Work Text:
Prez had noticed something that was happening this past few days.
Whenever she opened her toolbox to work and tweak with the planes of Hitman, she would often find little sweets on her toolbox.
Candy, lollipops, chocolates, cookies and other kinds of desserts.
They were also carefully placed inside, not just tossed in and hope for the best that they wouldn't be crushed by one of the tools she had.
But no, they were placed in a manner that would remind one of placing food in a lunchbox, carefully placing the food in order to keep it intact.
At First, Robin didn't mind it that much, in fact, in the very early days that this started to happen, she didn't even noticed, she just thought that those sweets were hers, and she had just left them on the toolbox, but after this kept happenint, she knew she didn't carried that much candy around, so she was certain there was someone placing the candy.
But who could it be?
She was wondering this while working on a plane, more specifically, hers.
Okay maybe not hers, but she was the WSO and the one that maintained it, so practically it was 75% hers.
The trusty F/D-14, the insignia plane of Monarch, both of them had grown quite fond of the old naval plane, and had even modified it to keep up with the more advanced fighters, not that Monarch couldn't keep up, he very well could, but it was nice to know that they were more even than on disadvantage.
Half of her body was inside the plane, attending anything that may seem out of order, oil stains, sweat, and other mechanical-originated fluids were the norm in her life.
Even despite the works, the doubt still lingered in her mind
Who was the mysterious person giving her sweets?
She tried to distract herself, so she decided to just tighten some bolts of the plane, so she got out of the mechanical insides of the machine and steped down the ladder helping her up, reaching the floor and walking to her toolbox.
She opened the toolbox, grabing a wrench, her eyes lingered a bit after spoting something colorful on the toolbox.
It was a candy, a chocolate, wraped in a gold envelop, carefully tucked on the toolbox.
She picked the chocolate up, holding it in the air as she looked at it
"Now, Who left you in there for me to find you?" She playfully asked before walking away, she was determined to find whoever gave her the candies, she wanted to at least thank whoever did it.
.
.
.
Her first stop was the controll tower of the base they were staying, the camera feed was inside it, however, she would unfortunartely have to deal with someone first
"Mmmh? Oh, if it isn't the favorite WSO of Sicario." Galaxy said as he leaned back on a chair, his feet on top of a desk.
"Yeah, yeah, hello Galaxy" Prez said as she waved a hand at Galaxy "Hey, mind if I check the camera footage of the hangars real quick?" Prez asked as she walked more inside the room
"Sure? I don't see why, but yeah." Galaxy said as he grabbed a laptop and handed it to Prez "That's 50 bucks." He added smiling
"Oh piss off." She responded with a sarcastic tone before she sitted on another chair and starting to check the footage
20 minutes later and nothing, she checked the cameras of the hangars, of other places were she would leave her toolbox, and nothing
It also didn't helped that the base had a lot of blind spots for said cameras.
"Agh... This isn't gonna go anywhere..." Prez said a bit frustrated before closing the laptop and standing up "Thanks anyways Galaxy." she added.
"No problem Prez." Galaxy said as he chekced his phone. "Mind telling me what are you doing exactly?" He asked, lowering his phone.
"Someone has been leaving sweets on my toolbox, and I want to know who is it." Prez said as she explained the situation to Galaxy, his eyes slightly getting wider behind his sunglasses.
"Really? Who would have thought you would get an admirer before me." Galaxy said with a small chuckle. "Welp, I've got no idea, but my guess would be one of your mechanics or Hitman." Galaxy said before leaning back on his chair and returning to watch his phone.
"What can I say? I'm quite pretty." She said with a bit of a mocking tone.
"For one man only." He responded, not looking at her, but smiling to himself.
"Yeah yeah, whatever you say." Prez said as she walked away, exiting the room and closing the door behind her.
As the door closed, Kaiser appeared from behind a desk on the same room.
"You really had to go and say that didn't you?" He asked Galaxy with a judgemental look.
