#admittedly I haven’t seen the fireworks’ projections up close yet

[starryserenade]

Anyone else feel like there’s been a distinct lack of Minnie appreciation in this whole D100 thing so far?

[bonanana]

Agent North Dakota x reader

You weren't one of the badass Freelancers, you weren't one of the guards or soldiers, you were merely the technician. Close to the best technician, yes, but still. You seemed insignificant compared to the others.

You lay on the ground, late at night, in the Mother Of Invention. Humming along to the tune you'd gotten stuck in your head. Holding a screwdriver between your teeth as you were underneath the console in one of the training rooms. Fidgeting with the power switches.

You heard footsteps, but didn't think much of it. You knew that some of the freelancers were up at this hour. Despite the designated time they had for bed.

You didn't have that.

A spark makes you grunt, turning your head away from the source. Sighing when you smell smoke.

"Huh, that's going to keep me up for a good few more hours." You mumble and reach over to grab your electrical tape to hold the wires. Your other hand holding them in place, but one slipped from your fingers and slapped your face with a sting.

You yelp and drop the wires, sliding yourself out from under the console. Rubbing your face. The now red, burnt mark from the hot wire against your cheek.

Hunching your shoulders and sighing, you groan. "Well shit." Looking at your hands, you see they're covered in dark dust and oil smears. "And there's stuff on my face now, isn't there? Great."

"Yeah, need a wipe?" You hear a smooth, sweet voice ask.

But still you jumped. Looking up at the man.

His blue eyes were warm, fixed on you in a concerned and halfway endeared way. His lips curled into a soft smile. He was leaning over the console, his arms folded, laying on the edge of the surface.

"No, sir. I'm alright." You clear your throat, face heating up. "Sorry if I woke you."

"No no, you didn't wake me up." He laughs carelessly, shaking his head. "I walk around at this time most every night."

You wipe your hands on the dark, already dirtied, pants you wore. Cleaning them off. Chewing on the inside of your mouth as you broke the eye contact, you cast your eyes to the side. "Why's that?" You pipe up, but then backtrack, glancing back at him momentarily. "If, if I'm allow to ask that, that is."

Running a hand through his hair, the blond shrugged, rolling his shoulders. "Theta. He can't sleep most nights. So I walk him around."

Slowly everything fell into place, your mouth almost falling open at that.

"I haven't seen you around here before though, why are you up?" He counters. You were assuming he was doing it playfully, but the nervousness that still built in your gut was there nonetheless.

It wasn't surprising that he didn't know who you were. Or hadn't noticed you before. So you snort lightly at that. But you sure knew who he was.

This was Agent North Dakota. Twin to South Dakota. One of the best, in your opinion at least, freelancers out there. He'd recently gotten implanted with the AI Theta. You'd seen him fight in reels that they'd play for reviewing purposes. And after the first time, you'd purposely go and watch all of the ones that were up for accessing. Loving watching him and his twin, or his close friend Agent New York, move across the field. Kicking ass.

You'd slowly gained a crush on him, admittedly. His voice, soft and warm. His humor was refreshing. He was so nice to his teammates yet he could take charge when need be. You couldn't believe that this was the first time you were able to see his face.

He was so incredibly handsome. More so than you'd imagined.

And that only made you so much more nervous.

"Eh, I'm a technician." You gesture to what you were doing before. "If you can't tell. And I have a lot of angrily damaged equipment to fix before all of the freelancers get up to use and destroy it again." You smiled, rubbing the back of your neck. "So I'm up late often, as well."

North's brows crease, letting a sigh slip from his lips, "Most of the damage would be made by my sister, South. I'm sorry about that."

You wave him off. Shaking your head. "No need to apologise! You didn't do anything wrong."

He was about to respond when a small flash of purple light cut him off, a little armored figure caught your attention. You blinked a couple times when you realized that the little man was Theta.

"I've never seen an AI before." You whisper, mostly to yourself though.

Theta turned to look at North, sitting on the console's top; or, projecting, technically. "Who are they, North? Are they nice?"

"Yes, Theta. They're nice." North smiled at the small glowing boy. "Why don't you introduce yourself?"

Theta hesitated for a moment, but then he turned to face you. His small glowing figure trembling slightly. He held onto his small skateboard. "Hi. I'm Theta."

You pulled your knees up to your chest and wrapped your arms around them, tilting your head with a smile. "Hi, Theta. I'm (Y/n). It's nice to meet you! You're very cute."

"Thank you!" He cheered. Looking back at North for a minute, but he didn't say anything. Just looked.

"Told you." The man laughed in response to no audible statement.

Theta began talking to you again, and you just listened and answered his questions. He'd ask about what you do, if you liked it, what that snack is in your box. Time flew by, but the little AI unit was so chipper. You couldn't help but thrive off of his good mood.

"Want to see a cool trick I can do?" He asked, sheepishness seeping into his voice.

"Of course, buddy." You nod in agreement, smiling.

Theta set his skateboard down, and it fizzled out with purple pixels as he crouched down then flung his body up. Arms thrown into the air as a clash of purple and pink fireworks popped above him. He cheered. Throwing more of the little explosions up into the air.

You clapped at his display, grinning at him. “That’s so pretty, Theta!”

He laughed, such a cute little giggle, and thanked you. He turned towards North, and they communicated silently. You didn’t necessarily feel excluded. You didn’t figure you had the right to feel excluded. Not when he and the unit are connected in the brain. You sit and zone out, examining him as you chew your lip. Thinking on how it might feel to have someone else in your head all the time. Another set of thoughts. Someone else accessing your memories freely.

That’s fucked up.

Theta fizzles out, disappearing into nothing. Catching your attention. You look up at North and meet his eyes. “Thanks for talking to Theta for so long.” He grins, his voice smooth as ever. The sweet look in his eyes never leaves. You wondered if he always managed to look so pleasant. 

“No problem.” You laugh and wave him off, smiling slightly and rubbing the back of your neck. You couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. It’s not like you had done anything important. “I enjoyed talking to the little guy.”

North waves at you as he walks out of the room slowly, resting by the doorframe. “Well, he and I enjoyed it very much as well. Maybe I’ll run into you again sometime soon, when I can talk to you. Not just Theta.”

He held this promising smile. One you recognized as one that indicated he was going to make this maybe a when. You smiled back and waved. Too flustered to respond.

“Theta says bye, by the way.”