#now listening: airhead by honey revenge | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

r0ttenb0gb0dy · 1 month ago

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4/10 Coda "Rex" Morelli

He let them sleep in the morning.

Didn’t wake them up at some ungodly hour, didn’t even shake them awake like they had gotten used to — he gently nudged them until they came to.

“Coda,” He spoke softly. “Get up, darlin’.”

They stirred in the sheets, not quite even awake when they hummed in reply. Their eyes fluttered open and their gaze landed on Graves, a soft sigh escaping them. Why was he so fucking close? Coda sat up slowly, pulling the blankets up to their chest as they observed him sitting on the edge of their bed.

“C’mon. Bones said she’s got time for you.”

Coda peeled out of bed and pulled their boots on, feeling much less dizzy than the night before. Once they were up they reluctantly followed him to the medical bay, immediately distrusting of the bubbly and kind woman who approached them about redressing and stitching the wound up.

He leaned in the doorway, watching as Bones numbed and began stitching the wound shut, much to Coda’s seeming disgust with watching themself get sutured. It would take a while, and he didn’t plan on walking away until the medic was done.

Not because he cared. Not at all.

“All done, sweetheart, you did great.” Bones cooed to Coda, earning a scoff.

“Don’t call me that.” Coda cursed softly as they went to get up from the cot, only to be stopped by Graves.

“You’re stayin’ here for now. You look exhausted, you’re…probably dehydrated, just — let her take care of you. I’m not tryin’ to kill you.”

What did he just say?

“Really?” Coda raised a brow. “No training?”

“No training. Get some rest, you’ll do better when you’re not half dead.” Graves patted them on the shoulder before leaving, a foreign sight to Coda after so many times they had been denied to walk away from him. He kept them close out of distrust, maybe this was some strange way of him telling them that he was starting to trust them.

Maybe. Maybe he just didn’t want to bury a body.

They hated the way that they almost missed him.

It’d been nearly four months of being at his side day in and day out, save for sleeping. Graves still didn’t let them shower alone — on the other hand, he didn’t let other Shadows in while they were showering, so they sort of appreciated it. Still, she was thrown off by this sudden lack of his presence. Coda was almost too anxious about it to carry on a healthy, normal conversation with Bones, their eyes always ending up fixed on the doorway, waiting for him to show up.

He was a permanent fixture in their thoughts, now, and there was nothing they could do but let it happen.

Bones was kind enough, providing something in the way of conversation that Graves usually didn’t, even sneaking them some sweets from the mess hall from time to time on top of normal meals. It was honestly the most peaceful few days they had since before even arriving here in this hellhole, just laying around, sleeping and healing.

A few days later, and one much less swollen arm, Graves rolled around again. He was silent in the doorway, watching Coda and Bones interact, the casual conversation carrying on until he made his presence known.

“You feelin’ better?” He asked, something genuine in his tone.

“Yeah, much.”

“Good, good…listen, I — I don’t want you to mistake this for weakness.” Graves, for the first time since they met him, stumbled through a sentence. He looked genuinely apologetic, like he meant every word that followed. “I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard that you weren’t thinkin’ straight — coulda killed you if you misstepped.”

“It’s…okay.” Coda replied, not sure what to make of his words. It was odd, that was for sure, but they were open to receiving an apology for what happened. He was right, really, it could’ve been much worse than it was, but that didn’t make it okay by any measure.

“It’s not.” He was firm, looking away for a moment before coming back to them. “C’mon, I got somethin’ t’show you.”

Coda followed without hesitation, giving Bones a quick goodbye as they met Graves in the hallway, taking up their position at his side. He looked down at them with something that could easily be seen as admiration as they walked, his thumbs hooked in the edge of his vest to keep his hands busy. They walked for a while in silence before he stepped in front of them, opening a door they had yet to see in their time walking around the base. It was labeled Armory but it contained much more than just weaponry. All sorts of gear, ghillie suits, sentries, drones — the whole nine.

“Oh, wow.” Coda said softly, looking around the room, taking in the sight. Who they could only assume to be Shadow Company’s gunsmith sat at a table in the room, fiddling with a rather large and in charge shotgun, his gaze only flickering up for a moment when the pair sauntered in. “What’d you wanna show me?”

“I gotta grab it. Wasp, keep an eye on him.” Graves was gone as quickly as they had gotten used to his presence again, leaving them in the care of the gunsmith. Wasp. He looked up once again, setting the shotgun down on his work station.

