Azure City, MSU Headquarters
Interactions - Collaberation
The next time Milo opened his eyes, the dim light of his hospital room gave him somewhat of scare. Though a pleasant rest was offered, images of a previous operating room came rushing into the agentโs mind. When it was noted that freedom was afforded him, and his limbs were not bound, Milo managed a soft sigh of relief, before turning to see a sleeping boy next to the agentโs bed.
Maksim, yes, of course he would be there. Rubbing the artificial mutantโs face, Milo lowered his bare feet to the floor, and reached for the clothes he had been given. Loose fabric, to prevent discomfort following his treatment, Milo slipped into a pair of socks, cargo pants and a tank top, along with an unzipped hoodie. It was what one could expect to see the boy in, simpler regalia. Fixing his attention on Maksim, Milo paused for a moment, unable to hide the smile making its way to his features. Who would have thought that a stray, homeless boy was going to be the difference between life and death? Truly, a humbling experience.
Lowering himself to a chair next to Maksim, Milo took the moment to lean back and close his eyes once more. He could not deny the comfort of a well earned rest.
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One shouldn't be surprised at how long Maksim had slept for already. Nothing the young wolf boy had experienced in the two years of living on the streets of Azure City could have prepared him for what he and Milo had faced; not mentally, nor physically.
He hadn't woken once since sitting down in his chair, not even to finish the half-eaten granola bar; which had fallen from his hand and now laid on the floor at his feet. The boy would definitely not be happy about his dropped granola bar once he woke.
๎Despite his new surroundings and the care he had been shown, it would take awhile for the boy to grow out of tendancies and habits he had formed from living on the streets. So when Milo sat down next to him, Maksim stirred, unable to sleep without knowing what had moved so close to him.
The young boy opened his eyes slowlyand looked to his side to see Milo. For a second Maks thought he was dreaming, why was he sitting in a chair, why was the strange boy from before next to him. Then suddenly, everything he had been through in the past twenty-four hours came flooding back to the forefront of his mind.
He sat up in his chair quickly, taking in a deep breath and looking around the room and then to the older mutant next to him. It took a few long moments, but then the young boy remembered he was somewhere safe.
๎Milo had saved him. He didn't leave the boy when Maks had collapsed next to the stairs. He had promised to protect him, to get him out alive, and had kept that promise. Milo had shown him what trust was; what trust
is.
Sitting back in the chair, Maksim had completely forgotten about the granola bar for the time being.
"Are.., are you feeling better?"__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
๎Opening his eyes to the boyโs voice, Milo extended a slender hand, carefully patting Maksim on the shoulder. It was the way friends acted, was it not? The agent was unsure. He was still quite new, to this.
"Affirmative, I feel a bit better." Milo admitted, nodding his head before reaching for an all too forgotten granola bar on the floor, which he then handed to his new acquired friend.
"Thank you, Maksim. Had it not been for you, I would only have agony to look forward to." Milo continued, rising to his feet with a soft groan. His body still hurt, and while feeling better, he was in no way in good health.
"Maksim, I..," Milo started, scratching the back of his head,
"I have been laid off until I am able to initiate combat, once more. Would you like to spend some time, with me, in town?"__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A hand on his shoulder is something Maks would have run from, had it been a stranger. It had been too long since the young boy had someone close to him, two years in fact. Ever since having to run from home and travelling halfway across the world, not knowing where he was going or where it would end, the boy had forsaken letting anyone get close to him.
He had to keep reminding himself though, that Milo was; well what was this? Friendship? Was this what it was like having someone close that you could count on? That you could trust?
Taking the granola bar in hand, Maks blew at it in an attempt to rid its sticky surface of dust and dirt. He didn't really mind though, as was evident when the boy took another bite of it, the sweet granola and small chocolate chips greeting his taste buds like two kids greeted each other before a day at the park.
"You saved me too. We saved each other." the boy pointed out in between bites of his granola bar.
He looked to his friend after Milo mentioned going into town. The boy wasn't quite sure how it would feel being in town, but not having to hide in the shadows in fear. That thought didn't linger for long before he lifted up his legs to look at the bunny slippers he was given. He had also noted that Milo was only wearing socks.
๎
"Sure. D'you want a slipper? That way we both have one." the young boy asked, not really understanding how easy it could be for them to just acquire shoes.
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Squinting at those slippers, and then back at Maksim, Milo scratched the back of his head. The agent did not fully compute. Share slippers? Or rather, share one slipper? This was quite an odd development, to be sure. However, Milo could do little but laugh at the question, a lighthearted tone, indeed. Maksim was unique, in every aspect. That scared alley dweller, now sitting on a comfortable armchair with his feet on a table, enjoying a granola bar, it was endearing.
