Work Text:
(This is right after the ii s2 finale)
(Its a darker night, considering its late winter.)
(Btw these parentheses are me talking)
(Hi)
The lights beam bright in hotel OJ, which is somehow, dispite what happened just 2 days ago, filled with life. With belonging. With a community come together (despite their differences) to simply exist in not-so-perfect harmony after whats happened.
Mic looks around at the warm atmosphere. People giggling and playing games on the couch, others fighting over the correct amount of sugar for tea in the kitchen, it all seems so nice. But she cant help but worry more then a bit.
I suppose the tea served as a reminder.
She knows that taco has been living in the woods (mostly) by herself for six years now, but this is by far the coldest winter yet. Not to mention now she doesn't have mepad by her side. This thought has been creeping up on her mind sence the finale, and its only getting heavier by the hour.
Part of mic wants to convince herself she shouldnt feel bad for taco, after all shes done, she deserves this.
But another part of her knows better.
The growing anxiety takes over mics subconscious. And her thoughts are louder then she fears she is.
"We can die permanently now... what if shes gone by morning?"
"Has she really gone three days without food?"
"How long does she plan to spend out there untill she dies?"
"Shes just been sitting alone with her thoughts for three days? THREE DAYS?"
mic glances at the clock. 9:37pm. She doesnt have much to do. Soap is watching a movie with some others, and everyone else she knows is occupied.
...
She grabs her coat.
She steps into the cold, the thin layer of snow making a small cRsæhsh(you get what i mean) under her shoes. The cold air hits her face as she closes the door behind her. The bitter cold tells her its a good thing shes getting taco.
She contemplates where to look. Maybe the forest clearing? Mepads grave? The place they met? Where does she usually sleep out here? Would taco even LET mic help? I mean, right after mephone left, mic tried convincing taco to come to the hotel.
It didnt work.
As mic takes a step, making a plan of where to look, she hears a small sniffling noise from the side of the hotel.
A familiar one.
She peaks her head around the corner of the hotel, only to see taco on the floor with her head tucked to her knees and her arms wrapped tight around her. Shes next to the buildings heater, and the snow is a bit melted around it. Shes very clearly crying, but its quiet and muffled, and sounds like shes trying her best not to.
"...taco?"
Mic says softly.
Taco almost jumps out of her skin as she quickly tries to unnoticeably wipe her face. She satres up at mic, terrified and hopeless.
Mic stares back at her, her mind slowly flooding with suppressed empathy. Taco's blind eye still has a tear in it and her face is a bit red, despite the fact the rest of her skin is unusually pale right now from being freezing. She looks a mess, with her hair uneven and her once perfect suit-like atire torn and dirty. (Dispite this, mic finds her pretty. WOAH WHO SAID THAT)
"I-" taco chokes on her own words. Quite literally. The air is raw and frigid, and she coughs a bit from trying to speak clearly after her sob-sesh. "I- im sorry I'll leave." She says sternly, struggling a bit to stand up.
"What?" Mic looks even more concerned.
"I- didnt mean to disturb. I apologize i just- there was a heater and-" she looks at her once somewhat warm(not at all) spot. "i know thats not an excuse. Ill be out of your way." She says, speed walking in the direction of the forest with her head low, in desprite attempt of mic not seeing her face.
"Wait." Mic lightly grabs hold of taco's shoulder.
"Thats not what im here for." Mic adds.
Taco is shivering already, but that sentance makes her shake even harder. She tends to do that when afraid.
She doesnt know what to say to that.
"You know im not here for that." Mic adds.
Tacos face scrunches a bit in attempt to not resume her crying, or even breath. She doesnt want to be alone. She doesnt want to push mic away. She doesnt want to go back to the cold forest.
But...
"I deserve this. You of all people would know i do." She says, her voice shaking and small.
Mic stops her thoughts.
"Please.." tacos voice breaks a bit and she sounds like she about to start crying again.
"Let me go." She says, gently lifting mics hand off of her shoulder. "In both ways."
Mic is speechless. Tacos voice sounds so, so guilty. She has no plan on how to convince taco to come into the hotel. But she looks at tacos trembling legs, her tight fists, her.
