The floor was cold under your feet but you tried not to care as you bent down to grab the fallen remote and turn off your air conditioner. Stretching your arms above your head, you sigh in relief when you feel your bones popping and your rigid body is now fully awake. You moved to open the curtains in your room, hoping to get some warmth but only to be faced by the moon still shining in the night sky. Your attention turned towards the clock on your desk.

3.20 AM.

Well, that’s way too fucking early.

Should you go back to sleep? Tempting.

Although, it's been a while since you had a slow morning. Just taking your time to do your activities without having any events causing you to rush to get everything done. Taking off your pajamas, you opened your wardrobe and threw on a sports bra and some joggers. Might as well go to the gym for a workout.

The first you grabbed after changing was your headphones as you found it was hard to function without any music. As the object sits nicely and comfortably on your ear, the familiar tune reaches your system. You are now ready to start your day early with cleaning your room, wanting to have it tidy when you come back from your workout.

The bed was quite easy to make but your table took a longer time to tidy up from all the small trinkets scattered around. Albeit a bit tedious, you managed to finish it in the end. Scanning your eyes across the room, you felt a sense of achievement blooming in your chest. Remembering how long it has been since she last cleaned it. Seeing everything tidy gave a smile on your face.

Grabbing your towel - an Oswald The Lucky Rabbit towel you got years ago from Disneyland - you began your trip to the gym. Part of you hoped Skye or Breach was there so it’ll be less lonely but at the same time, you feel like you were not ready for some socializing so early in the morning.

The hallways of the Valorant quarters were quiet, everyone was either still asleep or was keeping to themselves. Which was normal seeing it was way beyond anyone’s alarm, even Skye’s whose alarm rang at 4 AM for her daily morning run. As you walked through the halls, head filled with thoughts while your ears were busy with music, you moved your body to do some more stretches.

When you arrived at the gym, it was dark, indicating no one was there. Reaching for the light switch, your eyes squinted from the sudden bright light. Looking around, you wonder which part of your body you should be working on today.

Being the indecisive person you are, your legs took you to the treadmill for a quick warmup as you give yourself some more time to think.

The feeling of your body moving and your heart rate rising made you feel alive. Your good mood pushed you to try going for a full sprint, forgetting you still have a workout to do. Being an agent in the Valorant Protocol demands you to be in the best shape possible and yet you were still out of breath after your “warmup” was done.

Wiping the sweat off your face, you could feel your legs starting to feel like jelly. Making your previous decision easier to make. It seems you’re doing arm workouts today.

You have always aspired to have arms like Skye but you were far from lifting the weights she lifts. Ugh, why was it so hard to get your arms in shape? As you begin your set, you wonder if Skye experiences the same hardship when she first started working out. Although, there was a possibility the Aussie was pretty strong from the start due to her upbringing in the farm.

Letting the tune and activity wash your attention away, you didn’t realize the clock had striked 5 AM. An hour and a half of working out wasn’t so bad. Wiping all the swear on your forehead, you decide it was time to head back to shower.

“You’re early, mate.” The familiar Australian accent caught her attention. Skye walked in, beads of sweat dripping from her forehead. It seems she just finished her morning run and is there for her daily morning work out.

“Oh, it was an accident really.” You said sheepishly, accompanying the redhead with a small talk before bidding your fellow initiator goodbye.

When you stepped in the shower, the way the cold water hit your warm skin was heavenly. The feeling of showering after a good workout is something you will never get tired of. As you stepped out, the cold breeze from your air conditioner still sent shivers down your spine and the floor still felt cold to the touch even after two hours had passed. With your hair wrapped in a towel, you opened your wardrobe to search for casual clothes to wear for the day.

Throwing on a pair of joggers and a sweater, you walked out of the room to the pantry. Wanting to find yourself some breakfast, the clock had struck 5.30AM. A few agents were awake and helping themselves with some coffee. Viper was all prim and proper with her bathrobe, she simply took her jug of coffee and walked back to her room to continue her research. While Sage had noticeable eye bags, she was tired and you could see it. Usually, she would offer to cook breakfast but this time, she just grabbed her tea and bid a quick ‘Good morning’ before walking back to her room. Most likely to catch on to her sleep.

As you prepare your own cup of tea, your eyes land on a can of tea. Obviously Cypher’s tea. If the intricate design was not enough to give it away, the arabic text on the label does. Your thoughts began to float to the Moroccan man, was he awake yet? Maybe he would enjoy some tea in the morning. Even though you were sure he’d be pissed with you for waking him up in such an early morning. You shrug and decide to do it anyway, call it girlfriend privilege but if decide to push you away, he can have cold tea for the rest of the year.

