Once they had been dismissed, Dani power walked back to her room near the hospital, fortunately remembering the route back. As she turned the corner onto the medical hallway that contained the door to her room, she began thinking of a strategic way to sneak out of Anvil Gate. Gears stood at every entrance and she would certainly go noticed by someone. Plus there was the fact that locust had now been spotted fairly close to Anvil Gate and they were looking for her. Her heart rate began rising at the thought of all of the consequences that could result from leaving the COG base, but she had made up her mind. She would not risk everyone's life at Anvil Gate and live with their blood on her hands.
She has only been alone in her room for 30 seconds when she heard a knock at the door that made her jump.
"Fuck," she muttered under her breath, her mediocre plan failing already. She decided to stand very still and hope that the person on the other side of the door would leave.
"Dani, it's Dom," the man on the other side of the door said, while the butterflies in Dani's stomach fluttered their wings rapidly, "I just wanted to know if you wanted to talk or something. I have alcohol, that always helps, I think."
She couldn't help but smile as he spoke, realizing he was socially awkward like herself, but in a much different way. Without saying a word, she went over to the wooden door and opened it to find the large gear holding two bottles of mysterious liquor.
"Welcome to my humble abode," she said feeling embarrassed when she realized how stupid that sounded.
Dom merely smiled at her and said, "Look I saw how nervous you were when you told us about your past. I take it you don't like to let people into your personal life."
Dani shrugged but was impressed with how fast he managed to figure her out.
"Anyways, I thought you could use someone to talk to because you'd be surprised how relieving it can be tell people the things you've always wanted to get off your chest. Plus, having a drink or five can really help loosen you up and make it easier to open up to people."
Her escape plan was already ruined, so she ignored her conscience and accepted one of the bottles from Dom. They were dusty and old looking, but Dani took her chances, removed the top and took a swig. It burned her throat and she made a face that made Dom laugh out loud, which made her smile back at him. The both sat down on her bed and stared at each other, waiting for the other person to say something.
As Dom opened his mouth, Dani quickly chimed in and said, "You first."
Taking a large drink from his bottle, he laughed and said, "Okay, umm where do I start?"
"The beginning," she said, "Where did you grow up?"
Dom began recounting his entire life story, talking about his parents Eduardo and Eva, and his older brother Carlos. He told her about the first time he had met Marcus and how Marcus, Carlos and him used to always hangout with each other. He included little details such as his mothers cooking and his fathers war stories that captivated him as a child. He could feel his voice shaking slightly when he spoke of the young girl that used to climb trees in the neighbourhood. He spoke of Maria with such heart, Dani could feel his love for the woman. He told her about how they were married with two children by the time he was eighteen, and how he was the happiest man alive. His eyes began to water slightly when he spoke of E Day, when he lost both of his young children. The most devastating part of Dom's story, was when he told Dani about how he had found Maria in a locust torture camp, having completely lost her mind. His voice broke off when he told her that he had to make a life changing decision, and put her out of her misery.
As Dom told his story, he observed Dani's facial expressions. He was used to seeing people give him looks of sympathy, but Dani's facial expression showed understanding. Not once did she interrupt him and give him her condolences, or pity him. She just sat and listened, taking in every word that came out of his mouth. When he explained to her that he had to euthanize Maria, her eyes widened and she slowly put her hand on top of his own. Her touch felt warm and comforting. She managed to say so much with just her actions, something Dom had learned to appreciate after spending so much time with Marcus.
She took a large swig from her bottle and said, "My dad was a gear. He fought in the pendulum wars, but he was let go after he was shot in the leg. He had a permanent limp, and wasn't allowed to fight anymore. So he took up a new hobby, drinking," she raised her bottle, "My mom was killed on E Day, so my dad had to take care of me and my brother, who was two years older than me. We managed to survive with just the three of us, but after the Hammer Strikes, we became what are known as the stranded. We lived with hundreds of other people on the outskirts of Jacinto, each day becoming a struggle for survival. My brother was seventeen when he started training to become a gear, having signed up for Operation Lifeboat. He was only trying to help me and my dad He was a year younger than required, but they still accepted him since my dad was a respected gear. My dad, my dad didn't accept help from the COG, he thought they were wrong to dismiss him after his leg injury. We stayed with the stranded, moving locations every few days, eating whatever we could find. During the night, my dad would have nightmares about his days as a gear and about E Day. He was frustrated that my mother died, and that my brother had left us to become part of the COG. One night he completely freaked out and hit me across the face with a piece of wood. I guess that was how he discovered that hurting me would relieve his stress." Dani had a cold expression as she remembered her father.
"Every time something made him feel remotely stressful, he would take it out on me. He hit me every single day, sometimes they were full blown beatings. Once he sat on my chest and held my throat with his hands. Had it not been for a locust attack at that very moment, he would have killed me. He had completely descended into savagery, he was a monster. It made me realize what humans were capable doing, made me realize that some humans were more sadistic than the locust. Fuck, the locust didn't scare me in comparison to my own father. They were mindless creatures just following orders, but my father was hurting me in a way that no one else ever could. He was supposed to take care of me and protect me, but he did the complete opposite. He turned me into this creature that couldn't be with other humans for more than a second without wondering if they would turn into monsters too."
