thisavrou_log | [closed] Wake Me Up

Entry tags:

[closed] Wake Me Up

Who: Sombra + Talon
When: post-December everything
Where: living quarters
What: Sombra's systems finally finish repairing the damage, and a certain hacker wakes up from a month-long sleep
Warnings: super brief mention of needles, otherwise NA!

[Waking up feels like pushing up against stone. Like her limbs are made of sheet rock and her bones are all brittle underneath, and it starts with a groan that's dry in her mouth— bitter and stale, but when she winces, it all gets marginally easier. Like her mind's adjusting even if her body isn't: an understanding of the map that starts at her head and ends at her toes as they curl. As her eyes slowly crack open to a hazy mess of dim color— and then focus. Focus.

There's a sting in the crook of her arm, a sharp pinch that draws her attention as soon as she's capable of processing it, one hand slapping down instinctively and dragging the culprit loose— a needle, the connecting strands of tape— an IV. An IV?

How long has she been out?

Sitting up in clothes that aren't hers, braided hair pulled back and flecked with...feathers? Another groggy yawn has her pausing, and turning, and noticing someone else curled up beside her. It's not exactly unexpected: there's limited living space, and Sombra's been bunking with Amélie ever since they moved in (Gabe gets the office, along with a bed of his own— and an independence that probably sits well with his reclusive taste) but it's what Amélie is clutching in her arms that's unusual. A square piece of paper held tight between slender fingers.

Sombra's careful when she reaches over to tug it loose, violet eyes widening for a beat— then narrowing— her lips thinning out in a tight line as its contents are committed thoughtfully to memory. As she flicks her attention towards the empty bottle on the bedside table, quietly pressing the photograph down on the covers and slipping off the bed to set bare feet on the floor. She could wake Widowmaker up, sure, but considering what she's just seen? The spider probably wouldn't be happy about it. She's better off dreaming, waking up on her own, and having at least a sliver of a doubt that Sombra saw anything at all.

And Sombra's better off finding some food in their kitchen before her growling stomach wakes the dead.]

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[Even with the alcohol in her system, Amélie noted that there was a change in her surroundings. She'd gotten rather used to Sombra not moving, the weight on the bed having become familiar to her, that she started to wake not too long after the hacker slipped from the bed. Blinking slowly, Amélie pushed herself up on one arm and looked to where Sombra was supposed to be. The loose IV needle told her that the hacker had finally awoken as opposed to Reaper having move her for some reason.

That knowledge brought a small yet poignant surge of... something in her chest. The part of her that had spent the last month or so coiled tight like a spring finally began to loosen, her breathing a little easier. For a while there, Amélie had been honestly worried that Sombra's cybernetics were going to kill her with the heat they'd produced. But now she was awake and things would be better. Her hand reached out to--

--what was that photo doing out?

Eyes going wide in alarm, Amélie looked around quickly as she snatched her wedding photograph off the bed. Had she fallen asleep with it again? Since Sombra had been attacked, robbing Amélie of the subtle comfort she had in the hacker's presence (especially thanks to a certain moment on Kaittos), she had taken the photograph out of its hiding spot more often than before. Idiotic complacency had her settled into thinking it was okay with an unconscious Sombra about. After all, the woman couldn't see it then.

But Sombra wasn't unconscious anymore. Had she seen it?

Quickly, quietly, Amélie locked the photo away in its hiding spot, along with her dossier on Sombra, where it was as secure as it could possibly be. Even if Sombra hacked the biometric lock on her weapons case, she would have to search under the protective foam lining to find it. Drawing in a deep breath, Amélie ran a hand over her face and then collected the discarded IV.

Wrapping the line about the mostly empty bag, she headed into the common area both to dispose of it. And make sure Sombra truly was okay.]

Hola.

[She's got a collection of packaged gifts from their last planetside foray laid out on the counter in front of her, one loaf of preserved bread between her teeth, muffling the sound of her voice for a second— just before she reaches up with violet claws to pluck it loose and tear off a quick bite.]

Looks like somebody's finally awake.

[Says the woman that slept for an entire month. Oops.]

[The trash can was opened, spent IV dropped into it, Amélie sighing as she snagged a neon green bandaid from a box in a cupboard. She took Sombra's hand, regardless whether it had bread in it or not, so she could apply the bandage over where the damn woman had ripped the needle out.