"Oh come on, sooner or later she has to know." Galaxy responded, turning to see Kaiser. "You really apreciate the kid don't you?" He asked.
"Heck, of course I do." Kaiser responded as he walked closer to Galaxy. "Still, she has to know when the time is right" Kaiser added.
"You know, for someone as 'profesional' as you, I'm kinda surprised you're not making a more big of a deal, considering we are talking about your Ace." Galaxy said.
"As long as the people working with me do their job, I don't care who they are sleeping with, not that I wanna know anyways." He responded with a small laugh "And besides, she is the only one that has been able to make him feel like that." Kaiser said.
"You sound like a dad." Galaxy commented.
"Oh, fuck off." Kaiser responded.
.
.
.
.
.
Prez continued to walk through the base, she asked a couple of her mechanics if anyone knew something about it, a bit direct in her opinion, but still, she asked, yet no one knew anything.
She then walked a bit more before she found Diplomat and Comic sitting in the communal kitchen of the base.
Now, she didn't exactly got along with them, not that they treated her bad, it was just that it was hard getting inside their circle, so she mostly got along with Monarch.
Still, the mystery behind the candies was more strong than this fact, so she walked towards them .
"Comic! Diplomat!" Prez said as she aproached them, her voice up-beat.
"Hey Prez." Diplomat greeted her.
"Sup." And Comic did as well.
"Could any of you help with a little something?" Prez asked as she sitted with them.
Both wingman and wingwoman shared a look of curiosity.
"Sure, what do you need?" Comic asked.
"You see, this lasts days I have been finding sweets in my toolbox, someone is leaving them in it and I have no idea why, and I want to know who is it." Prez explained, Hitman 2 and Hitman 3 hearing with attention.
"Ohhhhh, I see..." Comic said, holding back a smile
"Someone has been leaving sweets on your toolbox? hum..." Diplomat added, holding back a smile as well.
"You seem like you two know something." Prez said, spending so much time with Monarch paid off in other ways than a good friend, it made her more perceptive.
Friend
Something feelt off when she thought of him like that.
Like she wanted more, like something was needed.
She quickly pushed those thoughts aside, she couldn't distract herself now.
"Yeah, no, we don't." Diplomat said, Comic nooding in agreement.
"My bet is that Monarch is the one doing that." Comic added
"M-Monarch?" Prez asked, a very faint blush creeping on her face.
"Yeah, I remember he usually does that kind of stuff with people he likes." Comic said as she softly hitted Diplomat's arm
"Yeah, he does that sometimes, I remember he gave Kaiser pencils, he gave Galaxy mints, he gave Comic water bottles, and he gave me cookies." Diplomat said.
"There were more subtle ways of making me try and stop drinking than asking Monarch to give me water bottles." Comic responded to Diplomat with a teasing smirk.
"Well I'm sure there was a better way of giving me back the cookies you stole. I placed both heart and soul baking thise things." Diplomat responded with his own teasing smirk.
"They weren't that good anyways." *Comic responded, making Diplomat have a pained expression on his face.*
This, while helping Prez, also left her a bit more confused, It seemed that Monarch gave things to people he liked, yet they seemed like simple things, singular objects of one kind, If Monarch is the one leaving the sweets on her toolbox, why so much and so many variety?
"I-I see..." Prez said, her face slightly burning. "B-But the sweets, they are very varied and they seem..." She added before pulling out of her pocket the chocolate she found today "Expensive, too much." She said, it made her feel slightly guilty.
"Mmmm... Yeah no clue, but it probably is Monarch." Diplomat said as he looked at the chocolate "Give m- OUCH!" He said as he extended his hand to grab the chocolate, being hitted on it by Comic
"Just consider Monarch like a crow, they tend to bring shiny things to people they like." Comic said as she compared Monarch's actitudes with a crow's, a quite acurate comparasion.
Prez blushed a bit more, starting to become more notorious.
"W-Well, I think this helps me, Thank you guys." Prez said before standing up, waving at them as she walked away
Comic and Diplomat then looked at eachother.
