#miraithweek

Dusk has fallen, the night has crept in, and her squad are denned in what’s left of a shack on stilts. At least all the doors still close. She cannot scale to the rooftop, not this late in a Game, even if she feels safer cloaked at height in the dark. She dares not even leave her squad to steal a moment on the warped wooden platform high above their heads.

To be taken down at this point, would mean no beacon her squadmates could risk. She can’t justify, even to herself, leaving them short over her need to centre herself. Too many open lines of sight to risk, especially when she’s all but certain there’s a squad holed up just as they are, up the incline in the shallows.

If nothing else, they won’t be set upon any time soon. Not unless someone else breaks the peace of the night. There is not one Elite left alive who is cocky enough to think they can sneak up on Wraith while wading through the swamps. So they’re safe, for now. Bunked almost civilly, indoors in a standing structure. Mirage might be making jokes about playing house, if he weren’t sleeping off the near-fatal injuries of their last encounter.

So, she makes do. She settles herself in a corner next to the door to the balcony, reminding herself that an attack isn’t imminent - she can stretch her legs out flat and rest. Pathfinder is powered down to sleep until her watch is over. His chest screen glows softly as a nightlight in the far corner, his rifle loose but ready in hand. Mirage, they’ve line against the thickest wall between them, on the best of a battle bed they could source from rags and packs and a long plank, his bunk kit blanket tucked over him to keep away the chill of the air.

His face is lax and smoothed in sleep, because Wraith has allowed herself the indulgence of dosing him at regular intervals with her abundant score of low-grade painkillers. His hair is a tangled snare of yellow highlights and dirt, and a smile ghosts Wraith’s lips at the certainty that the first thing he will do upon waking is rectify the less-than-camera-ready state of his appearance. Soot has dried and caressed his cheekbone, a nick on his chin has dried dark and scabbed over. Dust and sand have settled in every crease of his face. He shows the story of their last fight, right there on his skin. His lashes flutter and a soft hitch mars his breath. Wraith finds (as she does increasingly often these days) that she hasn't the will to stop her own eyes from mapping every smudge, every line, of the face she knows better than anyone will ever know.

Her ribcage is tight with knotted things she hasn't acknowledged.

She breathes the night, as much as she can in a cramped, claustrophobic room with no view of the vast dark above her, and coaxes it into her lungs, her blood. Far across the Arena some unknown creature howls to the sky, and the stillness of it all falls like snow upon her as she watches him sleep.

It won’t be long. Until the pause is over and it all begins anew, she knows that. First watch is something they’ve rotated between them since their early days, because they all know how unlikely it is they’ll get a second, or a third, and Wraith is already fully prepared to be running on little sleep when the guns start up again. They rarely argue with her when she calls it, even though she knows they must know it falls on her more often than is fair.

But she’s used to making do. She always has been. It keeps her sharp. It’s a luxury, even now, to have squad who share the burden as best they can. And awake alone in the tense darkness of the Canyon, or the Swamps as the case is this time, she watches over them, assured that any foolish attempt to kickstart the day early will be met with swift retaliation. She wraps the shadows around herself like welcome blankets, feels the intangible warmth of Pathfinder’s glow, and listens to Mirage breathe; deep and even and restful, and for an hour or two, - or four if they’re lucky – she will welcome the balance of peace in her soul.

When the guns begin again, as they always do, that glow will flicker bright and aware, her feet will find the split wood beneath her, and Mirage will stir. Until then, Wraith will sit in the darkness of the night and watch the steady rise and fall, her eyes will trace every twist and knot and curl across his forehead, and a secretive Voice in the back of her head will mourn, just a little, when waking snatches the smooth from his brow and the quiet of the air.

It waits for dawn, a savoured pleasure. High, far enough away that the life prowls back into their den at an almost leisurely pace. Wraith stretches languidly, Pathfinder powers up steadily, and Mirage wakes with a yawn and a murmur of "Already?" that punctures the air gently with mirth.

His eyes are open and bright regardless, alertness in every angle of his jaw and the ridge of his nose as he sits, and yawns again, and combs one hand through his hair with a playful disgust on his lip.

"Couldn't rinse when you were giving me a makeover?"

Despite herself, Wraith's lips twitch as she slings her pack over her shoulders.

"You must not have packed your hairdryer." he adds, cheeky - flirtatious, even - and grins widely at her eye roll.

An explosion rocks the ground close enough to pay attention to, and their respite is officially shattered. Peace melts away, slinking into the cracks between the floorboards and withdrawing into the shadows left forgotten in the corners.

