A.N. I am a suvira writer. But this story isn't intended to be a suvira story. Just warning you if there are hints, and if you're not a suvira buddy you can skip this. lol. Also, you can disregard the ending of chapter one.
168 AG
"Sorry for the silence Kuvira. I'm almost done."
Suyin's voice carried over to where the guard stood with her hands behind her back, staring down at the city through one of the office's giant windows.
For the past thirty minutes Kuvira had listened to the pencil tapping, light curses, and whispering of numbers that meant nothing to her, coming from the matriarch sitting on the couch. To be honest, she didn't mind the silence. Instead she rather liked it. Silence gave her the best environment to collect her thoughts, and reflect over the happenings of the day.
It hadn't been long since she'd returned from the city with the missing business reports in hand for Suyin. She had been forced to pay a visit to the CEO of the Shinto Furniture Company, after his subordinates had yet again "forgotten" to submit their final accounts to Suyin.
Although Suyin was a free-spirited person, she was strict when it came to Zaofu's economy. Even if she didn't interfere much with the independent businesses' daily affairs, she liked to know how they were doing in the long run.
Not all business owners were so accepting of what they saw as an intrusion on Suyin's part by looking through their finances.
But the matriarch let CEOs know ahead of time what the processes were, and about Zaofu's – or really her low tolerance for dishonesty. Even Bataar managed to have a good laugh when he light-heartedly teased his wife over her lack of trust, saying she was "Mothering the city."
Sometimes potential business partners were turned away by those aspects and went elsewhere. Others knew Zaofu was a great place to make a profit and stayed, coming to find that Suyin's semi-intrusive methods tended to work out for the better. She pointed out where their economic flaws were, letting companies work through the rest on their own.
Her only concern was keeping Zaofu together, alive, and running smooth.
A city's economy could make or break its well-being. And Zaofu stayed strong in part because its companies were thriving, but also because Suyin made the necessary adjustments when she had to, putting needed money where it counted the most, while carefully watching the financial stats and records.
Every six months, business leaders were supposed to report to her their final sales and accounts. Then she would undertake the tedious process of recording and calculating the city's overall standing. Bataar told her to get a financial advisor, to help her work through the lengthy task. Suyin tried it once, but she wanted to have it done a certain way. And after arguments began, she quickly let the advisor go, happier to do the tiring work on her own.
Fortunate enough, she had always been good with numbers. She could solve equations in her head, plugging the puzzles together with ease. Money was no different. Maybe it was the fact that she had been surrounded by it her whole life, but she never did need much help figuring out the intricacies of how it worked.
Closing the large leather-bound book on the table in front of her, Suyin stood from the couch with a short stretch, looking over to the guard staring out the office window. "What's bothering you?" She walked over, hoping for an answer from the eighteen year old.
But Kuvira knew better than to let her feelings show, the reason for her stoic mask. Long ago, her father taught her how important it was not to show weakness.
"'Weakness is a man's demise'…Well at least that's how my father told me. But I think that applies to all people, that means you too."
But now, as Suyin laid a hand on her shoulder she felt a great sensation of pacifying relief.
Today she was tired, more so than normal, not only physically but mentally, and Suyin never failed to offer her comfort.
It wasn't just the strenuous guard training, or the early mornings and late nights that normally cut her sleep down to five hours, six if she were lucky. It wasn't just the new demand of growing into the role as Suyin's right hand. Or the equally new stress of acting as a bodyguard, being Suyin's eyes and ears if the matriarch decided to go outside of Zaofu, which for her, tended to be often.
No, it was all of that, only now, the emotions Kuvira kept out of her professional work were starting to catch up, intensifying as she became more personally invested in Suyin.
All their time together drew them closer. And now, and only through Suyin was she deciding to confide what bothered her the most.
When the silence got the better of the moment, Suyin turned Kuvira to face her with a soft smile, looking up into the guard's questioning eyes as her hands rested on Kuvira's shoulders.
"You know, in the years I've known you, I have hardly ever seen you relax." Suyin glanced away, smirking in her momentary thought. "I think you take life a little too seriously." Her eyes moved back, holding their gaze for drawn out length that made Kuvira uneasy. She had watched Suyin interact with people long enough to know Suyin was trying to see right through her, trying to find the answers to her curious questions in her eyes.
And the guard knew, some way, somehow, Suyin was going to pull it out of her; the older woman had her clever ways of getting what she wanted. And what Suyin did next only served to increase Kuvira's unease.
She made a quick glance over to the grandfather clock close by her desk. Kuvira's shift had technically ended over an hour ago, but the guard still looked like she was every bit on duty. Her hands locked behind her back, and her stance rigid. A soft grateful smile passed over Suyin's features, as she took in her appreciation for Zaofu's hardworking protector, even though Kuvira had a tendency to overkill it sometimes.
"You're not a guard right now." Suyin reached up to lift the helmet from Kuvira's head. "So spirits, just relax for once." She chuckled and walked over to the couch, softly placing Kuvira's helmet on the table with one hand, while gesturing for the stunned woman to sit down with the other.
The guard's heart beat from her chest, pounding relentless as she watched Suyin meander over to the couch. That had been happening a lot lately, but Kuvira tried not to think about it, and tried even harder to push it away, moving her focuses elsewhere, keeping her mind busy.
She didn't know what to make of it.
Going as far as to pass it off as a random palpitation, she always tried to forget about it, not wanting to admit, that it only happened around Suyin.
