Disclaimer: I enjoyed the Ready Player One movie, but I nowhere near own it.
Story: Life outside the Oasis was horrible and no one knows that better than Wade. So if she found solace in a jerk like Nolan Sorrento, that's her luck. Nolan just finds himself caught up on her, even if it may come time to choose between her and IOI.
Set as an AU genderbending fic.
Spoilers: Yes, definitely for the movie, but I have started to slip in stuff from the book.
Warnings: Age disparity, cursing and violence for now…hm, just in case since I'm usually writing it, bit of crazy humor, perverted humor, morbid or sarcastic humor, and maybe some sexual situations…
Pairings: Nolan Sorrento/Wade Watts
The Cigarette Duet
Chapter Four: Don't Make Me Cry
The hand threading through her hair, though hard and metal, was gentle. He never shifted in movement so her head lay perfectly still. It was comforting being here —the Halliday Archives was always quiet these days and the Curator was someone she had secretly always found comfort in. He never asked, he never judged. He just was.
Together they would watch Halliday's memories whenever she was in some kind of mood, or they would play trivia about Halliday. Sometimes she would talk. Usually just…random things. Or whatever was on her mind. Before meeting him, she would joke about and mock Sorrento to the Curator, who would sometimes quip back dryly. She'd even learned at one point from him that Sorrento had once interned for Halliday, which had surprised her.
Or sometimes she would be just like this: quiet, lifeless even…She would lay wherever and just be still, mind spiraling down while she was silent and miserable in these halls. He would be near, a silent comfort and reminder that she wasn't alone. There were rare times, like right now, where he would be closer and she wasn't struggling so hard to remember she wasn't drowning.
"Would you like to watch any of Halliday's memories, Parzival?" he asked politely, though he was still continuing to run his hand through her hair.
"…That would be nice," she said in a subdued tone.
A snap of his fingers and the wall in front of them ignited into a live screen.
"How about something funny?"
She smiled slightly while the memory began playing, and together they watched as Halliday as a teenager and his best friend Odgen Morrow started in on their first brainstorming and ended up causing a food fight that had one of their mothers yelling and lecturing them.
A slew of memories went by before Wade reluctantly got up.
"I have to go meet someone," she murmured. A part of her was still dragging her into her misery, but there was another part of her (a part that had only just recently come into being) that was eager and filled with happiness at the idea of meeting this man.
The Curator smiled. "Then have a good night, Parzival. Feel better, won't you? The next time I see you, I would like to see your pretty smile instead."
Wade ducked her head, but she did manage a small smile for him.
"Bye, Q."
She gave him a grateful smile before she left, thinking about where she was going next. In the mood she was in, she didn't know if she'd be good company for Sorrento anyway though.
When she found her way to the bar she was starting to frequent, she sighed to herself and wondered if this was a good idea. Not just meeting him as she was right now, but continuing this whole…affair? Whatever it was, it wasn't exactly something that was normal or even right.
Looking at the time, she saw that she was early again. She only hesitated a moment before deciding to enter the bar anyway. Heading to where she sat at last time, she was once again surprised by the bartender putting down a napkin in front of her and beginning to make a drink for her.
"I don't have anything to pay you —"
He laughed, shaking the drink in the shaker. "No worries. Mr. Sorrento opened up a tab last time he was here; said he'd pay for anything you wanted in the case you were early again."
Wade blushed but couldn't help accepting the sweet drink when he gave it to her. She never got to have something like this outside of these times, so she guiltily enjoyed them each time she was here.
"Speaking of Mr. Sorrento, you've been seeing him here rather frequently lately," he hmmed. He smirked and winked at her. "And I also notice you tend to come here quite early? Eager to see him, are you?" he teased.
Her face turned red. "N-no, that's not it at all!"
He laughed again, though it slowly died down until he was giving her a hesitant look.
