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The next day at the protocol saw a rather late morning for Sova who unlike his usual self had overslept. Usually, even after the most rugged missions, he would manage to wake up early and get to his routine, but perhaps the sleepless night where he spent himself tiring out, alongside the emotional breakdown he had, his body just collapsed in the bed. Once his eyes slowly adjusted to the daylight and fell on the clock, he scrambled to get ready and within moments was in his shower to quickly freshen up.
11:18 AM
His head hurt a little as he slowly remembered the events of last night and a small smile soon appeared on his face when he pieced the moments he spent with Jett in the range. Suddenly the image her bare back he massaged made him feel red as he quickly wrapped up his bath and morning routine. As he wore his entire uniform and attached his bow, glimpses of the assassin kept flashing in his mind which made him let out a chuckle as he reminisced over her little talks, laughs, and the time they shared.
But being a soldier at heart, it wouldn’t sway him away from his duties and within a minute his steps were approaching Brimstone’s office.
Sova knocked a couple of times on the door to the big man’s office and let himself in where Brimstone was working on his table with some reports. Being the soldier that he was, Sova confidently strutted in and stood firmly in front of Brim’s table. While Brimstone had originally tried to make Sova somewhat lose the soldier side of him, he had eventually given up and embraced that quality of the hunter. Meanwhile, Sova too had started being more flexible and was developing new ways of life that were unknown to him in the past.
“Commander.” Sova spoke up firmly.
Brimstone acknowledged it with a soft nod while showing him his hand, gesturing Sova to ease out. Sova nodded in response and rested his stance to stand a little looser before taking the seat to which Brimstone pointed at.
Closing the files in front of him, Brimstone then spoke up.
“So Sova, how are you doing today? Did you get healed up?”
“Well, I am doing much better now Brimstone, thank you. And no, I will take heals from Skye shortly after this.” Sova replied.
“Be sure to do it soon, don’t push yourself. What brings you here?”
“Um, I wanted to get the details about my next mission.”
“Sova-”
“Sir.. Brimstone..”
“No, listen to me. I know you feel guilty about not completing all the objectives of the mission, and you want to rectify and prove yourself but that will need to wait. Currently, we have other agents on missions already, and frankly speaking, there are no urgent businesses that need to be indulged in.” Brimstone replied in a caring and calm voice as he ruffled through some papers towards the end.
Sova sat there in silence unsure how to respond before Brimstone continued.
“Look Sasha, one bad mission doesn’t define you okay?.. If I’m not mistaken Skye is planning a nightclub visit tonight with the others. While I don’t usually condone these things, Sage convinced me to keep everyone’s mental a little healthy. So you should go too. Let your mind off of this for a moment before getting back in the field.”
“I’ll think about it..”
“Please do, and if you really feel like you need a task, I can hand you one tomorrow.”
“Understood. I’ll take my leave then.” Sova said after sitting there in silence for a moment and then exiting the office.
Thinking back on Brimstone’s words, Sova considered the nightclub idea before quickly rejecting the thought as he felt the need to be alone with his thoughts. However, these thoughts quickly got interrupted by a sharp pain he felt over one of his scars near the gut. It made him cough but coughing increased the pain. Waiting no further, he quickly paced through the hallways looking for Skye when the pain became unbearable and he took a stop. Close by was a door and he knocked hard on it as he curled up his pain while holding his gut and leaning against the wall. He groaned in pain as he could barely even look up when the door next to him opened and out came a familiar voice with familiar soothing winds brushing his face.
10:45 AM
Jett had a sweet morning herself after the whole ride that was the previous night. Waking up the smell of oil might not have been the best of starts but the feeling of having all her muscles relaxed and free of pain after the congestion she felt in them a few hours ago was relieving. She woke up late, but since Sage had already relayed to Jett about her schedule, she knew she didn’t have anything to attend to that morning so she took it slow.
Stretching her neck and shoulders, she let out a sigh while slowly taking in the morning sunlight with a smile. When things felt a little too free, her sleep vanished when she realized the events that unfolded last night and how her upper body had no clothes. Immediately getting flushed red, she hid her face in embarrassment when the image of her crush training with her, massaging her and even leaving a sneaky kiss on her head graced her mind. She did a happy little squeal while giggling before grabbing her shirt nearby and holding it to her chest.
As a VALORANT Agent, all these individuals had cut away from a huge part of their lives and feelings. Always on missions and trying to save the world from one of the other crises, they barely got these slice-of-life moments. So while early in her crush days she did not bother pondering on these emotions - after the last night, she couldn’t help but feel being fluttered with these emotions especially when she sensed a potential of him liking her back.
While these emotions did give her all the joy she could ask for, she quickly did heavy breathing to catch hold of them before getting carried away. Still giggling, she quickly hopped into the bath and then slipped into something more comfy for the day. A simple tee, and comfy shorts, she was wearing her shoes when she heard the heavy knocks on her door.
