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"So, whad'dya think? Pretty cool, right?"
Lava's brows were furrowed as she dropped the packet of papers on the bed in front of her, letting out an irritated sigh. "It's nonsense! First of all, why are you adding so many new plot points to the second act? We already had enough going on with the originium slug infestation and the mystery in the town, not to mention the overarching plot. How would you even build these mechs out in the middle of nowhere, anyways?" The two were seated on Lava's bed in her dormitory, the sarkaz sitting with her legs crossed and her back against the wall while Nian lounged at the edge of the mattress. Her tail swayed from side to side lazily, almost like a feline's would.
"That's besides the point! It gets too predictable and boring if we don't spice it up a bit. What you're lacking is creative vision, l'il Lava." Nian stated matter-of-factly. Her smug expression and words only elicited a groan from Lava, who brought her fingers up to her forehead in frustration. "Even if we disregard the awful plot, how are we going to afford the materials for this many mechs? We'd also need to get enough people to pilot them, unless you're planning on using AI which would be even more expensive." She knew well enough by now that cost wasn't going to stop Nian from pushing it, so she didn't know why she still bothered bringing it up. There was very little that could convince the feranmut to give up on her creative vision. Rather than spending too long trying to convince her otherwise, it was better to just put her foot down and revise the script herself. That was Lava's job as the director, after all.
The caster sighed, dropping her hand into her lap and continuing before Nian could speak. "Get me a pen. I'll fix this mess up, we can look over it again tomorrow."
Filming the movie itself was going to take a couple months at best, and if they wanted to get it out on time they would need to hurry up with the script. The actors needed to memorize their lines, and they'd need to purchase all the required materials and pre-made props. If she stayed up late and focused she could probably hammer out a good chunk of the plotholes Nian had shoved into the story, which would leave them on-schedule.
These were the thoughts going through Lava's head as Nian huffed and got up, her tail flicking once behind her. She swiped a pen off the nearby desk before returning to the bed, this time getting up onto it properly and crawling over to sit down against the wall next to Lava. She was snapped out of her thoughts before Nian could even offer her the pen from the sheer heat radiating off her co-director's body.
"C'mon, we don't have enough time to keep revising the script. Everything I added is totally awesome and badass, we'll make tons of cash. Nobody cares about plotholes if the story is cool enough, l'il Lava." The way Nian spoke as if she was the sole decider of what made a good movie had once been irritating to Lava, but by now she was used to it. Their difference in opinions was part of what made them work well together, even if she had to deal with a lot of script revisions. Nian kept things interesting and brought a lot of creativity to the table, while Lava worked to keep things grounded and make sure everything actually made sense. Not that she'd ever admit any of that to Nian, however; the feranmut would never let her hear the end of it if she did. Instead she tried to swipe the pen out of Nian's hand, but her palm was closed before Lava could even get close.
Nian pulled her hand away with a playful 'tsk', grinning smugly at the director. "And with the whole budget thing, don't worry about it. We'll make all the money back once the movie gets released, so it doesn't matter that much if we spend a lot on it. I can just make Closure program some basic actions into the robots, too." She shifted around so that she was facing towards Lava, tucking the hand holding the pen behind her back.
Lava knew what she was trying to do. Nian wasn't all that subtile of a person, even when she was trying to be; her plan was to stall Lava enough that she wouldn't have enough time to revise the script, and would instead keep all the bullshit in the plot. She could easily get up off the bed to get another pen from her desk (she had plenty), but she didn't feel like it. Instead, she tried to reach around Nian's body to grab at the pen. "Stop being annoying. It's not like I'll remove all of it." Just most of it. Removing all the plotholes and random events Nian had stuffed into the movie would require her to write it all from scratch, and she definitely wouldn't have the time for that. Unfortunately, Nian seemed to pick up on the implication there. "You'll get rid of all the badass stuff! Which is the whole point of a movie like this. The hero is supposed to go up against all these powerful monsters, so you start to think they're not going to make it. Then boom, they figure out a way to defeat everything and reach their goal." Nian's smug expression remained as she kept her hand behind herself, moving her body to block Lava's view when she tried to lean sideways to peek behind her back.
"Yeah, but it has to be a reasonable amount of powerful monsters. The hero pulling some random power out of their ass to defeat some over-powered monster doesn't make any sense plot-wise, and it takes you out of the movie! Especially like this! What kind of freaking power is getting stronger from eating hotpot?" Furrowing her brows in determination, the sarkaz grabbed onto Nian's elbow where she could see it and moved her hand up her co-director's arm. Touching Nian was like holding a heated blanket, a warmth that could be either comfortable or unbearable depending on the surrounding temperature. Since the heater was already on in the room it was the former sort of heat, but Lava was too focused on her goal to care.
Suddenly, it was as if her entire body was wrapped up in that heated blanket. Nian's free arm wrapped around behind her and pulled her in close, while she easily released her other arm from Lava's grasp to toss the pen across the room. "Stubborn l'il Lava." Her tone was annoyingly triumphant, as if Lava had fallen right into the trap she'd set from the beginning. Maybe she had. "If you're not going to remove all of it, then it shouldn't matter if I keep you from working on it for a little bit, right?"