Right before taco can try and head off to the woods, mic lets her impulsive side win as she wraps her arms around taco tightly. Taco flinches, and doesnt hug back.
"Dont say that" mic stutters, sounding like shes trying to open a locked door by telling it everythings gonna be okay. (Idiot lesbians am i right) As she hugs taco, she realizes how cold her small body really is.
Taco stands like a statue to the best of her ability, which as of now, is violently shivering.
"Dont ever say that." Mics voice gets even more shuddery.
Taco lifts her head back and looks up, trying not to blink as tears start flodding her eyes again. When was the last time she got a hug? Does she ever remember getting one? Why does mic care? Is she just manipulating mic again into caring? Oh god what if shes hurting mic without knowing it?
Her overthnking was interrupted by mics voice getting smaller.
"Im not letting go untill you agree to come to the hotel."
The one thing she doesnt want to do.
Even after the finale she doesnt want to go in the hotel. Just the thought alone of her stepping foot in that place makes her panic. She needs to find a way out of this. Even suffering in the cold is better then going to the hotel.
"Why do you care" she says, still not hugging back.
"Of corse i care." Mic says bittersweetly, because whether she likes it or not, its the truth.
"There no reason to. Im a horrible perso-"
"No. I know who you are. You showed me."
"...i dont want to hurt people again" tacos voice cracks and she blinks. Big mistake. Tears roll down her face fast as she trys to keep them from falling on mics shoulder to no success.
"You wont. And if you do i know you dont mean it"
"But what if i do"
"Taco. Theres one thing i need you to understand."
Taco tightens her entire body, still trying to stay still and stiff.
"You can call it whatever you want, fate, destiny, purpose, meaning, reason, but mephone made you to be this way." Mic says, kinda calmly, but in a logical and kind way.
A way taco hasnt heard from anyone other than mepad before.
Taco makes an ugly sound attempting to speak and not cry at the same time.
"You were ment to be a villan. But i know that you dont want to be one. And you dont have to be one. Please, just let me bring you inside." Mic doesnt know what shes saying, she just doesnt want taco to die here, alone, and pathetically. She wants to help, and she hopes its working.
"But-"
taco stops herself. Does she even know what shes going to say? Her mind is cluttered and her thoughts are so loud shes horrified that mic can hear them.
"No. You dont deserve to wither out here in the cold. You dont deserve to slowly let yourself rot next to the hotels heater. You dont deserve to sit here crying with no one."
Mic hugs a bit tighter. Maybe it is working.
"You deserve a second chance. And if not that, then you deserve life."
Taco raises her arms as if about to hug mic back, but she pauses. She knows that if she gets attached to mic something bad will happen.
She doesnt know what.
She doesnt know how.
But her gut wont let her hug back no matter how hard her heart tries. Mic is almost able to figure out the fight tacos having with herself before one side wins.
She pushes mic off of her, sternly, but not exactly roughly.
"Ill be fine." She spits out the lie like its going to make mic forget everything thats happened.
Mic looks at her in a way neither of them would be able to discribe. Its almost like dissapointment, but soft. She puts her hand out.
The two of them look at eachother.
Mic doesnt know what to do, what to think, how to help. But maybe she can think of one last thing to say.
She keeps her hand out. Its starting to shiver a bit too now.
"Theres always something to gain when youve already lost so much."
Taco looks like a deer in headlights. Shes never ever been this vulnerable before. She feels sick to her stomach and she cant tell if its her rapidly declining heath or the fact mics hand is making her rethink her entire life.
Mic worries shes done too much. Is what shes doing really helping? Is she pushing taco too far?
... did she speak too loud...?
Taco looks back and forth from mics hand to her eyes, and back to mic's hand. Then her own hand.
Theres so much going on in her head, it almost feels overwhelming, but thats mostly because she can only compare it to sitting on the floor and sobbing currently.
She slowly reaches out her hand, shaking, and retracts a bit before grabbing mics, but grasps it tight once she has.
Mic thinks about making a gesture of a hug, but before she can, taco nearly collapses into mics arms.
Mic closes them around her, suprized.
Taco hugs back tighter then shes ever held on to anyone before. "Im sorry-" she mutters as clearly as she can. The regret fills her voice to its brim.
