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
A/n: Full version at Ao3, as usual.
The Cigarette Duet
Chapter Six: I Was Different Then
Wade felt nervous as she walked the area, biting her lip. She was debating heading to the spot where she'd taken the address of and given it to Lacero. She'd given a separate address to Nolan, but it was nearby.
Would he be nearby? No, no, Lacero didn't seem like that. Even if she wasn't sure about that and didn't really know him for sure, her gut said he wouldn't stalk her like that.
Would it be bad if he did?
She sighed in exasperation at herself. Then again, it wasn't like she disliked Lacero and wouldn't mind meeting him. She'd become so happy after meeting him and was grateful to have him in her life. She knew that it wouldn't matter what he looked like. And if he was eager to meet her in person, well, she was eager to meet him too. Plus, he was probably infinitely better than sleazy Rick in all the ways it counted anyway.
Mind made up, she took a huge breath and marched over to the abandoned grocery store and looked at the mailbox, hoping it was there already. To her luck, there was the small package and she picked it up before putting it into her ratty messenger bag.
The next package was going to be a bit more tricky, considering Nolan had warned her the size of it was moderately huge. She'd have to unpackage it and put it into her bag before heading back to her hiding spot.
Heading over to the next destination, she gently opened the door and found the package hidden to the side of the warehouse's doors. She opened it with the switchblade she'd found a few days ago, and then pulled out everything that was inside. It took some work, but she managed to work everything into her bag and then she set off back to her home. Once she reached her hidden, half-van, Wade unpacked everything and eagerly multi-tasked into setting up both her IM Interface and her new OASIS gear.
The gear became a little more complicated, so she had to grab the instructions to make sure she had everything right so far. Her eyes glanced at the model, reading the X1 Haptic Bootsuit in bold at the top and inwardly winced. It was the hottest, newest model in the market and from IOI, which meant it was the most expensive model out. She'd thought Nolan would've gotten something better than her school gear, but hadn't thought he'd get something like this. Then again, it was from IOI, so maybe that's why. Hopefully, as its CEO, he'd gotten a discount or even gotten it for free.
After she'd put everything together, she set aside her upgraded OASIS gear and then picked up her IM Interface again, snapping it around her wrist and activating the holoscreen and keyboard. She went back to where she left off, though most of it had been set up already. All she had to do was set it up to recognize her as its user and add her profile, and she'd be set with it too.
When she was done with that, she realized that Lacero had already programmed his communication ID in and she eagerly clicked on his name. It went to the message screen and she quickly typed a greeting.
Wade: Hello?
Lacero: About time. Got lost in the woods, Little Red?
She smiled widely. Maybe they weren't face to face, but this was better than before.
When the message popped up from Wade, Nolan dropped what he was doing and gleefully answered back. He'd been looking forward to this all day and was ecstatic that she'd finally set everything up and contacted him.
How are you doing? Thank you for the gift. I appreciate it.
You don't need to thank me —it was more than a bit selfish on my end too. I really wanted to be able to contact you and for you to contact me whenever. And wherever. Because, you know…I don't want to have to wait until we're in the OASIS or have some kind of OASIS interface to meet up in some chatroom.
Nolan had said something like it before, but saying it like this really did make him sound…obsessive? Stalkerish? In any case, he was worried he was starting to sound too much and that at some point she'd get scared off.
Really? I'm glad for that because I'd really like to chat with you whenever too. This might make me sound weird or something, and you can tell me that and tell me to stop it or back off or whatever, but um…
She'd stopped there and he waited anxiously. She sounded unsure and by the words she was saying, whatever it was she was trying to get out was highly embarrassing for her. Embarrassing and something she wasn't confident in saying.
I like you.
Nolan stared at the words. He felt like his heart had stopped and his brain stopped functioning, but the words remained.
I like you a lot —you're one of the few friends I have, you know? I have trouble being social and connecting to people, especially without being awkward, so aside from one other person…you're my only friend. You make me laugh, you make me feel comfortable, you just…make me feel really happy.
For a moment, Nolan didn't know what to feel. It was a heartfelt confession, but a part of him felt disappointed that in the end she only saw him as a friend after all. The 'I like you' was sincere and very intimate, but platonic nonetheless.
