Archive of Our Own

Aloy feels like she was just flattened by a Slaughterspine.

Flattened by a Slaughterspine, knocked onto the ground by a surprise Shellsnapper, and set upon by a pack of Clamberjaws, despite being in her room at the Base and perfectly safe.

She takes a deep breath, blinking out some of the confusion, before asking the man in her room with her, “Could you say that again?”

“I said you’re the furnace of my heart, Aloy,” Erend replies without hesitation. His face is open, mischievous, even though Aloy sees the crinkle of worry in his eyes. While his eyes are on her, his hands fiddle with some of the newly-crafted arrows on her desk.

Erend had come in to say goodbye before her friends scattered across the Forbidden West to rally the clans and fit Focuses to allies, but Aloy did not expect those words to come out of his mouth when he walked through her door.

She’s seen the Oseram phrase before, written so beautifully on a random letter intended for a lover, but she was fully unprepared to be the recipient of it.

Her hands ball into fists at her sides, as if that would make the fluttering in her gut cease. “Erend, what…what does that mean?”

“It means I care about you, Aloy. More than anyone else I know.” A smile that she would almost call shy settles on his lips. “You gave me more than two minutes of your time, and I couldn’t help falling completely for you. I just needed to tell you.” His smile is all warmth, his eyes all understanding, and yet, she still feels like she can’t breathe.

Does he expect her to say something back? Of course she cares about Erend. He’s her best friend, the one she’s started turning to when she needs to talk about something. Erend was the first person she called after her bizarre breakfast table chat with Tilda…but she doesn’t know what that means.

“Erend, I…”

The Oseram reaches out to take one of her hands and squeezes it gently. “You don’t have to say anything.” His smile suddenly falls into a concerned frown. “Well, unless that’s the most revolting thing you’ve ever heard. We can just forget about it and I’ll head to Hidden Ember only mildly mortified.”

Aloy can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of her chest. Even now when he’s opening up his heart, he makes her laugh. She will admit that nobody else has that power. His words are oddly thrilling, but her feelings on the topic are a mystery, even to her. Especially to her. 

She squeezes his hand back. “It’s not. I just…don’t know. I haven’t let myself think about that, Erend.”

He seems to accept that as an answer because his lips immediately shift back to a wide grin and the worry vanishes from his face. “Then, while you think about it, will you let me show you how much I care about you?”

The hope in his steel-blue eyes makes her entire body feel warm and she knows that there’s a blush creeping over her cheeks. Aloy waits for that wave of discomfort she felt when Avad hinted at their future, or when Drakka seems to undress her with his eyes, but it never comes. “Yeah. Okay.”

Erend beams as he surges forward to press a kiss to her cheek, his hands warmly squeezing at her shoulders. “Then I’ll see you soon, Aloy.” He gathers her into a tight hug, holding on far longer than her one with Zo just half an hour earlier, before gently releasing her. His smile seems to only grow as he steps backwards toward her door. “I’ll call you when I get to Hidden Ember.”

Aloy can only give him a wave as her other hand touches the warmth left behind on her cheek.

It starts with Focus calls.

Erend keeps his promise and calls as soon as he makes it to the Oseram settlement. And then he just keeps calling her.

It’s slow at first: every few days, never two in a row. They exchange pleasantries about how they’re doing, the progress they’ve made, their latest kill.

Then it picks up. Erend calls Aloy every night, listening with full attention to her stories, asking her questions about the specific ammo she used, and showering her with compliments in return. Compliments like: Only you could make a shot like that. It was so kind of you to help the Lowland tribe—not everyone would do that. You have such a good heart.

Aloy’s glad that she takes these calls under the cover of darkness in the wilds or alone in her bedroom. Erend’s compliments make her blush uncontrollably, to the point where she’s hiding her face in her hands. As if her hands could stop the way her body reacts.

She knows that if she told Erend to stop, he would—no questions asked. But she likes the way her gut twists at some of them. The way he speaks so fondly of her makes her smile.

One time Beta catches her while they’re talking. Aloy is idly pacing through the common room, her face burning with his latest praise, when Beta asks, “Aloy, why is your face so red?”

After that, Aloy sets up a proximity alert to ping her if anyone gets too close when she’s on a call with Erend.

Soon enough, if she has exciting news or takes down a particularly vicious hunter-killer, she’s calling Erend in the middle of the day, in addition to his calls at night. Aloy sends over clips of a fight, and Erend will praise every move she makes as they watch it together. Somehow, he doesn’t seem to ever get tired of hearing from her or talking with her, even though she’s tired of listening to herself.

But not him. She never gets tired of him.

During one of their late-night talks, Aloy is curled up on her bedroll and squeezing a pillow to her chest when he says something that surprises her.

“Hey, I’ll be at the Base tomorrow. Will you be there?”

She freezes at the thought, unsure how she’s going to be able to face him after everything they’ve shared with each other over the past few weeks. But on the other hand, she has missed him. The Base has felt exceptionally lonely without him in the common room or puttering around the kitchen. Even after all these weeks she still expects to see him when she comes back.

So Aloy is smiling when she replies: “Yeah. I’ll be here.”

