Work Text:
Your girlfriend had been stuck at home on bedrest for the past month. After an incident in which she lost her left arm protecting Silco, she was told to stay at home to heal up before returning to her job. Although you didn’t work for Silco, he asked you to make sure she actually does rest while she is at home knowing how stubborn she can be.
The first week you barely let her get out of bed for anything other than to shower or use the bathroom, and even then you wouldn’t leave her side assisting her the entire time. The second week consisted of about the same, now adding in moving her from the bed to her desk or to the couch or the dining room table.
By the third week she was getting angsty, fed up with the same boring routine or doing basically nothing, not even being allowed to smoke or drink as much as she used to as it would slow her healing process. After you caught her a block away from your home after you went to take a shower, you knew she needed to do something before she went crazy from boredom.
So after she finally went to sleep one night, you made a straight shot to Silco’s office. Ran was posted outside of his office when you arrived, obviously taking Sevika’s place for the time being.
“Is Silco in a meeting?” You asked, not even bothering to greet Ran. They looked slightly taken aback by the sudden question.
“No, but he doesn’t want to be bothered rig— Hey!!“ Before Ran could finish their sentence, you shoved them aside, quickly opening the door and letting yourself in.
“Silco.” You grabbed his attention as you walked in. “You need to give Sevika something to do.”
Silco calmly watched you with a raised brow as you entered his office. He gave a quick glance to Ran who stood helplessly behind you as you stood your ground.
“I did.” He said simply, setting his own down. “Rest and heal.”
“You know what I mean.” You said crossing your arms. “She needs to keep her mind occupied, she’s going stir-crazy stuck in the house. Can’t you give her papers or documents that need to be reviewed or something?”
Silco sighed, not particularly wanting to deal with this at the moment. Ran then offered a quick solution. “Have her review my runs.”
You turned to Ran, raising an eyebrow. “What?”
“My collection runs. After I collect and document, Silco usually reviews them himself. Just let Sevika do it, she already knows how much should be collected each run.” Silco stayed silent for a moment, contemplating this.
“Alright. Start tomorrow, bring your collection documents to Sevika and I expect you—“ Silco pointed to you to emphasize his point. “To bring them back to me within the week.”
You smiled, feeling accomplished in your goal. “Thank you.” You then turned on your heel, leaving the office as quickly as you arrived.
So Ran started bringing stacks of papers to your home after they finished their runs. And you’d give them to Sevika, letting her sit at her desk as she reviewed them to try to keep some semblance of a work-life balance. By the end of the third week of her at home, you thought things had finally started to settle back down.
You thought.
CRASH.
The sound of glass shattering made you freeze in your movements. The whole house had been quiet for the past hour so this sudden noise was alarming.
“Sev?” You called out to her, starting to make your way to your shared bedroom. Hearing no reply from your girlfriend, you quickened your steps, nearly sprinting until you made it to the doorway of the room.
“Se—”
“Don’t-“ You heard Sevika’s voice crack and she glanced up to you, fat tears threatening to fall from her eyes. You froze taking in the scene in front of you.
Sevika was standing by her desk, her chair she was sitting in was knocked over a few feet away from her. Her chest rose and fell in quick breaths as if she could physically will down the anger bubbling within her. Her one arm was clenched in a tight fist by her side.
You moved to step into the room. “What hap—”
“DON’T!” She yelled louder at you, making you stop your movements. You stared at your girlfriend wide-eyed. As long as you had been with her she had never yelled at you, let alone with such fury behind her voice.
You both stared at each other for a few moments in stunned silence before Sevika broke it with a sigh, running a tired hand over her face.
“Glass…” She said, defeated. She gestured to the floor in front of you. Tilting your head to glance down, you saw the tiny shards twinkling in the light of the room. You then looked over to her desk to find her glass of water you gave her an hour ago was nowhere to be found. Putting two and two together, you realized what happened.
“Sevika. Sit down.” You said calmly, staying where you were.
“No—” She groaned softly. “Look, I’m sorry—”
“I know. Just go sit on the bed.”
“I didn’t mean—“
“Sevika.” You hissed, getting tired of her arguing after having just yelled at you. “Sit. Down.”
Sevika stared you down for a moment before she gave up, collapsing onto the bed with a huff. After seeing she was going to stay where she was, you turned and went to put on some shoes and grab the broom and dust pan.
You returned and carefully cleaned up the mess by the door, sweeping up all of the shards of glass and moving it to the side for now. You walked over and slowly sat on the edge of the bed next to Sevika. She hadn’t moved from when you left the room, sitting quietly with her head turned away from you.
You sat in silence for a moment before calmly speaking. “What happened, Sevika?”