“Just a sec!” she screamed before quickly tying her laces and dashing to the door and opening it.
11:30 AM
Sova was leaning against the wall clutching onto his gut, writhing through the pain when the door opened and the gentle breeze that carried with her dash hit his face.
“Who is it?” she mumbled opening the door before peeking out and seeing Sova on the side. He was clearly in pain and suddenly seeing one of her fellow agents look so distressed she immediately rushed to help. Assisting him quickly, she checked in on him and helped him stand up straight.
“Oh god Sova, what happened?! Did you get hurt??” she exclaimed in worry as Sova made it to his feet while leaning on Jett for support.
“Ah, Jett.. Ah, I am fine. I just..” he spoke grunting through the pain, his words clearly not matching his state.
“No, you’re not! Tch!” she could feel his weight almost crushing her and seeing his legs struggle too, she immediately took his arm over her shoulder and took him into her room. Guiding him to her bed, she made him lie down while carefully placing his head on the pillow. She immediately noticed him clutching to his guts and then pieced it together that he probably was yet to receive the heals from Skye.
Getting him a glass of water, she carefully made him drink some of it before brushing his hair and checking in again.
“Why are you in your uniform?! And did you not get heals from Skye?”
“I... I was going to.”
“You should’ve done that first! Wait here, I’ll go fetch her.”
She said as Sova caught his breath and sat up while holding her arm for support. She stayed by his side as he struggled but he soon started taking deeper breaths too. Drinking some more water, he kept mumbling “I’m fine.” while resting back. Meanwhile, seeing how he had still held her for support, Jett reached out to her phone which was luckily close by, and gave a quick call to Skye asking her to join them.
In the meantime, Jett went and got some more water for Sova who quickly drank all of it as well before she sat next to him. She was clearly worried and questioning a lot of his decisions at the moment but figured it wasnt the best time to indulge in it. Seeing her face, he figured as well how he concerned her and ruined her morning. However, in his mind, he was somewhere thankful that the door he ended up stumbling on was hers instead of someone else’s. Something about her calmed him down but seeing her worry made him sad. She had her hand on his leg, while her own leg was fidgeting in anxiety. Her eyes kept going back to the door waiting for Skye to come when Sova leaned forward and placed his hand on hers in an assuring way.
“Don’t worry, I am fine..” he said with a soft smile while appreciating her efforts. A small moment of concern, anxiety, and warmth got shared between the two as their gazes got locked. The little pause out of that hectic situation felt needed to them as she placed her other hand on top of his and softly caressed it. She nodded at his words with a soft smile before a loud ‘Ahem’ interrupted them.
Their eyes quickly turned to the door as they took their hands back away from each other when they saw Skye standing in the doorway with her tiger behind her, and the birdy on its back. Jett quickly got up with an awkward chuckle as Skye eyed both of them with a subtle smirk on her lips. She gazed at Jett a little longer than Sova but that was because it was clear how Jett had difficulty keeping a straight face, unlike the man who quickly regained his composure. Rolling her eyes to herself, she got back to the work she was here for. Walking closer to the bed, she sat on the empty nightstand after Jett allowed, and just did a quick check on Sova for any fever.
“Hm, did I not tell you to come to meet me when you wake up? What are you doing here like this?” She spoke up in a way trying to scold him for his recklessness.
“I..” Sova spoke but got cut off by Jett.
“He wasnt here the whole night!... uh I mean, he.. Like, stumbled outside my door a few minutes before I called you.. I think he went to Brimstone before that.”
A visible question mark appeared on Skye’s face at her response but she moved past it. Jett couldn’t help but cringe but as Skye picked the conversation again, she moved past it too.
“Did you, really?” she asked Sova
“I... Yes.”
“Oh buddy, why?..” she asked a little disappointed and more concerned. “Tch, either way. You don’t seem to have a fever but I will need to see your wounds. You might need to um..” her words lingered as her eyes looked at the upper part of his uniform. Skye’s healing worked the best when the trinkets were in direct sight of the wound as her radiant powers could then directly work on the area. Understanding what she meant, Sova excused himself to sit up straight and took off his cowl and cape before trying to remove the shirt. But as he lifted his arms to take off the shirt, a loud moan of pain escaped his lips as his abdomen stretched, hurting all the wounds.
Hearing his yelp, the other two quickly moved to help but Skye then quickly halted.
“Oh mate, wait. Let us. Um girly, why don’t you help him take his shirt off, I’ll prepare the trinkets for him.” Skye spoke up towards Jett while Sova sat back unable to move much.
