Chapter Text
Grace didn’t know what to expect when she downloaded that app. Of course, she had enough knowledge of the purpose of this application but wasn’t it too much?
There was no person who she could talk to. Colleagues were automatically out of the option. Emily was her child and that retired DSO agent or whatever he was, who became her father figure would be strictly against it. He was too old fashioned for this. Or maybe not, she wasn’t fully aware of the whole story behind his relationship with that elegant and kinda mysterious woman called Ada.
Grace was just afraid to be judged.
She was judged her whole life, like many neurodivergent souls who can't fit into this world. Never been understood fully. Except her mom, but her mom was dead. What would she have to say about this? Probably nothing, She did more dangerous things in Grace’s age.
She missed the opportunity. Too much moving, too much lacking in social interactions, too much PTSD, too much ostracized. She was too much for entering the dating pool in every period of her life. And now, she was too much responsible for another human being under her roof, that she wouldn’t dare to bring a full grown man along in space where the kid lived. She was scared she would fall in love and become loyal so far, she would be blind to… no, that will never happen. Never. No funny business under her roof. In the end, her mom never did that either.
Grace Ashcroft, the woman who survived Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center and Racoon City with the glass in her hand and one bullet in the gun, struggled with her love life. She simply didn’t know how to approach someone and ask for it. She knew she can’t go straight on the street and ask the first person for sex.
Grace wanted to have a sex. With a man. And she knew how ridiculous she was.
In the end, she didn’t know how to even kiss someone properly. Her first kiss with that girl in high school was a total disaster. She didn’t know how to open her mouth, what to do with her tongue, their teeth knocked together many times, she was so clumsy that in the end that girl gave up on Grace. Something simple and natural as a kiss and she needed a whole manual, step by step.
A few years later, in a rare moment of her college years, she found the time to search among ladies, but she didn’t find the right one. And when she decided to switch for a few months to F/M ships of several fandoms which she worshiped at that time, she realized that also fictional men in love with women are hot sometimes. She felt embarrassed to be a late bloomer all the time.
And right now, after years of struggling, when she skipped many steps and suddenly became a mother, her nervous system calmed down and when she gained a stable social network, that one biological urge came on the surface. She wanted to fuck a man. Touch and being touched.
And because it seemed that skipping some steps looked like the perfect way to have a successful life, she didn’t hesitate and instead of wasting time on regular dating apps she chose one for anonymous, quick hookups. Because Grace Ashcroft didn’t want a regular relationship. She wanted to be sexually satisfied.
Of course she wanted to try it without using the internet. But when she found a discussion thread on Reddit called How did random hookups and one-night stands work before dating apps? She was horrified by how often the alcohol, bars and clubs were mentioned, so she immediately dismissed that opportunity. She couldn’t drink and she hated noisy places. And approach random people with the risk to be refused face to face? Never.
For safety reasons she chose the app, which included the chat with disappearing messages. The user sent a message and after two minutes after viewing the message disappeared. Grace concluded that’s the safest option for her.
She took a profile picture and cut it to the angle when just part of her collarbone, neck, chin, cheek and corner of her lips were on it. And the ends of her wavy hair. That’s it. She cut it before uploading, making sure that no one would get the whole picture with her face with some magical spells from the keyboard.
She decided to choose a fake name. However her first name was so common, she was so afraid that someone could take advantage of her and lure her out and eliminate her. The chance of surviving could be low. And even if she was lucky to be saved again, she would have to explain to the forces fighting against bioterrorism, why she downloaded the dating app for one night stands. At the same time, she didn’t want to give up on her name, so she decided to hide Grace behind the surface. And because Grace Olive Wiley, was her favourite herpetologist, the choice was clear. Olive Wiley just for the app, just for one night.
In the profile’s description she just wrote. I am such a vanilla. She wanted to have some sort of control. Looking for someone who was safe and without preferences which could cause her pain without her consent.
Grace didn’t expect that, but in a few days she received tons of message requests . It was kinda scary. And disgusting. Despite the fact, she asked for more conservative and boring preferences, she received pictures of many objects she didn’t want to have on or in her body. They were so creepy and probably illiterate because they weren't able to read her note on her profile. (Editor's note: no, they weren't iliterate. They just didn't care and didn't have the best intentions with her).
And after two weeks with an urge to vomit every time she opened her phone, she lost her hope and wanted to leave this damn app. But she gave it a chance for one more day. And the day after she received one message.
It sounded safe. Soft. Kind. She felt a little bit awkward. She doesn’t have any script in her head for how to exactly respond in situations like this. She has never been in that situation willingly. (If someone had comments on her body in public, she ran).
Please, don’t send me dick pick! Don’t send me dick pick! Please!!!
Grace prayed and her prayer was answered.
Is he a millennial??? Making an emoticon nose from hyphen?!!
