[img]https://i.imgur.com/2sbSrxg.png[/img]
[center][h1][color=30A4D9]Bastion[/color] [color=E0D6C0]&[/color] [color=olive]Talis[/color][/h1][/center][hr]
[color=30A4D9][b]Interactions:[/b][/color] Meiyu [@Tae][hr]

[color=E0D6C0]

Talis wasn’t sure if it was the voice or the eyes. Maybe both.

Either way, she was definitely melting again...and not in a romantic way. More so in a [i]"my spine has been replaced with warm oatmeal and my thoughts are escaping through my ears"[/i] kind of way.

She nodded stiffly at Meiyu’s remark about dehydration, feeling very much like the [i]flight[/i] in fight or flight was calling her name.

[color=olive]“O-of course,”[/color] she said, her voice hitching halfway through the first syllable. [color=olive]“Hydration is crucial. Vital, even. I...uh...always say, better water than… than not water.”[/color]

[i]Great. Incredible.[/i] [b]Not suspicious at all.[/b]

She was actively dying inside when Meiyu’s gaze shifted to Bastion, and her breath caught again. He was still looming...not in a threatening way, just…present. Solid. Like a silent lighthouse trying to understand fog.

Talis blinked rapidly as Meiyu commented on his scarf.

[color=7DBC89] “Your scarf, it seems cozy. It suits you.” [/color]

Bastion blinked, looking down at his scarf. Then up at Meiyu.

Then down at the scarf again, as if trying to determine what she meant. “Cozy” was a strange descriptor for something he technically couldn’t feel.

[color=30A4D9]“It is... important,”[/color] he replied after a moment, the faintest hint of pride creeping into his voice. [color=30A4D9]“It was a gift.”[/color]

Talis, meanwhile, was shrinking into herself like a melting marshmallow. Her satchel strap was now indented into her shoulder from how hard she was gripping it. Her foot twitched nervously. Her pupils might’ve been vibrating.

Bastion noticed.

He had been watching her since the conversation began, his internal systems tagging every change in her behavior: increased breathing rate. Tension in the jaw. Shifting posture. Minimal blinking. Defensive clutching of bag. A subject under distress.

But why? He looked at Meiyu again. She hadn’t raised her voice. She wasn’t threatening. Still, Talis was afraid. And Bastion, whether it be programming or compassion, didn’t like that. She needed to be protected.

From what, he wasn’t sure. But something in him stirred...a directive buried deep in his core programming. Protect the charge. Maintain safety.

He scanned the situation…Dehydration had been mentioned, and she had said she was thirsty. Perhaps it was time to escalate.

Talis was just about to speak again when suddenly…she was no longer seated.

[color=olive]“Wha...?!”[/color] she yelped as Bastion’s large arms gently but confidently lifted her from the barstool.

He held her like one might hold a particularly anxious cat...awkwardly, but with great care.

[color=olive]“Bastion?!”[/color] She asked, her words coming out more confused than afraid. Her hands immediately moved to secure her satchel against her protectively. 

[color=30A4D9]“You said you were thirsty,”[/color] he explained calmly. [color=30A4D9]“You are exhibiting signs of increasing physiological distress. This suggests imminent collapse. I am resolving the issue.”[/color]

He turned to Gears with mechanical precision, grabbing the tall glass of water she had just slid their way.

Then, still holding Talis with all the delicacy of a man transporting a sacred relic, he tilted the glass toward her face.

[color=30A4D9]“I highly recommend you drink this. For your safety.”[/color]

Talis squinted up at him, somewhere between scandalized and short-circuiting.

[color=olive]“You’re giving me waterboarding energy right now,”[/color] she whispered through clenched teeth.

[color=30A4D9]“That does not sound hydrating.”[/color]

[color=olive]“It’s not.”[/color]

There was a pause. A very [i]Bastion[/i] type of pause to be exact. 

Then, slowly, resignedly, she took the glass with both hands, sipped it like a very offended raccoon, and muttered, [color=olive]“There. Crisis averted. Thank you, you big terrifying sentient teapot.”[/color] Despite her nerves, despite not particularly enjoying being picked up and force fed water like a baby…she couldn’t help but smile. Something about it all just felt…[i]pure.[/i]

Bastion nodded solemnly.

[color=30A4D9]“You are welcome.”[/color]

He gently lowered her back to the stool.

For a moment, there was silence...Talis awkwardly sipping water, and Bastion watching her like she was a mission objective.

Talis blinked into her glass and muttered, mostly to herself, [color=olive]“This is fine. Everything is fine. I love airships. I love bars. I love being held like a sack of emotional potatoes.”[/color]

Bastion’s head tilted.

[color=30A4D9]“You are not a potato,”[/color] he said helpfully.

Talis didn’t respond right away. Then, finally:

[color=olive]“...Thanks.”[/color]
[/color]