Then again, by the rush of the things she was saying and the long messages she was sending him to explain what she felt for him, he was also feeling highly appreciated and warm that she cared so much about him and that he meant so much to her.
He was also upset that she seemed so lonely and had such a lack of friends, so much so that she had to resort to being friends with an asshole like him and actually be happy about it. She was such a better person than he was and deserved better. He couldn't see or understand her lack of friends.
I like you a lot too. I've never been happier until meeting you.
He blinked at what he wrote, having not expected something like that to come from him. Nolan looked around in paranoia. Even if he hadn't said it aloud, he felt too off put at any chance of being caught saying such sappy crap. But…
To be honest, you make my sharp edges less sharp.
Hell, if he was going to be sappy, he was going to go for the gold. That and he knew how insecure she was and the low self-esteem she had; he wanted to do his damnedest to boost her up and he'll always find any fucking chance he could to do it. Hell to his own pride, goddamn it.
She was silent on her end, but he was pretty sure she was just digesting what he'd said to her. He felt sure enough that she wouldn't be freaking out at what he said, but being the way she was, he was unhappily sure that she might not believe him. Or at least not fully. Sometimes she had such a problem feeling and seeing positive, but that was something he'd been working on with her.
By then, he'd had much of her figured out. Aside from her low self-esteem and insecurity, she was shy and suffered from depression that was harder on her on some days than others. She was lonely and had trouble seeing herself in a positive light. In fact, he was amazed at the views she had on herself. They were so skewed and messed up, whenever she slipped up and said something about it to him —it made him infuriated and wonder who the hell put those kind of thoughts in her head.
She was balancing on an edge and could topple off at any moment, and he admitted that scared him. He didn't want…he didn't want her spiraling down like his sister had. He'd lost his sister to the OASIS and before the years had softened his stance and made him forget how much he'd hated this place, he'd wanted to destroy the OASIS entirely. Part of him still did.
Charlie had been his sweet baby sister and losing her had practically lost him his soul at one point. And now, having the horrible feeling that Wade could just fall like Charlie, he actually felt afraid. There was a part of him that knew that if he lost Wade, especially if it was in the same way, he wouldn't just stop at destroying the OASIS. He'd burned down the world while he was at it.
He stared numbly at the screen, even as a few messages from her popped up.
Thank you.
You're the best. Really!
I know I have trouble believing positive things about me, but seeing all those things you said make me so, so happy.
Ahhh! I'm all flustered now, you jerk. Change the subject.
His lips quirked up, even as the image of his sister dead and cold in her haptic feedback unit stayed stuck in his mind. He moved slowly to type something up, but then looked on in horror at what he had blurted out.
I had a sister.
No, no, no. Why had he put that down? He knew that he'd just been thinking about Charlie, but that shouldn't have made him bring her up. He could…he could change the subject again. Wade wouldn't mind and wouldn't question him. There were plenty of things to talk about —
But this was Wade and he liked her a lot and trusted her. He was surprised at that, but it was true. And if there was anyone he could finally talk about Charlie with, it would be Wade. They had always been able to talk and there was a connection there that he trusted.
Sister?
At her prompt, he made up his mind. A part of him wasn't surprised and he was pretty sure he'd blurted it out in the first place because he felt close enough to her to talk about something this important to him.
She was my baby sister. Her name was Charlotte, but I always called her Charlie. She was really outgoing. Annoyingly so! But…she was my baby sister, so I adored her anyway.
What happened to her?
Nolan stared at the sentence for what seemed like forever. It was only when Wade had hastily typed up an apology and tried to say it was none of her business that he moved to cut in.
No, it's okay. I brought it up. The truth is that I haven' t talked about her in a long time, and for a few years I'd even tried to not think of her. She was…After Halliday died, the whole egg hunt started, right? Well, she'd always been in love with and a little obsessive with the OASIS, but after his death and the start of the egg hunt, that obsession went on a whole other level. She
For a moment, he had to pause and not explode in anger and a bit of pain, but it was a hard thing. After he'd calmed himself, glad that Wade had been patient and hadn't said a thing, he finally continued.
