Fanfic writer with a passion for exploring romantic relationships // Fandoms: Horizon Zero Dawn, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age // Fandom: Dragon Age, Horizon Zero Dawn, Mass Effect
Aloy attempts to flirt a second time. Nil still doesn’t catch on.
Nil: What’s that gesture mean?
Aloy: Umm… it’s a heart.
Nil: A heart? [feral grin] Are you making a target for me?
Aloy: [lowers her hands sadly]… Why do I bother.
Headcannon: Aloy takes Nil out to battle a Stormbird in an attempt to show him how thrilling machine hunting can be. She doesn’t manage to convince him, but this is the moment Nil starts to realize he has feelings for her.
The Stormbird swooped low again, and Suntress rolled to her knees, ropecaster in hand, and tethered the bird a second time. The Stormbird collapsed again, and Suntress launched herself into the air and slammed the spear home in the bird’s side. The huge metal bird gave one last ear-splitting shriek, and a shower of sparks danced over its body as it died.
Suntress stood slowly, spinning her spear with a neat flourish before she slid it into its holder on her back. She turned to face him, and her eyes were blazing with a fierce joy, a grin on her lips. “You going to try and tell me that’s not a thrill?” she panted, then tossed her braids confidently over her shoulder. Then she wheezed a laugh and bent over, her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.
Nil rose from behind the boulder and walked slowly towards her, speechless for once. He felt… something. A sensation he’d never felt before. It felt like a pressure in his chest and throat, a jolting feeling in his belly. Maybe the electric shock was making him sick.
Suntress looked up at him as he approached. Her forehead glowing with sweat, her cheeks and lips pink with heat. Nil felt another of those strange jolts in his belly as he looked into her hazel eyes.
He wasn’t sure what she saw in his face, but suddenly she was laughing, laughing so hard she couldn’t catch her breath, and she sat abruptly in the metal guts of the dead Stormbird and leaned back, clutching her abdomen with mirth. Nil had never seen her laugh before.
NIL of course! HAHA! But there’s another reason for this than just that he’s physically bigger than Aloy. Nil feels very protective of Aloy, right? But Aloy is very independent and confident, and she doesn’t like when people treat her like she needs to be taken care of. When Aloy and Nil are sleeping, this is one of the few opportunities where Nil gets to curl up around her and feel like he’s protecting her in some way, even if it’s symbolic.
11. Do they have any inside jokes?
Mostly in the form of little snarky quips or remarks that they say frequently when they’re bantering. Aloy’s fond of telling Nil that he’s disgusting, to which he replies: “You know you love it.” (Of course he’s right.) When Aloy does something violent, or when the teeth or claws come out during sexy times, Nil likes to tease that she’s out for blood. And of course, if this counts, there’s her nickname. Those who are closest to Aloy know that Suntress is Nil’s nickname for her, but neither Aloy or Nil has ever explained the origin of the nickname to anyone else… or told anyone that Nil didn’t know her real name for months.
15. How do they think each other sees the other, and is this different from their own view of themselves?
Wow. This is an amazing question and holy fuck I could write an essay about it. I hope you won’t be sorry you asked…
How Nil thinks Aloy sees him, compared to how he sees himself: Nil’s perception of himself matches pretty closely with what he thinks Aloy sees. Nil thinks Aloy sees a killer without a conscience, and that somehow she loves him anyway. Nil knows that Aloy sees some kind of good in him, but he doesn’t really see what she means; he just shrugs and accepts that this is what she thinks. And even after all they’ve been through together, he genuinely still doesn’t really understand why Aloy allowed him to travel with her in the first place and why she let him stick around for so long. In short: against all odds, NIL IS A FUCKING CINNAMON ROLL AND HE’S TOO SWEET FOR THIS WORLD.
How Aloy thinks Nil sees her, compared to how she sees herself: Aloy feels that Nil knows her better than anyone (and she’s right). Nil has seen Aloy in good times and truly terrible times, and she loves that he accepts her for all the strangeness that seems to follow her: her upbringing and her strange birth, her curiosity about the Old Ones, her ability to override machines, and her mastery of ancient technology. Despite her uniqueness, Aloy sees herself as a normal human with flaws and skills like anyone else. What she doesn’t realize is that, even though Nil knows her extremely well, he doesn’t perceive her as having any flaws. Even when Aloy steamrolls over his wishes, he doesn’t realize this is a flaw on her part, and thinks that this is fine. This, as you know, is a problem that’s explored in Shadow of the Stormbird, and in my headcannon of these two, it will indefinitely remain a point of contention between the two of them, and a significant vulnerability on Nil’s part.
THANKS @vythika96 for the asks!! I hope you enjoyed the answers! xoxo
I’ve been meaning to write a little oneshot for a while about Aloy having nightmares. And then yesterday it occurred to me that it would be interesting to see what Nil’s nightmares would look like as well… so that oneshot will come in a day or two.
“Suntress. Wake up.”
Aloy tears her eyes open and gasps. That’s when she realizes her face is crumpled into a grimace of grief. Nil’s hands are on her face, wiping away the tears she didn’t know she was crying.
She scrabbles desperately at his hands, squeezes his arms to reassure herself that he’s real. His skin is warm under her palms. His scent of orange-oil and sweat is proof that he’s here, he’s alive. It was just a dream. Just a dream.