"I was sixteen when my brother, Deryk, came looking for me. He had almost finished his training and was basically a Gear. He went around asking hundreds of stranded if they knew where I was, and finally he found me. Me and my dad were in an abandoned garage when he found us. He walked in, holding his lancer, wearing civilian clothes. The stranded aren't exactly too fond of gears, so he didn't take any chances and left his armour back in Jacinto. But even with just the lancer, he looked like a proper Gear. I went over and hugged him as hard as I could, and he let go of me and saw that i had completely changed. I had a lot lost weight and was covered in bruises. He looked at my dad who started yelling at him, claiming he was a worthless piece of shit who didn't deserve to be a Gear. Then it all happened so fast, I still don't understand it. My dad punched him in the face and then kicked his leg. For an old guy with a limp, he was a natural born fighter. Deryk fell to the floor hard and my dad sat on his chest, just like he did with me, and pulled a knife out of his boot," Dani said as her hands shook violently. Dom knew where the story was going.
"He was going to kill him, fucking bastard was going to kill him," she hissed as a single tear fell from her hazel eyes, "I couldn't let him die, I just couldn't. I grabbed my brothers lancer, revved the chainsaw and then ..." Dom didn't need her to finish her sentence, he knew exactly what had happened.
The tears were streaming down her face as she said, "I killed my own father. I am a murderer. Every day I can hear him screaming as I put the chainsaw through his body. Deryk and I ranaway, without looking back at our dead father whose blood covered the floor. He never went back to the COG, so we stuck together for the next two years, before the.. before the locust.. the locust.." she was stuttering as she cried, wiping away her tears on the sleeve of her jacket.
Dom had heard enough, he wasn't going to put her through another set of traumatizing memories. He moves beside her on the bed a put his arms around her shoulders. To his surprise, she hugged him back, holding onto the sides of his shirt tightly as she cried into his chest. He placed one of his hands on her head and began rubbing her soft black hair. He was amazed by how much they has opened up to each other tonight, it was as if they had known each other for years. She had almost stopped crying and was slightly whimpering. He smelled her hair, and rubbed her back, the tight grip on his shirt loosening. She now had her hands on his back, and they slowly worked their way up to his neck. They broke apart from their embrace and stared at each other, their hearts beating faster with every moment they touched. They stared into each others eyes, overcome by the feelings that were growing inside of them. Don lowered his head toward Dani, and she leaned in for the kiss. Their lips touched and a flash of heat passed through their bodies. As their kiss became deeper, Dom's hands were entwined in her black hair, while Dani pulled him closer. The kiss was tender, yet exciting, and left them desiring more from each other.
While their lips remained locked, Dom had released his fingers from her and allowed them the trail down her neck and over her body. She unzipped her own jacket and broke apart from their kiss while she removed the bulky article of clothing. Dom had taken off his own shirt, exposing his tan and toned muscles to Dani, who felt suddenly insecure about her pale, and skinny body. She placed her hands on his muscular shoulders and noticed that his skin was radiating heat. She crawled over to him and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him with energy. His hands started at her waist before going under her shirt and travelling upwards, resting on her bare breasts. His warm touch was invigorating and allowed a burst of confidence to wash over Dani. She broke apart from their kiss and removed her shirt, exposing her skinny frame and small breasts. Dom began kissing her neck while she lightly pulled his hair. He gently kissed her collarbone and worked his way down her chest, stopping at the nipple of her right breast. He looked up at her eyes, and then took her nipple into his mouth. He started off gently, and gradually became more and more vigorous, before he was lathering her chest with his tongue. She moaned gently, a sound that left Dom craving more.
He wrapped her legs around his waist and stood up, lifting her with ease. He turned around and lay her back down onto the bed, careful with her fragile looking figure. He bent over her and began undoing the button of her pants while she lay back on the bed. He pulled them off slowly while she raised her head in anticipation. She sat up on the bed wearing only her underwear, giving him puppy dogs eyes that drove him crazy. She looked at his pants, before staring back at him with a raised eyebrow. Dom started undoing his belt while Dani crawled over to him and helped undo his pants, which then fell to the floor, leaving him in nothing but boxers. He bent down and kissed her again, with slightly more aggression this time and began pushing her back onto her back. He started kissing her stomach and trailing his tongue around her navel, going farther and farther downward until her reached her panties. He placed his hands on the sides of her thigh and worked them upwards until they were at the bottom of her panties. Very slowly and gently, he pulled them off of her, the anticipation practically killing her.
He threw the panties to the floor and marvelled at her naked body lying on the bed. All the flaws that he has seen in her before disappeared, leaving nothing but perfection. The heat of the moment had transformed her into a beautiful creature that Dom couldn't resist. Placing his hands on the inside of her knees, he spread her legs apart and began slowly trailing the inside of her legs with his tongue. When he reached her thighs, she shuddered at the tender touch, knowing what was soon to follow. He used two of his fingers to spread her lips, before fully embracing himself inside of her. He licked her gently, causing her body to shudder over and over again. Her back arched when his tongue hit the spot and she moaned uncontrollably, her chest moving up and down as she panted heavily. She pulled at his hair hard enough for him to raise his head and look at her in the eyes. She looked directly at his boxers, and then nodded. Smiling to himself, Dom quickly rid himself of the remaining piece of clothing and positioned himself on top of her. He wrapped her legs around him again, and place his elbows beside her head. He slowly entered her and rocked back, kissing her passionately as he did so. He was careful not to crush her skinny body that lay beneath him, he kept total control. Dom kept a rhythm going and watched as Dani climaxed, her back arching, causing him to do the same. He fell to the side of her as they both panted, and they smiled at each other. He pulled her sweaty body closer to him, and snuggled into his chest. Dom pulled the blankets over the two of them and kissed her head, while she slowly breathed in his arms. They embraced while they drifted into unconsciousness, not knowing what would await them in the morning.