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The workshop was one of the few places where Natalie could handle noise, but only because she was so used to it. The din of tools and metal clanking and the grinding of gears had all become background noise to her at some point, able to easily tune it out.
Half the Legends used the place for some reason or another—Elliott for his gear, Crypto for his drone, Octavio for his legs, Ajay for D.O.C, and she herself for her own work. Dr. Caustic had used it too before he had gotten banned, which was fair; her lungs still stung from that experimental bomb of his.
She had stopped coming to the workshop however, for one reason: Ramya.
The modder practically lived in the workshop now. Though Natalie knew that she was staying with Elliott, she seemed far more content with falling asleep on one of the benches inside. It seemed that half the time whenever Natalie passed by the place she was dead asleep inside, a screwdriver held loosely in her hand and boxes of ammo piled up around her.
She didn’t just sleep in there, either—she ate all of her meals inside it, littering the area with empty boba tea cups and various pizza boxes. The others had complained about it several times, so there was now a special area in the workshop dedicated just for her to eat so that she wasn’t getting pizza grease everywhere.
Natalie found her sitting in that corner when she wandered inside, seeking the woman out. She had known that she would be in here, but part of her wanted to leave as soon as she saw Ramya, pouring half a bottle of Tabasco sauce into the bowl of popcorn sat in her lap.
“Good morning,” Ramya greeted as Natalie snubbed her nose, the scent of the Tabasco sauce almost overpowering, even from this distance. “I don’t really like sharing, sorry.”
“Is that your breakfast?” Natalie asked with some trepidation, and Ramya nodded, taking her gum out of her mouth and placing it into a napkin. Ew.
“And lunch, probably. Got some big mods planned for today.”
“Such as..?”
“Wouldn’t you like if the Sentinel was full auto?”
No. No, that sounded horrifying.
She must’ve had a funny expression on her face, because Ramya threw her head back and cackled.
“Oh yeah, that look of fear is exactly why I’m doing it.” She tossed a piece of popcorn into the air before catching it in her mouth, the lighting overhead glinting momentarily off her tongue piercing. "Anyways, why're you here?"
“Well, I just.” Natalie shuffled where she stood, watching Ramya eat the popcorn out of her bowl. She had no idea how the girl could live off the diet she had! Did her stomach not hurt from all of that junk food? What about her jaw from her constant gum-chewing? She had come here, planning to talk to her about...well, everything, but now she felt the need to intervene. “I wanted to talk to you.”
Ramya nodded, and after a bit of a pause between them, said, “Alright?”
“Do you...” Natalia bit on her lower lip, before looking to the clock on the wall—it was nine. “Do you want to go get lunch with me?”
“It’s morning,” Ramya said dryly.
“I m-meant later.” She clasped her hands in front of her, face burning. “Maybe at one?”
Ramya looked her up and down, a little judgmental, before shrugging and setting her popcorn bowl aside. She got to her feet, tall and lanky, and Natalie took a step backwards as she approached, not sure as to why she was coming so close.
“Alright, then,” Ramya said, eyebrows raised in a challenge. “You’re not gonna stand me up, are ya?”
“No!” She said, slightly offended at the implication that she was rude enough to do such a thing, and Ramya held out her hand.
“Shake on it, then.”
It was the hand usually covered by a glove, but she wasn’t wearing one at the moment, probably because she had been eating. Natalie could see the words she'd told her etched onto her skin, neat and loopy, unlike hers, which were a bit sharper.
She took Ramya’s hand and shook it gently, half-expecting a burst of emotion to come from the contact, like you would see in movies, but nothing of that sort happened. Just a tingling buzz traveling down her spine, somewhat unpleasant.
“See you later, then,” Ramya told her, satisfied, before crossing over to her workbench, where a Sentinel already awaited, taken apart.
At a quarter till one Natalie paced around in the main area of the compound, where a good portion of the Legends lived, including herself. She’d gotten dressed in her room, changing into a sweater and what Ajay called ‘mom jeans’, though she didn’t exactly understand why they were called that.
