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"Oh come on. We all know you like him."
A monotone robotic voice read the message aloud.
The infamous Hank J Wimbleton sat quietly on the roof of Status Quo HQ, gazing at the blood red horizon in front of them. The roof was a common hang out spot simply for the view of it. It made for good conversation, if you ever had time for that. A lone soldat lay next to Hank on the concrete building, kicking their feet in the air while holding the device that spoke back to them only a few inches away from their face. Their long hair laid to the left of their shoulder and ended around their elbow, tied in a messy ponytail with an extra hair band at the end to make it into a scorpion tail shape.
"UGH!" They groaned, squinting harshly at the screen and tapping the microphone icon to yell into it, "It's not like that! I just like to be around her! That's all!"
A huff fled their nose as they took the time to carefully edit the message bit by bit, squinting once again as the characters were repeated back to them while they typed. Hank seemed unbothered, only really half listening to the bickering that had been going on between Scorpio and Deimos through their messages. For a good couple weeks now the soldat has been fighting for their life trying to convince others that they didn't have ushy gushy feelings for their boss, despite the fact they were terrible at hiding it anyway. As they clumsily put their device back into their pocket, Hank reached over and began to tap a gentle pattern onto their arm with their fingers. Scorpio recognized it as morse code.
Is this about Doc again?
Scorpio rolled their eyes and scoffed in response, "Yes, and Deimos won't leave me the fuck alone about it! I swear I don't like her that way."
Hank continued to tap on their shoulder.
The way you act says otherwise, thunder.
"Well how else am I supposed to prove myself then?!" The soldat threw their hands in the air, crossing them over their chest, "It's not fair that no one will believe me!"
By changing the way you act. Your words can easily mean something else in the eyes of others.
"But I can't! Every time I try to it doesn't work! My body just does what it wants and I can't control it." Their voice rasped, dragging their hands down their face seemingly in frustration, "I just- I don't know what else to do. I don't know what the hell my body is doing."
Instead of fighting it, why don't you look within yourself? Repressing it will only make the emotions worse.
Their yellow scarred face scrunched with agitation, releasing tension with a deep sigh. Scorpio knew hiding their feelings didn't do them any good and they've been told this before. At the same time, they hated having to dig inside themselves to find the reason for whatever they were feeling. They were taught emotions got in the way of what's important, so it was only natural that they bottled them up and stashed them away in a safe inside their heart.
"You know I don't like doing that, Hank." They spoke softly.
Tough. You can only go so far masking yourself like this. You know what's true, so live in truth instead of shielding your soul with lies.
"Tch," the soldat pushed Hank's hand off of their shoulder in annoyance, "Since when did you get so profound?"
The larger grunt rasped in amusement at their remark, returning their hand to tap in code once again.
Since the moment you started letting yourself develop a crush on our boss.
A loud ding rang out from Scorpio's back pocket. It was another message from Deimos. The grunt reached for their device to unlock it and let the screen reader relay the words aloud to them again.
"It is absolutely like that!! It is the most obvious thing in the fuckin' world!! You're constantly swooning over him like a lost puppy who's imprinted on a new owner"
Scorpio growled and began shouting into the microphone again, "Oh shut UP! This is so stupid to even talk about! Not like you can do anything about it anyway, asshole!"
You're proving my point.
They turn in Hank's general direction and put their phone away, "I just don't want to get in the way of his business. I know he's busy with whatever the Maker knows he's doing. He doesn't have time to be in a relationship, let alone in one with a cannibal! I was made to oppose your cause! I only ended up here because I was a malfunction to begin with."
Hank rolled their eyes and gave a little push to their shoulder before tapping again, seemingly a little agitated.
None of that even matters. You still work under Status Quo. No one will give a shit if you even do date Doc.
They pause, loudly grating their metal jaw and cracking their knuckles before Hank began to swipe a few more notes across the soldat's shoulder.
You think you're a malfunction? I have died over and over again, just for Doc to bring me back and piece me back together.
Another pause. This time, it was more quiet. Scorpio tried to search their masked face for some semblance of an expression, but to no avail. The only thing looking back at them was piercing red goggles of a grunt who was nothing but a husk of their former self.
I am not supposed to be living, yet I continue to be. You are not the only one who's broken here, thunder.
