Riley

Heyyy so I’ve never like— seen this character before [cool guy] so I went like solely off vibes and I hope I got that right— if not I’m VERY sorry and I hope you have a good day -🎸

ask and you shall receive c: have a quick sketch of mechabat in the morning

If u do read this, then thank you :D!!

ofc i'm still doing dispatch asks!!! i'll do an ask from any fandom, really, so don't ever worry about bothering me <3 <3 <3 ↓ my interests may waver, but i'm always down to create

okay okay, into the ask:

you know those candy packs//chocolate packs that come with a card of like- a famous person or character? I like to imagine that something similar exists in the dispatch universe ↓ Sonar finds a bunch of older Brave Brigade packs at some convenience store he's dispatched to- and decides to bring some back for the team. He only gets enough for all of them to have one though ↓ Robert is surprisingly into it? "Oh- shit, where'd you find these?" ↓ He's not... grinning, but there's something almost pleased in his demeanor- and something soft, as he takes the pack offered to him easily "I used to have a Tr... a bunch of these when I was kid- kept them in a binder and everything. They were signed too." "Aww, little Bobby-Boy was a nerd." "I- literally pilot a giant blue mech suit and reference a fuck ton of old movies, I don't know what gave you the impression I was ever cool."

Turns out that most, if not all, of his collection got sold to make ends meet on the suit [the last thing his dad ever wrote, the last of his older brother's glory days, the last connection he had to being a kid]

The team sobers a little at hearing that- connecting dots that Robert hadn't even realized he'd laid out. But they make a thing of it, and they wait until shift is over to claim a board room ↓ The active heroes aren't reeeally enthused- they don't care much about the Brave Brigade, not truly, but damn do they love gambling. Damn ↓ None of them are paying attention to anything besides their conversation partner or their card or what's on their phone, so... maybe that's why they almost miss it. Robert sudden inhale ↓ He tries to play it off with a flustered hand, but he can't quite stop himself from grinning at the card he pulled. He can't quite help laughing a little bit, a little giddily, no matter how hard he tries to tamp it down. 10 cards [3/7 members had special editions] and he managed to pull..

The Track Star card

Z-Team has never seen the man so happy before- so pleased. It's fuckin' adorable. And it makes their chests clench a little bit, because.. oh... ↓ Robert guards it with his fucking life. He finally gets a lanyard for his SDN id, and slots it on the other side- he locks it in his desk when having something around his neck gets to be too much and he needs a break ↓ And then... it goes missing. Not genuinely- Visi snatched it after picking the lock- but Robert doesn't know that. He tries not to make a big deal of it, even though it hurts something small and fierce under his ribs, but his search is just getting more frantic ↓ He retraces his steps until his knee is nearly spasming with strain, checks under his desk and chair until his back is protesting, and he.. has to accept that it's probably just... gone now.

Fuck.

Z-Team feels like absolute shit watching him gather up his things to go home, his eyes dead and hooded again- if a little glossy- and quickly rushes into Phase 2™ of the plan ↓ They're not complete assholes- okay, they snatched it for a reason!

Chase stops him by the doors- arms crossed and scowling, before he softens at Robert's hunched shoulders... the meaning of which hasn't changed in 15 years. -> He holds the card out with a smirk "What's with the face? You lookin' for somethin?"

It reads: "You've always been good- TRACK STAR" in that same writing it had, all those years ago

like have u seen that bathroom scene with him and visi?? holy fuck

you already knowww he's a PRO at the eye contact game, man talks with his eyes and Z-Team crumbles instantly

which has really cool implications, considering Shroud tries to do the same thing. At least- if you cut Janelle, he does. [when she snips at Blazer, he whips around to stare her down. it's only really effective because of the skull mask though..]

Robert's stares are gentler, and borne from a place of genuine care, rather than some place of paltry intimidation ↓ And that's because he doesn't want to intimidate his team, he doesn't want to make them bow their heads- he wants to coax them into taking a step he can meet them at, rather than drag them into submission

His stares soften those walls the Z-Team have had up since- ever, really.

He looks at them all like they're worth something. They don't really know how to deal with that

Robert is tipsy when he grabs Flambae's hand- the one with two stumps instead of fingers. The one he'd mutilated ↓ The man had been poking at his flushed and freckled cheek to be an asshole, and check how out of it Bob-Bob really was. The skinny man bats at Flambae's hand at first, before his knobby knuckles had brushed the long healed not-quite-fingers. ↓ Then he'd carefully latched onto to the fire hero's wrist, and- just... stared. Long enough that Flambae had started to reach out with his other hand to flick [gently] between those glossy, alcohol glazed eyes. Robert kisses the stumps before he gets the chance, looking up through his mangled lashes into bright orange eyes as he does it "M.. sorry... I thought you would've.. dodged. Was just tryin' not t'die..." ↓ Flambae's face is red, and he shoves the skinny man off his barstool. Via hand to the face "WHAT THE-FUCK EVER, BOB-BOB."

even when he's trying to get the team to do something, he's not demanding ↓ And Robert doesn't even have to say anything when a member has fucked up. Prism makes a bit too mean of a jab at Waterboy, and yeah she feels kinda bad but she's not gonna apologize. Obviously the best way to deal with it should just be to ignore it until things go back to normal ↓ Buuut Robert is staring her down. And he looks expectant, and Prism tries to shake her head, but.. of course... Robert wins with a single deadpan eyebrow raise. The office is stunned

Robert has a habit of staring directly into people's eyes when they talk [it's like that one audio, "honestly? like.. eye contact and a smile, bro. there's something- YO, DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT 😀"]

(The answers to the questions, in reverse order, are "yes," "he has his ways," and "well, since you brought it up, I am now.")

Ever since I found out about Sonar's existence, and the fact that he is from San Francisco, I've just been wanting so much to put him on the Muni. And no, he can't just fly around the city in megabat form, he has to check his stocks (and bother and flirt with Robert, who now knows what PTO stands for).

Sonar, in beast form carrying Robert: Sorry about the claws, hope they don’t like tear your shirt, I know you only own like two.

Robert: Don’t worry, you can tear my shirt off anytime.

Sonar: What?

Robert:…