Jett in response couldn’t help but feel a little shy, but it wasnt something she could say no to. Trying to keep her calm, she agreed and then climbed on the bed, kneeling next to Sova. Skye got away to a table close by removing the trinkets from her pocket and keeping a side eye on the two, keenly observing them. Her little birdy rested on her shoulder while the concerned tiger got on the bed and sat near Sova’s legs with its paws on him.
Quietly giggling to herself while shaking her head, Skye watched the two awkwardly maneuver the task. Skye had always been suspicious of the little wind girl being a little too fond of the hunter but seeing them both blush and be awkward, she was definitely planning to have fun with this.
Jett carefully closed the distance and started helping Sova with removing his tee. Since it had to be done overhead, they faced some difficulties before Sova took one of his legs off the bed and let it down on the side giving her more space. Using her help to hold his hand up, he bit his lip while taking the pain as Jett carefully took off his shirt. What they hadn’t realized is that Jett had straddled his leg on the bed in order for support. However, once the shirt was off, the big scar on his gut was visibly soaked with blood and Jett couldn't help but react to it with concern. Sova had his head tilted back with eyes closed as he caught his breath, his hand clutching near the wound again. When Jett looked up, suddenly the image of the man beneath him became very ingrained in her mind as it dawned especially how she had positioned herself on him.
Fuck!
She froze like a deer in headlights and before she could even do something a small whisper of her name from Sova’s lips between his heavy breaths made her red.
“Sunwoo… hmph.. Th- thank you..” Sova said as he lifted his head.
Facing a similar situation to her, seeing her straddled over her leg with his shirt in her hand was an image he felt extremely shy about. It was attractive! He couldn’t help but stare at her directly in awe. Suddenly the messy bun was the most perfect hair he had seen, her red cheeks the cutest, and the whole moment - something he knew he wasnt not going to forget anytime soon, and even something he would like more of!
While Skye had made herself busy too, she managed to prepare her trinkets just in time to see these two deers having a dear moment. Skye had suspicions but seeing them frozen like that, she knew that something was definitely cooking here and by her thoughts, it was delicious! Keeping her excitement about it to herself, she softly whistled at her birdy on the shoulder who took a small flight across the room and flew between Sova and Jett before sitting on the window aisle. The sudden flight of the bird snapped them back to reality and Jett quickly got off of him. Sova too, who was whipped, turned his attention elsewhere while trying not to act too awkward despite his cheeks being red regardless. He was good at keeping emotions in check, but this time it was a little too much for him too. While he controlled his smiles, the redness in his cheeks was quite visible. But too bad Jett was too busy still trying to process the thing as she stood next to the bed while Skye made her way to him.
“Good.. Thank you, Jett” she said in a teasing way before sulking at the look of the wound.
“Sova, I mean this lovingly, but you’re a dumbass trying to get out of your room with this thing so bad! What the heck were you thinking??” she spoke up.
“I-”
“I don't wanna know, whatever it was couldn’t be more important than a potentially fatal injury!”
Sova stayed quiet as he couldn’t say anything to pretty fair scolds. Shaking her head she held the trinkets in one of her palms and closed her eyes carefully channeling her radiant powers into the trinkets, using them as a medium to activate her powers. Slowly a big field of green aura covered the room as her tiger and bird moved next to her. The field had a sense of calm in it, it was weird to describe but the field felt like a garden of your favorite flowers with a subtle breeze that carried its scent, it was quite healing in itself. Once the field stabilized, she opened her eyes and with a smirk nodded at Sova.
“You ready mate?”
Sova nodded in response before laying back a little as Skye concentrated on his wounds and pulled her palms away. The trinkets started to float between her palms and every time she would pull her palms, it would seemingly extract energy from those trinkets and a small stream of green aura would travel to the wounds and start healing them. Slowly, Sova’s wounds started to heal and all the mess that was created on his body started to automatically clean up.
“Jett, make sure to stay in the field, it will heal you up too!” Skye spoke up as she saw the aura from the trinkets connect to Jett’s hands.
Jett was confused at first but then seeing her fingers had some scratches after the archery practice, she held them out watching them get healed too.
They had seen her healing work a lot of times, but every time it was fascinating how she carried such power between her palms and it was always cool to watch your body automatically cover up with little to no pain and heal like it was never even scratched.
Eventually, Sova’s face lit up too as the pain disappeared and his body recovered. Smaller bruises also healed up and by the end of it, his body was back to as it was before the mission. Skye brought her palms together too as she stopped channeling her powers and put the now dried-up trinkets back into her pocket.
“There you go, how are you feeling bud?” She asked.
Sova had managed to get up and sit upright as he was now checking the spots on his body chuckling at how miraculously her powers worked.
“Perfect, I already feel like I go back in the field even!”
“Oi shush! I’m gonna smack you if you talk about missions again. Plus, you still need some rest to recover mentally. Jett, talk some sense into this guy!” she quickly reverted,
“Oh I.. I mean, yeah.. Sova you need to take a break, it is okay to.” Jett spoke up awkwardly before Skye continued.
