Work Text:
The ever-oppressive scent of antiseptic was fucking with Anna's senses in ways she had not previously considered possible. It was like sticking your nose into the blended result of a bottle of hand sanitizer (plastic included) mixed with a melted glue-stick- or that was just the concussion talking. The concussion that was starting to sound annoyingly like Celina's voice, which just made Anna start to get angry again. The scent mixed with the overhead flickering lights that were starting to drive a nail made of light right into her frontal lobe, an on again off again headache that was exasperated whenever the dull humming sound got particularly intense, the sensation like licking an active bug zapper.
(She'd done that once on a dare, come to think of it)
Maybe her head was also ringing from how loud Celina had been in their recent (and likely last) phone call. She couldn't discount it, Celina had been practically screaming down the phone at her. Anna didn't know Celina had a dog because it sounded like a poodle was whimpering in the background- or maybe that was her weird roommate, Denji or Donald or something; wait, Dennis, that was it.
"Why did you ram my fucking house? I don't even live there anymore! What if you'd hurt my dad?!"
"I didn't think you liked Barret," Anna had mumbled.
"It's the PRINCIPLE OF THE FUCKING MATTER, ANNA."
Had Anna been entirely reasonable in taking the breakup poorly? A little. Did that reasonable verdict apply for when she decided to ram her sedan into the front of Celina's house? Probably not, but her little Gustav Max had made a mockery of Barrett's garage door. Had Anna forgotten that Celina was now living in a co-ed dorm? Perhaps. Did she regret ramming the house with her car? Ask her when the concussion wasn't influencing her decision.
It wasn't a severe one, at least. When Anna had gotten into the hospital, a nurse had taken a quick look at her before deciding she'd be fine to wait a bit before a doctor could give her a thorough look. Anna just hoped they didn't charge by the hour, and that she'd be on the way soon- she didn't want to have to call in sick tomorrow, or else who would bully Syrus?
So there she was, legs spread out as she counted ceiling tiles to the rhythm of the drum beat that was her headache. She'd lost count at the two-hundred mark three times and was about to punch some more holes in the ceiling to even out her count when an elevator door pinged open.
Odd. This waiting room was pretty quiet for 8pm. Anna was the only person left here now besides the nurse attendant. It meant she looked over at a girl with blue hair and the most piercing red-pink eyes Anna had seen in a while limping out of an elevator, a phone to her ear while she juggled a bag, a pair of tinted glasses, and a crutch.
"… What do you mean the country club is open late tonight so you're gonna be late?" The girl glared at her phone as she managed to slip on her glasses. "No, I don't really care that some fancy tournament's being held and they got some Vegas magician to do a show. You said you'd pick me up on time, Reginald. What am I gonna do now?" She paused. "No, Dumon isn't free! He's on a date, because when he offered to pick me up at this time, you said I'd be fine getting home because you'd be free, so he made plans to see his girlfriend- no, it doesn't matter that you don't think he has a girlfriend, he already made plans either way! And besides, you've met Paula!"
Anna watched in rapt fascination at what her concussed brain was (rather hastily) referring to the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen in her life. Her eyes on instinct caught a moment when the girl's sleeves rode up to show thin, pale scar tissue that raced up her arms towards her neck and the side of her face. The off-shoulder cardigan she was wearing let Anna see them snake up her collar, where they were much more apparent on the right side. She muttered a few foul words down the phone before hanging up, taking a second to just turn around, plant her head against the wall, and let out a tired groan of exasperation before she took out her phone again and started messaging someone.
Anna looked around again, seeing that it was just the two of them in the room- even the nurse in attendance had popped out at that moment. She cleared her throat. "Are you OK?" She asked.
The girl jumped, turning towards the corner Anna was in that she'd overlooked. "Jesus-" she hissed before catching herself. "Shit, sorry, didn't see you there. Uh, what'd you say?"
"Are you OK?" Anna repeated.
