Favor

She would never admit it, but Sage feels rather… ill at ease, whenever she’s with a certain amaranthine team member of theirs.  It’s not that she hates being with her teammate, as such teammate is a most valuable asset in battles, after all.  It’s just that, Sage cannot exactly explain it apart from saying that there is an odd feeling that blossoms in her chest when the said teammate is nearby (or even when she’s within screaming distance of Sage, to be honest).

So, Sage does her best not to be around that certain teammate.

She succeeds… from time to time.

As a case in point, yesterday, she wasn’t so successful.

She was ordered to a mission by Brimstone.  She was to have only two agents with her, an initiator and a duelist.  Brimstone didn’t say that they were the only two they could spare at the moment, as the other members of their team were gone for their own respective missions.  But Sage knew that fact.  And Sage also knew who the two remaining members of their team were.  Thank God one of them is Sova.

It was a transport mission.  They were to assist in the ferrying of an asset so that they could go into hiding before Kingdom finds out that they’ve been betrayed by one of their own.

Everything was going smoothly – so suspiciously smoothly – that they were able to get to the rendezvous point without running into a single Kingdom agent.  It was when they were but a walking distance from the transport vehicle that Kingdom agents suddenly swarmed them from behind and from the sides.

Sage took the lead and told Sova to take the middle and Reyna the left flank, leaving herself with securing the right side, where the asset was to pass through.  Sage made sure the Kingdom agents didn’t gain on them.  She threw her slowing orbs to allow herself and the asset to increase their distance from the agents.  When they passed through a narrow pathway, Sage locked the area down with her barrier.  She looked back to the asset; they waved at her before entering the vehicle.

Sage released the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.  Protected by her barrier, she allowed herself a moment’s respite before going on to join Sova and Reyna.  She failed to notice, however, a lone agent, who managed to slip from Sova’s watchful eyes, sneak up to her.  She’s only apprised of her situation when she felt the barrel of a gun press against the back of her head.

Sage’s heart plummeted.  Still, she steeled herself, waiting for the agent’s next action.

“Turn around.  Slowly.”

Sage did as she was commanded.  It’s when she’s fully turned and was facing the Kingdom agent that she saw a silhouette floating closer.  The next second, the agent before her was clutching his slit neck, trying desperately, futilely, to stop the blood from gushing out of it.  Sage couldn’t help but watch with wide eyes as the agent then fell on his knees and ultimately to the floor to his death.  The healer was too engrossed by the entire thing that she didn’t see Reyna, by then of flesh again, come up to her.

The duelist didn’t say anything; she just took Sage by the wrist and pulled her towards where Sova was.  And with the ambush team taken care of, the three of them managed to get away relatively easily.

Upon making it back to their base, they were immediately debriefed by Brimstone, where Sage had to tell what happened on her side.  Brimstone sent her directly afterwards to Sabine, their de facto second medical officer, for a checkup.

Sage wasn’t able to see Reyna for the remainder of that day.

…which now brings the healer to the kitchen, where Cypher told her Reyna is.

Sage sees Reyna seated at the far end of the table, finishing up a snack.  Breathing in, Sage walks up to her.

“Reyna, good afternoon.” Sage greets tersely.

“Sage,” Reyna drawls, a small smile playing on her lips, “a good afternoon to you too.”

Sage knows she’s being teased.  But the more she gets to her point by ignoring that, the faster she can be done with this and go on her way.

“I wanted to thank you for yesterday,” Sage starts again, “for saving my life.”

Reyna gives Sage a full smile, her glinting reptilian eyes trained on the healer.  “Rest assured, my little dove, it was my pleasure.”

“Right.” Sage responds.  She could very well leave then and just let the awkwardness dissipate through time on its own.  But Sage is neither disrespectful nor ungrateful.  She would swallow pride and stand awkwardness just to convey how thankful she is.  So, Sage presses on.

“I owe you.  I want you to know that should you ever need anything, just ask and you shall receive it.”