She'd always partied too hard in the OASIS and took the occasional drug. But then the egg hunt drove her pretty much crazy and she spent less and less time in the real world, ignoring everything in it and focusing on the OASIS to the point that she eventually didn't leave the OASIS anymore and took more and more drugs to sustain herself and keep her body up and running. And those became higher-end and stronger drugs, and suddenly she was a goddamn druggie and between those shit and the fucking OASIS, she was killing herself slowly and I knew something like that was going on but I didn't know entirely, I was just turning a blind eye and I should of I should of
Nolan slammed his balled fists onto his desk, causing things to shake. He was seething and breathing hard, but remembering it brought on a torrid of emotion that made him want to both rip something apart with his bare hands or just drink to the point that he was too drunk to remember.
Looking at that mess of a message that he'd accidentally sent, he knew that he came off angry and emotional, and that his rant probably surprised Wade.
I need a drink. Hold on a sec.
He typed that in before he angrily stood up and went over to his liquor cabinet, grabbing a snifter glass and pouring a liberal amount of whiskey in it. The hell if he was drinking on the job. It wasn't like anyone was going to barge into his office at that moment. If they did, he'd just yell at them and kick them out.
Returning to his desk, he took a huge gulp of his drink before eying his last message. Jaw clenched, he reluctantly continued.
I knew something was wrong. She'd stopped talking to everyone, but that she stopped talking to me should've been a big clue. The last times I saw her, she was always a mess. Sometimes she'd even been high and I'd have to help her act like nothing was wrong in front of our parents.
If he paused then, it was because telling Wade this last part was really personal, too personal —and not something he'd said to anyone ever.
I found her dead in her haptic feedback unit, overdosed. She'd been dead a while, but no one had noticed until someone noticed the smell and contacted me. Three days. It took three days before anyone knew she was dead and I wished I had checked on her sooner. Maybe if I had
Maybe if I had
Maybe
He tried several times, but he couldn't get it out. After all, what could he have done? She was a meth addict. Had been for the longest time. She never left the OASIS if she could, even before Halliday's death. On the rare times she did, she never took off her haptic suit and it was always mostly to just eat and sleep. Everyone was dead weight and not important if they weren't in the OASIS. She'd even missed their dad dying and only cared enough to receive her part of the inheritance of his will, which was wasted anyway on more meth and in the OASIS. Halliday's death just drove her crazy. He was sugarcoating a lot of it to Wade right now, even if it sounded shitty still. His sister hadn't been an angel, but he'd loved her.
He slumped over in his chair, finishing off his whiskey. There was nothing he could say about it. And in the end, the hate he'd had had slowly just been driven out of him as he tired out from it and resigned to IOI's ways and the endless ongoing egg hunt, the lingering resentment and faded anger just vaguely still in him.
My mother was a heroin addict.
He blinked. He read that again and straightened up. He'd reached over to start typing when another message from her popped up.
My parents were teenagers when they had me. At one point when I was just a few months old, my dad got killed. I was told he was shot up for trying to rob a grocery store or something. You know the address I sent you to deliver the IM Interface? That place is a worn down, abandoned grocery store, the same one he was killed at. I guess that's kind of morbid I used that place, huh? Well, after he died, my mother raised me.
She loved me, or I liked to think she did. But she had two jobs and we were still poor, so she usually just shoved me into the OASIS with her. Sometimes she'd leave me be to wander around while she worked the whole day, sometimes it was only half the day and then she'd take me to her other job. She was a telemarketer.
He made a face at that. Telemarketers were still annoying in this day and age. Still, hearing about her past made him understand Wade a little more and understand how she got to be the way she was.
At night, she was an escort.
That stumped him. He read it again to be sure he read it right, which he seemed to have to keep doing, and it made his stomach churn. If Wade's mother had been an escort and as she'd implied, her mother had taken her with her to that job sometimes…
It wasn't the best way to be raised, but I tried not to stay there. If she was going to be busy all the time, I left and wandered around the OASIS on my own. I was just a kid, but I wasn't really bothered. I wasn't paid attention to, which was okay. I was used to it. The OASIS basically raised me. I know you hate the place because of your sister, but it's been the only haven and home I've ever known. I learned to love technology and got pretty good at it because of the OASIS. It's my…it's the only place I feel safe.