"They're definitly gonna fuck."
"Definitly "
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Prez was now back at the hangar, she held the chocolate in her hand, still wraped in it's golden envelop, she turned to see it, holding it in the air, turning it around, and overall taking in the details of the sweet in her hands, she layed on the floor, candy above her face.
It looked quite expensive.
There wasn't that much of a problem if Monarch was the one giving her the candies, after all, it's not like he was short on money, quite the opposite.
But it still made Prez feel a bit guilty.
Why would he go out of his way and buy her expensive candies that probably tasted good?
"Oh right! I haven't tasted you." Prez said to herself, sitting before taking off the envelop from the chocolate, it was a bit melted due to spending all the day in her pocket, but it shouldn't be that bad.
She ate the chocolate, the texture was one soft but firm, the sweet sugar melted in her tounge, it was delicious even if melted a bit, her eyes widenened a bit at the taste, overall, it was a good chocolate.
Prez soon found herself licking the top of her fingers wich got stained with the candy, before hearing faint steps aproaching behind her, she jolted up, getting on her feet and rubbing her hands to try and clean them against her jumpsuit, wich had it's sleeves wraped around her waist, leaving her upper half being covered by a white shirt without sleeves.
As she turned around and saw who aproached, she found it was the man she was thinking about before.
"Oh! Heya Monarch!" Prez said as she turned to see him, a faint blush adorned her face, one she wasn't aware of
"𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘻"
Monarch said in sign language as he aproached her, pilot suit on, helmet on, visor down and oxygen mask in place.
"So, what brings you down to the hangar this time?" Prez asked as she turned around and sitted on one of the steps of the staircase that helped her get up to the plane, Monarch following her, sitting on a plastic bench where Prez's things were, such as her toolbox, a towel to clean off sweat, and some hair pins.
"𝘐 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺"
He signed before pulling down the zipper of his flight suit, one of his hands moving inside of it, after a bit of searching, Monarch's head tilted up before taking out what he was looking for.
It was a big 'ol bag of Dippin' Dots.
Monarch then moved his hand to take off something from his pocket, this being a bottle with mango juice.
He then offered this things to Prez who had her eyes widen in surprise, and her mouth slightly open.
"Is... Are they r-really for me? All of it?" Prez asked with doubt, unknowingly to Monarch, Dippin' Dots were Prez's favorite food.
Monarch tilted his head up and down.
And before he knew it, Prez had jumped down from were she was sitting, rappidly aproaching Monarch, who handed her the food and drink, she then quickly sitted alongside Monarch, opened the bag, and started to eat them.
"Mmmmhh!" She humed as she ate the Dippin' Dots, munching them as she ate the whole bag slowly, drinking the mango juice from time to time.
Eventually she finished the contents of the bag and bottle, leaning back, her hands holding the edge of the plastic bench in order to give her support, she hummed contempt at the little luxury Monarch gave her.
Oh shit! Monarch!
She then turned to see Monarch, fixing her posture quickly, trying to make herself looke like she didn't ate everything herself, straight in front of his gaze, without mentioning her lack of manners as she did so.
Monarch was looking at her, maybe staring, it was hard to tell due to him having his helmet and accesories of it cover his face, despite Prez being able to tell most of the time where Monarch's gaze is, she isn't capable right now due to the shame she feels due to how she ate.
Monarch stared at her, gigleling softly underneath his helmet, barely audible due to his mask muffling his voice.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺, 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶?"
He signed as he stared at her, his signed words light-hearted, his actitude seemengly happy.
"U-Uhm.... Y-Yeah, kind of." Prez said as she tilted her head a bit to the side, avoiding Monarch's gaze, and looking at the plane of the two, The F/D-14.
"I guess I'm calling it off for today." Prez said as she stood up to gather her stuff, turning around, she was staring at the oposite direction of Monarch's gaze.
As she gathers her thoughts, Monarch extends one of his hands, trying to reach out for her, to maybe give her a handshake, a hug, gently ruffle her hair, something, anything.
