The Scrap Tamer

Reid woke up the time he normally does, 3 AM. He did his usual morning ritual before heading out of the bunker.

Elizabeth hadn't woken up yet so he decided not to disturb her. Walking outside, he summoned Nyx and Rusty from his inventory.

They had reversed back to their former appearances, Rusty returning to its mouse form and Nyx becoming smaller. They quickly teleported on his head.

"Squeak" Rusty asked curious why they were heading to the scrap yard again.

"No reason buddy, just wanted to do this one last time before leaving" he answered, while walking towards the scrap yard.

He walked slower than usual, taking in the undestructed part of the Scrapyard, he couldn't help but reminiscence.

Although he had only stayed here for two years, this place felt much more like home than where he had spent 15 years of his life.

He finally arrived at the dump site but instead of searching for salvageable scraps as usual, he just looked for a comfortable enough place and sat there looking at the scrap yard.

This place had somehow turned his gold mine. He found Rusty, Nyx and Evo in this place. It was also where he found two Gold-tier cores.

"Squeak" "flap" Rusty and Nyx said.

"Yeah, I'll miss this place too" Reid answered. Due to his bond stat, they already knew that he was supposed to leave.

They sat there for a while, allowing the morning wind to kiss them. He was suddenly brought back from his thoughts when he heard hurried steps approaching him.

He quickly turned to see who was approaching. He spotted an out of breath Mia, wrapped in a big coat which protected her from the cold morning wind.

"I-I knew I'd find you here" she heaved, trying to catch her breath which didn't take long.

"Mia? What are you doing here?" Reid was surprised seeing her here, she wasn't usually someone you'd see up this early.

"I heard you guys were leaving today" she said, looking a bit sad but not as much the previous day.

"Yeah, I was planning on saying goodbye after leaving this place" he replied.

"I see, can I sit with you?" She asked and started walking towards him.

"Sure, go ahead" he replied, making space for her.

She sat down next to him and started looking at the scraps. They sat in silence for a while before she suddenly spoke up.

"You know, when you first came to the Scrapyards everyone was surprised" she started "after Old man Scrappy, you were the second person that had arrived in clothes that screamed riches".

"That surprise intensified when you politely spoke to one of the people here" she chuckled a bit "you should've seen my mom's face when you first greeted her".

She paused for a while and looked at him. Reid looked surprised at what she was saying.

"That's when I got curious about you" she said, a smile surfacing on her face "you see, Alex was kind of a leader among us kids and his motto was always "people from the cities = Rich people = Evil people""

"He always said people like you look down on people like us" she paused "but I was glad he was wrong about you".

"That curiosity then became something else" she continued "it started out as a small crush and before I knew it, that crush had grown".

Reid didn't know what to say so he just choose to silently listen to her. He had realized her behavior towards him but he just assumed that it was normal for her, he never expected her to have a crush on him.

"I knew something happening between us was impossible" her smile when she said that didn't feel like a smile at all "you were staying here but it never felt like you belonged".

"You were better fitted for the city and everyone here knew it, especially me" she said "but I was in too deep to turn back now".

"That's why I was so happy taking care of you while you were hurt" she had stopped looking at Reid as she continued "at least then I would be able to fulfill my fantasy of being close to you".

"Mia I—" Reid wanted to say but she didn't allow him.

"Its alright Reid, I only told you all this because I'm selfish enough not to let you live without knowing" Mia suddenly stood up and walked in front of him "so allow me to say this. Reid, I like you, I really do and it's fine if you don't feel the same.

You knowing this is more than enough for me"

Her confession caused Reid to pause and before his brain could process all that, Mia's soft lips landed on his, She kissed him.

The kiss didn't last long before Mia pulled back, her cheeks were tinted with a blush. She quickly took off running, leaving behind a shocked Reid.

Reid's brain was still trying to process what just happened. One moment she was talking about the past and the next, she was confessing to him and suddenly kissed him.

'That was my first kiss' was the first coherent thought that formed in his head.

Although he liked Mia, but that was just as a friend or maybe a younger sister. He never had romantic thoughts towards her before now.

[Congratulations on your first kiss, should I give you a reward?] Evo teased.

"Shut up" he said in embarrassment.

"Squeak" Rusty and Nyx added fuel to the flames, leaving him even more embarrassed.

He ignored them and started walking towards the Scrapyard. He still couldn't believe he got confessed to and kissed this early on the morning.

He didn't know if something would have happened between him and Mia if he stayed longer.

But one thing he was sure of was that, she had successfully messed up his thoughts this morning.

He shook his head to rearrange his thoughts. He had to focus on what was coming, if something was meant to happen between Mia and him he'd let fate run it's course.

_____

Answer to last chapter's riddle: Your breath

This Chapter's riddle: A cowboy rode to town on Friday, stayed three days and left on Friday. How is that possible?.