#retching

cheers and hollers so loud it left a deafening, piercing ringing in her ears no matter the precautions she took, gert ignored the displeased complaints from crowd goers surrounding the current brawl as her elbows jabbed into ribs, fighting her way through and to the edge of the pit. gloved fingers grasping jagged concrete, their eyes scan over the clearly one sided fight.

their surprise was mounting by the second.

the fight looked as though it would be a no brainer — a giant, imposing form riddled with gilded limbs and sickly purple veins versus a smaller woman, no less impressive in her muscles mass, but clearly at a disadvantage with the lack of augmentations: both physical and chemical. even so, it was clear who the winner was expected to be. despite the fair share of injuries each had sustained, the smaller of the two continued to bounce readily on her feet, the other looking far worse for wear; heaving with hunched shoulders, arms poised in a piss — poor defence that even made gert cringe at the prospect of the beating he'd endured. the crowd's bets are only made clearer when a swift uppercut leaves golden teeth and sticky, luminous purple spit flying out into the mass of surrounding people. the heavy thud of a body, followed by the announcers thrilled voice and the eruption of ecstatic cheers, depicts the obvious winner.

it isn't until she — violet — gazes up into the crowd, pale white lights blinding enough to elicit a harsh squint, that they realise just who had been making the rounds down in the festering bottom of the barrel that was zaun. gert can't place the look on vi's face when their gazes clash; disbelief, anger, confusion, sadness? all rolled into one cold sneer until she's ushered out quickly and the next fighters are called upon.

as much as it pained them to admit, she never expected vi to get out of stillwater. not with the sheer joy each and every guard relished in from kicking her around her for their own twisted amusement. their adjacent cells meant, over gert's year locked up, they'd become . . . acquainted. if by that you meant them taking a few beatings to give violet a break, then sure. maybe even, at a stretch, friends.

a deep exhale passes from her nose, meticulously twisted hair swaying with the weary shake of her head as she pushes off concrete to begin weaving her way with jutted elbows back through the buzzing crowd — each and every person exchanging some form of currency over the conclusion of a seemingly much anticipated brawl. many had beaming grins on the faces, pointedly counting their earnings in the dejected faces of those who bet everything they could in a weak attempt to earn enough to live another week.

it was already late, the time ticking well past midnight and into the still bustling hours of the morning. the crate gert leant against dug uncomfortably into her thighs, bandaged arms folded across her chest and her head leant back against the wall behind her. despite her closed eyes and seemingly relaxed posture, they still listen closely for any signs of approach. relaxing anywhere, especially in the dim, sodden streets of the fissures wasn't the smartest move, but she had enough faith in herself to fend off anybody who might believe her to be an easy target.

they could've approached violet inside, but she'd already had more than enough of the pounding music in the claustrophobically cramped space, filled to the brim with the dirty, sweating bodies of drunken fools. so she waited. most fighters exited from the back — primarily because it was somewhat concealed: more discrete than the main entrance. most the average patrons were unaware of the door hidden behind an surplus of old and broken furniture that had gradually stacked up from all kinds of bar fights where they'd been wielded as weapons, ultimately destroying them and rendering them useless.

the piercing squeal of a door opening on rusted hinges, followed by a familiar aggravated yelling, had one of gert's eyes peeking open just in time to see violet stalking away from whoever it was she'd exited with, who'd already began walking in the opposite direction. sighing softly, her shoulders shift to push herself off the wall, now open eyes flitting over the plethora of cuts and bruises marring all visible stretches of skin.

a whistle, quiet but high in pitch, is intended to draw the brawlers attention, but all she gets is a flick of a banged up middle finger and nothing else. yep, that was violet alright.

unwilling to let it go, lest her journey be nothing but a waste of time, gert opts to follow the hooded woman. she doesn't speak — neither of them do — and they're surprised they don't get an earful to back off and leave her the hell alone. not that she would if she did, anyway. they'd never been one for doing as they're told.

the walk to wherever violet resided was short, filled with the irritated grunts of the brawler and the echo of their shared footsteps. after ascending the few steps leading to the others place, a wince contorts gert's features as her arm shoots up, forearm blocking the sturdy door from slamming directly into her face. " ouch. " she makes a point to mutter, loud enough for the other to hear, and confusion flickers over her features that mirrors violet's own — it was almost as if she was surprised gert was really there, despite the fact they'd followed her all the way home.

" never thought i'd see you again. " they admit, blue hair beginning to traverse around the room after letting herself in, rifling through the very few drawers and cupboards until she finds a beat up box filled with a ropy array of medical supplies — if they could even be considered that. turning with it clutched loosely in bandaged hands, they crouch beside a shitty looking bed, knowing all too well the struggles of getting by with the less than the bare minimum.