Work Text:
The drink Ritika sipped on had the potential to shame Ryncol had it not been balanced by fruit juice. It burned her insides more than the sun against her exposed skin, but how could she not enjoy how it eased her worries? She swallowed with a gusto that would make Mira proud then glanced at Rashmi while the Pathfinders strolled through Aya's Jareia Station. Rash made a face that clearly meant the drink would be Mira's as soon as they picked their older sister up from Resistance HQ.
"Lightweight," Rita said.
"No," Rash countered, Indian nose scrunched. "It just tastes awful."
"Don't let the Tavetaan bartender hear that."
"I'm serious; it's like jet fuel."
"The good stuff is never meant to taste good."
"So Mira says. I don't believe her."
"You never persevere long enough to known."
"And thus I'm the one without stomach issues."
"Whatever."
A long sigh escaped Rash when she and Riti descended the stairs passed the Repository of History. The ambient chatter in the following sector seemed louder than usual—like every Angara possible needed to use the Holographic Message Terminal—but maybe that was the alcohol enhancing Riti's hearing...
"Where did you even find a bendy straw?" Rash added after a huff.
Smiling, the purple-haired Ryder sucked on her Crazy Straw until her cheeks sunk inward. She fought a shiver at the tingling burn it sent down her esophagus and said, "That's for me to know."
"You two are impossible."
"You love us."
"Not the point."
Ritika swallowed another mouthful then squinted through the sunlight and floating particles it illuminated. "Mira at one o'clock!"
"That's four o'clock, idiot."
"Same difference."
"Not really."
The sisters neared the decorative fountains outside Resistance HQ, slowing their pace when they spotted Mira with Evfra in the shade. Those two were a common sight nowadays, and although churning water from surrounding water muffled their conversation, Mira's smile hinted that she held a pleasant conversion with the Resistance leader.
"It's so weird," Riti blurted out. She hadn't realized when she and Rash stopped, even less so when she had begun to sip her drink.
Her eye twitched as she almost choked and Rash added, "They're, like, polar opposites. Our Mira is a firecracker and he—"
"Looks like he's perpetually sucking on a lemon. Yeah."
"I don't get it. I mean, I had a feeling the whole Kandros thing might not stick. But this?"
"Beyond unexpected."
"Is he even capable of changing his expression?"
"Maybe he's a robot."
There was a short yet poignant pause before Rash and Riti spoke in unison, "Nah."
"Well," the youngest Ryder tapped her teeth against her Crazy Straw, "she does look happier."
That much was obvious in Mira's relaxed stance. Her guard was down, despite the public surroundings, and every time she tried to step away, she found herself pulled back to Evfra as if they were magnets. Riti understood the battle; the desire to stay with someone even though you have other commitments. Rash did, too, which was why the sisters patiently waited for Mira to approach them.
"She needs that coolness, doesn't she?" Riti asked Rash.
Rash pulled her ombre ponytail over her shoulder to run her fingers through the strands knotted by the sea breeze. "Least she opened up to someone."
"Even if he looks like Oscar the Grouch."
"Wrong color and he doesn't have fur."
"Must you always burst my bubble?"
"Must you always be wrong?"
Purple lips puckered, Riti pointed two fingers at her eyes then directed them at Rash. The older Ryder smirked in return, and Riti chose to leave the argument be once she heard Mira's voice across the crowd. The pink-haired Pathfinder gave a casual wave while eyeing the perspiring drink Rash held.
"Yes," Rash said, "this is for you."
"Sweet!" Mira immediately downed two big gulps. She body jerked in surprise, but she never let on how painful the alcohol burned when she faced her sisters again. "What's with the goofy grins?" she asked, running her tongue along the roof of her mouth.
Ritika caught Evfra's gaze. The violet-skinned Angara stood on the HQ stairs, and despite his stern stare, she felt assured he watched over Mira to ensure her safety.
"Paavoa!" Riti screamed his way. Apparently, that attention was enough to send the leader retreating through the Resistance doors.
'Heh, so he can be as awkward as Jaal. Noted.'
"You ladies ready to go?"
Riti whipped towards Mira with a grin then pushed her and Rash back towards the docks where a shuttle awaited hijacking. "Oh, yeah. Let the Ryder Party commence!"