"It's probably not any of my business, but you sure you know what you're doing?" Collins asked. "Everyone knows about Mr. Sorrento, about who he is. You sure you want to go fallin' for that?"
"I'm not falling for anything," she denied, growing uneasy. But she bit her lip when he continued to give her a look. "I don't know what I'm doing," she confessed quietly. "I'm floundering right now, about all this, but he's not really what I was expecting or thought he'd be. I'm actually happy around him, and honestly…happy isn't something I really knew before him."
'I'm not a happy person,' she wanted to say.
She gave a shaky inhale, looking down at her drink. She picked it up and finished it off in one go, before giving him a smile that was as shaky as her earlier breath.
"Can I have something a little stronger? I think I might cry and I've probably cried enough today for my tastes," she blinked rapidly.
Collins grabbed her glass and took out another one that was shaped a little differently.
"Not a problem, darlin'," he said reassuringly. "Let's start you off with a margarita before we try anything harder."
She waited patiently, sitting there and starting to hunch over. She still remembered Rick and how he'd held her down, the force of his blows, the fact that her face —even now—ached a little and would probably be throbbing in pain after she logged out of the OASIS. The hunger she felt too; she hadn't had anything to eat in days, minus that small, unfulfilling bowl of cereal she had. Despite what had happened, she would have to head back to the trailer again and try to scramble up some food, probably bargain with them on cooking something. She wasn't the best cook, but the basics she could handle. Better than Aunt Alice and Rick at least…
She had to make sure that what little things she owned wouldn't be sold off either. Aunt Alice liked to take some of her things and sell them, and there were a few things she kept in the trailer that were in danger of that.
Once she accepted the margarita, she took a large gulp of it and closed her eyes, pleading to her eyes to not tear up. She didn't want to cry here, not in front of Collins and definitely not be caught by Sorrento like this. She couldn't —
"Sorry I'm late, Parzival."
It was strange hearing a similar sentiment aloud. She could almost picture his voice as Lacero's.
Wade took a deep breath and turned around, and she already knew she probably looked like a mess by the look on his face.
As per usual, he was once again annoyed by his day. Nothing was going right, his employees were all a bunch of idiots, and he was getting the urge to zero them all out. Given how he was working in the OASIS today and was in his virtual office rather than his real world one, he contemplated going on a murder spree and zeroing everyone out. Or at least the idiots that irritated him the most.
Like those annoying, old codgers from the Board that insisted on yet another meeting.
Goddamn, if he knew being promoted to being the CEO would require this many meetings with them, he would have declined and said he was satisfied being the Head of his division. At least in the Oology division, even if they were all incompetent, they were his incompetent fools and they were somewhat amusing.
The only good thing about his day was his chat with Wade. She was such a cute, quirky girl and he always ended up grinning and being in a good mood after one of their talks. It was like everything bad that happened before her could be forgotten, and he could enjoy some part of his day a little before something ended up ruining things for him.
His nights though…
They were what got him through the days recently, and what he always looked forward to. Aside from Wade, there was another woman in his life that brought life out of him these days.
Speaking of, it was about time he left the building to meet her. He made his way out of there without another look towards his subordinates, and tried not to let his feet hurry. He didn't want to seem too eager. Then again, as he looked to the time, it was cutting it close so he did end up moving a bit quicker to his destination. Seeing the bar, he paused outside it to make sure he was okay and looked fine, before entering it and trying to project a calm air.
Instead, he was feeling off kilter and froze in place.
The lost look he remembered from before was back, but this time was accompanied by an astounding and more than obvious look of misery. Hunched over her seat and looking exhausted, Parzival was obviously not happy. She accepted a margarita from the bartender, something he was sure she had never had before, and then took a large gulp of it. Even from where he was, he could see her closing her eyes and struggling not to cry.
"Sorry I'm late, Parzival," he finally spoke out and could see her visibly pause, even taking a deep breath.
