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elvenbeard · 10 months

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🏳️‍🌈 Vince (& Kerry) at Night City Pride (2/10) 🏳️‍⚧️

"A merc in fuckin' sequins" 🤘

Firstly, I told myself, I'm not gonna get too carried away with modding before I finish my second playthrough. But also, I had this vision of Vince in a sparkly sequin rainbow coat, and my hand slipped... and yeah, here we are, the "pride clothing for fucking posers" collection is steadily growing xD Nothing released into the wild as of now, and I won't manage that until the month is over most likely - but not like you can't wear pretty rainbow things all year round!

Secondly, the quote above always kinda stuck with me... It's from the Jinguji side-job. At the end during the convo with MaxTac, V can decline their offer of joining them with "nah, I'd feel like a merc in fuckin' sequins".

The thing is... Vince literally is that, a merc in fuckin' sequins. Not just literally, like in the sparkly clothes I have for him, but also figuratively. He never wanted to be a merc in the first place, not able to picture himself in that gritty world, no matter how much Jackie tried to convince him that it was good, easy money (both of them were still in their late teens/early twenties at that point and trying to make ends meet somehow). He had no interest in stealing and killing for a living. He loved his tech, he thought about becoming a netrunner maybe, but everything that went down the more physical lane, fighting and so on, was never his thing. Still isn't. He's short, was always kind of scrawny... he's more the "I'm gonna shit-talk myself out of this dangerous situation somehow". Not quite to, say, Saul Goodman levels, but definitely more like that than anything else.

Then he was recruited for Arasaka. He'd only just begun to get a bit more daring with his clothing choices, his hair, tattoos, and the recuiters immediately told him to "tone it down". At the time, still not nearly as confident as he is now, he did. He wanted that job, almost out of spite, but also morbid curiosity... and he could actually see himself being good at the kind of work he was offered to do for the corporation.

His time at Arasaka changed him, equipped him with many new skills (and many new issues). But he was so much more braver, a hell lot more confident and comfortable in his body, trusted in his skills. But he had also learned one fundamental thing: he didn't want to even try and fit in anywhere anymore, because that's not who he is, deep down, and trying to conform to Arasaka's standards made him absolutely miserable.

Sure, making a resolution is one thing and actually sticking to it another, but as he then became a merc after all, after Jackie's death, his own death looming on the horizon... he more and more began to embrace being the "merc in sequins", the solo that didn't want to fit in with the rest. And he actually turned out to be rolling extremely succesful with it, with staying true to himself, standing out, and doing things his way.

Sure, he can be subtle if he wants to. "You can never get the corp outta the rat," as Jackie said. He'll still rather raise no alarms, tries the stealthy approach whenever possible, and if things go wrong would rather talk himself out of the situation than kill. But he also relishes being an extravagant motherfucker when he gets the chance to. Those who don't take the "merc in sequins" seriously, the weird little misfit that weasled himself to the top from the very bottom, will learn the meaning of regret soon enough.

#cyberpunk 2077 #cyberpunk vp #cyberpunk virtual photography #cp2077 #cp2077 vp #cyberpunk v #male v cyberpunk #cyberpride #male v monday #vincent ezaki #my vp #his happy little smile in the first pic is just so... aaahhh ;__;#I want his clothes #my goal in my freshly started 30s is to dress as weirdly as I can whenever #and just stop caring so much #vince unlocked that 'dont give a shit' attitude a little bit sooner and I love it for him

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quickhacked · 7 months

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falling for cassidy. tee hee

FALL(ING) [x] characters >> cassidy shaffer (oc), reid bennett (oc) context >> may 2073; cassidy still works for maxtac and is dating reid, who is having a horrible time at work due to suspicions from his superiors and an upcoming deal with arasaka he never wanted in the first place total >> 2.5k words warnings >> alcohol mention, relationship red flags (reid kinda sucks as a boyfriend in this era of his life)

Cassidy despised sleeping alone.

