He does not abuse them; he just can’t help his naturally big brown beady eyes and that his default tired expression has the look of a neglected puppy. You know Deadlock is weak to even the slightest hint of a whimper from Beef, and it’s the same for Robert. You would also be blind to see his depressed ass face and not want to do everything in your power to make him feel better. Wait, where was I…
Robert definitely knows. I think he only ever does it on purpose in a playful context, in which he immediately cracks up with a mischievous smirk.
Oh, just don’t ask Chase about child Robert. He definitely abused the HELL out of it just to get whatever he wanted from him (and it even worked on his dad sometimes!)
Do you think robert helped deadlock with not smoking
Oh he is definitely her biggest motivator.
It was the worst right after she lost her arm and her sisters as well. Deadlock still struggled with the habit even after joining the Pheonix Program. She was nervous about joining the Z-Team and definitely had a hard time fitting in at first as she was one of the last to join (probably just before Visi did).
She was trying to stop smoking so much but with all of the shitty dispatchers they’ve had so far, and taking those failures personally, it was hard. She had small motivators like the smoking dulling her senses (in the DispatchVerse her powers include having heightened senses) and Visi who suffers from asthma.
When Robert came along it was quite the wake up call. She felt trusted as a person, and gained confidence in her abilities again. While the urges were still there, she found it easier and easier to not smoke. At some point she mentioned trying to maybe even quit all together to Robert and he became her best supporter.
“I know you can do it.”
Deadlock has had those words Robert said burned into her brain. It was probably one of the few times she’s opened up about her habit and even fewer times she’s been encouraged so strongly.
It also helps that she’s crushing hard on that man and starts to worry about smelling unpleasant around him and things like that hehe. This became such a ramble lol but I just love their uplifting relationship so.
In a tender moment, Robert trying to take the initiative of holding Deadlock’s hand. He realizes a tad too late that he is on her left side, grabbing her robotic hand on accident. He feels a little awkward until she firmly squeezes back. Deadlock may not be able to feel the warmth from Robert’s hand, but that gentle touch made her heart feel the warmth in its stead. Not many held her robotic arm without fear. And no one had ever held it with love… Until now.
it’s been quite a while since things has changed in the torrance branch of sdn. after the attack, robert took a break to somewhat recover before going back to work. he’s still too injured to use the mecha suit to fight, so he’s been practicing with the new dispatching network built into it. he also has a portable version in the wrist computer of his hero suit. he’s put all of his attention on his work as a distraction to keep himself busy. it’s been relatively the same. it’s same job with the same people but... different enough for him to feel what’s been missing.
mandy had asked robert if having everyone back on the team was too much, as he’s still recovering, but he told her he liked the challenge. it was half true. it was certainly a learning experience, having everyone on the team again. everyone has a different working schedule, too.
phenomaman was assigned back into his old team but regularly joins shifts and hangs out often with the rest of the crew after work. sonar rejoined the pheonix program and is part of the team again, which was nice. malevola tried to play it cool with how much she’s missed him, but it’s been obvious. sonar even more so. royd also helped him fixed up his upgrades after… it stopped working. he definitely kept them just because he thought it looked really cool.
it’s funny, visi’s and chase’s positions has been swapped. er well, courtney and shooting star now. when chase told me that he had picked out a new name for himself, i immediately made fun of him for how corny it is but.. admittedly it’s a nice name. i think it really suits him. mandy says she likes it too.
courtney is now working in the cubical next to me, officially as an apprentice dispatcher under me. she was still recovering, and is currently in physical therapy, so i recommended her to try it. mandy was very supportive of the idea, she probably thought courtney helping me with the z-team would take a load off my plate. in some ways it did, but showing her the ropes has been another set of difficulties in and of itself. courtney seems like she’s been enjoying herself, or at least she’s enjoying talking to everyone. i think she likes actually being a part of the team again, i know i do. things have been easier.
…
but i still miss her.
she quit, a while ago. mandy had told me. even after she let me know, i couldn’t bring myself to try to contact her. royd told me she’s been doing well, that she moved to a nicer place. she still talks to chase sometimes, i think. and the rest of the z-team... they don’t say much about her to me. i probably snapped at them at some point. chase might’ve told them not to say anything to me. or something like that. i can’t remember, the week after i killed shroud.. it was all a blur.
fuck.
i really lost myself that week. talking to her then would’ve made everything worse. i needed time. i needed to fix myself first. still, i could’ve said something when she quit. but then again she must’ve had her own reasons for quitting, she didn’t need me bothering her about it. i still need to sort myself out first anyways. i need to get better. to regain my strength again. i need to be stronger. to earn being called a hero again. to be called mechaman. only then—
SNAP SNAP
robert jolted his chair, his eyes shot open.
“i’ve been calling your name for the past five-fucking-minutes, don’t tell me your damn hearin’ is worse than mine’s?” a familiar voice shouted at him.
“you need a hearing aid or somethin’ already?”
“chase-!” robert sputtered, cracking a smile as his eyes saw chase’s smug expression. he shook his head slowly, breathily laughing, “i’m not that old.” he says while shifting his weight in the seat, crossing his arms.
“unlike a certain someone.” robert added, returning a smugness of his own.
“you sure as hell act like it. what’s up with earlier?”
“oh i was just thinking about..” his words trailing off as he glances to the side.
“just um, a bit lost in thought…” his smile dropping as he looks into the distance.
“today was.. pretty busy, y’know?”
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