Erend’s timing is perfect, as it turns out. Sylens leaves early the next morning and Aloy has the opportunity to hunt a couple of peccaries for dinner, shower, and redo her hair. She’s working on an upgrade to her shredder gauntlet when she hears the whoosh of the exit door.

Aloy leaves the equipment on the table and fights with a twist in her chest as she heads into the common area. Erend is already dropping his hammer and pack on the benches, and it feels so good to see this larger-than-life man filling what has felt like limitless empty space in the Base.

“Hey, Erend,” she says, gently reaching out to touch his shoulder.

He spins around, the delight clear on his face, before picking her up in a crushing hug. “Aloy!” 

Her feet actually leave the floor, which causes her to throw her arms around his neck for support, and part of her wonders if that was his plan all along. She’s not complaining if it was.

Aloy’s barely back on her feet when he turns to grab his pack. “I have some things for you,” he says a little shyly, his free hand rubbing the back of his neck. “Can I give them to you now?”

Her eyes widen. She hadn’t expected him to come with presents. “Sure.” Better to get this over with before Beta comes down from GAIA’s dome and the two of them have to explain this entire situation to her.

Though Aloy senses Erend would be overjoyed at the opportunity to explain it to someone.

Erend grins at her, setting the pack down on the table and carefully opening it. He pulls out a bouquet of red wildflowers with petals that have harsh corners and seem to grow in every direction. Aloy’s never really been a flower person—at least she doesn’t think so; nobody has ever given her any before—but she does admit that there’s something lovely about them.

“I saw these on my way back,” he explains, offering them to her. “There was something about them that just seemed very Aloy to me.”

Aloy presses the flowers up to her nose and breathes in the light fragrance. It’s a scent she can’t pinpoint, but it makes her think of the flora on the way to Pitchcliff. “They’re wonderful, Erend.” And she means it wholeheartedly.

His smile threatens to burst off his face. “Good. We should, ah, put them in water.” The Oseram looks around quickly before grabbing one of his ale tankards and heading to the communal bathroom. When he returns with it full of water, his smile is just as broad. “Where would you like to put them?”

She nearly says he can put them anywhere, but stops herself before replying. He went out of his way to bring them to her, and she should put them somewhere special where she can see them often. “How about in my room?”

His eyes seem to sparkle at her reply. Erend picks up his pack with his other hand and gestures for her to lead the way.

Aloy flushes as they head inside. The last time Erend was in here, he completely changed the tone of their relationship. She finds herself anxious it’s going to change again, as she doesn’t know what tones come next.

Erend places his tankard on her desk before pointing at the flowers in her hands. “Just make sure you untie them before you put them in.”

She looks down to the flowers, now really noticing that they’re tied together with a variety of different colored ribbons. It’s the simplest action in the world to just untie something, but she feels unsettled under Erend’s gaze. Setting herself to the task, she gently pulls the bow and lets the ribbons fall to the desk before placing the flowers into the tankard. Aloy has to admit that they bring a pleasantness to that corner of the room.

“Thank you for the loan,” she says, nodding to the tankard.

Erend grins, taking a chance and sliding an arm over her shoulders. “The ribbons are a present, too.”

Aloy shoots him a confused look before scooping the ribbons off her desk. There’s something about them that feels familiar, despite the fact that she doesn’t wear ribbons.

When Aloy fails to say anything, Erend fills in the silence. “I know you wear your hair to keep it out of your face for hunting, but I worry about you in the desert. It gets hot there. And…” But he suddenly sounds sheepish and trails off.

That’s when Aloy realizes why they look familiar: they’re all colors of her favorite armor sets. There’s a burgundy that matches the dye of her Carja Stalker Elite, a teal for her Nora Valiant, the dusky blue of her Oseram Artificer pants, and more, including a deep green that doesn’t match anything she owns.

Silently, Aloy holds that one up and Erend actually blushes when he replies. “That one matches your eyes.”

It’s her turn to blush, though she’s still speechless over the gift. He knows the color of her eyes? Her favorite armor? Aloy is completely undone over someone knowing such intimate things about her that she didn’t tell them. It wasn’t that she doubted he cared about her, but this…it’s beyond what she thought possible. 

Erend withdraws his arm and quickly adds, “But if you don’t like them, you can use them on a pouch or something. I don’t mind.”

“No!” she says quickly, turning to meet his gaze. “Erend, they’re wonderful. I can’t tell you how often I think how it’s as hot as an Oseram forge in the Stillsands. Thank you. I promise I’ll use them when I come visit Hidden Ember.”

He hums in consideration as he rifles around in his pack. “Then I guess I could’ve waited to give you this.”

Aloy’s eyes widen as she lays the ribbons down next to the flowers. “More? Erend.”

She would protest, tell him it’s too much, but she’s so curious about what he’s going to pull out of that bag. She also doesn’t want him to feel like he has overstepped and retreat into himself with a self-deprecating joke. Calls and flowers aside, seeing him act like the man she met in the Embrace and the one she said goodbye to on the palace balcony has been the best part of this whole arrangement.