Curious how that worked; for something that had never bothered him before to become such an important part of his nightly routine. He’d been alone for most of his life and had always found comfort in his solitude- and on top of that, he simply needed his space, and especially so in bed and the mere thought of being stuck next to someone all night had never sounded all too appealing to him.

Though it was different now. Ever since he’d been in a relationship, whenever the other side of the bed would be empty and he would be all alone in there he would not be able to close his eyes for many hours to come- more than often leading to a full, sleepless night.

He still did not entirely understand how that had happened. Reid didn’t even sleep right beside him most of the time- their bed was big enough to fit at least three more people in it and the significant distance between their two respective sides always left a cold void next to him, even more so when either of them had not had the best day at work.

Yet still, Cassidy found comfort in it. No longer having to sleep alone, no longer accompanied by merely the sound of his own breathing. It was nice.

So of course he had still not been able to fall asleep that night, all alone in that bedroom of their shared apartment in Charter Hill.

Reid was home- as far as Cassidy was concerned, at least. He had heard him enter while taking a shower, but had not seen him when he’d left the bathroom despite crossing through the living room and kitchen a good few times while getting ready for bed. But his keys had been there, as well as his coat; Cassidy presumed he had retreated into his office again, to finish up some overdue paperwork.

He knew Reid was going through a rough patch at work. Pressured into a collaboration he’d never wanted to begin with and continuously being put through the wringer after one of his colleagues had been fired for selling data to Netwatch; ridiculous, if you asked Cassidy, how little trust MaxTac put into him despite Reid having proved his undying loyalty to them on multiple occasions before. As slimy as he could be on occasions, he truly was the last person to betray them for his own personal gain.

But there was very little that could be done about it. Reid’s superiors were overly suspicious now and Cassidy himself was simply an employee working for Reid- in no way a big name like his boyfriend, with little to no influence that could make any difference were he to step in to try and lighten the load.

Not as if Reid would even allow him to help to begin with. His self-confidence had recently more than often crossed the border of arrogance and his sheer stubbornness prevented Cassidy from reaching out to him- any and every attempt to try and get closer to him politely declined, or simply bluntly cut off.

It saddened him, at times. He loved Reid with his whole heart and seeing him struggle like that hurt him more than Cassidy would ever admit out loud.

But what could he do about it? Reid had made it abundantly clear that, much like Cassidy, he valued his privacy and his solitude and it wasn’t up to Cassidy to take that away from him. All he wanted was for his boyfriend to be comfortable, to feel good; but with the distance between them in their bed and the growing distance between them in every other space they would share he could not help but wonder if Reid had accidentally pushed him away too far.

The door of the bedroom finally opened, dragging Cassidy out of his thoughts and his attention was drawn to Reid’s silhouette shuffling inside in the dark, shoulders visibly slumped and his hair down. He made a surprisingly good attempt at being quiet- usually he would barge in without taking Cassidy into consideration, sometimes even mid phone call, still- and Cassidy waited in silence as he watched Reid quickly take off his shirt and pants and slide underneath the covers next to him.

He turned on his side, back towards Cassidy. Unsurprisingly so.

With the faint bit of light dripping in the room through the curtains and his eyes having adjusted to the darkness surrounding them well enough, Cassidy could so clearly see him, and he let his eyes slowly travel over the sharp outline and edges of Reid’s shoulder, the few beauty marks scattered across his skin, and the large, prominent scar sitting comfortably between his shoulder blades.

He had never told Cassidy about it. And Cassidy was too scared to ask.

He lay unmoving for a while, eyes solidly fixed on his boyfriend’s back and jaw nearly painfully clenched. He was a little unsure what to do; despite the two of them having been together for over a year already, Cassidy still often worried certain actions would cause him to accidentally cross a boundary, or an unspoken rule, and he still often wondered what he was and was not allowed to do.

Reid’s shoulder briefly tensed up and Cassidy could hear a shaky breath leave his lips. Something must have happened at work- he had not seen him the entire day and had not received a single text either, despite having sent a couple of them Reid’s way.

Of course he knew Reid was a busy man with an important job to do. Of course he knew he didn’t always have the time to reply to Cassidy’s texts. But to not hear from him the entire day and- to top it all off- have him be this quiet upon arrival at home was worrying to Cassidy, even more so than usual.

