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V was usually the type of merc to ride alone. Throughout the years she had learned never to get too close, never to rely too much on others, to always depend on yourself and yourself only. After all, in a place like Night City it was easy to lose folks, one way or another. It had burnt V before. It would never burn her again.
And yet somehow she could never refuse those eyes. Those deep brown eyes, looking up at her with that annoying, terribly beautiful look, one that she always managed to lose herself in despite not wanting to. Her eyes. Judy’s eyes.
They hadn’t known each other for long, at all. Yet V, with all of her physical strength and mental fortitude training from the best at Arasaka, could not refuse Judy Álvarez.
And so, when Judy had asked her to go on a gig with her, V found herself saying yes before she could even think about it. Afterwards she had immediately been made fun of by Johnny and pinched the bridge of her nose in a kind of ‘Why did I do this?’ gesture.
Luckily the gig went well enough. In typical Judy fashion she had needed help twisting the balls of a couple of Tyger Claws who had busted up one of the Moxes’ new rides. Easily said and done. Except what Judy had not realised, and V had seen coming from a mile away, was that after they had succesfully flatlined two Tygers, four more had popped up in their place like some neon-coloured hydra. More work to do. And again, V had been unable to refuse Judy’s request.
Now V knew Judy wasn’t using her. It wasn’t like that, at all. In some ways, Judy was perfectly and utterly transparent: a disillusioned techie who still believed there was such a thing as justice. V knew the type. She had been one of them. So she was well aware of the fact that Judy was truly doing this from the good of her heart, from the dream of making the world even a slightly better place.
Which means V was helping her out of her own free will.
She did not like to acknowledge that fact.
V pushed the thought aside as she flatlined the last Tyger Claws member. She got out of cover, put her gun away, and stretched her back. This shit was starting to have a toll on her body.
“That was it?” Judy asked from nearby. She, too, uncocked her gun and got out from cover.
“Yeah,” V said, grunting as she pushed a lifeless body out of her way with her foot. “At least for now.”
Judy frowned. “For now?”
“Well, you saw how the bastards doubled in size when we flatlined the previous ones. Reckon’ more of their pals will be on their way soon.”
“Then we’ll take them too.”
V turned to Judy and put her hands up. “Woah, calm down there, sister. I’m not joinin’ your suicide pact.”
She started walking back towards her car. “C’mon, we need to delta. Gotta lay low for a minute.”
Judy hesitated for a second. “Lay low? Where?”
V let out a sigh of irritation as she opened the driver’s seat’s door. “I dunno. A motel or somethin’. Anythin’ the Tygers won’t ambush us at.”
“You think they’d do that at my place? At yours?”
V looked at Judy sternly. “I don’t think, I know. Now hop in.”
* * *
It had taken them a few rounds driving around Watson to find a place, but they had finally found some shitty little motel out of the way in Northside. As they pulled into the parking lot the sun was well on its way to setting.
“This looks like a good a spot as any,” V said as she slammed the door of the car shut.
“You sure we’ll be safe here?” Judy asked.
“Oh, sure, as long as we take it easy. Drink a few beers, watch a soap opera, whatever it is that normal people do.”
Judy let out a dry chuckle. “Yeah, you’re definitely not normal, I’ll tell ya that.”
V shot an offended glance to Judy. “Hey, rude?”
“You were the one who said it!”
It was easy enough for V to hack the panel of the door to one of the rooms. The door slid open and the two of them were greeted by a space that a glass half full kind of person would have described as cosy. In reality it was a box with a bed and a tv, some overhead cabinets, and a separate bathroom. Not even a desk or kitchenette. Clearly a place people got in, did their business, and got out of.
V stepped aside and made a dramatic gesture. “Behold, your palace, your majesty.”
Judy snorted and walked in. “It’s certainly cosy.”
V rolled her eyes and walked in. The door slid closed behind her. “Yeah, I love what they’ve done with the place. Painting the walls with five- no, six different types of stains? Genius use of colour-coding, if I do say so myself.”
Judy looked around her, then turned around to V. “So... now what?”
“Now we… wait.”
“Just sit things out?”
“Basically, yeah. Tygers will be on high alert now. Give it, I don’t know, a day, two, tops? Then it’ll be safe for you to go back outside again.”
A look of bemusement appeared on Judy’s face. “You know, V, you are either the worst flirter or the best serial killer.”
“Heh. Not the first time I’ve been called that.”
A twinkle appeared in Judy’s eye. “I wonder which one.”
V yawned. “Either way, I’m hittin’ the sack. I’m beat from cleanin’ up your messes all day.”
Judy yawned in return. “Fair enough.”
The two of them turned towards the bed when they simultaneously realised something terrible.
There was only one bed.
In an instant V knew that this fact had dawned on both of them, but she didn’t want to acknowledge it. No, doing so would be horrible, unbearable, and an admission of… what exactly? She didn’t want to think about it. But in a stroke of genius, she came up with a plan, one that was foolproof, so smooth you could slide right over it.
“Listen, I, uh,” she said, refusing to look at Judy standing next to her. “I sleep better on the ground, so, uh, I’ll just be over there in the corner.”
She meekly shuffled over to the corner while Judy stammered something.
