bakerstreet | and since we've no place to go

and since we've no place to go

❄ it's quiet
and the snow's beautiful tonight

snowfall;

stage i; none, streets are already blanketed in white.
stage ii; very light and intermittent.
stage iii; light - moderate. lasts longer periods.
stage iv; continuous, heavy snowfall.
stage v; the hardest of cores - blizzards, snowstorms, you name it.

scenarios;

① fuck the police, this is the best time for a walk. hope you've got a nice thick coat on.
② stranded in the buttcrack of nowheresville? weren't you watching the time? now you've gone and missed that last bus out of there. or maybe you're lost, somehow. what do?
③ literally chilling, in this weather, is quite easy to do. sitting around relaxing in it is a wee more difficult, but sometimes much more enjoyable, especially if shelter can be found. the snow is beautiful to watch, after all.
④ the weather's not going to stop you. your snow fort's packed full of ammo and ready to go. those aren't snow angels over there; they mark where the poor souls you've downed have fallen. be careful with that snowman's head!!
⑤ you're about fifty miles from civilization but there's a roof over your head, so never mind the chilly draught, right? right. you mightn't be the only one lucky enough to stumble upon this little shelter, though. remember to share the blanket.
⑥ everyone stuck outside should be jelly. you've got a fireplace and hot cocoa and damn if it isn't awesome. a heater's not quite so romantic, but it'd do. there'd better be a backup generator in case the power trips.
⑦ mix and match, or make up your own.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What?

[It's clear he Doesn't Get It, and shrugs it off as she opens the back of her MEKA. 76 waits patiently for her to do what she needs, looking perhaps a little surprised as she gives him the coat back. He shakes it out and pulls it back on, raising an eyebrow when she suggests higher stakes.]

I'm not takin' my mask off.

[Because of course she's going to beat him, and of course that's what she means by making the competition more interesting.]

[ If she curses in Korean, then he won't yell at her, right? She does, vehemently, and then climbs into her MEKA with the latch slamming closed behind her. A moment later, everything is booted up and her voice is back to being distorted. ]

You're in the Splash Zone.

[ He'll understand what she means when the pink robot shakes itself as if it's actually an animal, scattering snow everywhere.

Maybe she does it on purpose because he ruins ALL HER PLANS. And because she's D.Va. ]

Wh—

[76 doesn’t manage to get an additional inquiry out before she’s shaking snow off her MEKA all over him. He’s completely caught of-guard by the maneuver, and even though his mouth and eyes are covered, that doesn’t make this any less surprising or infuriating.]

Come on!

[He starts brushing the snow off himself, scrubbing at his mask, sounding more than a little petulant—perhaps the most emotion he’s displayed all night.]

[ Innocent whistles could go here. She doesn't actually whistle, but her expression says it wouldn't be out of place if she did. ]

What? I warned you.

[ Her small shoulders shrug in the cockpit and MEKA copies her.

Along with a little emoji that pops up:

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ]

Let's get inside.

[He practically growls that, indicating that whatever sort of rapport they were building is now over. 76 does his very best to shake and dust the snow off himself, but it's clear that he's been momentarily soured on the whole 'being outside' thing. THANKS, HANA.]

[ Lol, oops. Did she actually upset him with her Blizzard move again? She supposes that will make it easy to best him at COD if he's already tilted at her.

Thing is... she kind of liked the weird friendship they had going on from being put on patrols together. She liked seeing the new side of 76 that wasn't all duty and seriousness and get off my lawns. He was a person, too. Not just a soldier.

Hana hangs back for a bit, waiting, and until 76 realizes she's not following with her robot she suddenly puts on the thrusters and barrels towards him. ]

Incoming!

[ HANA WHAT THE FUCK

Don't worry, she's not looking to tackle him over (like she often does to enemies close to edges for envirokills). She scoops him up and plants him on top of her MEKA so he has a ride. It's not inside but he can rest his tired, old feet this way. ]

[HANA WHAT THE FUCK indeed. 76 is completely unprepared for this kind of maneuver, and no amount of super soldier reflexes will save him from what comes next. He hears the sound of her jets, but with his back to her he doesn't know what she's actually doing until it's far too late.

