It's a Slow Fire of Sorts: Part I

It comes in threes

They keep in touch, after that.

Brunnhilde wasn't planning to. Honestly, she kind of assumed Vers would call maybe once or twice, quickly lose interest, and promptly never set foot on Sakaar again, but she does.

She keeps calling, and she keeps coming back.

In 1995, the Kree decide to set up a training camp on the West side of the city, because Sakaar is an ally they apparently "can't afford to lose." Since Vers is supposedly one of the head leaders, thanks to a promotion and a fancy new power chip, she's in charge of keeping everyone in line.

"Good practice," she explains, via holo call. "The Supreme Intelligence thinks it'll help ground me- prepare me for my future or something. Wish you could have seen it... thought Yon-Rogg was going to explode-"

The Kree are racist invaders- made real through Vers' casual stories depicting war crimes and horrific living conditions- but Vers, herself, is different.

She isn't blood-thirsty or obsessed with planetary domination. Not like they are. She's something Brunnhilde can't completely wrap her head around, but she isn't cruel. She's just... different. She's both uptight and loose. Firm and casual. Sometimes, it feels like there are two parts of her clashing against each other, and every time they meet, Brunnhilde doesn't know which 'Vers' she's going to get.

She trains the younger Starforce cadets, preaching things like patience and control.

The next day, she's shoving a pickpocket into a wall.

She searches through five tons of garbage for a child's lost toy.

A week later, she's wrecking a man's scooter for calling a woman a slur, then punching him in the face for refusing to apologize. She's bold and brash and kind... and it's flarking annoying, because Brunnhilde is starting to like her even more.

"What are you doing today?"

"Drinking."

"Wanna help me destroy Michii in Poh instead?"

"... Sure."

That's the way it goes. Brunnhilde has plans to rot in self-isolation, and Vers destroys them, every single time. Every few weeks, she's contacting Brunnhilde in some way, shape or form about an issue that can easily be solved by one person.

"I need some help with something."

"No."

"I'll buy you lunch."

"... Fine, but not Lujanna's on 8th or anywhere on the strip-"

"Duh. I'm not gonna kill you."

As weeks turn into months, Vers becomes less of a casual friend, and more of an ally; someone Brunnhilde can call on when Scrapper 800 steals her stuff. Someone she can message for stupid things, like that time she found part of an ancient being in the East quadrant-

"Oh, my gods! A Celestial- 142 this is a big find, least a mil for sure!"

"What the crap is a Celestial?"

- and it's nice.

This whole 'friend thing' is actually pretty great.

V's jokes are horrible, her memory issues are worse, at times, and even now, after a few years of interacting with Brunnhilde on a regular basis, she still can't understand sarcasm for crap. Case in point: It's Spring 1996- that frustrating period of time between the dry and drier seasons- and they're on a tiny shuttle, running yet another errand for Marks, who has become less shady and more friendly through the years, probably due to Vers' influence.