“You must be the problem he keeps goin’ on about.”

“I—“

“A lot shorter than I thought you’d be, given that he says you got the personality of a rottweiler.”

“You’re a ray of fuckin’ sunshine, aren’t you?” Coda crossed their arms, earning them a little chuckle from the gunsmith. He stood up and approached them, large figure practically looming over them, engulfing him in his shadow.

“You have a name, or..?”

“Coda.” He answered, and he stuck his hand out for a handshake.

“Good t’see a new face around here keepin’ him busy. Bastard needed some new blood to chase around.” Wasp took his hand and shook it, surprised by the firm grip he held despite the wound on his forearm. Graves returned moments later, a cardboard box in hand. Coda went to peek, but he stopped them, holding the box above where he was able to look into it.

“Impatient, much?”

“I’m just curious.”

“You can be curious forever, I don’t care. Patience will getcha a long way, darlin’.” Graves replied smugly, setting the box down on one of the tables in the room before he pulled something out of it. A plate carrier, with a couple of patches stuck to the chest. An american flag, blood type OPOS, a Shadow Company insignia, and…

His last name?

Morelli.

“Got your first mission comin’ up, n’I don’t want you stickin’ out. You’ll get caught if you’re the only one not in black.” Coda’s eyes were wide, fixed on the vest as they took it in hand, overlooking it like it were a precious artifact. It was strange. Before recently, he didn’t care about being a Shadow. They just wanted to live long enough to stand a chance at escaping Graves’ grasp, but for some reason it fulfilled him to see his name next to the insignia. “You’ll have to earn a rank, this is just…a start.”

There weren't any words.

He was a Shadow now.

“Well? You just gonna stare at it or are you gonna try it on?” He held out the box to them as well, a full uniform of clothing inside, including a new pair of boots. He wasn’t sure whether to be scared or not, because it honestly felt too kind to be true, to be Graves. This was an imposter, surely. Coda hesitantly took the box from his hands and he swore he saw the tiniest hint of a smile on his face. “Go ‘head.” He gestured toward the back room that he had come from with the box, and they slunk through the door into the room.

After getting changed into the sleek black uniform they felt like maybe things wouldn’t be so terrible here. Like, maybe the literal blood, sweat and tears paid off into making a life out of a fuckup. That one simple mission had become much more, and truthfully, they liked it. He liked that he had become a sort of staple in his day to day, that he was willing to challenge them and let them challenge him right back. For as much as he hated their smart comments, he never retaliated. If anything, they would not know this of course, he liked it just as much as they did.

There was something to be said for their unbreakable spirit, though it comes from a place of pain and suffering, they are tougher for it.

When they stepped back out they placed the box down, now holding the comfortable clothes they’d been living in for a handful of days at that point. Graves’ eyes settled on them all decked out in Shadow Company standards, a wicked spark of something they couldn’t place in them.

“Looks good on you, Coda.” He spoke after a moment, giving them a little nod of approval.

“I make it look good.” He was just being snarky, of course, but what else was to be expected? Coda looked down at himself and smoothed out any wrinkles in the fabric, seemingly comfortable in the new attire, feeling like part of the dynamic here now. As strange as their beginnings here had been, they wanted to be happy here, even though it was probably the most wrong thing to do. He had taken them captive, which they could not forget.

“We’re headin’ out tomorrow, it’s a an easy one t’start. We’re providin’ a security detail for a shipment.” Graves explained to them, averting his gaze from them to Wasp. He didn’t want to stare, but god did they look good in black.

“You’re comin’ with?”

“I’ve only been around s’much because I’ve been stuck with your ass — m’not the type’a person to lead from distance if I can help it, like to be with my boys one way or another.” They were surprised, to say the least. They’d seen so much of him these past few months that they’d assumed he was more of a paperwork type guy at this point in his career, but it would seem they were wrong. The idea of him being out there in the dirt with the Shadows, working the jobs all the same, was oddly comforting. It was more like a big family than it was a mercenary group.

“Close air, or..?”

“Close air overwatch will be present, yes. But I want you in the convoy, so I’ll be in it too. Still ain’t lettin’ you run off on your own, darlin’.”

“I expected as much.”

“Don’t let me down, a’right?”

—

meant to fucking queue this FOR LATER but HERE WE ARE!!!!!!! FAT FUCKING THUMBS