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amatchinwater · 1 year

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Picture is my screenshot from the game!!

Tell Me it's Gonna be Okay

Pairing: Ereloy

Characters: Aloy, Erend, Zo (mentioned), Varl (mentioned), Beta (mentioned)

Warnings: feelings of anxiety, painful memories, hfw spoilers!

Words: 1817

Ao3 link Masterlist

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Fresh air unobscured by the crumbling, decrepit walls of Tilda’s mansion brushes against Aloy’s face. The Nora wishes that the cool breeze from the ocean did anything to quell the burning rage inside of her. Stopped the sickening sadness leeching her heart. No matter how miniscule of a change, she’d welcome it. Because right now, Aloy feels seconds away from a panic attack.

She dispatches the machines around Tilda’s place with precision. Ease fueled by the fire and sorrow in her veins. Power she knows good and well that she possesses proved fruitless against the Zeniths. And Varl paid the price.

Varl.

Aloy’s heart throbs in her chest, the memory of what was basically her best friend being murdered right before her eyes. GAIA and her sister kidnapped while the Nora lay helpless by the override. Not even whilst a literal outcast did Aloy feel as helpless as she did in Gemini.

She promised Beta’s safety.

Assured Zo that Varl would come back.

Aloy never wanted any of this to happen. Not because of her. Never because of her.

She didn’t even realize she'd crumbled to the ground until her knees grew damp from a puddle. Aloy taps her focus, desperately needing to hear his voice. “E-Erend? You there?”

“Aloy?! Aloy,” he sounds choked up, “is that really you?”

“Yeah,” she breathes out the smallest sigh of relief, “it’s me. Where is everyone?”

“We’re all…we’re back at base,” the Oseram speaks mournfully. We meaning him, Kotallo, Zo, and Alva. Key components missing from what’s essentially their home. “Aloy, I-” Erend sighs, “are you okay, Darlin’?”

Her heart swells. That amidst everything, he cares to ask about her. Aloy can’t go back to the base yet. Not with the massive hole there. Can’t face Zo knowing she didn’t uphold her promise to anyone. The Nora just isn’t ready to handle that.

Or maybe just incapable.

“Erend,” Aloy’s voice shakes. Her breath a stuttered gasp, more tears spilling from her eyes disguised from the rain. “I need you. Please, Erend, I-I need you.” Nothing has made the Nora feel more vulnerable than finally saying those words.

Because the truth is, there are multiple layers to what she’d just said. So many reasons behind telling him that. But right now, Aloy just needs Erend’s strong arms to wrap around her and tell her everything will be okay.

“Where are you?” The Oseram asks, sounding like he’s out of breath from running. “She’s alive, Zo. I’m gonna go get her. She’s okay,” he calls loudly.

She can barely hear the Utaru’s reply.

Is he already on his way?

Aloy checks the map on her focus, seeing a shelter not incredibly far away. If she runs and Erend is on a Bristleback, she should beat him by maybe an hour.

Possibly less.

“I sent you the coordinates.”

“Got ‘em. I’ll see you soon, okay? Soon.”

“Erend,” Aloy mutters through her tears, “please hurry.” Everything hurts and she just needs him.

“I know, Darlin’,” Erend grunts, probably pushing his mount harder. “I’m coming, Aloy.”

As much as she’d like to stay on the call with him, Aloy doesn’t. Tapping the call away, the Nora picks herself up out of the mud, not bothering to clean her knees of the grime. The rain will do it for her just fine. Even more so when she finally finds the strength to run. The wind whipping the cold rain against her clothes has them mostly clean in no time.

By the time Aloy makes it to the shelter, the rain has stopped. Leaving her a shivering mess, numb fingers desperately trying to bring life back to the campfire. The Nora is grateful that this one is under an overhang from the cliff, so at least she isn’t working with wet wood. That’d just make Aloy’s task that much harder.

Once the fire is burning nicely and Aloy is mostly dry, she curls her knees to her chest. Tightly wrapping her arms around herself while she waits for Erend. But Aloy can’t help the way her mind trails back to a dark, dangerous place. To the tragic, hurt look on Beta’s face when she couldn’t get a clean shot. To Varl. Poor Varl, the way Erik plunged into his chest like it was nothing.

Her last connection to home, yanked away from Aloy in a matter of painful seconds.

Tears spill freely down Aloy’s cheeks with no rain left to hide them.

But then the Nora sees the glow of a machine getting too close. Can hear the whirring of its legs. Aloy is already in position, arrow ready, half pulled back as a fire Bristleback comes into view. Aloy draws the arrow back fully, ready to let it loose the moment it notices her. Waiting for the blue lights to turn yellow.

“Whoa! It’s just me, Darlin’!” Erend exclaims, rearing his mount to a stop. “It’s me.”

“Erend,” Aloy gasps his name. Her entire body sags with relief, bow clattering to the ground as she stands up. The Nora barely gives him enough time to fully dismount before her arms fly around him. Throwing herself at the Oseram with a ferocious, biological need for him. In any capacity.

