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green-socks · 2 years

Text

Don't Turn Away

Pairing: Robert 'Bob' Floyd x gn!reader

Summary: Bob had felt more or less invisible all his life. When that became a reality, he didn't feel like much had changed. But you still saw him.

Words: 2.8k

Warnings: Bob has a very sad backstory for the purposes of this fic. He's basically some sort of ghost but also not, like he sort of died but also didn't?? Made it up as I went. It's cute tho I promise.

Notes: This was one of those where an idea hit and four hours later I had a fic ready. I quite liked writing this! Thank you to @wyn-n-tonic for the plotting help and to @a-reader-and-a-writer for the incredibly quick and helpful beta and also for just existing. <3

MASTERLIST

Working at The Hard Deck you saw all sorts of people every day. Mostly Navy personnel, sure, but there was variety in that group also. They certainly provided a variety of entertainment. You had been working at the bar even before Penny bought it, but she had let you stay on, and to be honest, you preferred her as an employer, so it all worked out for you. She often left you in charge since you had the most experience out of the younger staff. As it was, you were well used to handling the rush hours, the late nights, the drunk customers, and the surprisingly weird shenanigans they could get up to. You always thought you’d seen everything, and every time they proved you wrong.

Lately, however, you had begun to suspect that the late nights were getting to you after all. Or maybe you were somehow in a permanently drunken state being around all that beer all the time. Whatever it was, you were… Well, you were sort of getting the feeling that one of your customers was.. invisible?

It started with small, almost unnoticeable things happening here and there. One time you were carrying empty glasses back to the kitchens and nearly dropped them trying to avoid a customer running into you, but the pile of glassware somehow stayed upright even though there was no one else near to help you. A few times you came to the opening shift and could’ve sworn the place was somehow cleaner than when you had closed off the night before, as if there was some magical barmaid fairy polishing after you. (You weren’t sure if you should have felt guilty about not doing your own work well enough or offended that someone seemed to think there was room for improvement). Then there was the fact that you kept seeing payments for snacks you were pretty sure you hadn’t sold. It was messing with your head – and the bookkeeping!

Not that you’d ever say something like that out loud to anyone. Those who wouldn’t believe you would think you’re being silly at best, and then those who might believe you would just freak out. You weren’t even totally certain if you believed in that stuff yourself, but you had a childhood friend who you knew not only believed in it but had spent her whole life studying all paranormal things. She would have believed you, but you weren’t really ready to call her yet either.

However, all of these little things kept piling up over the course of several months, and at some point, you were forced to admit you truly weren’t hallucinating. So then you started really looking.

It was (obviously) easier said than done, trying to catch an invisible being, but you thought you noticed when they were around a lot, and then times when they were completely absent for days, or even weeks. Those were the times you’d start thinking you had imagined it all, but then the signs would show up again, and you felt a sort of sense of relief. It was real, and it was something you had learned to expect now. It would be odd if it stopped completely. Besides, whoever or whatever this being was, they were very polite and helpful. You weren’t planning on getting rid of your friendly bar fairy.

It took several weeks, but eventually you were able to catch the being in action. You had closed the bar as usual and gotten to your car when you realized you were still wearing your work shoes and had left your usual shoes behind. Knowing you’d need your normal shoes tomorrow morning, you went back to switch them.

A pool cue that was floating in mid-air clattered to the floor when you stepped back inside. Someone else might have chalked it up to the cue just dropping from where it had been left, but you knew what it was. Who it was.

“You’re here!” you gasped quietly. You didn’t move, but your body was buzzing and your senses felt alert. “Who are you? Why have you been helping us?”

There was no answer. You felt a little disappointed, but at the same time you hadn’t truly expected an answer.

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful,” you went on, aiming for a soothing tone. “I appreciate it a lot. All you’ve done, being helpful. It must have been you who left that tip for me last night when that one guy forgot, right?”

Still no answer.

“I just came to switch my shoes. Left with the wrong ones on again. You can continue whatever you are here to do. I’ll leave you to it in just a moment.”

It felt weird aiming your smile at thin air, but you tried. No harm in trying, right?

You were like 99% confident the being wouldn’t harm you in any way, but your body still tingled with adrenaline and the feeling of the eyes you were sure were on your back as you snuck into the staff room. When you returned, the cue stick had been returned to its place on the rack, which to you seemed like your bar fairy had confirmed their existence without words.

“Good night, friend. Maybe I’ll see you again tomorrow,” you said softly as you left.