His heart actually hurt. Not something he was used to or had happened to him, except when his father and sister had died and it's been years since. He felt torn too, feeling a renewed hate for the OASIS after remembering, but after hearing from Wade, he understood her stance too. He didn't want her to become dependent and addicted to the OASIS, and yet it was the only comfort she'd ever known. He wouldn't want to take it away from her.
Still, something was bugging him.
You keep saying 'was'.
She died.
He stared at those two words, feeling like he might've overstepped and that Wade might've not been over it.
Mom died from an overdose of heroin. I found her on the floor of our home, a rubber tie around her arm and a needle nearby, and plugged into the music player I'd fixed up for her the Christmas before.
He felt a stronger connection with her more than ever. They were the same. They'd gone through the same thing, had found someone beloved to them overdosed. They had always been kindred spirits in his mind, but now he understood that had been truly true.
That song's seared in my head. She was playing this one song and sometimes I just keep hearing it over and over and over. I still dream about it sometimes. I wake up, remembering seeing her on the ground, and then I'm in this horrible mood, you know? That's how we met. I woke up that day feeling depressed and empty, and I went to school and somehow I found you and oh my god this is embarrassing, but you're really the best thing ever because you made me cheer up and I was so happy and I can't
She stopped and he felt taken aback. He hadn't known that at all. It made him feel…happy to have helped her at a low point, even unknowingly, but sad for her too.
I'm sorry. I sound silly and clingy and please don't hate me.
He felt angry enough at that to speed type a message to stop her from saying anything more.
Don't say that. Don't you dare say that. You're so important to me and you can cling all you want.
…Okay. I'm happy to hear that. It's just that I was so miserable then and suddenly you came and made things better. You really mean so much to me.
He felt himself smile widely.
Who do you live with now? Family? Foster care?
My aunt. We, um, live in the Stacks.
He hadn't expected her to let him know where she actually lived. He felt the irrational need to reciprocate.
I live alone. I have a huge home, but I don't stay there much. I work a lot, so I spend a lot of time there. I talk to you a lot at work actually.
You talk to me at work? Aw~
He laughed to himself. He was about to type a reply when she beat him to it.
Do you end up doing any actual work? :D
Brat. Of course I do!…Sometimes.
Nolan snickered, leaning back and stretching on his chair. The mood seemed lifted and things felt great after their little confessions. Feeling this close to her like this, he felt the longing to meet her face to face though. But…
Do you want to meet?
Wade's face flushed. Lacero wanted to meet? For real?
But after that conversation they had, she felt closer to him than ever. She wouldn't mind meeting him. She really adored him at this point and couldn't believe he had such a past. It made her ache for him and she felt the urge to give him a hug. She knew it pained him still, especially with his emotional outbursts in their chat. Surprised and touched he'd told her about such a personal thing, she wanted to do the same and had ended up telling him about her own past and her mother. She never talked about it before, but he hadn't either. It seemed fitting this way then.
We can make a meeting point in the OASIS. That is, if you want?
Yes, I'd really like to. We should dress up so we can find each other more easily.
I could be Phantom and you can be Christine ;P
She giggled as she replied to that.
Makes sense since you're a mysterious…stalkerish guy in the shadows.
Only because you're my naive, little ingenue.
They set up a time and place and she felt inordinately happy after that. Even if she was embarrassed at having confessed what she felt about him, she was even happier that he seemed to really care about her too.
She was eager to meet him tomorrow.
Nolan swiveled slowly on his chair, slightly smiling to himself as he closed his eyes and thought about his conversation and the fact he'd meet Wade soon. Maybe it was only in the OASIS, but it was better than nothing. Glad that he'd gotten her the IM Interface and that it had been put into good use, his thoughts wandered back to her words.
He was important to her. Really important. It made him feel smug and possessive, especially when he thought about this mysterious man she'd talked about in her blog. Was he as important to her as Nolan? No, he couldn't be. Whoever it was didn't have a stronger connection to her than him.
