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Sabina is not trained as a gundam pilot.
She's a pretty good mobile suit pilot, if she does say so herself. Ranked fourth in the piloting department of Asticassia School of Technology... before the Mercurian girl came and unseated the Jerterk heir, that is. She's number five now, but still one of the top pilots.
Piloting a gundam however, requires additional training. The more seamless merging between the pilot and the gundam's system takes time to get used to, and the remote control of unmanned units is not exactly intuitive.
Not to mention the data-storm effects.
So no, Sabina is not a gundam pilot.
She is piloting one today though.
The plan for the day requires two gundam pilots, and they are one short. Shaddiq, of course, cannot be risked in such a mission. So naturally the job fell to their second best pilot.
She sets her tablet down, having read the data and control manual of the Lfrith Ur again to refresh her memory before heading over to the hanger. It's a Mission. Of course there are risks, they all do, this one just has quite a bit more. She isn't going to back down though. She swore to herself that she would see it all through, the day she joined Grassley: to become a bridge between Earth and Space by any means necessary. If she fails, well, at least she does so knowing she played her part.
There is just one small problem, currently sitting on the only other chair in her room.
Sabina had pulled Nika Nanaura out of the room where Norea Du Noc and Elan Ceres were staying, after seeing the footage where Norea tried to stab the Peil House pilot, and hearing from reports that Nika's recovery is impeded due to lack of sleep at night.
Two weeks have passed since Nika started staying in her room. Sabina supposes it's natural to have a soft spot for someone she has been observing for so long. Changing someone's bandages and helping someone dress and eat certainly draw two people closer together. Talking about differences in ideology and sharing the same bed at night definitely help.
So yes, Sabina can admit that she has a bit of a soft spot for Nika Nanaura.
Unfortunately, this has currently come back to somewhat bite her in the ass, in the form of silent staring from the younger girl.
Sabina had let slipped in her relaxed state the day before that she'd be piloting a gundam in the next mission. The girl had tensed immediately, pointing out the potential lethal consequences if things go south. Sabina had argued that it doesn't differ much from other missions she was on before.
As usual, they were unable to reach a consensus, but this time it feels different. More tense.
Hence the silent staring.
Or maybe not so silent anymore, Sabina thought, as she hears Nika draw in a breath and make a move to speak.
"Being a bridge is good and all, but dying in the process like this... it's sad, isn't it?"
Sabina said nothing.
"I don't want you to die."
The girl really is too idealistic.
"Regardless of how you feel, I need to go."
"Come back, then," Nika said, her voice taking on an urgent tone. "Tell me you'll come back. Promise me."
"If the mission requires me to-"
" Promise me! "
This girl really is too idealistic, she should know better than to ask such a thing. She's not entirely in a position to ask for something like this either-
Sabina cuts herself off. She was planning to tell Nika exactly that when she turned around to face her, but Nika's expression gave her pause.
Concern. Fear.
And… some odd form of trust?
Sabina regarded Nika silently. Nika held her gaze.
It feels… cruel, to squash the light still in the girl's eyes.
Sabina knows her own is long gone.
"I cannot promise you that."
She watches as the light in Nika's eyes turn into something else. Something watery.
Damn this soft spot.
"... But I will try."
Nika seems to search her eyes for a few seconds, before giving her a nod.
Sabina nods back, and walks out of her room.
Sabina really isn't a gundam pilot.
As she raised the permet score to three and started feeling breathless, Sabina is growing more and more aware of that fact. The two Gundvölvas hovering next to her suit aimed at the target she told them to, and she felt another stab of pain and strain rushing through the permet connection. She glances at a warning on her display and quickly dodges a beam. She knows she cannot hold for long, not in her current state when her vision is starting to blur and darken. But perhaps if she risks a bit more and increase the Score, she can one-up the opposing mobile suit, and it would not be an entire fail on her part of the mission…
Then again, this mission is not like the others, is it?
Obviously there is always someone waiting for her to go back. She's Shaddiq's right hand, the second in command of Grassley House. She has responsibilities to shoulder, people to take care of. If she falls, the rest of the group would suffer a certain level of blow. They would miss her skills, her abilities.
But this time, someone will miss her for her. Someone will be sad because of her.
Sabina doesn't want her to be sad.
Damn this soft spot indeed.
Mind made up, Sabina stays at Score three, somehow managing to dodge beams and put some distance between her and her pursuers. She is barely awake when she sees friendly mobile suits show up to provide cover fire for her, which is around the time her body decides it has had enough, and Sabina finally blacks out.
Sabina listens to her heels making their usual clip-clop as she walks down the corridor to her room. It has been a couple days since the mission, and she is finally released from the infirmary. She misses sleeping on her own bed. It isn't much, but it's still hers.
The door of her room hisses open at her biometrics, and she comes face to face with Nika.
Nika, who is wearing an unreadable expression.
Sabina enters her room and allows the door to slide shut behind her.
"Nika?"
Nika's eyes scan her from head to toe, then back up again. She repeats the process several times.
"How is your arm? Did someone come to check on you?"
Nika stays silent.
"... Someone did come to bring you food, did they?"
Nika tends to be a quiet person, but Sabina doesn't think she has seen her this quiet.
"You are upset with me."
Nika stares at her a bit longer, then suddenly jerked forward and yanked Sabina into a one armed hug. Sabina's arms quickly came around Nika's to steady her.
Oh. This is… nice.
"Okaeri."
Okaeri? Sabina doesn't remember the last time anyone said that to her. It's usually "thanks for your hard work".
This is… far too nice. Dangerously nice. This is something that she shouldn't get used to.
But she's also tired. The data-storm took a toll on her, and even after several days of lying in bed in the infirmary, she is still recovering.
Maybe just this once?
Sabina nuzzles into Nika's shoulder.
"Tadaima."