Erend pulls out a small metal object before setting his pack down on the floor. Then, with more gentleness than his large frame would suggest, he takes her hand and presses the present into her palm.

It’s an ember. A touch smaller than most of the ones at Dunehallow, but just the right size for the space of her bedroom. Aloy smiles, pressing the button on the side and watching the colors project out and dance across the walls and ceiling of her room. Bright bursts of light shoot out and explode from the little orb, spanning the entire spectrum of the rainbow.

When she looks at Erend, her stomach flips. His eyes aren’t on the colors skating across the room, but on her face–softly enjoying her reaction to his present. Aloy flushes, glad that the lights will disguise the pinkness on her cheeks. “It’s wonderful. How did you get it away from Morlund?”

He preens a bit, standing up straight. “I’ll have you know I picked that ember myself and put it immediately into my pack. I wanted you to have a little piece of Hidden Ember so you wouldn’t forget about me while I was away.”

“Erend.” Aloy places the ember down next to the flowers, noting how she’s never received so many presents in such a short space of time. Her hand seeks out his and holds it tight. “It would be impossible for me to forget about you.”

The warmth and relief in Erend’s smile settles deep in her stomach. “That’s the whole plan. Keep reminding you about me while you keep doing the incredible things you do.”

She can’t bring herself to say it aloud, but it’s working. Aloy thinks about him all the time. It wasn’t that she never thought about him before, but it’s different now. Aloy wants to tell him about every machine she takes down, every random person she helps; she wants him to tell her about his day and what he’s been thinking about. It’s a level of intimacy she’s never known before and it both terrifies and thrills her.

The air between them has grown heavy with a tension she can’t label. But it feels as though everything has fallen away and it’s just Erend and the lights reflected in his kind blue eyes.

Aloy doesn’t know what to do. Where should she look? What should she do with her hands? Her gaze seems to be stuck on his eyes, but they’re tempted to drift to his lips, and she just feels so much. Should she…kiss him?

“Aloy? Erend?” comes Beta’s soft voice from outside her door. The interruption breaks the tension and Aloy lets out a small laugh.

“Come on in,” Aloy replies, reaching over to click off the ember before her sister enters.

Beta enters the room and smiles shyly at them both. “Hi, Erend.”

“Hey, Beta. It’s nice to see you!” he replies, stepping away from Aloy to once again search through his pack. “I brought you and Aloy some honey cakes from Hidden Ember. It’s the new specialty of the chef.” Erend pulls out a bundle the size of a raccoon and meets Beta halfway to place it in her hands.

Aloy can see what she's sure is a reflection of the same surprise she felt earlier in Beta's eyes. Even if they’re vastly different people, neither of them are used to gifts.

“Thanks, Erend,” Beta says, already untying the bundle to get to the sweet treats. It will be a small miracle if Aloy gets any of them. “Are you staying for dinner? Aloy shot some peccaries this morning.”

“Is that an invitation or a request for me to cook?”

“Both,” the girl replies bluntly.

Erend laughs at the directness and nods. “I’m on it. One large pot of peccary stew coming up later tonight.”

Aloy watches them leave, chattering about Beta’s progress on Hephaestus, and she just grins at the door. She knows that Erend is asking questions of Beta because of his own curiosity and not to please her, but she has to admit that him being kind to her sister demonstrates his care more than any of the presents he brought her.

Though she likes the presents, too.

She moves the ember and the hair ribbons to the shelves next to her bed. This has always been a dark corner of her room and the soft, yellow glow of the ember makes it feel more like a home than a place to sleep. She likes it. And looking at the ember makes her stomach flutter the same way it does when he compliments her on their calls.

Erend serves up a delicious dinner of hot, savory peccary stew packed with vegetables and plenty of flavor. It’s easily the best thing that Beta and Aloy have eaten since he left for Hidden Ember all those weeks ago. The leftovers will likely sustain them for an entire week, thanks to the refrigeration unit Beta and GAIA rigged up with chillwater.

Aloy manages to wrestle one honey cake away from her sister and carries it out to the western exit when Erend suggests a drink after dinner. They settle on the cliffside, saying nothing as they watch the sun start to dip under the horizon line and color the sky with streaks of brilliant pinks and oranges. As soon as Aloy finishes her cake, Erend passes her a tankard without her asking for it.

She takes a sip, the flavor of the Scrappersap bringing her right back to their drinks before the Zenith battle. Aloy’s certain she’ll always associate this taste with Erend.

“When’s the last time you just got to sit and watch a sunset?” he asks.

“And wasn’t doing something else like setting up camp?”

“Yeah.”

Aloy races over her memories, trying to think of a moment where she just sat and watched something. “When I was recovering in Stone’s Echo, I guess. There wasn’t much else to do. Before that…” She lifts a shoulder as she trails off.

Erend reaches out to squeeze her hand. “Then thank you for taking the time to watch one with me.”

She looks over at him, her soft smile mirrored in his own face. It’s at this precise moment that she remembers her answer to Avad—about not having time to hold hands or look at sunsets—and it hits her like a Thunderjaw that it’s exactly what she’s doing right now.

