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Leaving the medical center, Elliott stretched his arms over his head and yawned. The process of returning to the compound was like waking up, and he was always left hungry after. Maybe that's what softened the aftermath of the violence they inflicted on each other in the matches. It was like a dream, and easier to shake off. Plus there was the money, and fame, and showing off how great he was.
Elliott winced. Maybe this time he wasn't. It was his own fault he got seperated from his team and got his shields shredded from one direction while Bangalore's smoke cannisters knocked him. She'd gotten ready to perform her finisher on him, but Crypto shot Elliott in the chest before she had the chance.
Checking the results for the match showed his remaining teammates got at least to 4th, but Bangalore's team hadn't made it past 10th. The shots fired at Elliott must have alerted a nearby squad and third partied them. If having her kill stolen didn't piss Anita off, getting taken out right after might do it.
Elliott almost made it back to his room, when from the corner of his eye he saw Crypto walking down the hall towards him. He faltered just a moment when he caught sight of Elliott, before his pace quickened. Elliott grinned as he opened the door. "Hey, you happy to see me?" his eyes widened, as without pause, Crypto pulled Elliott into the room and closed the door. "Whoa, you must have really wanted to see me."
Crypto's lips thinned, staring into Elliott's eyes before he leaned in. Elliott blinked. It wasn't a kiss, it...it was a hug? His hands pressed against Elliott's back, fingers between his shoulder blades and touching the area in slow, measured prodding as if checking something. "How is your chest? Your injury?"
"Injury? Oh, fine." Elliott didn't quite understand why Crypto was hugging him, but he wasn't complaining. 'Not at all.' he thought, and hugged the other man back. "Still getting used to waking up all right? Kind of a shock, not for me of course, but it's just what I heard."
The other man's shoulders hunched, before he pulled away. His expression flat once more. "Waking up. You make it seem less like we're not killing each other."
"We're kind of not? I mean, sure, there's accidents sometimes, but no one really gets hurt." Elliott didn't like how his own words sounded. Like he was trying to convince himself-or defend himself. "I mean, the higher ups wouldn't just let us die for real, you know? We make 'em money and stuff."
Crypto's expression darkened. "Yes, that is true."
Elliott shook his head, because this was getting a bit grim. "You wanna stay for dinner?"
A pause, before Crypto shook his head. "Not tonight." Then, a very small smile which softened the disappointment. "Tomorrow."
Elliott winked at him. "See you then."
-
Getting a sprained wrist from one of the matches would be something heroic and admirable if Elliott got it during a fight and bravely kept on going. It was not supposed to happen after getting out of the medical centre, and attempted to turn the corner while he yawned and crashed to the floor over his own two feet.
The only saving grace; his face didn't get smashed like his wrist under him. And that no one else-
"Do you require assistance?"
Elliott grimaced, but made himself grin at Bloodhound as he tried not to shake from the pain in his wrist. "No, I'm fine, terr-teri-fine, just fine! Nothing to see here, not that I wouldn't mind being stared at." Well, maybe not in this case, but he wasn't taking it back.
Bloodhound was hard to read, pretty much impossible with that mask and not even the glass hiding their eyes were see through. They knelt, and Elliott tensed as they grabbed his wrist and pressed gloved fingers over the skin. Elliott gritted his teeth to keep the hiss silent. "You should go back to the healers."
"What? No, it's totally great. Just need to sleep it off." Elliott replied. Bloodhound stared at him, before poking a single finger into Elliott's wrist. Try as he might, the pain erupted after a long, persistence strain. "Okay, okay, I'll go!"
They released his wrist, and Elliott held it to his chest as he got back to his feet. His shoulders slumped, because there was no way to act cool after that. They crossed their arms, and just stared at him.
"I'm not going to run." Or not when he was being watched. Elliott stepped back slowly, but a bag of frozen peas was going around his wrist once he left Bloodhound's sight. Maybe their strange tracking ability had a limit so they couldn't tell where he actually went? "See, totally going back to the medics. So, like, no reason for you to stay."
"You say you'll go back to the healers, but your tenseness and shifty eyes say different." Bloodhound said.
'Damn, they're good.' Elliott thought, and despite the pain making it difficult, he put on his most charming smile. It never really worked on Bloodhound, but Elliott might as well try anyway. "What? No I'm not. Why would I lie?"
"You would have to tell them you fell over your own feet." Bloodhound said evenly.
Elliott's smile fell, and he grimaced again. "You saw that part?" Damn, he hoped they only just saw him lying on the floor.
"What's going on?" Elliott wondered how awful his luck was today that Crypto chose that time to walk around the corner. His gaze shifted from Bloodhound, to Elliott before his eyes landed on his wrist. Crypto tensed. "What happened?" His lips pressed into a tight line. "Did they do that to you?"
