Chapter Text
Makima sat leaning back in her office chair twirling a pen in one hand with an puzzled expression on her face, a recent realization had been bugging her for some time now prompted by the mention of a certain name in a file sitting on her desk.
She could remember people in a way, but when she tried to focus on them, what they really looked like, she found she could never quite decipher their features, it all felt like a dream, like they were erased from her mind the moment she stopped looking at them, but for some reason, she could remember her face. What's more, she could remember it well, every curve and angle, every lose strand of hair, her quivering lips as she anxiously spoke, that timid expression, how her eyes stared off to the side and avoiding meeting her gaze, it was so vivid to her as if she was right in front of her, and it made her curious. Why her, what was so special about Kobeni that it enraptured her mind like that, she wondered; a devil contract? No, she could see through something like that, and what's more the answer bored her, it had to be something else, something about her, or perhaps something about Makima herself that she didn't fully understand...
Suddenly she broke out of her spell as she heard two sets of footsteps outside approaching her door. Realizing who it was she decided to test some theories and observe herself. Hirokazu opened the door and he and Kobeni stepped inside.
"Here's the reports for today's patrol miss Makima, they told us we were suppose to bring them to you ourselves." "Yes, thank you, you can just leave them there"
she gestured at her desk and stared at the pair, though in truth she was only really looking at one of them. Hirokazu brought the small stack of papers over, a field report for an uneventful day, and in truth Makima didn't care for the contents of it, she just wanted a quick excuse to see her again. She studied Kobeni with her gaze, refining the mental image she had of her, adding more and more details, rebuilding her in her mind.
"Did you need us for anything else?"
Makima turned her head to meet Hirokazu's eyes.
"No, that'll be all, thank you"
The pair departed her office and Makima paused to go over the scene again in her head, as she pulled a small pocket mirror out of her bag. Her heart rate had gone up ever so slightly, and she could see a tinge of redness in her cheeks. She thought about Kobeni more, the picture in her mind growing more complete, not how she remembered people but how she remembered art, the fine detail and craftsmanship, admiring her form and her expression, dreaming of what it would be like to finally gaze into those sparkling brown eyes and have them gaze back at her... then she looked back at the mirror in her hand only to see her cheeks redden further and feel the rhythm of her heart accelerate.
She closed the mirror and smiled, piecing together a hypothesis, not something she thought herself capable of, though something she dearly wanted to be true. For now she put those feelings to the side and returned to her work, though her smile proved unwilling to leave her with Kobeni still on her mind.
A few steps from the door Kobeni let out a sigh, one of relief although it almost seemed like she was holding her breath.
"You alright Kobeni?"
"Y-yeah..."
She wanted to say more, but the words wouldn't come out. She felt anxious and a little afraid, no, intimidated by Makima. Why was she staring at her like that? It's like she was sizing her up or something, was she in trouble? Why else would they get called up to her office, it's not like that report had anything in it worth reading. No, it was them, she wanted to see them, right? But she totally ignored Hirokazu, it's like she didn't even register his presence, she was just staring directly at Kobeni the entire time, and it made Kobeni's heart race. A second longer and she might have...
Hirokazu's hand waved in front of Kobeni's face snapping her back to reality.
"You sure you're alright? You seem kinda shook up, something you wanna talk about?"
"N-NO! I mean... I'm fine, really, t-thank you, I think I'm just going to go home"
"Eh!?"
She darted to the side and bolted for the stairs before Hirokazu could even form a thought, running like her life was on the line.
She leaned her back against the wall outside, catching her breath. She wasn't exactly good at social interaction at the best of times but it had been a while since she just up and ran away from someone mid conversation. If her family wasn't expecting her to send money she would have strongly considered quitting on the spot to avoid having to explain herself to her coworkers the next day, although that somehow wasn't the worst of it. Just what was that scene in miss Makima's office? Why was she staring at her like that? Did her eyes ever move off her? She was too anxious to make eye contact so she wasn't quite sure. What did it mean? Was she mad at her for something? Was her job on the line? Was this all a test? If she gets fired it'll look even worse than if she quits, where's she going to find a job then? She's probably going to end up working at some run down fast food chain putting in overtime just to pay rent, and her family's definitely going to disown her and then, and then, and the....
"boo"
Makima stood next to her with head tilted looking at her.
"GWAAAA!??"
"sorry I startled you, you just looked like you needed it"
"M-m-mm-m-mi-m-miss Ma-ah-a-m-m-Makima!??"
"I heard some commotion outside my office, then saw you outside and figured I'd come check on you"
"I w-was jus... I m-mean I... I... I. . ."
She tried to force words out, any words. She felt like someone had just thrown a time bomb and a pair of pliers into her lap. She could feel herself losing control of her body, her knees were trembling, her hands were shaking, she felt like she was about to start crying.
Makima wrapped her hands around Kobeni's waist and gently rested her head on her shoulder, every panicked thought in Kobeni's mind was dashed away in an instant, completely overtaken by this new sensation, so overwhelming her brain didn't know how to begin processing it.
Makima released her grip and took a step back, then looked into Kobeni's eyes. She was more sure of it now, of herself and of her own feelings, it would be all too easy for her to dominate her, turn her into another one of her dogs, but as she stared into Kobeni's eyes something stopped her. She didn't want another dog, she wanted something different, something she couldn't just dominate a person for, something only this woman could give her, and only of her own free will... But it's not something she was able to give her just yet.
"I need to get back to work, see you tomorrow Kobeni"
She left her with a parting smile and headed back inside, as Kobeni's knees finally gave out and she slumped onto the floor with a blank expression on her face. She felt even more unsure of things now but at least she'll probably get to keep her job, and the embrace managed to make her forget about her preceding worries. She could still feel a hint of Makima's warmth on her body, a whiff of her scent on her clothes, left behind like a parting gift. A kiss of red flushed upon her cheeks as she tried to remember the hug but it was too overwhelming for her to focus on, it was still to fresh for her. She shook the thought from her mind and went to stand, dusting herself off and walking over to her car.