Heart still pounding, you belatedly wondered if it had been offensive to say “see you” to someone you couldn’t see. Oh, well.

A few days later when you were on closing shift again, you dawdled on purpose, making sure you were the last one there and working much slower than usual, hoping they would be here again. You felt certain they had been at the bar at least earlier in the evening, because there was again a bag of peanuts gone, but the usual extra payment was there as well. You had no idea if invisible creatures could even eat but you’d place your bets on yes, because this one seemed to enjoy salty snacks.

“Are you here again? I’d like to talk to you if you are.”

No answer. Maybe they were just really shy? You kept talking.

“You know, at first I wondered if you were here to tell me to do my job better, since you always leave this place in neater shape than I do,” you chuckled.

“No!”

The voice was so small and quiet you could almost have missed it, but it was there.

“No?”

“I-I didn’t mean to make you feel like that,” the voice stammered from somewhere near the jukebox. “I’m sorry. I’ll go.”

It sounded like a male voice to you, or what you stereotypically thought of as a male voice, and it sounded both dejected and surprised to be talking in the first place.

“No! Don’t go! I want you to stay,” you implored. “I like having you around. You feel friendly.”

“I like having things to do with my hands. I figured if I was helping it wasn’t so creepy that I was here. I honestly thought no one would notice,” the voice explained. It was still quiet and soft, but more sure than a minute ago.

“I noticed, though I must admit I doubted myself for a long time. There were times when I didn’t notice you here, or I guess I noticed your absence and wasn’t sure if I had imagined you in the first place. I should have believed in you. Or myself, too.”

“Sometimes I.. have to go away for a while.”

“It’s okay. This is a Navy bar; people come and go all the time.”

It seemed that the being wasn’t quite ready to have long conversations yet, but seemed to accept that you wanted them around. You kept talking, hoping to entertain them, while you finally finished for the night. As you left, you asked if they would keep you company tomorrow night too and received an affirmative. That was good enough for you for now.

It progressed like that for the next few weeks. You told the ghosty about calling him a bar fairy one night, which had gained an honest to god surprised laugh out of him. You told him stories about this and that, rambling on about whatever, and he seemed content to listen, only sharing things occasionally. He did explain about his ongoing project of fixing the old jukebox, and that was the most you had ever heard him talk. He seemed relaxed, for the lack of a better word, when talking about the machine which you understood nothing about.

One night you were feeling brave.

“Can I ask for your name? I’d like to know what to call you, other than silly nicknames that I keep making up.”

“I’m- It’s.. Robert. I don’t mind the nicknames,” he said shyly.

“Well, nice to officially meet you Robert,” you grinned.

You saw a sudden flash of something at the jukebox where Robert was still tinkering away. You had gotten used to seeing things floating around by now, but what was unusual was that you could see a hand holding them.

You dropped the box you were holding with a muffled little shriek.

“Robert! You hand! I can see your hand.”

But as soon as the words left your mouth, it was gone, as if acknowledging it had sent it back to hiding.

“Gosh, I’m sorry, I was just shocked. I didn’t know that could happen,” you breathed, trying to calm down.

“Me neither,” came his shocked, quiet reply.

As time passed, these things, these flashes of skin or clothes became more common. You were starting to make out the shape of this man. He looked quite tall and lean, with pale skin and long, slender limbs. His hands, whenever you got a peek of them, were becoming a favorite of yours. They were large, but they worked so cleverly, you found yourself staring after them even when they disappeared again. The first time you’d called him Robbie, his neck had become visible, sporting a slight blush. You had nearly swooned all the way to the floor at that.

Somehow you had progressed to meeting outside your workplace, with him sometimes coming for a walk with you or spending time at your place, watching a movie. You found out he liked Star Wars and watching them had brought out his ears and nose for the evening. There didn’t seem to be any pattern to these flashes, other than that he always seemed happy or relaxed when they happened. You tried not to say much about them lest he feel pressured, but you secretly cherished them. It felt nice, getting to know him in all these ways, and you were greedy for more.

Robert hadn’t been opening up about his past much, but one time after you’d been joking around and laughing in stitches, his whole right leg had appeared. From his clothing you had recognized that he, too, was a Navy man.

You didn’t want to push him, but you were dying to hear his story.

You were sitting on the floor of The Hard Deck, having finished all the chores but for some reason lingering there instead of going home yet. It was then Robert finally shared it all with you.

He explained how he’d grown up in the foster system and joined the Navy as soon as he could, since he didn’t really have anyone.

