APEX LEGENDS: The New Legend

Rest

It was about three days later when Octavio was finally able to move around. His legs had been repaired, and he was doing fine. He still complained of soreness, but that was to be expected. I had stayed by his side the entire time and took the days off to make sure he was taken care of.

          I was currently watching him run around the Firing Range, stimming it up and practicing his running. I then jumped up as I watched his leg stiffen and then him fall face forward from the sudden stop.

         I rushed to his side and helped him sit back up, "Are you okay?"

          "Hijo de.." He mumbled as he rubbed his head and looked up at me, "Yeah, I'm okay, that was just unexpected."

        "What happened? It looked like your leg went stiff." I said, looking at his left leg that hadn't moved from a straight position.

        "Eh, the joints stiffened up. It happens with new parts for my legs." He said as he pulled his mask down to reveal a sheepish smile.

         "What helps?" I asked as I examined him for any bad scrapes.

          "Letting them cool down, honestly. I ran them too much." He said as he took the left leg off and held it in his lap, "Can you help me get back inside?"

             "Of course, mi amor." I offered him a smile as I stood and helped him up, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and leading him back to the caves.

            We walked through the dark caves and pushed through some double doors to enter the building that connected to the firing range. We decided to go to the lounge area and let his leg cool down before heading back to his room.

By the time we got to his room, he was ready to go back to the firing range. He had so much pent up energy from the three days he was in bed.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Tavi. You need to let yourself rest still." I said as I sat down on his bed.

"I'll be fine. Rest is for slow people. And I'm not slow." He said with a chuckle.

          I let out a sigh, not wanting him to over do it on himself. "Please. Just-..sit down for a bit. Play a video game, or something."

          "What's wrong, chica? I'm all healed up and ready to go!" He said excitedly.

          "Octavio. You're not. You've still got bruises, your scars are still healing, and-..ugh! For fuck's sake your leg joints just stiffened not even fifteen minutes ago. If you keep pushing yourself like this, you'll be back in bed for another three days. I know-, I know it's so so hard for you to not just do something. But you need to take care of yourself first." I said, slight annoyance in my voice.

          I immediately felt bad for the harshness in what I said as I saw the excitement leave his body and him just go still. He looked towards the ground and just stood there, not saying anything.

          "Tavi, I-"

           "Lo siento, hermosa.." He said quietly.

           I sighed and stood up from the bed, walking to him and gently grabbing his hand. "Cariño, no se disculpe."

             He looked up at me, sadness evident in his expression. He didn't say anything, he just squeezed onto my hand. I decided to continue speaking in Spanish, as most of our intimate moments were spoken in the language.

            "Lo siento, mi amor." I gently raised his hand to my lips and placed a gentle kiss on the top of it, "Te amo, mi cielo."

            His eyes widened a fraction at what I had said, "T-te amo..?"

           I smiled softly and nodded, "Te amo, mi amor."

          His sad demeanor quickly washed away and was replaced with an excited and very happy one, "Te amo también!"

         He hugged me tightly and placed quick, gentle kisses across my forehead. He had been saying "I love you" for a while now, I hadn't said it back until now. He understood why I didn't want to, and he admitted that he did move too quickly sometimes. So, he let me decide when I was ready to return the phrase.

        After the fear of losing him came about, I realized that I really did love him. And that I truly cared about him more than I had for anyone else in my life. He deserved to know that.

      "I'm sorry, chica. I know I'm always too eager to get back into things. I know that I'm reckless, and I won't apologize for that, but, I understand why you're upset. I'll rest if that helps put your mind at ease." He said quietly as he softly pet my hair.

     I nodded and buried my head in his shoulder, "Thank you, Tavi. I just want you to be safe and well. I don't want to see anything happen to you."

     He gently kissed the top of my head and held me close to him. We stood in silence for a while, enjoying each other's embrace and the peace around us currently.
  
     Before long, he excitedly pulled back from the embrace with a wicked grin, "Wanna play some video games? I bet I'll win."

     I returned the grin and crossed my arms over my chest,

                                   "You're on!"

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Translations:

"Lo siento" = I'm sorry
"Cariño" = Babe
"No se discuple" = Don't be sorry
"Te amo" = I love you
"Mi cielo" = My sweet
"Te amo también" = I love you too