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The night was late, and almost all of the protocol was fast asleep. Jett tossed and turned in her bed inside her little chamber, trying to fall asleep, but nothing helped. No thoughts were bugging her or that she was worried, it was just one of those nights where no matter how much she tried – sleep just wouldn’t accept her.
Sighing she looked at the ceiling finally accepting her defeat in trying to fall asleep. Her eyes fell to her digital clock on her bedside table.
02:43 AM
Groaning at how she had been in bed for hours without sleep, she finally tossed away the blanket and sat on the edge of the bed. Considering her options of all the things she could do, she decided that maybe a little walk outside would help her feel relaxed and maybe even sleepy as often cold winds did.
Grabbing a jacket from the nearby rack, she wore it over her night suit and grabbed her phone. Plugging her headphones in, she put on her soothing playlist. Stuffing her hands in the pockets of her jacket, she went out with her hoodie over her head.
Taking a stroll around the dimly lit headquarters with not a single soul around was oddly peaceful. The halls which would often be filled with other agents, or random noises (usually Raze’s explosive experiments) was dead silent. The cold floor made her burrow herself tighter inside her hoodie as she slowly started to drowse in the music.
Passing by Viper’s lab, she took a peek in to see Viper, fast asleep on her desk. Silently tip-toeing her way around the lab, the wind girl decided to take a stroll outside the building. On her way, she walked past Skye’s chamber too which had small chirping and wildlife noises. It was probably the jungler’s favorite way of resting, being one with nature. Her tiger although, was surprisingly not inside and was curled up outside her door, asleep as well.
The silent drifts that Jett’s movement made, probably caught its sharp ears which led to its lifting its head which surprised Jett. Viper’s lab was nearby, and if the dog tiger made any noise, it could lead to a chain of unwanted events.
Wagging its tail rapidly at the sight of Jett, the tiger sat up. Jett tried shushing it before quickly getting to her knees as well as gently stroking the tiger’s head, giving the good boy some good scratches on his neck and belly which quickly put the tiger back to sleep.
Seeing it was asleep for good, Jett walks out of the protocol which was hidden among a fake projection of foliage that Killjoy had set up so it won’t be visible to anyone outside. They had plenty of open space around the main building where agents could practice, train and even play. Looking up at the bright moon, she pulled her hoodie back over her head when a strong cold wind took it off.
Exhaling peacefully, she decided to continue the stroll around the headquarters as her mind wandered between stars as she idly started looking for various constellations.
Her little wandering was not helping her get anywhere near sleep but it did have to stumble upon a strange noise coming from somewhere close. Some thuds, whips, and grunts quickly put a very wrong image in her head that some agents might be indulging in some “activities.”
Snickering to herself, and curious, she took off her headphones and let them hang around her neck as she followed the noise. But the little curiosity of getting some steamy gossip quickly turned into a disappointment when she heard that the noise was coming from the gym and practice room where agents would often train their bodies and aim with various weaponry.
While it won’t be a bad spot to indulge in “activities,” the cameras for security purposes made any such place almost impossible for those kinds of adventures. Brimstone was very strict of it too, and no one dared to find his bad side.
While her thought led to disappointment, it did make her curious about who could be training in the middle of the night. There were some early worms and night owls in the protocol for sure, but none were midnight workers.
“Who could be training at this time?” she murmured to herself looking at the time on her screen.
03:07 AM
The practice room had a long shooting range attached to a gym, with all types of equipment and weaponry the agents needed. While there was a direct entrance to the range from inside, going all the way back felt like a tiresome task, so Jett decided to sneak in through the second gym door towards the outer side and make her way inside.
The noises in practice range persisted. Jett carefully made her way through the gym to the range door which had a glass window. A little fog on the glass, she pulled on the jacket sleeve and wiped some of it off, before peeking inside. A view of inside which immediately made her eyes wide, cheeks red, and made her take a gulp in.
Inside stood Sova who had returned from a mission the previous evening. Mission was a scary one, and the man had returned with quite a few injuries from his back to his shoulder. Since Sage was out on a mission and Skye was out when he returned, Viper had temporarily dressed his wounds until the radiants could get him back to speed. The wind girl peeked in to see how he was ignoring Brimstone’s “Rest Well” orders but that’s not what made her blush.
