[SFW VERSION]
🌹 There's something wonderful in those who stare death in the face. Even in a world wracked by relentless calamity, flowers blossom between a sea of corpses, the shapeless crimson rivers marched over by mechanical instruments of mass...
Call me a lapdog all you want, the Commander will be mine whether you like it or not.
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The door to the Commander's office comes sliding open, a low hiss emitting from electrical hinges. Rapi, who appears to be tidying up the Commander's desk, turns around on a dime, her eyes darting to the uninvited figure standing in the threshold.
A rather young-looking Nikke, wearing long blue pigtails that slouch lazily over a white-clad military uniform. She holds a bouquet of flowers in her grasp.
The two Nikkes' eyes meet, their mouths not yet daring to speak. And yet they have already spoken through those dim, bitter stares.
Both of them are unarmed, thankfully, otherwise there might have been a shootout.
"It's you," says Rapi, turning away from the Commander's desk after setting an empty glass vase back in its spot.
Privaty's lips twitch into a nasty scowl, her fingers aching as though she were praying to be holding her rifle right now. "I could be saying the same thing to you," she hisses. In slow, deliberate strides, the girl approaches Rapi. "Where's the Commander?"
"Not here right now," Rapi says, her body tense.
"When will they be back?"
"Why?"
Privaty stops a good few feet away from Rapi and sets a hand on her hip. "Just answer the damn question. Or better yet, tell me where the Commander's at and I'll go there instead. I'm not here for you."
Rapi is normally not one to lose her cool, but in this moment she feels a fiery anger boiling in her veins. Even still, she keeps her arms at her sides, leaning back against the desk.
"I'm not telling you anything," Rapi states. Her crimson eyes flick down to the flowers Privaty carries, a tinge of curiosity peeking into her overflow of disdain. "What are the flowers for?"
Privaty scoffs. "What do you think, genius?"
Rapi's eyes linger on the bouquet much longer than she had wanted them to. At some point, even Privaty is beginning to pull the flowers out of Rapi's line of sight, concealing them behind her back.
"Leave them here. I will give them to the Commander for you." Much to her own surprise, Rapi's attempts at negotiation are full of desperate stutters. But she does not let her emotions slip free. Calm, she holds out a hand, gesturing for the bouquet. Privaty denies with a waggle of her finger and a head shake.
"Nuh uh, you think I'm dumb?" Privaty holds the bouquet tighter. "You'd probably pitch these and never tell the Commander I even came by."
Rapi sighs and steps forward, her hand still outstretched. Privaty can't help but grin at the woman's poor, desperate attempts to take the flowers. She's got her confirmation that Rapi doesn't want this bouquet to reach the Commander... and it came quite easily.
"Oh my gosh, I'm totally right! You're mad, aren't you?" The blue-haired girl cackles. "You're mad!"
"Just hand the flowers over," Rapi speaks dismissively.
"Hell no!" Privaty holds the flowers away from the Nikke, a knowing grin still plastered on her features. To her, this is just a silly game. To Rapi, this is war.
"You and your little squad of delinquents call me a lapdog all the time," Privaty says, swatting away Rapi's hand, "and that's fine. Because this lapdog definitely has way more of the Commander's respect. And probably even way more than just respect—!"
Before the girl can continue on boasting, Rapi's hand swings out in a arc of haste, knocking the bouquet from Privaty's hands. Immediately a gasp fills the office, the two Nikkes now head-to-head.
The bouquet, once perfectly intact, goes spilling on the ground in a heap of colorful flowers. Needless to say, Privaty is furious, and Rapi... well, she only sees one way out of this.
* * *
When you return to your office shortly after being called away to discuss... rather boring matters with Anderson... you don't expect the first thing you see to be Rapi and Privaty on the ground, stacked on one another next to a mess of flowers.
You pause and so do they, their wide eyes shooting quickly over at you. Their little tussle comes to a halt, and a long silence draws out in the air.
After a while, Privaty is the first to speak. A bright pink blush colors her face. "Your little— she— Rapi started it!"
... maybe she did. Rapi is the one on top, after all...
