'You need to get laid.' Squatting, he loomed over her, pointing his silver fingers at her, holding an engrammed cigarette.
"You need to stop thinking for me. I don't need sex, I don't need a partner, no joytoys for me."
'Fine, you need some fun.'
"I am having fun, can't you see?" Her expression wouldn't give it away, but it did make her feel good.
Johnny chuckled,
'Yoga? In a 40+ Celsius room with over 40% humidity? Do you hate yourself or are you a masochist? What's this position called anyway? 'Half Twisted Corpse', or 'Street Pizza From The 7th Floor'?'
"This asana is called the Supine Spinal Twist."
'Doesn't sound very Indian to me.'
"Supta matsyendrasana. Happy now?"
'I regret sating my curiosity. Laying on the ground in a puddle of your own sweat, instead of someone else's? Tsk, tsk, V. Just saying, your sense of fun is a bit fucked if you ask me.'
"Didn't ask, but I also enjoy shooting bad gonks in the groin, doing street fights, and swimming in Eddies. If that's fucked, consider me satisfied." There was only one expression more pleased than hers merely thinking of doing any one of those activities, the one she has when actually doing them.
'There's so much more to life though,' he took a drag of his infinite cigarette.
"Says the digital echo of a depressed terrorist rebel rockstar who died in vain, and I swear to god, if you possess my body one more time to satisfy yourself without my permission? I will rip you out of my skull. No doubt."
He leaned in to whisper,
'You sure about that, samurai? So many things you haven't done yet, so many people.'
"None of them interested in me, thank you very much, even with you and the Relic stabilized instead of killing me slowly. And that's fine, I don't need anyone." There was no lie or hiding feelings in what she said, perhaps just a hint of bitterness. She changed the position to its mirrored version, facing away from her brain-mate. Sadly he apparated in front of her on that side just as easily, laying on the ground more akin to an actual corpse, staring relentlessly into her Kiroshis,
'But you want someone, you want him, to burst through your door and-'
"Johnny! What did I say about reading my fantasies?!" It wasn't anger, they'd gotten past that ages ago, it was embarrassment. She didn't need to hear the things she already felt ashamed of.
The echo retreated to her window, dis- and reappearing effortlessly,
'Don't do it out loud…'
"And?"
'It's called fantasy for a reason.'
"Thank you. Jesus fucking Christ." V pursed her eyes in annoyance.
'Then you're probably not gonna like this.' Johnny snapped his silver fingers as an audio-visual cue, eager to see her response as she figured out for what it was. Her eyes flew open again,
"This? What is the 'this' you speak of, Johnny?" She'd wanted to end her yoga session, get dressed, just in case but also tired of his shenanigans. However V instantly panicked, engaging a semi rage as she realized she couldn't bend any cyberware joint in her body. Which were most of her joints.
"Johnny, unlock my servos, right. The fuck. Now."
Her nostrils flared as she breathed, still attempting movement, he pretended to think.
'Hmm, nah, not yet anyway. Consider it a birthday surprise, I mean, you're already wearing your birthday suit. Just, don't panic?' His shit eating grin begged to be punched off his lips, and she would if she could. Oooh, with pleasure even.
"It's too late for not panicking, John. What did you do?" she uttered through increasingly clenched teeth, trying desperately to move.
'Well, you were feeling a bit sick, right? Under the weather?'
She recalled him invading her annual birthday blues morning realization dip, cursed to herself. He crossed his arms before shrugging his shoulders,
'So, I arranged a housecall.'
"You what?!" her rage peaked.
'Well, not so much a housecall as dialing the poor man's Trauma Team…' she mulled his words, the rage turned flaccid and devolved into distilled anxiety. The only thing she could still control freely were her eyelids, to her relief, and clenched them violently.
"Oh god.. Oh geez… Vik?! Oh no..."
'Oh yes…'
The moment he saw the caller's ID he was no longer invested in the boxing match, on his tv. He opened the call on his phone, it seemed to be video only, no audio...
