A lone sniper Operator yawns.
He just drops by one of Rhodes Island laboratories to deliver breakfast to his friend who’s currently studying to pass the Medic Operator test.
“Well, after this I need to meet up for the restocking mission…” he mumbles to himself as the echoes of his steps are covered by the music coming out of the speakers lining the corridor.
He hums the song as he walks, closing his eyes and appreciating the violin playing in the background of the song.
Then a sharp smell hits his nose. He scrunches his nose and slowly opens his eyes, feeling a bit annoyed.
Not that far—but not that close either—to him is Operator Thorns, coming out from one of the laboratories with the smell of smoke sticking on his fried strands of hair.
He slows his walk and paces himself with the music playing to muffle the sounds of his footsteps so as not to scare Thorns. It's not a necessary thing since Thorns most likely wouldn't mind someone walking down the hallway, but he has done it too much on the battlefield and it has become a habit.
The sniper Operator focuses his sight on Thorns. His clothes are as disarranged, as per usual, he sighs to himself.
But before the sniper Operator can call out to Thorns and tell him to fix his clothes, he realizes that on the said Operator’s left shoulder and the lower part of his neck is a few really visible… bite marks.
He stops on his track, mind filled with a bunch of questions.
What? Why? How? Who?
“Thorns,” a feminine voice echoes, snapping the sniper Operator’s mind back to reality.
Doctor Althea is walking out of the same laboratory, wearing a white lab coat with a shirt and long skirt underneath it instead of her usual uniform and mask. Her hair is tied up in a ponytail and seems messier than the last time he saw her without her uniform. She also has a faint smell of burning coming from her too.
She holds up a hair tie and starts walking up to Thorns. “You forgot to tie your hair again.”
“I do?” Thorns reach up to touch the back of his hair before mumbling 'ah, I did.'
The doctor puts the hair tie on Thorns' hand. “You know, maybe next time I should help you put on your clothes.”
“Doctor, that's unnecessary—”
She cuts him off with a grin. “But it's more efficient that way, isn't it?”
He pauses for a second. “Well, if you say it like that…”
Oh. The sniper Operator gulps. His mind is starting to connect the dots and he's not sure he likes that.
He has been involved in the skirmish of Operator Thorns and Operator SilverAsh, and now, knowing this kind of information is just far far far too personal.
As Thorns ties his hair, Doctor glances over him and stops at his mess of clothes.
“Also,” Doctor sighs. “Your clothes.” she tugs on Thorns’ sleeves and straightens them.
“You shouldn’t be too careless,” she says as she turns to his outer clothes and pulls its collar so it covers his shoulders and part of his neck along with the marks that are there.
Thorns put his right hand over Doctor’s left. “Isn’t it fine?” he whispers. The tone of his voice is unusually softer than usual.
The doctor is stunned by his gaze for a few seconds before she shakes her head. “It’s not, Thorns,” she mumbles and takes a step back. “If Dr. Kal’tsit ever read that archive file or see these marks by herself, she will—”
She rolls her eyes to the right, and they meet the sniper Operator. They both freeze.
Crap.
Stumbling for words, the sniper Operator can only raise his left hand and say a greeting. “Oh, erm, good morning, Doctor.”
“Hey, good morning.” her smile doesn't look genuine, as always. “Are you heading to the training room?”
“No… I'm looking for my teammates. We have a mission today.”
“Ah, is that so,” she says, “you’re from OP A2, right?”
The sniper Operator nods. “Yes…”
On the inside, he’s panicking. What does she need that information for? What will she do?
“So you're the sniper with great stealth skill and incredible aim, right?” Doctor tries to smile. “Glad to see you here.”
The sniper Operator starts panicking more. Why does she suddenly praise him? What kind of thing will she do? And that 'glad to see you here' part is definitely not genuine.
She puts her hands inside her lab coat pockets. “Don't worry, I won't do anything that would affect your career here,” she chuckles. “I just find you familiar.”
It's just like she reads his mind. Has she run into this same problem before?
Thorns glance at the sniper Operator before looking back at the Doctor.
“As I said, I don't mind if others see them, Doctor.”
“But Dr. Kal'tsit will mind,” she says, “she already hates me when I don't have the way to control my urges, and if she knows what I do to get rid of it… yeah, I don't want to think about it.”
The sniper Operator is trying not to listen to that probably and most likely private conversation, but it's hard when they're the only people beside him in that whole hallway.
“If you're that concerned,” Thorns pauses for a few seconds, “then I'll try to clean up a bit.”
“Thank you,” says Doctor. “That's all for now.”
Thorns pull on his bag strap. “Well then, see you later, Doctor. If you need anything else, just call me.”
“Will do.”
Thorns start walking away and disappears around the corner.
The doctor and the sniper Operator are just standing silently, with the sniper Operator feeling anxious about what the Doctor is possibly thinking right now.
But she just yawns.
“Man, I feel sleepy now…” she mumbles.
As she yawns, the sniper Operator just stares at her teeth, especially her fangs that to him look quite sharp now, wandering back to the marks on Thorns.
But then he realizes how uncouth it is what he's doing and tries to distract himself by focusing back on the music playing from the speakers.
After absorbing all the oxygen she needed, Doctor blinks a few times and mumbles an 'oh yeah' before turning to face the sniper Operator, “If you meet Mostima can you ask her to come to see me?”
He quickly nods. “Sure.”
“Well, that's sorted out I guess. I gotta go back to my research now,” she says as she walks to the lab she came out from.
What kind of research is she doing exactly? And what does it have to do with… what she does to Operator Thorns? The sniper Operator found himself thinking that but is far too scared of saying it out loud.
But before she opens the lab door, the Doctor starts talking again. This time in the coldest voice he ever heard coming from her.
“You know,” her voice trails off for a second. “I would really appreciate it if you don't say anything to Dr. Kal'tsit. Or Amiya.”
Those words are unusually sharp, making the sniper Operator stand up straight.
“Absolutely!” he realizes how loud his voice has become and lowers it for the next sentence. “I mean, of course.”
“Mhm, that's a great answer.”
She proceeds to open the lab door and closes it quickly after she goes inside, leaving the sniper Operator in the middle of the hallway, alone, with the music playing from the speaker enveloping him.
He never knows the Doctor who is usually quite calm but cheeky at times can have such a threatening aura. Now he's glad he's never under her direct command while in mission and only heard about her actions from other Operators.
He doesn't want to be involved in Doctor’s personal affairs again nor see that part of her ever again. That was scary.