That done, her hand tilted Sombra's head up so she could look into her eyes. What she was looking for even she wasn't sure, but after a long moment, a tightness around her eyes loosened up.]

Hmm... Enfin fini avec votre sommeil de beauté?

[She doesn't catch all of that (her French is passing at best), but she knows enough to spend a second under Amélie's thumb puzzling out context and similarities. The general jist? Sombra's pretty sure she gets it.

There's a throaty little chuckle, her lopsided grin broadening.]

It was a good nap.

[Her chin lifts, tipping out of Amélie's grip so she can go back to her much-needed meal, looking more like a starving animal with dinner looming in front of its sharp-toothed jaws.] But it looks like I didn't spend it alone.

Braids, hermosa? Really?

Your hair kept getting in the way. [Amélie shrugged like that was all it was.] I could have simply cut it all off.

[A large glass of water was obtained and set before Sombra, along with a couple nutritional blocks. Amèlie swiped a few of the snacks to put them back before all the woman ate was junk.]

You almost died. Twice.

It's getting too long, anyway. [Sombra snorts, lifting a hand and scrubbing it backwards through the shaved portion of her hair as an example, already long enough to be the short start of a pixie cut.] La verdad es que me harías un favor.

[The rest is brushed off with a fixed stare down at her meal, already using the flat of her free hand to slide those nutritional cubes a few inches away from the rest of the pile.] Wouldn't be the first time.

[If Sombra needed Amèlie to trim her hair, she would do it; no one had steadier hands. But the hacker had to ask... or be struggling with it in front of her. Then Amèlie might just grab shears and take care of it herself.]

I know. [They all have, just in different circumstances. She sat down across from Sombra, pushing the nutritional blocks back over, snatching another snack package away in the process.] Is it normal for your cybernetics to overheat while repairing... whatever was wrong?

[The topic at hand is important, and more than that, it's relevant for the both of them: if something's gone off in Sombra's hardware thanks to the damage she took in the attack, it'd be better to analyze that sooner rather than later— before anything gets worse.

Instead she arches a brow as Amélie pulls yet another snack packet away, across the span of the counter between them.]

You know I can just get more, right?

[With a roll of her eyes, Amèlie opened the package she had in hand for herself.]

You have been unconscious for over a month - at least eat something healthy before binging on rubbish. Do not make me put you on an IV again.

[Her lips tighten, pursing. It's easy to mistake it for being a direct result of being chided by a woman that's more peer than anything else over how she opts to spend her first few minutes eating in the waking world, but the truth...

Over a month, she says.]

You'd have to catch me first.

[The grin's toothy— and entirely forced; it dosen't show.]

[Amèlie was watching too closely to be completely fooled by the wave of emotion over Sombra's face. She knew her well enough to know that the length of time she'd been out bothered her; it would bother anyone.]

Easily done as I moved your translocator to a more convenient location. In case you somehow activated it while recovering.

[And really, Sombra couldn't possibly have enough energy to run away from the Widowmaker so soon after regaining consciousness.]

Do try to not make my life any more... [complicated] annoying than it already is.

Edited 2018-01-16 05:59 (UTC)

Tch, seriously?

[Lip curling, Sombra drops her weight to one side, elbow resting flat across the counter. If Widowmaker can see the gears turning, she might correctly guess that her resident hacker is currently trying to puzzle out where her translocator might have ended up...]

Between the two of us, araña, you're the one making things difficult.

Non, louloette. You are the one avoiding the question.

[Amélie would reveal the translocator's current whereabouts eventually. Even if she was curious if Sombra would blind jump.]

[Groaning through her teeth, Sombra resigns herself to plucking up a nutrient block: biting down on its entirely unappetizing edge.]

Wouldn't know. [It's the truth, even if it isn't charming— or maybe because it isn't charming, it's easy to know it's actually the truth.] Usually it's Gabe's job to take that kind of damage.

I'm gonna have to run a systems check, try to figure out how bad it really was.

Make sure you do. It is imperative we know if we need to try to find out if any of our fellow castaways are cyberneticists. I refused to search for one when Reaper suggested it. [Refused as much as she could without actually saying such words to one of the Council.]

You were down for almost two weeks before you hardware started overclocking. It lasted a few days before settling back to a normal temperature. [As Amélie reached to grab a sip of water from the glass she'd put before her partner, Sombra might notice there was a healing burn on the inside of Amélie's upper arm... seemingly in the pattern of the cybernetics on the back of the hacker's skull.]