And it feels so nice.

“You’re welcome,” she says, flipping over her hand so she can squeeze his back. “To be honest, Erend, I thought it might be a little awkward seeing you after last time. But it hasn’t been.”

He huffs out a laugh before taking a long sip of his drink. “I was worried about the same thing. Thought you might take one look at those flowers and change your mind.”

They both laugh at his joke and a weighted silence falls between them. Aloy is waiting for it to dissipate when he asks quietly, “How does it feel?”

She smiles over the top of her tankard before glancing at him. “Like it always does. Like I can just be myself.”

They miss each other on Erend’s way back through—she’s tied up with some local politics at Legacy’s Landfall—but Beta excitedly calls her to tell her about the berry tarts that Erend brought back from Chainscrape.

“Beta was excited about the tarts,” she says later, when she calls him on her flight back to the Base. “I’m sad I won’t get to try one.”

“I know better than that. I left you some in your room. They should still be good in a day or two.”

Aloy grins, hugging the neck of her Sunwing a little tighter. “Thank you. I’ll need them. I can’t believe I was there for three days figuring that out with Alva. I should’ve left earlier.”

Erend is quiet for a moment before saying, “Maybe. But you wouldn’t. You’re too good of a friend to us.”

When Aloy gets back to the Base, there are a couple tarts on her shelves and a new scarf folded on her bedroll. The scarf is soft and light for traveling, and in a very familiar pattern of orange and white stripes. While Aloy doesn’t need mementos to think about Erend, she likes having them all the same.

Erend leaves something for her at the Base every time he comes through. It always contains some kind of baked good for her and Beta to share, a meal or two left in the refrigerator, and a small gift. Most often it’s flowers and he takes the time to swap them out with the dead ones in her room.

He once asks her if she wants a different container to hold them, and Aloy tells him truthfully that she’s gotten rather attached to the tankard vase.

But it’s not always flowers. Sometimes it’s Strike pieces or new beads for her hair. One time it’s a small barrel of a fruity Oseram ale. A well-crafted utility knife, a variety of different colored feathers to decorate her weapons, a pair of hand-knit Oseram socks, a new blanket, a kit of small tools to make repairs, a handful of arrowheads, a geode, a few more embers.

Slowly, both her room and her person fill up with gifts from Erend. She loves that the gifts are generally useful and practical, and that the ones that are purely for aesthetics fit easily on her shelves. It makes her room, and the Base by extension, finally start to feel like a home.

One night he doesn’t call at his usual time and Aloy, fearing the worst, waits all of five minutes before calling him herself.

He doesn’t pick up the first time, but he does on the second, huffing out a breathy: “Aloy?”

“Are you okay?” she blurts out, ready to grab her spear and run out the Base door if needed.

“Yeah. Why?”

Aloy feels incredibly embarrassed to admit this. “I was worried when you didn’t call.”

“Oh, she was worried about me. I’m flattered.” She can hear the smile in his teasing. “But I am a little busy right now. Can I call you in a couple hours?”

Her heart sinks a little—he’s never been too busy to talk to her. And then immediately she feels guilty at the thought. Erend is allowed to have a life outside of her. A delay of a few hours is nothing.

“Yeah. I’ll talk to you then.”

But Erend doesn’t call.

Instead, after Aloy waits out the hours by refilling every single one of her ammo pouches, rearranging her stash, saying goodnight to Beta, and cleaning the kitchen, he enters the Base.

Aloy’s eyes widen and she yelps out his name before crossing the room and throwing her arms around him. Erend drops both his hammer and the large bag with him before circling his strong arms around her in return.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” she asks when she eventually steps out of the hug.

Erend smiles at her and sweeps a rogue piece of her hair behind her ear. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“I could’ve been anywhere. You were lucky.”

He rubs the back of his neck as his smile turns sheepish. “Yeah, I pinged GAIA to ask if you were here. I hope that’s okay.”

There was a time where Aloy likely would’ve been annoyed by that, but having him here with her erases any trace of annoyance. “I guess that depends on what's in the bag. Is it for me?”

“It is!” he replies gleefully, breaking away from her to pick up his present. “But I think you should open it in the lab.”

Aloy feels her brow furrowing at that. “Why?”

“You’ll see.” The Oseram takes her hand with his free one—her chest only flutters a little at the touch—and leads her over near her workbench.

Seeing that the table to the left of the workbench is clear for once, Erend places the bag down and then stands to the side. “Go ahead. Open it.”

Aloy gives him a curious look before undoing the cinched rope around the neck of the soft leather bag. When it falls open, she lets out a low curse. “Oh, Erend…”

She gently reaches inside to pull out layer after layer of Fireclaw sac webbing. “I have never seen this much in one place.” Aloy looks back at him and he’s never seemed so pleased with himself. “Is this all for me?”

“Sure is. And fresh off the machine.”

Aloy shakes her head, pushing the spare parts off the workbench so she can lay out a piece and get a better look at it. “Thank you, but…how?”

Erend shifts over to lean against the desk. “Kotallo asked me to come up to the Grove and help them take out a herd of Fireclaws. I said sure, as long as I got to take all the sac webbing for you.”

