Chapter Text
“I want to play a game,” Seyka said smoothly. Her lips pressed to the edge of her tankard as she took a sip of whatever swill Erend had brought back from his most recent visit to the Claim. Seyka’s fingers traced aimless patterns on the tabletop and Aloy found herself watching how they caressed the gnarled wood.
Whenever Seyka had a game in mind, Aloy always paid for it.
Meridian was boisterous this time of year. The entire week leading up to the anniversary of Nemesis’s defeat was basically one long party - work stopped and every Oseram worth their ale broke out all the, well, ale that they could stomach. There was music, drinking, dancing, and a sparring tournament hosted by the Hunter’s Lodge that was held in the center of the city, and even more drinking. Some years, Morlund would make the trip from Hidden Ember to put on a citywide light show that would have the Carja nobles gossiping for weeks.
Aloy had learned her lesson on never skipping out on a good party after the Battle of the Alight - and so, Aloy & Co. always made it a point to attend Avad’s celebrations, often making the trek from hundreds of miles away.
But now, the party had hardly even officially begun and Seyka was already doing her damnedest to make Aloy’s blood boil in her veins.
Aloy’s chosen drink was something that tasted overwhelmingly fruity to hide the taste of the alcohol within it and was served in a flimsy little glass. Whatever it was had her tongue tingling with the taste of peaches and oranges and made her skin buzz pleasantly - but Seyka’s single sentence was still more effective at setting Aloy’s nerves alight. Seyka knew it too. Her eyes were dark in the dim light of the tavern as they roamed over Aloy’s figure, reading her body language, compartmentalizing, identifying weaknesses.
Like she was on the hunt.
Aloy barely managed to keep herself from squeezing her glass. If Seyka sensed weakness, she’d pounce - and this game would end before it ever truly began.
“What did you have in mind?” Aloy thought she had kept her voice rather smooth and natural, but the slight tip to Seyka’s smile suggested otherwise.
Seyka leaned back into the plush backing of her seat and let her hand fall to Aloy’s thigh, hidden beneath the table. Her palm was warm through Aloy’s leathers and the huntress shivered at the memory of calloused fingertips tracing against the bare skin of that exact spot just the night before.
Aloy glanced up to scan the rest of the room for their friends. Erend and Petra had commandeered another table that was already littered with at least a dozen empty mugs and seemed preoccupied with some drinking game. Talanah and Zo were laughing behind their own glasses as they watched Vanasha drag Uthid out to an impromptu dance floor, and Kotallo looked like he was attempting to make himself scarce before either of the women could do the same to him. Itamen, now in the beginning of his gangly teens, was teaching Beta, Alva, Federa, Kina, and a six-year-old Vala how to play a simple Carja game that involved a deck of brightly colored cards.
Everyone was preoccupied.
Aloy’s eyes flickered back to meet Seyka’s.
The silence stretched between them. Aloy grew tenser with every passing moment, struggling not to fidget whenever Seyka’s fingers swept higher up her thigh. She lifted her glass to her lips to take a sip, trying to ignore how her own hands shook. Seyka’s focus zeroed in on the movement.
“I want to play a game,” Seyka repeated. Her voice was smooth like silk. “Are you nervous?”
“N-no,” Aloy stuttered as the hand on her leg squeezed, the points of Seyka’s fingers driving into the meat of her thigh.
Seyka’s lips quirked.
Fuck .
Aloy fumbled with her glass, drawing a swig so large that a few drops escaped the corners of her mouth and slid down her chin. She hastily wiped them away. How was she already losing when she didn’t even know what they were playing yet?
Seyka scooted her chair closer to Aloy’s. Their knees brushed, sending a lick of heat rushing through Aloy’s bones. The marine leaned in close, ghosting a kiss against the corner of Aloy’s parted lips before veering off to her ear. Goosebumps pebbled along the length of Aloy’s arms and she went completely still, hardly even daring to breathe.
