Chapter Text
Breach's hearty laugher immediately faltered when he was chosen for cleanup duty.
"That's not fair- I did it last time-" Breach smirked, crossing his arms with a drink still in one hand. Jett and Raze both stuck out their tongues at him and drunkenly left the room, both leaning on one another and laughing about something.
"I'll go and make sure they make it to their rooms," said Sage as she set her half-empty glass down on the side table, leaving the room to go after the two duelists.
Brimstone and Viper had already left early, while Omen didn't even show up. Cypher also left early to go finish a project that he was very passionate about, Reyna and Killjoy said their thanks and actually decided to get some rest after the party, and Phoenix was completely knocked out on one of the office chairs.
Soon, everyone was gone from the room except for the sleeping Phoenix, and Sova, who was gathering up the glasses and leftover drinks.
Breach scoffed and walked over to his Initiator buddy. "You're still here, eh? Not gonna scurry off like the rest of these rövhatts?"
The hunter turned his head over to his friend and smiled. "No," Sova assured with his hands full of cups. "I have nothing else to do."
Breach watched as Sova made his way over to the sink and gently set each glass down next to it. Fortunately for them, the sink was empty and didn't have any leftover dishes from yesterday's meal. This made Sova happy (as he was usually the one to actually wash the dishes when no one else did), and he began to wash them.
While Sova washed the cups, Breach put away all the leftover alcohol back into the cabinets or fridge, depending on the type, and looked for a towel to wipe off the counters with.
"Are we going to leave the boy there?" Sova asked suddenly, without taking his eyes off of the sink.
Breach chuckled a bit, and looked back over at Phoenix. "I don't know, we could just leave him here to rot with the smell."
A light chuckle came from Sova's mouth. "We sure could." He looked over at Phoenix for a second, his prosthetic eye narrowing in on him. "But... that wouldn't be kind."
"Aww, Sova. You're no fun," Breach replied with sarcasm in his tone, but with no ill intent. He knew that out of all the agents, the Russian hunter was definitely the softest in terms of feelings, despite his hard exterior on missions.
He was also the most mysterious, even more than the super-secret Cypher. For Breach, he thinks of Cypher as a man who tries to hide his identity all the time, wearing that mask and changing the information in his files constantly. But Sova, he didn't go out of his way to hide anything, he just didn't say what he didn't want to share.
For example, no one knew Sova's real name.
And Breach knew that the hunter's reassurance of "Sova" being his actual birth name is complete bullshit.
"Well, go wake him up."
"Ah, right." Breach waltzed over to the slumped over man in the chair, and leaned over him. "Hey, you gotta go-" he said as he took one arm and pushed the office chair with a bit too much force, causing it to roll across the room.
"Hw- wha?" Phoenix mumbled before attempting to get up, not realizing he was awkwardly laying in an office chair that was on the move. His body shifted, causing him to lose his balance and completely topple over onto the cold floor. The chair landed on top of his back, causing Phoenix to grumble in pain.
Breach couldn't help but let out a snort, while Sova looked behind him once more to see the poor boy lying on the tile floor with a chair resting on his ass.
"...mmmm," Phoenix mumbled.
Breach lifted up the chair with one arm and held out his other towards Phoenix. "Get up, or else I may have to carry you back."
A muffled chuckled came from Phoenix as he lifted his head up from the ground. Sova could tell that Phoenix was completely sloshed. Jett had dared him to drink a whole bottle of some type of Korean alcohol that she found on one of the missions. Despite the dangerous fact of not knowing how old that bottle was, or where it exactly came from, Phoenix did it anyway, and surprisingly didn't throw up. Typical for a man of his age to do something so... daring.
"You would like that... wouldn't you Breash..." Phoenix slurred, attempting to grab Breach's hand but missing about four times.
"Nah, you're too hot for my taste," the Swede shot back, making Phoenix laugh again as he finally got a hold of Breach's mechanical hand.
Sova tilted his head at Phoenix. "Would you like a remedy to help that hangover tomorrow? It's definitely going to happen."
"Shhhit mannn... nah... I'm gonna be fiiiiiine..." Phoenix said, leaning on Breach's shoulder. "Your arm is hard... like mmmetal..." he said, tapping Breach's arm with one finger, then with his entire fist.
"Just make it for him," Breach commented with a smile.
"Already on it," Sova replied, finishing up the last of the cups and wiping his hands off with a towel. "Phoenix, go get some rest, I'll bring this to your room later."
"Awwwwssure..." Phoenix nodded, turning around and pushing himself off of the arm he was leaning on. He almost fell over, but caught himself, and looked back at the two Initiators as if nothing just happened. "See youuuu... Sovaaa~" He left the room with an attempt at a wave (but it just looked like some sort of awkward hand motion).
"He'll make it to his room. Definitely," Breach smirked.
