The Untold Story of Texas and Lappland (Arknights)

Raise a Glass

"C'mon Texas. Drinks wait for no one."

Texas let herself be pulled along by Exusiai as they went down the dormitory hallway and outside. After all the resource farming of the past week, it was nice to know that Rhodes Island was taking the evening off to relax, even if it did mean going to a bar in Lungmen. Their van was parked out on the loading deck as per usual, but of course Exusiai had other plans in mind.

"Aren't we going in the van?"

"No Texas. You've been driving enough today, so we're going on my motorbike." Like a travel salesman trying to show off the allure of their product, Exusiai ripped off the plain covering over her bike. "Tada! See, doesn't it look amazing?"

Texas eyed the bike with mild suspicion. It was a sleek black, like a panther prowling through the night. A small dent riddled the front end where the paint was chipped slightly. The handlebars held a touch a grit where fingers gripped them. "Uh huh, you sure we won't be crashing into a pole like we did last time?"

Exusiai's eyes widened in mock horror. Her hands went over the handles of the motorbike, as though she was covering its ears. "Hush! Don't say that to him. We were drunk was all. And if I recall you were the one who wanted to do parkour off buildings miss daredevil."

She flushed. Texas could hazily remember the details of their drunken adventure after five glasses of vodka. Frankly, she was surprised they didn't get into more trouble. Though it depended what a trip to the hospital counted as. Exusiai seemed to remember those times better than she did, or maybe she just had terrible drunk recognition. Either way, motorbikes just weren't her speed. They reminded her too much of another, more reckless time in her life where things were always on edge.

"Okay, so maybe I was a little out of hand but I'm pretty sure we both were so . . ."

Exusiai tipped her head back in laughter, one of her arms swinging around Texas's neck in an amicable gesture. "I know, I know. I'm just kidding with you. Come on, let's get going."

With helmets on, Texas slid onto the seat behind her friend, wrapping her arms around Exusiai's waist snuggly. This wasn't the first time they rode together so she was used to the intimacy they shared. Whenever they were on mission, Texas was the one driving. It was nice to take it easy whenever they were off work, just letting her friend drive them anywhere as the wind passed them by. On the outskirts of Lungmen there were little to no establishments set about. The desert scenery kept them company enough, a perfect view of the full moon in the sky.  There was little noise aside from the tumbleweeds hopping in the sand and the peals of laughter from her friend.

Soon enough Lungmen's gigantic city reared into view. The buildings shot towards the clouds like hands clawing at the stars. Smoke poured out of the few factories in the distance, the honking cars and slew of traffic making them slew to a halt at a traffic intersection. Belatedly, Texas realized how close they were to headquarters. Emperor was busy working on his latest sound track, something about making it even better than what he showed off at Obsidian Festival.

"How much farther are we?"

The helmet on Exusiai's head kept her hair from fluttering out of control. Her wings winked like pieces of sea glass, each one as unique as it was rare. Texas remembered getting to touch them for the first time. "I'll let you touch my wings if I can touch your ears and tail~" To this day she hadn't the slightest clue why Exusiai was interested in the first place. But both had got their wish, and both had become just that little bit closer. Of all the friendships she'd had in the past, what she had with Exusiai was always the most open, the most free. She could trust her partner with anything.

"We'll be there in about five minutes. Ten if traffic's bad."

"Ah, so ten it is then."

"Heh, yeah. Lungmen really should invest in more roads," Exusiai said.