This will form part of a full length fic, but idk it came naturally to me, so have it as a mini ficlet first. This part is sfw, the next won't be. Also, I know that there isn't much revealed here about Alex's backstory for her 'BioShock' setting; this will obviously be revealed in the full fic, but, if you want to know if for the purposes of this fic, ficlet, feel free to message me and I will happily send the link to the page of her RP blog that has it detailed (however it will spoil the main fic, so be warned) :) xxx
She knew that she shouldn't be coming to see him. Alex had been meeting Atlas on almost a daily basis for the last fortnight. He was a busy man; she was probably wasting his time. But he never gave her that impression. He always seemed genuinely pleased to see her.
As she walked into his office, still feeling a little nervous from walking past the Splicers, Atlas flashed her that charming smile, and Alex already felt herself relaxing. She returned the smile, but tried to rearrange her face into more of a neutral expression.
"You alright, love?" Atlas asked, a frown crossing his features as he stood up and moved around to the front of the desk. He leant on it, the muscles of his arms tensing slightly as he tightened his fingers around the edge of the desk.
Alex nodded, realising that changing her expression so quickly must have made her look a little odd. "Yeah, I'm fine." It was a lie, of course. Alex hadn't felt fine since the night that Molly had disappeared.
She was getting annoyed with herself, and she'd only been in the room for a minute. Her eyes kept travelling from Atlas' face to his arm muscles, and then drifted across his chest and slightly straining shirt. Alex was annoyed with herself for how attractive she found the Irishman.
"Are you sure?" There was a layer of soft concern in Atlas' voice. "Pardon me for sayin' it, but you don't look fine. Are you still not sleepin'?"
A sigh left Alex. How could she sleep? Sleeping put her at risk of dreaming. Dreaming about Molly, or about Frank, or about all manner of horrors that she had seen since the civil war had begun.
"I'll take that as a 'no'," Atlas said, offering Alex a kind smile. "I know it's hard, pet, but you need to sleep." He paused, taking a minute to look over Alex. She seemed to get skinnier every time he saw her. "And you need to eat as well."
Alex just shook her head. "I can't. I don't have time to look for food, not when I'm looking for Molly or trying to help you."
"Alex, you're not goin' to be able to help your baby girl or me if you're dyin' of hunger," Atlas pointed out, pushing off from the desk and walking closer to her. He took his hands in hers, and gave them a little squeeze. "You need to eat somethin'."
His hands felt rough and warm against hers, and Alex sighed slightly. "I can't. How can I just sit and eat when Molly is still one of those things? She's been gone for over a year now." She sniffed slightly.
"You can't help her if you're not goin' to keep yourself alive?" Atlas said gently. And, on seeing the tears in her eyes, he moved his arms around her, holding her close. "It's alright, love. You're goin' to be alright. We'll find your Molly, okay? We'll bring her back, somehow."
Alex didn't know what it was about Atlas that made her believe him, but she did. His voice was just so calming, and he was so gentle and kind with her. He was so comforting, and it made her want to believe him. Feeling the guilt return, Alex momentarily tensed up in Atlas' arms, but, on feeling his warmth and inhaling his scent, Alex relaxed again, letting her arms move around his waist and her head fall against his chest.
He was considerably taller than her, Alex reckoned that he had to be about six foot three, maybe even six four. Frank had been tall too, it had been one of the first things that she had noticed about him when they'd met. The thought bought a few more tears to her eyes. She didn't want to think about Frank.
Atlas held her close, just shushing her gently for a few moments, one of his hands coming up to stroke through her hair. "You need to give yourself a break," he said, letting the embrace go on for as long as she allowed it to. "Food, sleep, you can't go on much longer without them, pet. Look at you, you're startin' to look like one of them ghosts."
"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Alex asked, pulling back just enough to look up at him.
"No, Alex, I'm not," he assured her, lifting one of his hands to cup her cheek. "Because I… I care about you."
A soft silence fell between them, and they stayed still for a moment. And then Atlas leant down, tilting Alex's head a little, just enough for him to press his lips to hers, almost like he was testing the waters.
And Alex welcomed the kiss.
She'd been so lonely for so long, and Atlas made her feel safe, and comforted, and she hadn't realised how much she'd needed the simple kiss. A soft sigh came from Alex when Atlas pulled away, the kiss hadn't lasted long enough.