Speaking of her blog, it's been some time and he hadn't gotten back to reading it. It was amusing but also informative. He didn't exactly cyberstalk her, but he liked reading it in regards to getting to know her; it was the little things that mattered, that allowed him to know tiny details about her and insights into her head. Things like…
She wanted to learn to swim. She'd never been around water, whether it was in the OASIS or in real life, and she'd like to swim around somewhere. She was a huge fan of anime over Western cartoons, loved Dante from Devil May Cry (and would of had him as an avatar base if she'd been a guy), and was also fond of a character named Lightning from Final Fantasy. He'd have to look either of those two up, but those were details he liked finding out about her.
Bringing up her blog after he'd settled into his chair with a cup of coffee, he brought the cup to his nose and inhaled deeply, enjoying the smell. There really wasn't anything like the real world…people should spend more time in it and out of the OASIS…
Having only read up to four of her first posts, which were mostly ramblings about her and some gunting stuff that she'd posted on the first day, his eyebrows raised as he put down his cup to realize she was up to 20 posts (not a big deal compared to other blogs, but it was still a lot compared to just how much time had past since she first started) and that there were subscribers numbering already over 1000.
"What have you been writing that's gotten everyone in a tizzy?" he said in a wonder.
He clicked the fifth post and skimmed, seeing that she'd started finally talking about how she got into gunting and all the mishaps. She was funny (like he'd thought she'd be) and her post was littered all over with her quips and occasional dorkiness that made him smile to himself. He read on until Post 10, where he straightened up in his seat in shock.
It was by accident, really. I was just going to play around in the school arcade for fun again, since school just finished and I had nothing else to do. It was kind of…by luck? It was luck that I had gotten my highest score yet on Tempest, which actually beat Odgen Morrow's high score, and all of a sudden a door appeared and it was the entrance to the Tomb of Horrors. I just played it once and all of a sudden it started to deconstruct and the raceway was being built and taking over Ludus…
Jesus, he hadn't even known how the raceway to the key had appeared. It just had one day and everyone was eager to finish the race and earn the Copper Key. No one had a clue how it had happened, minus knowing the Tomb of Horrors was involved somehow. Then the original Ludus was taken over and became the focus of the Copper Key trial, and another planet was made to become the new Ludus.
The next post was about her first try at the race and the eagerness in her writing tone was obvious. She spent time detailing her various attempts at the race, her trips to the Archives (even when it was practically abandoned and she was the only visitor), and the occasional rambles of her day or thoughts on something. He sometimes skimmed over the comments, raising his eyebrows at what seemed to be a good number of fanboys she'd collected, and then there were obvious other gunters who talked about her theories or even opinions about Halliday and the 80's pop culture (or whatever she ended up talking about).
It wasn't until the 20th post that had him reeling back.
I was having a really crappy morning. I woke up after a dream that reminded me of old memories. I had school that day though, so I made myself go. While in class, I met someone in a chat and we somehow became good friends. We talk a lot nowadays, but I still remember that first meeting. The rest of the day was slow, ended up getting into another fight with my aunt and her boyfriend. Got upset and ran away —basically logged on and hid in the OASIS, you know?
I was just wandering around and found myself in a Red A area. Before I know it, I met someone else and this time, because I was in such a lost mood, he was kind of like a lifeline I didn't expect.
He's got a reputation and all, but the moment he talked to me and gave me all his focus and attention, maybe I got a little bit hooked and wanted to just…do something. It wasn't like me, but I also wanted to not be me then.
And then he kissed me and I think I fell for a really bad guy. I don't really regret it though.
Because he gave me a wonderful night and made me feel good for once, and maybe just maybe I actually saw what hope looked like for once.
Shit, shit —that sounded like his first meeting with Parzival. But this was Wade! It was just coincidence, right? It had to be. That's right, it was…just coincidence.
A glance at the comment section showed the number one comment, from the infamous Art3mis at that.
Write it out as a story. Maybe it'll help you get it off your chest, writing about him.
Nolan felt oddly peculiar about that.
Nolan's hand on the small of her back was warm and firm, his touch more reactive against her than it had been before. The X1 haptic suit was clearly already showing the difference and she could feel so much more than she had been before.
"You're walking slowly. Is something the matter?" Nolan leaned closer to her, whispering into her ear. She could feel his body better like this, and his breath against her ear from his whisper registered more sensitively.
