Chapter Text
The room was quiet, save for the constant ambience of humming air conditioners fixed on the walls accompanied by the slow tick of a clock. The faint scent of smoke mixed with the air, making the place seem as bleak as it already was. In the corner of the room, Gaia sat down further away from the other people, waiting for her checkup seated on a flimsy plastic chair that creaked and shifted with every movement she made. As she fixed her position to rest her head against the wall, her eyes wearily scanned the room, finding at least something to occupy her from the absolute boredom she was feeling while waiting for her turn.
Gaia's eyes scanned the room, looking at the other people who seemed to be just as bored as she was. She felt like she was about to lose her mind sitting in a room so bland that she could die from a lack of entertainment. The idea of trying to strike up a conversation with any of them popped into her head for a brief moment, but she quickly brushed it aside due to being too tired to even talk to anyone right now. She mindlessly rubbed her left eye as her other hand reached for a random magazine shelved along with a few others in a bookshelf, fingers skimming through the pages as a long sigh left her throat.
She snapped out of her reminiscence, realizing that she'd been spaced out for who knows how long. She looked at the clock, it was 6:41 PM. There was still time before she could go back and end the day for now, but it seemed like her turn to attend the checkup was taking too long to come. She rolled her eyes, tugging at her scarf as she waited for the moment she could go inside, get her status checked and go on with her day.
Page after page, the magazine did not seem to be of interest to her. Matter of fact, nothing seemed to be of interest to her. Maybe it was just the overall bleakness of the room's atmosphere, but having entertainment still wasn't erasing the fact that she was bored out of her mind. She couldn't remember how long she's been in this room for, maybe it could've been a few minutes or a few hours since she'd arrived. The sound of the clock ticking was ingrained in her brain at this point, stuck in her head with the only way to remove it being a full on brain surgery that rearranged the position of every part in a completely different order.
The boredom was almost killing her, she slouched in her chair before setting the magazine down on the chair next to her. After a while of trying to find at least one thing that could actually cure her boredom, Gaia finally settled with sitting there all the while her mind spiraled into a pit of nothingness as she contemplated every single part of the memories she'd ever been able to remember.
Thoughts were racing in her mind as they circled around her head in an orbit. She let herself space out on the spot again while she reminisced about the past, uncaring about having to wait anymore since all she wanted to do was sit there and do nothing to pass the time. Her hand unconsciously moved to rest on the armrests, fingers idly tapping on the plastic in tandem with her heartbeat.
"Actaea Kejayas, codename "Gaia", please come to the check up room to receive your examination."
The moment she heard that voice, Gaia got up from her seat and walked towards the check up room, still annoyed and tired. Pulling up her sleeve to reveal her watch, she had to see how long it had been. She checked the time — 7:01 PM. About time that I've been called in. She thought, her movements languid and sluggish as she adjusted the beanie on her head before opening the door to the check up room.
Inside the room was a lavender haired woman who appeared to be of Guesan descent. The lavender haired woman's eyes lit up the moment Gaia walked into the room, speaking in a voice like a sweet melody as she spoke. "Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Gaia!" She smiled before pushing a chair from underneath the table urging the brunette to sit down. "My name is Aivija, I'll be in charge of your checkup for the time period."
Gaia smiled meekly, a faint blush growing into her cheeks as she spoke. "Please...just call me Gaia." She scratched the side of her head as she followed, bringing a nearby chair to face the front of the desk so she could sit down in front of Aivija.
Aivija cast a tender hearted smile at Gaia's response. "Oh, dear, my apologies," The drawer underneath the examination table slid open as she pulled out a wooden clipboard, followed up by the sounds of a pen tapping against its surface. "Pray tell, how are you feeling today?"
A soft sigh could be heard in the room as Gaia began to speak, the weariness in her voice growing less subtle with every word. "...I'm not taking my life too well right now."
Aivija looked at Gaia in sympathy, before jotting down a few notes regarding the information that the brunette provided. "Hm...I'm very sorry to hear that."
The sound of the pen tapping against the clipboard rang throughout the room once again, both women sitting in silence until Aivija began to speak again. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened? I'm sure we can talk it out together."
"...I'd prefer not to talk about it."
Aivija stood up, pushing the clipboard away for now. "My apologies. I hope I'm not being too intrusive with your life."
"It's not that big of a deal," Gaia leaned back her into her check, rubbing her forehead as she shut her eyes in a daze. "It's just...personal stuff that I do not wish to discuss, like I said before."
Aivija nodded, before inching closer towards the Nusian. "Are there any other non personal issues that you seem to be dealing with?"
"Nothing much, just– problems regarding sleeping and other stuff like that," Gaia said with a sigh showing her exhaustion. She uncrossed her legs, watching as the lavender haired woman continued on with writing on the clipboard. "It's thankfully getting better for the past two days, I think."
"That's great to hear, Gaia." Aivija finished up the sentence she was currently writing, looking up to face the brunette the moment she was done. "Is there anything else you would like to discuss right now?"
The brunette shook her head no. "I think that's all I wish to talk about for now..." She looked back up from her lap, looking back at Aivija with half lidded eyes. She brushed her hair aside, her gaze lingering on the other woman for a few seconds.