“What’s up?” Came Wraith’s voice, and Natalie turned to see her best friend standing there, looking somewhat concerned.
“Oh, nothing to worry about,” Natalie said, but her voice came out a little higher-pitched than she meant it to. “I am just going to...ah, go to lunch with Miss Parekh.”
“I see,” Wraith said. “Do you want me to go with you?”
That would be lovely, Natalie thought to herself. Having Wraith’s moral support and calm attitude would surely help keep her grounded, but she knew that she couldn’t aak that of her.
This thing between them was a private and personal matter, and should be dealt with as such. Besides, she figured that this was one of the few things she couldn't ask Wraith's advice on—the older woman's words had been burned off.
“Thank you for offering,” she said politely. “But I think that this is something I have to do by myself.”
Wraith smiled a little at that. “Okay.”
“Afternoon, mates,” came a voice that was growing increasingly familiar. “Oh, you didn’t have to stop talkin’ because of me. I probably wasn’t going to care anyways.”
“We were finished,” Wraith said coolly, before disappearing abruptly into a portal. Natalie was very interested in her phase technology, but alas, it was one of the things that Wraith never opened up to her about. That was fair. She was a woman with many mysteries and secrets, after all.
Natalie turned around to face the taller girl, but her eyes widened a bit in surprise at what she saw.
She had really expected Ramya to tag along in her jumpsuit, but she was wearing a pale blue shirt that ended just above her belly button, as well as a jacket and baggy pair of pants. Perhaps not as nicely dressed Natalie, but still...she was dressed.
“Sorry if it smells like oil,” Ramya said, looking down at herself. “I keep a spare set of clothes in the shop, so...”
“That is fine,” Natalie said. “You look nice.”
She’d just meant it as a simple compliment, but Ramya beamed, just for a second—before her face fell into the normal dry look she had on. "Glad you didn't stand me up."
"I'm not sure why you think that I would-"
"It just wouldn't be the first time it's happened, y'know? Guess I scare people off." Ramya gestured to the door as she tried to figure out how to respond to that. “Lead the way, Miss Paquette.”
She took Ramya to a pleasant café that was nearby, inexpensive and most importantly, quiet. Many of the people here were looking to relax, and she hoped that Ramya would get the message and not start loudly boasting about all the ‘plonkers’ she had defeated in her Gauntlets.
They stood in line to order, Natalie already knowing what she wanted, but Ramya was squinting at the menu as if it were written in a foreign script.
“Uh,” she said, and for once sounded unsure of herself. “What do you recommend?”
“Have you never eaten at a place like this before?”
“My diet is whatever can be bought for under five dollars.”
“Ah, well, I am going to get the tomato basil pasta,” Natalie said, pointing said item out on the menu. “And because you like pizza, I would suggest the croque monsieur.”
“Cr...pardon?”
“Croque monsieur.”
Ramya muttered something beneath her breath about French. “Alright, I’ll get that then.”
They ordered their food and then sat at a table next to one of the windows, both holding cups of tea. Ramya leaned back in her seat, looking very comfortable and casual as she got straight to the point:
“So why’d you invite me?”
“I just wanted to talk to you,” she said, keeping her fingers wrapped around her tea; the warm ceramic was soothing to her skin. “We are soulmates, after all."
"But you've been avoiding me."
She lowered her gaze, a little ashamed of herself. "It was not fair of me to give up on you so quickly."
Ramya arched an eyebrow. “You gave up on me?”
“...Oui.”
“Without even gettin’ to know me?”
“You are loud and I do not like you,” Natalie confessed, and Ramya smirked, like she found it funny. “I did not like you.”
“And you do now?”
She didn’t. At least, not yet. She wasn’t very sure—she knew that it was rude to just disregard the woman because of how loud she was, and because Natalie didn’t understand her humor, but she couldn’t shake the slight feeling of discomfort off every time they interacted.
