[ 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 ] : sender carries injured receiver to safety.[switchin it up a weee bit]
Desperation prompts
After the mission was over, Mariko returned to Conton with a severe headache and a dressed leg. Of course, her comrades could not know that she had finished her healing capsules to help Fu in that cave, so she had to tell them she dropped most of them in a clash. Luckily, they believed her, although unluckily they were short on supplies as well; so they took care of her worst wounds, recommending her to visit the emergency room as soon as they were back.
The robots had been swift, and her leg was wrapped in tight bandages in a few instants. Mariko was now limping back home, too tired to even fly, when an invisible force pulled her up; she let out a yelp of surprise, holding onto something she couldn't see and kicking the air; her heel bumped against something soft, and the nothing answered with a grunt.
"Sheesh, how ungrateful," a familiar voice commented somewhere below her.
"What the..." Mariko frowned, baffled. "Is it really you?!"
"In person. Well, kinda," Fu's voice chuckled; Mariko could feel a pair of arms shifting under her knees. "Can't risk your Patroller friends seeing me here, can I?"
"Then don't be here," Mariko replied, bumping a fist on what she thought was Fu's back.
"Chill," Fu said, amused, "I'm just making sure you get home safe. I know where you live, after all." Mariko felt him shrugging under her palms. "You were too much of a sorry sight to ignore."
When a passerby saw her straddling in mid-air, all Mariko could do was groan and answer with a faint wave of her hand.
"As if this wasn't a sorry sight," she grumbled under her breath.
"Not for me," Fu commented nonchalantly.
Mariko scowled at the air.
"I can do it on my own," she insisted. "I'm no damsel in distress, thank you very much."
"Oh, I know," Fu replied. "But I had to repay you for what you did earlier, didn't I?"
This time, Mariko could almost bet there was a hint of embarrassment in his voice. Too tired to protest further, she gave up, abandoning her weight on his back with an exhausted huff.
"Fine. Just make it quick. If someone sees me like this, it'll be more difficult to explain than admitting I saved you back there."
As an answer, Fu took off towards the sky, escaping any embarrassing meeting around the corner. Mariko only stood ahead with a tired pout, and when her condo came into sight, she found herself letting out a sigh of relief.
"By the way," Fu asked at some point, " why did you save me if you shouldn't have done it?"
Mariko's grip on his shoulders tightened. Another painful flashback crossed her mind. She frowned.
"I am not so cruel to leave anyone in that state," she muttered, "unless it was an enemy."
True, at least in part. Although, in part, Fu was an enemy too. But neither of them brought it up, although Mariko could swear the thought crossed both their minds at the same time; she could feel it in the awkward silence that followed.
"Well," Fu murmured, "thank you." He let out a nervous laugh. "Came a bit unexpected, since you seem not to like me much most of the time."
Another painful fit crossed Mariko's memories. She scowled further.
"As I said," she repeated dryly, "I'm not cruel."
She probably sounded severe enough, because Fu didn't ask further. They both flew in silence towards her flat, while that tough day died behind them in an orange sunset over Conton town.