When she turned around, he forced himself not to flinch because she looked like the most miserable creature on the planet. All he wanted to do was to ask her what was wrong, what had happened —but this was the OASIS and he didn't want to pry. In the virtual world and in this kind of area, anonymity and silence was usually what was asked for, not nosiness.
But he fucking wanted to make whoever made her so miserable pay for doing so.
"Hello, Mr. Sorrento," she said quietly and goddamn if he wanted to find a way to make her get louder, maybe drive his fingers, his tongue, his cock into her so that she'd scream out in pleasure rather than be like this. "I don't think you're late, or at least not too much. I don't mind."
'You should,' he wanted to snap. Someone like her deserved the utmost best, and he was an idiot for thinking earlier that he didn't want to seem too eager. Hell, she was showing up early for him, so she had to be eager to see him. He should let her know he was too.
He determinedly walked forward, nodding to the bartender, who nodded back and walked off to give them privacy. He took her hand and squeezed, tugging her off the stool.
"Come with me," he said. "I was thinking of something a little different tonight."
Though she got up and looked bewildered, it relieved him because it wasn't the misery that was so achingly etched into her.
"Where are we going?" her voice was soft.
He just smirked at her, slipping into his cool and collected mind frame while he led her out of there and even started heading out of the Red A area. While he definitely wanted to stick around and have more adult-oriented time there with her, he felt the need to do something different that night, what with the mood she seemed to be in.
Actually, he led her to where his work was in the OASIS and even pointed it out to her.
"I work there," he said, pointing to the large skyscraper. Her eyes were adorably wide as she stared up to the top. "My office is up there, though the very top is reserved for the Board." Then he turned her to the almost unnoticeable storefront across from the building. "This is a small little cafe that I go to a lot; it's quaint and a little unnoticeable, but that's fine by me. Less attention to be drawn when I go there and plenty of privacy. And the food and drinks are good."
"We're going there?" she asked, giving him a questioning look, though he was quite pleased to see a light dusting of red on her cheeks.
He nodded. "Let's have dinner right now. It's not the same as eating in the real world, but the act of eating in the OASIS always translates good flavors into the brain. We could talk…get to know each other, aside from physically," he smirked again, more so at her amused laugh.
Her lips were pulling up into a small smile. "That…that would be nice. I've never had food in the OASIS before."
"It'll be a treat," he said. "You'll enjoy it, especially from this place," he promised.
He pulled her behind him into the cafe and led the way to a booth, with a waitress immediately coming over and handing them a menu.
"Thank you for this, Mr. Sorrento," she said while looking over the menu in fascination. "I appreciate it."
"Call me Nolan," he said suddenly and was taken aback by his own request. But he decided quickly that he wanted it and wouldn't take it back. "Even if it's just once."
She looked clearly surprised by his request, but then smiled shyly.
"Okay, N-Nolan. Nolan," she said again, a little more firmly. She licked her lips before focusing on him intently. "I appreciate this a lot, Nolan."
The sound of his name from her exhilarated him. He had no idea how much it would like this, but it did and he wanted to continue to hear it from her.
"Oh, there's ice cream!" Her blue eyes lit up and she looked so cute being excited like this. It made him smile to himself.
"Do you want some for dessert after we eat?" he asked her.
"Can we?" She was being shy again. Damn, he didn't realize her acting so shy would turn him on so much.
"Of course," he easily agreed. "Maybe one day I could take you out for ice cream in the real world. It's much better in real life."
She was startled at that and watched him intently, but he didn't change his expression or look hesitant in any way.
"That would be nice," she said finally, face looking wistful and like she didn't believe him.
That made him inwardly frown, but he had plenty of time to show her he wasn't all talk.
Still, like all of their nights so far, it ended up with them in a room. But though she expected something else, what actually happened was something much different. Though they'd made it out of their clothes and his lips had caressed her face and down her neck, while his hands moved all over her body…The moment he'd laid her onto the bed though, he simply situated himself behind her and held onto her, occasionally running a hand up and down her side.
