i really wanna make a tracer bc that’s where all my focus is rn smfh... i need to get my Focus back

                    ASHLEY.

               chell is taking her jacket from where it is hung even before he speaks, stepping into her shoes absently. the words fell her, head snapping as if she had been struck. her shock is reflected on her face, but it fades just as quickly. there is a strange familiarity in those who had died coming back to haunt her. the mechanic whirring of metal rejoining with clanks that send goosebumps over her arms. determinedly, her jaw sets, and her arm sweeps out to allow him to lead the way.     ❛     i’m right behind you.    ❜       

                    OPEN.

               the guitar vibrates softly under her fingers, a soft music note filling the air around her. chell’s eyes flutter shut, fingers only slightly clumsy on the strings.     ❛    i can’t walk the path of the right, because i’m wrong...     ❜      

                    ANDY.

               while andy talks, chell’s gaze drifts back over to rick and caroline, the latter of which being on the retreat. there was always something bittersweet about the way rick’s face would change as soon as caroline would turn her back on him. absently, chell wondered if anyone ever looked at her like that.     ❛     oh, no. it’s not his pickup lines. it’s just who he is. she likes him.   ❜    

                    HUSTON.

               she is lucky she has thick skin -- huston’s little outbursts would bother anyone else, and yet she finds them hysterical. raising her eyebrows a little condescendingly, one hand comes to rest on her hip, the other picking up her clipboard absently.     ❛     i think you just answered your own question, there. are you coming, or not?    ❜     she has already started towards the door, easy smile thrown over her shoulder.

                    MISTER JOHNSON.

               the longer he talks, the more her blood boils, anger rising underneath her skin. chell knows that neither she nor her father could afford to be fired in this time of great innovation. as unethical as these practices were, they were making leaps and bounds in the scientific field -- once again, she must make a choice: her morals, or her passion? chell’s gaze drops, heart heavy.     ❛     we’re clear.     ❜     despite her submission, she still holds the edge in her voice, that quiet tranquil fury that was too subtle to be noticed and not nearly enough to have her branded as dangerous.

                    WHEATLEY.

               the rose turns over and over between her nimble fingers, something so simple enough to render her stunned and grinning. for a second, her mind is utterly blank -- there is a total loss for words to say, any action to convey gratitude, until she stands on her toes and presses her lips to his cheek lightly, shyly.     ❛     thank you! i -- thank you.    ❜  

                    WHEATLEY.

               there is a struggle within her every time he talks of her time there: fear and anxiety must now take a backseat to her anger, the feeling of betrayal she holds on to like a lifeline. crossing her arms and leaning away from the television she had been fixing, chell’s voice falls flat, indulging in the human impulse of being mean.     ❛     i killed her.    ❜     a lengthy pause to examine his reaction, until she laughs --     ❛     no, i -- she let me go.   ❜     

                    FACT.

               when she is assured that they are both safe, marble gaze softens, light and airy now that she can relax. reclaiming both of her portals and keeping the android close by her side, she fires at the floor, bathing them both in orange and blue light. turning to him deliberately, each movement precise, she makes sure he watches her, stepping through her first portal easily. the holes in reality tip her upside down, the smile on her face almost unnoticeable until she falls back through and manages to right herself, long fall boots clattering securely as she lands. chell gestures then to him, the look in her eyes telling; your turn.