The hunter was in a state she hadn’t caught him in before, doubtful anyone had. While he still had the brown trousers he wore as a part of his uniform, the man himself didn’t have anything else on his body except the large taped bandage that went from his left shoulder wrapping him around the chest taped under his right arm. Some spots were already reddened from the blood while multiple band-aids over his back to cover up smaller wounds.
Hair let loose, the man was not in a position to be there. But the sweat that covered his body indicated that he was doing this for quite some time. Maybe hours. And by the looks of it, he had managed to bring in a punching bag as well. She had heard that the mission was a failure, but didn’t know the details, and by the looks of Sova, she quickly grew worried for him.
She saw him sheath his bows into the targets head, one after one after one, multiple times before dropping the bow dead on the ground and walking up to the punching bag, tightening the strap of cloth around his hands and punching the bag down, grunting loudly, clearly from the pain of injuries.
Flinching as she saw him squawk through those pains, she couldn’t help but feel the need to intervene. Opening the door, she silently moves inside when Sova finally stops punching the bag and ends up resting his head on it just panting heavily. Taking her hoodie cap down, she cautiously closes the door to not startle him. She watches him catch his breath for a brief moment and before she could utter a word, Sova lifts his head and gasps to see someone else in there with him. Seeing him scared, she gets scared for a brief moment too before Sova chuckles looking at Jett, and stands up straight, his breaths still heavy.
“Oh. Jett. Hello…”
“Hey…”
“Oh wait, you, here?... is it morning already?”
The hunter asks confused to see her at this time. Starting to unwind his sweaty piece of cloth wrapped from his hand while walking towards the bench behind him.
“Oh, no-no. I. I was just not feeling sleepy so, I decided to take a stroll and heard you here so, came in to check on you… Are you okay?”
Sova sits down on the bench and grabs a towel from the little bag laying on the floor while moving his dripping wet hair to the other side of the head letting the sweat flow down.
Looking down at the floor while holding on to the towel he just shook his head with a defeated posture.
“I messed up Jett... I messed up... I lost.”
Jett curiously moves closer and takes a seat next to him as he continues talking.
“I could’ve saved those people... I could’ve saved the Radianite. I couldn’t defuse the spike; I couldn’t pull the trigger on their Phoenix and now all of them are teleported to the other Earth. Those people didn’t sign up for it. The worse part is I made it out alive, I shouldn’t have… I didn’t deserve to. I couldn’t save those kids from going to the other world. Their scared faces, the painful screams, I couldn’t save them from the others. I was their last hope there. I…”
Jett, unaware of all this felt it hard for him when she heard what he had just been through. And the dots quickly connected why he was punishing himself by training in the middle of the night instead of resting. And although they were friends since the beginning, they never had such a moment of vulnerability, and seeing the person she genuinely carried feelings for feel so defeated hurt her too. Unsure of how to help, she took a deep breath and put a hand on his shoulder to sympathize with him. Her touch immediately made the Russian sigh and slouch down lower, with small sniffs, him holding back his emotions flowing in front of her.
“I… I’m sorry you went through it. But please, please don’t be so harsh on yourself. It’s not a good feeling to lose, especially at those stakes but- but being harsh on yourself like this, especially when injured won’t help it.”
“I have to get stronger… I have to get better, I can’t-”
“You will become better. But not by being so hard on yourself, at least not in this condition… Hey…”
Seeing his face still slouched down, Jett instinctively holds his chin and lifts his face to see a teary-eyed Sova look at her briefly before he quickly turns his gaze away chuckling to hide his tears
“I’m fine Jett... I’m fine.”
“No... you’re not. And that’s okay…”
The Radiant slowly moves closer to pull the Hunter into a gentle embrace, putting her arms around his neck.
“It’s okay to not be okay,” she says under her breath as Sova finally lets go of the emotions he had been holding back.
Still in the embrace, Sova puts his arms around her as well. He closes his eyes and buries his face on her shoulder, letting his tears flow silently, something which Jett quickly realizes as she softly rubs the back of his head.
