Prime Time

[heeeyadora]

WHO: Catra/Prime / OTA
WHERE: The Diner, The Forge
WHAT: Recruiting and Claiming
WHEN: Near end of month
WARNINGS: blood, suicidal ideation (cw's noted in subject line if looking to avoid)


The Diner - OTA

Catra was nursing her meal, observing the others with a quiet and disturbing smile. That strange glow was back in her eyes, and she sat impossible straight backed and regal. Her all white outfit had begun to show to wear and tear, but Prime still somehow managed to make it look crisp and clean.

She picked up her plate and moved to join you, her head tilting and smiling a little too wide.

"Hello," she said calmly, "May I speak to you about Prime?"


The Forge - Closed to Tony, Jon & Cayde

This planet didn't provide with the same ease that Prime was accustomed to. Normally it would take little effort to produce a new chip, and not a finger lifted by Prime himself. Loathe as he was to admit it, he needed Tony. For now at least. Soon he would amass more brothers, and he could leave the work to them. And then once he found this place he could properly punish those fools who had tried to hide from him. Had tried to take what was his.

"Let me see it," Catra demanded, waving Tony aside.

Comments

[in_extremis]

The bite should have been expected. The bloom of pain had Tony snarling in response, choking back a yell and clutching tightly in Catra's hair in an effort to keep them both still and finish this job as he ground out, "Get it all out, sweetheart." It was hard to tell when she actually stopped biting, nerves on fire from all of this tension, so it was Cayde's sudden shift that had Tony looking up in surprise, then finally releasing Catra's hair to try to see her eyes.

Jon said he was gone. Jon would know. Tony didn't even notice when everything had become so normal again, no one straining, no eyes, the raucous noise of the network roaring back into his skull. Normal, except for the knife thing, of course. "That's how I sign my cheques," he realized he should probably answer, only briefly before realizing no one needed a D.A.T.A. unit attached to them. He yanked roughly at the wiring, letting the robot drop heavily to the floor and bounce before rolling away, its legs flailing weakly. Maybe Jon did need to say that hospital part out loud, because Tony was busy hugging Catra protectively.

[heeeyadora]

She nodded weakly at Cayde's words, that tension in her muscles finally dropping away. Her gaze shifted uncertainly, eyes wet but unmistakably hers, and she pushed forward to cling to Tony and hide those tears that should would FIERCELY deny if anyone called attention to them.

Her head turned briefly after the D.A.T.A. unit with a frown of concern. "...You taste really gross," she muttered against Tony's chest.

[beholding_archivist]

"Not me." Jon answers Cayde's question, watching as Tony pulls Catra into the safety of a warm embrace. Everyone of them knows she's very likely scared aside from having been hurt. Though there is no need for either of them to point out her fear, so Jon lets his attention drop to the discarded robot. That Tony so willingly damaged his D.A.T.A. unit only shows how much he cares about Catra and giving her back her freedom.

He nods to himself before looking back up at Tony. "You should take her to the hospital. Let Billy check her injuries." Though she may not need all of them to watch over her while she gets some much needed rest.

[deal_me_in]

It shouldn't have been nearly so funny but Catra's comment makes Cayde almost giggle. He bites down the sound, making to clear his throat instead. The whereabouts of the disappearing knife remains a mystery, but so long as it's not embedded in someone he won't worry about it too much right now. He nods at Jon's suggestion, looking over at Tony and the clingy Catra. Sundance has drifted over to join them by then, hovering over poor D.A.T.A.

"Come on," The Exo prompts, unsure about how steady Catra would be if he lets go, but if she loosens herself from Tony, Cayde will scoop her up.

[in_extremis]

The robot gave another uncoordinated wiggle at Sundance appearing in his field of view, hopeful that she could at least tip him over enough to drag himself into a less vulnerable corner. The repairs were not going to be imminent, not with the way Tony was muttering, "Nothing tastes as bad as you smell," and reluctantly releasing Catra, only to keep a hand on Cayde's arm for a moment longer after that. He only stepped away when that would clearly slow them all down, pressing the heel of his hand to the ooze of blood at this shoulder and loping toward Jon to bump gently against him instead with the brush of a little finger against his hand, question in his expression. They each appeared to be in one piece. Maybe one too many pieces still, in Catra's case.

[heeeyadora]

She was reluctant to release Tony, he was her tear shield after all, and she roughly wiped the streaks away with a sniff as Cayde scooped her up.

"Is your arm okay...?" she asked the Exo, brows twisted with guilt.

[beholding_archivist]

Jon answers Tony's question by taking the man's hand into his own, by now set on taking the lead. "You're going to the hospital as well. That wound needs to get disinfected."

He turns to Catra after that to assure. "Nothing against you, but I am not too keen to consider how seriously Prime may have taken your dental hygiene and I'm not going to risk an infection."

[deal_me_in]

Sundance obligingly nudges the robot upright, maybe help it navigate to somewhere less obtrusive while she's at it. At least Cayde doesn't look like he is going to just go sprinting off with Catra. He nods at Tony, and as Jon heads their group out of the forge, the Exo falls in step after them.

He gives Catra a grin. "I'm carrying you, aren't I? All better, just like new!"

[in_extremis]

"Don't let her off the hook, she doesn't take her dental hygiene seriously enough, either," Tony said loudly, and gave Jon's hand an anxious squeeze back despite the twinge it left in his shoulder. Quieter, he muttered, "Prime said she was dying." He didn't know what to do about that. He didn't know how to get that thing actually out of Catra, and he didn't even know if that would actually help, all he could do was stare distantly at the road in front of them, holding the pain in his shoulder like it was a gift Catra had given him.

[heeeyadora]

It was probably a smart decision. Cat bites could easily get infected and no one wanted to take a chance and see how cat like she was in this area.

Still, she weakly stuck her tongue out at Jon, not having quite the same bite as usual, emotionally and physically exhausted.

"Knew I could win in a fight," she muttered, before surrendering to the darkness urging her to rest.