Arin sat on the floor of their room, wedged between the wall and their bed. This was their preferred spot when things got overwhelming and so there they sat, clicking away at their laptop and the light of the screen lighting up their face, showing the heavy bags under their eyes. They knew they should be there for the others, but they just couldn't move. If they had even a minute where they weren't busy, they would remember what had happened. Arin didn't want to remember.
"You need to get up Arin. At least eat something." Mal said, breaking the quiet of the room. As always, their speech echoed in Arin's mind.
"Don't want to," Arin muttered, voice hoarse and cracking. "It's my fault, why should I do anything to help myself when one of my best friends are dead."
Kuro was frozen. Staring at Jac as he broke down made the raw mass of grief in her chest hurt so bad she wanted to double over and scream. But she remained still, jaw flexing harshly as her eyes prickled with unshed tears. Unconsciously, Kuro's left arm snaked it's way around her stomach, as if hugging herself would keep her from falling apart completely. It offered no comfort to herself. As always.
But Jac–he needed something….Arin too…probably upstairs in the darkness of their room fretting over what had happened, but Kuro was not the type to give comfort. Hell when was the last time she had smiled? Much less given a hug or a word of encouragement. But they needed it, her team, and they needed it from her.
Especially since command wasn't going to bench them forever. Today's meeting had been to give her squad a new mission and they needed to perform or else they'd all die. Kuro sighed through her nose…and there was the matter of the new guy…
Pushing those thoughts from her mind, Kuro gently reached out to gently brush the back of Jac's hand with the pads of her fingers and the part of her palm that wasn't covered by her sleeves. This was the best she could do. Jac looked up at her in surprise and those blues of her's burned like ice. Kuro wasn't sure how long she left her fingers there, trying to comfort her last childhood friend as best she could, when a chiming sounded from somewhere in the house.
Shit. The new guy would be here soon. Kuro pulled her hand back, finger's deftly signing as she stood. I'm going to check on Arin. Relax a little, okay? I– A pause as her fingers froze, although she disguised the motion as her reaching for her sunglasses. I need you at your best.
Orion stood at the door, a little wary. He had been confused when the recruiting officers had come to his home, even more confused when he met the other recruits. He knew that they weren't many people like him, but that was the first time he had been in a room full of them. They had been told what their purpose was. One of them was going to be selected to participate in tests and that one of them would be chosen to be a new part of the protectors of New U.S. One of the superhumans in the room, a young woman, had spoken up and asked the question they were all thinking. What about the Patriots? The officer in charge had broken the news to the assembly, but begged them to keep it quiet. After a few days, Orion had been chosen.
He didn't really know what they saw in him. But he was more than willing to do his duty to his country. So ever so slowly, he raised his hand, and rang the bell to the door that would change his life forever.
"It's a male, blond hair, blue eyes," Mal informed Arin, having left the coder when the doorbell rang. Arin looked up and made 'eye contact' with Mal. "Should I go welcome him? He's probably someone's lackey or something." They muttered, drawing a blanket that was wrapped around them closer. Arin was somewhat aware of how shitty they looked, honestly, they didn't care.
"You should try not to scare him with how horrible you look. He might think you're a zombie." Mal teased, they knew this was a good distraction for Arin. Arin needed a distraction.
Arin did honestly look like a zombie, their black hair was a mess, they had deep bags under their eyes, they were paler than usual. Along with the blanket wrapped around their shoulders (It was from… His room.), they looked like a grade-A mess.
"Shove off, you can stay up here if you want. I'm grabbing my cane… Wherever it is." They had gotten a bit disorganized, could you blame them?
Eventually, they found their cane and made their way down to the door, opening it. "Hello, how can I help you?"
(Sorry, guys, I didn't have my computer all weekend)
Jac's head tilted as the bell sounded, his frown lightening slightly. The new guy must be here. A small ball of excitement gathered in his chest as he wiped his eyes clear of tears and stood up. After a quick glance down at his shirt, he stripped it off and picked up one without as many bloodstains in the fabric from the floor. Most of the clothes on the ground were clean, but he still did a quick smell test. Everything checked out, so he pulled the shirt on over his head.
The new guy's here, he signed to Kuro, who had been watching his sudden mood change with unabashed confusion. Arin's voice downstairs only managed to brighten his mood even further. They were on their feet. Arin is up too.