Breach walked back over to Sova and sat on a stool while he watched him grab a few things from the freezer. "So, a remedy?" Breach asked, pointing to the bones that Sova pulled out from the freezer. The hunter also pulled out a pot from the cabinet and started to boil some water.
"Da."
"Mmm... what's it made of? Besides those human bones that you just pulled out from the kitchen freezer."
Sova slightly grinned at his joke and held up one of the bones with his hand. "Not human bones, animal bones." He set the bone down and opened one of the many fridges and started rummaging through the items. He mumbled something to himself in Russian, and Breach raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Breach asked curiously.
"I'm looking for ginger. I know we have some, but Sage usually hides her tea ingredients quite well... ah, found it." He pulled out a huge chunk of ginger, and closed the fridge. "I can just chop this up."
"So, bones and ginger. Sounds tasty."
The hunter scoffed, and glanced at Breach for a split second with a smile. "You don't look too drunk, Breach," Sova commented as he began to cut the ginger. "But I saw you drink quite a lot."
"HAH," Breach exclaimed quite loudly, making Sova's eyes widen a bit from the sudden change of tone. "That was nothing. I'm quite resilient to the effects of alcohol."
"Oh, really?" Sova was intrigued. "That's quite the ability you have there, Breach. Are you sure you aren't a Radiant?" he joked.
"Hahah, if only that were the case."
A sudden pause filled the air. Breach could feel Sova's mood shift a bit at that comment, and it made Breach quickly think of something to say. "I-I don't mean that in a bad way, I obviously don't mind being a completely normal guy, of course." Breach crossed his arms and watched as Sova slowly cut the ginger.
They both remained silent for a moment.
"Normal guy," Sova repeated. "Hm."
Breach knew that Sova didn't like it when people compared themselves to Radiants. It's why Sova tried to stay away from Reyna, because Reyna was always talking about how Radiants were the future and how they would change the world because they were special and different.
"Sova, you know that I don't mean it in that way."
"Mhm. I understand, Breach."
Shit. Breach felt really awkward now. The water started to boil and Sova threw the bones into the pot, along with the ginger.
"My babushka used to make this for her friends that would like to party at night," Sova said. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. "Sometimes, I would pretend I was drunk so I could also drink some of the broth. She played along sometimes."
Breach's eyes widened at this sudden drop of a piece of his past. Everyone knew about how much he loved his babushka. Sova always mentioned her in conversation, explaining how helpful and kind she was to him.
"Those were good times."
Breach looked down for a moment at the counter. The smell of the ginger started to fill the room. Sova reached up and retied his hair that was starting to come undone.
He didn't want to ask this. He really didn't. But he had to know.
"Is she... still alive?"
Sova's real eye twitched a bit as he fastened his hair tie. His face remained emotionless as he lowered his arms and leaned back on the counter. "I don't know," he answered. "We must cut off all ties with the outside world when we join Valorant. I knew this. I don't regret it."
Another moment of silent passed. Breach fiddled with his fingers while Sova stared at the pot.
Suddenly, Sova turned his head toward his friend. "If you could return home, would you?"
Breach blinked a couple times. This question was thrown around a couple of times in conversation sure, but no one really took it seriously. But Breach could tell from the cold stare of the hunter that he was, in fact, dead serious.
"Well..." Breach started, "I didn't really have a... family. I was with a group of people, sure, but nothing serious."
Sova nodded as Breach spoke. He liked listening to the other agents talk about the normal things in life, and not about the fucking missions that they always had to go on.
"Also, these beauts-" he held up his arms, and activated them so that they lit up and made a funky clanking sound. "These have really helped me find my purpose in life, and allows me to assist others that can't defend themselves. I've also met some amazing people, like you, and the other agents that work here." He lowered his arms, and made a toothy grin. "You're my family now, this is my new home, and I'd never leave without making sure that you are all safe first."
Sova remained silent. Then he smiled. "You're such a softie under all that metal, Breach."
Breach scoffed again and pointed his finger at the hunter. "Says the one who is actually the living representation of a teddy bear-"
The room started to smell of meat broth. Sova grabbed a ladle and tasted the remedy. He approved of the taste in Russian and turned off the stove.
"What about you, Sova? Would you leave?"
Sova reached into the cabinet and pulled out a mug. He moved the pot over onto a hot pad and began transferring it to the mug with the ladle.
"Breach, like you said, this is my home now. I'd do anything for you all. No matter the costs."
Breach watched as the hunter set the ladle down back into the pot and picked up the mug carefully with both hands. He walked around the counter and passed by Breach.
"I'm going to go deliver this to Phoenix. Thank you for the chat."
Sova started to walk away, and Breach let him be. But he stopped at the doorframe, and lowered his head. "I do miss her, though."
And with that he left the room, leaving Breach to himself in the cafeteria.