"Oh, I'm just peachy." The girl stepped closer, putting a hand on her hip as she sized up Anna with a wry smirk. "Nothing like a sibling to help you snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
"I wouldn't know, I'm an only child." Well, there was Allen, but she'd been on the way out of the foster system right as he got in, so that didn't super count. At least she'd gotten him hooked on trains before she left.
"You're not missing much," the girl said, deadpan. "I'm Rio."
"Anna." Anna pat the chair beside her. "Would you like to sit?"
Rio made a show of looking around the empty waiting room. "Well, it's a very packed room tonight Anna, so I greatly appreciate the offer for companionship on this decidedly mediocre Tuesday." Rio sat down beside Anna, letting out a quiet sigh of relief as she took pressure off her legs. She looked up at the overhead lighting, frowning. "Do you think they deliberately pick crappy lights in hospitals to piss you off?"
"I kinda figured given the general state of the healthcare system, it's more there to punish the staff more than the patients." Anna replied thoughtfully.
"Oh true." Rio nodded. "I hadn't considered that." She caught Anna's eye. "Alright, you wanna ask about them?" She waved her arm in front of Anna's face, making Anna look at the scars properly for the first time.
"I mean, if you're cool answering." Anna replied diplomatically. She'd been better about trying to avoid vocally blundering into asking questions about scars after one time seeing a jagged patch of skin on her boss's stomach while he was taking off his work uniform. Yusei had laughed it off, but she got the hint with how quiet he'd been for the next hour or two afterwards.
Rio shrugged. "Not like they'll get worse," she replied casually.
"Then sure, mystery girl, what's your story?"
"Ooh, mystery girl," Rio chuckled, "that's fun." She paused and took a breath. "So not to out myself as terminally online, but are you familiar with a streamer called 'GimmickQuattro?'"
Anna blinked in confusion. The only Youtubers she was familiar with were the ones she was subscribed to (mainly war documentary channels and train fans) and the occasional Let's Player Syrus would watch during quiet hours at work. "Is that like, uh, one of those variety channels?" She eventually asked. "Like a prankster?"
"I'll take that as a no, and please keep it that way. He's… a character." Rio sighed. "He hosted this party once in an old warehouse just out of town, my brother got an invite because… you know I don't actually know, so I'm gonna throw him under the bus and say I think they had a dogshit Grindr hookup or something, my brother's that kind of idiot. Anyway, Quattro gets some pyrotechnics, but he was, like, 20 at the time and a dropout, so he's convinced he can do it himself and set up this whole party, and there's booze and…" Rio paused as she looked for the words.
"I'm guessing the place blew up?" Anna asked.
"Kaboom." Rio said in agreement, pantomiming an explosion. "Whole place goes up in flames, someone had spilled a drink on my arm earlier that night, a few sparks from a crappy sound system erupt and…" She trailed off. "Well you can figure it out from there," she said after a moment's silence, her voice weary.
"Fuck." Anna said bluntly. "Anything happen to the guy?"
"His dad's like, super Fortune 500 levels of bullshit rich so it all went away pretty soon after." Rio shrugged. "I think one of his siblings went to space for fun, as an example of how loaded they are."
"Damn." Anna paused. "Do you need a hug?"
Rio hummed. "Maybe later. You look like you give nice hugs."
"Thanks." Anna considered her next sentence. Celina had never said if she gave good hugs. "For what it's worth, and you can punch me if this is something I'm not supposed to say, I think your scars look pretty cool."
"Aww." That got a real smile out of Rio. "Thank you. But yeah, I got some cool scars and a story about the horrors of Youtubers out of it, and a few months of physical therapy to look forward to. I'm lucky my doctor agreed to let me have an appointment so late, work wouldn't let me get out much earlier."
"That sucks. My boss would practically beg me to go to an appointment if I was in your shoes." Yusei was chill like that, nothing seemed to faze him.
"Let me know if they're hiring then," Rio joked. "How about you? What's your story?"
