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“If we are to spend the evening in a tall slab of concrete and glass, why don’t we just go to your flat instead?” Panam huffed at V in the lift as they were going up to the ‘Honeymoon Suite’ as the AI receptionist downstairs referred to it.
She already saw V’s flat as a bit of a redundancy - he pretty much lived in the camp by then; this felt like a redundancy squared. Nonetheless, the stubborn merc insisted this was going to be fun so she eventually conceded to go.
When the biometric scanner beeped in agreement, the door to their room slid open with an astonishing smoothness and quiet. What was behind the door could barely be called a ‘room’ though - it was more of a hall. There was a couch the size that you normally see in large clubs, a dining table big enough for six people to eat at and keep their personal spaces not intruded in the slightest. However, what must have been the most amazing piece of furniture was the Quadra-sized bed the likes of which the nomad had never seen. Judging by the look of her partner, the bed was merc’s favorite too.
“Shall we give this bad boy a try?” With child-like excitement, V nodded towards the bed and ran for it.
‘Always so horny, this one,’ Panam thought, not really protesting the notion.
Before she could consider the hint more, though, the merc jumped on the bed and started bouncing on what must have been the softest mattress known to man. She couldn’t help it and burst out laughing at her own misunderstanding of V’s intentions. Nomad’s laughter did not deter V one bit, he just laughed with her and motioned to join him. She didn’t need to be asked twice - a moment later, her boots were off and she was on the bed with the merc, bobbing up and down with a grin of pure joy permanently glued to her face.
——
While V was unpacking the overnight bag they’d brought with them, Panam decided to explore what else the suite had to offer.
The walk-in closet felt completely redundant to her as a concept. ‘Would make for a great armoury space though!’
“Hey, Pan. Should we order some room service - I am getting hungry.” V called out from the other side of the main room. The space was so big, he actually had to raise his voice to make sure she heard him.
The nomad continued exploring the suite all the while considering what she’d even want to order in a place like this. She opened a double sliding door to what must have been the bathroom.
“Umm… V, I think that can wait. Look what I’ve found.”
The merc appeared next to her momentarily, his face lighting up as soon as he saw what caught Panam’s attention. In the middle of the bathroom the size of V’s apartment stood a huge jacuzzi.
“You run the water, I get the champagne?” V was clearly on board with the change of plans.
——
“Ahh, just what the doctor ordered.” Leaning on the edge of the pool, one arm wrapped around Panam, V could not look more relaxed.
The nomad nodded in agreement. She gently traced her fingers on V’s chest, mind half-absent, just enjoying the moment. Her fingers found a rough patch almost right in the centre of V’s chest. This was new.
“Darling, you got a new scar?” She looked up at V, who needed a second to get back from the spaced-out state of total relaxation.
“Oh, yeah. Got into a scuffle with Sasquatch, one of Animals leaders. She chucked her hammer right there,” he pointed at the scar and chuckled, “thought Vik would need to get me a new ribcage, honestly.”
Panam only shook her head, merc’s quest to get rid of the Relic often was more deadly than the Relic itself.
She was now keen to explore what other scuffles had left their marks on her lover’s body. Finding a long, deep-red line near the abdomen, Panam shot an inquisitive look at the man.
“That one? Oh boy, that was something. Some extra-crazy Maelstrom cultists tried to create a blood goddess or something out of one of their own. Well, they kinda succeeded, she went full cyberpsycho on them and spilled all the blood there was to spill around her. Unfortunately, some of mine too - mantis blades.”
He winced a bit at the unpleasant memory, which earned him a gentle kiss on the shoulder from the nomad.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make this gloomy with gory stories, we can talk about something else.”
“No, not at all!” V gave her shoulder a gentle reassuring squeeze. “They are all valuable reminders, like ‘learn to dodge’ or ‘flying hammers are bad for your health’.”
They both chuckled. Panam continued her expedition, finding various perfectly-straight and well-healed lines where the cybernetics had gone in - V had almost as many of those as those he had earned in battle.
Amongst many, many small scars that were a combination of bullet wounds, shrapnel hits or results of merc’s reckless bike riding, there was one that she was particularly familiar with.
“How is it healing?” Panam placed her hand in the most gentle way she could manage on the merc’s shoulder, covering a group of three bullet holes that were still a bit darker than most others.
“Oh this one? Barely feel it at all, I am all good. It’s my favourite one now, actually” He smiled at her softly, knowing full well why she made a fuss about those ones in particular.
“Why favourite?” The nomad raised an eyebrow.
“Because all the other ones I got doing something just for me. Those, I got protecting someone else for a change,” he gave her a quick peck on the cheek, “someone I am rather fond of, I must admit.”
Panam rolled her eyes, all the while melting on the inside, “any more of that and I’d think you are a sweets factory - so much sugar!”
“Good that you seem to be a bit of a sweet tooth then, eh?” The merc winked at her, a smug smirk plastered on his face.
“That I do…” She decided to play into this silly sparring match, ending it with an exaggerated bite of the merc’s good shoulder, making sure not to add another scar to the collection.
——
It was now V’s turn to quiz Panam on her adventures that left their marks.
He wasn’t sure if it was just the hyper-relaxing bath, or the care-free mood they were both in, but he felt like they both were much more open to talk about situations when they brushed with death. He preferred it that way.
He started with the familiar shrapnel-shaped scar on Pan’s lower abdomen. Gracing his thumb over it, he noted how well it healed. For all of his lover’s worries, she was the one who scored the first serious wound since they’ve met; light grazes earned in the shootout with Nash didn’t count.
To his joy, the tanned woman’s body showed way fewer signs of hurt than his.
“What about this one?” He found a rough patch just under her ribcage. “What’s the story here?”
“Oh this,” Panam chuckled, “that’s a silly one.”
“Do tell.”
“I managed to flip a bike while racing with Scorpion, grazed a rock quite badly.”
“Good that you got better at riding bikes then,” V teased his partner, remembering the stunts she’d been pulling recently.
“Hey, I’ve always been good - it was just that one time!” Panam poked him underwater.
“And this?” V’s hand cupped nomad’s face, thumb grazing the thin line on her eyebrow.
“That… that one was from another nomad actually.” Pan’s smile turned into a frown at the memory.
“Oh?” He did not expect that answer; his bets were on some bar brawl, in fact.
“Nico, we were an item for a while, but he had one hell of a temper…”
“Did he do that?”
“Yupp. He got thrown out of the family afterwards. Not just for that, apparently the whole camp had had it with him. That was just the final straw.”
V felt anger bubbling up inside of him.The nomad had clearly sensed this somehow as she covered his hand with hers, looking right into his eyes. The fury dissipated almost immediately.
“Don’t worry, it’s long in the past. I am with you now, I am safer than I could ever be.” She kissed him in reassurance of her words.
“Are you sure about that last bit?” V questioned honestly.
“Positive.” Panam nodded eagerly.
——
She had no idea how long they had spent floating in the hot water. The serious conversation made way for much more lighthearted chatting. They gossiped about the Aldecaldos, discussed if V really needed another Kusunagi in a different colour or simply engaged into their witty sparrings. Those often ended in a draw just because they got too busy kissing and laughing to finish them.
Wrapping herself in a bathrobe that could easily have been made from actual clouds, she looked at her partner who was perusing a fancy-looking bottle.
“What shall we do now, darling?”
“How about we get that room service,” he turned the bottle so she could read the label, “and make use of this ‘sensual massage oil’ while we wait for the food to arrive?”
An involuntary excited giggle escaped Panam’s lips as she clapped her hands in anticipation.
Night City hotels were certainly growing on her.