someone is calling for her. someone is calling after her. her face twists in a scowl and she growls in frustration, wiggling her fingers deeper into her ears until they hurt. "fuck off!" she shouts to the mist. her gait is a little off because her arms are crooked, but she speeds up nonetheless. 

for about two feet before amulius strides in front of her with his hands on his hips, blowing annoyed embers out of his nose.

he grabs her wrists with his talons and pulls sharply. her ears pop and she scowls up at him. he is unaffected. more than that, actually. he looks amused. tired, but amused. 

so she turns. the shape is familiar. relief and dread vie for dominance in her. she manages a weak smile by the time nomi catches up to her; a subconscious movement has her hiding her bloodied hands behind her back. 

"nomi? are you real or more mist shit? if you're mist shit, i swear to god, i'm gonna scream."

Naomi Sato

☉

the mist sort of reacts. it lashes at their feet, disgruntled, and doesn't really like that parker wants, more than anything, to trust that this isn't one of its tricks. it helps that amulius doesn't seem bothered by it in the least.

nomi's looking at her like a real heartbreaker though. her touch is soft and it is gentle and it is so very alien that parker decides, yep, must be the mist, but she doesn't mind it. this is nice mist. nice mist nomi can stick around. 

"okay," she says and swallows thickly, suddenly very very unsure about what to do with her hands. she forgets they're bloodied, knuckles split under torn rags, and raises them to pull mist!nomi's hand from her face. 

"i, uh - where the fuck are we, by the way?"

Naomi Sato

☉

she doesn't really think a map is going to help. especially because every time she blinks, it feels like the seaweed is a different color. or the ground or platform or whatever the hell they're on is longer than it should be. maybe it's just the place getting to her (of course it's getting to her). 

she goes rigid, wincing at nomi's featherlight touch on her throbbing hands. she barely notices the pain these days. 

"i'm fine, doc. fine enough to make sure we get outta here." because obviously she has to protect nomi now. it won't be a good day if rocket finds out one of its precious head scientists suffered grievous injuries under her watch. same old shit, she thinks glumly. 

"few bruised ribs. really, we're good." she inhales deeply (very bad idea. very very bad idea.) and utters a fuck as her not-bruised-very-much-cracked rib twinges.

Naomi Sato

☉

amulius is on edge. not because there's danger around. not because the mist is trying to stick to parker's ankles, despite amulius' flaring of his talons to keep them at bay. not even because parker is hurt to hell (and he knows her ribs are cracked, idiot). 

but because parker is deeply, deeply uncomfortable. she looks wide-eyed at nomi and runs out of excuses because it's kinda hard to talk without squeaking.

"rocks sound great. real comfy." 

she's clearly being herded. and she's letting nomi herd her. her baffled gaze drops from the back of the woman's head and onto the hand delicately holding the tips of her fingers. heat crawls up the back of her neck and she squashes that real fuckin' fast. 

but her smile quirks back to normal when the sylveon nudges her leg. she'd bend down to give valerian a pat, but, well, yeah. instead she follows nomi to the outcropping and keeps her grunting to as much of a minimum as she can manage while she lowers herself down. 

"so you came here on purpose? i thought everyone just got dumped in this shitshow together."

Naomi Sato

☉

several times. on purpose. it doesn't make sense. no one in their right mind would do this. except they would, wouldn't they? all those fucking rockets out there crawling all over each for a chance at glory. she feels her stomach turn and it's not because of the ribs or the mist or the deep sea heebie jeebies. it's because nomi really believes it. 

and more than that, she plays a bigger part in it than parker really considered.

she's not afraid. parker looks away, shadow over her face. she splays her fingers over her abdomen, wishing that it were the only place she hurt. but her heart aches in her chest. guilt trickles through her - a long-buried, shoved-away guilt. nomi's blush goes unnoticed.

lips pressed thin, she looks over when nomi moves closer to her. "there's a portal?" she sighs. "okay, well, you're the brains. i'll be the brawns. and then when we get the hell outta here, i'm gettin' breakfast." she scratches at her midriff. "though guess it's lunch now."

Naomi Sato

☉

parker might be obtuse, but she knows eggshells. she knows clammed-up-swallowed-down fear. 'cause her targets, when she's knocking down their doors, they all give her the same look. they give her that pleading, stupid look of don't you understand? and how much can i tell you? and how much will you see through?

and it's ground her down, but it hasn't made her any better at caring. now, though. now she's trying to wrack her brain thinking of what to say to fuckin' mist!nomi, who she's frankly certain isn't all mist anymore, but maybe she's a mist zombie instead. 

'brunch' makes her think of skinny blonde bitches clinking their little cutesy mimosa glasses together and going 'omg i'll have the avocado toast on gluten free bread!' but a big plate of half a dozen eggs and half an emboar's worth of bacon and some freshly squeezed orange juice and a couple sides of toast sounds fucking baller. 

her stomach gives a loud grumble, mouth watering. 

"why don'tcha come with?" she says, running her blood-streaked fingers nervously through her hair. "brunch sounds a lot fuckin' better than this crazy shit, don't it?"

Naomi Sato

☉