"Its okay." Mic reassures her, maybe too quickly.
"Im really sorry-" taco continues.
"It will be alright." She speaks quickly but quietly, overlapping taco a bit.
They continue stumbling over their words.
"I hurt you and so many others so badly im sorry i just want to be a good person, i mean like-" she blurts rapidly like a broken water tower.
"I know" mic runs her hand along tacos back, hugging tighter.
Their speech overlaps. Its messy. Theyre messy.
"I dont want to be a manipulative bad person i just push people away because i know ill hurt them if they get close and-" taco starts to hyperventilate a bit, like some sort of sealed container of ink was just blown to smithereens by a comically large hammer in her head.
"It'll be alright." Mic says somewhat calmly, knowing taco has never been this open to anyone.
"Im so scared of being what i was made to be again. I dont want to be that. I really dont- i- i- dont know what to do anymore. I dont deserve any of this."
"Thats a lie."
Taco stops.
Mic uses the silence as an excuse to to speak as quiet as she can.
"Youre a good person."
The night sky is filled with stars. The moon's light beams on the white snow, causing it to glisten in the rays. The snow almost looks like its glowing.
Taco hides herself in mics arms at the side of the hotel, burrying her face in mics fluffy hair as she attempts to slow her breath. Her heart is racing and mic can feel it.
Its 9:52, and the two of them hold eachother under the vast sky.
Taco has stopped crying(barely), but is still very much on the verge of tears.
"Lets go. Your freezing." Mic says in a comforting, almost playful tone. Taco nods, her face still hidden in mics shoulder.
Mic feels it and squeezes just that little bit tighter, before slowly letting go of the hug while still holding both of tacos hands, and looks at her for a bit. She still looks like a mess but she looks a bit less like shes suffocating in her own head.
Taco doesnt exactly look hollow, but also not exactly relived. Other then the guilty shame that mostly covers her face, mic can only read it as being some sort of comfort.
They head to the front doors of hotel OJ, taco squeezes mics hand tightly before shes able to open the door.
"How many people are in there" she whispers.
"I dunno let me check." Mic says, creaking open the door and scanning the room while counting under her breath quickly.
"A bit over 10"
Taco tences up.
"It will be alright i promise you."
"Mic- i dont want to be seen like this. I dont want to be seen."
"We can walk fast. You know where my room is right?"
"Yes but-"
"Okay. Then its all fine." Mic says, opening the door and walking through before relizing taco hasnt moved. Shes frozen from terror. Running all the things that are about to go wrong in her head.
"Come on" mic whispers reassuringly. Taco is still hesitant.
"Is ..pickle there..?" She says, quiet and almost afraid.
"..." mic recalls seeing him in that room, yes. But she cant bring herself to say that right now. Taco reads her expression anyways, not that it was hard to.
Tacos eyes widen. She steps back, causing mic to take a step as well.
"No.... no- i cant- im sorry i-i-" tacos breathing picks its pace up again. She tries to squirm her hand out of mics, but mic tightens her grip and grabs tacos other hand.
"Trust me." Mic says quietly, but somehow loud enough for it to echo in tacos mind.
Tacos expression changes. The guilt comes flooding back as she looks past mic into the warmly-lit hotel, filled with quiet chatter.
Mic leads the way, looking around the main room as they give taco a nod to follow. They close the door behind her.
The entire room is looking in a sickening silence. Some people look afraid, others curious, some concerned, and one in particular stares as if hes been shot.
Mic looks at pickle. Pickle looks at mic, then taco, then mic again.
Taco sees everyone staring and looks at the ground, even though she can still feel their eyes on her. She picks up her pace a bit, almost walking into mic.
Right after they get through the open doorway into the room's hallways the chatter slowly returns.
"Has she been outside all this time?"
"Of course she has."
"Is OJ okay with this?"
"How is she here?"
"..."
"She looks a mes-"
"Sh."
"Poor thing."
"Do you hear about what she did??"
Taco, still holding her hand, looks up at mic. Mic looks back and then points to her room.
"That one."
Once in mics room, mic heads to her closet, and grabs a few things.
"Here." She says, handing taco a change of clothes with a pair of fluffy pants while smiling slightly. "Theres a bathroom across form us in the hallway, it has showers aswell."
