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Sara and Zari sat amidst the many pieces, pouring over the guide as if it was a life or death situation. Neither of them was particularly talented at putting furniture together. Sara had a habit of asking Laurel to help her. Zari’s childhood did not make time for Ikea items and things like that. But, Jax announced that he was upgrading the Waverider, taking away the basic metal bunks and making more space for actual furniture.
<><>
“We can make this a place people will actually want to live in for a longer time,” he said. They had all taken a trip to Ikea, picking up a bed per room. The metal bunks would disappear first. Besides that, they couldn’t exactly buy an entire ship’s worth of furniture without looking a little suspicious.
Zari had taken the lead on choosing their bed frame, wanting the opportunity to ‘tech it up’ as she said. That sounded dirty to everyone but the legends, who knew that Zari just wanted to add fancy lights and screens, and maybe a heating pad. After careful consideration, Zari had chosen a lightweight metal frame with X on both the head and the foot end of the bed. When Sara asked her why all Zari told her was “You’ll see.”
Since Zari was preoccupied with her secret plans, Sara went ahead and picked the best mattress she could find, along with a large number of pillows. “They’re for everyone,” she said. The legends exchanged some glances. They’d once seen Sara toss every single one of their pillows and blankets into a large container, then jump in and declare the container her new office. They knew the pillows were not for everyone.
<><>
Now they sat in their bedroom, the many pieces covering the floors, and Sara couldn’t help but laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Zari dropped the instructions, leaning back on her elbows.
“We saved the world,” Sara snorted. “Yet we can’t put a bed together.”
Raising her eyebrows, Zari said, “I didn’t take you for a quitter, Lance.”
For a moment, it was quiet. Sara eyed Zari with a dangerous glint in her eyes. Then she said, “Nice try, Z. I’m not taking that as a challenge and putting the entire thing together myself while you go play video games.”
“Eh.” She shrugged and sat up. “It was worth a shot. So, what do we do?”
Sara looked at the pieces and the guide. “Maybe we can pretend it’s a game? Trick ourselves into doing it?”
Smiling, Zari said, “And the grand prize can be a nap.”
Sara blinked a few times. “Uh. Sure. A nap.” She sent Gideon a silent message not to say a word.
Approaching it as if it was a game worked better than both of them had expected. In no time, the frame stood against the wall and they were lifting the unrolled mattress on top of it. When they were done, Zari wrapped an arm around Sara.
“Told you we could do it.” She pressed a kiss to Sara’s cheek.
“Uhuh. We still need to make the bed.”
Zari let out a loud groan. “My turn to give up. Let’s sleep on the couch.” She grabbed Sara’s hand and pulled her to the door.
“Hey, wait! Zari, it’s not even dinner time yet.” Sara planted her feet firmly on the floor.
“Any time is nap time if you try hard enough.” She gave up and leaned against the wall. “There are too many chores on this high tech ship, it’s ridiculous. Shouldn’t there be fewer chores in the future?”
Sara’s stance softened and she wrapped her arms around Zari. “I know, babe. Chores are the worst.”
Zari leaned into the embrace, her grumpy expression losing its fire.
“Why don’t you go to the lab and start on your tech ideas, and I’ll make the bed?”
“Deal.” Zari kissed Sara. “But, you’re not allowed to use those bright sheets with the wild patterns again, I felt like I was high every time we went to bed. The one time we did get high before bed I got so dizzy I fell out.”
Sara suppressed a grin. “I know, I was there.” She bumped Zari’s hip with her own. “Don’t worry, I will pick some sheets you’ll love.”
Hooking two fingers in the belt loop of Sara’s jeans, Zari attempted to figure out if Sara’s statement was a trap. “Okay.” Her gaze softened and she kissed Sara’s cheek. “I’ll see you in a bit, babe.”
When her girlfriend had left the room, Sara turned to Gideon. “So Gideon…”
“Yes, captain Lance?”
“I need you to fabricate some new sheets.” She smiled.
“What pattern would you like this time?”
<><>
Zari sat at one of the stainless steel desks, as focused as she could possibly be. Under a loop, she took an old cell phone apart, repurposing the parts in what would be a type of ‘master remote’ for the screens, lights, and heat pads she was going to add to the bed. Next to her lay half a dozen circular clamps, with a diametre exactly the size of their headboard beams. Hanging off the desk were fairy lights in the shape of stars, a thin, see-through thread binding them all together like the night sky.
Zari kept all her attention on her project, barely hearing the door slide open.
“Hey, Z. You missed dinner time. I saved you a pizza.”
“Huh?” Zari turned around. “I heard pizza.”
Sara walked toward her with a plate full of pizza slices, an understanding smile on her face. “You got a little carried away, huh? Gideon called for you but you didn’t listen.” She twisted her wrist, the plate on her hand turning inwards, now leaning against her ribs. It was an old habit. Back when she was still in training, Nyssa taught her how to throw every shape, every item that could be used as a weapon. Sara could throw this pizza plate like a deadly frisbee.
“She did? I didn’t hear anything.” Zari took the plate out of Sara’s hands before her food was thrown across the room. “So what’d I miss at dinner time?” She quickly stuck a slice of pizza in her mouth.
“Jax was bribed into building Mick’s bed for him. Amaya and Nate seem to be just as bad as we are at putting furniture together.”
“Makes sense,” Zari mumbled through her food. “Amaya’s from before Ikea and Nate’s too much of a nerd.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think they’d be this bad.” Sara investigated Zari’s project as Zari scarfed down her dinner.
“Did you make the bed?”
Sara raised an eyebrow. “‘Course I did.”
“What does it look like this time?”
“Less like a unicorn threw up on it, I promise.” When Zari continued to look sceptical, Sara dragged her to their room.
Zari eyed the perfectly made bed as if it was a bomb she couldn’t hack. “Is that-”
“Captain Lance asked me to fabricate sheets covered in light-blue code.”
Folding her arms over her chest, Zari said, “You do realise it’s going to feel like we’re sleeping inside Gideon’s mind, right?”
Sara shrugged. “She can already see into our dreams. What’s the harm?”
“Oh, I’m not sleeping with you in those sheets, Lance.” Zari raised her eyebrows.
Throwing up her hands in defeat, Sara tilted her head to Gideon. “So, can you make me some plain blue sheets?”
“Yes, captain Lance.”
Sara stripped the bed with a pout. “Next time you’re doing this,” she muttered.
“You’re getting too creative. We already have a weird life, why make our sheets crazy?”
“Normal’s boring!”
Zari moved to hug Sara from behind. “Yeah, you’re right about that. But, given our struggle to put a bed together, shouldn’t we practice normal from time to time?” She kissed Sara’s neck.
“Hm.” Sara could never resist Zari. “Fine. We’ll practice acting like normal people. But when we get good at being normal, can we go back to weird?”
“What makes you think we’ll ever get good at acting like normal people?”