Maybe she just needed time to get used to it. After all, it had taken her a little while to warm up to Anita and Crypto's curt natures, as well as Octavio's... everything. She could try the same for her soulmate.
“I want to,” Natalie said, looking up into bright brown eyes, before immediately looking away, feeling her cheeks start to heat up beneath Ramya’s intense gaze. “I would like to get to know you.”
“And I’d like a pony,” Ramya said. Natalie glanced up, confused, and the other girl threw her head back with a groan. “Okay, sorry. I’ll try to be just a little bit nicer to you.”
“You mean you were being intentionally rude before?” She asked, offended.
“Nah, I just meant that I’ll cut back on my ‘jokes’,” Ramya clarified. She raised her own cup of tea to her lips as she glanced around the café. Natalie took this time to admire the intricate henna tattoo on her hand. “Sorry about that. And I don’t say sorry often.”
“Apology accepted,” Natalie said. “And I am sorry too. For judging you.”
“Eh, it’s cool. I think I was laying it on ya too hard.”
“Laying...what on me?”
“Well I was flirting, obviously.” Ramya sat up straighter in her chair as a waiter approached with their food, leaving Natalie no time to properly process her words. “Oh, you were right, that whatever-monsieur looks good.”
Natalie set her napkin in her lap as she looked at her food, penne pasta with sweet tomato sauce sprinkled over. Ramya was already scarfing down her sandwich, which...well, Octavio was a way worse eater. She could handle this.
After they finished eating they stepped outside, Ramya already describing what she’d like to do with Natalie’s technology, before she paused and stared at her, making her feel self-conscious.
“What is it?” She asked, and Ramya reached her hand out, by her ear. She nearly flinched away, but then Ramya let her hand drop, and said,
“You had a leaf in your hair.”
“Oh.” Embarrassed, she ran her fingers through her blonde strands, trying to see if anything else had flown into it.
“I got it for ya already.” The younger girl cocked her head to the side, as if debating something, before saying, “You’re really pretty, did you know that?”
Her face was heating up again, and she smiled a little, trying not to fight back the blush, but it was very evident on her fair skin. “You too.”
“And um...” Ramya looked down, scuffing the ground with her foot. “Thanks for lunch.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I’m not used to being treated,” Ramya said. “Let me mod you somethin’. No charge.”
“Ah, no, that’s quite alright.”
“I insist! Let me show off my chops, Miss Paquette. This could be the start of a beautiful modding partnership!”
“You do not owe me anything,” Natalie said, and Ramya scoffed, muttering something under her breath again about ‘free’ and ‘once in a life-time opportunity’. She spoke under her breath a lot, like Elliott did. She could imagine the chaos in their home.
"I enjoyed myself, Miss Parekh," Natalie told her, and the taller girl gave her a look. "Thank you for coming with me."
It was true; this had been...nice. Enjoyable, a familiar enviroment with a person who's crudeness was already starting to feel like the norm. They stood there for a bit in silence, until her soulmate broke it.
“Well, I am nothing if not a proper lady.” As she said that, Ramya belched. “Let me take ya home.”
“I live in the compound.”
“Let me do something for you, woman!”
“Okay!” Natalie threw her hands up in defeat. “You can show me how Sheila works. I am very interested in how you can work it faster than everyone else.”
“So you want me to spill all my secrets then, is that it?” Ramya winked. “That was a joke. Okay, comin’ right up. Don’t tell your friends.”
“I won’t,” she promised, and Ramya laughed. She was getting very used to that laugh—she almost didn’t mind it, now. As they headed back in the direction of the compound, she kept rubbing the inside of her wrist through the fabric of her sweater, heart beating in her chest, for some odd reason. She was glad that she had managed to work something out with her soulmate. Perhaps they would truly become friends.
(And maybe , the romantic side of her said, the side that had imagined swimming in ball gowns as a child, something more.)