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It was late into the evening when the first sharp crackling of thunder echoed throughout the watchpoint, signaling what was to be the beginning to a month of on and off thunderstorms. Once a year the Gibraltar base encounters a rainy season in which it rains so much the sea level probably increases by a few inches. Generally, the season was most certainly the least favorite for our favorite blonde doctor. The fact that the base sat at the top of a cliff near the sea didn’t help matters, either. Their high altitude and vicinity to the raging waters only seemed to make the storm worse.
Angela sighs into her paperwork after her involuntary shudder at the loud rumbling. Angela Ziegler was not a fan of thunderstorms. She didn’t like to come out and admit that she feared them (because she didn't), but a handful of people around base knew they at least unnerved her to a point. There was just something about them really threw her off her game.
It was because of the sudden storm that she found herself suddenly struggling to finish up her work. The whistling sounds of the blowing winds and the harsh pelting of rain against her window combined with the occasional boom of thunder was making it hard to focus. She sighs again but this time it evolves into an annoyed groan as she leans back in her chair as far as she could without losing her balance. Another stroke of lightning flashes through the window and she prepares herself for the following thunder, surprised instead to hear a knocking on her door. The pattern of the knock was familiar enough that she already knew who it was, smiling as she leaned her head back further to watch the door open, an upside down view of Fareeha walking into the room greeting her.
In her actions she forgot about the impending thunder which would come to catch her by surprise in that moment. The loud cackling sound whips through the room, throwing her off balance. The feeling of falling backwards as her chair tipped back took her by even more surprise, and she made frantic moves to sit up and catch herself before she could fall over.
Crisis averted. But, the whole ordeal wasn't missed by her guest. Fareeha's stifled laughter mixing in so well with the sound of the rain. Regardless of the odd aesthetic Angela sends her a glare as she swivels around in her seat to face her, which somehow doesn't come off as menacing as she wanted since she couldn't stop the smile from gracing her features.
“I'm not gonna say anything,” Fareeha says with her hands up in surrender.
“A wise decision on your part. What brings you here to my boring old lab tonight, Fareeha?”
As soon as she spoke the words she realized the paper bag the other woman was carrying, watching as she placed it on her desk and pulled out its contents: a metallic thermos and two paper cups.
“I made some hot chocolate and thought you'd like some.”
Angela smiled at the thoughtfulness, watching as Fareeha set up cups for them both and began to untwist the thermos cap. “Did you make it from scratch?”
“I did,” she replies proudly.
When she opened that cap the scent was indeed pleasant, bringing about a satisfied exhale from the doctor as she watched Fareeha pour some into their cups. Angela held hercup up to her face, taking more joy in the lovely smell of the warm beverage. It was a pleasant scent that reminded her of childhood. “Is it Swiss?”
Fareeha pulls up a nearby chair to sit next to Angela, turning it so it was backwards before taking a seat. Comfortable with leaning over the back of the chair and her cup of hot chocolate warm against her fingers. “As Swiss as an Egyptian could get it.”
“Fareeha…”
“Taste it,” she urged, holding her own cup to her lips. She waits for Angela to do the same, the both of them taking their first sip together. Angela's eyes widen a little in shock. It was good. Extremely good. She took a few more eager sips to relish the chocolateness of it. Before she knew it she had finished off her entire cup, looking down disappointedly at the white bottom signaling the end.
“Im taking it you liked it.”
“I love it,” came her all too eager reply. Fareeha gave a tooth flashing grin at her reply and Angela couldn't help the blush they painted her cheeks after she said it. She has to admit her smile was worth the comment though.
“I'm glad. I did use Swiss chocolate, too. You can have some more if you like.”
Fareeha's handing her the thermos before she can modestly decline despite actually wanting more. Angela poured herself another cup and decided she'd savor it better than she did the last when she caught Fareeha watching her from behind her own cup.
“So did you come by just to show how well you can make hot chocolate?” Angela teases after another sip.
“Actually, I came to show that I can make hot chocolate better than you.”
“Oh? Then why haven't you shown me yet?”
“Ha, good one.” They share a small laugh at Angela's savage comeback. “I just thought it would be nice to stop by. I'm sure the storm is messing with your nerves.”
Angela frowns at the mention of the storm and the fact that Fareeha knew about her minor anxiety in regards to the weather. Sure others knew about it but for some reason Fareeha knowing about it brought a heat to her face. Or maybe it was the fact that she knew and came out of her way to spend time with her because of it?
“No need to be embarrassed about it. Everyone has their fears,” Fareeha consoles her. And Angela wants to say something about how she isn't afraid of them (because she's not) but Fareeha continues to speak before she gets the chance. “When I was little my mother used to tell me there were Talon operatives hiding under my bed waiting to take me out in my sleep if I ever misbehaved.”
“What?” Angela gives her a questionable look only to receive a solemn nod in reply. They stare at each other for a bit, Angela in question and Fareeha in confirmation until eventually the blonde burst out into laughter. “Is this your way of trying to relate to my situation?”
“And if it is?”
Angela laughs to herself, her mind conjuring up thoughts of Widowmaker or Reaper trying to fit under the generic watchpoint beds which were barely even enough for two people. Some things just shouldn't be thought about…
“And are you still afraid of Talon hiding under your bed Fareeha?” she teases, because how could she not?
“Nope. The beds here are too small to accommodate anything more than a single Talon agent and I'm confident in my one-on-one skills.”
“You're ridiculous, you know that?”
“Maybe so, but I bet you didn't hear a single noise from outside my entire time here,” Fareeha smirks and crosses her arms over her chest because she's sure of the truth in her statement.
Angela opens her mouth to say something, but stops midway when she realizes the Fareeha is indeed right. A quick gaze to the window shows that it is indeed still storming cats and dogs outside, and now that she acknowledged it she could hear the raging winds and pounding of rainwater against the building. All sounds that literally didn't exist before it was brought to her attentions.
“You're right. How did you do that?”
“I just pulled your attention elsewhere.”
She said it like it was the simplest solution in the world. It made sense though, since it was. She had been so focused on Fareeha's damn good hot chocolate and the sound of her voice that she hadn't gave the storm a second thought.
Angela looks up from her muses to find Fareeha beaming happily at her.
“Thank you, Fareeha.”
It would turn out that Fareeha's method of distracting her from the storms didn't quite work without Fareeha herself. Angela would come to learn this during her week long streak of not enough sleep. She was even more surprised that it was possible to rain so heavily for five consecutive nights. If she hadn't known any better she'd say Mother Nature was straight up fucking with her. Either way, her lack of a good night's sleep is what found her stalking the halls on her way to get some coffee. Because if she couldn't get any sleep she might as well stay awake and be productive.
She's approaching the common room when she hears the loud noises coming from the television, no doubt from one of Hana's nightly gaming sessions. Naturally she heads in there to coax the younger girl into getting some rest (ironic since she's doing the exact opposite), but finds herself standing still in the doorway instead. