After the bath and much nicer activities in the water hole, Haruka finally disinfected and stitched up Michiru's injuries; she wasn't as good with this as other people she knew were, but Michiru reassured her that she had done well enough, after she had sat through the stitching with grit teeth and had the pain under control enough to examine them.
"It's gonna scar", Haruka told her as she wrapped the bandage around her arm, "but hey, if it makes you feel better, you've been on Pandora longer without gaining any scars than anyone I know."
"Not really, no", Michiru gave back, giving her best to hold still as Haruka knotted the bandage, "but I imagine gaining scars is part of being a vault hunter. Now I'll have an exciting story to tell once I get back home."
She realized her blunder the moment the words had left her mouth; so far, neither Haruka nor she had openly acknowledged that sooner or later, she would return to her home planet, and they hadn't spoken about what they would do then, if they'd just part ways or find another solution, and now here she was, dragging this painful topic out into the open, and just after they had been intimate with each other, too.
"I guess so, yeah", Haruka gave back, her voice so neutral that Michiru immediately could tell it took an effort to keep it that way; and immediately, she wanted to apologize, but couldn't find the right words, only able to give the blonde a helpless look, a bit relieved when the taller woman smiled at her in response.
"I'll go see if there's anything useful around here", she then stated, finishing with the bandage and coming to her feet, shaking her head when Michiru offered to help.
"You stay right where you are", she told her, "I've had wounds stitched before, and, trust me on this, if you get up too quickly after it's done, you're gonna get dizzy and might faint."
"Oh", Michiru gave back, not all too smart, but figuring that Haruka knew what she was talking about – she had seen the scars after all when they had made love, and knew how many of them had been stitched up, just another indication for how dangerous it was to live on Pandora.
Take her with you, she thought to herself, not quite sure where that thought had come from, take her away from all of this and take her home with you.
For a second, the thought seemed lovely, almost made her smile; then, she thought of how out of place Haruka would be and surely also feel on her home world, and of all the things the blonde would have to leave behind, her home and her friends and a life which was simple and dangerous, but one she clearly was comfortable with, and the urge to smile was gone as she realized how unfair it would be to the blonde to take her away from all this, to a planet she didn't know, with people who wouldn't approve of her.
She almost grimaced at the thought of Haruka meeting her parents; they might have gone bankrupt, but they still had the mannerism and behaviour of rich people, and she didn't want to imagine how they might react to someone like Haruka, the condescending tone they surely would take on and the way they would look at her.
They'd never realize what a good person she is, she thought to herself, watching how Haruka moved through the abandoned, crudely built huts and tents, finding, to her relief, quite a bit of stuff they could use; by the time she returned to where the sniper was sitting, she was carrying several boxes of ammunition, canned food and bottled water, and from the way she was smirking in satisfaction, Michiru figured that this wasn't all she had found.
"Good news", she stated, confirming this assumption, "I found a motorbike in one of the sheds. I didn't test it, but it looks good, so it should at least take us as far as to the Coast, and there, we should be able to find some other ride, as far as I know, there's a town there."
Michiru doubted that the people of said town would give them a ride without payment, but she figured that they could worry about this once they got there; for the moment, she just was glad that they didn't need to walk, the fact that she'd get to sit right behind Haruka and would have to hold on tight to her only an added bonus.
"I'll check it properly after we ate", Haruka told her, sitting down next to her and piling her findings on the ground in front of them, "then I'd say we spend the night here and continue tomorrow?"
The sniper nodded her agreement, then checked the food Haruka had found; to her surprise and delight, there was enough of a selection for a proper dinner, and soon, after Haruka had built a fire for them to heat the food, they were ready to eat, Michiru smiling to herself as she wondered what the people from her home planet would say to this dinner of meat and beans, all of them used to a much more refined cuisine.
After the excitement of the day though, she figured she would have wolfed down anything, even skag; and it tasted surprisingly good, the meat well spiced and the beans firm to the bite, the two of them washing the food down with lukewarm water from the bottles Haruka had found.
"There's beds in a few of those huts", Haruka told her between forkfuls of food, "if you don't mind the idea of sleeping in a bed a bandit used before, we can use one of those tonight instead of the tent."
"We'll just find the cleanest one", Michiru replied, earning a low chuckle which made her smile, as well, "while I do enjoy sharing a tent with you, I'm quite taken by the idea of sleeping in a bed again. It's so much more… comfortable."
She reached out with one hand and placed it on Haruka's upper leg at the last word, making her smirk slightly; smiling back at her, Michiru leaned in for a brief kiss, then focused on her dinner again, her plate emptied not long afterwards, and despite her wounds still paining her, she felt quite content, telling herself that she could have ended up much worse on this dump of a planet than with her belly full and a companion like Haruka by her side.
"How's your arm", Haruka distracted her from those ponderings; she shrugged, briefly glancing at the bandage before she looked at the blonde again, managing another smile despite the throbbing the shrug had caused in her arm.
"Hurts a bit", she then let her know, briefly wondering again if Haruka knew how much it meant that she admitted this to her – one of the first things she had been taught was that she never could show weakness to anyone, and yet here she was, admitting that she was in pain, and not feeling the slightest bit regretful about it.
"Pity we don't have any painkillers", Haruka told her, frowning at her arm, as if looking at it with enough dismay would make the pain less, "but if we find some spike pods, I can make a tea from them, that at least numbs the pain. Minako always made that tea for me whenever I got hurt."
"Does it make one woozy, like regular painkillers?" Michiru wanted to know, not liking the thought of that, "because that'd be a bad thing, especially for a sniper."
"It doesn't", Haruka reassured her, "it just numbs the pain a bit. So if we find any, it'll be better than nothing?"
"Sure", Michiru agreed after a moment, smiling at her as she moved closer to her, her smile widening when immediately, the taller woman put both arms around her, pulling her even closer for some snuggles, "you know, I'm really quite glad that I agreed when you offered to help me."
"I hope my vast knowledge about this planet isn't the only reason you're glad", Haruka smirked, raising an eyebrow at the sniper's reply.
"No, no", Michiru reassured her, a hint of mischief making her eyes twinkle, "your skill with the machine gun is another thing I value. Oh, and your driving skill, too, of course."
"Thank you", Haruka dryly gave back, earning a giggle from the sniper before she leaned in for another kiss, the mischief gone from her voice when she replied, replaced by warmth which sent a pleasant shiver up and down the taller woman's spine.
"And there are other things I value about you", she let her know, reaching up with her good arm so she could rub the back of Haruka's neck, knowing the blonde liked it when she caressed the soft, fine hair there, "but since a lady isn't supposed to kiss and tell, I can't really say those out loud, you know."
"I don't think that applies when you're telling to the one you're kissing", Haruka pointed out; Michiru just smiled coyly in reply, then kissed her once more, suggesting that they should look for the cleanest bed afterwards, giggling at the way Haruka immediately nodded, with such enthusiasm that she feared for a moment the taller woman might give herself whiplash.
Figuring that by now, it would be safe to get up, Michiru came to her feet, prompting Haruka to do the same; she grasped her hand, then they headed off to the nearest hut together, both hoping that they'd find a clean bed quickly, eager to have some more quality time together before their journey would continue in the next day.
Before they got moving in the next morning, Haruka checked the motorbike she had found thoroughly; and Michiru had to admit that she quite enjoyed watching her do so, her gaze fixed on the blonde's lean forearms as she worked on the bike, having rolled up the sleeves of her shirt to not get it dirty and giving her quite the good view.
Sternly, she reminded herself that they had to get on the road again once Haruka would be satisfied with the bike, and that they couldn't afford to delay their journey even further; still, watching how the blonde worked on the bike with concentration, but ease, the sinews moving visibly in her arms, she felt a familiar tingle in her stomach and a bit farther south, finally forcing herself to look away before it could get any worse and she might end up with irresistible urge to jump her companion.
Figuring that she had to keep herself busy somehow, as well, while Haruka was working on the bike, Michiru decided that it couldn't hurt to check on her weapons; the movements were so familiar that she could perform them in her sleep, but distracted her sufficiently, even though they brought up pain in her injured arm, something she ignored the best she could.
"The bike looks good", Haruka's voice distracted her from her task quite some time later, "it might not only take us to the Coast, but back to Fyrestone afterwards, as well. Whoever owned it, apparently, they took good care of it."
"So we won't have to worry that it will fall apart beneath us?" Michiru smirked, earning a low snort from the blonde while she cleaned her hands, then, to the sniper's dismay, rolled her sleeves back down, "that is a reassuring thought."
Haruka just smirked in response, then asked if she was ready to go; nodding, Michiru holstered her weapons, then came to her feet, deciding that she'd trust the blonde about the state of the motorbike as they packed up the few supplies they still had left, smiling to herself as she thought about how much of the trust she had in Haruka this displayed yet again.
It didn't take them long to stow the few supplies they had on the bike, Haruka checking twice to make sure nothing could fall off once they'd be driving; then, she got onto the vehicle and started the engine, Michiru waiting until it was running smoothly before she climbed on, as well, wrapping both arms around the blonde's waist.
"Hold on tight", Haruka told her, raising her voice a bit since the engine was quite loud; Michiru reassured her that she would, mindful of her injuries as she tightened her hold on the taller woman, still briefly squeezing her eyes shut though when Haruka started driving, the fact that now, she was on a motorbike and not in the bulky car anymore clearly being no incentive for her to drive slow.
The fact that the road wasn't exactly well-maintained didn't help much either; and when Haruka sped up even further once they had left the perimeter of the camp, Michiru almost was tempted to stop her and tell her that they could walk, grimacing to herself as she held on tight to her, hoping with fervour that they would find another piece of the vault key soon, just to make sure that she wasn't suffering through all of this for nothing.