"I'm prettier this way, right?"

Nolan's voice was stuck in his throat, unable to come out and say anything. All he could do was stare at her, even as she begun to look uncertain.

Because Wade was Parzival.

He didn't know what was the worst of it. That all along, he'd been sleeping with an underage minor? That she was so so much younger than him?

'They had just been talking', he'd once claimed in the beginning. Nothing was wrong. Except...that wasn't true. Unknowingly, he had touched her. He had slept with her. Repeatedly.

Her being younger than him had been an issue he'd pushed aside because they were just talking and had become friends. They hadn't touched each other or become intimate in any way. It had made it okay in his eyes.

But in the end, he actually had slept with her and if he was being truthful...he was meeting her now, wasn't he? What was he expecting would happen? It would've eventually degraded into something like that if they'd kept meeting —or did he not confess, when he was at his most deranged, how much he'd wanted Wade as much as he'd desired Parzival? Something he'd agonized over because he hadn't wanted to hurt Parzival when he cared about her, and yet longed to have another? This...this simplified everything! It solved that problem!

Dear God, he wanted to laugh hysterically. Both of the women of his darkest, base desires were actually one and the same, and yet nothing could be more horrible. She was a high school girl years younger than him, and yet the animal in him craved her still. Maybe that's why he proposed this meeting after all —so it would initiate all this, lead to him having Wade as well. He was a horrible person after all. Who knows what was going on in the deep recesses of his goddamn miserable mind?

When it came to her, he always became honest, right? She always fucking made him too honest. Part of him briefly wondered if this was some sort of setup, some way to bring Nolan Sorrento to his knees. Maybe create some blackmail to hold over him, or even create some sort of evidence to send him to jail? Statutory rape was still a thing in this state and he was doomed on that front.

'But she was 17 and probably almost 18,' his mind whispered tauntingly.

Yet, even as he thought about her potential betrayal, he dismissed the thought immediately —Wade wasn't like that. For one, no one (and he was absolutely sure on this) knew anything about his old username or would ever connect Lacero to him. For another, he was the one who'd approached Parzival that night, not the other way around. Even more, every interaction he'd had with either of her personas felt real and sincere, and he was well acquainted with liars. Wade wasn't one, especially with the bare emotions she always seemed to be unable to keep from him. Unlike him, she wasn't capable of reeling in her emotions and keeping them from showing. She wore her heart on her sleeve and he was just the type of man to take advantage of that.

He'd always wanted to be more than friends with Wade, he realized. The moment she'd randomly popped into his life, asking him to kill her boredom, he hadn't understood the significance of their first meeting.

Nolan was going to hell. He was going to hell and he was probably diving head first into it. If she wanted to eat his heart, he'd tear it out of his chest and serve it to her on a silver platter.

This whole mess between them, this unsavory but fateful meeting of their souls, this convoluted tangle of their personas and alter egos in the OASIS...they'd made this mess. Why fight it?

He felt her move closer to him before he saw her, and her hand tentatively touched his.

"L-Lacero? Um, did I say something wrong?"

He took a deep breath and bit down on his tongue, wishing he was in the real world and could feel the pain tenfold while blood spilled in his mouth.

"No, you're fine. I'm not," he confessed. What could he say? What could he reveal? Lacero was important to her. Not Nolan, not in this way. He wouldn't take Lacero away from her. "I just...your avatar is pretty. And I am struck by it. But you want the truth?" His hands moved to grasp her face and he gazed into that horribly familiar face of Parzival. Lips he'd kissed again and again and he was struck by the ironic thought that he couldn't now because she didn't know him as he was.

"I still prefer the real you," he said breathily, feeling her face warm up and watching that red flush on her in desire. She had always done things to him with that blush as Parzival, but now he knew it was also Wade and it magnified his want so much more.

"O-oh," Wade stuttered. "Really? I've always...I've always thought I was plain and even kind of chubby —"

Part of him wanted to lash out at whoever put these stupid thoughts into her head. To make her feel so low and degrade herself like this...