"Oh, I was in a car accident," Anna answered diplomatically. She couldn't let Rio know about the Celina side of the story, she needed to not fumble this woman or let Rio see that Anna was insane until she'd had a fair shot.
"Damn, you doing OK?" Rio looked over with concern.
"Oh I'm fine!" Anna waved her off. "Just a bit of a sore head so I figured I'd get it looked at. It's really nothing. Look, see, there's barely a lump!"
"I'll… take your word for it." Rio replied as Anna lifted her hair to show off the (not that small) lump. "So what happened? I told you my origin story, fair's fair."
Anna tried to come up with a lie, mentally pleading with her mouth to not say "I rammed my ex-girlfriend's garage door because she dumped me over text." Please, she pleaded with her brain, please put something good together, she needed this woman to not think she was too weird, she couldn't afford to fumble and live in a world much longer where Syrus had a girlfriend before her-
"I rammed my ex-girlfriend's garage door because she dumped me over text."
FUCK. Stupid brain! Anna resolved to find something that would give her a migraine as retaliation for her traitor brain's idiocy.
"Holy shit." Rio murmured in shock. "She dumped you over text?"
"Yeah." Anna looked down at her shoes at that. It started to finally settle in that, oh yeah, holy crap, Celina dumped me. Her own fault for not seeing the warning signs, she knew they were both a bit brash but she really thought it would work out. She'd even stopped going on as many tangents about trains after Celina asked her (and Anna had never said a word about when Celina got on one of her Warrior Cats rants!). She knew she was clingy, knew Celina had some stuff going on in her head due to a crappy childhood that she stomped on a bit because she could be a "tactless idiot" sometimes. She couldn't entirely blame Celina, but…
"Holy fuck, over text? What the hell!" Rio cried out, visibly furious as her voice rose with anger.
Yeah. That. Anna tried to laugh. "Sorry for killing the vibe-"
"Oh no, you're fine." Rio waved her off, looking genuinely heated. "Like, unless you're a goddamn axe murderer or you never take out the trash or something, there's no excuse for dumping someone over text!"
"She said I could get a bit clingy," Anna mumbled.
"Her fucking loss!" Rio cried out in anger, jumping when the attending nurse (oh hey they finally showed up) shushed her. "Sorry. But like, clingy is totally fine! I bet you give hella great hugs knowing that!"
"Yeah!" Anna got swept up in Rio's fury. "She never got that I liked to flop on her while we were sleeping."
"Holy shit-" Rio took a quick glance at Anna's arms before she looked away frantically, clearing her throat and muttering to herself. Anna could swear her neck had flushed red beneath her hair. Must have been something she ate. "I repeat," Rio said, forcing her tone to be level and calm, "her fucking loss."
"Yeah," Anna sighed before changing the subject, her brain was getting sad again. "So, you're out a ride?"
"Yep." Rio popped her lips, taking a few breaths to let out the rest of her temper.
Anna got up triumphantly. "Alright then, let's get you home!"
Rio, now calmed down, leaned back and smiled serenely at Anna. "Hey Anna."
"Yeah?"
"How'd you get hospitalised again?"
"I uh..." Anna paused. "Oh yeah I did ram my car into someone's house."
"So how were you gonna take me home?"
"..." Anna sat back down. "I may need to be checked for that concussion after all."
Rio chuckled at that while Anna started turning the same shade of red as her hair. They fell into an amicable silence as Anna snickered from her enthusiasm, Rio rolling her eyes fondly as her flush receded. She looked down at her phone, eyes widening in surprise as she got a message. "Oh Tori, you fucking saint, I'm gonna kiss you." She looked over at Anna staring in confusion. "My friend's gonna pick me up because my brother flaked on me."
"Oh." Anna nodded. Damnit, she already had a girlfriend. "Lucky girl?"
"Oh, we're just friends. She's like… kinda seeing one of my other friends? At least she will be if Alito pulls his head out of his ass." Rio paused. "And if she ever gets that stick out of hers, I love her but damn she's so high-strung sometimes. You know how it is with cheerleaders."