Although, you have some decency to not touch his expensive tea and used your own to make two cups and took off to his room. The walk to the Sentinel wing was short and as you passed by Chamber, it seemed he had just finished doing his own workout by looking at his clothes and the beads of sweat on his forehead. You cheered ‘Morning!’ and he gave you a curt nod in return.

Stopping in front of Cypher’s room, you lightly knocked on the door. Usually, it would take the man quite some time to get the door open as he usually gets ready while wearing his mask and all. Thus, when he quickly and harshly opened the door for you, you almost jumped.

Cypher had his usual mask on and for anyone else, nothing should be out of the ordinary. But you manage to get a quick peek in his room, his hat was upside down on the floor next to his coat. He has always been careful with his stuff as he cherishes every item he owns deeply, so it was very unusual.

Even without seeing his face, you knew Cypher was quite surprised with your visit from the way the mechanical eyes on his mask manage to dilate. He stepped back, creating some space from the door for you to come in and closed the door behind you, which you returned with a small ‘thank you’.

“Unusual for you to be dressed up at 6.” He commented, sitting back down on his desk and continued working on - whatever the hell he was working on.

“My remote fell down and I decided to just wake up,” You placed the tea down on his desk and sat down on his bed. “I made you some tea.”

“Thank you, darling.” The emotion behind his words seemed cold and despite what he said, Cypher did not touch the tea at all or even turned his attention away from his gadgets for a solid ten minutes. He didn’t even bother to take off his mask.

You had made yourself comfortable by sitting down on the edge of his bed. As you look around his room, you notice how much of a mess it actually was. Small cuts of cables, bolts, nuts, everywhere. His coat and hat that was seemingly thrown on the floor still had traces of dust, mud, and some blood from his mission at Fracture yesterday. Did he not throw it in the wash at least? And from the looks of it, the bed seemed untouched from how tight the sheets were.

You let out a sigh, “Did you go to bed, Aamir?”

“I did.”

“I meant sleeping and you know that,”

“I did not.”

“Did you shower?”

The silence was enough to answer your question. “Aamir, that is so gross!”

You spun his chair around and your hands reached for the clasps of his mask to take them off. Cypher’s face was dark and sunken. The eyelids under his eyes were dark and heavy, his lips were dry and chapped as if he hadn’t drank for a week. Even if he said otherwise, you were not going to believe him.

With your ‘girlfriend privilege’, you grabbed the stuff off his hands without having to worry about being hunted down for dear life and pulled him to his feet. Stomping towards his wardrobe, you pulled a turtleneck and a pair of pants from the top of the stack and threw it to his face.

“You, shower, now.” You point at him then his bathroom.

Cypher was stunned, maybe it was from the lack of sleep or maybe it was because everything happened way too quick for him to process. He stood in the middle of the room like a statue, head still processing what you just said. Only then it clicked to him what you were doing when you decided to push him to the bathroom and closed the door. As he had little to no choice, Cypher decided to just listen to your command.

In his room, you let out a sigh at the mess of a room, what are you gonna do? The sound of water running was enough to convince you that your significant other was finally taking a shower. Taking a deep breath, you rolled up your sleeve and began cleaning his room. You start with picking up trash and throwing them in the bin.

The rest of the trash scattered around was sweeped off, you carefully picked up objects that seemed to have a use and placed them on his table. You continued on with gathering his laundry and threw it in the laundry basket, remembering to put it in the washing machine for later.

You did not dare to touch his workspace, not wanting to mistook something for trash.

Putting the broom back to its original place, you carried the basket of laundry and carefully slid out of his room and walked to the laundry room. As you walked, the mixed stench of mud, sweat, and blood pierced your nose and you cringed. God damn it smells! How does he let it sit in his room like that?

You met Sova in the laundry room and he had a wide smile spread across his face. Way too happy for someone who was doing laundry. As you put your partner’s clothes in the wash, you made small talk with your fellow Initiator. In the end, he offered to move it to the dryer when it was done. You couldn’t be more grateful cause you were not letting Cypher be on his own after seeing how he looked.

When you arrived back to Cypher’s room, the man was clean as there was a soft smell of soap in the air. His hair was damp from the shower and he looked even more tired than before. It seems the shower had calmed down most of the muscles in his body and the adrenaline running in his veins had decided they were done with work for the day.

The man was glancing around his room while softly drying his hair with a small towel, seemingly surprised at how tidy it was in such a short amount of time.