Taco looks back, being shown this much kindness is making her break(not literally lmao ep15core) a bit.
"What can i make you." Mic says, only now taking off her coat, hanging it on a nearby hanger.
"What?" Taco comes back to reality.
"To eat. You need food." Mic says, still kind, but much more matter-of-factly.
Taco pauses, only now does she realize shes starving.
"Anything." She answers a bit quickly.
"Your favorite tea is mint lemon, yeah?"
She pauses. "...yeah." if tacos honest with herself, she almost forgot. Her mind is somewhere else right now.
"Okay. Tell me if you need anything." Mics smile is so sweet its contagious to taco.
"Thanks."
"Of course."
They look at eachother, smiling like idiot lesbians.
A moment passes. With no more words, they hug one more time.
This time its a bit different though.
This time there was no hesitation.
(Both of them want to say i love you, but nither of them will because im evil and thats also slight mischaracterization and i would rather DIE)
☆a bit later☆
Taco is sitting on the very edge of mics bed, in mics clothes, looking at the floor as she does. She feels warm. She hasnt felt that to this degree(haha pun) for a while. Mic hasnt finished cooking yet.
Although Mic isnt the best at it, shes at least half decent. As shes heating up the potstickers she found in the freezer. As she does, soap walks up to her.
"Hey." She says, half sweet and half off put.
"Hi." Mic already knows where its going.
"So- uh-"
"Yeah. I found her freezing and trying to use the hotels heating system to warm herself up. big shocker that i dare to have basic human decency and save her life, am i right?" Mic says, half joking. She sounds kinda nervous.
"No- im not gonna get mad. At all. Actually the opposite."
"Huh?"
"Im proud, mic. You did the right thing. Tacos done some shitty stuff but at the end of the day shes still a human with a beating heart."
"And a good one at that." Mic says, scooping the potstickers into a dish and putting the pan into the sink.
Soap gives mic a look. (CAN WE PRETEND SHE SHIPS TACOMIC??? THANK YOU.)
"Have you talked to OJ yet?" Soap added.
"No. And ill be honest, i dont care."
"What?"
"I know he'll understand. Hes not stupid. And if he is, im ready to defend my decision with my own place in this hotel."
"... youre a good person, mic."
Mic and soap look at eachother
"Thanks." Mic says sweetly.
"Keep me updated on how taco is doing."
(Idiot lesbians pt 2??? Clean karaoke shippers theres ur food)
Taco can hear mic coming down the hall. She quickly fixes her clothes but pauses at the sound of a second pair of footsteps.
Mic is carrying a platter of potstickers and a large cup of mint-lemon tea, looking straight at OJ.
"I heard th-" oj began
"Yup. Its true." Mic stood tall.
Before oj can add, mic continues.
"I can understand why you wouldnt want her here, but theres two options here. And i will not allo-"
"Im not here to make or inforce a rule, mic." Oj says, smiling.
"Youre not?"
"No. I just have a question." He says, through laughing under his breath a bit
"Oh." Mic becomes a bit irrationally scared.
"Do you need me to grab you an extra blanket?"
Mics eyes fill with relief as she lets her smile widen. "Yeah. She could use another."
"Okay. Let me know if i can help in any other way"
"Thank you."
"No, thank you."
Oj walks away and mic opens the door. Tacos still on the edge of the bed. She just heard all of it.
"Doing good?" Mic asks.
"Better." Taco smiles a bit. And its an honest smile.
Mic sets the food down on the bed and hands taco the tea.
"...thank you." Taco stutters a bit. Shes still a bit cold, but holding the hot tea is comforting at least.
"Of course." Mic says, sitting next to her.
The two of them share a silence.
Not an akward one, or a tence one.
Not one filled with fear or suspense.
Just a calm one.
A comfortable one.
Taco scoots a bit closer to mic.
Mic notices.
"Can i make a promise?"
Taco says, looking up from her tea.
".... yeah?" Mic stammers.
"... i promise ill try to be a good person."
The guilt still hasnt left tacos voice.
Mic tilts her head a bit and smiles. "Can i make one?"
Taco nods.
"I promise you are one."