The moment of silence soon passes as the Hunter eventually lifts his head away from her, taking his face away from hers and wiping it off with a napkin. Taking a few deep breaths, he looks up still trying to process and gain back control over his emotions. Jett stays right by his side, her hand on his bandaged back softly caressing him. Seeing him sit still, she gets up and walks towards the water dispenser machine, bringing him a glass of water which he thanks her for, and drinks it in a go. Taking the glass away once he’s done, she comes back to him.
“I wish I were you right now,” she says chuckling towards him.
“um... Excuse me?”
“No… No, I mean like, whenever any of us are in such a situation, you always know what to say to us to make us feel better. I wish I knew what I need to say to you.”
“Je- Sunwoo..."
Sova would normally never call her by her real name, so she got caught by a little surprise when he did before he continued.
"I honestly don't know what I want to hear right now, but you being here with me is something I didn't know I needed so desperately...”
“Well, now I’m glad I didn’t feel sleepy.” She says with a little chuckle to which Sova reverts with a little laugh too
“...So am I.”
---
Finally, that a smile appears on his face, they both share a brief moment of pure smiles and appreciation as their gazes lock on to each other. With a hint of blush on both their cheeks, they stay there silently unsure of what to say when the noise from a moving target in the range distracts them out of it.
Sova stands up and walks over to the controls to shut it down. This time, now that they had moved past what had bugged him, Jett couldn’t help but finally appreciate the man’s build. Her eyes locked and scanned his rugged, bruised, and muscular body. Sova turns around and catches her gaze at his body and instantly feels shy which she catches too. He was not the one to usually stay shirtless in PROTOCOL like some others like Breach or Phoenix did, so he did feel like to see the appreciative look in her eyes when he caught her.
“oh, sorry I was just… looking at the… bruises. Does it hurt?” Jett says trying to grab a hold of the situation.
“Oh. yes, a little. It should be fine once Sage returns, or when Skye’s healing trinkets regrow a bit. They could heal me up better.”
He replies while softly touching the bruises on his abs before walking back toward his bag and pulling out his long-sleeved, opaque white henley t-shirt and quickly wearing it. Jett trying not to make it awkward gets up and moves towards the shooting area quietly inspecting his bow which she picked up off the floor.
Holding it up and even trying to aim with it as Sova did. Sova fills up the bag with the rest of his stuff while curiously watching the Radiant play with his bow, without an arrow.
Although she had seen him use it thousands of times, when she picked it up, it felt like a whole new tech because unlike a normal bow (which she also didn’t know how to handle), there were a lot more components in play with this radianite infused bow.
She held it up like she had seen the Hunter do and even played with the string, pulling it back and letting it go making a whoosh sound with her mouth imitating the arrow leaving the bow. Chuckling to himself as she did that, Sova walked to his drawer and grabbed an arrow, and walked behind Jett.
“Here, try with this.”
A surprised Jett quickly put the bow down realizing how she didn’t even ask for his permission before touching his stuff.
“Oh shit- sorry I didn’t mean to,”
“no no don’t worry, I’m not angry, it was endearing to watch you play with it.”
“Oh?...”
“Yes, but instead of playing with just a bow, why don’t you give it a shot.” He reverts pointing a dummy, practice-arrow towards her before flipping it and handing it to her.
Not guiding her through it, he just watches with his arms crossed on how she handles it, and to his surprise, she does well by hitting a bot in the torso. But clearly, she was missing a lot of fundamentals, from her aiming technique to her overall stance.
“I feel like that wasn’t good.” She says a little embarrassed as she hands him over the bow.
“Want me to teach you some basics?”
A question that soon leads to them deciding on giving her a crash course to basics of archery. Jett takes off her headphones and jacket and gets ready to kill some bots in her night suit as Sova adjusts the bow for her size and stature. Once back on the shooting panel, he hands her the bow and asks her to line up the arrow.
Once she does, he interferes and starts correcting her postures by tapping her body parts and demonstrating it by doing it himself.
“Arm stretched ahead. […] Back always straight. […] Chin up. […] Vision on target. […] Finger position on the arrow. […] Lower body stance.”
And his directions she follows. But stumbles a little when it comes to taking a proper stance.
“I can’t figure out how to stand, wait.”
She tries to copy his stance but feels something is off. Sova however, realizes how she wasn’t standing sideways and asks her to do so. Still being confused on how she could shoot sideways, she stands there perplexed when Sova leans down and moves his hands to her hips.
