Work Text:
“I’m afraid there’s not much I can do. Are you sure you haven’t gone to see the civilian hospital down the street?”
The bald, grumpy middle-aged man looked at Sage incredulously, appalled that someone like him—a social media influencer—could be denied service.
“Dammit, you’re a Radiant for God’s sake! Pull out a healing potion or something!”
Sage tried her best to keep a strained smile plastered to her face, but it got harder as the man continued spewing ludicrous claims at her. She hears that she’s “just a fraud!” at one point and stifles a laugh. Her mind raced with ways to politely turn him down while remaining firm.
“She said she can’t do anything. Now get lost before I make you sicker.”
Sage didn’t need to turn around to know who that poisonous voice belonged to. She had heard it all too many times for the past fourteen years. Maybe that’s why she didn’t flinch at the venomous tone. It strangely put her at ease more so.
The man, however, was feeling the usual effect of Viper’s cruel tone. His previous haughty expression had morphed into a rather awkward and apologetic one as he bowed hurriedly and scurried away.
Viper simply scoffed as he ran away, bemused at how easy it was to have done that. She looked over at Sage, who had more of an amazed reaction etched on her facial features.
”Thank you, Sabine… he probably would’ve harassed me the entire night.”
“You need to stop being so nice to those people, you know. It makes them think it’s easy to take advantage of you,” Viper said as she stepped forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Sage.
Sage was quiet for a moment before she turned to look at Viper and said, “Or I can just carry you around as a guard dog,” with a joking smile on her face.
The remark was so out-of-character for Sage—who was usually reserved and serious—that she nearly spit out her coffee.
The thought of being anyone’s dog was off-putting to say the least and downright insulting to her… but for some unkwown reason, she didn’t react that way as her mind supplied unsolicited images of her scaring off anyone that made her Sage uncomfortable. It almost felt fulfilling to envision, in a way.
Wait. What was she thinking? A dog?!
The overall absurdness of the situation final my seeped in and she turned to look at Sage—who was already looking at her. They burst into laughter for no apparent reason immediately; Sage’s laugh a light and melodic sound, Viper’s dark chuckle complimenting it.
Just then, the sound of rustling behind their backs startled them.
”What are the two of you laughing so hard about?” Omen asked, fully stepping out of the shadows.
“Nothing,” Sage replied, throwing Viper a teasing look.
Omen quirked up an eyebrow at Viper, not easily buying it.
“Nothing,” Viper reaffirms the statement, “and I told you to use the door like a normal person, not scare the shit out of people by teleporting behind them!”
Now it’s time for Omen to laugh heartily.