I can't say how happy I am to be doing this. I found out about the weekly writing prompts on the Pharmercy subreddit (Thanks again, Barna!) and could hardly wait to get started on them. Though I'd originally decided to not take on anything new until I finished the next chapter of Flight of Fancy and the Pharmercy Appreciation Week posts that I'd planned to do back in February but never finished, when I found out what this week's prompt was, I couldn't stop myself. (At least, I assume that I couldn't—I can't honestly say that I tried very hard.) Given that this was exactly the kind of idea that started Flight of Fancy in the first place, I suppose it stands to reason.
Daybreak.
Fareeha noted the time of day as she woke up peacefully. She nearly always did when the world didn't need saving and no reports needed filing. The time never seemed to change, though; as ever, the bottom of the ink-colored sky outside of her bedroom window had just barely taken on a rose tint. Much of her life was constantly in flux, waking up in strange beds in unfamiliar rooms around the world and often wondering whether or not today would be the day that either a skilled or lucky shot would make the morning her last. As a result, she found herself finding comfort in the things that didn't change. The morning sky was one of them, always the same dark shade of blue with traces of pink as the stars began to fade from view.
Though eager to meet it, there were matters that Fareeha had to attend to first. It was another constant, but one that she was only ever able to appreciate when she was at home. It always began the same way, with her doing her best to get out of bed quietly. It was never an easy task as the process began with trying to remove Angela's head from her chest without waking her. She tried to not laugh as she wondered why Angela even bothered buying herself a pillow given that she never used it. She stirred as Fareeha eased her head down onto her own pillow, but a quick kiss on her forehead seemed to ease her back into a peaceful sleep. With the job done, Fareeha made her way to the kitchen and started the coffee that she knew that Angela would be in dire need of in a few hours' time. Waking up was never easy for her and Fareeha knew well that she always needed all of the help that she could get. With her morning routine well underway, her thoughts turned to several hours of stretching, running, lifting weights and unarmed combat practice in the small gym in their home...but first things first. Making her way to a storage room and turning on a light, Fareeha smiled as two stands holding sets of armor came into view. Fareeha smiled at the brilliant white and gold set before turning to the blue one and beginning the long process of performing a pre-flight inspection. As she did every time she had the opportunity, she planned to greet the rising sun from as close a distance as possible.
Dawn.
As she often did when she was at home, Angela woke up cursing for constantly changing reasons, this time beginning with realizing what time it was. From the moment she'd opened her eyes, the morning sun seemed to be trying to burn its way through her eyelids. Growing increasingly agitated, Angela took the pillow under her head and covered her face with it out of frustration as she desperately chased the peaceful sleep that was leaving her. It proved to be a waste, however; despite her best efforts, getting back to sleep was already a lost cause. Now that she was considering the prospect of getting up and starting her day, a mild headache was wasting no time making itself apparent. Another common occurrence during her time at home was long nights and whatever bottles from the wine cellar happened to catch her attention, though it often came back to haunt her by the next sunrise. It generally wasn't much of an issue if she woke up early enough, but waking up late meant waking up alone. As per usual, she rolled over to the opposite side of the bed in search of some measure of comfort from the warmth that Fareeha had left behind, but as her skin was met with cold sheets, she realized that she'd slept in a bit too long this time. Now feeling more depressed than frustrated, she slowly continued to the edge of the bed with her blurred vision fixed on the bathroom and the shower beyond, determined to start her day if only for a way to distract herself with a change of venue.
Angela's days at home generally began the same way; a shower and then yawning and stumbling down a long hallway while following the scent of coffee being kept warm. Her frustrations were already fading from her mind as she made her way into the kitchen, already beginning to show as much of a smile as her headache allowed. The coffee never really made much of a difference as waking up was always an ordeal when there weren't alarms blaring and signaling impending doom, but the fact that Fareeha never forgot to make it for her was more than enough to cause her to make a habit of drinking it every morning. Though it triggered a sudden sharp pain in her head, Angela couldn't help laughing when she thought about how quickly her opinions of things changed when Fareeha was involved. Even the morning sunlight glaring through her window was tolerable when she remembered why she had first agreed to it. In touring the house before buying it, Angela had repressed an urge to shudder when she first saw the bedroom with the window covering nearly half of the east wall that would be flooded with sunlight every morning. When she saw the look on Fareeha's face, however, she immediately came to the decision to never mention her distaste for it. Fareeha loved early mornings as much as she hated them, but Angela couldn't pass up anything that made her that happy. Thinking of things that made Fareeha happy led Angela to the cupboards in search of cookware. Knowing that Fareeha was likely half a kilometer above her head just now and taking in as much of the morning light as she could manage, she also knew that it wouldn't be long before a rumbling stomach would lead her back home.
