Chapter Text
Ever since V has fully recovered from the life-saving surgery, he's been willing to try out new hobbies.
Says it 's him trying out everything to die with no regrets when in reality a new hobby has peaked his interest:
Fanfiction.
Even if he can’t post them online due to how strict NetWatch is, simply just writing brings him indescribable joy.
There he sits comfortably in his Japantown apartment at his computer desk.
Luminous neon lights of the city decorating the room with a magenta glow,
Morro Rock Radio heard faintly in the background,
V staring at the same open document, unable to form his ideas to words.
A curious Johnny looks over his shoulder:
“Again with that fanfiction stuff?”
V turns in surprise:
“Shit, when’d you get back?”
“Like 30 minutes ago? You didn’t notice”
“Uh.. No”
Silverhand shows off an expression of confusion before skimming the screen,
“Anyways.. Why choose media this fuckin old? Would have better luck writing about like.. I dunno.. Watson Whore rather than Star Trek?”
“Because I like it? You know I don’t give two shits ‘bout Watson Whore?
Besides, Watson Whore doesn’t have bootleg DVD’s I can reference.”
“You care about accuracy that much? the fics about me were so goddamn out of character back in the day..”
V smirks with a light chuckle:
“Wow Johnny, a narcissist? didn’t think you were the type to read fanfiction about yourself..”
“I was curious ok, Don’t act like you wouldn’t be.”
Silverhand storms off to the couch to browse tv channels.
Even after the minds have been separated, they still live together,
It's most comfortable that way.
Johnny refuses to take on a job unrelated to music.
As of the current climate: artists don’t get much eddies with how shitty streaming services are and concerts aren’t as
popular as they used to be due to the cost of living crisis.
Despite being one asshole of a roommate, he hasn’t gotten kicked out yet,
Mostly because of the connection and history they share.
(Also because it’s not like he has a better place to flee, Kerry’s place is too “poser” for him)
Flicking through the channels, The rockerboy curiously musters out a question
“So.. how’re you gonna share it? Via shards? Or zines like the olden days?”
V logs off and shuts down the computer to join Johnny on the sofa.
“Pfft.. assuming it’ll be worthy enough for either, can’t publish em for free like it used to be”
“Yea.. neither shards nor paper are cheap..”
The two blankly stare at the TV, hoping to find a channel that’s actually airing something besides an advertisement.
“So.. why were you gone?
Do you actually have important shit to do for once?” V pestered
“Nah, went to buy some soda and booze someplace else.
The vending machines here are beyond overpriced”
“Thanks.. nice seeing you actually be responsible with my eddies”
Having just been a shard for many decades, Johnny completely skipped out on all the price changes, making it quite a
shock upon seeing price tags through V’s optics as he resided within his skull.
Even now he’s not completely used to it, saving expenses where he can.
Johnny wanders to the fridge, collecting 2 cans of beer from within before returning to V.
“Want some?”
“Would love to but got a date”
The merc rises from the couch.
“Date? How the fuck are YOU of all people getting cyberpuss?”
Johnny sets down the cans on the coffee table before crossing his arms.
“And by date, I mean a gig but THANKS for the insult anyway”
He laces his sneakers near the doorway
"See ya!” the door shuts behind him.
Johnny falls back onto the couch, sick of ads, turns off the TV to drink in silence.
At times like these, he questions his relevance in V’s life.
Is he still nothing but an annoying voice to him?
Is he just given permission to live here out of pity?
Or is he much more?
They aren’t as close as they used to be,
Sure there were moments where being attached to one another was annoying,
Johnny didn’t particularly enjoy watching V go to the bathroom.
But other times like going to the Afterlife bar together, or just sitting in the same car together listening to music is something he misses dearly.
How does a guy like him become more relevant in V’s life without seeming like a needy input?
They can’t read each other's minds anymore, words must be used.
Johnny attempts to take another sip from the can only to realise he's already emptied it.
The second can set aside for V tempts him greatly.
Though decides to leave it be, instead to the computer he wanders to play solitaire.
Despite NetWatch being strict, Surprisingly quite a few PC games were legally allowed,
Every PC created since 2051 has a preinstalled copy of Candy Crush, sometimes Tetris if you’re lucky.
Something about studies proving it decreases crimes by 0.7%
The rockerboy mindlessly played away at klondike, though unclear if from tiredness or frustration kept restarting the
game,
Something was bothering him,
Eventually he quits to browse upon some bookmarked webpages.
Expectedly, a bunch of them are just online listings for guns and attachments for them.
A few sites for pirated movies,
And of course a handful of “productivity” pages like NCmail, Calendar and finally the one he was actually searching for all along:
“Documents”
The place the shitty fic must’ve been written in.
Silverhand hovers the cursor over the Documents icon.
How much of an asshole would Johnny be to view the work, he ponders to himself.
“Said he would probably release it anyway, wouldn’t hurt to take a peek”
The rockerboy mumbles to himself, certain this action won’t have any major consequences.
Upon opening, his eyes were greeted with the 3000 word document he was so eager to find.
V’s arrival time was uncertain,
Therefore Johnny must act quickly to not get caught.
Just the thought of having to explain his actions to V caused him to blush of embarrassment.
For someone who has probably never written fanfiction before, the vocabulary was impressive… but man, when it came
to describing smut scenes?
The quality of the work dipped severely.