"Nonsense," he straightened up and plastered a smile on his face. Normal. He had to act normal. "I think you put yourself down too much and don't notice just how cute you are," he smirked and tapped her nose.

She pouted and goddamn he wanted to kiss those lips right now. "M'not cute. Stop saying that."

"Never," he declared. He grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go grab a table and talk. It's our first meeting after all."

He was such a liar.

They found a park instead and sat down under a tree. Nolan was tempted to ask her to revert back to her school avatar, both because he was uncomfortable with being faced with the girl he'd been having sex with and now knowing she was a minor, but also because a part of him really did want to see the real her. He wanted the real Wade and he wanted to get to know and be with the real her from now on. But she seemed more at ease like this, so he kept his mouth shut.

"Um...I was wondering...if you wanted to go gunting with me sometime?" she asked shyly. "I haven't had much time or really be able to do much gunting, and I've even been missing the races. I just...I kind of got really stuck on you and another...friend I'd made, and then there was some stuff in real life...I don't know, I thought it'd be cool to do stuff with you. Not just gunting either," she waved her hand around them. "I'd really like to spend time doing stuff with you. We could go visit the SAO worlds here, clear levels, go Questing, maybe we could visit some of the other planets and do things there..."

Briefly, Nolan felt jealous of the mention of this other 'friend', who he guessed was the same one she talked about before in the blog. Then the hysteria came back as he realized that he was this other friend. Oh God, he'd been jealous of himself this entire time!

"Sorry, you're probably busy. Work and all, right?" she hurriedly said and he mentally shook himself out of his thoughts.

He gave her a strained smile. "No, work isn't really that much of a problem. Just trying to, uh, think of when I can clear my schedule for when we can hang out and do those things. I'd love to spend any kind of time with you."

He hadn't gone gunting for a long time. He'd only started anyway because he'd been so gung ho on destroying the OASIS and had managed to catch IOI's attention then. He couldn't even remember just having fun in the OASIS either, exploring the multitude of worlds. He'd been single-mindedly focused on his goal.

"What do you think of Nolan Sorrento?" he found himself asking. She was here now...didn't know Lacero was him, could give a free and honest answer...He wanted to know what she really thought of him and this situation presented a good opportunity.

But he was both afraid and wary to hear from her. He knew he wasn't well-liked and despite sleeping with him, Wade was also a gunter and part of that culture and people who were firmly adverse to him and his company.

"Why do you ask?" Her voice went quiet and it surprised him.

He played nonchalant. "Well, he's obviously a major player in this egg hunt and I know you're a gunter. Isn't he and IOI just a bunch of...jerks? I don't know."

Wade looked away from him, fumbling with the skirt of her dress.

"Maybe," she said softly and Nolan inwardly winced. "But...but I think he's probably not all that bad."

That made him blink and stare at her. She was looking at her lap now, her fingers continuously picking at the cloth.

"He's got a really bad reputation, doesn't he?' she asked aloud, looking thoughtful. He kept silent, continuing to watch her. She looked to him anxiously. "Actually, there's something I want to tell you. Do you promise not to talk about it to anyone?"

"I promise," he said, feeling anxious himself now. What would be concerning her?

"I met him," she admitted and Nolan's jaw almost dropped. "I met Nolan sometime ago. He's...he's not a jerk. Or an asshole. Not to me at least. Actually, I think he's a good person deep down," she said defensively.

Nolan just stared at her, making her fidget. Dear God, she was defending him to him. There was even more irony piling down on him.

"I ended up sleeping with him," she admitted as well and he nearly jerked back in surprise. "I...I told you how I was having a really bad morning and day, right? You helped a lot when I met you in that chat, but then I still had to come home. I have a really crappy home, Lacero, and I'd rather stay in the OASIS forever than be there."

That made him angry, flashes of his sister going through his mind, and he knew he looked it too when she shook her head at the sight of him.

"You don't understand! I don't want to live with my aunt and her boyfriend. My aunt's never wanted me there and Rick is a disgusting pig. That night, she was yelling at me to get a job as an escort and stop being useless and I just ran away from there. I ran and hid in the OASIS, but I kept going until I found myself in a Red A area and in front of the escort building, and oh my God, I really actually considered doing it," she started sniffling, while Nolan felt himself burn with fury but also frozen in shock and denial.

