Outside Of Life [WayHaught]

Chickpeas

"Why didn't you let me say hi to my bestest buddy?" Wynonna stumbled over thin air and fell onto her hands and knees, laughing.

"Because you are so drunk right now, you wouldn't have made any sense. Besides, you'll want to go to sleep soon and I can't ask Shorty to bring you home again, not after last time."

The streets were desolate and dimly lit with flickering torches. It had been Sergeant Major Nedley's idea to hook up lines of torches to the main generator to keep things a little lighter, especially in the winter months. It made getting home a lot easier, though Wynonna wasn't an easy drunk to handle.

"That's not fair Waves," the elder Earp protested. "I never asked for my beer to have tequila in it as well; everyone knows that's just asking for trouble. And vomit. Lots of vomit."

"You mixed it yourself, numbnuts, by drinking everything you set your eyes on."

Wynonna shook her head, throwing an arm around her sister's shoulders. "Pfft, you're just jealous."

"Jealous of what exactly?"

"That I can drink and you can't."

"Right," Waverly said lowly, thankful she was able to see the homestead up ahead. "Because my inability to drink is why I was able to have three whiskeys and a beer before walking you home?"

Wynonna furrowed her brows and attempted to cross her arms, falling over once again. "You know that's not what I meant."

The younger Earp left her sister lying face-first in the mud and knocked on the homestead door. After a minute or two, the door opened to reveal Waverly's life-long friend, Jeremy, cradling a pot noodle.

"Where did you find that?" Waverly's jaw practically dropped.

"I traded it for a lighting hack. I actually got three, but I've already eaten the other two. Sorry," Jeremy said, slurping on a noodle. "Where's Wynonna?"

Waverly sighed and pointed over her shoulder. Jeremy simply nodded, put the pot noodle down by the door and walked towards the slumped body of the elder Earp.

It wasn't long before Wynonna had been placed on the sofa, an arm hanging onto the floor, her snoring echoing around the house. The homestead itself wasn't quite a palace but at least it felt homely. There were only three rooms in their little apartment-home; a living room which doubled up as the kitchen, and two bedrooms. It was often the case that Waverly would take one of the beds and Wynonna the other, leaving the sofa for Jeremy although he wasn't always in need of it as he worked closely with Sergeant Major Nedley. That meant a warm bed, three hot meals a day and a roof that didn't leak. Not that Waverly was jealous.

"How much did she drink this time?" Jeremy inhaled another noodle and perched on the arm of the sofa. "I'm guessing a lot if she's sleeping already?"

Waverly nodded. "She definitely won't remember this tomorrow. But I suppose you get her bed tonight?"

Jeremy shot his fist into the air and grinned. "Thanks; I can't wait to sleep on a mattress again." He left the living room, pot noodle in hand, leaving Waverly to watch her snoring sister.

"You never make life easy for yourself, do you?" She moved a strand of hair from Wynonna's face; her sister looked so peaceful when she slept.

Deciding it was better to get to sleep sooner rather than later, Waverly got a glass of water and left it beside the sofa as well as a bucket that they usually used to catch the never-ending drips that came from the ceiling. She then went to the window to close the curtains but was surprised to see a familiar shape walking away from the homestead.

Waverly squinted to try and see through the filthy glass, her eyes widening as she noticed a flash of red from beneath the cap. The figure suddenly stopped walking and looked over their shoulder. Not quite knowing what to do, the brunette waved.

Nicole waved back and continued walking back into the town's centre.

Suddenly there was a loud bang and Waverly spun around to find that Wynonna had fallen off the sofa, her face buried in the floorboards. Somehow, the elder Earp was still sound asleep.

"Unbelievable," Waverly muttered, heading to her bed, leaving her sister on the floor. She had a blanket over her so she wouldn't get cold.

The next day, Waverly woke to the sound of voices. Loud, happy, giggling voices that just rubbed salt into the wound with her slightly sore head. Plus she'd never been much of a morning person. Taking hold of her three blankets, plus a bonus blanket, Waverly made her way into the living room, consciously making sure she had a firm scowl plastered all over her face to Wynonna and Jeremy would know just how angry-

"Nicole?"

Waverly felt her throat go dry and she could have sworn that the Sergeant's cheeks flushed red.

"Waves! You're finally up!" Wynonna pulled her sister in for a hug and the kissed her hard on the forehead. "Come on, eat your flafla or whatever and then we've got to go."

"Falafel? Wynonna, wait."

The elder Earp rolled her eyes as well as her entire head. "Come on baby girl! We can't make the Sergeant wait any longer than she has to; she's a properly professional person and everything. I mean, just look at her hat. She has a hat with her rank on it. I don't have a hat with my rank on it!"

The redhead laughed and patted Wynonna on her bare head. "That's because you haven't achieved a rank important enough yet."

Wynonna raised an eyebrow at the Sergeant before holding up her hand. "That was a good one, Haught. High-five."

"Maybe later, Wynonna. Besides, Waverly needs to get dressed before we can leave."

At the mention of her name, Waverly wrapped her blankets even tighter around her small frame. "It won't take me long to put some different clothes on you know," she mumbled, not wanting to come across as a burden. It was bad enough that she'd almost failed Dolls on their first mission together. "But I'll need toast or something before we go."

Right on cue, Jeremy came into the room and held up an opened tin like it was worth being impressed with.

"What's wrong with you now?" Wynonna slumped onto the sofa, her head rolling back so she saw Jeremy upside-down.

"It's a tin of chickpeas," he explained. "A very rare, rather sought-after, tin of chickpeas."

"No. Freaking. Way." Waverly ran to his side and ogled at the tin.

"Yes freaking way; I found it under Wynonna's bed."

The room fell silent as Jeremy realised what he'd just said.

"Let's say that's all you found and move on, yeah?" Wynonna said quickly, avoiding Nicole's intrigued gaze. "And Waverly please go put on some clothes; Haught didn't need to see the blanket burrito."

"Fine," Waverly muttered, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "I'll be ready in a few minutes. And Jeremy?"

"Yeah?"

"You'd better not make hummus without me. I have a shotgun."

"Right. Got it."