Sitting down on the bed, you patted the space next to yours. “Let me dry your hair.”

Cypher complied, he sat down and let your hand work its wonders in his hair. The way your fingers moved across his scalp felt like a massage, it was calming and he could feel his consciousness slipping away. Evident from the way his head fell forward a few times before snapping back to reality.

“You should get some sleep,” You stood up, putting the towel back into the bathroom.

“Only if you sleep with me,” If the circumstances were different, the sentence would have a whole different meaning. But the way Cypher was practically pouting at you, a small blush crept to your cheeks, damn this guy was so cute.

“How can I say no to that face?” You said with a laugh, already on your way to set up his bed.

“You can’t, my dear, you’re obliged to say yes.” Cypher slipped under the covers and opened his arms, waiting for you to come in his embrace.

“Can’t argue with that.”

Usually, the two of you would be spooning, with you being the small spoon and Cypher tightly pulling you against him. He had always liked to hold you close as he snuggled his face into your hair. But this time was different, his head was laid down on your arm and face on your chest. While his arms tightly wrapped around your waist. You let out a small giggle and started stroking his damp hair, messaging it once in a while.

It didn’t even take him a minute to fall into a deep slumber. His breathing even and eyes closed and sometimes he would snuggle even closer to you, seemingly enjoying the warmth emitting from your body. You took this time to admire his face, the scars adorning spots like his nose bridge and cheek but it did not diminish the fact that Cypher was extremely attractive.

You wonder why he hides behind that mask of his?

As your thoughts wandered and your hand slowly began to get sore, you yawned. The exhaustion from today’s early morning routine had caught up pretty quickly. Letting your head sink deeper into the plush pillow, you allow sleep to take over. The question lingering in your head to be answered for another time.

.

.

.

.

.

“Has anyone seen Optic and Cypher? It’s almost lunch time,” Skye’s voice rang out in the main hall as every agent had gathered for lunch.

“Probably fucki- OW!” Before Phoenix could finish your sentence, Sage had smacked him against the head.

“Don’t go assuming things, go check their room.” The Chinese monk ordered and Phoenix stood up, mumbling under his breath on how Sage can’t take a joke.

His steps were big and quick, wanting to get it over with. First he went to your room and knocked loudly on the door. When there was no answer, he decided to just open the door to see if it was unlocked. To his surprise, it was but he did not find anyone inside.

Phoenix sighed, he wished they were in Optic’s room because he knew how Cypher did not like anyone else coming in a close radius of his room besides you. But orders are orders, especially from Valorant’s second in command.

When Phoenix was outside Cypher’s room, he knocked quieter but again, there was no answer. He stared at the door handle and wondered if he should try opening it. He had little expectation but there’s no hurt in trying. Turning the handle, he tried to push the door open but right enough, it was locked. He tried turning the knob a few more times and a much familiar alert came into his ears.

He pulled his hand away in panic and the door swung open, revealing Cypher with his mask and sleeping attire. The blue mechanical eye on his mask was frowning. “What?"

“Heyyy, just wanted to let you know it's lunch,” Phoenix said as laid back as he possibly can but it seemed more awkward than how he usually talks.

The blue eyes blinked a few times and Cypher answered. “No thanks.”

Well that was unexpected. “My guy, you need to eat.”

“I would rather catch up on my sleep.”

“At least you know where Optic is?”

“No.” Cypher answered abruptly, too abruptly.

Phoenix blinked, taking in the subtle signals from Cypher’s defensive attitude. A hint of mischief appeared in the Duelist’s eyes as if he already knew the truth. A shuffle of fabric and a soft groan came from behind Cypher.

“You’re up, Aamir?” You asked, your voice hoarse, sitting up on the bed while rubbing your eyes.

“Your name’s Aamir??”

Phoenix’s voice made you wide awake. Shit. You didn’t mean to leak his name.

Cypher stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. His hand grabbed Phoenix’s shoulder and his blue mechanical eyes stared right into Phoenix’s brown ones.

“Listen, fireboy, you’re going to go back to the dining room and act as if you see nothing,” Cypher started, he could visibly see the sweat running down Phoenix’s forehead. “If you say anything, I’ll know.”

“Okay, okay, chill out, just come down for lunch, yeah?” With that, Phoenix scurried away from the Moroccon, leaving him alone in the hallway.

Cypher went back inside the room and saw you sitting on the bed, your arms hugging your legs. You looked up towards him, eyes filled with worry. “I’m sorry.”

