when the request came in from virtu fantasy, mack had to do a double take. what could a place like that need with some lower-level merc who was dead a week ago? no matter. he was never one to turn down a job, especially after being forcibly ousted from arasaka. eddies were a lifeline, especially while he was still providing for his grandparents. the job seemed easy enough — he'd be foolish not to take it.
he recognizes nova from jackie's ofrenda — from a few times before it too, but mostly from the ofrenda. an ex-valentino, if he remembered correctly. at least, jackie had said that. whether or not he lied about it remained to be seen. “ good to see you again. didn't realize when i got hired to escort nova that it was you. ” his hands are in his pockets of his jacket, head tilted slightly. “ so... pretty big shot if you need an escort, huh? were you expecting to see me? ”
@novastrella sent: “you do look like you can handle yourself.”
mack laughs, glancing down at the ground. “ yeah, that's a word for it. guess my reputation precedes me. ” whether that's a good or a bad thing, he doesn't know yet. “ so — my car or yours? ”
❝ got pain in my heart, and had love in my soul. ❞
melodramatics mantled a kernel of truth, a reticence to incubate attachment in night city's sterile climate. casual trysts were without vulnerability and catered better to the preconceived portrait of his public persona. the dissonance between the truth and what people wanted to believe was a point of leverage, not liability — one that nova had undoubtedly personalized in her vocation.
SEND 🍗 FOR A PICTURE OF MY MUSE’S FAVORITE FOOD. @novastrella IMAGE MEME.
as stated here, rogue and food don't exactly mix ─── at least not anymore. she doesn't have a bad relationship with food, nor does she dislike eating, it just isn't something that she thinks about given that liquid calories soothe her in a way no other sustenance has been able to. but everyone has to eat at some point, queen of the afterlife included.
judging by the takeout containers found on the NASTY ASS floor of her office, it's safe to assume that chinese food is a favorite of rogue's, more specifically ; spicy peanut noodles. SPICY peanut noodles. without the spicy aspect it just tastes like a someone put noodles in a pb&j and it grosses her out.
those are her go-to in the present. but in the past?
as a young merc who took her body composition seriously rogue was ... not necessary a healthy eater, but she was aware of the need to keep protein intake high and watch what she ate, though even with that in mind there were a few outliers, some of which stand out more than others in her mind ...
way back in the day one of the first jobs she agreed to do without getting paid in the traditional sense ; this time around rogue had agreed to be paid ... in oranges. real, actual, organic oranges. more than she could ever eat all by herself. they were stored in the community basement of the apartment complex she was living in at the time, with her neighbors being given full permission to go crazy and eat all they wanted.
still, even with their help, rogue wound up eating a truly sickening amount, so much so that she smelled like citrus for weeks. it would have been plenty memorable all on its own, but what really stuck in her mind was the fact that around this time is when she had her first run in with morgan blackhand. just as she'd done with everyone else in that timeframe she asked him to smell her arm, amazed by the fact that just eating oranges had her smelling like a citrus grove. it wasn't long after that they both decided to see if she tasted like oranges as well. ( spoilers ; she did. )
another stand out memory, now accompanied by a deep ache. one so annoyingly vivid that she finds herself lost in it more often than she would ever care to admit ; youthful smiles fading into a mature smirks, what felt like the blink of an eye in truth took over ten years from start to finish ( finish isn't the right word. it won't ever be finished. )
exactly why her opinion mattered would remain a mystery for the rest of her life, but rogue could still feel the pleasantly rough grit of sugar sliding across her tongue as she sat cross-legged on the floor ( or a couch, or a stool ) her uneducated opinions on the recording sessions taking place through the glass only feet away offered by way of a thumbs up or a thumbs down. playful jeering would take place when it felt necessary, but more often than not it was just rogue sitting there with her sandwich cookies, feeling so much pride that she couldn't even begin to know how to handle it.
last but not least on the tour of rogue's favorite foods ( and memories of said foods, ) we're taking a slight detour to a memory that makes her feel silly, but one which she would never give up because it so perfectly sums up the type of young woman she was.
for a whole host of reasons rogue felt the need to be tough. to outwardly put on a mask of being an impenetrable force who no one would ever truly know, or be able to hurt ; this was what made it so heartbreaking to discover her love of prinsesstårta , aka ; PRINCESS CAKE.
and what made this so upsetting, you may ask? the heartbreak came when rogue, still in her youth and trying far too hard to be the toughest bitch imaginable, refused to ever order the things because she was worried it would make her sound like a pussy. so many delicious opportunities missed, and for what? all for the sake of keeping up appearances.
SEND 🎮 FOR A PICTURE OF MY MUSE’S FAVE HOBBY.
@novastrella IMAGE MEME.
the sad thing is that, at one point in time, there without a doubt would have been a multitude of images to choose when it came to rogue and hobbies, but as of 2077 a great deal of her personality has been ( purposefully ) shut down. that's why she's managed to do so well, and to KEEP doing so well ── the frivolities are gone, she killed them ( or rather, they died i guess ... ) and she hasn't looked back since.
she still has fun. she still enjoys herself. but to say that she has hobbies would be an overstatement. the safety, both physically and ( more importantly ) mentally that her booth provides is hard to beat, and so she doesn't even try. she goes to work hours before opening, and leaves hours after closing. not allowing herself time for things like hobbies is what keeps her sane.
... ... ... but if i were to give myself a little gift, just to try to shake off the sad-girl hour vibes that rogue brings with her everywhere she goes, i would OF COURSE have to bring up that she's CANONICALLY "a beast" at roach race, and if she were to have a hobby that survived until present day ( aka the future ) that would be it. all arcade all the time, baby.
@novastrella said: in another life, i would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.
they're bundled together, laying atop the hood of his shitbox car, eyes turned to the sky above them. for once, it didn't feel like the weight of the world was on their shoulders. they were kids again - things were simple. he remembers distant talks of falling stars and the moon. something he wanted to experience with her. didn't have the time then. now, they're here, his arm falling asleep under her head. a smile pulls, his gaze shifts from the tiny stars flickering to her, the biggest star in his solar system.
" yeah, " he speaks, breaking a silence that fell between them. it was hard to find happiness in night city. sure, it was the city of dream, but those dreams didn't usually belong to people like them. happy endings were few and far between. and given the state of the relic, it was hard not to succumb to the idea of what was on the horizon for them. v had told her tonight was special. tonight was about them. a small dinner, a flick at the old drive in, and the falling stars.
" y'know. sometimes i think about ... atlanta. all of it. thought i'd be happy doing something different, but i guess that was all doomed. maybe it'd've been different if you were there. i think i coulda been happy there with you. "
his focus is still on her. the stars don't matter anymore. if he died here, right now, he might die a happy man. but it was hard to give up the ghost now, especially when he's got so many outcomes at this fork in the road. but it's nice to look at the star, to hold her, and to forget about arasaka and the relic.
