Mini raced through the halls of the M.O.I as fast as she possibly could in her sneakers, a rather large grey cup clutched in her hands as she tried desperately to control the laughter rising through her throat.
With a quick glance behind to make sure her pursuer was far enough away, Mini shifted her pace to tear around a corner, almost skidding into a wall before she righted herself and sprinted into the familiar white walls of the locker room.
Slowing only slightly, Mini barreled for the black-and-red armoured figure at the back of the room, grabbing onto his shoulder with one hand and spinning herself behind him, cackling.
"Alright. What the fuck did you do this time?" Cali sighed, shaking out of her grip with more violence than necessary. Mini decided not to notice.
"I stole a thing." She told him as Cali spun around to look at her. She held up the cup, a sheepishly-proud grin growing on her face.
Before Cali could reply, Washington jogged into the room, completely armoured and very obviously trying to look nonchalant. Cali promptly stepped out from in front of her, and Mini shrieked as she made eye contact with Wash's helmet. Her feet were moving before anyone could react, and she promptly sprinted out of the room, heading for the cafeteria. Only a few seconds passed before she could hear loud, banging footsteps behind her. She leapt up onto a table just as Wash entered the cafeteria with an amused Cali only a few seconds behind him, holding the grey cup as high as she could, straining her toes to hold her balance as Wash jumped to grab at it. She danced out of the way, and he made a frustrated noise before trying again.
"Why must you always steal it?" Wash grumbled, circling around to the other side of the table.
"Because it's fun!" Mini took a sip out of the bright yellow straw to prove a point.
Wash made another jump for it, "Just give it back before I make you. You're out of armour, so I have the advantage."
"But I have the high ground!" Mini flailed her arm out of Wash's reach, "And you should at least let me clean it first, after using it."
"Just give it!" Wash growled, jumping up yet again. Mini leaned away from him, taking a step back, and her heel hit the edge of the table. It slipped, and she leaned even further back, trying to regain her balance. Suddenly, her other foot skidded out, and she was toppling over backwards.
She seemed to hang in the air for what felt like a solid hour before she made contact with something metal, and the fall abruptly stopped as something caught her. She gazed up, and found Hawaii staring back down at her, fully armoured, before the soldier abruptly yet gently dropped her to the floor. Mini placed one hand over the cup's lid to make sure it didn't spill in the process, before instinctively placing it inside a holster on her hip that was usually meant for guns.
Mini sighed, "Am I the only one out of armour right now?" She grumbled quietly. Hawaii stared down at her, unreplying, and she squinted up at her, "Uh… thanks?"
"Stop acting like a child." Hawaii said at last, "You're a soldier." She extended one hand, and Mini accepted it, hauling herself to her feet.
"Nah, I'd rather not." Mini replied, chuckling.
"Besides," Cali piped up, "It's basically impossible for Mini to act mature. She'd die before then."
"Hey!" Mini put one finger up, "I'd die before giving up flirting. I'm pretty good at acting mature! I think."
"And what, pray tell, is going on in here?"
Mini whirled around at the sound of the Counsellor's voice, watching Cali and Wash do the same. Hawaii didn't move, but her head whipped sideways, and she seemed to be staring down the Counsellor.
"My team is on break." Hawaii spoke up before anyone else could, startling Mini, who noticed Wash wincing at those words. Did it have to do with the leaderboard shuffle from yesterday?
"And?" The Counsellor asked drily, his hands shifting behind his back.
"What they do with their time is entirely up to them." Hawaii took a single step forward, her body rotating robotically so she was almost fronting on the Counsellor.
"That does not explain the racket they were making." He snapped, backing up a step.
"The fuck? Yes it does!" Cali snapped back, "We're on break. We can do what we want. And that includes making a lot of noise!"
Hawaii walked right up to him, until she was barely a foot away, "Do you have a problem with that?"
The Counsellor didn't reply, just shot her a disgusted look before walking away.
"Well that solves that problem." Wash piped up, shrugging.
"Yep!" Mini bounced back over to Hawaii's side, looking up at her. She had to crane her neck all the way. The armour they all wore added a solid six inches to everyone's height, give or take a few. Hawaii almost towered over her. "You're really tall, you know that?" Turning around to gaze down at her, Hawaii took another step, and the back of her head promptly collided softly with the top of the doorway to the cafeteria.
"Hawaii? Tall? No." Cali drawled, "I had no idea!"
"Wait, really?" Mini asked him, putting as much innocence into her voice as possible, "Are you blind?"
Cali's head fell onto the table he was sitting at, resulting in a clanging noise. "I give up," He grumbled, raising his head before letting it fall again.
"Careful," Wash warned, "You probably don't want to hit your head too many times."
Cali straightened, flinging one arm towards Hawaii, "Why are you telling this to me, and not, you know, the tall one? Who can't fit through doorways?"
Hawaii only took three steps to reach Cali, before swatting him upside the back of the head.
"Fucking really!" Cali twisted towards her. Mini giggled as Hawaii shrugged in response.
"I'm going to train. Take the morning off." Hawaii said, "But get your weapons ready tonight."
"You still want an English lesson tonight?" Cali asked.
Hawaii looked back at him, nodded, and left.
Mini snickered. "She hit you on the back of the head, and walked away. You've grown soft, Cali."
"Fuck that! Talk shit, get hit, shortie." Cali retorted.
Mini nodded dramatically, "Uh uh, suuuuuuuuure. If we're following those terms, then does that mean I get a kiss every time I flirt with you?"
"I swear to god, I will kill you here and now if you don't shut up." Cali growled, sighing.
"Suuuuuuuuuuuure." Mini repeated, grabbing the cup and taking another sip from the straw. The iron-y liquid slid down her throat, and she sighed happily, before freezing when she saw Cali staring at her with a Hawaii-level stillness.
"Why do I smell blood?" Cali asked, still staring at her.
"Really?" Wash joined in suddenly, gazing around, "I can't smell anything." He sounded confused, and Mini knew why. In the army, the smell of blood was never a good thing.
"Ummm…" Mini took a step back. Did Cali know? "...I'll be right back, I need to rinse this cup out for Washy. Check your wound, Cali, it might have started bleeding again."
"Okay. But I doubt it." Cali muttered, still staring right at her as Mini jogged to the kitchen area, disappearing around a corner with a sigh of relief as she took another sip from the cup. That had been a close call.