"I was going to go in there and be one because at least maybe I could get some money and I could buy a place and get the hell away from them," Wade's hand gripped her skirt tightly. "I was desperate and upset enough that I would've gone in there. You know what stopped me?"

"What?" he asked, voice thick and heavy with emotion.

"Nolan Sorrento ran across me and asked me out for drinks," she said, voice going high and she laughed with tears in her eyes. "Oh God, it was so out there. I said yes to him and I keep saying yes to him, because if I hadn't then, I would've become a whore and I would've been miserable. Instead, I met him and he made me feel so wonderful and adored for once, that I don't think he understands how much I owe him. If I hadn't met him and went along with him, I would've sold myself."

At that moment, Nolan had never been so glad to have run across her that night and to have made the choice to approach her. The thought that she would've gone into that building, to have chosen to be a prostitute out of desperation, made his stomach churn. A part of him felt relieved that things had happened as it did, and he was happy to have been able to have unknowingly helped her out of her misery and saved her from a choice she would've regretted.

He hadn't known what was going on with her then or what she'd been thinking, but now that he did, he felt torn between anger and sorrow. To know she felt this much about him, both as Lacero and Nolan, made him feel as happy as he did guilty, because he was still lying and keeping things from her when she was clinging onto him with all her might.

"Then I'm glad he approached you and helped you," he told her solemnly. 'I'm glad I did' burned on his tongue, but he kept it silent. "And you know what? I think he probably adores you too. He's still with you now, isn't he? He's not known for having partners, casual or not, and I think you mean a great deal to him."

She blinked away tears and looked at him in astonishment.

"You think so?" she asked, shy again.

He smiled gently at her. "I do."

She smiled slightly to herself. "I...hope so. I...kind of really, really like him, you know?" Wade lightly blushed as she watched the virtual grass swaying with the wind. "I hope he likes me back, even if a little bit," she muttered quietly.

Nolan swallowed heavily.

~*~*~

Nolan lay back in his chair, staring at the ceiling in his office. His door opened after a few knocks and his assistant and head of his operations in the physical world poked her head in, observing him curiously.

"Sir?"

"I'm fine, F'Nale," he said stoically. "Go oversee the workers in the Loyalty Centers."

His assistant paused by his doors before inclining her head. "Very well, sir."

Alone again, Nolan contemplated his liquor cabinet. Why the hell not? He'd had revelation after revelation hit him that day. He needed something to buckle down with. Heading over there, he bypassed the glasses and went straight for the bottle. He carried it back with him to his desk and tried to collect himself.

He was supposed to meet her tonight. He could skip it of course. There was no way he could —or should —continue on with this affair. She was a minor and he was a high profile person. It would be a mercy to her too; she wouldn't be caught connected to the likes of him. She'd be ostracized by others in her community for seeing "the Devil". And then there was everyone else, especially in the real world.

Who was the girl Nolan Sorrento was seeing? What was she like, what did she do? What did she look like?

They'd hound her; the press, the paparazzi, the world. She'd have no peace because of him. That was without the scandal of her age and the age gap between them.

He should stay away from her. He was the adult after all. He was clearly taking advantage.

Nolan laughed aloud. He was drunk off of her. How the hell could he ever stay away from her? The answer was that he couldn't. No, that he wouldn't.

If he was making his choice, he was making it now and he decided that he would continue on with this thing between them. Because he did adore her and nothing or anyone was going to tell him otherwise; like hell he'd be kept away from her.

He couldn't stay away from Wade and he didn't want to.

He snatched up his IM Interface, using it as opposed to his regular computer interface. The chat channel between them was already opened, so he just pinged her.

Hey, I know we just met up this morning, but I was wondering how are you?

It took a bit, but after a minute, he finally got a reply.

I'm always glad to hear from you! I miss you already anyway, so I don't care if we're talking all day :) I'm doing ok. You?