At that moment, she realized she didn’t define the age range for her candidates. Actually, she had only one candidate. The others didn’t pass the literacy test.
An older man could easily take advantage of her. A younger man could get her into the prison or let her commit social suicide. Of course the style of writing emoticons was not deceiving. Some young millennials and zillenials did that too. Or be as her, the pure Z-Generation, born after the 2000s, who didn’t spend so much time on the internet because he was raised by a family influenced by a neo-Luddite movement and worked manually his whole life. And simply didn’t notice many changes in the online world between 2000s and 2020s.
She bit her lip. She liked it.
Probably it wasn't a common question in this environment, because the responder responded simply (and maybe coldly, but it was just her guess).
Grace decided to lose her guard a little.
She opened his profile. His name was Chad. Probably he also decided not to use his real name. His picture was similar to her, just he chose a different angle of his face. Full pretty lips. A little bit wider chin. A hint of stubble.
She wanted to be fair, she also didn’t show her whole face on her profile. But she had her reasons. After everything happened to her, she didn’t want to put herself in any danger. But she felt unsure when she couldn't see his face.
And statistics about sexual violence was still telling her, that there is a higher probability she would be the potential next victim than him.
But he could simply have his own reasons why he didn’t want to show his face.
Like what Grace? He is on the run? Sexual deviant? High-ranking politician? Some creep looking for young prey?
And then, their chat silenced for two weeks. She didn’t push, didn’t send any other messages. She was just living her life She was caring about Emily and doing other stuff. But this chat wasn’t dead forever and one day, the candidate sent her message again.
Send him the picture of the eyes? The only biometric identifier that can be reliably read with current technology? Never! At that point, she might as well just send him her fingerprints.
She looked around, a little bit embarrassed. She sat in the kitchenette of Federal Bureau of Investigation with her afternoon coffee.
She typed. He responded.
Did she cross the line?
This wasn't a regular dating app. People came here for different things than finding their soulmate and living happily ever after in exclusive relationships from fairy tales. But Grace still badly wanted to be a girl’s girl and not hurt anyone.
Typing again… it irritated her a little, that he wasn’t able to write a few more sentences in one message.
Still, the man on the other side of the display could be a liar and a really enormous hypocrite. Promising loyalty to one woman and paying monthly for this app. That’s the reason why she didn’t apologize.
And inside of Grace something rose a little.
Grace burst into the laugh and responded.
Grace almost forgot her nickname. How would it be to hear her name from his mouth? Ridiculous because she didn’t even know what his voice sounded like. She would ask for little record, but he could ask for the same favour and a voice record is also a really good identifier as well. Maybe one day she will hear his voice. And he hers.
He silenced for the next three weeks but Grace somehow didn’t become worried. In the end, they weren’t partners or even worse, lovers. He was just the guy on the other line who sent her risqué messages and she responded with blushing cheeks, and that’s all.
Also Grace’s job became tough. For months things at work had been awkward before her boss got an audacity to spread his ego over Grace’s work desk again.
She was so pissed. He sent her into the shit hole without proper qualification and when she miraculously appeared (editor’s note: still alive), after the weekend, in the office (just take some stuff, at that moment, she wasn’t fully decided if she stayed or not) he acted as if nothing had happened. He definitely had to know what happened the week before. It was on a national broadcast. Hello?! And when she fully recovered and came back, he gave her another task without even asking how’s doing. Thank god, she didn’t have to leave the desk at that time.
There was no way he could be so much of an asshole. He lured her into the trap. It was making her nauseous. She knew this was not the end. But this time, it would be different.
○○○
One day, when she was in a bad mood again and had successfully hidden it from everyone, she decided to text her candidate.
Suddenly excitement curled her spine from neck to her pelvic floor. Two things made her flattered. First, he called her princess. People did that when she was too demanding. When she cried over too much light and too high temperature in the room. They thought that Allyssa spoiled her. She couldn’t stand some sort of fabric on her skin, refusing to eat in a loud environment, talking about her struggles when other children talk about theirs. But it never was about spoiling, it was about suffering.
She felt like a mess that someone called her princess in a nice way, however that guy never saw her face. Never witnessed her behaviour (her nature was hidden under better masking since childhood, she looked almost normal from time to time). She bursted in tears.
The second thing was, she made a decision, the actual meeting was already more real than before. Since that moment, they were just bambling about cute nonsense. Now, she broke a line and started to talk about real things and preferences. But she had to be sure for one hundred percent.
Typing… He stopped. The typing icon appeared on chat again. She bit her lip.
Grace blushed. She typed her request with trembling fingers.
The typing icon disappeared.
But Grace didn’t have any courage to stay here longer. Maybe she drove him away. She left the app and went back to her job. She was so distracted anyway and didn’t want any unwanted attention from her boss.
○○○
When she came back two days later, she found an exceptionally long message for his standards.
