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It isn’t until an hour after the Gundam is shot down - an hour of sifting through rubble and debris piece by piece, each time bracing for what she might find underneath - that Chuchu finally takes a moment to breathe. It isn’t the front management company or faculty who get her to stop; they would probably have been fine to work her until she collapsed from exhaustion. It’s that Jeturk girl’s voice on her comms.
“Hey Pom-Pom Head, I’m hungry. Let’s take a break.” She’s clearly trying to sound casual, but it just comes out blunt and strained.
Chuchu instinctively prickles. “Don’t tell me what to do. You do what you want, I can keep going.”
There’s silence on the other end for long enough that Chuchu wonders if the Spacian has already left without saying anything, before a small, annoyed voice comes through: “Look, just, come keep me company, okay? ...please?”
“......okay.”
A short time later, they’re sitting a foot apart against the wall of a mostly undamaged building, helmets lying at their feet, quietly picking at the rations they’d gotten from the emergency response tent. It seems like neither of them actually has much of an appetite.
Chuchu looks over at the girl. She’s the one from the Rumble Ring, one of that Jeturk prince’s arrogant hanger-ons. The loose ponytail on top of her head does little to pull any of her messy, dirty-blonde hair out of her face. Hollow amber eyes look down through her tray of defrosted food. Chuchu has no idea what her name is, and a mixture of pride and the awkward atmosphere keeps her from asking.
She’s almost about to say something, just to break the silence, when the girl’s phone rings. The Spacian suddenly bursts to life, quickly putting the phone against her ear.
“Kamil, did you find her?!”
Her eyes sparkle, and there’s a hopeful, fangy smile on her face. Chuchu fails to catch herself before some traitorous part of her thinks, She’s pretty.
And then that smile falls into a look of total, miserable anguish, and Chuchu’s heart sinks with it.
“No... nonono... you’re sure? She... oh God...”
Chuchu feels numb as she watches the Jeturk girl drop her phone on the ground, not seeming to notice when the screen cracks on the pavement. She looks frozen in horror, shell-shocked, her breathing getting faster and faster. After a long, horrible moment, the floodgate breaks, and tears start to stream down her cheeks. The girl buries her face in her knees, curling up into a tight ball as her body shakes with sobs.
Chuchu hates this. She has no idea what she’s supposed to do, and that just leaves her sitting there and staring like an idiot. She averts her eyes - she shouldn’t be seeing this, she barely knows this girl - but that just feels cowardly.
Felsi feels a soft pressure against the side of her pilot suit. She looks up, wiping tears and snot from her face. Chuchu’s side presses gently against Felsi’s; a little tentative, like she’s ready to be rejected, but still a firm and solid presence. The pink-haired Earthian stares straight ahead, giving Felsi some privacy while still saying with her body, I’m here for you.
Felsi buries her face again as a fresh wave of wet sobs rises out of her. She doesn’t push Chuchu away.