I saw the demon. Early on. [Said quietly as Amélie focused her eyes on the nutrient block Sombra was eating.] It completely and utterly ignored me, as though I did not even exist. I dismissed it as insignificant and perhaps just an echo of this place. It tried to get Reaper, but he is rather hard to hold onto.

I found you in a hallway covered in a blanket. [Her lip twitched.] Discarded. I don't know how long you were there, nor do I know why I was ignored.

Reaper—

[Sombra stops, the edge of his alias clipped short, squinting as she leans forward with a suddenly narrow focus:]

What do you mean Gabe suggested it?

Just what I said, cherie. Neither of us understand your cybernetics, had no idea what was wrong to make them produce so much heat.

[This was at least pulling Amélie away from that weird place where she was experiencing guilt.]

I decided on the IV and ample use of ice packs. He brought up the idea of trying to find someone here with experience regarding cybernetics to help. [Eyes rose to meet that focus with something unyielding.]

I told him in no uncertain terms that he was going to have to order me to do so. He wisely chose to adopt a wait and see approach.

[Her eyes dart to the burns at Amélie's wrist, mind already clocking in overtime to catch up with everything. She was thinking they were talking about needing a cyberneticist for the hardware: if it was scorching hot, all the data and information she's collected over the years? The truth about Overwatch and its downfall— it'd be trashed the second her implants failed. Gone. But the way she's talking about it, it doesn't sound like they were worried about the intel...

It sounds like they were worried about her.

The nail of her forefinger digs into her thumb, cutting a thin line as she thinks in silence. They did this for a month. It wasn't days, it wasn't a week, it was an entire month.]

You...

[This time when her voice trails off, it's slow and uncertain; like she's not sure of what exactly to say next. They'd always been friends to her, you know? But it was one-sided. Never really equal. Never tipping past the point of tolerance.]

[Of course, Amélie took Sombra's reaction as something different than it really was. Inadvertently feeding what the hacker was discovering...]

--will not allow anyone not authorized by Talon near your cybernetics while you are indisposed. [finishing the sentence for Sombra.] Unless ordered by Command. That is correct.

...though I may have asked for the order if your hardware's malfunction was putting your brain at clear risk. I am... pleased that the ice packs kept it from boiling. Though I may question that if you keep looking at me like something just broke inside of you.

Tch, not yet.

[Again, she scrubs a hand up along the back of her neck, through the tangled lines of her own circuitry and strands of outgrown hair. It still feels a little out of place— a little mangled by blunt force— but there's energy humming through that thick wiring, and her thoughts (aside from running quick and heavy) are clear.

She's fine. She's always fine.

Only this time, it's because of them.]

I'm guessing Gabe did the heavy lifting and decided to stick to himself.

Edited 2018-01-18 09:24 (UTC)

[Amélie gave a soft snort.] Heavy lifting? Non, chérie, I carried you from the hallway... Most of the way, at least. You are heavier than you look.

[All those augmentations and metal.]

He helped the few times I requested it, but otherwise left you to me.

[Guilty. Brooding— reclusive in ways that show a deeper kind of investment, like the way he gets when he's thinking about Morrison. About Amari. About all of his past, really.

Confirmation of all her suspicions.

Or at least the ones involving him. Amélie is a different story: she says she's involved for all the right reasons in Talon's watchful eyes, but there are cracks in that story. Little hints (like before, on the beach) that there's so much more to it than that.]

Must have been hard on you, spending so much time with me.

Agonizing. I have never been so bored in my life. [Words delivered completely deadpan as Amélie broke off a piece of sweet bread, making it impossible to tell if she was being facetious or not.]

Usually when I am forced to be around you so much, you at least carry a conversation, whether I want to hear it or not. For being so small, you tend to fill up a space with your presence.

[And Amélie had missed that.]

So you did miss me.

[It's easy to say it out loud, less easy to dwell on it in the moment. She'll do that later, when she's alone, sorting out all the fine details of what's really happened to her over the span of the last month. Over what that thing really was that attacked her.

And why.]

[Amélie refused to admit that out loud. Instead she simply stared at Sombra a moment then rolled her eyes.]

The quiet was nice. It presented an avenue for thought.

[Lots of thought, both good and bad.]

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