But he doubts, and he doesn't move.
As Prez finishes gathering her stuff, she turns around, toolbox in hand.
"Welp, G'night Monarch." Prez said with a smile.
Monarch tilts his head a bit to the side, making little noises as he accepts her goodbye.
"𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘻"
He signs, Prez smiled one last time before walking away.
Monarch now stands alone in the hangar, he looks to the sides, to the exits and entrances of the hangar, and then, he looks at the F/D-14, and at the ladder next to it.
Monarch sighs before walking to the ladder, climbing it before getting on the hull of his- no, their plane, he opens the cannopy, before jumping in the seat of the pilot, a place he is very used to.
He leans back on the seat, pushing a little lever on the lower end of the seat, making it go back, allowing Monarch to somewhat lay down.
He then takes off his oxygen mask and raises his visor before taking off his helmet, he leaves it on his lap before cliping his oxygen mask to his flight suit, and once that is done, he picks up his helmet, lowers it's visor, and just stares at it
"Why can't you just... Do something?"
He asks as he watched the helmet, despite the dark visor, his face is reflected on it
He then leaves his helmet on his lap once more, before taking from his pocket a sweet
It is a chocolate, it's wrap is golden in color,
he turned to see it, holding it in the air, turning it around, and overall taking in the details of the sweet in his hands, he layed on the seat, candy infront of his face.
He then turns in his seat, looking back at the WSO seat, he get's a somewhat decent view, but is not that much, so he gets up, leaves the chocolate back on his pocket, and takes some steps on the hull of the plane, looking at the WSO seat.
"And why are you so... unique?"
He asks to aparently no one as he looks at the empty seat.
"How are you able to make my heart beat faster than on a dogfight? How are you able to make me feel my legs more weak than after the most intense mission of any contract? How are you able to make me feel more happy with just a smile than when we finish a contract and we don't have to bury anyone? How is it that you stay with me, both inside and outside the cockpit? What are you trying to do?"
He says, to one person in particular, one girl he has been leaving sweets on her toolbox this past couple of days, a mechanic, a WSO, a girl with a heart of gold despite her work.
A friend.
Weird.
Friend.
Something feelt off when he thought of her like that
Like he wanted more, like something was needed.
But Monarch had friends, Comic, Diplomat, Kaiser, Galaxy.
Yet he never felt this way with them, it was just with Prez.
"Why does my face burns when I think about you? Why does my heart beats faster and stronger?" He asked to himself.
This couldn't be love...
Could it?
Truth be told, he made a grave mistake as a mercenary, he thought about Hitman and Sicario as friends and family, it was bad, at any moment someone could die, and despite this, Monarch found himself seeing a Father in Kaiser, an Uncle in Galaxy, a Sister in Comic, and a Brother in Diplomat.
So what was he seeing in Prez?
He tilted up his head as he sitted on the edge of the hull of the plane, looking up at the ceiling.
Then, a memory flashed through Monarch's mind when he gave Prez the Dippin' Dots.
The way she was surprised, how she ate in such and informal way, the light blush on her face, how she was satisfied after finishing the whole bag and mango juice, and the way she scrambeled to fix herself and make herself look more acceptable after she realized that Monarch was seeing her.
He laughed soflty.
"Cute" He said as he smiled.
He then reaches into the pilot seat, taking his helmet, putting it on, placing on his face the oxygen mask, and lowering the vissor.
Then he closed the cannopy, went down the stairs and turned off the hangar lights.
He then started to walk to his barracks, but he then took a quick detour.
He walked to some lockers, some Sicario personnel left their stuff there, and Monarch knew someone who left her toolbox there from time to time.
After a bit of searching, he found the toolbox, he gently opened it, and carefully placed in it the chocolate he had on his pocket, once he was done, he gently closed the toolbox and walked away.
Maybe one day he would be able to figure out what to do.
But for now, leaving sweets for her seemed like enough.