#mllusion

[octaane]

MIRAGE ( @mllusion​ ) said:   “ i try to stay optimistic… even though, i will admit, things are getting pretty sticky. ”

“ STICKY?! “

octavio sounded as outraged as he was. his room wasn’t THAT bad! ... was it?

“ cut me some slack, amigo, my stuff’s not so terrible! “

the daredevil slapped a hand on top of his desk, which elliott had just criticized. spilling a couple of stims, energy drinks and leaving pieces of candy on it SOMETIMES can’t possibly be as bad as elliott describes. and then he tried to remove his hand-- and octavio’s desk was, in fact, extremely sticky, to a point where a dry ripping sound emitted from between octavoi’s hand and his poor, abused desk.

if he hadn’t still been wearing his full gear on his face, elliott would now be able to see the embarrassment on the daredevil’s face. instead, he just looked rather blank with his goggles and mask on-- somehow, that still conveyed the speedster’s emotions perfectly.

after quickly wiping his hand off on his shorts, octavio started shoving elliott out of his room again. he had to find a way to clean his desk asap; how the hell did he not realize this sooner?

but of course, he couldn’t let elliott know he was RIGHT about the state of his room.

“ y’know what? you’re rude. i invite you to my HUMBLE ABODE and you decide to spit on it! “

[drsomers]

"we all die, right?"

“     oh   ,   if   we’re   flesh   and   bones   ,   right   .     ”               unkillable   /   a   title   she   wears   briefly   ,   one   she’d   wear   for   eternity   in   spite   of   what   odds   she   faced   ,   in   spite   of   reid   .   if   he   picked   up   on   it   ,   elliott   would   see   her   brow   twitch   ,   ever   smiling   lips   threatened   to   falter   .   but   mary   gave   no   one   the   pleasure   or   displeasure   of   seeing   her   fault   .   she   refuses   .   instead   ,   she   softens   her   smile   fingers   gingerly   brushing   some   debris   off   of   a   holopad   on   his   shoulder   ,               “     just   make   it   hard   fer   them   t’take   that   from   ya   .   yer   a   fighter   ,   yeah   ??   show   ‘em   what   it   takes   to   knock   mirage   and   keep   ‘im   down   .          .   .   .   besides   you   trippin’   over   yer   own   feet   ,   ‘course   .     ”               /     i   care   a   lot   ,   sel.   accepting   .

[amhohwa]

"I can’t do this."

「 angst starters | accepting 」

It's more painful than Crypto expects to see Elliott like this.

Even outside of the Mirage persona the other likes to wear as a mask, he's always had a sunny disposition, a relatively optimistic outlook on life. Things will work out. Despite how often he's complained about, Crypto has always found it... refreshing. Inspiring.

Elliott seems completely drained of all of that now.

It's not without good reason; it seems a reasonable transformation, considering he got the news that Evelyn Witt passed just days ago.

Crypto sits stoicly beside him, a quiet witness to his pain, but eventually decides that is not enough and eases himself closer until their thighs touch. He settles his hand against the center of Elliott's back, strokes up and down in a soothing, repetitive motion--the same way Mystik used to do for him when he'd find himself weeping in her lap.

The way Elliott leans into him doesn't escape his notice either.

"I know it hurts," he says eventually. He remembers the years on his own, believing Mila dead, and how that had ached inside him every day. Crypto knows, in this one respect, he's the lucky one: Mila is alive. Still, he says, "And I'm sorry to say that I don't think it will ever stop hurting."

Bleak advice, he knows, but he gets his arm around Elliott and squeezes him against his side. Even gives him his free hand when he reaches for it, lets Elliott cling as much as he needs to.

"But you are more resilient than you give yourself credit for, Elliott. You've been through so much, and you've come out the other side of all of it a strong person. You can make it through this, too."

He rubs Elliott's back for a little while longer and then, even though he won't understand, murmurs:

"<I'll be here for you through anything.>"

[octaane]

MIRAGE ( @mllusion​ ) said :   ❝ don’t you believe in me? ❞

" OF COURSE I DO, AMIGO! "

scoffing in response to elliott's claim, octavio crossed his arms in front of his chest, turning his head away before shaking it slightly.

" i just… don't think you can pull it off. there, i said it! ",

the daredevil pulled up his shoulders, before releasing a tensed sigh he didn't know he'd been holding in for so long. he wasn't sure what was keeping himself from supporting mirage's ideas ( which were usually almost as dumb as octane's ) this time-- maybe a bad gut feeling? if octavio even knew what that was.

