Divergent Imagines

Protective (Eric Coulter)

It's hard to laugh while someone is glaring at you balefully from across the room, especially when this person happens to be one of the foremost leaders at Dauntless. For anyone else, being on the receiving end of this stare would be no doubt intimidating, something that would make them regret whatever they did to earn such a menacing look. You, however, when faced with this utter devastation, simply grin.

Eric Coulter looks almost disappointed that his usually fear-inducing glare isn't exactly working. Perhaps if you were feeling more inclined to joke along, you might almost wince or something, to make your husband feel better about this. However, you fell in love with him because you liked to rile him up, just a little bit, and so you do just that and laugh a little harder.

"I'm sorry, Eric, but I'm not going anywhere. I'm an initiation leader, same as you, and that means I'll be out there teaching until the day they declare me unfit for duty." Eric sighs. "I'm a leader as well, and I think that it would be best if you just stayed inside. We both have so much work to do that doesn't involve directly leading classes, wouldn't that be better?"

You give him a look. "Eric, if I seemed like I wanted to do paperwork all day you may have to just check me into the medical wing already, because I would clearly be out of my mind. I'm going to class, and I will go to class the next day and the next until I am sure that I can't anymore. Let me have this, love. It won't be long now until I won't be able to do anything at all, and I want to be able to enjoy my last few weeks of freedom."

You can tell that Eric is close to relenting, but he casts one last hesitant look at your stomach before he gives in. "Fine, but if you get hurt-" You smile reassuringly, taking his hand. "I won't, and if I do, you can say 'I told you so' all you want." Eric grumbles, although you can tell that he's trying to hide a smile of his own. "I'm sure that will make everything better, won't it?" You laugh. "Of course it will."

It's not like you can't understand Eric's concerns- you're pregnant, and you've known this now for a while. It wouldn't be so bad to manage a pregnancy if you had an office job like he suggested, but your task in Dauntless instead involves managing the newest initiates and training them in all sorts of physical combat- exactly the type of thing that you technically should be avoiding. Is it the best idea to keep teaching? Maybe not, but it's better than just sitting still all day while you can still be out and about. You'll have your time to rest, but you want to do more than that now.

So, you pack up your things and get ready for another day of instruction. Eric meets you by the door, and you let him press one last kiss to the top of your head before the two of you start out, another day yet to fall before you. You can sense the slight shift in Eric's mood as he passes over the threshold of your rooms, a change in the way he carries himself. He can be calm and worried and caring when it's just the two of you, but out here? To the rest of Dauntless, he's Eric Coulter, one of the toughest guys to ever come out of the initiation process.

You see that too, of course, but you're glad that he can let down his guard around you just like you can let your guard down around him. That's why the two of you fell in love, actually, because months and years of always having to be intimidating and fierce all the time can wear on you. You had been surprised by how easy it was to just be yourself around him, and he was the same with you. All of a sudden, you hadn't wanted to leave him, and when he'd asked you out, you had said yes with practically no hesitation at all.

Now you're long since married, and you're soon to be showing for your pregnancy. Truth be told, you hadn't expected Eric to be quite so protective of you quite so quickly, but it still makes you smile that silly little grin you'd worn ever since he first started dating you, so you're not entirely sure that you mind it. Yes, it might get a little bothersome on days like this when you just want to be out and about and do things, but other than that, you appreciate him looking out for you.