“S-sure, yeah, great.”
V slid down with her back against the wall and sighed. So much for a good night’s rest.
Judy, meanwhile, was trying her best to lie down on bed as nonchalantly as possible but failing completely. She looked like an alien trying to understand what sleeping was.
V pretended not to notice from the corner of her eye.
For what felt like ages, the two of them sat and lay there in silence. V, sitting with her arms crossed, eyes closed, and head down, under her jacket, and Judy, lying on her side, her back towards V, as close to the opposite side of the bed as possible, trying to appear to be asleep. In the meantime the night had begun in earnest and a light rain had started to fall, softening the loudest sounds of the city.
Eventually, though, something in Judy reconsidered.
Pushing against all of her embarrassment, she slowly turned on her other side and faced V.
“V…?”
V opened one eye, still keeping her head down.
“...Yeah?”
“If you want, you can sleep in the bed too.”
V felt a sudden hot flush in her face. She turned her face away.
“I-it’s okay, I’m–”
“It’s fine. I know… I know you’re not really comfortable there. You helped me out a great deal again today, V. You deserve to rest.”
Now it was Judy’s turn for her face to redden. What was she thinking, saying all of that?!
For a moment it was silent. Judy was sure she had fucked up. But then V spoke, softly.
“Sure.”
Slowly, without either of them saying anything more, V got up, tossed her jacket on the floor, took off her shoes, and got in bed. Judy shuffled out of the way, trying to avoid touching V, but it wasn’t working. V mumbled some apologies before managing to tuck her legs in such a way that they perfectly avoided Judy’s, and finally allowed her head to fall onto the mattress.
Judy looked at her from slightly up above, her head resting on the only pillow. V’s eyes were squarely directed downwards, not so much looking at something but looking away from Judy.
Judy couldn’t help but smile.
“Y’know…” she began. “It’s okay to look at me.”
V stiffened.
“...I know.”
“Then why don’t you?”
Silence.
For a second, Judy hesitated. Then slowly she reached out her hand towards V. V, noticing this from the corner of her eye, felt the panic boil up inside her brain.
Judy gently placed her hand on one of V’s.
“I’m starting to think you don’t have much experience being this close to someone, do you?”
V swallowed audibly.
“I… I guess not.”
“Would you want to?”
V’s mind was on fire. Screaming.
With an excruciatingly slow speed, V’s eyes met Judy’s.
“...Yeah.”
Judy smiled. Gently she moved her hand up towards the side of V’s face and cupped it. For a moment she lingered there, allowing both their gazes to meet. Briefly she studied V’s face, her nose, her lips. She looked back at V’s eyes and noticed she, too, had been studying the other’s features. Without words the two of them knew what had just happened, what this short moment had confirmed.
Judy lifted V’s head slightly and slowly moved towards it, hesitating for a second to see if V would respond. V did so by moving her head just a little closer as well. Their gazes moved across each other’s faces as they inched towards each other, looking into each other’s eyes and growing suddenly quite impatient, until their lips finally met in a gentle, sweet kiss.
When V pulled away she kept her eyes closed for a second, relishing in the feeling. When she opened them Judy was looking at her. With those damned eyes, enticing her, practically begging her to give in. It annoyed her beyond belief that she, of all people, would feel this way for someone, let alone the short, green-and-purple-haired techie with a naive sense of good and bad and an irresistible drive to do the right thing. V wished she could fall into the ground, forever to disappear, never having to feel this way ever again.
And yet she couldn’t resist. Not Judy.
Maybe this time it could be different.
Across from her, so close as to feel her breath, Judy smiled.
“Was that enough experience for you?”
V met her eyes.
“No fuckin’ way it’s not.”
Quickly she moved back in to kiss Judy, harder this time, and she felt Judy melt into her, her breath increasing and her touch getting needier. V put her hand on Judy’s face, steadying it as she began to kiss her more rapidly and intensely, both of them no longer able to keep fully silent. She felt one of Judy’s hands move across her waist, gripping her side and bringer her closer. V responded by moving her hand towards Judy’s shoulder and slipping her overall’s strap down her arm. Getting the hint, Judy moved her hands down and lifted her top off, tossing it to the side. Slowly V made her way from Judy’s lips to her neck and further, kissing her as Judy closed her eyes and put one hand on the top of V’s head, encouraging her to keep going. Soon after Judy felt electricity buzzing through her whole body, a warmth she had never felt in quite the same way before. She returned the favour, and V, too, felt a light wash over her, providing a sense of peace she didn’t know she needed. After tonight, she definitely needed it more.
Later that night, as the rain continued, V buried her head in Judy’s chest and wrapped her hands around her waist. Judy placed her hands on V’s back, rubbing it gently until both of them fell asleep. V dreamt of those eyes, those that allured her, the ones she found herself melting into. Maybe it was a bad idea to fall so heavily so quickly. But she no longer cared. She could look into those eyes and know things were going to be okay. In a place like Night City, that’s all anyone could ever wish for. She, too, had wished for it, even though she had never wanted to admit it, not after she had been burnt on the very same wish before. She had been scared to love in this way ever again. But not anymore. This time it felt different. It felt right.