" they're not gonna fall for your decoys again, amigo. pretty sure they figured out how to tell them apart by now. "

at least that's what octavio could tell from the last time mirage sent them out. they would just waste one insignificant bullet on his decoy to get rid of it and then wait for the REAL DEAL to expose himself. which usually didn't take too long, considering that octane would end up getting pushy and impatient and crave the upcoming fight more and more.

the speedsters shoulders slumped again. he really wanted to win this match by any means.

" we could just dive right in. and then you send out a couple of your decoys and confuse them in the fight? "

right now, octane was just spitballing ideas. whether they were good was a whole different story.

[amhohwa]

It’s more pain than he’s been in before—or at least for a long time. Even the soreness that had accompanied the implants in his face after surgery didn’t compare to this.

His ribs ache—mostly because he’d refused pain medication offered by the medbay staff. Stubborn? Definitely. Self-flagellating? Maybe a little, but he hated the thought of dulling his mind, especially considering he didn’t trust a single one of these people as far as he could throw them.

Part of him was still waiting for the other shoe to drop: someone out there recognized him even with the haircut, the implants, the lack of facial recognition. An old friend, or someone from the orphanage. Someone somewhere knew. It’d be naïve of him to assume otherwise.

But he sits in his little room in the medbay, waiting for the staff to clear him, waiting for Syndicate mercs to grab him before he can run.

No one comes.

That is, aside from the nurse, who gives him a bottle of pain meds, hands him a form to sign, and then clears him to go home with a quiet, Congratulations on the win, Mr. Kim.

He says nothing, just shrugs into his coat and stuffs the bottle and his hands into his pockets. There’s no way he’ll use them, but the last thing he wants is to get scolded by the staff—or worse, Lifeline, who’s likely still lurking around here somewhere, having her own wounds tended to.

But it’s not Lifeline he spots on the way out; it’s Mirage.

Part of him still isn’t sure if Mirage knows more than he lets on. He hadn’t heard anything Mirage had said before he’d tried to grab at him on the dropship; a stupid mistake, Crypto’s own fault for not paying closer attention. Maybe now that there aren’t cameras pointed at them or an entire pack of their fellow legends nearby, Mirage will have more to say.

Crypto doesn’t really want to hear it.

He hunches his shoulders and walks as quickly as he can for the exit, eager to get home so he can tend to his wounds in peace.

—closed for @mllusion.

[octaane]

☠  @mllusion​ ( mirage ) sent : [ SACRIFICE ] -- for your muse to get hurt protecting mine  ☠

OCTANE HARDLY PAID ATTENTION. ever. to anything. his attention lasted roughly 6 seconds on a good day, if you didn’t get him hooked then, you’ve lost him. that meant that keeping him safe (or alive, at least) in the games was either up to a watchful teammate or pure luck. most of the time, the latter took care of him.

well, except for this time.

“ ay, amigo, i found some SICK stuff in that care package. i just ran in and grabbed everything, saved you time to get there yourself. vaemos... “

as octane was pulling out all supplies he’d gathered, he didn’t realize that despite being inside a building, his teammate, mirage, and him were already being targetted by other legends. octane was too caught up counting all these awesome shield cells he found to notice the red dot on his forehead. luckily, mirage did.

before the daredevil could get his brains blown out, he was already tackled down by his thoughtfull squadmate-- but the rescue was so close, mirage ended up with a bullet in his shoulder.

the two of them immediately tumbled to the ground, octane yelping in overdramatic shock. only now did octane realize what was going on, so he quickly wrapped his arms around the trickster's upper body and dragged him into a nearby corner.

they looked kind of awkward huddled up like this, but it was the best octane could do for now.

“ maldito idiota! are you LOCO?! “,

octane whisper-shouted, still clutching to mirage because somehow, he didn’t want to let go of him just yet. that’s when he noticed something warm slowly covering his hand. looking down, he finally saw the blood pooling from the wound in his squadmate’s shoulder.

“ damnit, mirage. wait, i can fix that. we can’t lose just yet. “

he finally gently shoved mirage aside and rummaged around in his various pockets for a syringe.

[drsomers]

“     reckon   i   made   ‘em   see   stars   !!     .   .   .   hoho   ,   see   stars   !!   because   i’m   an   astronaut   ,   see   ??     ”               /     @mllusion     ,     starter   call   .

[hildedriel]

“ look, you’re smiling! smiling! that’s clearly a smile! “

                   ❛   alright,  mr. funny man,  you got me.  ❜    galadriel  lightheartedly     (although  with  a  little  more  force  than  she  intends  to)     pokes  him  in  the  chest,     a  playful  smile  on  her  lips  despite  being  oh  so  horribly  defeated.     all  her  attempts  to  subdue  her  smile  were  for  naught,  as  even  now  she  widely  beams.     ❛   but  it  was  a  tiny  smile.  very  tiny.  barely  even  a  grin!  ❜