"Everything…just feels more heightened," she said in awe.
His lips brushed against her ear and kissed it lightly. He smiled against her ear. "Good," he licked his lips, his tongue brushing against her skin. She shivered. "I'm looking forward to tonight, my beautiful fae princess."
They reached the door that he unlocked and opened, letting her go in first. He slipped in after and closed the door behind him, and when she looked to him, Nolan had a hungry expression that made her grow flustered and feel shy. Despite repeatedly sleeping with him, he still easily had the ability to make her feel all out of sorts.
Nolan walked towards her and his hands gripped her hips. They stared into each other's eyes and she lost herself in his, while the touch of his hands going up had her reacting simply just by that. His large hands wrapped around her waist briefly before continuing upwards, moving to her breasts and palming them gently. She lost her breath at that, amazed by her new sensitivity just by having worn the new, upgraded OASIS gear.
His thumbs dragged against her nipples, moving back and forth teasingly before he pressed his thumbs into them. Squeezing her breasts, he smirked and kissed her deeply, swallowing up the whimpers she couldn't help let out. His knee moved between her legs and he pressed it up, nudging her cunt.
"I'm going to fuck you so thoroughly tonight," he said hoarsely, his breathing heavy.
She leaned into him, gasping as she moaned and grasped at his shoulders, feeling his knee rhythmically moving against her opening while his hands squeezed and moved her breasts around in small circles.
He maneuvered her onto the bed and sat her at the edge, taking off her pants with some help from her. Sweeping her legs apart, he took a moment to stare, licking his lips again. Watching him made Wade's face burn in embarrassment and also her own lust, amazed to have someone so ardently admiring that sacred place between her legs; to want her so much.
"What I wouldn't give to be able to taste you in real life," he groaned, watching her pussy with longing and then looking up at her with a perverse grin. "I'd enjoy eating you up all night."
Wade covered her face. "N-Nolan! Stop teasing me!"
"Teasing you in what way, my dear?" he purred. "Do you want me to stop having my fun picking on you? Or do you want me to stop playing around and cut to the chase, have my wicked, wicked way with you?" he ended with a sharp pinch to her clit that surprised her and drew a squeal from her, especially given how the sensation from that was sharper than she'd ever experienced before from him doing something similar.
"B-both!" she blurted out, still mortified.
"Oh, but it's so much fun," he said before suddenly ducking his head and mouthing her pussy. He'd only managed a couple sucks and a few licks of it, before she was screaming and arching, flopping back onto her back and blacking out, somehow accidentally disconnecting and logging out.
When Wade opened her eyes, she was breathing hard and her body was quivering. She slowly shoved off her headgear before realizing in shock and horror that she felt wet d-down there!
"Oh God," she said in mortification, doing her best to rapidly shed her bodysuit and look down inside of it, confirming the fact that she'd just creamed herself and gotten some of it inside the suit. "Shit, shit, shit! What the hell?"
She cleaned it up quickly before tearing off her pants and her underwear, which had taken the brunt of her orgasm. God, she had literally blacked out, her vision blinded by light, and her mind blanking. The new haptic bodysuit had totally hijacked her senses, and it seemed during sex, had sent her into overdrive.
Managing to find a spare panty in her bag, she put it on and then looked back at the suit. She hoped he was still there, but at the same time she was too embarrassed to go find him again. She had actually blacked out in front of him!
Putting the suit back on, she logged back in and was glad she was nearer to the point where she logged out from. Outside of their usual hotel, she hesitated only for a second before heading inside. She saw the concierge manning the front desk and gave him a small wave before pointing to the stairs.
"I, um, already have a room. Just coming back," she muttered, averting her eyes.
He nodded at her before smiling sympathetically. "Look at the Intensity Levels, Miss."
She blushed heavily, nodding back before rushing past in embarrassment.
Nolan blinked at the now empty spot, before chuckling to himself and ignoring his own light blush. He might have gotten overboard, and in hindsight, the new heightened sensitivity and new sensations probably were new and too much for her. He settled himself onto the bed, kicking off his shoes and lazily digitizing his clothes off, deciding to wait for her in case she decided to come back. Part of him thought she might not, knowing there was a chance she would be too embarrassed at what happened, and the other part of him thought that she might still come back after all.