Lingering over them, he looks up to her eyes briefly, “May I?”
Seeing his hands not touching her hips, she realizes what he was trying to do and nods at him, permitting him to touch her.
Getting her allowance, Sova gets a grip on her hips and adjusts them sideways to a proper stand before tapping on her calves to get them in a better grounding as well.
“This is the basic, beginner’s stance. You understand?”
“Yes.” Jett reverts, her eyes still locked on to the bot far in the range which impresses Sova on how focused she was.
“Good. Keep that vision on your target, pull the string back with the bow to your lips. Adjust your aim if needed. Deep breath, hold. Release the bow.”
He talks her through the process as she follows his directions and releases the bow when she’s ready. The arrow pierces the bot’s chest dead center and Jett moves away from her stance. Sova watches and lets out an impressed chuckle as no one in Valorant had hit such a good first shot. An appreciative bunch of claps follows from him as he walks back towards her but gets confused over her unimpressed expression.
“Nah…” she shakes her head. “Can I have another chance?” she asks looking at him, her hands already raised ready to grab another arrow from him. Surprised at first, he doesn’t hesitate a moment and hands her another arrow, she reminds herself of the steps he had said, takes the stance, and then the shot, again, the chest. Over which she lets out a groan not impressed with herself.
While at this moment Sova would say something like ‘for a rookie, you are doing well he knew Jett wouldn’t stop at that. Pulling out one more dummy from his quiver, he raises it to her, which she quickly grabs and takes another shot. Again, the torso.
“Ah! I know what’s the issue!”
“What is?”
“um... are you sleepy or something? Like were you planning to go to bed?”
“Not really, no. Why?”
“Cool, could you wait here for a moment? This night suit is obstructing my arm movement, I need to change into something more comfortable so I can do better. I’ll be back in a second.”
“Sure. Knowing you, you won’t keep me waiting.” He says hinting at how fast she usually functioned. Chuckling at his little note, she quickly dashes away through the door, making Sova’s hair fly a little with the wind she generates.
And like she mentioned, within a moment she comes back dressed in something more gym-appropriate; a sports bra, coupled with comfy sweatpants and sneakers, all in her signature blue. Sova takes a moment to look at her, but not look too much to make it awkward.
“This feels better!” she says hopping around and jogging in her place, warming herself up.
“You ready?” he asks.
“Always have been,” she replies with a proud smirk which was a signature to Jett’s confidence.
Tossing a different bow towards her this time, she swiftly catches it. On closer inspection, she realizes it was a practice bow which he used, which was way simpler to handle than his complex radianite bow. While she inspects that Sova brings to her a quiver.
“Shall I?” he asks to which she agrees.
When she does, he squats down on her side and puts the strap of the quiver around her hips, adjusting the belt to fit her tight, with quiver coming to her side which he quickly fills with lots of practice arrows and pats on it make sure the whole thing is secure.
“Oh wow, this feels so different... makes me feel like I am an actual archer.” She says giggling excitedly.
“That’s good. Now let’s pop some heads, shall we?” he says with a smile as he starts the training course with a bot appearing in the distance.
Jett nods and quickly takes her stand but immediately feels something is off, but knowing Sova was watching and telling him she forgot what he taught her would be embarrassing, she lines up the bow and is about to shoot the arrow when she feels Sova’s hands over hers.
“If you forget something, tell me. Don’t feel shy, okay?”
A little embarrassed that she was caught already she just hums in agreement with a nod before letting Sova guide her again, this time, however, she tries not to get distracted by his more personal touches.
Sova extends his arm alongside hers holding the bow and guides it while putting his other hand over hers pinching the arrow. Talking her through the process, he doesn't realize how close they were standing as he diligently instructs her. She can't help but feel warming up by the closeness they shared at the moment, especially with his personal touches that guided her. Their heads side by side, she takes deeper breaths to keep her expressions in check, and seeing her listen so intently and keep the focus impresses him as well.
Meanwhile, Hunter always thought of her as someone more than just a friend. What exactly? even he wasn't sure. Realizing after some time how close he had gotten, he made sure to quickly move away from her a little when he felt her breaths get deeper, he felt his cheeks get red too. Both great at hiding their blushes, continued with the instructions as she impressed the Russian with her focus which she maintained on the target. Once ready, she took her shot.