He hesitantly turned on his side and scooted a little closer, moving ever so slowly as he kept his eyes steadily on Reid- almost expecting him to say something, or to move away from him.

But Reid did not move a muscle, and Cassidy carefully tucked a strand of hair behind his ear for him and moved it out of his neck before leaning in further and planting a soft kiss right on jawline.

‘Cassie, please,’ Reid mumbled, slightly shifting position and tilting his head away. ‘Gotta get up early tomorrow.’

‘You could call in sick,’ Cassidy quietly replied, quickly gathering himself and pulling away as if he had touched fire- though he refused to move away from Reid. ‘You’ve been overworking yourself, honey. I think you’re allowed to take a day off.’

No response.

Silence washed over the room and Cassidy blinked a few times as he thought of anything else to say, anything else to do. He carefully reached out again and let his hand rest in the dip of Reid’s waist, gently running his thumb over his cold skin in sync with his slightly unstable breathing, eyes once again moving over his back.

He’d spent so many nights staring at it. Too many nights.

‘I’m not in the mood for this right now,’ Reid plainly said, a monotonous tone to his voice Cassidy was used to on the workfloor, not in their own home. He reached for Cassidy’s hand and tried to nudge it away- though something stopped him halfway through, and suddenly he was merely holding Cassidy’s hand in his own, briefly tightening his grip while he restlessly shifted position again.

‘Can I give you a hug?’

The question had left Cassidy’s lips before he could stop himself.

And a stupid question, really. Reid didn’t like hugging, especially not in bed- had made it abundantly clear many times before and of course it would not be any fucking different now, and Cassidy wished he had just kept his mouth shut.

Yet for some reason Reid remained very quiet for a couple of seconds, still tightly holding on to Cassidy’s hand; and Cassidy could not help but notice he was shaking, slender fingers unstable on top of his own and when Reid slowly turned around he could not even look the other man in the eyes.

Cassidy immediately wrapped his arms around Reid, pulling him to his chest and feeling all the tension leave his body when Reid reciprocated. He pressed a kiss on his boyfriend’s head, gently running his hand through his hair to try and calm him down and he ignored the all too familiar burning sensation starting to build in his torso, his nerves screaming at him and begging for him to pull away-

‘I’m sorry,’ Reid suddenly quietly said, lifting his head and pushing himself up a little until he was at eye level with Cassidy. ‘Have been acting like a fucking cunt all week. Not my intention, but… You know.’

‘I know,’ Cassidy quickly said, cupping Reid’s cheek with his hand and pressing another kiss right on the bridge of his nose, ‘I know. It’s alright.’

It wasn’t, really.

A lot of Reid’s shitty moods were the direct result from his horrible time at work, and Cassidy understood- he truly did. But that did not take away it always made him feel horrible and like he had done something wrong, and it did not take away it had caused him to start bracing himself whenever Reid would finally make it home- just like that night- scared of being caught in the crossfire again.

But Reid didn’t have to know that. And everything was fine again now, right? That was all that mattered to him.

Cassidy gently ran his fingers down Reid’s face and Reid softly hummed in return, eyes fluttering shut as he slightly turned his head to lean in to Cassidy’s touch. And in a wave of overconfidence Cassidy leaned in-

But stopped himself just in time, remembering he- well, he couldn’t.

Last time he had tried to initiate a kiss, Reid had simply laughed at him. Cassidy had not tried anything like that again since.

So instead he merely settled with a light forehead touch and closed his eyes, heart skipping a beat as he pretended he was kissing Reid instead, trying to imagine the feeling of the other man’s lips on his own and trying to remember how in love he had felt the first time it had happened.

It wasn’t the same. Of course it wasn’t- but it was a tactic he had always used, and it helped him enough to let go of his longing, even if it was just for a little bit-

Reid’s fingertips suddenly collided with his cheek and it startled Cassidy to the point he nearly pulled away, the sensation sending a shockwave of stimuli through his entire nervous system. He watched with wide eyes as he allowed Reid to cradle his face, gaze slowly trailing over over his features-

And Reid promptly kissed him, his lips soft and soothing on Cassidy’s while his hands left burning imprints on his skin.

