The hour had grown late in the far reaches of Typhon. Despite the pressing matter at hand with the weapon that the IMC had in their hands, two Pilots were able to find a small window of time to take a moment for themselves. The last few weeks had been rather harrowing and stressful to say the least. Missions back to back and barely making it to the LZ to get lifted out of hostile territory. Now, for the moment at least, they caught their breath and sat under the shade of large tree, its canopy stretching out to cover them in cool shadow. A few hundred meters away, their Titans, a Ronin and Tone, stand on guard and survey the area, ready to alert their Pilots of anything that pinged their long-range sensors as hostile.
At first, Idra was a bit hesitant to deviate from her typical routine, afraid they may miss something important from their faction leaders. Cowboy had reassured her, more than once, that if anything came up, Gates or Barker would toss one or both of them a message, telling them to get their asses back to HQ. Reluctantly, the female Pilot agreed and found herself heading to the quieter outreaches of Typhon; a small section of the planet that hadn't yet been ravaged by the war.
It was odd coming across such a place. Idra rarely had the luxury of going off and exploring like this. Back home in the slums on Harmony, she was too busy focusing on getting her next meal to her and siblings. Now… It was strange. It didn't look like there had been any traffic, human or otherwise, recently so the duo would be safe for the time being. It had taken a couple hours to reach the spot, even in their Titans, hence the late hour. The sun was maybe two hours away from finally setting when they arrived.
They wouldn't stay long, Cowboy had said. Just long enough to relax for a bit and enjoy the scenery.
During their last few interactions with each other, Idra found herself tolerating his company a bit more. It was… nice to finally have someone to banter back and forth with. He also seemed to see past the hardy exterior, the wall, she placed about herself. He understood her enough and didn't seem to pry too much when their lives before Piloting got brought up. She appreciated that.
Disembarking from her Ronin, Idra hops out and lands in knee tall grass. Setting him on guard duty and takes a look about the area, she removes her helmet and clips it her belt. A warm breeze washes over and she breathes the air in deeply before letting out a small sigh. Motion off to the right catches her attention and she sees Cowboy do the same. She now noticed that whenever she caught herself looking at the other Pilot, a weird feeling in her stomach would start acting up. She felt something similar whenever she was freefalling or swinging in between building with her grappling hook. She didn't quite know what to make of it, only that began whenever she stared off in his direction. She may talk to Gates about it. Make an offhand remark in regards to it or something.
The man glances back over at her as his Tone, Sue, begins her patrol on the perimeter and Idra looks away. Her gaze flits over the scenery as the orange glow of the evening sun falls across it. Spotting a tree that would provide them with shade from the heat and a proper sitting area, she gestures over to it and Cowboy nods. It would do. She runs a hand through her mohawk, ruffling a few parts to get rid of the helmet hair there and makes her way toward it. The sun felt pleasant on her back. A couple of cold beers would make this day perfect.
She soon stops at the base of the trunk and rests a shoulder on it, waiting for her counterpart to arrive a few minutes later.
"Here. I've brought us some food too. Compliments from Rita," he says, pulling a small container out of his pouch. Idra takes it as he removes his headgear. She pops the seals and the first thing she sees is two rectangular shaped pieces as long her hand and just as thick on top of their evening meal. A ghost of a smile pulls at her lips as she recognizes it: chocolate. She still remembers the first time he had her try the sweets. When they had ran into each other hours after her transport had been shot down by the IMC, she thought he was the enemy, coming up on her makeshift camp like he had been and jumped the other Pilot, driving her boot into his jaw and nearly rendering the man unconscious. After realizing she'd made a small error – which he forgave her for – Cowboy had offered her a bit from his ration pack when she settled down and was a bit surprised that Idra'd never been exposed to chocolate.
It was as tasty as it had looked and still was.
She pulls her focus from the food and looks over at Cowboy who taking in the landscape, his helmet tucked under one arm. He glances back her way over his shoulder, his face outlined by the sun. The light from the setting sun seemed to be reflecting off his eyes, enhancing his appearance further. Idra had gone to reply when her stomach does another one of those strange somersaults. Her cheeks faintly burn and her expression halts, as if she had eaten something that didn't agree with her and instantly notes Cowboy's look of concern. She quickly waves him off, shaking her head, before taking a sitting on top of one of the larger roots sticking up out of the ground. Cowboy takes a sit across from her and they split the food which turned out to be Rita the bartender's beer-battered chicken tenders. Simple as they were, they were delicious. The two Pilots eagerly dug in, falling quiet for the next few minutes as they enjoyed a companionable silence.
"I'll have to remember to give her a good tip next time we drop by the trade port. I don't know what Rita puts in these things but they're damned good," Idra remarks as she finishes her food.
A short chuckle escapes from her friend; it was a pleasant sound. "Now you see why I never leave place," he replies before tossing another piece into his mouth then takes a small swig from his flask. He holds the metal container out to her.
Idra reaches over and takes the flask, tipping back the contents as she sips it then hands it back. "No shit."
They lapse back into quiet once more. The distant sound of birds calling out to one another echo over the field. An almost peaceful sensation seemed to fall down around them as if they were inside their own little world that was far away from the war waging between the IMC and Militia.
Cowboy packs up the food container when they were both finished and stows it away in a pouch on his armor as Idra moves to sit on the ground, bracing her back up against the tree. Dying sunlight filters in from leaves above them. The other Pilot goes to sit next to her, giving both little more than a foot of space between them. He rifles around in his pack again and Idra cocks an eyebrow at him when he pulls out an old harmonica. The faint smile crosses her mouth again and she shakes her head.
He seems to ignore her but in the fading light, Idra could make out an amused expression on his face as he begins to play. She never really held to this kind of music but the way her friend played, it was rather nice. Idra stretches her legs out and crosses them at her ankles, leaning her head up against the bark behind her as she listens to the music. At first, it takes on a sort of sad note before lifting back up into something a little more cheery. She sighs quietly, feeling herself relax slightly.
She hadn't even realized she'd dozed off when she feels something solid gently jostling her head. The Pilot wakes with a start, jerking awake. Her heart hammers against her ribs, eyes wide, when a figure grabs her attention.
"Whoa. Hey there." It was Cowboy. An apologetic expression was on his face. "Sorry to wake you but we should probably get moving soon. Know I said we wouldn't be staying here for long but I didn't want to disturb you. You seemed awfully comfortable there."
Now, Idra was aware of the cold breeze that brushes against her cheeks and dark blue almost black that had replaced the orange glow from the sun. Damn, it had gotten late. Well above them, stars wheeled by, twinkling little points of light.
"No. It's fine. We should send a ping back to HQ. Let them know we haven't gone missing," she says quickly, getting to her feet and out of the other Pilot's face.
"Already did. They'll be expecting us soon," he says. It was clear her clipped tone had thrown him off.
What the hell was with her?
Idra unclips her helmet from her belt and goes to put it over her head when she halts the motion, looking at Cowboy. "Thanks. For tonight, I mean. This was… It was nice. I had fun. I don't get too many nights like this. Really." As crappy as she was with words, she meant it and was sure he knew so.
The puzzled look is soon replaced with a half smile as he nods to her. "You're welcome. I did too," he replies and sets his headgear back in place as they head back over to meet up with their Titans before turning home.