He wheels around just in time for her to nearly collide with him, and then before he can get out of the way, she's scooped him up in the MEKA's arms and deposited him right on top. His brain takes a moment to catch up, and that moment is filled with some choice profanities and a not insignificant amount of flailing.]

What the hell are you doing?

[ That's definitely a new curse she hasn't heard before. Over the sound of a blizzard, his profanities, and her MEKA Hana shouts: ]

Getting us back inside so we can play Call of Duty! What else?!

[ As quickly as possible. ]

Haaaang on!

[ They're going up and above the forest. As fun as it could be to dodge and weave the trees, it's Worth It to increase the altitude. Get the high ground, so to speak. That and she doesn't want to run the risk of Soldier getting sick all over her robot.

More gross than teabagging.

The Overwatch base is just a couple kilometers northeast of their position. Even in the haze of the snowfall, its silhouette can be seen in the distance. ]

Hang on--

[Really, he has no objections to riding the MEKA back inside--it's just the surprise and the lack of time to orient himself that gets him. He tries to shift, gloved hands scrabbling for purchase on a surface not necessarily designed to carry a person on top.

He’s still cursing up a storm, at least until it feels like he’s not about to fall off. When he realizes that they’re heading upward, he gets a little more creative.]

You got a handhold on this thing?!

[Not that he thinks she can hear him over the sound of the rockets.]

[ Genji didn't need handholds when he was perched on top of her mech, ready to fight off Diablo. He probably has something on the bottom of his shoes that sticks him to surfaces, though. That's why he climbs so easy.

Which is worse: The storm of Soldier's cursing or the storm that's been going on for a good few hours now? In Hana's opinion, neither bother her. Soldier's storm is more interesting with the colorful words he's been using. There's a couple new ones she can add to her vocabulary. She'll have to ask someone what they mean... ]

Grab the ears!

[ Ears? What does she mean? Robots don't have ears.

It's probably the two little wings at the hood that look like bunny ears. ]

[76 would argue that all of this is the worst, 0/10 would not do again, but it's too late to quit now, and Hana strikes him as someone who fully commits. They're not so different in that regard, if he gives it some thought, but he's too busy trying to hold on for dear life to really consider it.

To his credit, he seems to understand what she's talking about when she refers to 'ears',
and he's shifting as well as he can to take hold of them.

It's better, now that he doesn't feel like he's about to topple into the forest below, but it's still not how he wanted to spend the evening.]

You have to warn me!

[ If he actually said 0/10, she would be so proud of his meme.

He's right, too. She commits and never backs down or gives up.

Hana wonders if he's still on top, but if he fell he would have been yelling loud enough for her to hear it. The nagging cements it. He's fine.

Relatively. Still naggy. ]

I did! Didn't you hear me say "incoming"?!

[ She doesn't let him argue beyond that because she looks downwards at this Winter Wonderland the storm has created. ]

Whooooa!

[ The trees are frosted with snow and finally, mercifully, the sky has decided to clear up. For miles and miles it's just white and so stark against an inky black sky, glittering stars. ]

[He did, of course, but he'd expected another snowball--not necessarily this. Right now, he's trying very hard not to lose his grip, and also making sure his righteous indignation is known.]

Yeah, it's real nice.

[Despite the improving weather, 76 is still flying on top of the MEKA, too high for him to survive the fall, and there's a very large part of him still convinced he is going to slip off and die. It makes enjoying the view a little difficult, though it is hard not to hear the wonder in her voice.]

Can we get down now?

[ It is known, definitely, but she's not doing much to acknowledge it or feel sorry for it. All that wonder in her voice disappears and instead the grumbles in a tone that would give Soldier's grumps a run for their money. ]

Party pooper.

[ What, is he scared? He's been fighting it the whole time and finally she gets the hint and doesn't prod at him anymore. It's all well and good, they're practically at the front door of Overwatch HQ by now.

MEKA lands with a tremor that jostles even Hana in her suit. ]

Thank you for flying with MEKA today. We hope you enjoyed your flight, sir.

[ Her flight attendant voice is pretty good. She is an actress. ]

[Look, he just doesn’t want to fall to an icy death, that’s all. 76 might not have a great deal of self-preservation, but if he’s going to stupidly risk his life, it’s going to be on his own terms. To his credit, he shuts up once they begin their descent, though he’s still clinging to the ‘ears’ as they touch down. He stays frozen for a few minutes, as if determining whether or not it’s really over, then finally lets himself slide off.]

