Had a convo w/ beloved mutual and friend Katar (tokillamockingbird427) about how my artstyle would imply that Mouse has bright blue blood and he made a joke about how she blushes blue, and I was compelled to draw it
Mouse doesn't blush easily, but we can make an exception for this
Prompts were: Sharing clothes / exhausted / bad coping mechanisms / "Did you enjoy yourself last night?"
Sexual references/innuendos in this one! Just as a warning
Also directly references the Hesh/Kick pairing!
Click. Snap. Click. Snap.
It's a metallic sound. One that draws him to the kitchen, creeping cautiously to the open doorway. He stops to listen for a few moments, trying to identify the sound, but ultimately he finds himself peering into the room to find out.
Mouse was sat there, and the clicking sound turned out to be a lighter that she continuously opened and snap shut again. Rhythmically. Almost idly. Her hand halted briefly, and she glanced over to him passively. Somehow the almost vacant look in her eyes was worse than that constant scheming glint he's so used to her having.
Actually, she looks... Well, not how she usually does. That sly, annoyingly smug and confident aura that usually clouded around her like a veil of fog was completely gone, leaving a tired, defeated girl in its absence; eyes once bright and sharp now dull and weary.
She looks exhausted.
It was off-putting. Why the fuck is every side of her off-putting?
"Starin' awfully hard there," she snaps him out his train of thought quite quickly, causing him to clear his throat and step further into the kitchen, hunting down a glass. "Thought it was cats that got peoples' tongues, not mice." The words were definitely Mouse, but the lack of a teasing lilt made it fall short. A barely functioning guise to save face, maybe? It's hard to tell. It feels like he's caught her in a bad moment, but she makes no move to leave.
"Just... Didn't expect to see you in here is all."
"Mm..." Click. Snap. Click. Snap. The opening and closing of the lighter functioned almost like a clock. Steady and constant. It would be calming, almost, if the situation didn't feel so wrong. "Didn't expect to be in here either. Funny, that."
Click. Snap. Click. Snap.
"You okay...? You look... Rough."
"Could say the same to you." Is the immediate reply, and she still doesn't bother turning to look at him as she speaks. "Did you enjoy yourself last night?"
He stops short.
"What?"
"That jumper is Kick's."
He looks down to his sweater, and immediately realises that, yeah, it is Kick's. But how the fuck...?
"Saw 'im wearin' it recently."
Ah.
Sheepish, he turns off the tap and takes his glass to sit opposite to Mouse, finally seeing her face again. The expectant look she gives almost makes him stutter.
"He must just have something similar to this one." He dismisses, taking a sip of his water to try and at least appear composed.
"Mhh," she raises her eyebrows a little, and then rests her cheek on her propped up hand. Click. Snap. Click. Snap. She follows the movement of the lid closely, fixated on it. "Guess that's pretty likely, actually. Damn near identical, though."
Click.
...
She flicks the flame on, and Hesh watches it dance in her eyes, her stare nothing if not disturbingly hollow. The sheer, fixated focus she has on it is a little unnerving, and he can almost feel the way he disappears out of her awareness.
There's not much he can glean from any of this. Aside from the obvious, there's no indication as to why she's being so... not-Mouse. Maybe this is just how she gets when she's tired...? But it doesn't feel that simple, it feels like there's more going on that he can't figure out. She didn't even answer his question earlier-
Snap.
He's taken back out of his thoughts by her snapping the lid shut again, snuffing the fire. Their eyes don't meet, as she continues staring at the lighter.
"It's the limp that gives you away more than the jumper, though."
Hesh nearly spits out his water.
Motherfucker-
As he tries not to choke - coughing and spluttering into his elbow - Mouse gives a small smirk, not as strong as usual, but very much there. The worst part is, he can't tell if she's being truthful about his walk. It's entirely possible she said it just to fuck with him, and it's working, much to his chagrin.
The angst potential of the Ghosts being the one to find Mouse after she escaped from Hatch, but upon seeing them she freaks the fuck out thinking they're the Orca's ghosts