"Oh!" Thank the fucking lord, Anna still had a chance. "No Mr or Mrs Rio to pick you up, then?"
"Nope. Not really been looking with my major kicking my ass. Not exactly a lot of people looking for a gelato store clerk."
"You work in a gelato store?" Anna leaned forward. "Does that mean you get free ice-cream after your shift?"
Rio laughed. "No, sadly. Well," she leaned forward conspiratorially with a jaunty wink, "I get it if I can get away with sneaking it out without getting caught. What about you?"
Anna puffed up her chest. "You're looking at the best front-desk staff member in Stardust Auto Body and Repair Shop, I'll have you know! Well, Syrus is alright, but I'm cooler!"
"I'm sure you are," Rio giggled politely. "Well if anyone I know has car troubles, I'll send them your way."
Anna mentally jumped for joy. If she did get an actual honest to God referral, that'd look hella sick on her "list of reasons why I deserve a raise" email that she was drafting to send to Yusei.
The door to the waiting room opened, a young woman with green hair in a undercut looking around before lighting up at the sight of Rio. "Hey!" She called out.
"Well, that's my queue." Rio got up and paused for a moment. "I like your jacket, by the way," She said after a moment's silence.
"Oh." Anna blinked slowly. "Thanks."
"It's like you've got your heart on your tits." Rio giggled.
Anna looked down awkwardly at her jacket. "Oh shit, it does," she muttered before giggling as well. "Well, you know, sleeveless jacket, so can't have my heart on my sleeve, you know?"
"Rad. That's wise." Rio nodded, chuckling. "Well, been fun, hope you're not waiting much longer to get your brain checked out. See ya around!"
"Likewise!" Anna shot Rio a grin as she walked out with Tori, her brain briefly smashing a few braincells together to realize in horror while she watched the doors close.
She forgot to get Rio's number, fuck. Anna spent the next few minutes stuck, alternating between leaping up and chasing after her or choosing to stew in what-could-have-beens when the door opened again, Tori rushing towards her while Rio chased her, embarrassed and trying to grab her.
"Tori, no, I told you that in confidence!" She wailed.
Tori paused in front of Anna, tossing Rio's freshly unlocked phone at her before nimbly dodging Rio's furious swings. "She wants your number but is too embarrassed to ask for it," she said smugly, "She was all 'oh I just want a girl to give me hugs and kiss me,' and I replied that 'do you think that just because you're a lesbian it makes that sentence any less pathetic,' and then she hit me on the arm and I stole her phone so here we go!" Tori's explanation grew in volume, breathlessness and laughter as she ducked across the chairs to avoid Rio.
"I'm going to kill you for this!" Rio growled, poorly hiding her blush as she chased Tori around the waiting room.
"Don't care, did it anyway," Tori replied over her shoulder, vaulting one of the chair rows with a natural grace that screamed "high-school cheerleader," while Anna, dumbstruck, took Rio's phone and entered her contact details, sending a text to her own phone. Tori darted over and snatched the phone again, laughing as she skipped out.
Rio skidded to a stop beside Anna. "I'll uh, talk to you later then," she said, trying to sound cool.
"Yeah! I'll text you after they check my brain. Maybe you can tell me more about your lame brother while we do that."
"I'd like that." Rio smiled earnestly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get my phone back. And maybe kill my friend, we'll see."
"Go get her!" Anna cheered as Rio took off. She looked down at her phone as she added Rio to her contacts list.
The overhead hospital lights still buzzed annoyingly and flickered in painful reverberations with Anna's head, it still felt a bit like being submerged in antiseptic, and Anna was doing her damnedest to avoid thinking too much about Celina, but for the first time since she rammed into that garage door, Anna… felt better.
Her phone vibrated.
From: Rio Kastle.
"Hey, sorry Tori's an ASSHOLE. I had fun though, thanks for keeping me company. Hit me up whenever you're free- you still owe me a hug, and I wanna see what your stupid ex gave up~"
Yeah. Things were looking up.