Alex tried to lean up to kiss him again, but Atlas drew away from her, smirking slightly.
"Alright, I've got an idea," he said, his thumb stroking over her cheekbone. "You let me get you some food, and I'll kiss you again. Eat it, and I'll give you another kiss."
Alex couldn't help the smitten smile that spread across her lips, and she considered Atlas' proposal for a moment, before nodding. "I think I can probably handle that," she smiled.
"Good girl," Atlas grinned, giving her the lightest of kisses, before slipping his hand into hers. He led her out of the office, ignoring the look that one of the Splicers outside his office gave the two of them, and took her to his room.
While she had met Atlas several times, it had never been anywhere other than his office, and Alex looked around the room curiously. It was hardly spacious, but nowhere down here near the fisheries was. There was a little table in the corner with two chairs by it, and there were files and an audio diary scattered over it, which Atlas quickly cleared away.
"Here, sit down, love, and I'll find you somethin' to eat," he smiled at her, gesturing to one of the chairs as he left the room again.
As she sat down, Alex looked around at the rest of the room. From where she was sitting, she could see a chest of drawers on the right hand side wall, and, beyond that, there was a door, presumably to a bathroom. On the other wall, there was a bed, a pair of blue pyjama pants and a white vest top abandoned on top of it. Alex couldn't help but smile slightly as she pictured Atlas in them. She imagined he looked incredible.
She hastily shifted her eyes to the table when the door opened, knowing that colour had entered her cheeks. She felt terrible for thinking that way, for… for lusting over Atlas when there were far more important things to think about. The most important of those things being her daughter.
"It's hardly the sort of fare you're probably used to, but I managed to find you some soup," Atlas said as he brought the bowl to the table and set it down in front of her. "I imagine you got some nicer stuff up in Olympus Heights."
Alex laughed. "I won't deny that, but it's been a while since I was treated to anything like that. I've been living off a diet of potato chips and pep bars for a long time."
"And not enough of those, by the look of you. You're skin and bones, love," Atlas commented. There was no insult in his voice, only concern.
Alex sighed a little. "I know, it's just… It's just hard to remember to eat or sleep, stuff like that seems so… trivial, I suppose."
Atlas leant down slightly, gently running one of his hands through her hair. "I know, Alex, believe me. That's why I'm makin' you eat," he smiled. "Speakin' of which, I think I promised you somethin'." He leant down further, just enough to press a soft kiss to Alex's lips. "You eat all of that, and I might just give you another kiss."
"Only one?" Alex asked boldly, smiling back at him. "Surely a big bowl of soup deserves more than one kiss."
He laughed, straightening up again and moving to sit in the other chair. "Maybe, if you're lucky," he grinned.
Alex smiled again, and a comfortable silence fell as she picked up the spoon and started to eat the soup. It was good, warm, hearty, filling. It reminded her of the time she'd spent in Rapture before moving in with Frank. Having not had much money, this sort of food had been all she could afford. After the first few spoonfuls, Alex realised just how hungry she was, and it didn't take long for her to finish off the rest of it.
The grin flickered back onto Atlas' face when Alex put the spoon down, the soup bowl now empty. "You know, love, I'm feckin' glad you finished it," he chuckled as he moved to her, took her hands in his, and pulled her to her feet, "Else I wouldn't have been able to do this." Atlas wound his arms around her and pulled her close, bringing his lips to hers in a strong kiss.
This kiss went on longer than the last few had, and Alex was happy to let it. Her arms moved around the Irishman's neck, and she wound her fingers up in his thick brown hair, their lips moving together in unison. She was losing herself in the kiss, she knew, but she found that she didn't care. It felt good to kiss him, to just let herself go and let this happen.
And so, when one of Atlas' hands moved to her hip, his fingers just pressing into the side of her rear, she didn't stop him. She didn't want to stop him. Alex kept one of her hands in his hair, and let the other move to his chest, her fingers resting over his pectoral muscle as the kiss got a little more desperate.
Alex could feel the smile on Atlas' lips as he kissed her, and she found that she was mirroring it. She needed this. She needed him. She needed what he could give her, not only the pleasure and the distraction, but the warmth, the security… The notion of not having to be in control of herself. From the way he was kissing her, Alex could see that Atlas was the dominant one, and she was more than happy to give up control to him. For tonight, at least, she was his.