The arrow flies through the bot’s chest again.
A little groan from her surprises him as he watches her line one more up, this one goes to the neck. But instead of a groan, a smirk on her lips as she adjusts her aim knowing damn well this was hitting the head. Sova had an anticipated smirk too and as she releases the arrow – boom, headshot.
She loosens her stance and turns to Sova with a proud smile.
“Huh, that wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
“Not at all, 5 more in a row, and we take it to take it to stage 2.” He quickly incentivizes her victory for more.
“Oh, you’re on!” she says with a playful smirk as she grabs one more bow from the quiver, and then one more, and one more, and makes 5 headshots on bots appearing in different positions across the range.
Thoroughly impressed at her quick learning and adjustments, he hands her a few more arrows to be put into the quiver. He shakes his head a little and starts to tie up his hair into a bun, as he realizes that they were going to be there for some time.
“Stage 2 – Moving targets. There are 5 levels of speeds, hit three consecutive headshots and the speed level automatically increases.”
“oh, easy!” she toots proudly before watching Sova raise an eyebrow. “What?”
“Nothing. Just curious to see how easy you’ll find this.” He says smirking as he presses a button that starts the range bots. Targets move from one side to the other at a constant speed.
While Jett manages to suddenly figure out the speed after the first few failed shots, she soon realizes how difficult the course was when she fails to connect three consecutive headshots.
She starts growing agitated at which Sova moves behind Jett and places both his hands on her shoulders, softly patting them.
“Joon-Hee, relax. It’s not a race. Breathe.” He says softly before backing away.
Hearing his voice utter her name again, she instantly slouches a bit, relaxing her stance and taking a few deep breaths before getting into position again, this time however making sure to take time between the shots she took. Unlike an Operator, this required her to predict and aim according to where the target will be in the little time frame of her releasing the arrow and it hit the target.
Carefully analyzing before every shot, she takes her time, and this time, she starts hitting them right where she wanted to.
Soon she manages to climb to level 2 and then level 3 but level 3 soon turns out to be a nightmare for her as the speed of targets increases dramatically.
But unwilling to stop Jett, and scared to stop her Sova, they let her face the level as slowly and surely, she grows annoyed by how many 2 headshot streaks she loses on. And within a few minutes, she finds herself panting heavily as her arms start to weigh down by being up for so long with little cuts appearing on her fingers tips as well. But the only thing that could stop her was them running out of arrows, and even though Sova had a thousand mores in his compartment, he tells her he doesn’t when he sees her not stopping.
Once she runs out of arrows from her quiver, Sova walks to her and takes the bow from her which she hesitantly gives up, but once it’s taken she feels a different kind of relief in her shoulders to feel that weight go away. Her arms immediately fall and Sova chuckles reminiscing his first days of archery. Bringing in a chair for her, he places it behind her and Jett quickly takes a seat, slouching her shoulders in pain while shaking, panting.
Sova places the bow aside and brings her a glass of water, but as she reaches to hold them, she lets out a painful moan to which Sova quickly reacts by putting her arms back down.
“Don’t stress your arms, they need rest. Let me.” He says raising the rim of the glass to her lips. Even though she hesitates to let him feed her water, he insists and with no power left in her arms, she can’t do anything but accept his help. Drinking in a couple more glasses of water, she lets out a loud sigh which makes the hunter chuckle who uses the back of his hands wipes the water around her lips, and walks away.
“If this is level three… I can’t even imagine what five must be!” she says sighing at the targets still rapidly moving on the course.
Sova looks at the active course and turns it off before sitting on the table nearby.
“Well first things first, for a person with no archery knowledge, you blew my mind away with how quickly you learned and how nice your adjustments were! Seeing you blow those heads off was weirdly very soothing.” He says with a little laugh towards the end to which Jett chuckles but blushes a little too while thanking him for his compliments.
“Second, I don’t know. I haven’t reached the fifth level yet. My personal best is the fourth level and 2 consecutive headshots, but that’s it. Then I ended up in a situation like you are currently, where I couldn’t even move my arm.”
“Wait really? The best archer here hasn’t completed the course?”