“This is a game -” Seyka’s lips were close enough that they brushed against Aloy’s ear. “- all about rewards.”
Fire was eating Aloy from the inside out. Her mouth ran dry, the glass forgotten in her hands. She shifted in an attempt to find a modicum of relief for the heat between her thighs. “I’m going to need some straightforward clarification here, Seyka. Talk to me like you didn’t just scramble my brain with a few words.”
Seyka’s answering chuckle was warm against her skin before she leaned back, there and gone in a heartbeat. Her voice was nonchalant, like she hadn’t been trying to rile up the huntress a moment ago. “Success tastes sweeter after hardship. All the best things -” she waved a hand at their assembled friends, all bearing scars from the fights that they had endured at Aloy’s side, but so blessedly alive after everything. “- come from patience.”
Patience was not Aloy’s strong suit if she didn’t have a bow in her hand and her feet in the dirt.
“Okayyyy,” Aloy drawled, dragging out the second syllable, her eyes narrowed and tone laced with suspicion. “What does that have to do with your little game?”
“Oh, it’s simple, really.” Seyka polished off the last of her ale and tossed a wink in Aloy’s direction that had her stomach in knots. “What do you say to one week of hands-off contact? No hugging, no kissing, and certainly nothing else. And then, on the final night of this celebration…we’ll reap our rewards.”
A whole week ?
Aloy had spent a lifetime alone with no one for company but Rost. She wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world, but he was a man of few words and a man of even fewer tactile gestures. Aloy can count the number of times she received a clap on the shoulder after a hard day’s training on her fingers and still have a couple to spare.
It wasn’t until her friends forced their way into her life in the far west that she realized how alone she had felt all along. Varl’s high-fives, Erend’s secret handshakes, Talanah pulling Aloy into a tight hug, a bump of Alva’s elbow, even Zo reaching out to gently touch her wrist to get her attention before speaking. And then Seyka came along, with all her casual touches and the kisses she shared so freely - they were all reminders that Aloy had people to lean on. Now that she had it, she didn’t want to go back.
She couldn’t mask her disappointment.
“Oh.”
Seyka paused, hearing the dip in her mood from her tone. Her brow furrowed in concern, all traces of flirting wiped away. “It’s okay, Sunwing. It was just a thought I had the other day.” Her hand disappeared from Aloy’s thigh as she instead slung her arm over the huntress’s shoulders to pull Aloy into her side. It was a pointed reminder that the game could be discarded as easily as it was proposed. Her smile was as bright as ever in an attempt at reassurance. “We don’t have to do it.”
By the All-Mother, Aloy loved her.
Seyka swiped Aloy’s glass and took a quick sip of the fruity concoction. Aloy leaned more of her weight into Seyka’s side, eyes sharp as she watched Seyka for any sign of disappointment. “I feel like you brought it up for a reason.”
Seyka quirked an eyebrow, lips tilted in amusement. “Aloy, this isn’t a trick. If it doesn’t excite you, then we don’t have to do it.”
And to punctuate that, she slipped her free hand along Aloy’s jaw and pulled her into a very thorough kiss - the type of kiss they usually saved for behind closed doors, not the middle of a tavern filled with their friends. But Seyka’s tongue tasted like oranges and the bitter bite of her ale, and there was maybe still a tiny part of her mind that was scared of being alone again, and this kiss helped assuage that fear.
Warmth blossomed in Aloy’s chest.
And more than that.
Curiosity.
Aloy pulled away from Seyka’s lips through sheer force of will.
“When did you say you were thinking about this?”
Seyka leaned back into her chair with a satisfied smile, looking entirely too much like a Scrapper in a scrapyard. “When we were flying up here - you on your Sunwing and me on my Waterwing. It just reminded me of the times we weren’t by each other’s side. Don’t get me wrong, I love what we’ve built together, but…sometimes I miss the anticipation after we’ve been apart for weeks or months at a time. When we would have to meet under the cover of darkness, hiding from Compliance or our friends, swallowing any noise because someone might overhear. Knowing what would happen if we were caught.” Seyka’s eyes drifted closed, like she was savoring a memory. “There’s something thrilling about the chase. That’s all.”