Sevika sucked in a shuddered breath and that’s when you saw it. The tears streaming down her cheeks and falling down her neck. “I can’t sign the paper.”
You blinked in confused silence for a moment before it clicked. Sevika’s always been left handed. The hand she’d use to open doors for you or pick up her coffee mug or sign her name with. It was always her left hand.
The one she used to protect Silco.
“That’s fine, I can tell Sil—”
“That’s not the point.”
You paused, letting the words hang heavy in the air. Sevika ran her right hand over her face, wiping her tears away as she did. She let out a shaky breath before speaking. “I– I just feel so fuckin’ useless. I can’t even write my own name anymore, no one will take me seriously. Fuck.” Sevika cursed, letting her head fall back into her hand.
You sighed quietly to yourself and reached out, tucking some of Sevika's hair behind her ear. Her hair was touching her shoulders at this point. She was due for a haircut, but that had to be put on the back burner for the time being.
“Sevika. You have always done everything you can to help Zaun, in any way that you can. You can sti–” you corrected yourself. “You will do everything that you can do to help Zaun, but first you have to let others help you get better.”
“You’re only pityin’ me cause I can’t do shit on my own now…” Sevika scoffed, the words leaving her mouth before she could fully register them.
“Hey.” You snapped your fingers in front of her face, hoping to snap her out of this dark cloud that has darkened her mindset. “When did I ever say that?”
“You didn’t but–”
“I didn’t.” You emphasized. “Sevika, I don’t care about your appearance, you’re more than that. Two arms, one arm, ugly signature or not, who cares?” You sighed, more upset that your girlfriend is suddenly thinking so low of herself. “Do you know what first caught my eye about you?” You asked her.
“My height?” Sevika guessed, unceremoniously. “My abs? My bulging musc— ow.” You cut her off by flicking the side of her head, giving her a glare.
“I’m being serious.” You said crossing your arms.
“So am I!” Sevika protested, rubbing the spot where you flicked her. “Any girls I’ve been with in the past tell me how much they want to fuck me when they first see me. Any Piltie I have to interact with for Silco is immediately on edge when I step into the room.” Sevika’s voice slowly grew louder as anger and resentment was laced through each word. “I have had to fight every day against our own people for whatever scraps Piltover throws down.” Her right hand balled into a tight fist and she took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm her emotions down. “So yeah, I’m being serious. The first thing people usually notice about me is how intimidating I am.” She said, putting her walls up over her emotions again.
You quietly listened as she expressed herself, knowing she tends to keep things to herself at times, before you softly shook your head. “No, it had nothing to do with your appearance.” Sevika glanced at you from the side of her eye and raised a curious eyebrow.
“What was it then?”
“Your passion.”
“My–” Sevika blinked a few times, not expecting that answer. “What?”
“Your passion. For Zaun specifically, but just overall. The way you believed in your home and your people and your loyalty to it.” You explained, slowly letting your head fall to rest on her shoulder. “I don't think there’s much that could be done to put out that flame of passion inside you.”
You both sat there on the edge of the bed for a few moments in silence, letting her process your words and her own emotions. After about a minute you felt a slight shake in your girlfriend’s shoulders and your heart dropped, fearing you may have said the wrong thing.
“Sevi— eek!” Most of the air was suddenly crushed out of your lungs as Sevika wrapped her right arm around your back, crushing your body to her own. She pulled in a shaky breath before burying her face within the crook of your neck, finally letting weeks of emotions she’s been avoiding come crashing down onto her at once.
She cried. Sobbed. Your shirt became wet from where she buried her tear-stained face into it. A silent wailing that snatched all her oxygen, leaving her gasping for breaths that made her whole body shudder. All you could do was wrap your arms as best you could around your lover, softly running your fingers through her too-long hair. You let her get out any and all emotions she had been bottling up, though it broke your heart to see her like this. Her hand grabbed a fistful of the back of your shirt as her breathing started to become slightly erratic.
“Hey, hey.” You whispered quietly into her ear, trying to keep her from going too far off the deep end. “It’s okay, breathe for me baby.” You ran your hand up and down her back, attempting to soothe her. “Just breathe…”
Sevika slowly steadied her breathing, though the tears were harder to stop. You knew your girlfriend wasn’t perfect, she had a lot of things to work on– as did yourself, but after such a big event, it felt like a step forward was made today. Not only in Sevika’s healing journey, but also within your relationship with her.
“It was never your looks Sevika, you are more than your appearance.” You reminded her, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “Okay? I love you for you, not some big flashy muscles.”
“Got it?” You asked, glancing down at your lover’s face still hidden in your neck.
She simply nodded, squeezing you even tighter to her.