Arknights | Best Laid Plans

[veryroundbird]

Rating: Mild
Words: 876
Characters: Folinic, Mudrock
Relationships: Folinic/Mudrock
Summary: Louisa intends to take Mudrock out on the perfect date, now that they have time and opportunity; however, life has other plans.
Notes: 2021 Pride Month request!

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Rhodes Island being docked in Columbia is a good opportunity—there's only so many things one can do aboard Rhodes Island to make a day special, and even if the routine Louisa and Mudrock have settled into is comfortable, Louisa has always endeavored to do everything with excellence.

Of course, the real problem is that even if she's better-socialized than her girlfriend, it's not as if she's had a lot of opportunities to go on dates, living largely in hiding and then going directly into combat training. "I've researched the options for dates in this city," she says, waving a sheaf of printouts from her personal computer. "After careful consideration, I think this is the ideal itinerary."

"Oh..." says Mudrock, taking it from her hands, and leaning in to read it properly. "Are you sure... I can go to places like these?"

Louisa purses her lips, but nods. "I thought—since we're in Columbia, their laws are relatively relaxed, around the Infected. It's no Ursus." She practically spits the last word as she says it. "And if we run into any problems, I think I can ask for a diplomatic pass... but I think it should be quiet." She sits down on the bench, beside, and puts her hand on Mudrock's shoulder. "I know I spend most of my time working. But I'd like to do this properly, too."

Mudrock nods, slowly, looking thoughtful; she keeps flipping through the pages slowly. Her reading skills are a little behind for an adult, though Louisa's been helping her with it, but this time Louisa's pretty sure she's just being thorough. "I see," she says, finally. "Is there anything special I need to do?"

"Just be there," says Louisa, and then thinks again. "Actually, though—we might need to get you something to wear for it."

---

It takes a little bit before Orchid stops dressing Mudrock up in slinky little numbers that Louisa's really quite a fan of and starts getting more toward what Mudrock actually looks more comfortable in—minimalist and high-necked, paired with flats rather than heels. Louisa can't help but be a little disappointed, but considering the way Mudrock nervously sticks close to her side when they leave the landship, it's probably for the best.

...she always forgets that Mudrock is actually shorter than her, but out of her element, there's a certain overall smallness to her. But still—even seeing her dressed a little more casually, curtain of long white hair pulled back into a simple ponytail, a little flush to her cheeks. Perhaps she's a little eager to fit her arm around Mudrock's waist; Mudrock looks a little flustered, but doesn't tug away.

Mudrock practically vanishes behind her as Louisa gets into an argument with the jazz club's doorman, though, who asks for their IDs and refuses to accept their Rhodes Island badges. Of course she has a government-issued ID (out of date, from Ursus), but Mudrock has never had one, and of course Columbia has an actual drinking age that they enforce. (Which she respects, because alcohol is vile, but it's not as if she's going to drink.)

"It seemed like it was... crowded, anyway," says Mudrock quietly from her side, as Louisa stomps away. "We can retreat and go elsewhere. Can we not?"

"And it smelled of smoke—awful!" Louisa kicks the edge of curb with her heel, which makes an awful crack. "Ah—damn!"

The heel's broken, cracked halfway through the slender stem; Louisa sullenly takes her other heel off as she flops down onto the curbside. Mudrock shifts awkwardly on her feet, hands clasped in front of her waist—and then silently goes to sit next to Louisa on the curb.

Louisa turns her face away; she can see Mudrock flinch, slightly, out of the corner of her eye, and feels awful. "Sorry," she murmurs. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. And now I don't have shoes."

"I don't mind," Mudrock says, quietly, arms hugging her knees. "Already... seeing a new place, alongside a comrade, in peace..." She shakes her head, lightly. "There are already plenty of good things."

"Well..." Louisa leans lightly against her shoulder. "We can't really go anywhere else, though, now. I'll have to walk back to the landship barefoot."

"Eh..." Mudrock turns her head to look at her, tilts her head slightly, and then with no further preamble, scoops her up in a princess carry, one arm behind her back, one under her knees. "For this, I think I know what to do."

Louisa can feel herself flush bright pink, ears twitching, but—she really is the luckiest woman, isn't she. "We don't have to go back quite yet," she hedges. "Maybe... if you like, I think this city's supposed to have some very lovely parks."

Mudrock blinks, and then her face eases into a smile. "New earth and stone rather than old... but I think that kind of environment suits me better than anywhere else on a mobile city," she says. "I... would enjoy that. Please, then: show me the way."

And for once, Louisa, whose life runs all according to plan from before dawn until dusk, has to think: maybe sometimes even the best laid plans don't account for the actual best possibilities.