Alright. Nolan paused and thought about this next part, but set his lips into a determined frown. I was surprised by how cute you were. I didn't think I'd be so affected. I knew you were cute in personality, but you've got a cute face to match.

There. Nolan took a swig from the bottle and snickered to himself. He was probably coming onto her a little strong, but hey —'Lacero' was a little late in the game after all. His regular self was in the lead, but his alter ego needed to catch up. That and since he'd made his decision by her, all 'sides' of him was going to express interest in her.

He wanted her and she was his wholeheartedly. The opposite just seemed to be true as well; Nolan and Lacero were all hers, just like Wade and Parzival were his.

"Darling, oh darling, I want some more," he leaned back in his chair and took a large gulp of whiskey. "I'm such a masochist for you, baby."

This was all sorts of wrong and he knew it. But he was such a mess about her.

Really? Thank you.

Her late response prompted a chuckle out of him, as he could see her stuttering and blushing as she said that. Too bad he wasn't face to face with her right now. She'd probably taken so long to give him that short reply because she'd become so flustered.

You're so pretty, darling. I don't see how anyone couldn't see that or tell you that...or not want to kiss those lips of yours. You're probably surrounded by idiots.

Nolan took another large gulp out of the bottle before typing again.

If it was me? If I was younger, I wouldn't have minded being completely yours.

There was probably a place in hell reserved just for him.

~*~*~

Wade hummed as she swung her legs back and forth. Unlike others in the past, she usually watched memories wherever. The Curator had the ability to play Halliday's memories where he wanted, so she didn't always go into the Memory Halls. She liked to just sit at random places and watch them, and Q usually joined her.

"Hey, hey, George! Play the one with Kira," she giggled, face warm and hugging her knees to herself.

"I think I preferred Gandalf than George," Q told her dryly.

She giggled again. "Okay then, Gandalf."

He rolled his eyes, though he did end up eying her. "You're in a good mood," he commented. Her blush darkened. "Oh yes, you're clearly very happy."

She looked at him shyly. "I haven't told you this, but I, um, met someone. Two people actually."

"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow. "Do tell, Parzival."

"What do you really think of Nolan Sorrento?" she asked suddenly.

For some reason, that gave him a pause and she waited as patiently as she could, though she grew nervous.

"He's...different than how he was before," Q said slowly. "In Halliday's memories, the Nolan Sorrento that people speak of now was a much different person. It's...funny actually. Halliday remembered him as an optimistic, happier and eager to help intern. Something happened one day though, and he...was much more cynical. He quit a little after that and then sometime after Halliday's death, he resurfaced as an IOI agent. Now look where he is."

Wade fidgeted nervously before speaking. "He's not a bad guy," she said softly.

"I know," Q said and tipped his head towards her.

She hesitated. "The thing is...I met him, Q. In one of my bad moods."

He stayed quiet, but his gaze was solemn and serious on her. And when he was like that, she couldn't help blurting out everything, telling him what happened and leaving nothing out like she had when she decided to tell Aech. The Curator had always been able to pry things out of her without much effort, simply by his serious gaze. It always made her feel like she was being gazed over by her father, or what she guessed was what a paternal gaze would feel like.

Q sighed, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"It's good to know that there's a side of him that exists that isn't the man everyone else sees him as," he said plainly. "And I'm pleased to see you in a happier mood these days. Just be careful, won't you? Sorrento is still a very cunning and ambitious man, but more than that, he does have his dark side."

She blinked, even as he patted her head gently. "I'm glad you're happy with him, but just be mindful. Be careful," he reiterated.

"Okay," she answered, hesitant again. "Although, it's really not just him. There's this other man too..."

Lacero was someone important to her as well, and she hadn't mentioned him to anyone before. But after their meeting that morning and the way he'd strangely contacted her after...

He'd been flirting with her. She wasn't sure, because she was always uncertain and unsure of herself anyway, but she was pretty certain enough to think that he'd been —rather aggressively —flirting with her in their chat. And the truth was that he'd always been important to her from the start and she'd always felt attached to him. A part of her had felt an attraction, but knowing their age difference and the fact that they were friends (and she didn't want to mess that up) had made her not pay too much attention to that attraction. But then they'd actually met and then he was acting strangely and flirting with her, and it was like the floodgates had been opened.

