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"So you came after all."
Sage glances up and raises an eyebrow at the remark. Her hands, finally unoccupied, fiddle with a loose string on her nightgown. She twirls it around her index finger absentmindedly as her piercing jet-black eyes remains on the subject before her.
"Mm, not many people summon me to their bedchambers at..." her gaze darts around the room in search of a clock before it finally sets on a vivid green snake-shaped alarm clock situated between one too many coffee cups, "12:01 in the morning."
Now it's Viper's turn to raise an eyebrow at what she's insinuating.
Sage notices her sardonic expression and sighs, "I had nothing better to do, if that's what you want to hear."
"Oh, I didn't want to hear anything at all, but if you insist so..." Viper smirks lazily at her before waving her over to her desk.
"What is this...?" Sage asks softly, trying to take in what's laying in front of her eyes.
Viper hands her a vial and sits down in her worn chair. Sage examines the green liquid for a brief moment, still unsure of what substance it is.
"It's medicine, if you will. Should heal any minor injuries. Not as well as Radiants like you, of course, but it does its job," Viper answers at last.
"It's... it's amazing, Sabine." Sage continues rolling the thin vial in her hand as she inspects the material, "but how did you—"
Viper cuts her off with a wave of her hands, "long research and even longer all-nighters. It doesn't matter now. You know what this means, right?"
Sage is silent for a few minutes, mulling over her words.
"I'm not useful anymore?"
"Jesus, you know that's not true. It means the burden is not yours alone anymore."
"This medicine... how many have you made?"
"Barely any, to be frank. It's still in its developing stages. I just wanted to show you now because I know you've been having to use your life force more often than ever."
Viper looks heasitant before contuining, "you don't have to kill yourself to win this war," she says softly, and it's so unlike herself that Sage falters. She's never once regretted her decision to devote her life—literally—to VALORANT until now. Until she's seen Viper's concerned gaze in front of her face.
"I..." she starts, but her voice gets caught in her throat.
"Hey, you don't have to promise me anything, okay? Just be careful. Can't have our only healer dying on us so soon." Viper's sarcastic tone is back, and somehow that eases her feelings, even for the littlest bit.
"Yeah, yeah, I can do that..."
Suddenly the few prior night's lack of sleep decides to catch up with Sage right there and then as her eyes become droopy and unfocused, unable to continue functioning. The last action she remembers is being laid down gingerly before she blacks out.
The next morning, Sage begins stirring as sunlight seeps in through the glass-paned windows.
We need to invest in curtains soon... is her first thought. VALORANT operates on a budget, and that budget usually goes to weapons rather than commodities. Her second thought is that she isn't in her own bed. Her eyes latch onto a familiar snake-shaped digital clock, its display showing her the time: 11:44 A.M. Goodness, she hadn't overslept since her teenage years. For as long as she could remember, she had woken up at 5 in the morning every day, either to prepare the temple or make plans for missions.
Sage rubbed her temples tiredly and slumped back into the sheets. She was half-tempted to just sleep the entire day away—if it was already noon, a few more hours wouldn't hurt—but the smell of fresh roasted coffee wafted into the door and her curiousity got the better of her.
She's met with the sight of Viper brewing coffee—and isn't that a sight to behold—with an especially interesting gadget, and while Sage probably knows the term somewhere in the back of her brain, her prefontal cortex short-circuits as her gaze sets on the turtleneck Viper's wearing. She wears turtlenecks herself, but its never looked as good as it does on Viper's body.
"You're up," Viper greets her, though she thankfully doesn't look up. She would've seen a dumbfounded Sage.
"Sorry I fell asleep last night so abruptly, I suppose I've been tired..." Sage replies in lieu of a greeting.
Viper's eyes finally fall on hers, and they just simply stare into hers for what feels like an eternity. The tension could be cut with one of Jett's kunais.
"Like I said, take care of yourself, no one else can."
"Except you?" Sage responds, half-joking and half-genuine.
"Yeah, well, I'm a given," Viper smiles and slides a mug across the table to her.
"I don't drink coffee—" she starts, but then she takes a sip and it's not actually that bad. Perhaps she should expand her taste palette to coffee. She decides to voice this opinion and gets met with a hysterical Viper.
"It's jasmine tea, you idiot."