mac as a mech pilot and dennis as his very loving handler. punishing mac when he comes back from battle with too much damage to the mech that dennis will be on the line for. helping with the come down from the adrenaline high of a successful deployment. letting mac share his bunk when flashbacks of combat prevent a proper sleep. telling him that its normal to get…excited in the field, its a natural result of the high energy environment of battle and is actually fostered by the mech’s ai which pumps dopamine into the pilot. And the fact that all the muscles mac carefully cultivated in basic training are starting to wither from all the time she—i mean he—is spending in the mech that’s normal too. and also a side effect of the estrogen injections the officers have dennis giving mac, but those are just to help lower her body temp to improve cockpit performance. mac slowly losing her personhood when she’s separated from her mech and having sensory difficulties, so used to piloting a building-tall robot that she can barely stand unassisted anymore. leaning (literally) on dennis, relying more and more and more on den for everything. And etcetera etcetera etcetera