Yukino-san looks worse for the wear as she jams the door shut behind her, but that's hardly surprising.
Anna quietly sits on the floor, her back to the wall, and she isn't sure if this is where she's supposed to be right now. Her dark uniform feels constrictive. She wishes she had a change of clothes.
Lady Scorpio. What a joke.
"Damn it," Yukino-san curses under her breath, drawing Anna's attention once more. She's cradling her left hand in her right, flexing her fingers one at a time with careful deliberation. Pain flashes across her face as she arrives at her left ring finger, and she clicks her tongue.
"Broken?" Anna asks, getting up to her feet. God, does she crave a smoke.
Yukino-san makes a noise that is neither confirmation nor denial. "No idea," she replies, and pulls off her beanie with her good hand to dab at the cold sweat still glistening on her forehead. "I think I'll be fine if I just stabilise it."
It comes out effortless and Yukino-san throws in a smile that fools exactly no one, but Anna doesn't have it in her to argue. Instead, she just turns to dig around one of their bags to retrieve a roll of medical tape. "Let me," she offers, sounding dead even to her own ears.
But Yukino-san just graciously accepts the help, and this time around, her smile reaches her eyes. The way the tape unwinds feels familiar in Anna's hands as she wraps the older woman's fingers carefully. It feels nostalgic, in the way abandoned dreams tend to do.
It would have been nice, to return to how things had been, long ago. But that particular dream ended alongside Master Joker, and there is little else left to do but fight on the barricades and hope that Kurosu manages to fix at least half of what he broke.
Anna tears the end of the tape with her teeth and more force than necessary, but Yukino-san doesn't comment on it, if she even notices. "Thanks," she says, and it's genuine and kind, with the remains of her lipstick clinging to her front teeth. Anna's heart flutters a little in response.
They have to rest, because they'll get a few hours to themselves at best, but the air feels restless. Yukino-san shrugs off her jacket and removes the heavy reflex camera with the broken lens from around her neck. She carefully sets it down on the floor before sitting next to it, eyes glassy as she stares at the scratched-up body of plastic.
Anna wordlessly sits next to her, leaving her to her thoughts for as long as necessary. God, she really needs a smoke.
But then Yukino-san sighs, and bridges the few inches between them by resting her head on Anna's shoulder. "Sorry," she mutters, closing her eyes while pretending the stiff fabric of Anna's coat isn't at all uncomfortable, "I'm alright. Just tired."
Somehow, Anna isn't entirely convinced, but she takes Yukino-san's uninjured hand into hers, anyways, and idly traces every individual, razor-blade-thin callus in her palm. They'll sort their personal issues out eventually, Anna wants to believe. Right now, there's no need to pry.
Yukino-san's breaths even out after a while, and her body goes slack. She still reeks of sweat and blood, but it doesn't matter. Little matters anymore.
Tomorrow, they'd go through the same aimless motions of fighting off demons again and again. And then the day after that once more. Until the day Suou and company finally restored everything back to normal.
Anna sighs and closes her eyes, counting Yukino-san's steady breaths.
a/n: i just. really needed to write about those two. i'm sorry. p2is will never let my frail gay little heart go. so much quality gay content. i'm crying.