Sova just shrugs originally before responding with a smile, “Guess you could say, you never truly are the best? There is always room to improve.”
A line that hits Jett. Jett always strived to be the best and currently, almost every agent had termed her as one of the bests the team had and she often found herself in a stable position, as her courses were already bested by her. She was wary of not letting the “I am the best” complex get into her head, but this little line coming from him felt something she needed to hear herself.
Silently nodding with a smile, she looks up to him and he does the same back. The little moment of silence and smiles is interrupted again when a loud knock on the door steals their attention and walks in the brute Breach.
“What are you both doing here?” he abruptly asks as Skye follows him in as well.
“Hey Jett, Sova... you both? Here at this time? Everything alright?” she asks, her question directed towards Jett.
Jett and Sova take a brief moment to look at the time and then at each other and Jett decides to go first.
06:02 AM
“Um, Sova was teaching me how to shoot arrows.”
“At this time?”
“Well, I was not sleepy, so I decided to take a walk and caught Sova training here. One thing led to another and I ended up learning basics of archery so…”
Skye and Breach still not satisfied with her answer stay there silent for a moment before Breach addresses Sova.
“Okay, but why the hell were you still awake? And training? Weren’t you supposed to rest?”
“I… I couldn’t.” Sova replies shaking his head. But Breach quickly notices the cloth wrapped on his hands and the seemingly out-of-place punching bag in the shooting range.
“You were punching your pain away weren’t you?”
“Breach…”
“Nah, fuck this. That’s it. We’re going out for a drink.”
“What?! Now?! NO!”
“What no? the bars are still open-”
To which Skye quickly tugs on Breach’s braid and puts a stop to his thought. “Calm down knucklehead."
"Sova, the trinket should regrow in a couple of hours, I would suggest you rest up, for now, I will heal your wounds up later, and later in the evening if you want, we can go for some drinks and gulp the sorrow away.” the Aussie adds.
At which Breach quickly adds, “YES! And there I’ll set you up with some good babes so you can get laid.”
“OKAY, THAT’S IT.” Sova reverts loudly, visibly awkward as Jett holds back her snickering while Sova gets down from the table and starts collecting his stuff.
“What? When was the last time you got laid, man? Get some action for fucks sake.”
“Oh, would you look at that, I suddenly forgot English!”
“Wait what-”
At this point as everyone prepares to move away from the conversation, Skye pulls on the brute’s braid again and takes him out of the range, and to the gym as Sova packs his things up while Jett lets out a stifled laugh which makes Sova smile too.
“Oh, that made you SO awkward!” wind-girl says laughing heartily while getting up from the chair, still unable to move her arms.
“Oh please, he can be a real handful sometimes.” He replies joining in on her laugh as well before Sova hangs the bag over his shoulder to catch Jett still standing there. Seeing how her arms were still in the same position, the Hunter goes ahead and grabs her belongings that she had kept before changing. Even though she insists him not to, she couldn’t back her words up when Sova asks her to lift her arms straight up. The radiant silently watches as he opens the door for her as well, the nice little silent gestures which he inherently carried out without a second thought made her feel nice. It was unlike anything any of the boys would do.
Mouthing a soft thank you towards him, she stifles her wide smile to not shy around the other two gym freaks who were now somehow indulging in aggressive arm-wrestling.
A wave across them as they left, Sova walked beside Jett as he watched her let out some painful grunts every time she attempted to move either of her arms. Glancing at the bruises on her fingers because of the bows, still fresh. Giving it a thought, he speaks up –
“Jett, I would suggest getting a cold bath once you get to your room. Clean off the sweat and let your muscles relax. I will bring some things to which should help you ease the pain. You can apply them after your bath and sleep on it so your body rests as well.”
Although she didn’t enjoy applying things to her body, she was willing to give it a shot when he suggested it. As she reached her room, Sova opened the door for her and walked inside, keeping her belongings on the table nearby as Jett quickly dashed to her bathroom for a quick bath. Snickering at it, Sova walked out, making sure her door was still open.