Erend immediately hugs her just as tightly. “By the forge,” he kisses the side of her head. Something he’s never done before, but it coils a sweet warmth around the Nora’s heart. “Darlin’, I’m so glad you’re safe. I thought-” Erend’s voice trembles, “I thought I lost you too. I couldn’t bear the thought. To lose you- you? Aloy, that’d end me, sure as steel.”

Blame her emotions. The cornucopia of feelings coursing through her. But Aloy needs something good. She needs Erend. If he pushes her away after, so be it. But she needs it, just once. His words only fueled it, making her feel like it’s okay to try.

With wet, hazel eyes, Aloy pulls back just enough to look up at him. Without thinking, or giving herself a chance to change her mind, she gently presses her mouth to his. Chapped from consistent travel with no stops to take a drink. But they’re warm and inviting, Erend returning the kiss with passion, squeezing her waist.

Possessive in nature but gentle in touch.

“Fire and spit,” Erend whispers, breaking their kiss to gasp for air. “I never thought I’d get to do that,” the Oseram looks at her fondly. “Are you okay, Darlin’?”

“What?” Aloy asks after a beat, her mind stuck on him having wanted to do that too.

Erend chuckles softly, his smile not fully meeting his eyes, but he gives her another small peck. “I asked if you’re okay. What did you need from me? How can I help, Aloy?”

The Nora blinks at him once. Two times. Even after their first kiss, he’s still wanting to check in with her. Attending to Aloy’s original call before even mentioning the romantic milestone they reached. She’s never even admitted to having feelings for him to anybody but Varl. Aloy isn’t completely oblivious either, she knows the Oseram has been flirting with her since the first time Erend opened his mouth.

But flirting with someone doesn’t equal wanting to be with them.

It also doesn’t help that Aloy doesn’t actually know how to answer that question. In the specific sense of it, the way the Oseram meant, no, she isn’t. But in an overall sense, now that Aloy is in Erend’s arms, she’s just fine. Because she knows that if she breaks, he’ll gladly help put the pieces back together. Just like she helped him about Ersa.

“Not exactly,” Aloy lets out a nervous laugh, knowing he could catch it if she tried to lie. “I just need you.”

“Come here,” Erend murmurs, carefully scooping her up in his arms. “I miss them too. You promised me a long time ago that we’d find my sister.” The Oseram’s boot gently nudges her weapons off the bed roll. Erend lowers himself on one knee, “I’m here to promise you the same. Everything is going to be okay, I know it.”

“But the Zeniths-”

“Fuck the Zeniths. They caught us off guard ‘s all.” Erend maneuvers them until he’s laying behind her. Arms firmly wrapped around the Nora to keep her close. “We will get Beta and GAIA back, I’m sure of it. You have my hammer, Darlin’ and I’ll stop at nothing, you hear me? Nothing until we get them back.”

Aloy smiles, eyes filling with tears at the lengths he’s always willing to go for her. “Thank you, Erend.”

“Always,” Erend squeezes her tighter, “always.”

“You let me kiss you,” the Nora sniffles, willing the tears to leave her now that she’s bracketed in the safety of his arms. “Then said you didn’t think you’d be able to.” Aloy shifts in his hold, looking up at the beautiful man glowing from the fire. “Why?”

Erend searches her face for a moment. For what, the Nora isn’t sure. But the Oseram finds it a second later, “don’t you know I’ve been in love with you since before the fight with HADES? The beautiful Nora that helped me when my own tribe wouldn’t.” Erend leans in, gently kissing her. “I owe you a life debt, but I fell for you face first. However you want me, in whatever capacity, Darlin’ you have me.”

This feeling she’s had blooming in her chest ever since the Daunt only worsened. Every time Aloy came back to the base to find Erend diligently reading, cooking with Beta, or joking with the others, the feeling intensified. Once he’d gotten there, it felt more and more like Aloy was coming home. To him. It didn’t fully click until Eren said it out loud just what that feeling was.

“I love you too, Erend,” Aloy smiles at her blue eyed Oseram.

Erend’s mutton chops pull at the corners of his mouth, his face lighting up at her admission. He kisses her passionately, facial hair tickling her cheeks but the Nora can’t bring herself to mind. “I’m glad you called me. I had to keep Zo at bay, she’s worried about you. But the second you said you needed me, I ran out of the base. You called me first,” he smiles sweetly.

“I needed to hear your voice,” Aloy curls her fingers into his shirt, “I needed you.”

“Anytime you need me, Darlin’, I’m here.”

Trepidation fills her without Aloy’s permission and she whispers, “and if I said I always needed you?”

He brushes their noses together, “then always is what you’ll have.” Erend kisses her forehead, coaxing Aloy to his chest, “now get some rest. We should head back soon, but they can wait a bit longer. Let someone take care of you for once.”

Aloy doesn’t have a single argument once she’s curled up with Erend. Falling asleep faster than ever before.

#hfw #horizon forbidden west #ereloy #aloy #erend vanguardsman #erend x aloy #aloy x erend #ao3 fic #Match Writes

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