(requested by calligomiles)
Zima sat with Firewatch in the outpost, facing the ladder and door while the Elafia watched for targets. “Better or worse than patrolling?” The General asked the aether around them.
“Worse. Ground is harder to knock over,” she replied, noticing some movement in the western quadrant. “You?”
“Worse. I don’t like heights. But, between being here with you, or leaving you back here with someone else? I’ll climb a mountain before I do the latter.” The Ursus nodded to herself.
The Sniper found her target and took them out; the ambush that’d been set for the forward team was now easy pickings for them instead. “Thank you. I’d do the same.”
“I know you would.” Sonya craned her head back over her chair. “Got ‘em?”
“Direct hit, threat neutralized. Should be the last one.”
She turned to look at her without straightening her neck. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Firewatch yawned. “Can’t sleep yet, but...almost...Once they’re over the hill.”
“We need to work on your sleep schedule; even if you are working nights, just 3 hours isn’t healthy.” Zima yawned, too; she didn’t get much more, admittedly.
The Elafia couldn’t turn to look at the Ursus, but she took her hand off the trigger to pat her shoulder. “When we’re back on base. Spare our spines.”
“You’re used to roughing it, though, aren’t you?” Silence. “That a no?”
“Not enough trees. Don’t know what I’d do for shade.” Another yawn.
The General stomped her foot. “That’s enough of that. Where’d I put the coffee...”
“Make me a cup, too?” Ah, there was a runner; was hidden behind the hills before. Bang. “Still have to wait for Ambriel and Executor.”
“On it...Hey, when we get back to base, you still think you’ll want to play House like this?”
Firewatch could afford to look back now; the forward team was out of her range by this point. “I’ll help clean more if we do.”
“That’ll be nice.” She slapped the coffee machine, and it finally started heating up. “Stupid thing. So you like doing this?”
“You know when to leave me alone, and when not to; you make good coffee; and when you say you’re watching my back, I believe you.” Besides, it’d been awhile since she’d felt like she had a home to go back to…
Sonya nodded to herself, watching the coffee maker percolate with crossed arms. “Glad to hear it. Not moving too fast for you?”
“Life comes and goes before we know it.” The Sniper’s voice carried the weariness of someone intimate with that idea. “Better to live while we still can than not at all.”
“Hear, hear...I’ll be with you when you find them.” She turned around, leaning against the wall next to the coffeeing table.
The Elafia frowned. “Find who?”
“Whoever it is you’re after.” Zima shrugged. “I know what it’s like to chase revenge. Caught up to it a few times, too. Hope yours will be worth it; mine wasn’t.”
“Peterheim?”
The General whistled through her teeth. “Yeah.”
“I...” She sighed. “I still can’t say the name.”
“Neither can I, but Rhodes Island does that enough. I’m sure the Doctor...” Rather than finish that sentence, she walked over to Firewatch to hug her after a stray drop of rain fell from a clear sky and through the ceiling of their watch-post.
The Sniper practically sunk into the embrace. “I’m...I’m so tired, Sonya.”
“Me too, dear, me too.” Zima smiled at her own bad joke. “Still waiting for Ambriel’s shift?”
“Yeah. You don’t have to let go, though.”
She kissed her cheek. “Wasn’t planning on it. Have to keep you awake before the coffee sets in.”
“Thanks.” The Elafia couldn’t help but crack a smile at that. “Only until the coffee hits?”
“We’ll see, we’ll see...”