“I liked the idea of structure, and having people around all the time, and feeling useful, I suppose.”

His voice was low and rather quiet again. You held out your hand, offering it if he wanted to take it, and you felt two cold hands wrapping around yours.

“And then I.. died, as you probably guessed, in a situation where all that could have gone wrong went wrong. The pilot I was flying with survived but got badly injured. I’m not entirely sure when I realized I had died. Or not died. I’m still not entirely sure. I never really made a decision to let go, but I never really decided to fight to stay alive either. So I just.. stayed like this.”

He fell quiet for a moment.

“It felt comfortable, being like this. Familiar. I’d gotten so used to no one seeing me, it didn’t feel like a real change. So I made no move to change it. I don’t even know if I could, now.”

“I’m so sorry, Robert,” you whispered.

You felt him shrug beside you.

“It’s okay. Like I said, it’s familiar. And I still work, sometimes. I get to make myself useful.”

“Wait, you mean you still fly??”

“Yeah. My “death” was hushed up, but there are a couple of higher ups in the Navy who know about, uhm, what I am, and they sometimes need me for discreet missions. It’s.. work. There’s supposed to be a big mission coming up soon where they might need me again.”

“Is that why you hang out here? To be close to the base? And other Navy people?”

“That, and lately.. you.”

You smiled, leaning your head against his shoulder. You felt the press of cold lips on your forehead and hummed contently.

“I’m glad you’re here. Really glad.”

Your eyes were closed, so you didn’t see his smiling face flickering into view.

--------

Bob hadn’t even really expected to have a relationship, even as a regular human. But now it seemed he had somehow moved in with his partner, because that’s what you were, there was no denying that. Not that he wanted to. But he was still trying to wrap his head around how it all had happened, when the call came for a new mission. “The Big One”.

It was funny, he had never feared going on deployments before, since there was no one there to wait for him to come home. And it wasn’t that he was scared now, either, but he found that he would have liked to just stay at home with you. The few people who knew about him in the Navy didn’t really see him as more than an asset, not like you did. No one had ever seen him like you did.

Dutifully he made his way to The Hard Deck, as he did every day you had a shift, but this time it wasn’t just to see you. It was to familiarize himself with the other aviators called in for this top-secret mission. Bob wasn’t sure at all how he would contribute this time, but he thought it best to get the lay of the land.

Settling into a spot near the pool table, he watched the crowd trickle in for the night. He felt like this bar was home as much as your apartment was with the time he had spent here. Which is why it felt funny watching cocky pilots strut around the place like they owned it, when Bob doubted anyone knew the place as well as he did.

As he was following two pilots playing pool and messing around, he felt you sweep a hand across his back.

“It’s just me,” you whispered unnecessarily, as if he couldn’t tell your touch from any other sensation.

You leaned closer to him with the pretense of picking up empty glasses over his shoulder (not that anyone else could tell where his shoulder was).

“I just wanted to come by and say how I much I love knowing you’re here while I work. I love you,” you murmured softly right in his ear before sweeping away again.

Bob felt a whole-body tingle from head to toe. He was honestly glad he was invisible just now. He preferred keeping his giddy happiness all to himself, his to enjoy.

He brushed the crumbs from his lap, thinking he should go find you and say I love you back, when he heard a question that made him freeze.

“Who’s he?”

“Who’s who?

Bob lifted his gaze to find a dark-haired woman nodding her head toward him. Straight at him.

“When did you get here?” a man asked.

“Oh, I- I’ve been here the whole time,” he stammered, not knowing what else to do, fighting back both tears and panic rising in his throat.

Bob could see five people, all looking at him, actually looking at him and not through him, for the first time in years. It felt overwhelming to say the least, and he was helpless to do anything but work on muscle memory alone as the woman extended her hand to him, introducing herself.

Incredulous, Bob turned to look at you behind the counter, seeking confirmation that he wasn’t dreaming this up.

You stood there, tears streaming from your eyes, a blindingly gorgeous smile on your face.

You could see him too.

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tagsies: @wildbornsiren @mayhem24-7forever @callsign-phoenix @hederasgarden @lt-natrace @yespolkadotkitty @marvelousmermaid @luckyladycreator2 @ickleronniekinsemotionalrange @lorecraft

#robert bob floyd x you #robert floyd x reader #robert 'bob' floyd #top gun fic #top gun: maverick #top gun brainrot #i accidentally wrote something #lewis pullman

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