Leaving you a bad internet review.

[As deadpan as ever, as he stalks over to the door. The sooner Athena can check them in, the better.]

[ As if she doesn't have plenty of those. All streamers have love and hate. Considering how global D.Va has gone, she has plenty of both and has learned to take it all in stride.

And moving in stride to follow him to the large gate that allows them entry into the main hanger of Overwatch. Where she puts MEKA. ]

We're sorry to hear that, sir. Next time, we'll be sure to upgrade our systems with accommodations for a grumpy old man. [ Hana bounces back easily. ]

Hiya, Athena!

[ A MEKA arm waves towards the gate. ]

[Athena, of course, is the biggest keeper of 76's secret--there's really no way to get past her bio-scans, to say nothing of the fact that he's been using his old strike commander backdoors to comb his way through records and files. There's a pang of guilt every time she address him as Soldier: 76, like she does now as she lets them both into the complex with her usual welcome.

He doesn't offer Hana a witty retort as they cross the threshold inside, instead taking a very deliberate moment to kick snow off his boots before addressing her.]

All systems functional?

[Not that he thinks a little snow would have hurt the MEKA, but maybe carrying a two hundred pound super soldier in a way it was not designed to threw off its equilibrium, or something.]

[ Hacker!!

Meka is parked off to the side, and Hana pops out of the cockpit with a toss of her hair over her shoulder. The green lights go dim and Soldier doesn't have to worry about impromptu flights any longer. She then begins to tug off her gloves, pinching the ends of her fingers one by one until it comes off.

All the while kicking up a wayward wrench from the ground with the toe of her boot to catch in her now, glove free, hand. ]

Operational and optimal.

[ He cares so much. Now that she's figured out his secret... she can make sense of him a little more. His "weird" moments are his moments of care. The wrench spins between her fingers as she mulls. ]

I still have to run maintenance, though. Me kicking your butt at COD has to wait a bit longer.

[Look. What they don't know can't hurt them.

He keeps dusting snow off himself for another moment, until he's reasonably certain he's cleared himself off before stepping into the base proper. The last thing anyone needs is water on the floor.]

Good.

[And he means that sincerely.]

We can take a rain check on the game.

[Until she's ready, of course, though 76 has no plans to back down.]

[ Next thing everyone knows he's going to be boop'ing all the noses.

Is he getting rid of the snow because he knows ~~mom~~ Mercy will yell at him if she looks at the security feeds? ]

Snow check.

[ The wrench stops spinning before she points it at him, wagging it. ]

You're not backing out, are you?

You have to finish maintenance. I have to submit a report.

[Just standard check-in procedure, of course. It's not like he isn't used to the paperwork.]

Unless you'd rather do it.

[ Boring stuff. ]

Yuck. No way. If it's on paper, that's for you oldies.

[ With that, she turns to her MEKA but doesn't start anything yet. ]

But if you need help with it, whatever, I could check in with you when I'm done here.

[ To make sure he really does play video games with her, really. ]

Sure. Check in with me later.

[Said like he needs someone to check on him--she might be able to hear the wry smile in his voice. He offers a raised hand as a gesture of departure, turning on his heel and starting down the hall, further into the base.]

The rec room. [In case she was doubting his commitment to video games.] I'll see you around, Song.

[ She can't see his facial expressions but she can definitely hear the smile in his voice. Flustered at how things turned out, she bangs her wrench gently against the arm of her MEKA... and then talks to her under her breath. ]

His jacket was smelly.

[ Not in the way that was terrible, though. Just old and like those pulse munitions he always talks about. A smell Hana was used to when she participated in military training.

It brings back memories she's not sure what to do with. ]

Be there or be square! You're going down, pops!

[ Ah, now she feels better. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

and since we've no place to go

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HAPPY DAD DAY, OVERWATCH DAD

THANKS, I SAY, A DAY LATER

/mercy voice YOU'RE WELCOME

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1/2

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i think this is the longest i've ever tagged anything lmao

poses dramatically

gives u medal

Re: gives u medal

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PLEASE