Mid-morning.
Taking note of how late it was when she caught the scent of a late breakfast, Fareeha couldn't deny that she was glad for an excuse to end her morning workout and leave her makeshift gym. As much as she loved her morning routine, there was one in the world outside of a base's warning klaxon that could make her put it aside. A sudden warmth spread through her face as she begrudgingly admitted to herself that her sudden desire to make her way to the kitchen had little to do with hunger. As she came through the kitchen door, she stopped long enough to take in the sight of Angela, her damp hair hastily pulled back and wearing nothing but one of Fareeha's old dress shirts and a pair of fuzzy pink slippers. She stood over the stove, staring at the skillet intently and preparing breakfast with the same care and attention she showed her patients. The sudden hammering of her heart was another constant that Fareeha had come to appreciate when she was at home. Though she always assumed that she would get used to it at some point, the sight never failed to to take her by surprise. It somehow managed to beat even faster when Angela smiled as she finally noticed Fareeha and welcomed her home. Leaving her work at the stove behind, Angela quickly crossed the kitchen and approached Fareeha, her arms already outstretched and ready to pull Fareeha in closer. Despite its fierce hammering, Fareeha's heart seemed to go still as Angela pulled her close and their lips met. For the brief moment, Fareeha willed herself to ignore the world outside of the kiss they shared each morning. The gentle curves of Angela's body, the taste of her lips and the surprisingly demanding force of her tongue all overwhelmed Fareeha's senses in a way that always made her desperate to take in everything about the moment and replay it endlessly in her mind when they were apart.
Moments later, Fareeha was making her way toward a bathroom in a pleasant daze after Angela sent her off to take a shower while she finished making breakfast. Angela had laughed as she shooed her out of the kitchen, seeming both pleased and amused by how long it had taken Fareeha to pull away from their embrace. Though she rarely dealt well with being genuinely embarrassed, Angela's gentle laughter made it difficult to focus on anything else. Undressing as she made her way into the bathroom, she was only pulled out of her reverie by a sharp pain in the sole of her foot as she stepped on a hairpin. Cursing loudly, she looked down to pick it up in hopes of avoiding a repeat of the misstep, but thought better of it and continued toward the shower. It was a common hazard in their home that seemed to be unavoidable. She had spent the first month of their life together trying to keep them in one place, but each one that she picked up seemed to be replaced by two. It was only out of habit that she still considered trying to do something about it. As she made her way into the bathroom and looked around, Fareeha couldn't help smiling. Despite her usual carefully composed appearance, she was a whirlwind of destruction when at home and hairpins were hardly the only things that Angela left lying around. A damp towel on the floor, a bra hanging from a doorknob and the dress that she had been wearing the night before quickly folded over itself and tossed haphazardly onto the bathroom countertop were all signs that she had been here recently. Once upon a time, such a thing would have driven Fareeha mad. Now, however, she could only smile as she felt a fluttering in her chest. They were all things that she had come to appreciate long ago when she would wake up after a night spent together and spend a miserable few seconds wondering if the whole thing had been a wonderful dream. They were reminders that Angela had not only been here, but that she was comfortable being here.
As Fareeha showered, she found herself wondering where the day would take them. Despite the comfortable routine that they had long ago fallen into, predictability generally left with breakfast. Angela's mood often dictated the course of the day and, as much as Fareeha appreciated routine, she was glad to let nature take its course where Angela was concerned. With nothing in particular on the agenda, going out for the day and setting out for parts unknown was as likely as ending up back in bed for another few hours. Whatever the day brought, the fact that they would be spending it together meant that Fareeha had already gotten all out of the day that she demanded of it.