With one glance between them, three are ready and positioned by the door. The moment it opens, Pathfinder will send forth a yellow cord, and in seconds they'll be under another roof.

Mirage's elbow grazes hers. He meets her glance with a smirk and it passes between them briefly; one look, one plan, total understanding.

They’d never actually told anyone in management that they were dating. It wasn’t going to be a public relationship, and there weren’t any rules that said Legends couldn’t be in relationships, so why should the Syndicate know? They couldn’t exactly force them to break up, could they?

Absolutely the fuck not. The ferocity of that emotion scared him a bit, but it was genuine. I’d like to see them try…

“You know, we’re here to work with you, right?” The guy in front of them—Wade, according to his name tag—looked like he’d been having the longest day of his life. Given some of the personalities they had in the games, he probably had. “This is a symbiotic relationship. It should be a symbiotic relationship.”

“What’s this about?” Wraith asked bluntly.

Wade slapped a folder onto his desk. “How about the fact that someone is trying to blackmail you two?”

Huh?!

Elliott and Wraith exchanged a glance. She was the first to reach for the folder, flipping it open to reveal several printouts. The photos caught his attention first. Him and Wraith walking…was that in the compound?! He had an arm around her shoulder. They were both laughing. In one of them, they were looking at each other in a way that was pretty hard to sell as platonic. The straight up forehead kiss in the third one shot that prospect in the head and threw it off the King’s Canyon cliffs. The last piece of paper was a printed-out note. It was exactly the kind of thing you’d expect from a blackmailer: give us money or these pictures go right to the press. Pay us off or there goes the privacy you worked so hard for.

“We could have prevented this if you’d been honest with us,” said Wade. He was talking as if that was his relationship being potentially plastered all over social media and not theirs. As if this was going to affect him in any way. This was the other reason Elliott hated going to the PR department. They were always like this. “Hell, this could’ve been really good for the both of you. You already have a passionate fanbase as a couple…”

“We didn’t want that,” Elliott snapped. “That’s why we didn’t tell you.”

“Well, you could have at least been more discrete…”

“We were in the Legends compound. I thought we had security in here.”

“You’re a public figure, Mr. Witt. I’d thought that you of all people would know that was always a risk.”

“Y’know what, Wade – “

“We’ll handle it,” Wraith said suddenly. She pulled one piece of paper out of the folder and tossed the rest back onto Wade’s desk. “Don’t worry about it.”

Wade looked immediately alarmed, probably more alarmed than he would’ve been if Elliott had suggested something. “I think we should maybe make a game plan…”

“We have it under control. Come on, Elliott.”

Elliott followed her immediately—not for good boyfriend reasons, but because following Wraith was the only thing keeping him from telling Wade exactly what parts of him he could blow. And for good boyfriend reasons. The walk from the office to the elevator let the real danger of what was happening sink in. “Damn it,” Elliott mumbled. “Shit. I’m so sorry…”

“It’s not your fault.” Wraith sounded distracted. Probably thinking of some genius plan to get them out of this. Elliott was glad at least one of them could think straight, because his brain was being pulled in a million different directions. “This was going to happen someday. We couldn’t keep it a secret forever.”

“I know, but…” He leaned back against the elevator wall and gently hit his head against the wall a few times. “This is stupid.”

Wraith didn’t say anything. When Elliott glanced at her, she was looking at the paper she’d swiped from the folder. Elliott had thought it was the ransom note, but it was one of the photos. The one of Elliott kissing her temple.

“It’s a shame,” she said quietly. “It’s a nice picture.”

Elliott scooted closer to her to give the photo a second look. She wasn’t wrong. They both looked really happy. It was…cute.

So you’re good at taking photos and decided to use that for blackmail and not a photography career? That’s kind of sad.

“I’ll get a frame for it later, when this is all over and we can laugh about it,” Elliott promised. “But, uhm, what should we do to get to this point?”

Wraith sighed. “Well, there’s really only one answer. Take away their power to blackmail us. I know you took socials off your phone, but maybe…you should put them back.”

Elliott understood what she was getting at immediately. “Are you sure about this?” he asked.

“We either do it now on our terms or someone else does it for us. I’d rather it be us.”

 She had a point. That didn’t necessarily make Elliott feel better about it, but she did have a point. Elliott leaned against Wraith and sighed. “I’m going to console myself by thinking about how insane the shippers are about to go,” he mumbled.

Wraith laughed quietly. “That will be pretty funny.”

“Especially the star chart ones.”

“Yeah. Especially them.”

.

[Img. Description: A selfie of Elliott “Mirage” Witt and Wraith facing each other. Mirage is kissing Wraith’s temple while she smiles contentedly.]