“Nil,” she gasps, her chest tight with residual fear. She rolls towards him and wraps her left arm around him tightly. She buries her face in his chest, pressing her cheek to his skin to hear the slow, reassuring thudding of his heart.
“I had a nightmare,” she whispers against his skin.
Nil wraps an arm around her and rolls onto his back, taking her with him so that she’s sprawled across his naked chest. “I could tell,” he says.
@ladyofthelake91 made this beautiful fanart of Nil and Aloy’s first kiss and I’m just… overwhelmed at how gorgeous it is. This is the first fanart anyone’s ever done for something I wrote and I can’t even thank you enough 😭😍
The immediate answer
that everyone knows? Aloy loves Nil’s pale silver eyes. She’s fascinated
by how his eyes can transition from blank and empty to blazing with heat in the
space of a heartbeat. And Nil, of course, loves Aloy’s flame-red hair: hence
her nickname Suntress! He loves winding his fingers in her hair, tucking her
braids behind her ear, pulling her hair… *wiggles eyebrows*
The more subtle answer
that only Nil and Aloy know? Aloy loves Nil’s voice. She loves the sound of
that sarcastic, musical voice in her ear, mixing bloody jokes with shameless confessions
of love. And Nil loves the feel of Aloy’s skin. He’s endlessly amused by how
soft and smooth her skin is even though she’s a seasoned huntress.
7. Favorite date
activity?
HAHA oh man at first
when I read this I was like… I can’t even picture them on a date. Ain’t Aloy
got no time for that! No for real, here’s what they would do: grab a couple of
Striders, race to an unexplored mesa/Tallneck/mountain peak/Old Ones’ ruin, and
race to climb to the top. And then they would have a snack of Scrappersap and
dried figs while they watch the sunset or the sunrise, depending on the time of
day.
And then they would
make out because obviously.
17. Their ways of
expressing their love:
Ooh, I like this one,
mostly because these two have no qualms about expressing love. They’re so
securely attached it’s almost sickening LOL. Nil and Aloy both take comfort
from physical affection – especially those little gestures that become
unconscious and automatic over the course of a relationship, but that you
sorely miss if they’re gone: Nil’s casual hand on her back, sliding up into her
hair. Her fingers skimming along the inside of his forearm to hold his hand.
Nil flicking back a lock of her hair over her shoulder. Little things, but they
convey a Shellwalker’s cargo container full of feeling.
But Nil’s also a
motherfucking Carja wordsmith. This dude has no shame telling Aloy exactly how
much he loves her (with some nice macabre imagery, of course). Aloy, on the
other hand, will gracelessly blurt out her feelings for Nil whenever the urge
strikes, but Nil appreciates her blunt words just as much as Aloy appreciates his bloody
poetry.
And finally, as a
writer (and a human being), I hate the term ‘making love’ because ew. But I don’t
think I’ve yet written a sex scene between these two where that’s not what they’re
doing. It’s an emotional release for them as much as a physical release.
Phew!! Thanks so much
for the asks @jadefyre!! I love it!! xoxo
Oh gosh. Can I give you enough thanks for this wonderful compliment? No, no I can’t. Thank YOU for reading it! It makes my day to know there are other Niloy fangirls who are loving these two as much as I am. Thank you for taking the time to read it and for getting invested!
This is fucking awesome. Loved all the machines in this game, and how you need to strategically take them down.
Send me one of my OCs and their LI along with a number to my askbox, and I’ll answer the question!
For the couple:
1. What drew your character to their LI and vice versa?
2. What was the first moment that they knew they were in love with their LI?
3. When they are having a fight, what is it about and how do they deal with it?
4. Their favorite physical feature on each other?
5. How do they comfort each other when they are sad?
6. Who is the big spoon?
7. Favorite date activity?
8. What are their most prominent memories of each other?
9. How open are they with their feelings?
10. Do they have pet names for each other?
11. Do they have any inside jokes?
12. Do they have similar goals? If they clash, how do they deal?
13. How do they react at being away from each other?
14. Is their anything they associate with each other?
15. How do they think each other sees the other, and is this different from their own view of themselves?
16. Jealous at all?
17. Their ways of expressing their love.
18. Is their any way they disappoint each other?
19. Describe how they communicate
20. Did either person change at all, to be with their partner?
For the creator
21. Personally, do you think they are a good couple?
22. From the outside looking in, what is their dynamic like?
23. Did you tailor your OC for the other in the romance?
24. Is their any moment that happens between them that you know happens and just makes you melt?
25. Share any headcanons about their relationship.
26. How important is the romance in your OC’s overall story?
27. What makes you excited about their relationship?
28. Is their any similarities to your OC and LI’s relationship to one you have had IRL?
29. What are your favorite moments that happen between them?
30. How does their love change as they get older?
31. Share anything you would like about the couple!
First 2 asks will (eventually) see their request written out in Give and Take (Reyder AU) – if multiples are selected, I’ll use the first one.
Hi Niloy fans! Just throwing this out there in case anyone wants to Ask Me Anything about my Nil and Aloy. Choose a number (or two, or three) and send it to my askbox!
Or, if you have any other burning questions, also feel free to ask… ❤ xo
The Sharper Edge of Love: Romance, Sex, and Fanfic 