“Yeah, listen to her! And also, you’re coming with us tonight I don’t care! We are going out, we gonna get some drinks, dance a bit, have some fun and we’ll be out!”
“About that, actually..” Sova tried to refute the idea then and there but was quickly shut down by Skye. When he still insisted Skye nudged Jett to say something.
“Yeah, it will be nice to go out.. I would appreciate it if you came with us.. Please?” Jett spoke softly.
Hearing her talk so softly, hearing her say saying please, and hearing her say ‘I would appreciate’ was something Skye could swear she had never expected Jett to do or say EVER, let alone within a SINGLE sentence. Watching Sova lose his words, Skye just knew that he had no way to refuse. He clearly couldn’t as he conceded and agreed to join them for the evening.
“Good! Now I have to go to some work, but I’ll see you two in the evening, ok? And Jett, make sure this dumbass doesn’t knock on Brim’s office again!” she says hitting Sova’s head with a knuckle playfully as they all shared a laugh. Within a moment, Skye and her tiger were out of the room and Sova was on his feet too finally breathing without feeling any pain. Jett too walked around and bid her bye before standing with Sova while looking at his body which had healed up as well.
12:15 PM
“It’s good to see you healed up and fine again. It was scary how you were acting 15 minutes ago!” she said chuckling.
“Heh, yeah. I am sorry for the trouble and the anxiety I caused you.”
“Oh please!” she shrugged it away, “I was totally cool and collected! You were the one scared!”
To which he couldn’t help but laugh before agreeing to her.
“Yes, yes. I was scared. But um... It was a little less scary with you, so.. Спасибо, Thank you.”
“Oh.. you’re welcome!” she said with a soft smile.
Somewhere they both wanted to have an extended talk, or maybe just time together but both fell short for words. They idly looked at each other while sharing smiles before Sova broke the ice.
“Oh also, your hair.. It looks nice, makes you look cute,” he said softly.
The sudden compliment caught her off guard and she acted confused. “o-Oh.. I didn't even properly do my hair heh. But thank you...YOU look great too, by the way.”
“Oh? um..” he felt awkward with the sudden return of the compliment as he was shirtless with messy hair too. Seeing his eyesight move to his bare body and then turning away from her was very unexpected for her too as she practically saw him almost shy away a little.
“I mean like.. not your body, I mean your face! Like—"
" Oh..." this made him shy away for real as he felt a little blush rising up.
"Like, your body is great too! But"
"uhm.. Th—"
"I don't mean it in a creepy way no I just.. You.. I— shit.. I" Jett started completely stumbling on her words and as she shrugged her face away, Sova stepped in and gently held her shoulders, leaning down a little.
"Hey hey.. Calm down, I did not think it was creepy, quite endearing actually," he said assuringly.
"Okay..." She whispered, still a little shy to make eye contact but with a smile still visible on her lips.
"Sunwoo.." he whispered and as her face turned to her he leaned in and wrapped his arms around her giving her a gently but firm hug.
"S— Sasha.."
"Thank you for looking out for me, I appreciate you." he softly said as he leaned into the hug, his words quickly melting her too as she couldn't help but tightly hold him back and lean into the hug as well.
They both sighed in peace being in each other's embrace as they both somewhere let their emotions and feelings drive their actions for a bit. For two people who always had to keep practicality and other burdens and responsibilities in mind before taking any action, this moment felt novel. Eventually getting out of the hug, they both realized that perhaps it was time for a small bye since they both had some cleaning to do after the whole thing went down.
"You should go take a bath and rest a bit.." She said briefly placing her hand on his bare chest before pulling back and walking to the bed where his shirt and other parts of uniform were laid.
"I will. And yes, please, I'll need to wash them. Sorry for creating a mess." he responded before taking his clothes back into his arms. Since they were a little bloodied, he didn't bother putting them back on.
"Oh there's barely any mess, nothing made it to my bed, don't worry. And please, let me know if you need any help, I'm just a call or a knock away, okay?" She replied.
"I will, thank you," he said with a smile before nodding at her one last time before stepping out of his door and going back to his room.
She walked with him to the door and watched him walk away for a bit before closing the door and leaning back against it, chuckling at the whole encounter.
In the meantime, when the two were busy sharing a heartfelt hug, the little birdy who was still on the window aisle quietly flew out of the open door. Taking a flight through the corridor and chirping around, it found her mama Skye outside who was seemingly waiting for her.
Giving it a whistle, Skye lifted the back of her palm in the air as the birdy carefully sat on it.
With a curious smirk filled with anticipation, Skye nudged at the bird before placing it on her shoulder.
"So, tell me little birdy what did you see?~"