They both walked downstairs side by side, since the staircase for the house was wide enough for it. Jac's recovery from his sadness was impressive, but the lingering signs on his face showed that it wasn't really gone. His shoulders were slumped slightly, the bags under his eyes were still deep, and his usual smile seemed to have loosed half an inch. Things hadn't really changed, only pushed aside so he could focus for a while.
"Howdy!" he said cheerfully, poking his head into the doorway as well.
Arin had simply nodded to Jac, they couldn't see anything, but they had known Jac for a while. He was pretty beat up inside, they all were. "Who's he and why is he here?" Arin asked their teammate, voice tired. They leaned against their cane, not really what it was for, but it would hold. Arin had gotten some help making it strong, a weapon he could keep by himself for if Mal wasn't around.
"Hey," Orion said, his hand twisting uncomfortably a little. Normally he would go through any door like he owned the place, but this didn't seem the right place. It was obvious by the subconscious chill in the air, the weariness that hung invisible on their shoulders. They were grieving. "I'm Orion, selected for the… replacement of your fallen friend." He paused a little on the word friend. Who knew how they would accept him. They were the Patriots after all. But right now they looked nothing like the bold, daring posters that were around the capital city.
Arin grew quieter than normal, whispering to themself. "Why are they replacing him? We need him." Their neutral look had started to take the form of barely contained anger. It wasn't anger at anyone specifically, just, anger at the world for being so unfair. They took in a deep breath and straightened their back before turning to 'stare' right into Orion's eyes. Arin knew that their stare made people uncomfortable, who would want a blind person to look into them. "I'm Arin Gold. You are not him, don't try to be him. If you make a wrong move I will make sure you can't step into a single home without the roof crashing down on you. I will make sure that while you're walking, you trip and bash your head on a rock."
They did not break their stare.
"I'll personally stab you."
And with that, they were done, a scowl on their face.
Welp, Arin never was the most welcoming person. They kept up appearances, of course. If they had to go out to face the public they always had a small smile on their face.
Orion held his ground, not one easily intimidated. "I am here by orders only. I do not mean to be replacing anybody." He sighed internally. He didn't blame Arin, but he had hoped for a little more of a welcome. At least a lack of any hostility.
Jac winced at Arin's reaction, but he couldn't say he didn't expect it. Hell, half of the time Arin wasn't nice to him, so it made since they would react so aggressively. Even with that, they were still being unfair to Orion.
"Sorry," Jac mumbled apologetically, sliding back from the door to give Orion enough space to come into their home. "We're all still…..well, still pretty fucked up. But….." He suddenly realized he didn't have a 'but' response for the rest of the sentence, so he let it trail off as Orion walked into the home.
"Well, uh, I'm Jac," he said, patting himself on the chest. "This is our commander, Kuro. She's deaf, so you gotta make sure she'd looking at you or you won't get a response. Typically I'm around to translate, though. And this is Arin." he put a light hand on their shoulder, "they're the brains of this place."
Orion had to bite his tongue at the "Brains" but felt a bit ashamed of himself. These people had lost family. He knew what that was like. Orion slowed so that Arin wouldn't hear the next words he said. "And don't worry about Arin. We all deal with grief in our own time and ways. I'm not letting this get in the way of our working relationship." Working relationship. Sounded so sterile. But it would be unfeeling to suggest more at this time.
Arin hadn't been paying attention anyhow, lost in thought. Crap, they forgot which direction they were in. This happened often enough when they didn't have Mal with them. "Jac, which way am I standing again?" They hated to show such a weakness and if Orion didn't know they were blind, he sure as hell did now. "Also, do we still have the tea we got a while ago?" Good, they didn't really know the answer but maybe if they asked another question Orion wouldn't notice their strange request.
"You're facing the door," Jac said, shutting the front door and locking it. Even superheros needed to stay safe. "And yeah, we do. At least, we did last time I looked. Do you want me to take you there, or….?"
He turned back to Orion and gave him a smile. "Go ahead and make yourself at home, man. Your room is on the second floor, farthest down the hall on the right. Don't go into the left one. That was…..Wade's. Do you have any bags, or will you need some clothes?"
Orion lifted up a small bag he had been carrying. "I have some stuff with me," he said, "but I can send to my house for more. It's only three hours away. I know a friend that wouldn't mind grabbing stuff for me if the authorities don't provide."
"I'm alright, was just wondering." Arin closed his eyes for a moment, thinking.