Her gaze immediately shifts to his body, wondering if he’s suffered any burns, though she quickly realizes how foolish that is—unless it was on his face, she would never know. And the thought of that distresses her.

“Another question, then: why?”

He shrugs a shoulder. “You’re always talkin’ about how much you go through with weapons and armor. I figured if I could be an errand boy for you, it was time well spent.”

She frowns at that, meeting his gaze with more heat than she intends. “Erend, you know you’re more than that to me.” What exactly the more is she is still trying to work through, but she doesn’t want him to ever think so little of himself again.

The humor falls from his face and he seems to still, as if he expects her to continue. And for a moment she thinks about it. Really lean into him about how he needs to stop talking about himself like that.

But he hauled all of this sac webbing here for her. And it just doesn’t seem right to lecture him after he made such a journey.

So instead, she steps in close and presses a kiss to his cheek. The whiskers of his beard tickle her chin but it’s not at all unpleasant. When she pulls away, he takes and squeezes her hand. Aloy can feel the static building in the air between them: a storm that when unleashed will change everything.

She’s not ready. Not yet.

“Thank you,” Aloy replies, giving his hand a squeeze back. “Would you give me a hand? I’ve been meaning to upgrade my Artificer armor.”

“You…want me to help you?” he asks, the surprise clear in his voice.

“Yeah.” She shrugs and turns back to the workbench. “Unless you’re not up for it.”

He huffs and stands from the desk. “An Oseram not up for forging? Aloy, come on.”

Aloy glances at him over her shoulder with a soft smile. “Would you grab it from my room?”

“Of course.”

Together they spend a couple hours making upgrades to her equipment that she’s been putting off for weeks. Her excitement grows every time they finish an upgrade and Erend’s smile somehow seems to get wider. They work well together; Erend’s exceptionally careful with her armor and weapons. It delights her that every time they do something new together, they’re still perfectly in sync.

Except Machine Strike, of course. He still continues to kick her ass in every game, but she is slowly getting better.

After her third yawn in less than as many minutes, Erend gently touches her shoulder. “Aloy, you need to get some sleep."

"Just one more—” When the fourth yawn cuts off her words, she nods. “Yeah, okay.”

“Go get ready for bed. I’ll carry your armor back in,” he says.

She nods, ultimately because she’s too tired to tell him she’ll do it in the morning. Sometimes she wonders if he’s doing too much for her: all of these tasks that she can easily do herself. But he always offers. He never complains. Aloy knows that he wants to be useful and he seems happy to be. One of these days she’ll have to figure out how to tell him how much it means to her.

Once in her bedroom, Aloy changes into her soft Nora leathers and curls down into her bedroll. She hears the noise of Erend carrying multiple sets of armor across the common room, then a long pause, followed by the whoosh of the door opening for him.  

“Is it okay to come in?” he calls from outside her door.

“Yes,” she murmurs, her eyelids already betraying her by slowly creeping down.

Erend comes in and methodically replaces her armor on the exact dummies and in the precise locations where they belong. Even half-asleep, she’s impressed.

He’s got one more piece of fabric in his hands, but he kneels down next to her. “It feels cold in here tonight,” he explains as he offers her one of the blankets from stash in his bunk. “Do you mind if I…?”

Aloy shakes her head just a little, feeling sleep tugging more urgently at her to give in.

Erend spreads the blanket over her and then actually tucks it in against her. Aloy’s heard of people doing this from datapoints, but it’s the first time anyone has done more than toss a blanket at her and gesture to an open bed. It’s sweet.

“Good night, Aloy,” he says, running a hand through her hair before getting up.

She cracks an eye open at him. “Erend. Would you…would you stay?”

He pauses before leaning back down to drop a kiss into her hair. “You want me to?”

“Yes.”

Aloy’s eyes close again as he gets up and leaves her room. The last thing she hears before falling asleep is him dragging his bedroll in next to hers.

“What’s going on between you and Erend?” Beta asks one morning, while they make a breakfast out of the latest batch of honey cakes from the man in question.

Aloy pauses, buying herself some time as she finishes the rest of the cake. “What do you mean?”

Her sister shrugs a shoulder as she pulls apart one of the pastries. “You seem happier. So does he. Do you like him?”

“Of course. He’s my friend.” Aloy crams an entire cake into her mouth and pops up from the bench. She’s long overdue to get some machine parts for Sylens, and it’s just a convenient bonus that her sister won’t be able to follow her with additional questions.

Beta grins mischievously at this and leans toward Aloy as her sister makes for the western exit. “Yeah, but do you like like him?”

“Yeah, probably!” she huffs out before grabbing her bow and kit and storming outside.

Aloy’s finishing her deal with one of stall owners in Barren Light when she hears her name yelled from near the front gate. She’s gotten so used to hearing it said in his voice that she doesn’t even have to turn around to know it’s Erend.

But she does turn around to greet him, and is immediately swept into a tight hug. 

“I didn’t know you were going to be here,” he murmurs into her ear.

