#carepackge

@carepackge​

He kept his gaze averted. He wasn’t even WATCHING, and still, his frame FLINCHED now and then as his squadmate’s tools dug around in the MECHANICAL GUTS of his forearm. Occasionally his arm twitched or his fingers flexed, though it was obvious he was trying to keep still.

His arm had been nearly crushed earlier in the match, but it was still INTACT, and Revenant had been determined to IGNORE IT... until his trigger finger had begun acting up. It was only then that he caved to Lifeline’s incessant, disapproving looks. They had found somewhere quiet to sit where she could work on it, just enough to get his hand fully operational again.

💘- A memory that gets their heart pounding

Alexander Nox first encountered death when he was three, after accidentally stepping on one of Gaea’s native garden toads while running across the lawn. If it weren’t for the sudden wetness squeezing up between his toes, he wouldn’t have noticed.

The amphibian had ballooned out at the sides, crushed flat in the center like the blins his family made for breakfast. If it weren’t for the wet, marbleish eyes puckering up from its bloated head, Alexander could have mistaken it for a squished vegetable.

He remembers how quickly his heart had raced, how he had cried – more at the foreignness of the experience than what he had done. Katerina had given him a hug and cleaned him up and left the toad for the birds.

            ❝  well , i am goddamn gorgeous !  ❞  something about anita makes her want to forget about the games , about all the horrors that she remembers . but there is the reality of her contract , signing over her life to the syndicate for money for a organization that she believed in . capitalism was a diease , but god it was almost like ANITA WAS THE CURE .

            maybe she was crushing – was the maybe still applicable if she knew for a fact that she was . anita was everything she ever wanted and maybe a bit more . the kiss was something she dreamed about , embarrassingly enough . ajay’s concepts of love were a bit hopeless , fluffy things that were sometimes better reserved for fairy tales . she was completely clueless , she had her fair share of heart break , but she did indulge herself in the softer aspects of life .

            ❝  so are yuh gunna take me out on anotha date or wha’ .  ❞  she playfully nuzzles along the other woman’s neck , pressing the soft of kisses . something in the back of her mind tells her to bite down , to leave her mark . she’s polite , she has manners , so she doesn’t .  ❝  thank yuh owe me afta’ kissin’ my breath away , an’ stealin m’chapstick .   ❞

 Anita can’t help the smile, the one that goes from ear to ear. It’s one thing to be as sauve and cool-headed in combat, and another thing to be on a personal level, one to one. Step by step, she keeps herself level - but just barely.

Ajay makes that harder.

  It usually means she cares, a lot more than she wants to admit, straight up. Sex and one night stands usually don’t come with a whole lotta feelings, but romance? Consider it jam packed. She’s had good role models, after all - parents who’ve been together for three decades, and never once let the flame go out.

  There’ll always be the one, her mother used to say, and you’ll know it. It might be early yet – no, it is early – but the thought lingers in the back of Anita’s mind.

He always declines; sends them to voicemail instead, and before they even get a chance to leave one, he fires off a text. Usually some variation of, What do you want. Cool and straight to the point.

This time, though, he hesitates. He lets his thumb hover over the send button and wonders if she’s going to leave a message. Shit, he wonders why she even called at all. It’s not like they’re friends. He didn’t have many of those to begin with (all by design, of course), but after the shit with Loba and her artifact—

Well. He’s less popular than Caustic now, which is saying something.

When her voicemail finally comes through, he listens to it. Not once, either. Several times. He doesn’t process it right the first time, so he plays it again. Then he gets paranoid someone’s fucking with him and compares the recording to samples of her voice. And once her voice matches and his fear is alleviated, he listens to it one more time.

...No one’s checked on him like this. Not since he’s been here.

It’s a powerful thing, knowing someone cares about you, even a little bit.

He hates that it has such an effect.

The smart thing to do would be to delete it and move on. That’s certainly the Crypto thing to do. But he keeps hearing his name in her voice in his head. 

I believe yuh.

Caustic’s a eel.

I got yuh back.

He hates how much it loosens the knot of anxiety in his chest.

That’s why he finds himself outside her bunk in the drop ship. He stands there in the doorway, hands deep in his pockets, and hopes he doesn’t look as awkward and uncomfortable as he feels.

“Uh, Life—” he starts, then stops. 

It’s weird to use first names with any of the legends; he’s made it a point to not do that. Another bullet point on his checklist of steps to not get too close to anyone.

Still, he forces himself to say, “Ajay, I mean. I got your voicemail.” A beat. One of his hands closes around the puzzle cube and starts to fidget with it. “...You didn’t have to say that. You didn’t even have to call. But you did, so... thank you.”

it was rare for octavio to ever let himself feel sad... or ANGRY. it wasn't like OCTANE was a facade, he very much was his own self on the big stage, other than when he still used to be the cookie-cutter heir to silva pharmaceuticals, living in a mansion that never felt like home with a family that didn't REALLY care for octavio beyond the use he has for their company. but still, there were many feelings, THOUGHTS, he hasn't properly processed yet. he couldn't let go of many things, the ties to silva pharms most of all because of an addiction he had to supply and didn't WANT to fix. and those ties ultimately connected him to his old man; the guy octavio avoided like the plague and yet couldn't tear himself away from completely.

especially recently with everything going down, olympus being attackted by freaky alien plants that hurt people octavio would like to call his FRIENDS reminded him too much of that gala where the exact same thing happened-- and it turned out his DAD was behind it all.

he didn't assume right away he could stand in connection to these plants, but the reminder alone, especially this happening in a place octane connected so close to HOME... it felt odd. his emotions were all over the place, and so he would isolate himself; but that wasn't like octavio at all, and of course somebody would notice.

of course AJAY would notice.

when she finally got him to open his room's door, octavio seemed like a mere shell of himself. he tried to sound upbeat as usual, tried to seem less miserable than he truly felt, but he was a terrible liar, especially when ajay was the one confronting him. except usually that wouldn't make him drop the act, but this time was an EXCEPTION.

the moment she showed him that it's okay, that he had nothing to hide from her and, most importantly, that he WASN'T IN TROUBLE ( wherever he got that idea from ), octavio finally broke down.

he was shaking when he finally slumped down on his makeshift bed, ajay by his side as he buried his face in his hands. with each gasped out SOB his shoulders would jerk, the fingers on his face digging into skin, desperate to find hold onto something, someone.

come here to me, buddy. you’re all right.