As the larger grunt went on, Scorpio's expression softened into that of a pathetic little puppy begging for forgiveness. They know Hank is right. Everyone means well, but something deep within them feels such a need to be defensive. Something within them knew that everything that everyone had said to them is more than true. It is a fact.
Hank's raspy breath sighed in the silence as their fingers continued to dance over their skin.
The fact Doc keeps you so close isn't something she normally does. It is only you and me she has ever allowed even near her office. We aren't special, but we are still clearly important.
Another ding went off in the soldat's pocket, but this time they ignore it. They grit their teeth and take a deep breath, fidgeting with their long ponytail over their untouched shoulder.
"I guess I just can't accept the fact she sees something in me. I am not used to... that sort of feeling. It seems unreal to me. Yet in my eyes, she's like an unfathomable treasure I can't allow anyone else to touch. I want her to belong to me, in my hoard of gold." They rambled on, their voice once again gentle, albeit sprinkled in guilt.
Hank simply grumbled and shrugged, Scoprio's blurry vision picking up on every unspoken word that was said to them. At this point it really was up to them whether they wanted to go get him or just continue to suffer silently. A defeated sigh made their chest shrink, reaching back into their pocket to open their phone to listen to the last message sent to them from Deimos.
"The fact you're soooo defensive already tells me everything I need to know anyway! Why don't you just admit it already?" The synthesized voice spoke.
Scorpio paused. A few minutes had already passed since that message and they weren't sure if they should even respond now. She was right, but was it really worth it to continue combating it? Were they really going to get anything out of a false victory in a battle against ghosts? What was the purpose in continuing this false character?
The soldat turned to look at Hank, quietly staring off into the horizon next to them, "What should I even say to her?"
Without looking away, the grunt replied in a voice that clawed their eardrums like metal against concrete, "Up to you. Fight or accept defeat."
"You make it sound like I'm in a life or death situation!" Scorpio snorted, getting an unnoticed glare from Hank in return, "Come on, I don't act like that. Yeah, I deny it but I don't go for the throat!"
"You fight like an animal trying to survive." Their voice scratched again.
Scorpio's smile melted into confusion, almost taken aback that Hank was using their voice to respond. They only ever did that if verbal communication was absolutely necessary.
"So then... I guess I just accept defeat then? Everyone already knows..." Scorpio trailed off.
"It's your choice," Hank coughed, returning to using their hand to finish the thought,
It's not something I'm gonna concern myself over. Got more important things to think about.
The soldat looked back at their phone and listened to the message again, taking a few moments to think of a proper response. A mischievous smile crept up their cheeks as they pressed the microphone button on the keyboard.
They lifted the device to speak into it through their grin, a cocky tone coating their voice, "And so what if I did?"
They began to giggle and kicked their feet against the concrete roof, the soles of their leather boots making a hefty hoofing sound with sheer glee. The yellow scar across their face almost had a glow to it, like their face had become the new sun of Nevada. Soon enough their joyous little dance would be interrupted by another, composed by Hank's fingers.
Why are you so smiley all of a sudden? Thought you were scared.
Scorpio shrugged and barred their large, pointy teeth at the larger grunt in an uncontrolled grin, yellow gums accenting the inner lines of their lips.
You really are like a dog.
The smiling soldat gave Hank's arm a playful shove, scoffing at the comparison, "Oh shut up! You're like Frankenstein's monster then!"
A metallic wheeze grated through Hank's jaw, his eyes lifted in some form of a smile.
I'm sure Doc would love to hear that one.
"Yeah, yeah, quit bustin' my chops! Keep that up and you'll end up with a chunk missing from your arm!"
Scorpio's giggling was quickly interrupted when another notification dinged in their lap, picking up their phone to let their screen reader do all the talking.
"Well shit, now I owe Sanford 20 bucks >:("
They cackled so hard that anyone within a 10 mile radius could've sworn they heard a hyena. Their laugh echoed through the sky and trampled through the quiet desert like a storm. Before they could cough up a lung they tried to compose themselves, fighting off a few broken giggles and wiping away some tears from their one working eye.
Once they were at least a little calmer they held up their phone to respond back, "Good luck finding the funds for it!"
Before Scorpio could even put their phone back down Deimos sent back another message, simply reading:
"Man fuck you >:("
Once again sending them into another laughing fit, that almost made their lungs collapse.