Lulu was never going to be the peppiest member of the whole underground crew, but she was pretty good at keeping a neutral face on. At the very least, she certainly was far from the crankiest person on the team (it'd be hard to say who that was; it really was a race for first place most days). Still, it had been one of those days where nothing seemed to go right, starting from when she'd woken up and realized her favorite shirt had an unexpected stain on it. And then, once she'd gotten to the lab, she'd realized she'd forgotten her headphones and couldn't listen to music and then at lunch time, someone had eaten her leftovers and then...
Well, long story short, Lulu needed a small break. Just a minute or two or ten to clear her head. Except that the room she'd chosen was not empty. She could recognize Carmen's anywhere, and from the tone of voice, she was clearly not happy. Lulu took a quick step back. "Sorry. My b. I'll...The supply closet is free, I think."
When Carmen realised it was Lulu, she hesitated. It's not like she'd ever said it out loud before, but she did care about her. They were in this together, no matter what. They were all in it with the Resistance, but those who were left from the original Institute had a bond no one else did. Carmen had always been a pain in Lulu's ass, there was no denying that. She lived to push her buttons. And if she really thought about it, all she'd truly craved was her attention. Things had changed, sure, but Carmen still wasn't sure if she was capable of saying any of that out loud.
"Wait...," she said instead, throat dry. "You can stay, but we're drinking."
























