treacherous | druig x reader

19: bargaining

"What do you think?" You asked Druig as you slid into a booth at the back of the diner. You didn't know what kind of response you were hoping for but you two hadn't said anything to each other since admitting you had missed him. There hadn't been any awkwardness or tension that you could sense but you still felt some nerves creeping up and just had to say something.

This included asking him his opinion on a diner that was cosplaying the 1950s.

"It's...quaint," Druig replied after seemingly forcing himself to look at the cheesy decor.

You felt like a train hit you as you remembered where you were and who you were with. "I'm sorry I took you to a retro diner, that seems really silly of me given the fact..." You motioned in Druig's direction. He looked humored by you. "Well, you know what I mean. I'm sorry, this is—,"

"Weird."

You sighed. "But not in a bad way."

Druig chuckled. "No, not in a bad way. This is good. At least, I think it's good." He cleared his throat. "But it is different."

You shifted against the plastic vinyl lining of the booth. "The village is really gone, yes?"

He nodded. "We managed to save some remnants of it here and there but, yes, it's gone."

Not sure what to say, what could even be useful in a time like this, you glanced down at your menu laying in front of you on the table. You knew what you were going to order the moment you recommended the place but right now your focus needed to be somewhere else just for a second.

You were still feeling a lot, to say the least. Being away left a powerful bitterness but reuniting brought a wave of other emotions, especially when you and your soulmate had such special circumstances. Reuniting seemed like the goal but it wasn't the ending. The credits weren't rolling, the movie was still playing, and you had to bring yourself to realize there was a lot for you two to face.

"You've become popular," Druig said, cutting through the sudden silence.

You forced yourself to glance back over at him. "What?"

He smirked. "The internet forum. That post was yours, wasn't it? If not, you and whoever wrote it could be best friends. Seem to have a lot in common."

You closed your menu. Druig hadn't even touched his. "You—You saw that? How..."

"I may be old but I know how to access the internet," he replied. You shot him a look, completely unconvinced. He sighed and buckled under the weight of your stare. "Alright, Sersi found it. She showed it to me before I left for New York."

You fiddled with the corner of your menu as you tried to hunt for something to say. You admittedly hadn't considered any of this when you wrote the post. You didn't expect it to gain any traction and you certainly hadn't expected your soulmate to ever come across it. Foolishly, you knew that now, but it was such a grey area of time and a release was imminent.

A waiter came by to take your orders, thankfully allowing you a couple more minutes to ponder over how you would respond. You happily recited your order and Druig followed suit, ordering something generic and simple. It was evident he had his focus on you and, more importantly, your response.

"I didn't mean for it to turn into anything," you explained once the waiter left you two alone again. "I... I've spent so much of my life reading through those forums and learning about other people's stories that I wanted to contribute. I wanted to just get it out there, share my experience, and maybe someone would find interest or even comfort in my...our story. It certainly wasn't meant to go viral." You paused. "Are you upset about the post?"