@OfficialMirageApex: Good morning to everyone but especially my beautiful girlfriend @OfficialWraithApex

@OfficialMirageApex: Also, as long as we’re revealing things, this is me, officially announcing to the world that I was diagnosed with ADHD a few months ago. Thanks to @RealHighOctane for the push to get that done.

@OfficialMirageApex: Medication is the shit and I’m mad I didn’t get started sooner.

@OfficialWraithApex: @OfficialMirageApex <3

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@Qu33nsCany0n: OMG?????

@predatorstatus: I KNEW IT I TOLD YOU BITCHES ADHD MIRAGE REAL

@apexedits07: “Medication is the shit” so true, king <3 Congrats on the diagnosis. And the girlfriend.

@redstar23: @RealHighOctane DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS

@RealHighOctane: @redstar23 about the gf? yeah lmao they’re not that subtle around hq

@OfficialWraithApex: @redstar23 @RealHighOctane Trust me I’m just as surprised he kept it a secret as you are

 @redstar23: @OfficialWraithApex OMG HII

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[Txt: Ashwin] Did PR make you do that

[Txt: Elliott] nah some guy was trying to blackmail us so we figured it was better to just put it out there

[Txt: Elliott] was gonna come out anyway

[Txt: Ashwin] Who tf do I have to kill

[Txt: Elliott] ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’ll let you know when I do lol

[Txt: Ashwin] congrats on the meds though

[Txt: Ashwin] Have we hit the “we can laugh about this now” stage yet?

[Txt: Elliott] Uhhh we’re getting there why?

[Txt: Ashwin] Can I make a meme and add to the chaos

[Txt: Elliott] See now I’m curious so sure, go for it

[Txt: Elliott] wraith also says go for it

[Txt: Ashwin] >:3c

[Txt: Elliott] I’m afraid and full of regret now

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@OfficialCryptoApex: To everyone sending me consolation messages: I knew before they did and I’m not exactly devastated. @OfficialWraithApex is a good friend but only a friend. No need to feel sorry for me.

@OfficialMirageApex: @OfficialCrytpoApex what about me :(

@OfficialCryptoApex: @OfficialMirageApex You’re fine, I guess.

@OfficialPathfinderApex: @OfficialCryptoApex I also knew before they did :)

@OfficialMirageApex: @OfficialPathfinderApex Yeah yeah I’m emotionally stupid, we knew this already

@prowler87: That person who wrote the 100k+ slowburn Miraith is quaking right now

@OfficialMirageApex: @prowler87 The how long???????

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@apexRPFforums: Well now I know why the servers are crashing

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[Video Description: A montage of social media posts reacting to the Mirage/Wraith relationship announcement set to “Hall of the Mountain King.”]

@AngelCityAshwin: Love it when my friends drop a nuke on social media. Makes me feel like I’m flesh and blood again.

@OfficialMirageApex: @AngelCityAshwin How long did this take you to make???

@AngelCityAshwin: @OfficialMirageApex Just you wait I’ve got another one cooking

@OfficialWraithApex: @AngelCityAshwin Oh no

@AngelCityAshwin: @OfficialWraithApex >:3c

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[Video Description: A montage of social media reactions to Mirage’s announcement that he has ADHD set to the Speedycake remix of Caramelldansen. The overwhelming consensus is people saying that they thought he already knew.]

@AngelCityAshwin: Peer reviewed lol

@OfficialMirageApex: @AngelCityAshwin You’ve got to be kidding me

@RealHighOctane: @AngelCityAshwin LMAOOOOOO

@RealMakoaGibraltr: @AngelCityAswhin @OfficialMirageApex I thought you knew, too.

@OfficialBloodhound: @AngelCityAshwin @OfficialMirageApex I also thought you knew.

@OfficialWraithApex: @RealMakoaGibraltr @OfficialBloodhound He’s having a crisis [Img description: Mirage sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands.]

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@OfficialMirageApex: Follow-up to this morning. 1) Thanks to everyone for being so nice about the relationship drop. @OfficialWraithApex is amazing and I’m so lucky to have her.

@OfficialMirageApex: 2) No bullying each other about ships, it’s not worth it.

@OfficialMirageApex: 3) DID EVERYONE KNOW I HAVE ADHD BEFORE I DID? AND I HAD TO HEAR IT FROM @RealHighOctane??? Unreal. My therapist will be hearing about this.

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@OfficialWraithApex: I won’t be answering any questions about the relationship. Just logging on to say yes, it is real, I am dating Elliott, and I’m very happy.

@OfficialMirageApex: @OfficialWraithApex <3 <3 <3 Love you babe