#sigma; i didnt think anyone other than my husband could understand me... 🥺🥺

[apoapsis]

@kinzokusuzume​​ said,

There's a platter of daifuku, mochi that has been made into a confectionery, placed on the table in front of Sigma. There's a variety of choices, round cakes filled with different ingredients like red bean paste, strawberries, or ice cream. "Thank you for saving me back then. These are daifuku, a traditional Japanese dessert. It has been over a decade since I have tried making them, or any other desserts, so I hope they are to your taste." he explains, pauses for a moment then sits down in a chair and exhales quietly.

"Of course I have tasted them to make sure they are edible but my taste is no longer the same as it used to be. So... I hope you enjoy them."

                    If one were to ask him, he could not articulate a proper reason why he is still entertaining any semblance of amiability with the cyborg.

His obligation had been repaid-- well, to an extent.

                     And yet... He finds himself invited to meet in private-- this time being a cheap motel. Something off the “record”, so to speak-- quiet and out of the way. Somewhere they can coexist temporarily outside of their factions; as friends, perhaps...? He as anxious as ever-- however, it’s more to do with the fact that he does not know how to present himself so casually. The chair’s too small for his massive body, leaving him to float passively with his long legs crossed beneath him. It’s a comfort, however, to find that Genji was... remarkably comfortable with his company. Sure, it may have to do with an error in perceiving the biorhythms of synthetic flesh and biology-- but he didn’t appear to harbor any of the skittishness SIGMA has come to expect from others that engage him.

In a way, that makes the astrophysicist feel inexplicably safer as well.

                      Wide, curious lavender eyes observe the platter with wonder as it’s placed before him, bearing such a colorful ensemble of delicious-looking treats. Embarrassing, how something as simple as food ensnares his attention so directly; he wonders if Genji had any inclination as to why this would be ideal for him. Did he know how little TALON truly fed him on any given occasion? He couldn’t possibly.... so what was the purpose?

“... ‘Daifuku’...?“ he echoes inquisitively, his head cocking to the side curiously as he watches Genji take his own seat across the little motel room table. “-- Ah.... You need not thank me! I... well, I operate by... favors, I suppose! You... You saved me-- s-so naturally I would-- should-- intervene, yes...?“

                    After a moment of hesitation, SIGMA opts to reach over and select one of the delicate little treats, turning it over between gloved fingers a couple times as he inspects it with interest before taking a tentative bite. The texture is unlike anything he’s had in quite some time-- not unpalatable, but strange, the way it sticks to his mouth as sweetened red bean paste washes over his tongue delightfully. 

“-- O-oh! So good!“ SIGMA chimes enthusiastically, a look of shock crossing his features before he opts to take a more confident bite of the daifuku. It’s hard to remind himself to chew when he wants to swallow the entire thing whole. So fucking delicious. Harder, still, to resist the surge of JOY that washes over him-- something that Genji would most certainly be able to detect. It’s one thing to have others spark his excitement-- but it was a completely separate thing altogether when others spark his elation. “-- You... made these? I-- I have never had anything quite like it! It is so good!” However, after a couple moments of delighted chewing, sucking the remaining residue from his gloved fingertips and haphazardly snatching up another, a thought occurs to him.

                “-- Wait... So you just...? You, a-ah... made these for me? Just for me?“ SIGMA asks, feeling a little sheepish at the notion. “... You did not have to make me anything! We are... even!” He doesn’t deserve something like this; they’re supposed to be enemies. If TALON had any idea he was entertaining such frivolities...

... Yikes!

                   “I-- uh... I cannot give anything to you in return... Y-you know that, right...?“ He admits shyly, gazing at him from under the crest of his brow as he politely gnaws on an ice cream filled daifuku, a gloved hand lifted to politely cover his mouth while he speaks. There’s an urge to reach across, to grip him, to demand to know why he continues to entertain SIGMA so openly; he feels as though he is being led on, to an extent.

As syrup-like as his fondness for others happened to be, he is not as unaware to the reality that people have and do continue to take advantage of his lackadaisical demeanor as others often assumed; a lot of the time, he chooses to entertain these selfish people. He loves the attention he gets when someone wants something from him-- but it’s for this very same reason that he cannot seem to take such blatant kindness and pleasantries as insignificant. After all, if anyone was genuinely so interested in simply feeding SIGMA, then he would never feel hunger again. 

                     ... No, it’s never quite that simple-- not for something that barely constituted being defined as “human” so loosely. The real question is, what does Genji want or expect from him in doing this? What exactly did the cyborg hope to achieve in continuing to meet with him like this...? More importantly, what is SIGMA willing to do? He supposes it depended upon what precisely was expected of him, but...

Well, he’s starting to like Genji.

                 Genji is the very first to express any real interest in what had become of SIGMA both prior to TALON’S involvement-- and following his release from Overwatch custody. An escape he would have never been able to attempt without his direct intervention. In addition to that, he likes how calmly and graciously Genji presents himself-- and he likes how Genji seemed to directly empathize with the ancient, abysmal hatred he has long-since buried as deeply as it would go.  In a way, Genji seemed to understand that facet of himself even more than SIEBREN, himself. He may have very well been the very first to show any form of understanding for what SIGMA feels about his circumstances-- and certainly the very first to actually... listen to him.  “... Are we...“ SIGMA begins, although the words hang in the air momentarily as he attempts to figure out how to articulate his question.

The pause draws on a little longer than he anticipated for it to.

                    “-- Does this-- ah... Do you intend for us to be... friends?”

“Is that why you’ve done all of this...? Even though... I am of TALON?“