Work Text:
“Fraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.”
“What?”
“Bedtime.”
“No.”
That is the summary of the exchanges between the two lovers for about the last fifteen minutes. Already, Franziska is getting tired of this, and so is Maya.
“Franziska, you’re exhausted ,” she points out, approaching the back of her girlfriend’s chair.
Unfortunately, she is correct; Franziska hasn’t slept for more than three hours over the last three days. But this report is extremely important; it needs to get to INTERPOL so that the trial process can begin with Franziska’s latest international roundup: a human trafficking ring.
Alas, Maya does not understand the gravity of the situation.
“If you don’t go to bed soon, you’re going to pass out, and I really don’t want you to get to that point.”
The sadness creeping into her voice is something Franziska struggles to bear, but work is her priority. She says nothing, continuing to type away at her home-office desk.
“That’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” Maya asks. “Don’t make me use force.”
“You’ve tried that before, Maya. It’s not going to work. I will be here until this report is finished, then I will proofread at least 20 times. Only then can I rest.”
Franziska looks over her shoulder to see Maya’s eyes narrowed with focus.
“I hope you realise this means war,” the spirit medium growls.
“There isn’t a weapon in your arsenal powerful enough to stop me.”
“Oh, there is,” says Maya, now full of confidence. “My mom used to sing this one song to my sister and I as kids in the evening. It always put us to sleep; she had a very pretty voice, and she sang it super well. I think it reminded her of how she met my dad, funnily enough.”
“Hmmph,” is Franziska’s noncommittal answer, not flinching from her task.
Suddenly, Maya’s hands are on Franziska’s shoulders. The prosecutor is not unfamiliar with the sensation, but no matter how many times it happens, the wonderful warmth that sweeps over her never diminishes.
“Y’know, if you ever want me to sing to you, you just have to ask. You don’t have to beat around the bush,” Maya comments, and already her voice is getting dangerously quiet and soft.
“I am not asking you to sing to me, I am asking you to leave me alone,” Franziska insists.
Silence for a few moments. Franziska turns her focus back to her computer, and the sound of the clacking of a keyboard can soon be heard.
Then, after a few seconds more, it is joined by another sound.
Maya begins to hum.
Immediately, Franziska begins to feel a kind of dread settle in her stomach, knowing deep down what is about to happen to her. It’s just a few notes repeated again and again, but with Maya humming as she is, rocking side to side, and slowly massaging Franziska’s shoulders, the weary prosecutor already feels the exhaustion suppressed deep in her body breaking free. Disobeying her girlfriend may have been a very, very bad choice.
And then, hitting Franziska right when she’s vulnerable, Maya begins to sing.
Half a million soldiers went through Singapore
All of them remember one girl on the shore
BFC’s from Texas, and sergeant’s from LA
Heard her singing to them as they sadly sailed away
Oh no .
Franziska can feel Maya’s voice seep through her every pore, and instantaneously she feels warmer, more at-home than before. Suddenly, she’s not sitting at her desk in her office. She’s at home, with her girlfriend’s hands caressing her shoulders and neck. The gentle touch melts all the tension in her muscles away, and she can practically feel her heart rate begin to decrease.
She tries to snap out of it. Maya cannot win . Franziska needs to get this done now .
…Wait, does she?
Hold on. When does the report need to be submitted again?
She looks up at the corkboard above her monitor. Amongst myriad documents and other various things pinned here and there, she spies one little note, small but conspicuous.
She has another two weeks before the ‘due date.’
The difference between Franziska’s definition of due-time and the actual one quickly becomes clear.
She can go to bed now; no doubt, she’ll have the whole thing done within a few hours tomorrow, especially if she’s well-rested.
Wait, no! That’s just an excuse to be lazy!
…Right?
Maya continues to sing overtop of Franziska’s thoughts, reaching the chorus of her lullaby:
Don’t forget Sui Sin Fa
Dream of me, Sui Sin Fa
Once we kissed underneath the banyan tree
Keep those lips waiting just the same for me and
Dream about Sui Sin Fa
Don’t forget Sui Sin Fa
Suddenly, one of Maya’s hands depart from Franziska’s shoulders, and immediately she aches for the sensation to return. A moment more and the light from the computer monitor disappears, and Franziska is drowned in near-darkness.
Struggling to determine whether or not she still cares, Franziska feels Maya’s hands slip under her shoulders and gently pull upwards. As if in a trance, Franziska follows the quiet command, and in this way Maya guides her girlfriend to the bed on the other side of the room. After only a few blinks of the eye, Franziska finds herself lying on top of the bed, and somewhere, she idly takes note of the fact that Maya is now removing her slippers from her aching feet. As she feels her girlfriend gently roll her onto her back to help her swap her shirt and waistcoat for a Steel Samurai T-shirt (a shirt of Maya’s. Franziska would be utterly indignant if she wasn’t fading so fast), the last of Franziska’s will to persevere and work on fades faster and faster as Maya’s mellifluous humming brings them to the next verse:
More than just an army stopped at Singapore
Thirty thousand sailors lingered on the shore
Boatswain's mate’s from Brooklyn, and ensign’s from Saint Paul
Had one thing in common: they loved her, one and all
That's it. Franziska doesn’t care about work anymore.
She’d had no idea how wonderful a singer Maya is. Without warming up whatsoever, her voice had slipped effortlessly into a smooth, silky tone that had the same effect on Franziska’s ears as the bedsheets on her skin. Mellifluous is a word invented to describe the singing of Maya Fey, and Franziska decides for herself in an instant that the song is perfectly suited to that voice, as if by design. It’s only one voice in a silent room, but it fills Franziska’s ears as if accompanied by a whole orchestra.
Franziska exhales. Sleep is starting to finally permeate her brain and body, and she’s okay with it. Somewhere, vaguely, there is a concern about setting the alarm for work tomorrow, but whatever. As she begins to fall asleep at last, knowing she will sleep long and restfully, Franziska feels Maya tuck the blankets around her exhausted form in just the way she likes as her golden tongue sings away the last chorus to her all-powerful lullaby.
And, silently, Franziska vows never to underestimate her girlfriend when she threatens to “use force.”
Don’t forget Sui Sin Fa
Dream of me, Sui Sin Fa
Once we kissed underneath the banyan tree
Keep those lips waiting just the same for me and
Dream about Sui Sin Fa
Don’t forget Sui Sin Fa