He'd like to think she was as addicted to him as he was to her.
The door opened and she slowly entered. She avoided looking at him for a moment, but he could clearly see her face was bright red.
"Don't be so embarrassed, Parzival. I'm personally glad you felt that good," Nolan told her. Then he added, smirk firmly in place, "Plus, you should know my ego has probably inflated to near god-like levels."
"S-shut up, Nolan," she grumbled, moving away from the door and heading towards him. She digitize her own clothes away and he took a moment to admire her bare form as she climbed onto the bed and crawled on it towards him. "Why do I see you again?'
He pulled her up the last inches to him, sliding a hand down and eagerly rubbing her cunt, getting her wet within seconds.
"Because I adore you," he murmured against her lips, kissing her straight after, while he slipped in a finger into her tight cunt. She gasped and her hands flew to his arms.
"W-wait!" She pushed at him and he stopped in surprise. She was panting already, shaking her head.
"Is something wrong?" he asked in concern.
"I don't…I don't think I can handle it right now," she nibbled at her lip, causing him to look at it and want to take over nibbling it himself. "I'm just…overly sensitive everywhere. Um, the front desk guy mentioned something about Intensity Levels?"
She looked utterly embarrassed at that and he decided to lay off her, though he was dying to tease her to no end. But after what happened, with the additional embarrassment of having to walk back into the hotel and all, he kept his mouth shut on the teasing.
"Right, I almost forgot," he said, tugging her closer. He wrapped an arm around her and helped her find those settings, ignoring the General Sensitivity levels and heading towards the Advanced Sensitivity settings. "Some of these won't pop up unless you're in an area like this, so you don't have to worry about those," he told her. He swiped to a page and then pointed out the Intensity Levels. "These deal with your body. The General Sensitivity Intensity levels deal with gaming and regular interactions with others and the environment, so you have a normalized sensitivity level. These can override them if you want, or you can specialize the situations —like for eating in the OASIS or," he gestured to them. "Sex."
He tapped on the main Intensity Level and whistled. "No wonder you blacked out. It's straight onto level 10."
Parzival hid her face against his shoulder. "What level do you have yours on?"
"8," he shrugged with his other shoulder. "But I've gotten used to the levels. I still wouldn't go up to 10, but 8's high enough and I get a good enough reaction feel. I might sometimes go for the 9 setting, but not often and not unless with a partner I really like or trust enough. At least on some level. I highly ever really like people or trust anyone," he shrugged again. Which was true; there were times where he used it to get off easier, if he had a partner that he either wasn't that into or who wasn't able to get him off. Sometimes it was because he was bored. Not that he was going to tell her that. But he had yet to really go on 9 with someone just because he really liked them and would be able to have a greater time of it with them. Although, as he glanced at Parzival, he might have to see about trying it out with her.
"7," she said. "I'll go for 7 for now. I don't think I can handle 8 yet, and 9 and 10 is out of the question."
He tapped her interface controls and set the number to 7, confirming it and was about to shut it off when she stopped him.
"What are those?" she asked, tapping the Extras setting. "What's that about squirting or gaping —"
His eyes widened and he exited out of her interface. He coughed. "Ah, those are just some extra settings I told you about, the ones that pop up for places like these. Next time," he brushed it off, not wanting to explain, especially since she seemed clueless.
Instead, Nolan pushed her back onto the bed, laying on his side next to her as he slid his hand down. He smirked widely.
"Now, let's try out that setting level, why don't we?"
For Wade...Hell if the rest of the night was as much torturous as it was blindingly pleasurable. She was just glad she didn't pass out again.
One Walk of Shame back to the room was enough. She didn't think she'd be able to log back into the OASIS and do that a second time.
Nolan felt utterly relaxed, memories of the night before (and this morning) filling him with smug pride and still in a pleasured state. But now he was also eager and excited to meet Wade, finally face to face in some manner.
When she told him what she looked like before, everything she said put herself down in every way. It frustrated him and inwardly he knew that he would think she was absolutely pretty.