It was like he seemed to know and understand she was feeling off, and was changing the entire night to a different tune for her and was trying to accommodate whatever upsetting feelings she was being plagued with.
She dragged in a heavy breath, turning around in his hold and tentatively reaching down, her fingers brushing against his hip.
"Do you —do you want me to…?"
But he just grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, brushing it against them over and over.
"What's your favorite color?" he asked abruptly.
Not expecting that, it took her a moment to reply. "B-blue?"
He hmmed and she saw his eyes track to her hair, which she had of course altered to have the tips highlighted with blue.
"What's yours?" she dared to ask.
"Gray," he replied.
"Gray? Why?" she asked, confused why he'd like such a drab color.
He smiled grimly. "The real world is a depressing gray mess."
"That's a totally depressing reason!" she exclaimed. "And morbid."
Sorrento —Nolan laughed rather wryly. "I am a rather morbid person though."
Since they were asking questions… "Why Alex Ross' version of Superman? Or at least why Superman at all?"
He looked amused. "Why? Because there used to be a common stereotype that men with strong jawlines, jawlines that are more chiseled and square, were more attractive and appealing to the human eye because they were part of a more symmetrical face. Which makes sense to give to Superman, who is supposed to be the height of attraction and the perception of perfection, and Alex Ross tended to specifically draw him in that way." Here he cracked a huge grin. "That and I quite like The Man of Steel art print by Ross, which even has Superman in a suit that's actually very much my style."
"Oh?" she found herself laughing. "And here I thought the reason was because you thought you were just like Superman and so wanted to take on that image."
"True," he mused aloud playfully. "I should just take that reason and tell it to anyone who asks, and make sure to wear a 'smug bastard' look on my face every time."
And she was laughing uncontrollably again. She kept laughing and laughing, until she could feel herself start to laugh in a more hysterical manner and could feel the tears threatening her eyes again. But damn it, she didn't want to cry here, in front of him.
She never allowed herself to cry in front of anyone. She'd only ever cried in front of the Curator, who witnessed her tears and wouldn't ever tell on her to anyone, and hell if she was going to let herself break down completely in front of Nolan, even though she was on the verge of it.
But he pulled her closer and she could feel her face pressing against his bare chest, while she released shuddering breaths as she tried not to cry. Even as his hands ran up and down her back in comfort while she trembled against him, she refused to cry.
(One or two tears slipped out of her control, but she was glad that he said nothing of it and she could pretend it hadn't happened.)
Started 6/22/18 — Completed 6/22/18
A/n: Eeeh –I really like this story and like writing for it, so despite the lukewarm-ish response, I'm probably going to keep focusing on it for a while. I freaking adore and obsessed with this pair right now. Also, I really seem to like making fem!Wade miserable (whistles).
Quick Points:
1. Original Story: On Wattpad, I have an original story out that I'd appreciate you guys checking out. It's a teacherxstudent romance called "Autumn Leaves". Thanks a bunch, guys! Just type in wattpad etc. and then story/150768002-autumn-leaves-a-teacherxstudent-romance
2. New Stories: I just recently put out a Marvel's Spider-Man (2017 cartoon) fic called "Along Came a Spider" and a Sword Art Online fic called "The Shadow Noir Nexus", and I have a few stories coming out soon. There's a Full Metal Alchemist story and there's also a Firefly fic coming out (not too sure when, though maybe today), and a Phantom of the Opera story. Also a few one-shots, and definitely some Pokémon stories XD Please support them!
Anon Reviews:
1. Guest: Thanks so much! I really appreciate it, since I do try to put a lot of work into my writing.
2. Lizzy B: I love Wade too, but uh…it may not seem like it? Haha, misery is apparently fun to write and the real world sucks there, so…Q is great. I'm going to really like writing the Curator and his scenes with Wade. But thanks a lot!