulls back to look up at her. “Am I doin’ this right? Did you…?”

“Yeah, that’s...it was amazing,” she murmurs. “If you wanna stop that, we can...I mean, if you’re ready, we could…”

He’s grateful that she’s having just as hard a time putting this into words, because at least he isn’t alone in just how utterly lost he is. She releases her hold on him and he stands, and there’s an awkward shuffle as the two of them try to decide what sort of position will work best for them. Once he’s out of his clothes, he lays down on his back, with Robin straddling him.

“Just take things however fast ya want,” he says, holding onto her hips to keep her steady. She bites her lip and nods, taking some time to prepare herself before she’s ready.

For a moment, Brady can’t think. He can’t think or breathe or anything, as Robin sinks down onto him. Even though she goes slowly, taking him in just a bit at a time, it’s overwhelming, and by the time she’s begun to comfortably ride him, he’s just barely regained his senses. Just enough to smile back at her as tears start to well up, and he wonders if now is the right time to tell her that he loves her.

Realistically, he knows that this might not last. He’s wanted her and wanted to be with her for so long that it all seems far too good to be true, and this moved so fast that he knows there’s a good chance she might regret it later, that she might tell him it was just in her desperation that was willing to take things this far. Brady knows all of that, and so he holds back on speaking about his feelings, but he promises himself that he will be happy no matter how this turns out, simply because he had this chance.

But then he can’t afford to think anymore, losing his senses again and completely, and it isn’t until he’s actually recovered from his orgasm that he realizes both that he was fast and that he really should have at least tried to pull out. Robin could end up forced with him whether she wants it or not if this turns out badly. However, she doesn’t comment on that, and while he’s still basking in his own afterglow, she reaches down, stroking her clit until she comes, and the look on her face is absolutely delicious.

When she falls forward, slumping against his chest, he wraps his arms around her and holds her close, listening to her breathing as it slows and steadies. He sniffles despite himself, and she gives a soft, breathy laugh.

“That good, or that bad?” she asks.

“Good...real good,” he replies, tightening his hold on her.

“It’s kind of embarrassing now,” she says. “Sorry for, well...jumping you like that.”

“I think I can forgive ya for that one.”

“I just...I wanted to be a little classier when I finally told you…”

“Told me?”

Nuzzling closer to him, she says, “You must have figured out by now that I have feelings for you.”

It takes him a lot of effort to try to stammer out his own confession, and to keep his tears of joy to a minimum to make him more coherent, but he thinks that Robin knows what he means. 

-
If you're interested in my writing updates, please follow my fanfiction twitter @WattStalf