first sortie.

[unbr8kable]

[Six hours previous, everything had been so much simpler. The Eta cohort had made it to live combat training, out in one of the few areas the Tenno had claimed back from the invaders. Xia had been vibrating the whole day, grinning wide as she suited up in the boring steel training mech (hers would be blue, she decided, or maybe black, with bold red stripes on the limbs) and deployed to the field, not even cracking on Wimperson, the Support (not his real name, but it may as well have been).

The Heralds didn't come up on radar until they were practically on top of the trainees. Maybe if there'd been more lead time, it would've been less of a shitshow, but who the hell knows.

The grimy details aren't important, but they aren't great. Damage to all suits, with two damaged beyond repair; the Leader froze under pressure, the Shadow couldn't keep up with the speedy Heralds. Wimperson actually came through. Johnson the Medic went down right there, in front of them.

Xia and Jacob have only just gotten out of their debriefing, another unexpected first for the day.

She and Jacob did good, Xia knows. They kept their heads, were barely hurt, they moved together well. "You'll make a good team," Corporal Kuwahara tells them before turning towards the medical ward to check on Johnson's surgery. "Go get some rest."

But no, rest is pretty much the opposite of what they need right now, Xia thinks. She turns to Jacob, giving her best attempt at a normal expression.]

Wanna get out of here?

Comments

[crossmyheartandhope]

I bet we could get an old mattress to stick on the ground, too, so the ball's got something to land on.

Or you think that'd ruin the - [Makes a rolling motion with one hand.] - the whasit. Momentum.

[unbr8kable]

Isn't ending the momentum the point? If it keeps rolling once it hits, we have to run too far to catch it.

[crossmyheartandhope]

It's gotta keep going a little at least, or it won't knock the pins down.

[Thinking about it.]

What if we just covered the mattress in pins? And the winner's whoever knocks the most off.

[unbr8kable]

Off the mattress? Or off the roof?

[stretching while considering this]

...Maybe both get points?

[crossmyheartandhope]

Works for me.

[unbr8kable]

[grins through a yawn]

Bet we can charge some of the others to play. Once we work out the kinks, anyway.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Why are yawns so contagious? This is all your fault.]

Guess we better go a couple rounds before we try and bring em in on it, then.

[unbr8kable]

[or maybe it's your fault for reminding her that yawning is a thing because she wasn't going to do it again except now she is, and...ugh, too tired for morning class to be in this few hours]

Yeah. ...Though having somebody to blame in case the ball goes off course could come in handy, too.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Did we just hit an infinite yawn loop? I think we just hit an infinite yawn loop. Good thing they're almost back. He's sliping back in and making his way for the fire escape up to the roof.]

You saying we're gonna miss? We're not gonna miss.

[Pauses a beat, maybe thinking about his (godawful) target practice scores.]

...probably.

[unbr8kable]

((fun fact, you don't get responses when you don't actually press send on your tags))

[The fire escape is still down, so no worries getting back home(? does this really count as a "home" now?). She follows after, possibly also thinking about his godawful target practice scores (or maaaybe about her own fair-to-middling ones?? Still, pins are big enough targets, right?).]

I'm sure something'll get hit...just not sure what, or how much that thing'll complain afterwards...

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Grimaces.]

We'll just do it when no one's walking around down there. That's all.

[unbr8kable]

Prooobably for the best.

[yawns again before reaching up to knock on his metal leg as he goes up the ladder]

C'mon, we can still catch the sunrise.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Starts for a second at that - then looks back and grins.]

I'm moving, I'm moving.

[And he picks up the pace, cresting the roof a minute later.]

[unbr8kable]

[follows after, taking a sec to orient herself and trotting over to the east-facing side of the roof]

...We've really gotta get those chairs.

[crossmyheartandhope]

Next time we head out. Number one thing on the list.

[unbr8kable]

...Even trumping chocolates?

[crossmyheartandhope]

You say that like I don't already have a stash of chocolate taped into the back of the desk drawer in the dorm room.

[Sticks his tongue out at her.]

So yeah. Trumping chocolate.

[unbr8kable]

[nudges back against his shoulder, but not very hard]

Hah! Fair. ...Guess now I know where to go next time I get hungry.

[crossmyheartandhope]

Just keep in mind, if they're all gone I'm gonna know who took em. I don't share my chocolate secrets with just anyone.

[Finally, the east edge of the building! He leans forward on the wall that rings the rooftop and sets his elbows on it.]

[unbr8kable]

How do you know it's not just your sticky-fingered roommies creeping around?

[hands on her hips and eyes on the horizon, she stands beside him, maybe a little straighter than usual, probably something about being 'not just anyone' because even in regards to choco secrets it's pretty nice]

[the sky changes from blue to purple to orange, the sun finally peeking its way over the buildings to the east]

...Finally, this place looks like something worthy of us saving it!

[crossmyheartandhope]

Huh. Sunrise over flashy nightlife?

[He'd been squinting directly into the rising sun in what's probably a bad move, but he glances toward her at that, blinking back sunspots.]

Wouldn't have guessed it.

[unbr8kable]

[ducks her head, then catches herself and shrugs]

...I can like nature. It's really so surprising?

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Fixes her with a thoughtful look.]

Not really.

Guess it's more, y'know. That there's not a whole lot of nature around to appreciate. Never really seen you seeing it.

[unbr8kable]

[her expression shifts, eventually landing on a more typical smirk]

...And that's not stalkery at all, watching me watch things.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Is he blushing? He might actually be blushing a little.]

[Goes in to elbow her in retaliation.]

Not what I meant.