His room was a few chambers away and quick little stroll and back, he returned to Jett’s little room with a small bag that looked like a little first aid kit. Unsure of where to be seated, he took his seat on the edge of her bed, looking around her room, which was kind of messy but at the same time tidy in the sense all things seemed to have their own proper space. Not reading much into it he looked at her table side which had a photo frame named “Mementos”. A photo of all of them hanging out at an ice cream shop in Italy. Just as a smile appeared on his lips and his mind ran through some flashbacks, Jett made her way out of the bathroom, changed into her night suit.
Seeing her walk out, Sova quickly got up stuttering thinking of words to explain why he took a seat without permission which was soon dismissed away by the wind girl who snickered and asked him to sit on the bed alongside her without worrying.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
“A little, yeah. Still tired tho!” she says tending to her shoulders, trying to massage them a little.
“Good, now when you apply these the pain should be all gone within a few hours of rest.” He says holding up the bag which he places on her bed beside him as they turn towards each other.
Opening it up he first removes a tube of an ointment – “This is for those little bruises.”
He grabs some cotton out from the box as well and extends his other hand indicating her to give hers. Already blushing Jett feels confused and ends up holding his hand which confuses him as well as he giggles a little. Gently holding it back, he turns it around so her palm is up and this makes her feel all the more embarrassed. Neither of them says a word but both know what she is going through. The little giggles subside into smiles as Jett appreciatively looks at the strong man ever so gently hold her hand and blow slowly over her bruises while softly dabbing the wetness away with the cotton.
Her posture soon relaxes as Sova continues. He wipes her fingers clean before grabbing the tube and opening it with another hand, not letting go of hers.
Pressing some of it out over his fingertip he warns her it might burn briefly when he applies it but having her hand held by her crush and seeing him be so gentle for her, the words seemingly fly out of her mind as the sudden burning feeling on her fingertips jerks her back to reality as she starts blowing on her fingers.
“OOH that STINGS!!” she squeals as Sova tightens his grip just a tiny bit before applying it on all the little cuts. Jett scrunches her face to hide back her pain, little sizzling noises still escaping her lips. Once done, Sova lets go of her hand and warns her not to touch it for a few minutes. She agrees and watches him pull out a small container which he soon reveals to be a healing oil he had made with the help of Skye and her plants.
“This might get you all oily, but sleep with it, when you wake up, take a warm water bath and it should all wash away.”
He tells her before taking some oil into his palms and softly rubbing them together before taking Jett’s hand back into his, holding it from under while pressing his thumbs gently over her palm and massaging it. Slow, small circles and eventually increasing the pressure at certain joints, he gives her a therapeutic massage to her palm which instantly makes her fall into a trance as her arm relaxes to a new level. Once enough massage was done, Sova takes his hand away while Jett hesitantly takes hers back too.
“What next?” she asks waiting to know where else he was going to massage her but Sova who already had pulled out a napkin wiping his hands stutters a little.
“I... Well usually it would be your back and shoulders but I think that might be inappro-”
“Oh yes please! let’s do it. I would LOVE your fingers on me right now... I, i didn't mean it that way. I meant, like a massage I-" realizing she was talking too much she quickly squeals some gibberish before continuing.
"Would you need me to lay down?”
“…” he stays silent as he still considers whether or not he should.
"I'll take that as a yes?" she responds to his silence and quickly starts undoing a couple of buttons on her night suit which makes Sova’s cheeks grow red almost instantly. Seeing him flushed, makes her blush too but Sova quickly turns around to avoid any more embarrassment, even hiding his eyes in his elbow for good measure.
His little act makes the radiant giggle to herself as she smiles widely while taking off the t-shirt of her night suit. Not making it any more awkward for him, she moves to the center of the bed where she lays face front on the bed, with her naked back exposed to the man.
“I’m ready.” She signals him as he carefully peeks towards her to see if it was okay to turn around. Seeing her lay down front first, the hunter takes a little sigh of relief before moving his attention to her back.
Everyone in the protocol worked out and maintained a fit physique, but she surprisingly toned and built back impressed him. He had never noticed how well defined and lean her muscles were around her arms as well, all decorated by scars and bruises from missions she had been a part of. Curious, without thinking he moves his finger gently over one of the scars which make Jett bury her face in the pillow, her posture stiffening at his touch. Seeing her like that he softly moves his hand across her back a couple of times before speaking up.