"I really, really like him, Q," she confessed quietly. And after an unsure beat, she reluctantly added, "Like I really like Nolan."

Q examined her closely. "I see. So you like this Lacero man. And earlier, when you talked about Sorrento and talked about being happy with him, you meant..."

She looked down at her feet and watched them swing halfheartedly. Q moved closer and sat on the tabletop with her.

"You're in love with both of these men, I presume."

"Pretty much," she muttered, twisting her fingers around each other depressingly. "Can you be in love with two people?"

"I don't know," Q answered her. "I do not have the programming or knowledge of such a thing. I do know that you are an honest girl and I believe your feelings are sincere. For both of them."

"What do I do?" she asked him desperately. "I've never felt this way before, and now I do for two men!"

"This may be cheesy, but I think it's a good idea for you to do your best to follow your heart," he advised. "If they're both important to you and you really care for them, perhaps you should let them know and tell them the situation. If either men know you have feelings for themselves and another, then it's up to them to try their best to win you over, won't it? Or you may find yourself eventually feeling more for one than the other. Let things happen naturally and see where it all goes, Parzival."

She took a deep breath and gave him a thankful smile.

"Thanks, Q! I can always count on you."

"Now...perhaps you'd like to view some of Halliday's memories of Sorrento instead? He's got quite a collection and no one else knows or has seen them..."

She wouldn't tell him that, because it might sound a little pathetic, but the Curator had always strangely felt like the father she wished she'd had growing up.

~*~*~

Nolan stood outside the bar, leaning against it as he tilted his head, eyes closed as he contemplated this meeting. It would be like every other meeting of theirs...normally, had he not discovered the truth. It really wouldn't be too late for him to leave now, to turn back and stop himself from this.

He should stay away from there.

"Fuck," he muttered and he opened his Items Storage to pick out a cigarette, lighting it up and taking a long drag. It wasn't as strong or as effective as it would have in the real world, but it was still damn good and had most of the effects with practically none of the consequences of real smoking. And right now he needed something to perk him up.

He didn't know what to do. He wanted Wade so bad, but he knew it wasn't right and she would be upset if she knew the truth. Which was another thing. He was lying to her now, not letting her know the truth about him and 'Lacero'. Lacero was her confidant and friend, but if he could maybe get him to the level she was comfortable and attracted to him as Nolan, then maybe he could ease her into the truth. But that could still take some time and she would be hurt by the lying either way.

Why should he keep up the ruse anyway? Sure, she would be mortified at the fact she'd talked about Nolan to himself, but they could get over that.

He was pushing the limit, making whatever excuses and reasons he could accept so he could be with her, but even if she was underage, she wouldn't be for long. He was sure of it.

And it was Wade. Wade who he found that he couldn't keep himself from and who he adored to the point of obsession, he could admit.

But that was the point wasn't it? She was still someone he couldn't have, despite it all. Even if she turned 18 and was within theoretical reach, they'd started off on the wrong track. They'd been together before it was allowed to be, the two of them had kept secrets and personas quiet from the other, and he was lying about Lacero just as she was lying about Parzival. And if the truth about Lacero was known, then she'd know (and he'd have to acknowledge) that the gap between their ages and the very illegal side of their relationship.

As himself, he hadn't known about her age until recently, and she had kept quiet about it this entire time. As Lacero, he'd known Wade was a high school girl, but things had been kept platonic. If everything collided, that was a mess they'd have to deal with. There was no more separation —Wade and Parzival was the same, and if he'd slept with Parzival, that meant he had slept with Wade and platonic had never existed between them (not that it ever really had). He hadn't known Parzival's age before, but he'd known Wade's, and since the two were the same, he now knew the truth and there wasn't any more hiding from it.

He turned around and placed his forehead against his arm, his hand leaning against the wall. His other hand held the cigarette away from him as he tried to keep his thoughts from spiraling around.