Her statement seems to pique Reyna’s interests, as the duelist tilts her head to the side.  She regards Sage with a smirk on her face.  “Are you certain, little monk, that you want to be indebted to me?”

Sage is taken aback by the question.  She trusts Reyna.  She should trust Reyna; they’re on the same team.  ‘Surely, she will not ask something ghastly of me.’  But as Sage tries to think more of this, the more she also imagines a plethora of situations she could be placed into.  Her train of thought is stopped by a chuckle coming from her companion.

“Oh, to hear an angel think too loudly without uttering a sound!  You really are such a fascinating creature, aren’t you, mi hermosa?”  Reyna exclaims.  “Don’t worry, anything I have in mind, I’m sure you will enjoy as much as I will, if not more.”  She continues.

Sage bites back the remark on her tongue.  ‘Just thank her and be on your way,’ she instead repeats to herself.

“Well, you know where to find me,” Sage says, rather curtly, as confirmation.

“That I do,” Reyna affirms.

“Very well then…” Sage utters, nodding her head on Reyna.  She turns to leave, only to turn right back.  Damn her curiosity.  “Um, if you do not mind my asking… how did you get to me so quickly?”

Reyna, not at all appearing baffled by Sage’s abrupt inconsistent actions, answers noncommittally, “I had quickly finished all the food on my plate, you see, but I was still hungry.  So, I decided to take some from your plate.  How lucky we are that I did, no?”

Sage doesn’t know how to respond to that.  Should she be insulted by the implication, or should she be more grateful for having a dependable teammate?

“Do you have any more questions for me, little dove?”

‘Insulted it is,’ Sage resolves.  She couldn’t help herself by then.  “No, as I seem to be too incapable to even formulate one.”  She bites back, before hastily turning around to exit the kitchen.

Reyna hisses from sudden panic, her stance softening a little.  ‘I struck a nerve,’ she thinks.

Reyna floats towards Sage in so quick and fluid a motion that Sage doesn’t catch the action until a pair of arms snakes around her waist from behind.  The arms encircle Sage’s waist, locking the hold with interlaced fingers.  It would be an adorable sight if they were lovers, or at least close friends.  ‘That,’ Sage spouts in her head, ‘we are decidedly not.’

“Ay, corazón,” Reyna coos, resting her chin on Sage’s right shoulder, “why are you always so stiff and tense when you’re around me?” Reyna asks, then pauses.  She straightens her back a little, the corner of her lips hinting on a playful smirk, “Or are you perhaps telling me to ease your tensions away?”

Sage, despite herself, blushes from the inquiry.  (It also really doesn’t help that Reyna has leaned in closer when she asked the blasted question.)

“I-” Sage splutters, feeling more heat rise to her face.  “I need to get back to the med bay.  I cannot inconvenience Sabine any further.”  She eventually manages to say.  She grasps Reyna’s intertwined hands over her stomach, trying to disentangle them to free herself from the hold.

“Oh, I’m sure Sabine wouldn’t mind, for as long as she could please you.” Reyna remarks, as she tightens her grip, appearing to be definitively cuddling the other woman.  She lets out a purr, and Sage’s heart shoots up.

“I do not know what you are insinuating by that, but I do know that I do not care for it.”  Sage retorts, still working on the hands securing her in place.

“Don’t be so prickly, little dove.  I only mean that one will do anything for their favorite person.  And you, hermosa, are Sabine’s favorite.”

“I am sure that is not true.  Sabine is not one to play favorites.”

“Yes, she is.  And since we’re on the topic, you, little dove, are everyone’s favorite.”  Reyna tells her.  “Even I favor you out of all the others.  After all, we are the perfect pair: you give life, and I take it.”  Reyna continues, as she accedes to the poorly veiled demand for freedom.  She lets her hands slip from Sage’s waist.

The duelist takes a step back, waiting if the healer would face her.  Reyna grins widely when Sage does so.  “We should do this again some other time, cariño.  I always have so much fun when I’m with you.”  She winks at the baffled and affronted Sage before leaving her alone in the kitchen.