[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]she blinks, the tap against her shoulder foreign and surprising all at once. her body tenses and she fights the urge to whip around with a scowl for her life is not necessarily in danger - it simply... feels like it, most of the time.

"uh, sure."

somehow, her eye patch suddenly feels uncomfortable. the strap is too tight and the fabric itches her cheek a little too much if she moves a certain way. it's odd, though, as it had been fine earlier.

"here, follow me. it's a block or so away. that okay?"

she turns, rotating on her heel and beginning to lead them through the masses toward the main supply outpost.

Aidan Hereford

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]a little laugh escapes at the thought.

"yeah, he'll definitely flip - any way i can convince you to get photo evidence of said flip, too?"

she doesn't know the underboss well, but something about the higher ups being shocked at this revelation brings a sense of amusement she can't ignore.

and then, the amusement is gone... replaced by a surge of emotions and fondness she hadn't quite noticed until now. her eye stares down at the cloth in his hand, outstretched and waiting for her. she plucks it up gingerly, running fingerpads over soft fabric.

"i - thank you."

it's a kindness she has not been shown before, one too foreign for her to know exactly how to respond.

"did you bring this just because?"

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]she lets out a small, thin laugh.

"yeah, i guess i look like shit, huh?"

does it look worse than it feels? will she avoid mirrors after this?

her shoulders roll through a light shrug, a hint of regret unable to fully leave them.

"i didn't want to bother you, i guess? thought i could do it on my own."

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]she nods gently yet doesn't quite speak for he seems focused.

and a moment later, she understands exactly why.

a ball of mist quickly forms into water and he inches closer to press it toward her wound. at first, she flinches as her body wants to reel away from the unknown...

once soft relief begins to seep into her skin, however, she relaxes out of fear.

it does tickle, she notes with a stifled giggle, though it's not entirely uncomfortable either.

after what feels like too long, she slowly blinks open her remaining eye and begins to pull away from the water sphere.

"it... feels better, i think?"

as well as an empty socket of flesh could, at the very least. a small smile manages to find a slight beginning on her lips.

"is that a new trick of yours?"

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]”i thought i was.”

unfortunately, she had been wrong.

a frown rises quickly at the thought.

”i’m sorry — i’m okay, at least?”

she’s still breathing with eight or so lives still remaining so it could have been worse, she supposes… couldn’t it?

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]the resulting smile is slightly easier this time. it feels less like lying and more akin to relief.

"yeah, me too."

and it fades quickly, that fleeting sensation of repose.

"um, are you sure?"

she grimaces.

"it's kinda... nasty looking."

the empty socket is still bloody and raw, unable to mend itself as quickly as she'd like. it oozes slowly through the stages, sure, but she can't even bring herself to look at it in the mirror so how could he stomach it?

still, she relents and gently unpeels the taped gauze to place her receipt for freedom on full display.

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]in hindsight, there's a lingering regret whenever she looks at the sent text... as if it had been a morphine-induced lapse in judgement - and maybe, in a way, it was.

even though it's a simple alive, in hospital, will be home soon with a cat emoji somewhere in between the three separate messages, she still feels something. is bad the right word? or is it guilty? ashamed?

she can't tell.

she can, however, still hear the sound of footsteps approaching her door. her body tenses with each beat until finally the door groans open.

after a moment, her body relaxes away from panic to find a common ground in mild anxiety instead.

"hey."

she blinks. the gauze feels uncomfortable now against her face.

"why aren't you at home?"

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]"maybe they're gettin' soft, then."

she can still see THEO BECKETT's disappointment - everywhere, splashed across every wall and window and burned into her eyelid whenever she closes her remaining eye. it leaves her bitter, resentful, blind.

"well, in any case, i'm glad you got out okay."

he's better for it. they're better for it, despite the bloody trail left behind.

"yeah."

a beat passes. she tries to smile. it falters. morphine has not begun its drip yet.

"it does, but it's better than being in a body bag so i guess i can't complain much."

she had been stupid, after all, to believe freedom's price would not come for her. she had been warned and she had not listened.

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]ah.

good, he's no longer with them. her body visibly relaxes at the thought. a sense of safety slowly eases its way back into her bones. they can't hurt her here - not with him, anyway.

"that's nice of you."

he is too late. he could not have saved her from this fate.

her eye - well, where it used to be - throbs beneath memories filtering their way back in. she has tried, and failed, to block them out.

"THEO BECKETT caught me as i was leaving."

white sheets crumple beneath balled fists, knuckles pale.

"the price for freedom was a knife to the eye."

her following chuckle sounds hollow.

"imagine that, huh?"

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]his voice echoes against pristine walls and for a moment, she's transported to a different place - familiar yet off. it settles in her body like a stone, dropping anxiety down into her stomach.

they had been on the same team before, the same alignment to a lost cause. has it changed? or will he finish what the underboss had started? she has a feeling, perhaps, but she's been cut off from any intel of note to be aware of his recent change.

faintly, her voice echoes back. it's soft, wavering.

"hey."

and when he bypasses the door frame, he'll see her propped up against pillows with a slightly pink stained piece of gauze taped over one eye. she looks uncomfortable, yet not quite in pain. morphine drips steadily from an iv on a timed basis as the wound slowly mends itself after surgery.

"what're you doing here?"

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]she tries to stare through the pain, to etch his expression into memory. it will haunt her anyway - this loss of her own making.

"fuck you."

she snarls through pain, through onset numbness, through blood pooling down her cheek
"you'll pay for this."

he won't for it doesn't make a difference. this is what it means to be free. this is what CIAN MAHER had warned her about.

perhaps she should have listened.

THEO BECKETT

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]tw: violence.

SPOILER: Click to show

as soon as knife sinks into the flesh of her cornea, she screams. it’s anguished, blood chilling against the air. blood follows and she gags, her body slumping against phantom shackles.

and despite herself, despite his knife still very much in his hand and connected to her eye, she yanks her head back as if that’ll stop this — as if that’ll undo the damage already done.

the universe is laughing at her now, she’s certain of it. blood gushes onto the ground in splatters.

she thought she could have a good life outside of rocket — an actual life instead of a cheap, stolen imitation. fate had other ideas, perhaps, for she feels it crawling in her throat: this is how it is. this is how it will always be.

THEO BECKETT

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]”i know… i want the better life.”

a shaky breath escapes at the thought. does the universe laugh when she says that?

yes, she’ll come to realize in the aftermath of consequences, the universe is certainly laughing at her now.

”no, i should do this myself.”

a mistake, but she smiles up at him anyway.

”thank you, though.”

CIAN MAHER