Cassidy eagerly pushed himself a little closer, tilting his head and parting his lips in perfect sync with Reid’s tongue entering his mouth. He tasted of mint, mostly- but no amount of toothpaste and peppermint candies could cover up the taste of the sweet liquor he had been drinking earlier, a constant reminder of his partner’s tendency to head over to the nearest bar after work before he could even think about heading home.

‘Only calling in sick tomorrow if you do the same,’ Reid mumbled into the kiss, lips curling up into a small smile when Cassidy hummed in disapproval. He briefly pushed himself closer to Cassidy again, running one hand down his chest to his side and over the curve of his back; then broke the kiss and dropped his head back on his pillow, smile still lingering on his face.

‘I can’t just-’ Cassidy tried to protest, but Reid interrupted him by kissing him again, teasingly biting Cassidy’s lower lip upon pulling back; and when Cassidy opened his mouth to continue his sentence, he was stopped by yet another kiss, to the point he was unable to suppress a quiet giggle.

‘Got sick, and then you got sick too,’ Reid quietly continued, moving his hand even further down until he reached Cassidy’s ass and gave it a playful squeeze, drawing an embarrassed whimper from his boyfriend’s lips. ‘Said it yourself, darling- I overworked myself. So I can stay home.’

‘Overworking isn’t contagious,’ Cassidy muttered back, though he was no longer actively disagreeing with Reid. It’d been a while since he had last seen this side of him- several months now, actually, now that he thought about it.

And he would be lying if he said he hadn’t missed it.

‘You’re no fun,’ Reid jokingly said, pressing a kiss on Cassidy’s nose and moving both hands to his face again, thumbs gently running over his cyberware as he pouted and dramatically batted his eyelashes at him. ‘Come on, Cassie. For me?’

Of course he would stay home with him.

Cassidy was unable to say no to Reid, ever. Could you blame him? Reid was charming, lovable- despite everything, despite the outbursts, despite the distant behavior. Cassidy knew others wouldn’t agree, but he could see past it like no one else and he knew there was so much more to Reid than what he showed on the surface.

He slowly nodded, finding himself unable to speak and his heart jumped when Reid smiled at him- a genuine, bright smile that caused his nose to scrunch up and the little wrinkles beside his eyes to crease.

‘That’s my boy,’ he said, running his hand through Cassidy’s hair and letting it linger when he noticed Cassidy pushing his head closer to his touch. Another soft kiss on his cheek, and Reid slowly turned around again, though grabbed Cassidy’s hand and pulled it along until his arm was wrapped tightly around his torso.

‘I love you,’ Cassidy softly said, pressing his forehead against the back of Reid’s neck and gently squeezing his hand before closing his eyes and relaxing against him.

He knew Reid wouldn’t say it back.

Still did not entirely understand why- they were in the comfort of their own home, no one else to keep up appearances to, just the two of them safe and sound in the warmth of each other's arms.

But something still stopped Reid from saying the words back at him; rarely even said them at all, usually only uttering the words when he himself initiated it.

Cassidy didn’t mind.

If Reid didn’t love him back, he wouldn’t be there with him anymore. Right?

‘Good night, darling,’ Reid quietly replied, and brought Cassidy’s hand to his lips to press a soft kiss on it.

‘Good night.’

#asks #reaperkiller #writing asks #nuclearwriting #reid is so sucks as a boyfriend to cassidy but he has his moments. and cassidy IS right about there being a lot more to reid #than what shows on the surface. the man just needs to be humbled severely later on in the story to become normal #anyway i'll forever be insane about them because the love was there but ouuu it was doomed to fail from the very beginning

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quickhacked · 6 months

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💥💤☕️🌙🙈✂️✏️🌟💗 for reid [:

oc asks!