"Anyways...would it be okay if you'd go sit on the examination table and undress for me? I want to check for any injuries on your body."
Gaia nodded in compliance before getting up from her chair and walking towards the examination table. As she sat down, she made sure to take the time to remove each individual piece of clothing she was wearing, from her beanie to her shoes. After she set her clothes aside, she felt as Aivija's hands gently pressed against every part of her body, making sure that she didn't put too much pressure in case she were to cause pain from some injury that she might have came across.
"I'm amazed by the fact you barely have any scars on you," Aivija remarked, taking note of every detail that she saw as she examined the Nusian's body. "How do you look so...unharmed all the time?"
Gaia's eyes followed the lavender haired woman's hands, observing the way they pressed against her body before they trailed down towards her legs. "Honestly, it's just specialized medic equipment that lets me regenerate and heal faster."
"That's rather impressive, I might say." Aivija carefully looked under Gaia's legs, carefully checking for any visible injuries she hadn't seen before her hands started feeling the area around her thighs to the curve of her calf. She slowly lifted the other woman's legs down before giving her the all clear. "You're all set You may put your clothes back on."
After a few seconds, Gaia reached for her clothes, and got herself dressed as the both of them stayed in silence.
"Okay...and now, I'm just going to check your temperature..." Leaning closer, Aivija put a hand near Gaia's face, the back of her fingers sliding down the brunette's cheek whilst taking out a thermometer from a nearby table. "Wow...your face is really warm," she remarked, fascinated written all across her face as she brought herself closer to the other woman. "Do you have a fever?"
"I'm fine, I promise." The brunette shifted in her seat, brushing the hair on her face aside when Aivija brought the thermometer near her face. A faint click could be heard the moment it powered on, the sound of beeping sounding out throughout the room as it was pushed against Gaia's forehead. To Aivija's surprise, the temperature shown on its screen was lower than she thought. "Looks like its readings says otherwise...so it wasn't a fever after all," She set the thermometer aside, taking a penlight from out of her pocket as she switched it on. "Now, I'm just gonna check your face. Hold still for me, okay?"
As Aivija shone the penlight all over her face, Gaia couldn't brush off the feeling that she was just so mesmerized by that woman; the way that she looked back at her with those beautiful pink eyes was so breathtaking. She saw the way the light was reflected within the hues of her irises, casting a soft, crystalline glow within them, it was undeniably true that she looked like the prettiest woman she's ever seen.
The brunette was already lost in her fantasy. She watched the way Aivija's lips parted, eyes lingering on the motion with focused intent. Gaia wondered how it would be like if she were to kiss her — the thought of it made her stomach flutter. For all those years, she'd thought about being with, and even kissing a girl, but she'd never got the chance to do so. She knew that this could be the very moment she could seize that opportunity, and she would give anything for the both of them to stay intertwined in their arms as they put their lips together, holding her like she was the woman she dreamed of. She wanted to run her hands all over her body, to make her feel perfect. It was clear that Gaia didn't want to hold herself back for too long, she didn't want to stress over it anymore.
She felt another hand on her head, the sudden feeling causing her to tense up as it slid downwards and stopped to rest against her cheek. The action brought Gaia a sense of comfort, her breath beginning to speed up at an intense pace as Aivija brought her face closer, her eyes darting to the side while her teeth latched onto her bottom lip. She was at a loss of words, desire evident in her eyes as she held contact.
"Uhm...can you open your mouth, please?"
Gaia complied, and Aivija's fingers uncurled, trailing from her cheek down to her chin, holding it gently as if she was the most delicate thing in the world, like a newly bloomed flower. A faint reddish pink hue started to spread all over her cheeks, growing more and more intense as the tension between them deepened. She were so close to Aivija, so close that she could almost kiss her.
Gaia could feel Aivija lightly caress her face, her thumb rubbing circles all over the bone of her jaw. As she leaned into the her hand, the brunette was practically blissed out from the intimacy of this moment, and she would give anything that she needed to stay in it forever. She could hear the way the lavender haired woman giggled at the gesture, the sound bubbling up like a sweet symphony. Her face inched a little bit closer, hoping that Aivija would get the hint that she wanted a kiss.
"Alright, I've checked everything out, and it seems you're healthy. You're all set now."
Wait...it's over?
Shit.
"Thank you, Aivija..." Gaia steadied herself on the examination table as she lowered her foot to the ground, trying to hide the dejection in her voice while she turned to leave the room.
Shutting the door behind her, Gaia dragged herself towards the medical bay's exit and walked back to her dormitory. That interaction with Aivija was still lingering in her head after a while, no matter how much she tried to take mind off of it, that goddamn woman was all she could think of. She wasn't sure if she could see her again after all that, but even if they were to reunite, she knew she would never have a chance with her no matter what happened.
She checked the time again. 7:17. That interaction with her felt like an eternity, a moment she wished to stay in forever. But again, she had no chance. She could only be able to chase after it, with no hope of catching up to it as much as she ran. But what did she know? She didn't deserve to even be with anybody.
Nothing would ever go her way, after all.