Work Text:
“Oh Harmony, please no.” El said, their horror mounting.
Vin stood in the doorway of their Elendel apartment, grinning evilly. In her hands she dangled a set of keys. She’d been saving money from odd jobs for months, and despite El’s worries, made the purchase.
“Oh Harmony, yes.” She replied, “Grab your things, we’re going out.”
Vin began rummaging through the kitchen, packing things into a basket. Somehow she’d even found a picnic blanket, with the red and white square patterns. They didn’t actually make those, did they?
“Going where?” El asked, setting down the paper they’d been reading.
“Driving.” Vin said, eyes twinkling.
El sighed, then got changed into a long tan skirt, sky blue buttoned shirt, and matching tan vest.
Vin wore the usual trousers and simple shirt, with a dark enveloping jacket, like the ones popular in the roughs.
“Please,” El said, stepping out to where Vin waited. “Just go slow. I’ve already lost my head once, I’m not eager to repeat the experience.”
Vin walked over, undoing the buttons at the top of El’s shirt where they’d accidentally put the wrong button in the wrong hole.
“Don’t worry, I’m still new to it. I’m not going to be doing anything crazy.”
“Rusts! Slow down!” El shouted in the seat next to Vin.
The machine was new, and they were finally able to reach a decent speed these days. Vin tore down the street, wind in her hair. It was the closest she’d felt to flying in three centuries. Even for a dead woman she felt alive .
Vin wove past a slower moving car, which honked at her. It didn’t matter, she could barely hear it over the rush of wind.
“It’s not so bad! Just like steelpushing!”
“That was back when I could burn pewter!” El protested. They pressed back into their seat as if trying to merge with it.
Vin twisted the wheel to the side, rounding a corner at a breakneck pace. If she closed her eyes she could imagine she was soaring over Luthadel. However she avoided doing that, since closing her eyes made El scream.
She slowed down, moving at a more reasonable speed.
“Sorry, sorry. I just… I needed that.”
Vin gave an apologetic look to El, who’s hair had been blown into a mess by the drive. She felt guilty at her recklessness. She took El’s hand and squeezed it.
“Hey, do you want me to stop?”
“No no. It was fun in a horrifying way, but someone might get hurt. There will be better places. I promise.”
Vin nodded, she knew El missed it too, but they’d never internalized being mistborn as she had. The freedom of climbing up into the air, then feeling your stomach drop as the planet below reclaimed you. Of course there were ways she could have that back, but she preferred not to think about that.
Vin continued, carefully and slowly now. She drove through the streets of Elendel -why had they named it that?- and passed below some of the magnificent towers they were building. The speed at which technology and society advanced was often too much to keep up with these days.
Eventually the buildings grew shorter, and they passed through the less wealthy areas of the city. Some warehouses had been painted and vandalized. Vin had to slow to admire the craftsmanship that went into some of the images.
Moving through the third octant, she moved towards the large circular walls of the city.
“Are we really just driving around, or do you have somewhere specific in mind?” El asked.
“I checked a few places ahead of time, I think I found somewhere you’ll like.”
Vin had been right, they liked the place all right. It was a hill just high enough to see over the wall into Elendel. The grass was so green it almost hurt to look at. Even after three centuries, the world was so rusting colorful.
After all they’d been through, they’d earned a colorful world. El unfolded the bright red and white blanket, sitting down on it and folding their skirts beneath them. Vin set down the basket, removing some bottles of wine, and a small bag containing sunflower seeds.
El never understood the appeal, but kept stepping on the shells in their apartment. They reached into the basket, pulled out a sandwich, and ate quietly. Meanwhile Vin explained why she’d chosen the specific car she had, going on about all the research she’d done.
They were glad to see her so excited. They’d dreaded that with their semi-immortality, they might grow apart with the strain of time, but so far that hadn’t happened. Vin was always so excited to see how things were changing in the world, but no matter where her curiosity took her, she always stayed close to El.
They finished their sandwich, then cut Vin off mid sentence by pulling her onto their lap. El couldn’t lift her as easily now that they had new bodies and access to better food, but that was a good thing, she felt more real.
Vin wrapped her arms and legs around El, leaning against their chest, resting her chin on their shoulder. El put their arms around her, taking comfort in the closeness.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt you, I just couldn’t stand the distance.”
Vin snorted a laugh. “And you say I’m the clingy one.”
“You’re free to move then.”
“No.” Vin said stubbornly, tightening her grip just a bit to prove her point.
El frowned in thought, trying to decide if they should say what had been on their mind. They didn’t want to get Vin’s hopes up for no reason.
“I spoke to Sazed a couple of weeks ago.” They said hesitantly.
“I know, you already told me this, remember.” She leaned back to see El’s face.
“Well I left a bit out, he said that… that in some of the futures he saw, someone figured out how to get some Lerasium.”
She frowned. “I’m not sure I know what-”
“Vin.” They said, unable to contain the smile now. “The metal at the well, that made me a mistborn.”
Vin was silent for a long moment. “Did he say how likely it was?”
“In a decent amount of possibilities, yes. He says there’s a pretty good chance that it will happen.”
She seemed to be processing the information slowly, like if she rushed it would damage the idea. “We could… You mean I might be mistborn again?!” She asked, suddenly filled with energy, as if the mere idea had gotten her to burn metals again.
Vin pressed her lips against El’s, leaning into them and sighing happily. Eventually she released El, still smiling excitedly. She kept fidgeting with the back of El’s collar.
“Thank you for telling me. I understand why you didn’t.”
Vin settled back against their chest, looking behind them where the sun was beginning to set. In front of El, the night sky was claiming the city they’d once shared a name with.