Aloy’s brow furrowed, because Seyka was right. Their sex life was hardly unadventurous or boring, but…well, it lacked the urgency, the desperation, of that very first year when every touch and every kiss felt stolen. When Seyka had stayed behind to reunite the fleets, and later, when Sylens was constantly sending Aloy to scout out potential weapon sites. Kisses were more passionate and touches could ignite. Even a glance held enough weight to make Aloy squirm.
It was absurd that Aloy hadn’t noticed it before. Now that Seyka pointed it out, everything lately felt a little boring. Like things were too easy.
Damn it, they saved the world . Seyka had sailed across the ocean in search of answers to save her homeland, even knowing that she might never see it again. Aloy had united a dozen tribes to face down an enemy that threatened the entire world. Date night for them usually involved taking down a Slaughterspine. “Boring” didn’t fit their lives, or their relationship, at all. Competitiveness fueled the both of them.
She and Seyka were a lot of things, but boring was not one of them.
“How long did you say this game would last?”
“A week, love.” Seyka sounded amused. “If you’re actually considering it, we can lay down some ground rules to make you feel better.”
Now Aloy was almost embarrassed that she had ever doubted the security of their relationship. Of course a week without kissing wouldn’t kill her.
“I don’t need ground rules,” Aloy said stubbornly.
Seyka barked out a laugh. “You shied away at the suggestion just a few minutes ago.”
Aloy straightened, pulling back her shoulders into a more confident stance. “I didn’t understand what you were asking. It’s not an excuse to avoid me for a week. It’s the opposite.” Like taking a long range shot with her sharpshot bow - watching the arrow cut through the air, anticipation would build every time the wind would pick up, wondering if the arrow would go off course or strike true.
The idea of Seyka’s challenge made Aloy feel a little breathless now.
“You know I can’t get enough of my sidekick,” Seyka said with a smirk. She abruptly stood, grabbing her tankard and Aloy’s glass. Aloy’s shoulders felt cold without the weight of Seyka’s arm. “Would you like another drink?”
She didn’t wait for an answer and swept away to the bar, shooting another wink and a smile over her shoulder. If asked, Aloy would deny ever watching the sway of Seyka’s hips as she sauntered away. The expression on Seyka’s face when she returned with their refilled drinks was one that showed she knew exactly where Aloy’s focus had been.
Aloy tugged at her collar. Meridian was hot all year round, but she was getting warmer than usual between the conversation and the press of Seyka’s body against her own. She hardly needed the additional warmth that her leathers provided.
“Okay, fine,” Aloy acquiesced. “If this is something you want to try, then let’s do it. A week without contact should be easy.”
Seyka took a long drink of her ale. Despite her casual words, her expression was sly and her eyes flashed with a challenge that Aloy would never deny. “Easy, huh?”
Aloy found herself pulled into another heady kiss. Seyka’s hand twisted into the unruly curls at the back of the huntress’s neck and Aloy found her own hands grasping helplessly for purchase against Seyka’s hips. All of Aloy’s thoughts ground to a screeching halt when Seyka separated their mouths to nose along the line of her jaw, leaving a trail of barely-there kisses, before nipping her right beneath the ear and then sucking. Hard .
“ Seyka ,” Aloy absolutely-didn’t-whine-desperately.
The marine pulled back, once again looking too smug for Aloy’s tastes. She didn’t even seem phased by their kiss, which was terribly unfair.
“We’ll start now, then.” Seyka scooted their chairs apart at her words, leaving a sizable gap between them that seemed cavernous in Aloy’s eyes. “No cheating - first person to touch the other in any real capacity loses.”
“What do we lose?”
Seyka considered for a moment. “Bragging rights. For eternity.”
It was Aloy’s turn to laugh now. The challenge made her blood pump faster. “Game on.”