"If he's here, does that mean we have another mission?" They finally asked, as much as they disliked the idea of working with anyone other than Wade, they needed something to do. Their hands itched to do something other than do their code. It was meaningless, just putting way too many firewalls on the internet and such.
Kuro was frowning–well she was always slightly frowning, but this seemed a it more intense–from her spot leaning against the far wall by the stairs. Jac, Arin and Orion–was it? Reading the blonde's lips as he said his name was fairly difficult. Kuro would need him to say it a few more times before she got it down. The trio was milling about the foyer, an air of awkwardness around them as Arin's blunt nature and Jac's casual joy seemed to be butting heads.
Orion still hadn't addressed her yet, which didn't bother her in the slightest, but Kuro was still wary of the newcomer. On top of that Command had chosen Wade's replacement for her, plopping Orion in her lap before she had even thought of discussing a new member with them. Command's excuse being that she was too close to the situation to make a wise decision. Kuro's form tensed slowly, until she was about as relaxed as a steel cable as she leaned against the wall.
To say that she wasn't a fan of the situation was an understatement.
Orion looked at Kuro. "To my knowledge there is no mission scheduled," he said, keeping his lips plainly in her line of vision. "But I could be wrong. I would assume that they would give us all a time to acclimate to each other. I also do not think I am prepared for any mission. I wasn't really put through any training. Just selected once they had seen all the range of power in the recruits." He raised a hand to the back of his hair and gently pulled his fingers through it. "I hope none of you mind having to teach me what I need to know, I'm normally a quick learner."
Jac glanced over at his commander for half a second and didn't like what he saw. His childhood friend was as rigid as a tree, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl tattooed onto her face. Jesus, was he the only person actually willing to give the guy a nice welcome. Sure, it seemed like he had a stick up his ass, but he wasn't being rude.
What gives? he signed to Kuro, his smile turning into a concerned frown. She just shook her head and turned away from him, making his frown deepen. He hated when she did that. It made it literally impossible to talk to her and she always did it whenever she was mad.
"Uh, go ahead and make yourself at home, like I said," Jac said, walking over to Kuro and grabbing one of her hands. He half-lead, half-dragged her up the stairs as he continued. "If you're hungry, there's food int he fridge. We got a shit load of DVR's and thousands of movies if you wanna watch something. There's a weight room in the garage……and, uh, that's everything I guess. Nice to have you around!" And with that, He dragged Kuro around the corner.
You need to stop, he signed much more aggressively than usual. He has done nothing to us, but you're acting like he's your worst enemy. Why?
Arin had vanished back to their room, coming back down with their laptop, brushed hair, and you know, a giant eye. Their eyes were still covered in that milky film, but they seemed to know where things were much better than before. They headed over to the two in the corner, waving a hello. "I don't like star boy." Arin said simply to Jac and Kuro, leaving Mal to look at Orion with their never-blinking gaze.
Kuro glanced between Jac and Arin, not that they could see it from behind her lenses, but she figured they could probably feel it by the way they both shifted slightly as if her cold gaze was an actual touch.
It's not him per se. She finally said, her signs a bit messy in frustration. Best to keep what she was actually feeling deep in her chest where it belonged. I don't like this situation. Nor the mission we have been given. Command dumps a new recruit in my lap and a dangerous task on top of that–
Kuro pushed a sigh out of her nose. No proper training….what are they thinking??? The last words were signed low across her body, almost if the Captain was grumbling.
Orion shrugged and left the room, thinking it was probably a good idea to let the Patriots figure out things without him there to distract from it. Obviously they needed some time without him. Which was completely fine with him. He followed Jac's directions up the stairs and down the hall. He paused at Wades room. He had liked Wade from afar. Respected him. He considered going into the room anyways but immediately turned to the right and shut the door behind him. No way he was going to disobey a direct request like that. That would be helpful to nobody. He looked around the room. It was obviously some sort of guest room, but nicer than any he had stayed in. In fact it was a little too nice for him. He preferred a regular sort of place, but the bed was almost twice as big as his own and there was a giant flatscreen perched on the opposite wall. He opened the drawers of the dresser (empty) and tried out the large chair in the corner. That was more his style. In the other corner was a small desk with a wood chair and one of those bendy lamps with the green covering and the twisting switch. He clicked it on and off once before getting up to put his few possessions away in the dresser and his coat in the closet. He lay on the bed and let out a long breath. This was to be his new home after all. Whatever that meant.