Aloy wriggles her face further into his neck, drinking in the familiar smell of leather oil and ale. The hug saves her from whatever traitorous look is on her face, she’s sure. “Last minute business,” she says back. “I didn’t think you’d be back here already otherwise I would’ve…”

Erend pulls away and shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter. It’s good to see you.” He smiles at her, and Aloy sees his eyes move to catalog the dusty blue ribbon tying back her hair and the orange and white scarf poking out of her pack. And he just beams. “Are you in a rush?”

“No more than usual,” she replies.

The Oseram shifts to take her hand and brushes his bare thumb over the back. Aloy fights back the shiver that runs down her spine. “Think you can spare an hour?”

Aloy doesn’t even hesitate. “Yes.”

They head east from Barren Light and start up the sloped path towards the waterfall. Aloy quickly scales the small cliff and offers Erend a hand to help heave himself over the side. When he stands, he doesn’t let go.

Hand in hand, they take their time walking around the picturesque outcropping. It’s dotted perfectly with yellow-leaved trees and split by a rushing waterfall. It surprises Aloy that they still have plenty to say to each other despite their call the night before. Every time she dares to meet Erend’s eyes he’s looking at her like he still can’t believe she’d give him this time with her.

“You look beautiful today,” he says, once they’ve moved away from the waterfall and can hear each other again.

Aloy flushes. That must be an exaggeration. She knows that there are streaks of dirt on her arms from the Skydrifters she fought on the way in. Her hair is likely sticking out all over the place. But he looks completely sincere. 

“Erend, can you do something for me?”

“Anything.” He raises her hand and brushes his lips over her knuckles. “You know if I can give it, it’s yours.”

She swallows hard, feeling a little ridiculous for how embarrassed she is to ask this. “Can you take your gloves off?”

He pauses before laughing and nodding. He releases her hand so he can quickly pull off his gloves and shove them into his pack. Aloy watches his hands the entire time, knowing full well that her heartbeat picks up as each garment comes off.

Once the gloves are tucked away, he reaches out to take both her hands in his and Aloy practically melts from the heat that flows from his skin into her own. His hands are so much larger than hers, have fewer calluses from an adulthood of wearing gloves, but their soft, warm presence only makes her feel safe. 

“Better?” His eyes search her own, looking for confirmation that this is okay.

“Yes.” Aloy runs her thumbs back and forth over the warm skin of his hands and her mind suddenly takes off, imagining what it would be like to run her fingers over more of his skin. Would it be soft? Strong? Muscled? Scarred? For the first time since meeting Erend, she really wants to know.

She’s so engrossed by the thought that she completely misses Erend pulling away one of his hands until he gently places it on her cheek. Her heart stops for a moment before taking off like a Lancehorn, beating wildly in her chest; he must be able to hear it.

The soft heat completely envelops that side of her face and she barely registers the small tip of her head to meet it. Erend runs his thumb over her cheekbone and her hand involuntarily squeezes the one she’s still holding.

“Aloy,” he says, his voice soft and barely audible over the crash of the waterfall. “Would you let me kiss you?”

And she panics.

Not because Aloy doesn’t want Erend to kiss her. In fact, she would very much like for Erend to kiss her. This time she’s ready for the storm to break.

No, she panics because after how kind and patient and thoughtful he’s been, he should be able to kiss the best version of her. Aloy should be in fresh clothes, clean from a recent a shower or bath, and absolutely not covered in dirt from a scrape in No Man’s Land.

But Erend waits, eager and hopeful, and seemingly not at all concerned about the state of her clothes or hair. And as ridiculous as it sounds, after all the presents and Focus chats, it’s this that makes her really, fully understand how much he likes her.

“Yes,” she finally answers with a smile.

Erend wastes absolutely no time leaning in and gently pressing his lips to hers. He releases her other hand to pull her closer by her waist, and for once Aloy doesn’t mind not taking the lead, happy to follow where his hands and lips guide her.

A deep want that she never realized was stashed away in her heart bursts out and Aloy loops her arms around his neck and teases her tongue against his lips. Erend huffs out a laugh of surprise, but opens his mouth and slides his tongue easily against hers. Aloy lets out a bit of a gasp that’s quickly swallowed by his own elated groan.

She feels everything, but also only Erend, and wonders when it was that her heart decided they were barreling towards this moment without ever telling her head.

When the kiss breaks, her eyes flutter open to see only Erend’s soft blue eyes on her. It’s obvious now how long he’s wanted to do this, and how completely focused on her mission she must have been to have never noticed.

Aloy is still catching up to her thoughts, overwhelmed by the emotion she sees in Erend’s eyes. Her mind also keeps fixating on what she was doing the last time she was near this waterfall and how different it was from what she’s doing now. When she finally wrangles her brain together to reply, all she says is, “You know, I helped find a dead body here a few months ago.”

Erend’s eyes widen and he quickly jerks up a hand to cover a snort of a laugh. “Fire and spit, Aloy,” he says, looking back at her. “You sure know how to charm a man.”

She pales, the stupidity of her comment falling on her like a crate, and she moves to take a step away from him.