The sarkaz squirmed in Nian's grasp, trying to free herself to no avail. Even with her training, she was no match for a frontline operator when it came to physical strength alone. While Lava could try to blast her with Arts to make her let go, if only by startling her, she wasn't interested in destroying her bed just to make Nian stop being annoying. "Let go! You're too freaking hot." And it was true; Lava could already feel herself starting to sweat from the human furnace that was Nian. If she stayed like this for too long she'd also need to shower, which would just take up more time when she could be editing the script. "Nah. I'll just keep you here for a little bit so you don't get rid of all my hard work. I'll still let you edit some of it just 'cause I like you, l'il Lava." As if to emphasize her point she squeezed Lava even tighter for a moment, not enough to hurt but enough for her to feel cramped in the feranmut's embrace for a second. It definitely didn't help with the heat situation, either.
As much as she wanted to protest, Lava knew just how stubborn Nian could be. There was no way she was getting out of this until Nian decided she'd held her up for enough time, which could end up being the whole night. Still, she'd rather not be trapped for a couple hours and feel sticky from sweating her ass off. "At least turn on the AC so I don't die of heat stroke, idiot." She grumbled, resigning to her fate. She could almost feel the insufferable grin on Nian's face as she scooted the two of them over to the edge of the bed, standing up and lifting Lava with her. "For someone named Lava, you really can't handle the heat. What temp do you want it at?" Lava groaned. "No, you're just boiling. Put it at 60 degrees."
She couldn't see the thermostat being adjusted, but she felt Nian shift her so that she was held up by one arm. The beeping of the machine as the temperature was changed and the sound of the air conditioner's fans starting up also solidified that Nian had actually listened to her directions, much to Lava's relief.
Nian trotted back over to the bed to sit down on it again, moving around easily as if she wasn't carrying an entire person along with her. It made sense for someone like her to be stupid strong, especially considering how easily she crushed Gavial in arm-wrestling matches, but it was still impressive to witness. Or experience, in this case.
The temperature in the room began to drop, making Nian's internal heating much more bearable as Lava shifted around to get comfortable in her arms. While she would have assumed someone as strong as Nian would be uncomfortable to be held by, with hard muscle covering her entire body like armor, she was surprisingly soft. There was still muscle, of course, but Nian could easily pass for an average-strength frontline operator with her physique. Not that Lava had many people to compare her to in terms of hugging comfiness; she wasn't a particularly touchy person even with those that she liked, much less people she wasn't very close to. She had to admit, though, this felt nice.
Without realizing it, Lava leaned into Nian's embrace, her own body relaxing as she placed most of her weight against the deity. She could hear the soft swishing of Nian's tail behind her, swaying happily for whatever reason. Maybe it was just because she had gotten her way? That was most likely the case, in Lava's mind.
"Getting comfortable, l'il Lava?" The sarkaz could feel the vibration in Nian's chest as she chuckled, a strangely soothing sound. "Shut up. I just know you're not going to let go of me even if I ask, and I don't feel like blasting you right now." She grumbled, closing her eyes. As much as she'd hate to admit it, this was nice. Much more relaxing than working through the absolute shitshow that was Nian's script.
There was silence for a long minute, aside from the sound of the air conditioning, before Lava felt herself begin to fall forwards. She opened her eyes to find Nian had flopped backwards to lay down flat on the bed, pulling Lava down with her so they were both horizontal. "What are you doing?" The sarkaz questioned. "Getting comfortable, duh." Was the simple response she was given as Nian rolled onto her side, her own back facing the edge of the bed while Lava's faced the wall.
She could hear a soft thumping against the blankets, which she could easily identify as the sound of Nian's happily wagging tail. Lava was glad that the flame on the end of it couldn't catch things alight, or else she'd have to deal with a fire in her dorm room. It wouldn't be the first time, considering her arts, but it would be much more annoying if someone else caused the fire.
Lava closed her eyes once more, listening to the rhythmic thumping of Nian's tail against the bed and feeling the rise and fall of the feranmut's chest. Vaguely she realized just how close her face was to it, but her thoughts had already begun to wander as her body relaxed against Nian's. If she had to be stuck in this position, she might as well take it as some well-earned rest time. It wasn't as if she disliked this or anything; she actually felt very comfortable, now that the AC had taken full effect. Nian seemed content to stay like this as well, as the two of them had fallen into a comfortable silence.
Her own breathing steadied, following along to the tempo of the thumping. Now that she was laying down, she really did feel like she was bundled up in a heated blanket. A much more annoying, human-sized heated blanket. At least Nian was the fun sort of annoying, the kind that Lava actually enjoyed spending time with despite their differences in opinion. As much as she would hate to admit it, being around someone like Nian was a lot more interesting than hanging out with someone who agreed with her every word. The two of them could argue, debate over what should be in the script of their movie, or just discuss the right level of spiciness that should be found in a hotpot. No matter the topic, they could find some way to turn it into a long conversation that kept the two of them invested, which was a lot more than Lava could say about most of the other operators at Rhodes Island.
Of course, she'd never say any of that aloud. A small part of Lava did, however, hope that Nian knew that. She was a huge irritant, but still someone she wouldn't dream of replacing.
When Lava opened her eyes again, it didn't feel like much time had passed. The thumping of Nian's tail had ceased, the feranmut's steady breathing suggesting that she had fallen asleep. Seeing an opportunity to make her escape, Lava carefully removed herself from Nian's arms, reluctant to leave the comfortable warmth behind. All of that was forgotten, however, when she saw the light of the sunrise creeping in through her window.
"SHIT."