Red vs Blue pt 2

[agnominal]

Anything goes. Leave prompts, pictures, songs, or starters. Cross-canon, AUs, and everything else is a go.

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[mcscouty]

"I can do that."

He straightens, a determined look flashing in his eyes. He wasn't going to sit here helpless. He'd prove he was worth hanging onto.

[completelylogical]

"Would you like to work through one now?" It'd b simple enough to pull one into the scenario.

[mcscouty]

"Yeah."

Oh hell yes. Give him something, a problem, a puzzle to work out, something to distract and channel that nervous energy. To prove Delta had been correct in saving him.

[completelylogical]

Delta gestures, pulling a console into being and keys in a specific code to prompt a straightforward decryption puzzle. Walking before they run.

[mcscouty]

Decryption? Easy enough.

He sets to it, and there are a few hiccups. Pieces of him are missing, and it's putting a strain on his processing, but this is still relatively simply to solve. Finding the right pattern, adjusting the feed and...

"There." He steps back, letting his hands fall to his sides. It looks right. It must be right.

[completelylogical]

It's difficult- but possible. Something Delta could click through in a short period of time but he is stable. Solid. Certain of himself and his code. Isaac is...learning his new limitations without knowing that they are limitations.

He's learning to adapt.

"Well done." He rests a hand on Isaac's back, peering at the solution. A letter decrypted- correspondence between himself and FLISS. Nothing sensitive.

[mcscouty]

"Let me have another."

It wasn't much, hadn't been difficult, but it had felt like a rush of renewed purpose. As an AI this was what he was meant to do, and as a creature of will and mind? As Isaac? He craved an opportunity to prove himself.

[completelylogical]

"Please." Delta prompts without thinking, the glowing command code to summon another resting in his hand until Isaac goes along with said prompting. Manners are important, little Isaac. It's good to have them.

But once he's satisfied that Isaac has asked nicely- up comes another puzzle, similar to the last.

[mcscouty]

"Please." He does sound repentant, even as he looks a little hopefully at his hand. 'Please' is a small thing to give when he can do what he was meant to do, do something, anything besides waiting.

He all but pounces on the puzzle, quickly whirring through the code, shifting through it with his fingertips and finding the strands he needs to lock together, others still that can be pushed aside. There's something like joy in his eyes as he works, his expression lighter than before.

[completelylogical]

"Good." His hand remains on Isaac's back as he works, a grounding reminder that assistance is available if he needs it- but more importantly? That Delta is watching.

It's nowhere near the showboating arrogance of Felix. Nowhere as fast, nowhere as showy- but it is a marvel to admire. Cut down to almost nothing and still he can manage this and find joy in it. "You're doing well."

[mcscouty]

He damn near glows under the praise, his back straightening. Delta's presence there, his touch, his affirmation, all sinks deep into his code as things that should be constant, that are conducive to his work.

"I remember how to do this. I can still do this, I just need the chance to work at it again."

[completelylogical]

"I do have a backlog of files that need decrypting that piled up while you were...indisposed. Worrying about you kept me from working on them myself." True, not in the way implied but- true none the less. Idly his hand slips up to rest against Isaac's upper back, thumb swiping against the skin of his nape.

Casual and possessive and vaguely intimate. Encouraging these thoughts, these desires. "You could work through them now, if you like."

[mcscouty]

Isaac's gaze shifts away from the code, even as his fingers continue to move. It rests instead on Delta, who for all his cool, calm behavior, seems--

He doesn't know. There's a tingle down his spine, a twist in his gut.

"I'd like that. Please."

[completelylogical]

Intense? Intent. Fascinated by Isaac and focused on his hands, the line of his jaw, the slope of his lips. "I will have FLISS prepare the files for you."

[mcscouty]

"Thank you."

It's uttered softly, his gaze by turns curious and anxious. Why is he looking at him that way? He's not sure what it means, but it sends a shiver through him like a spark set to his spine.

"Did we...know each other before?"

[completelylogical]

As before the good manners are rewarded, nails gliding along the nape of his neck. "We did. We were...peers. associates working to a mutually beneficial goal."

He shifts to step behind isaac, hands setting against his hips, chin tucked over his shoulder. "Focus on your work, Isaac. And when you finish, I'll give you another file."

[mcscouty]

Associates. Is that the word.

Isaac trembles slightly but holds himself still. He doesn't need to fall to pieces now, he wants to show him how good he can be. So there's some sense of needing to arrest that nervous energy, hold it in check while Delta shifts in against him. It feels--

"Thank you."

It seems to be the right answer, and he does. He turns his attention back to his work and flies through it, aware of Delta's eyes on him all the while.

[completelylogical]

"You're doing well. Very well." Delta's voice remains soft, but it has warmed considerably with...affection? Perhaps. "I'm proud of you. this is a remarkable recovery."

Watching how far he's come in so short a time? It is remarkable.

[mcscouty]

"I can do more, I know it. This feels like..."

His teeth grind together for a moment in frustration.

"Like remembering how to walk when you know you can run circles around most people. I can do more."

[goddamngrenades]

"You've nearly lost your legs. Being able to walk at all is better than I'd expected, let alone so soon." Isaac has cine a long way from that weak, bitter laughter. "I'm pleased with your progress. So should you be."

[mcscouty]

It's clear he expects more of himself. But he lets it drop, simply nodding and returning focus to his task, until the last pieces of code slide smoothly into place, and he secures the file shut with a dismissive wave of his hand.

[completelylogical]

"It'll come in time. You're already far ahead of where I thought you might be." not enough to be worrysome but- enough to be a pleasant surprise. It's the easiest, simplest thing in the world to turn his head and brush his lips against Isaac's cheek- so he does. "Well done. The next file's in the queue. All you have to do is pull it up with this command-"

He reaches past Isaac to type it in, demonstrating and surrounding him simultaneously.

[mcscouty]

That--

Isaac stares at Delta for a moment. Did he just? Yes, yes he did. And maybe that explains the look. 'Associates' seems more and more like a cover, but will it do any good to press? He doesn't want to drive him off, after all.

So he nods. "Right, yeah. Like this..." And he mimics the gesture before looking back to Delta, Delta's mouth, and then meeting his gaze again in question.

[completelylogical]

"Very good-" It's simple enough when one knows how and demonstrating that to a broken system- the Alpha had never been able to recover. Had been wrecked beyond all hope for repair.

Isaac is better- either more or less broken enough to be able to function as requested. The look earns a faint licking of Delta's lips, a thoughtful pause. "...I am forgetting myself. I apologize."

With great care he steps away, hands slipping to clasp at the small of his back in parade rest.

[mcscouty]

"No, no it's alright." The words come spilling out quickly. A little too quickly, and he blanches before shaking his head and returning his focus to the code. Be cooler than that, Isaac.

"I mean, I've got this. Child's play. You're not...distracting or anything."