Arknights One Shots

Killing (Specter, Skadi, Grani but can be read as Skadi x Grani if you squint)

It had been awhile since Grani had seen Skadi, so she found herself excited as she waited on the sandy shores of Siesta for her friend to arrive. The sun beat down in hot droves, other beach goers taking shelter under their striped umbrellas or surviving in the cool waters of the ocean. The waves rippled with the tide and the splashing of children as they giggled with glee. Grani watched them, glad to see everyone so at peace. With her job occupation moments like this were hard to come by. But I do it all so people can be happy. Make the world a better place. All the times she had been doubted by her coworkers had served to make her push even harder towards her goals. And now, she was recognized for that strength and perseverance everywhere she went back home. So yet another nice thing about Siesta occurred to her in that moment: getting to relax without people coming up to her.

Ah, what freedom that was.

"Grani? There you are." A quiet voice murmured.

"Skadi! I was waiting for you. Were you held up at the hotel?" She asked as her friend strolled up. Skadi was dressed perfectly for the weather in her tank top and shorts. A red orca plushie sat in her arms complacently. It seemed to have taken place of the massive blade she normally toted around with her.

"Um, yes, about that . . ."

"Hahahahahahahahaha! Well aren't you a cute little thing!"

Grani yelped in surprise as she found herself being hauled up into the air by the back of her neck. Dangling midair, her feet swung uselessly, the sandals she wore hanging on by the leather straps around her heels. "Huh! Whose there!?" She tried to get a look at whoever had grabbed her, catching a pale blur for a single moment before it disappeared.

Skadi crossed her arms, eyebrow raised with poised. "Yes, Grani is cute. But she doesn't like to be manhandled, so put her down Spectre."

A huff behind her made Grani go still. The breath had been urgently hot, making her shudder for some reason. It was creepy and strange all at once. "That's too bad. We could've had fun."

Unceremoniously, she found herself dumped back on the ground, her knees pressed into the gritty sand. The straps of her navy blue bathing suit felt estranged from one another, yanked over her shoulders to clamp on her arms. Hastily, she readjusted them, keeping one eye on this newcomer named Spectre. She'd heard of the supposed nun operator from Skadi in the past, but she had never gotten around to meeting her. For whatever reason, the nun attire remained on the slightly crazed looking woman. She must be super hot in that! For whatever reason, Spectre didn't seem bothered by the heat, or anything else for that matter. It was as if everything at the beach amused her in some way.

"We've never met before. Skadi has told me a lot about you." It was all Grani could do to keep polite in front of the crazy nun. Like, how else was she supposed to handle being picked up like a rag doll?

"Hahahaha of course she has. We do go waaaaaay back!" Spectre exclaimed with glee.

"Uh huh. I'm sure."

Skadi reached over and tugged on her arm. "Mind if we have a moment Spectre?"

"Sure. Take all the time you'd like. I'll be waiting." She knew the words were meant to be casual, but Grani couldn't help placing a creepy edge to the last sentence that sent shivers up her spine. There was something predatory about the way Spectre smiled, like a shark waiting in the abyss of the ocean for its prey to swim over, unknowing of the fate it was about to suffer.

With that said and done, Skadi tugged her over to the shade of a palm tree, still within watching distance of Spectre who was wandering over to the ocean shoreline. The nun seemingly cared less about the water lapping at her shoes. She waded in about a foot deep, right past some children who stared at her with a mix of confusion and concern.