But Erend tugs her back, the look on his face all warmth and amusement. “Then again, if I could only kiss you in places where you haven’t found dead bodies, that would really limit our options.”

Aloy laughs, feeling lighter with her embarrassment soothed away by his joke. She teases her fingers through the hair at the back of his head and is delighted by the shiver Erend gives in return. Then she leans in to kiss him again, melting fully into his arms.

She’s not sure how long the kiss lasts—Aloy would believe anything from five minutes to five hours, as time seems to stop and hold space for them to just be—but it’s Erend who breaks it.

He leans his forehead against hers and gently brushes his hand over her hair.

“I have to get going,” he murmurs.

Aloy nearly laughs—is this what it feels like to be on the receiving end of that line?

He sighs and pulls back just enough to take one of her hands with his. “I knew it was going to get harder saying goodbye to you, Aloy. But this one hurts.”

She finds herself stepping against him again to wrap her arms around his waist in a tight hug. A part of her just wants to stay there the rest of the day, but her practical side knows they need to get moving before they lose any more daylight. “I’ll come visit Hidden Ember soon.”

His eyes light up and his smile settles back on his lips. “You promise?”

“I do.”

Erend presses another kiss to her cheek and then starts rummaging through his pack. “Before I leave, I have something for you.” He pulls out a small, thin strip of leather and lays it flat on his hand to show her. Looking closer, Aloy can see it decorated with steel rings that are a smaller version of the ones on his Vanguard uniform.

“It’s pretty. What is it?” It’s too short to secure something to a belt or armor. It’s too heavy to wear in her hair.

She notes a faint blush rise in Erend’s cheeks. “Ah, it’s a bracelet.” He swears quietly and closes his hand. “I’m sorry, it’s dumb. I shouldn’t be giving you things that weigh you down.”

Aloy frowns at him, undoes her bracer, and thrusts out her right hand. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

He gives her a look so kind and soft that her breath catches in her chest. Carefully, he takes the band and wraps it around her wrist. He gently fastens the bracelet together before raising her hand to press a kiss to her palm.

The bracelet is lighter than she expected—certainly lighter than most of her bracers—and lays fairly flat against her skin. She’ll have to experiment if she can wear it under her armor. “It’s not dumb at all. I love it.”

He beams at her and offers his hand, which she happily takes. They stay together all the way until the entrance to Barren Light. He kisses her again and Aloy forcibly has to pull herself back before she throws herself right back into his arms.

She’s glad that Beta isn’t here right now, because there’s no doubt that her answer to her sister’s question would now be: ‘Yes, completely.’

“I’ll call you later,” he says.

“Can’t wait,” she replies.

But first, she needs to talk to Petra.

So as soon as he turns away to head towards the Carja soldier tents, Aloy whistles for her Sunwing.

It’s been a couple of weeks since Erend kissed her in the Daunt and Aloy still hasn’t been able to make it down to Hidden Ember. She needed to run errands for Sylens and Beta and always seemed to run into more people who required her help while she was out.

But when she’s not busy moving, gathering, climbing, or fighting, she’s thinking about that kiss. About his bare hands, warm and soft on her skin. About his large frame pressed tightly against her smaller one. About his lips, his tongue, how the kiss made her feel safe and special and cared for and…something else that she’s not ready to put a word to yet, but is definitely good.

Late at night, once she’s made camp and finished her call with Erend, she thinks about how Beta was right. She is happier. Everything Erend has done makes her happier. Aloy is endlessly grateful that he found the courage to tell her how he felt. The last couple months wouldn’t have just been a little sadder, but lonelier, too.

So as soon as she hands in the last machine part to Sylens, she turns right around and heads out of the Base. Aloy summons her Sunwing, climbs on, and heads directly for Hidden Ember.

By the time she lands, Erend is already waiting at the perch.

“Saw you flying in!” he shouts while she rolls off the machine’s back. As soon as her feet hit the sand, he wraps her in a tight hug. When Erend pulls back, he hesitates for a moment, and settles for a kiss on her cheek.

“Sorry, I should’ve told you I was coming.”

“Nothing to apologize for. It’s been too long since the Daunt.” His eyes drop to her arms and ever-so-gently he runs his thumb over the rings of the bracelet peeking out from under her bracer.

The anxiety in his eyes disappears, but they both seem to linger, unsure what to do or say next. So Aloy decides to slide her arm around his waist like it’s the most casual thing in the world.

Erend immediately relaxes into her, placing his own arm over her shoulders and drawing her close. “So what brings you to Hidden Ember?”

“I’m hungry.” 

It’s not the reason and they both know it, but this isn’t the place for the real reason and Erend doesn’t press.

“Hungry.” He quirks an eyebrow at her. “That’s a problem I can solve. Have you been to the new tavern yet?”

“I haven’t.”

“Then get ready for an experience. Best food I’ve had since Meridian—and do not tell Milduf I said that.” Erend squeezes her shoulder as they set off towards one of the ruins that’s been renovated to cater to the growing population.

After placing their food orders at the bar, they take their Scrappersap and settle at a small table in a quiet corner. Aloy examines every inch of the place. The settlers have done a fantastic job at removing the sand, patching up walls, and filling the space with sturdy, comfortable furniture. She really does love Oseram ingenuity and determination.