“Sweetheart, don’t worry about it, it was an accident,” Cypher took off his mask and turned towards you, he planted a soft kiss on your forehead. “Besides, with you shouting it every night, it's impossible for them to not know.”

A chuckle left your partner’s lips and your face was beat red. “AAMIR-!”

“Safe the shouting for tonight, darling, let’s get some lunch.”

“What’s the matter?” you laugh, brushing a stray strand of hair out of his face. “Are you tired, my love?” you murmur, pulling him in closer, relishing his warmth. “Just a little bit,” he mumbled, intertwining himself with you further, “I’ve had a stressful day, can you give me this my rose?”

You cupped his face tenderly, smiling softly, “Well, you are clinging to me so I can’t move, so I guess it’s fine.” He scoffed, burying himself deeper into you, trying to get as close as possible, “Well I do put my life on the line every day so I believe that this is well deserved.” You sighed, giggling softly, “Fineeee. I love you, Aamir.”

“I love you too, my desert bloom.”

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“Well this is certainly an interesting predicament,” he laughs, looking over at you, “It’s not what I had in mind, but it will do. After all, I’m in the presence of such lovely company,” he chuckled. You cleared your throat awkwardly, shuffling backward. “I uh…I know you need space to set up, so I can sleep on the couch,” you said gesturing to the small sofa in the corner.

“Nonsense,” he shook his head, “There’s more than enough room here for the two of us, and I definitely don’t mind sharing with you.” You blinked, suddenly at a loss for words, not knowing what to say or how to react. “Oh,” you could feel your face heating up as you looked away trying to think of an excuse. “I starfish on the bed so I wouldn’t want to accidentally hit you or knock you off,” you blubbered out, shrinking back as Cypher approached you. Though you couldn’t see his face through the mask, you could sense that he had a smug smile on. “Now now, there’s no need for that, like I said there’s plenty of room,” he said, guiding you towards the bed. “Get some rest, I’ll alert you if there’s any activity in the warehouse, or if Brimstone was just a tad too worried,” he mused, humming softly to himself.

Letting out a shaky breath, you settled underneath the covers, shutting your eyes.

[.....]

Looking up from his hastily built setup, he looked back at you, his expression grim. Gently, he brushed a strand of your hair out of your face, checking to see if you were asleep. You barely stirred as he pulled his hand away. Your chest rose and fell slowly, your breaths coming out in short puffs. You hugged a pillow tightly, your brow furrowed and your body curled away from the screen. He laughed softly, pulling off his mask, his features hidden in the shadows of the dark room.

“So unguarded,” he murmured, “If I wanted to I could just….” he didn’t finish his sentence, growing quiet as he stared at you, the glow from the computer screen illuminating your face. Cypher stared down at his hands examining them in the low light, “What these hands have done…what I have done…I hope you do not need to bear the burden that I do myself,” he chuckled softly. “Sleep well, my rose.” he mused, turning back to the screen, rotating between each of the cameras set up.

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“Aamirrrrr,” you whine softly, tugging on his arm, “Come get some rest, you’ve been working all day long. Spend some time with me,” you pleaded with him, pouting in his direction. Cypher’s hands paused over his keyboard as he laughed softly, pressing a hand to your head, ruffling your hair affectionately. “Not now my desert bloom, there’s still work to do. I’m sorry, I’ll be there soon,” he responded, regretfully letting go of you as he focused his attention back on his computer screen. You huffed impatiently, sitting on the edge of the bed trying to think of ways to get Cypher to yourself. You perked up, reaching to the side to grab your guitar. Settling it on your knee, you gently ran your hands across the strings to ensure that they were in tune. Starting off slow, you picked up the melody increasing the volume in the hopes that Cypher would hear. Upon hearing the melody, his head slowly rose as he looked back, realizing that you were the one playing. Meanwhile, you were completely lost in your music, humming along to the music. “Oh? Is this your way of getting my attention?” he chuckled, wrapping his arms around your waist, “It seems I’m not the only one lost in my own world now.” You stopped playing turning to gaze at him, “Will you come sleep now?” you grumble. “Yes, yes, I’m here now am I not? However, I do have a request.” You twist around in his grasp, “And what would that be?” Cypher leaned back, resting against the headboard. “Well, I’d like you to play for me,” he said, a hand pressed against yours, rubbing it gently. “If you wouldn’t mind.” You smiled softly, shifting your guitar into a more comfortable position. “Of course,” you murmured, positioning your hand over the string, plucking them much more gently this time, a slower melody echoing out. Cypher let out a sigh, sinking back against the pillows, shutting his eyes. “Thank you my love.”

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