💥 COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

reid is very bad at handling his guilt and any and all emotions that come with this- anger, grief, regret, fear, shame, sadness, you name it. he's very aware of how he lost himself in his corpo years and continuously wonders how much of that was part of the act and how much of it was actually him, and he's developed this sort of imposter syndrome over the years that makes him terrified people are gonna figure him out and leave him because of it

over time he gets better at letting go of the past and moving on from it, which helps with processing his feelings about it all but it's not something he will ever be able to let go. a fatal flaw were he to let it get out of control, but he knows when he's spiralling too far and doesn't isolate himself anymore like he used to, which gives others the opportunity to be there for him if he needs them

💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep?

when he's consistently taking his meds, reid falls asleep very easily because they tend to make him very sleepy. he tries to be alert at all times, but the second he gets too comfortable he's gone SO fast. being held by someone he trusts or simply sitting close to them allows him to let down his guard a little bit which makes it super easy for him to fall asleep

☕️ HOT BEVERAGE - do they prefer hot or cold drinks? what is their favourite drink?

reid surprisingly prefers cold drinks! he loves his coffee but there's a lot more variety for him in cold drinks, he likes orange juice a lot and iced tea too :) he also likes alcoholic beverages. maybe a little bit too much

🌙 MOON - what is your oc's greatest wish? how far are they willing to go for it?

reid doesn't have very big dreams anymore ever since he got out of maxtac. his greatest wish is for his boyfriend to stay with him forever. whether that is in a romantic relationship or as friends further down the line he really doesn't care much- though preferably the first- but he most of all just wants to spend the rest of his life with him if circumstances allow them to. he would burn down the whole city for it if he had to

🙈 SEE-NO-EVIL - whats a side of your oc that they don't want to show other people?

reid used to be an officer at maxtac and he was very strict and well-respected when still in the field. his quick thinking and efficiency in both the way he works as well as in the orders he gives are all valuable skills to have- but ultimately he does NOT want anyone to have to see that side of him ever again

he hates the person he used to be and doesn't want to order people around, even if it's just pretend or if it's necessary for the circumstances they find themselves in. he'd much rather let someone else take the wheel and if that doesn't happen and he's still forced into that position, he will hold back as much as he can

✂️ SCISSORS - what is the "last straw" for them to cut someone out of their life? how easily do they let go of people?

reid can cut people out of his life pretty easily, having a very clear set of boundaries and being very direct to those around him about them. he doesn't do it much anymore since he finds himself in a place where things can get talked out and he likes it much better that way, but if it had to happen again he wouldn't hesitate to do it

despite the ease of it all, reid does not ever truly let go of people. he carries a piece of them around with him at all times and if they were very close, they even shaped part of him so a part of him would literally be like that because of them and he cannot ever get rid of that. he mostly deals with it by pushing memories and feelings away but it's not a permanent solution since all of it resurfaces so easily for him

✏️ PENCIL - is there a particular quote / lyric that you associate with them?

🌟 GLOWING STAR - what do they think about when they look at the night sky? is there someone they want to star gaze with?

when reid looks at the night sky he feels calm. at ease. home. it's the same sky that he's looked at for all his life and it's the same sky that has watched over him for all those years- the same sky he used to look at with his sister when they would sneak out to stargaze together, the same sky he had his first kiss under, the same sky that saw him get together with cassidy and break up with him a few years later. it's a constant in his life that makes him feel so small but in a good way if that makes sense

he wants to stargaze with kitty (his sister) again most of all. she's back in night city now and reid has missed her tremendously and he wants to spend more time together with her again. and of course he wants to stargaze with his boyfriend :)

💗 GROWING HEART - if they have a crush, is it noticable? what changes when they're in love?

reid doesn't fall in love easily anymore but when he does, you can tell by the way he has very clearly found a reason to get up in the morning again. some days are still difficult and the job isn't always fun, but you can catch him waiting for them, looking out for them, making time in his schedule to say good morning and have a little chat. every single interaction would leave him with a bit more life to him than before

#asks #reaperkiller #ask:reid #oc asks #THANK YOU. HE IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE #sorry about the quote i'm not elaborating but like. you can tell what it means from the context given in other answers :^)

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