“How’s Beta?” he asks before taking a sip of his drink.

“She’s good. She told me to tell you that she hopes you bring more honey cakes and visit soon. In that order.”

Erend cracks up at that, his eyes crinkling the way they always do when he’s genuinely happy.

The way they do when he looks at her.

“I will,” he promises. “In that order.”

They fall into easy conversation that barely lags when their food arrives. Erend’s right—the food is incredible. The Forge-Blackened Sirloin simply melts in her mouth and she regrets sharing a plate of Brew Battered Wedges with Erend when she clearly should’ve gotten her own.

Halfway through their plates, Erend reaches over to where Aloy’s hand is resting on the table and brushes his fingers over hers. She feels her heart lurch up into her throat, and the faintest flush spreads across her cheeks. She raises her eyes to his and gives a shake of her head before mouthing the word ‘gloves.’

He shakes his own head, smirking, but does as she demands and peels off his gloves. Without hesitation, he reaches out to take her hand in his. Immediately, all the warmth and safety that Aloy felt with him in the Daunt spreads down her arm and throughout her body.

Aloy is wondering how soft her face looks when Morlund and Abadund enter the tavern. Morlund lets out a surprised “Aloy!” before heading directly to their table.

Erend tries to pull his hand away, but Aloy just holds it tighter.

“Oh, Aloy! Absolutely outstanding—I just found the most wonderful contraption. I have no idea what the Old Ones would use it for, but it seems that you pour in liquid and then use a trigger on the bottom. But there’s no traces of accelerant! What do you think it means?” asks Morlund, all in one breath.

Aloy blinks slowly, her mind unable to resist thinking about the way Old Ones technology worked. “Huh. I guess I’d need to see it?”

Morlund’s eyes widen in excitement. “Then perhaps after your dinner with the Captain?”

Abadund clears his throat and gently places a hand in the crook of Morlund’s elbow. “Maybe not tonight, Mor. They’re on a date.”

The showman tinkerer glances down at Aloy and Erend’s clasped hands. “Oh! My sincere apologies. Whenever you have the time, Aloy. Enjoy your night.”

Abadund gives them both a nod of his head as he pulls the other man to a table on the other side of the tavern. Aloy admires their sincere, supportive relationship. She suspects that there have been plenty of times where Erend would’ve liked to guide her away from something but instead just ran straight at it with her.

Erend is looking at her, his eyes worried as he searches her face. “It doesn’t have to be—”

“No. It is,” she cuts him off before squeezing his hand.

They finish their dinner, and Aloy lets Erend pay without arguing. They grab another drink to go before setting into the cool desert night. The embers are at the height of dazzling without any sun to compete with, and the New Year’s Eve ornament sparkles against the ruins.

“I hate the sand, I hate the heat, but you can’t beat this view,” Erend says as they make their way up the ramparts at the Tower of Tears.

Aloy smiles as they take the stairs and then climb up the ladder to the top floor. “Thanks for bringing back pieces of it for me.”

She picks a spot away from the rest of the settlers where they can sit and watch the lights. Erend wraps his free arm around her and she leans in against him, relishing in his warmth and solidness. For a few minutes, she can just be Aloy, taking in a beautiful view, sipping on a drink, and enjoying the company of her favorite person. She’s never allowed herself time like this, and if it wasn’t for Erend, she knows she wouldn’t have even considered it until the next time she got seriously injured or they defeated Nemesis.   

Which is why she needs to tell him.

Aloy takes a long gulp of her Scrappersap before setting the tankard off to the side. “So Erend. I’ve been thinking.”

“Yeah?” He also sets down his tankard and shifts to look at her. “About what?”

“About what I told you I would think about.”

He swallows, though his face remains surprisingly neutral. “And?”

She smiles at him, reaching forward to take both his hands in hers. She repeats the Oseram saying that Petra told her those few weeks ago in her mind before speaking it clearly to him. “Erend, you are the fire that heats my forge.”

Erend freezes for a moment before dropping her hands to cup her face and pull her into a bruising kiss. Aloy kisses him back, immediately drawing it deeper and climbing into his lap to eliminate as much space between them as she can manage. She’s gone so long keeping a firm perimeter between her and the people she cares about, but over the past few months Erend has shown her that she doesn’t need to.

Having this with Erend doesn’t make her distracted or weak. If anything, it’s only renewed her determination to kick Nemesis’ figurative ass.

She can have more, and she’s going to take it.

Aloy breaks the kiss and presses her forehead against his. The Oseram chuckles, running his hand up and down her back. “I want to be that fire as long as you’ll have me, Aloy.”

She grins at him and steals another kiss. “How about we take this somewhere a little more private before Stemmur starts narrating us?”

Erend chuckles, tilting his head to brush his nose against hers. “It’s going to happen eventually. We might as well get it over with.”

“Eventually,” she agrees. “But how about next time?”

The joy on his face is boundless, and Aloy knows she’ll replay this moment for the rest of her life.

He tucks a piece of her hair behind her ear. “Deal.”