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"Seat belt," Viola reminded her dryly, sounding like an annoyed driving instructor.
Velvet, who was sitting in the driver's seat, protested, "I'm not a child, Viola."
"Then stop acting like one and buckle in your seat belt," she demanded again.
They were still in the parking garage, the former Morningstar had agreed to let Vivi drive, against her better judgement, but would not give her the keys until she had strapped herself in. Viola's Temptress was a fast vehicle, and the Boss had already been ejected from it after a crash once.
"I hate how it squishes my boobs, it's uncomfortable," the redhead whined.
"Fine, fly out the windshield again, you probably remember how comfortable that was," Viola reminded her.
"Ugh," Velvet let out an annoyed grunt at the black haired woman's stubbornness that rivalled her own.
Giving in to the other woman's no-bullshit attitude, Vivi moved the belt over her chest and clicked it into the holster to her right, "Happy?" She asked, displeased.
"I'm not unhappy," she replied coolly as she handed the car keys to the Boss.
The Saint took the keys and put them in the ignition, twisting them to bring the Temptress to life. The engine purred underneath the hood, the sound of the sports car's motor echoing off the concrete walls. Velvet disengaged the hand brake and slowly pushed down the gas pedal as she let go of the clutch, however, the demoness had forgotten one important step.
"No, wait!" Viola tried to warn her as the car shot backwards into the wall behind them.
The vehicle's rear crashed into the concrete, the sound of creaking metal and glass shattering resounding throughout the parking garage.
Velvet just sat there completely motionless at what had just happened, both of her hands were still firmly gripping the steering wheel as she stared straight ahead. After a brief while, she slowly and hesitantly turned her head to meet Viola's very upset face. In that moment, Velvet wished that looks could kill so that she wouldn't have to suffer the black haired woman's wrath.
"Oops," was all she managed to say before the other woman began her tirade.
"That's strike three, you're out," she raised her index, middle, and ring finger of her left hand.
"Viola, I-" but she wasn't finished yet.
"Maybe take the car out of reverse before you try driving forward?" She stressed, clearly upset at her leader's mistake.
Viola reached over to turn the engine off and yoinked the key out of the ignition, "Out of the car!"
Velvet didn't immediately react to the command, looking a bit surprised at Viola’s harsh words, still trying to find a way to calm her down, "I'm sorry, it-"
"Out!" She repeated louder this time, hissing angrily at the redhead who flinched in response.
Velvet quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and hopped out of the sports car, Viola soon followed suit. The owner of the Temptress walked to its back to check on the damages; Bent rear bumper, dented in trunk, scratched paint, and busted tail lights.
The Boss stood on the other side of the car, shyly glancing at the floor.
Viola put her right hand on her hip and held the car keys in her left hand up in front of her as she leaned forward, "This is the third time you wreck one of my cars in two weeks, did Shaundi put you up to this?"
"No, it's just-" But she got interrupted again.
"We just talked about being careful with other people's belongings like three days ago, and I already have to scold you again!" Viola was getting exasperated at how consistently the redhead managed to damage her vehicles, among other things, "I'm revoking your access to my cars, you're not driving them anymore!"
"Viola, listen! I'm sorry, okay?" Velvet was starting to get heated too at the other woman's hurtful words, as well as the way she spoke to her, "I get all flustered when you constantly nag me about everything I do, it makes me forget things because you're so distracting!"
"Now it's my fault?" she shrieked at the redhead's accusation of being the cause of this.
"That's not what I'm trying to say, but you often talk to me like I'm a child or an idiot, " Velvet vented her pent up aggressions that she had held back until now, "if anyone else talked to me like you do, I’d-" She stopped herself from finishing the sentence.
Viola straightened back up, upset but also sad at what the Boss was implying, "You would what, kill me?"
Vivi felt bad about what she had almost blurted out, "No, but," she had to make sure to find the right words for the point she was trying to make, "I like you, V, you got a helluva lot more leeway than anyone else, even Shaundi or Pierce, but sometimes you act like you're my mom, and talk down to me,” she explained how she felt, “I don’t mind it much when we’re alone, but you’ve also acted like this in front of the crew before, and I can't have that become a habit, as a leader I must demand respect, but as your girlfriend, I ask you to not be so condescending."
Viola let Velvet's words sink in for a moment, had she really been as patronizing and disrespectful as the Boss described her? Thinking back to some of their interactions, she could remember moments when she might have overstepped a line, but she usually tried to not be confrontational, after all, that's what had gotten Kiki killed.
Back when the twins had still been with the Syndicate, Kiki had always been the one to talk back and question others' authority, while Viola had usually remained somewhat in the background, trying to stay professional and let her sister do the talking. But since the latter's death, maybe some of Kiki's fighting spirit had rubbed off on Viola, and that paired with the grievance from her sister's murder was what caused this attitude Viola had met the Saints' leader with. Maybe she also failed to see the Boss as a professional and more as a rowdy street chick, compared to her previous employers business partners. While Viola refused to take shit from others, she also didn't want to be a constant pain in the ass like Shaundi was.
She let out a sigh and walked around the car to meet the Boss, embracing the redhead, "Sorry I flipped out on you, I didn't mean to. I got heated."
"Thanks, I didn't mean to snap back at you either, can we forget about it?" Velvet accepted the apology with one of her own as she returned the hug. Usually she would have remained stubborn and continued the argument, but with Viola it was different, the woman emanated authority, and vigor, something that the Boss found very attractive, she just happened to overdo it from time to time.
Viola put her hands to her hips as she eased up a little, "Be honest with me, do you even have a driving license?"
"I," she stretched the word for a couple of seconds, "sure I do," she lied in the most obvious way possible, putting on a fake innocent voice and smiling at her partner with closed eyes.
The black haired woman raised her eyebrows as her lips formed a pout, clearly seeing through it.
"No," she admitted in a sad tone, "I never needed one before, I taught myself what I needed to know."
"Clearly that worked out for you," Viola teased sarcastically, but didn't push any further, trying to not go back to belittling the Boss, "alright, listen, I won't let you drive my cars until you get your license."
"You can't be serious," Velvet thought she was joking. How would it look for her, the leader of a criminal empire and pop-culture icon to go to a driving school like some teenager?
"I am," she crossed her arms, her tone meant business.
"You're killing me, here, V, " Vivi cried.
"No, first I need you to pay for my repairs," she smirked, "then I'm killing you."
"Can't wait," the redhead smiled back, glad to have moved on from their initial argument.
Apparently the next step after toppling an international crime syndicate, and defeating a paramilitary organization with high-tech weaponry, was to visit driving school.