Elliott's brow furrowed, and glanced at Bloodhound. "No, why would they hurt me? Bloodhound's great, little pushy maybe." he muttered. "Not that they did push me, but, ah-"
"He needs to go to the healers." Bloodhound said insistently, gesturing to Elliott. "His wrist is damaged."
Elliott would have pouted, before he got an absoultely brilliant idea. "Crypto can make sure I get there, plus he's got that drone watching everything." Said man frowned, but Bloodhound seemed to be considering it, with touching the space their chin likely would be.
"Be sure to be well for the next hunt." They said, and departed as silently as they appeared.
Elliott let out a sigh, and grinned at Crypto. "Thanks for not saying anything, now if you just turn around I can say I got past you."
Crypto's brows rose just slightly. "What makes you think I'm not going to follow through with it? You are hurt."
Elliott huffed. "It's nothing-gah!" he almost jumped when Crypto poked at his wrist. "Why do you both like doing that?!" he held his wrist close to his chest again and hunched in on himself protectively, grumbling as he marched back to the medical centre.
The other man drifted closer, his voice low. "Other than your wrist, you're not hurt?"
Elliott grinned. "You do care." he smirked when Crypto let out a quiet snort.
-
His wrist still ached even in the brace, but he couldn't say the attention was unwanted. Everyone scribbled their well-wishes or doodles onto it. Elliott's gaze shifted from his cast to the movie he'd lost interest in playing on his screen, before finally settling his sights on the man sitting beside him. "Everyone's signed my cast," he held out his decorated brace, "even Caustic-though I think he was just trying to solve a math problem with how long he took." he shrugged. "Well, everyone except you. Which I am hurt by, you should have been the first one to sign it."
"Everyone else is giving you extra attention, I figured you didn't need more." Crypto replied.
Elliott gasped, mock hurt in his voice. "How can you make that assum-asump- think that?" Then he grinned and leaned in closer. "Unless you just wanted to be the last one. You did, didn't you?"
"Yes, I was going to wait until your brace came off to write something." Crypto said flatly.
Elliott beamed, then he registered just what the man meant. "Hey! That's cheating." he twisted around and laid across the other man's lap. "If you got hurt I'd sign your cast." Elliott thought from the frown twitching at the corner of Crypto's mouth he was going to get shoved off in stepping on some invisible boundary line.
Though Elliott wouldn't admit he was surprised, he was in fact surprised when the other man instead reached down and ran his fingers through his curls. Elliott let his eyes drift closed, smiling. If he needed to choose betwen this and having his cast signed-he'd definitely pick this.
-
Date nights were odd, sporadic things. Elliott didn't mind anymore, not really, how it was like hanging out-just with kissing and cuddling. Especially with the knowledge Crypto wasn't going to push him away. And holding hands. Which Elliott realized he wasn't doing, so he quickly fixed that.
Crypto glanced at him, and Elliott grinned. "You said we could be mushy when we were alone."
"I don't believe I ever used that word." he replied, and Elliott shrugged.
Walks at night tended to be one of the things the two of them did a lot, and even with how cold it was sometimes, it just meant Elliott could huddle close to the other man. And no one was ever outside, so they didn't get caught. It was the perfect plan-except for the cold (did he mention the cold?) but other than that it was perfect.
And it wasn't like he didn't have something special planned.
Elliott rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, so, I got you a gift." he grinned when the other man raised his brows. "And we didn't say we couldn't get each other stuff-and no it's not the candy from the machines. Though I still think it tastes pretty good."
"You don't even know how long it's been in there." Crypto replied.
Elliott rolled his eyes. "Just wait here!" he hurried down the walkway, but glanced back to make sure the man didn't move. He hadn't, and Elliott found the spot in one of the buildings he hid the present.
The structure was unfinished and still covered with tarps. The box was easily slid between two pieces of plywood and Elliott dug it out. The cardboard survived the week out here, though Elliott did wish it hadn't taken so long to grab it. The higher ups were really drilling them all for the press conference tomorrow.
Elliott furrowed his brow, hearing a click behind him. He raised a brow, though the area was dark and empty. 'Probably just some animal.' What kind, he didn't want to find out. A green glow drew his gaze, and the drone flitted inside. "Hey little guy, did Crypto send you to check on me? That's nice and all, but I don't need to be looked after." he flipped his hair, standing up straight. "I'm pretty capable after all."
The drone didn't reply, but it flitted closer to Elliott and followed him in step as he went for the door. Glancing outside, Elliott huffed when he saw Crypto wasn't where he promised to be. "Where'd he go?"
"Gahh!"