“Relax, Sunwoo…”
For some reason hearing her real name from his mouth did feel better. Taking a deep breath, and letting herself sink into the mattress, Jett relaxes her body as Sova takes some oil into his palms again and now slowly starts to apply it to the back of her neck, her shoulders, upper arms, and her back, all the way to her lower back. Putting the container aside, he positions himself beside her from where he grabs a hold of her collars and gently presses his thumbs to the back of her neck, slowly pressing up and down as he began massaging her.
Feeling his rough hands give a soothing massage, Jett can’t help but let out a relaxed moan which she doesn’t even realize she gave out. A little embarrassed at that, Sova looks past it and takes it as a compliment that his work was indeed soothing her.
Some time into it and Jett can’t help but speak up at how relaxing his work was.
“GOD! Whoever is going to get laid by you is going to be a very lucky person. Cuz the magic you do with your fingers… holy!”
A line that instantly floors Sova as he becomes red embarrassed.
“Okay, are you going to tease me too now? Do you want me to stop?” he asks chuckling which receives a laugh from her as well as she shushes herself letting him continue.
From her neck to shoulders, her back to her arms, and then to her lower back, Sova took his time with every part of her muscles and makes sure she receives the utmost relaxation she has felt. Which was adamant through the little noises and grunts that helplessly escaped her lips which made his chuckle from time to time. Paying extra attention to places that got the most reaction he turned his attention towards the clock.
07:32 AM
Surprised at how long he had been doing this he feels the need to stop and not overdo the entire thing. He speaks up while giving one final rub to her back.
“Take rest now… When you wake up, make sure to take a warm bath to wash this all off and stretch well before you engage in any activity, okay?”
“…”
“Jett?”
“…”
Confused on getting no response, Sova looks closer near her face, brushing the hair off her eyes to see that the wind-assassin was fast asleep. Her little snores make him chuckle as he smiles widely taking her sleep as a little achievement that he could relax her well.
Quietly and without shaking the bed a lot, he gets out of it and goes to her sink where he washes away his hand, applying some leftover oil in his palms on his shoulders for good measure. Wiping it clean with his napkin, he gathers all his belongings and packs them up ready to leave her room.
Seeing her back still bare, he goes around the bed to take a blanket and gently drape it over her body which she instantly snuggles into. Nothing but a dumbfounded smile on his lips, he can’t help but gently move his hand over her head, fixing the little strand of hair that kept going back over her face.
“Доброй ночи” He softly whispers near her ears, before adjusting the blanket over her shoulders.
Seeing her face relaxed, and realizing he hadn't received a chance to thank her for being with him and helping him, he feels a little guilty. Unsure of how to thank the radiant, he keeps patting her forehead softly while gazing at her.
Jett who was not completely asleep yet, stays there with her eyes closed, while Sova who was feeling extremely appreciative, leans over her and presses his lips over her forehead with his eyes closed while caressing her, leaving a soft little kiss on her forehead as a parting gift.
"Thank you, Sunwoo," he whispers.
Jett who was still awake and felt his kiss screams on the inside but knows that if she made any movement, it could lead to awkward moments which she didn't want. She did her best to maintain the asleep face.
Being sure to not overstay his welcome, he puts the bag over his shoulder and quietly makes his way out of her room, bidding her face a final look before closing the door. Standing there for a second with just a smile on his face, he reminisces back on the surprising turn of events the night had for him. Feeling the night finally take a toll on him as well, as his eyelids had now started to weigh down on him, he shook his head to get back up to at least make it to his room.
In the meantime, Jett opens her eyes once she hears the doors close and squeals mutely while blushing hard as she stuffs her face into her pillow smiling widely. To watch him be so soft towards her melted her heart away, and the idea of maybe him feeling some things for her too made her crushing heartbeat all the faster. The red cheeks grew with the bright wide smile as it stayed constant while she drifted into sleep.
And although he originally planned on taking a shower, just looking at the bed made him sleepier, so without even considering a bath, he just took off his shirt and plopped right on the bed. Groaning at the feeling of the aftereffects of his destructive tendencies, a sudden image of Jett’s smile worked like a charm as it quickly distracted him from the pain and put a smile on his lips as well.
Finding himself blush at her thought, he went ahead and buried his face into his pillow with a smile before quickly dozing off into some sweet, necessary sleep he and his body required.