"Maksim, I.., uh..," Milo thumbed over his shoulder,
"I have been outfitted with adequate footwear." Motioning toward the doorway, Milo pointed out a pair of converse shoes, two pairs, in fact. Maksim had been afforded the same luxury.
"Uhm, considering how you have been assigned the role of my charge, it is my duty to keep you safe. We should head to the armory, before, uhm..," the artificial creation scratched his chin for a moment, considering the notion,
"before we indulge in lighthearted activities." Milo finished, nodding his head. Social interactions, it was something he surely needed to work on.
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Maks took his feet off the table and leaned forward to see the shoes Milo had mentioned. Taking another bite of his granola bar, the young boy stood from his chair and hurried over towards the door.
He picked up one of the smaller shoes, dark blue in color, and looked at the laces with a little bit of confusion written on his face. His old, torn up shoes had been slip ons, so needless to say Maksim would need some help tying his shoes. The boy sat down on the floor, holding the granola bar with his teeth as he slipped one of the shoes on. Surprisingly it was on the right foot after the first try.
He slipped the other one on before messing with the laces, slightly reluctant to ask for help from Milo. Although, it would be easy to notice the young boy was struggling with attempting to tie his shoes. If the mess of laces wasn't enough, frustration was written all over his face.
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"Do you require assistance, Maksim?" Milo tilted his head, looking toward the boy who was struggling all too obviously with the footwear, its nasty laces doing quite a number on him. Carefully, as to not reopen his wounds, Milo lowered himself to his knees, his slender fingers making their way towards Maksimโs own, where he began to gently, and fluidly, work on this laces.
"It is a process which will eventually become muscle, memory, see?" The agent displayed, showing the process as it unfolded.
"Mission accomplished," Milo managed a soft smile as he met his newly acquired friend in a locked gaze.
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Maksim sighed in defeat as Milo came in and helped him tie his shoelaces. Asking for help was going to be one of the young boys biggest problem now that he wasn't living on the streets anymore. One would call it stubborn pride, as for the last two years Maksim was forced to do everything on his own.
Taking the granola bar from his mouth, Maks smiled.
"Thank you." he said quietly, meeting Milo's gaze with his own.
After his shoelaces were tied, Maks stood up, munching on the granola bar and running the other hand through his rather messy looking hair as he watched Milo start to tie his shoes.
"Why do you hav'ta go to the armory first? What's that?" he asked, subconsiously messing with his hair as he watched the older boy.
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"As an MSU agent I am obligated to wear a firearm for self defense. In a physical altercation, I must be able to neutralize the threat, through non-lethal means." A translation would read that Milo needed a gun, because there are criminals. Much like a civilian with a permit, Milo had access to such a device, but unlike a permit, his position in the MSU demanded that he was always able to defend himself, and others.
"The armory is where they keep the weapons." The agent finished, putting on his own shoes before standing up. The movement was somewhat difficult, and Milo hoped that he would not need to repeat this motion repeatedly. Now that adrenaline had left his frame, he could feel the pain all too clearly.
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Maksim understood Milo's notion completely, even though it took the younger boy a bit longer to decipher what he had said. All too often Maks had run into thugs and other street criminals that he really shouldn't have gone near. There were times where the younger boy thought he would've died by their hand, but for the most part he was able to rely on his mutation to help him escape and lose them in a chase.
"I guess that makes sense." the young boy mumbled, shrugging as he finished the last of his granola bar and threw the wrapper in a small garbage bin close to the door.
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Holding his hand out, Milo would offer the smaller boy help, back to his feet. Maksim did not need it. Not at all. It was a gesture, and little more. As they walked through a large, sterile and metallic corridor of the MSU building, thoughts of this ordeal came to haunt the boyโs mind. Milo was allowed to maintain his relation to Maksim, as if a friend. Why? Yes, because protocol claimed that if a charge was brought in, they were the agentโs responsibility until such time that they handed the charge over to the proper authorities. Maksim had no paperwork, no family and no official note of existence. It made sense, letting him stay with Milo, but the boy could not wrap his head around the circumstances. A stray, unwanted child, who was allowed to simply โhangโ with an agent? Most would consider this odd, and Milo was still trying to figure out just why he hadnโt been told to hand Maks over to the police.
"Itโs over there," the agent explained, pointed further down the hall, into a sealed room with โDangerโ written on the door.
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