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Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing and am making no money off of this fic.
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One Good Turn by luvsanime02
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Usually, Sally doesn’t bother with little cocktail drinks. Usually, when she wants liquor, Sally takes the whole damn bottle.
These ones, though, aren’t so bad. The blue color to them is pretty enough, but more importantly, they’re pretty strong for such a small drink. She’s not even sure what kind of alcohol is actually in it, but it’s good.
“Sorry I’m late,” Noin says, sitting down next to her. Technically, Noin is still five minutes ahead of their meeting time, but for her, that’s late. Usually, Sally arrives later than her.
She shrugs. “Been keeping myself occupied,” she replies, gesturing at her drink.
Noin chuckles. “So I see,” she agrees. “It’s not your usual.”
She doesn’t ask about the change in drinks out loud, but there’s an implied question in her statement, if Sally wants to talk. Noin is good at those, at leaving the conversation open if the other person wants to say something.
She’d make a fantastic interrogator, Sally muses.
“Just felt like something different,” Sally explains. “I always order the same thing.”
It’s not like the two of them meet up every week. Sadly, they’re both too busy to keep up a regular schedule outside of work. They don’t even always go to the same bar when they do get together. Sometimes, they go to a restaurant instead, or a cafe, and only once, a club, but neither of them had liked that very much.
Still, whenever they do have drinks, Sally orders her same scotch. This time, on a whim, she’d asked the bartender to surprise her, and she’s very happy to say that her adventurousness paid off.
Noin hums, looking at the drink. When the bartender comes over, Noin orders one, too.
Sally quirks an eyebrow at her friend. Noin smiles. “Let’s both try something new tonight,” she says.
Sally grins. “Works for me,” she says. When Noin’s drink arrives, she takes a cautious sip while Sally watches in amusement, and apparently, the drink agrees with her, too. They sit together silently until Sally has finished her first drink and ordered a second one before Noin sighs.
“Your mother?” Sally guesses sympathetically. Noin’s not the type to let most things bother her - one of the reasons why they’re such good friends - but Noin’s mother has always been able to get under her skin.
“She planned a birthday party for me,” Noin says.
“...Okay,” Sally says slowly. “This is bad because…?”
Noin takes another sip of her drink. “It’s a couples-only retreat at one of those fancy spa places for the weekend.”
Sally winces. “Ah,” she says eloquently. There’s much else to say to that. “Sorry,” she adds, because even though she says it every time that Noin mentions something upsetting her mother has done, Sally thinks it needs to be repeated.
Noin opens her mouth, pauses, eyes Sally, and then slowly closes her mouth again. Sally almost asks what’s wrong before Noin suddenly smirks. “I’ve just had an idea,” she announces, and now, she sounds smug.
Sally slowly raises an eyebrow in a silent question. She’s curious about what could have possibly put Noin in such a good mood.
“Want to come to a couples-only spa retreat with me?” Noin asks brightly.
Sally’s caught off-guard, but she’s definitely delighted. “Oh, you’re going to give your mother a heart attack for your birthday,” she says chidingly. It might be more convincing if she wasn’t trying hard not to laugh.
Noin looks pleased. “I have to get something nice on my birthday,” she points out. “Just imagine my mother’s face when we walk in together.”
Noin’s proper, prim, old-fashioned mother will probably clutch her chest in shock and pretend to faint. It will be hilarious.
Sally nods, grinning. “I’m in. I can’t wait,” she says, and the two of them spend the rest of the night planning out Noin’s birthday surprise. Sally’s absolutely looking forward to the weekend.