"Hey you," her voice was soft but concerned as she hugged him from behind, her presence sudden. She reached over and plucked the cigarette from his fingers and he turned around to face her.

She looked at him in concern and it did something to him to have someone who obviously really cared for him for once. She gave him a quirky smile while putting the cigarette to her lips, tilting her head and experimentally taking a smoke. She coughed and accidentally spat out the cigarette, which dropped to the ground, making him laugh. He reached for her and kissed her.

When he pulled back, he was already leading the way out of there.

Wade laughed (yes, Wade —he could definitely call her that in his head now). "Someone's eager."

He swallowed at that, thinking about it. "Yeah, I am," he said simply.

Without a pause, Nolan headed to their hotel and past the concierge, having already set up an arrangement with the place a long time ago. At their room, he placed his palm against the sensor and it registered his ID code, opening to allow them in.

"I want to try something different," he told her. "Do you trust me?" He suddenly felt nervous.

She blinked before smiling widely at him. "Of course I do," she said before becoming a little shy.

Fuck, he really loved her turning shy around him. It made him all sorts of aroused and hot under the collar.

"Okay, hold on a second," he muttered. He disappeared for a moment, heading to the room's accessory box and opened it, shuffling through most of it for the simpler stuff. A gag was unneeded; he wanted to hear her. He wanted her voice to beg and scream for him, to become needy and desperate for Nolan to make her reach her peak. But while he adored her eyes, it would help to heightened sensitivity by negating it.

And make her not question his choice to muffle her hearing too.

Coming back to her, she looked curious at the muffler and the blindfold, but said nothing as she waited patiently on the bed, having removed her clothing already. She let him place the blindfold on before she said anything.

"Kinky," her lips twitched up. "So we're going to kink things up?"

"You could say that," he said, playing along. "I would tie you up too, but we'll work up to that. Lay back, Parzival," he ordered.

She lay back and wiggled her way up higher on the bed. He followed her along, licking his lips nervously.

"This too," he held up the soft mufflers to her face and letting her feel them, and she waited for him to place them on her ears. "Can you hear me?" he tested.

When she showed no reaction, he dragged his hand down her face and down her neck to her shoulder. He squeezed it.

"Wade, can you hear me?" he tried again and sighed in relief when she again didn't react. He climbed on top of her, still wearing his clothes, and held her face in his hands.

"I'm a toxic man, darling," he breathed out. "I'm toxic for you and I'm pretty sure our relationship is toxic. But I said you were my personal poison, so let me be yours."

After all, he'd never been a man in love before.

He sat up and called up his controls, quickly getting rid of his clothes before he leaned back down and nibbled down her neck. Her breathing started to become heavier and she squirmed underneath him. He leaned his hips down and grounded his cock against her groin, sliding down to tease her clit with it every few seconds.

"Nolan," she called out breathily, her hands grasping at his arms.

He kissed her long and hard, exploring her mouth with fervor before seeking out her tongue to wrestle with. He continued grinding and kissing her, while he blindly searched out her legs and lifted them, placing them up high and adjusting them over his shoulders. He kissed her ankles several times.

"Wade, I wish I could see you in the real world and ravish you properly," he moaned, more so as he listened to her whimpers. He dragged his lips down, searching for her cunt. He gave a quick lick that she gasped at. "To taste you for real. To be able to touch you for real. Darling, I want you to be really mine."

What wouldn't he give to be able to really make love to her with his real body, to touch her real body. He would show her how to really feel good and make sure she was utterly pleased, all blissed out and content from their lovemaking.

"I'd want you to stay with me," he murmured against her pussy, kissing it softly. He'd give her everything she wanted; all the jewelry, clothes...whatever she'd asked for. They could have a life together; he was convinced of it. He'd have to somehow convince her of it too.

His tongue swirled around her clitoris, before licking around her pussy lips and then diving straight into her. He began to tongue-fuck her vigorously, contently listening to the sounds coming out of her mouth.

"N-Nolan, I'm going to —!"

He was so bad for her, but there was no way he could keep himself from her.