Although it all grammatically made sense, when visualising the text into scenes, incoherent mush was all that formed.
The leg is where?
How is his neck not broken?
But if that’s in his mouth, why can whispering be heard?
If it weren’t for the fact Johnny saw V type for hours a day, he would’ve assumed the work was partially AI-Generated because man was it ass?
Silverhand closes the tab and shuts off the computer to take a nap on the couch.
Upon laying, a million thoughts race ‘round his head before falling asleep peacefully.
9:03pm
V finally returns to the apartment,
Finding Johnny sound asleep at this time of day was unexpected
The merc slowly tip-toes to the shower to not awaken the other from his tranquil slumber, turning down the radio's volume on his way.
Clothes coated in grime and dirt from the gig are tossed to the floor.
Hot water from the shower: a sharp welcoming contrast to Night City’s cold, gruesome streets.
Johnny’s snoring: audible through the walls.
To think there was a time the one sleeping so peacefully was forced to watch as V showered.
The rockerboy always deflecting from the awkwardness by complaining about mundane things like the hair dye staining
the tiles or the overpowering scent of the shampoo.
Stepping out the shower, The merc clothes himself in a soft ebony-colored robe.
Leaving the bathroom, V still towelling off his hair, Johnny seems to already be awake,
heels crossed over one another on the coffee table.
Hands relaxed behind his head like the chill dude he is.
“Didn’t wake you did I?”
“Nah..Tyger Claws brawling outside, noisy as shit.
How was the gig?”
“Stealing shards for the fixers, y’know. The usua”-
“You’re wearing my robe?”
“....
..Yeah?
Got a problem with that?
Didn’t seem to care ‘bout me wearing your old samurai tank or dog tags,
thought a robe wouldn’t be all that different..”
“No.. Just haven’t seen you in it before,
You look better in it than I do honestly.”
The merc laughs it off assuming it was a joke, taking a seat on the sofa, pats the other on his silver shoulder:
“Pfft, as if ANYONE could look better than the LEGENDARY Johnny Silverhand”
The rockerboy dramatically rolls his eyes.
“So whaddya wanna watch?”
“Anything besides Watson Whore”
“What’s so bad ‘bout it?,
Can’t enjoy peak Cinema?”
“It’s just so predictable, pretty easy to guess how each episode ends just based off of the first 30 seconds.
Also so many product placements, Can’t even look at Naranjita soda anymore”
“OKAY FILM CRITIC, then what’re we watchin’?”
“How about that one”
V points to a title on the streaming platform selection.
“The Matrix?”
“Yeah!”
“You’re just choosin’ it cuz the protagonist kinda looks like me, aren’t you”
“Maybe..”
Smirks V
"Whatever, it’s better than rewatching the Bushido movies again"
As the video is loading, V runs to the kitchen to grab a few snacks.
Upon return the film still hasn't loaded.
"The wifi being shitty again today?"
"Yeah, thank god for it, no Matrix today, and hopefully not EVER"
V flashes a grin setting down the snacks on the coffee table before sprinting to the computer desk, retrieving a mint condition dvd from one of the drawers:
"Tadaaa!!"
"You actually went out of your way to buy a physical copy?"
"yep, eddies well spent"
Johnny gives a nod of disapproval:
"totally.."
"Do you not.. wanna watch it?
it's fine if you don't... yknow?"
The rockerboy's taken aback by the merc's sudden shift in tone, one that his heart hurt to hear.
"I do!.. Shit, sorry V didn't mean to give off the wrong impression."
V smiles back: "Strange to hear the word sorry from you.."
The ps3 powers on, controller activated and fresh preem quality disc is inserted into the drive.
Whether the film was good or not is wasn't a question Johnny could answer truthfully for all his attention involuntarily belonged to V.
The warmth of his body exuding through his robe, the tranquil music of his breathing, the fragrance of vanilla scented shampoo,,,
90 minutes having passed, yet almost frustratingly none of the plot has sunk to Johnnys brain.
The privilege of having somebody leaning on him, evident, unmistakable trust in a cruel place like Night City.
The merc felt a pair of eyes upon him, gazing back with his optics the hypothesis was only confirmed.
A flushed, quiet Johnny actually maintaining eye contact, A rare sight indeed,,
"What's your problem? " V finally questions.
"Nothing,,"
"Nothing? Ya sure? I can't read your mind anymore, tell me why the smirk"
"And why should I tell you?"
"I'm beyond curious, gimme the detes, besides not to threaten but I am sort of a mercenary?"
"As if you would have the heart to beat me up."
"That's...BESIDES THE POINT."
"Promise not to be mad?"
"Geez, what the fuck did you do?"
"Promise?"
"Shit..Fine- Promise"
The Rockerboy takes in a deep breath:
"I don't know how to say this without it sounding weird but uh..
have you actually had gay sex??"
V's body shudders, face burning intense in response.
"W-WHAT?"
"I read your fanfiction, not the most accurate thing I've read,,"
"OH"
"I get that Spock is half-Vulcan but that's not what I'm referring t-"
The merc's clenched fists and shifting kiroshis are quite apparent as of this moment.
"Are you...mad? Angry?"
V shakes his head left to right:
"No- not at all"
He was in fact overly embarrassed.
"Fuck..I can't believe you actually read that cringe thing.."
he flips on the robe's hood and buries his face into his hands to avoid meeting eyes with the other.
(TO BE CONTINUED)