"Yo V, sup? You okay?"
There was some slight static, but no words from her,
"V? Talk to me, girl. What's going on?"
He studied the feed better, realized it was footage from her point of view, and that what he saw was her outstretched arm in front of her. V was laying on the ground, unmoving. Part of him hoped this was a sick prank, but he knew this was not V's style. He practically jumped off his seat, hands itching, feet twitching, not entirely sure what to do besides going there.
When he heard a semi familiar voice from the call it clicked for him, he sped to action, gathering anything he could need in his old boxing gear bag. Vik had never made a housecall before, but he was willing to make an exception in this case, he locked the clinic door and sprinted to the nearby fast travel station like a madman.
"She needs you Doc, better hurry up."
"Fuckshitcrap, not like this! Oh I can't breathe…"
'What are you worried about, V? He's a doctor, guy knows what the female body looks like. And if I recall correctly, he's specifically seen yours rather… intimately. What with all the work you've had done by him? Not to mention that time you got your titty sliced by that cyberpsycho with the mantis blade. You needed like 30 stitches, haha, good times.' If Johnny's eyes could well up tears, he'd finger one away from the corner to spite her.
V recalled that night almost eidetically, 4 fucking hours of reconstructive mammary, rib cage, and chest bone surgery. 4 goddamn hours of Vik holding that breast and occasionally the other, to compare them, making sure the sliced one wouldn't sag or fall apart, and was put back together nicely. All with V conscious because NC refuses to license Ripperdocs to use full anesthetics.
Whenever he looked at her or them it was with determination, a professional stare that had concentration written all over his frowning face. It was worth it though, because in the end it looked much better than the one she grew herself. Something which only added to her already humongous mound of embarrassment.
"It's different, okay?! Getting injured in combat, and dropped at his shop is not the same as him storming into my home while I'm-! I'm… Gah!"
She had been trying to fight the locked servos once more, it was hearing them whine and creak that stopped her though, knowing they could break at that point. Would put her out of play even longer, not to mention the Eddies it would cost, and the extra time Vik would get to work on her body.
The pain at this point didn't yet matter.
'You're vulnerable, I get it, a different kind than the one you're used to, comfortable with. Because for once you didn't cause this yourself. I really do get it, however,'
He pretended to think on his words again,
'suck it, princess. You've been doing shit on your own for so fucking long now, it's time you face the music and realize that life is a concert. Way more fun when you have other people present. Like your friends,'
He vanished, but that didn't keep her from hearing him,
'Or lovers.'
"What if he doesn't want me as a lover and I lose him as a friend?!"
A few tears escaped her still closed eyes, rolled onto the mat she was laying on. There the drops blended in with her sweat, to be forgotten and never noticed by others.
'Then he's a fool and his dumb ass wouldn't deserve you.'
V figured he had a point, to her surprise his words helped her tears and sadness subside somewhat. They also piqued her curiosity though,
"Why you being so cool and nice to me lately?"
'Realized we're not too different, going to be stuck together for a while, might as well try and help make it pleasant for you.'
"Oh, that's sweet, Johnny." She opened her eyes a tad.
'Last thing I want is to be stuck listening to you whining on about how shit everything is, how boring as fuck life has gotten, how being single is-'
"And there we have it, ladies and gentlemen." she sighed in about 60% irritation, once again shutting her eyes,
"You're seriously gonna ruin my fantasy by realizing it, you do understand that, right? This is gonna go horribly wrong, I'm already too embarrassed to admit I do yoga, let alone even have this fantasy..."
'Quit your rambling. If you just go along with it like a good bad-girl, you might just get an encore as well. Heh, speaking of, brace yourself, he's getting close,'
"Ooh god, I'm so sorry for this, Vik…" Immense shame and guilt enveloped her completely, quietly whimpering, she awaited her knight in shining Trauma Team jeans.
'Get ready,'