Sighing in slight aggravation, he adjusted the mask he wore and pushed back the cape from his left shoulder as he slumped forward in his seat, resting his chin on his gloved hand. He did say he was going to dress up as the Phantom for her, but he could do without the odd looks. Sure, the OASIS was home to all sorts of avatars, but right now he was in the "Town of Beginnings" that was set up on the World Seed planet.
Arms were thrown around him, hugging him tight and making him aware of soft breasts pressing against his back.
"In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came~" her voice sang lightly, playfully.
He turned around in her arms and saw who he assumed was Wade. Her short dark hair swayed as she moved away and eyes the color of jade were watching him warmly from a cherubic face.
Goddamn, she was cute.
"Wade?" he asked to make certain, his voice sounding faint to his ears.
"Lacero, is that you?" she asked, smiling shyly while her hands fiddled with the Christine 'Think of Me' dress nervously.
Fuck, fuck, he wasn't expecting to feel out of sorts at the sight of her, and feel both endeared and turned on by her innocent and shy demeanor.
"That's me," he forced on a grin, trying not to think bad thoughts. "It's nice to finally talk to you 'in person.'"
She laughed. "Yeah, it is. This is my school avatar, so it's more or less what I look like," she explained. "I figure since it's 'Wade3' you first met, I might as well show up in that avatar. I have a different avatar I usually use though. It's prettier than this."
He frowned, standing up and coming closer. He tucked in her hair behind her ear.
"I know you have a crappy outlook on yourself, but you shouldn't," he said sternly. "I personally think you're pretty fucking cute."
Since he was being honest…
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Actually, I think you're really pretty," he teased, grinning at her.
She waved him off, pushing him lightly. "Lacero! Stop being such a tease!"
"I may be teasing, but I'm not lying," he swore.
"I still think you'd like my other avatar better," she shrugged. "But I like your avatar! Toshiro?"
He shrugged, still grinning. "I know you like anime, so I figured I'd shop around for a good-looking character to show off to you with." He'd worked hard to come up with a new avatar as an alternate to his normal one, not wanting her to put two and two together. Having known she liked anime helped, and he'd searched around for popular characters until he found one that was agreeable to him, and made additional changes to fit his personal taste. It was good to know that he was still good at designing avatars.
"I do like Bleach and older Hitsugaya is very handsome," she giggled. "Although, considering our meeting place, it might've been more appropriate for us to dress up as Kirito and Asuna."
"Next time," he rocked on the balls of his feet, feeling energized and happy.
"I should still show you my other avatar just in case, so you can recognize it if I'm around the OASIS. I'm usually in that avatar anyway," she said and brought up her interface, changing around profiles and then bringing up her avatar settings. Picking her normal account, she changed in front of him.
He lost his grin and nearly stumbled back.
The familiar form of Parzival stood in front of him.
Started 7/5/18 — Completed 7/15/18
A/n: Geez, this became hella long. All of a sudden it's climbed up to over 7k works (it's almost 8k!). Well, I hope you guys are happy with it and enjoyed the chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and alerted/favorited! Please remember to take time and review this chapter!
Quick Points:
1. Nolan's sister: She doesn't have a name. She's canon though, so she's not an OC –I just felt like naming her Charlotte (shrugs). Charlotte Sorrento flows well, doesn't it? :D
2. Book!Nolan vs. Movie!Nolan: Urk, this has been weird. Personally, I get the feeling that in the book, he's a lot more cold and harsh, where in the movie he's kind of adorkable (he totally is, especially as an intern for Halliday XD). As you can see, I'm trying to meld the personalities somehow. Crossing my fingers it's working.
3. Movie/Book: See above, though more to do with plot and canon. Seriously, it's a pain. I do hope things make sense though.
4. Avatars: Nolan's regular account, as in the movie, looks like Alex Ross' Superman. His alt avatar that he created is based on Toshiro Hitsugaya from Bleach. As for Wade, her normal account, to echo canon male!Wade from movie/book looking like Dante (Devil May Cry), I chose Lightning Farron from Final Fantasy XIII (since in a lot of pictures her hair looks very silverish). Her Wade3 account (and consequently how she looks like in RL) is Lucy Hale, if you didn't recognize her from the cover).