"But what about the-"
"You can take it down tomorrow..." Suyin looked down to the ledger lying on the table. "They don't need it back right now."
Sitting down, Suyin put a hand over her face, rubbing her tired eyes for a moment. "Now I'll ask again…" She leaned back, her arm going over the top of the sofa. "What's on your mind?"
'You' Stunned by her mind's quick admittance, Kuvira looked to her feet with a furrowed brow.
"…And don't say nothing." A slow smile stretched across Suyin's face. "That wouldn't make for a very good conversation."
From where she stood by Suyin's desk, Kuvira turned back to face the window, looking out at the city to distract her eyes from the matriarch sitting behind her. "It isn't important."
"And don't say that either." Suyin pointed in Kuvira's direction with a pencil she had absently taken from the table; its lead worn down from hours of use.
Kuvira looked over her shoulder to Suyin, eyeing her briefly before turning back to the window.
With a soft sigh only she could hear, she gave in, walking over to the woman patting the spot on the couch next to her. Stopping in front of Suyin, she stared down into her eyes for a moment before taking the offered seat, and locking her jaw the moment she realized she had failed to judge a proper amount of distance between them.
The upper arms of their sleeves pressed together, and Kuvira brought her knee in closer before it too made contact with Suyin's. While her heart subtly resumed its fast beats, the woman beside her seemed not care anything about their close proximity. Kuvira glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, but Suyin just stared ahead; her gaze focused on one of the tall, near ceiling high bookcases against the opposite wall. The hand of the arm strewn around the sofa, loosely hung over the plush green cushions; the pencil delicately twirling within her finger's grasp; a hint of a smile gracing her lips.
Sitting so close to the person her dreams had just begun to revolve around, was not as nerve-wracking as the guard thought it would be. Contrary to what Kuvira's heart told her, it was a peaceful experience. And for a long time neither of them spoke as Suyin leaned her head back and closed her eyes, patiently waiting for Kuvira to say the first word.
When stealing glances at Suyin from the corner of her eye became no longer sufficient, the guard used her courage, turning her head to gaze at the beautiful woman with curiosity. She always wanted to see Suyin up close, and now came her best opportunity, as their faces sat just a foot away. A clench formed in her jaw as her eyes ran down the curvature of Suyin's neck, taking in the details of the woman's skin. Suyin had a healthy glow to her tan skin, a reward Kuvira knew came from her active lifestyle, and years of being fed the finest food.
As her eyes lingered, they slowly traveled down further.
Reaching the subtle peak of the woman's breast, Kuvira looked away, regaining her lost self-control.
Ashamed of her momentary lapse of judgment, Kuvira drew her eyes to the floor, only wondering what would have happened had Suyin caught her staring. Sure, she'd stared at Suyin before...but nothing like she had now.
The chills came back. Like tiny pinpricks racing over her skin, they lasted only a second, but this time left a pulsating ache between her legs.
She wasn't a stranger to those spine-tingling chills as her body ran a frenzy at the sight of Suyin. But never had those chills turned into more. To ward off the arousal, Kuvira cleared her throat, turning her mind's attention to answering Suyin's question.
"I still think about him sometimes."
Suyin lifted her head at the guard's voice, looking down to the knee that touched hers, then to the woman beside her who kept her eyes straight ahead.
It was safe to say Kuvira wasn't an open book. And as age grew on her, she became even more guarded. So, this rare moment, Suyin knew she had to savor.
There couldn't have been many other "hims" Kuvira would be referring to besides her father. She had never known the guard to date anyone, not that she noticed. Kuvira's closed off personality made her an intimidating person to approach. Her father was the only one, and man at that, that Suyin had ever truly known Kuvira to have a strong connection to. When he died, Suyin felt a part of Kuvira had died with him, left in the mud of that alley way. "Your father I'm guessing." She spoke softly.
"Yeah…" Kuvira leaned back, resting her head on the couch. "…I don't remember much, but...It still comes to my mind every once in a while." She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands and inhaled a well-deserved yawn. "I don't know why."
A sudden warmth fell towards the middle of Kuvira's thigh, and with it she nearly froze. Her eyes didn't need to be opened to know that she'd find a hand resting just above her knee. Her body responded with a flush of heat at the signature feel of Suyin's hand. The gentle pressure and sensation created by each finger lightly squeezing into the fabric of her uniform, began to drive her mind insane. Luckily it was over before her thoughts strayed too far from what she considered tame and controllable.
"Come on. There's something I want to show you."
Cracking an eye open at Suyin's voice, the guard watched Suyin's hand slide from her as she stood and look down.
"Come on." Suyin grabbed Kuvira's arm and pulled her up.
"OK, I'm up." Kuvira's mouth lifted into a tired smile as she followed Suyin out of the office with a stretch of her arms, and into the familiar halls she'd become accustomed to roaming.
When she first called the Beifong estate home over ten years ago, the bright green shades of the halls had taken some getting used to. They were a major contrast to the dark and desolate places she stayed in with her father. But as a kid the conditions of her surroundings never really mattered to her. And more often than not, she didn't have time to take the surroundings for very long before they were off to the next place.
Peeling wallpaper, dark concrete walls and dirt floors, or floors with holes and missing tiles, were almost all she had ever known. Occasionally, she remembered they'd find themselves in a nice hotel somewhere; money wasn't their issue. But her father held steadfast to the idea that living in junk places kept them safer, because there, they were hidden where people wouldn't care to look.
Next Part: Kuvira and her father