Elliott jumped, whirling around as the scream came from just outside the back. He clutched the box tightly in his arms, and hurried to where the noise originated. The drone zipped out the instant he opened the back door, and he caught the glow of the bot scanning the figure on the ground. Who had their arms twisted behind their back and Crypto with his foot pinning them in place.
Elliott stiffened when he saw the look on Crypto's face. Still composed, but like it was on the breaking point. His lips were thin, jaw clenched and his gaze hard and cold. "What's going on?"
Crypto glanced at him, and for a moment his gaze softened. His features tightened though as he glared down at the figure. "My drone detected this one lurking around your location." he twisted their arms, and they let out a strangled noise. "Who do you work for? Did they send you to follow Mirage?"
Elliott's eyes widened. "Why would Bloodhound have someone being all creepy and following us? I'm pretty sure they're like, not soc-socia-people. I don't think they people good."
"I-I work for the press!" The figure cried, cringing. "Don't kill me! I was just supposed to get pictures before the conference tomorrow. Mirage is just really popular with our audience!"
"I am?" Elliott repeated, preening. Then Crypto levelled a flat stare at him, and Elliott averted his gaze. "I mean, I may be awesome and stuff, but you gotta wait for the official go ahead."
The figure winced as Crypto took the press badge around their neck. "Security is tight since what happened on King's Canyon. No one's been able to get an interview since you all got transferred here."
Elliott furrowed his brow. Before he could ask more, Crypto said, "And how did you get here?"
"I-I stowed away on the shipment of food that got delivered here last night. I bribed one of the crew to keep the others away from the sector I was in." the reporter said. "Please don't kill me!"
Elliott blinked, before he realized just how this must have looked with Crypto glaring daggers at the downed form. "Relax, we're not going to hurt you. Uh, anymore." he glanced pointedly at the other man, who held his gaze before reluctantly letting go of the reporter. He dropped their I.D to the ground and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
Elliott knelt next to the figure, who sat up and shook out their arms. "Where's your camera?" The figure stiffened. "Look," Elliott started casually, "we're turning you in to security. And it's probably not going to be as bad if you just hand over the pictures you took."
"I didn't take any-hey!" The reported almost jumped as the drone scanned them again. "What did it just do?!"
"It erased all the data on your camera." Crypto explained.
The reporter gapped at him, before they dug into their pocket and pulled free a small, square device they clicked through. Confusion creased their brow. "What? It's still here-"
Crypto snatched the camera from their grasp, and slid the memory card out. "Now it's all gone."
Though it might have been mean to smile, Elliott didn't think it were possible to be more attracted to the other man. "Now say 'you got bamboozled.'" Crypto shot him a flat, withering stare. Elliott chuckled nervously. "Right, more important stuff going on."
-
"That sure was something." Elliott leaned back against his sofa while Crypto sat next to him. The two of them decided after the whole reporter thing to head back to Elliott's room. In the hectic mess though, it completely slipped his mind about the gift, so he picked it up from beside the couch and held it out. "Here."
"I don't have anything for you though."
Elliott shrugged. "Let's just say it's a 'thank you' then. You know," he grinned, "for being so worried about me out there. Even if I could have handled it." he elbowed the other man, grin turning cheeky. "My hero." he drawled.
"I did it because this place isn't as secure as everyone thinks. Tonight proves it, you're too...complacent."
Elliott huffed. "No I'm not. Whatever that means. And sure, what happened to the Repulsor Tower was one thing, but nothing's happened here. Besides, it was just one reporter who wanted photos of me. Oh, can I see what kind they took? I swear if they got my bad side, well, actually I don't have a bad side-every part of me amazing to look at."
His attention was diverted when Crypto finally opened the box, and his brow furrowed slightly. Giddy nervousness and excitement bubbled in Elliott's chest. "I know it's nothing fancy, but I figured you'd be able to use it without, you know, anyone asking questions. Since you're shy."
"It's not shyness." Was the retort, and Crypto pulled the green scarf free of the box. "Where did you even get this?"
"I asked my mom to send it." Elliott held up his hands when the man shot him a look. "Relax, I didn't tell her about us. Just that I needed another scarf because it was really cold here and you said green was your favourite color. So..." he hesitated, "do you like it?"
Crypto was silent for a moment. "It will...keep me warm. Though to avoid any suspicion, I can't wear it during matches."
Elliott shrugged. "I figured. You do seem like the, uh, pra-pre-practical! The practical type, that's it. Got to keep all your secrets in your cave."
Crypto rolled his eyes. "And you're far too sentimental."
Elliott grinned, bumping their shoulders together. "That's why you like me, isn't it? One of my many glo-go-glowing traits." he leaned against the other man, and when he wasn't pushed away, his grin widened.
If being comfortable around each other was another word for sentimental, Elliott didn't mind that one bit.