Her expression in her face softened. She slowly opened the on-screen keyboard.
And I am already jealous of your future girlfriend… She shook her head. Grace! Don’t be ridiculous. He can have a girlfriend who he is cheating on and he asked just to protect himself! It’s not about you!
But she quickly typed another message.
“Grace! Where are you?!”
She dropped the phone in shock. She was so focused she lost sense of place and time. It was so embarrassing because her and Emily were invited into Leon’s and Ada’s house and she…
“U- U- Upstairs!”
“Are you alright, Grace? Can I come?” Leon asked. He was worried.
“I am just fine. I…I… just started my period unexpectedly!” she shouted back and tried to get her phone from behind the cabinet, where it had fallen. “Fuck!”
“I see… Ada, darling, do you have any pads left?”
“What? No, I am done...”
Grace interrupted the talk from downstairs.
“I… I am fine! I have my own! Thank you so much!” She didn’t want to make them worried. Finally, she got her phone back and rushed back to the rest of the company. She ran from the stairs when she spotted Emily, still in slippers.
“What is the period?” the girl asked. Grace scooped her up into her arms and twirled around with her. “Here you are!” give her several pecks on her forehead and cheeks. But she didn’t want to ignore her question, so she responded in a way considering Emily’s age. “Period is a process in a woman's body. The body detoxifies itself. Women get it every month for several days, then it stops. At this time women can be more tired, sleepy or have tummy problems.” she explained to her little girl.
“Does it hurt?” Emily asked with worry in her voice. Grace wasn’t sure how to respond, but after a second or two, she finally responded with a wide smile.
“Sometimes. But I will do everything to not let you suffer, ok? You don’t have to be scared.” She gave her another peck and put her back down on the floor. She turned back to Leon. “Can I ask you a favour? I know it’s not the first time but…”
“You have to finish some reports?” Leon asked, and gave Emily her outdoor shoes into her hands. “Of course, I will take care of her. Right, Emily? Are you excited about the trip? Grandma Claire can’t wait to see you.” Leon smirked at the little girl.
“Don’t let her hear you.” Ada gently punched him into his shoulder. Leon wrapped her arm around Ada’s waist and pressed his lips on his. “Roger, main grandma Ada.”
“Leon!” The former mercenary chuckled. “Me and Redfield are the cool aunts! The outcasts of the family who buy expensive gifts and let children do what their parents never allow them to do. Don’t listen, Ashcroft!”
Emily stared at them, eyes widened, lips parted but Grace let her. It was good for Emily’s development to have some good examples of love and affection between partners. Something that Grace could never give her. Finally, when Ada had enough, Leon turned back to Grace.
“I am always happy to have Emily here, just I hope they don't take on you too much. You can leave, you know that.” he glanced at her. He was definitely worried.
“I will be fine and thank you so much. It'll be done soon anyway.” She thanked him. “Ada, don’t you mind if I will stay here to watch the house or should I-”
“In fridge is extra portion from yesterday. Leon made it. And we will be back around six. Please, just order something to eat before. Take care.”
When Grace was left alone in their house, she opened the laptop. Her nature of course didn’t let her abandon her daughter because of some dude on the internet, she had to actually do something. She connected through a VPN using an Argentine IP address and started working...
After the dinner where all of them united and Emily was already in her pajamas in the living room, ready to bed soon because Leon didn't let them drive back to their home, Grace found a second check on her phone again. She received several messages from Chad. Read all of them and quickly turn off the phone when her face turned red.
○○○
After that, she stopped hold her back and was more comfortable with talking her desires. It was kinda fun.
Grace was little lost here, as a maladaptive daydreamer she needed visual stimuli. That’s the reason why she struggled to imagine him because she didn’t know what he looked like, except his lowest part of the face. But it wasn’t enough.
She didn’t ask how he fantasized about her anyway because she didn’t show any other parts of her body to him. Then, she received an unexpected message.
She sat on her bed in her bedroom. Emily was already sleeping in her room across the corridor. The shapes of furniture were sunk in the darkness of the night, what Grace used to hate for a long time. But it was slowly becoming less frightening. It was time to move things forward.
Notes:
I am a huge fan of Ali Hazelwood's books (I love women in STEM). The idea of an app for one night stands came from this book. Also, the nickname Olive is the name of Hazelwood's character from another book (which, coincidentally, was originally a fanfiction btw) and it’s not just the name of a famous herpetologist.
The actual link to the reddit threat.
I had so much fun with AO3 workskins and little coding! The text messages are not pictures. I found help and inspiration here: How to Make iOS Text Messages on AO3
Well, and the ship. It’s my first rare ship probably, I always been so mainstream in shipping. They are so cute together (not yet) and I found on this page only five(?) works with them and always together with Chreon which I deeply respect but not prefer. So I decided to write my own fic.
I hope you like it.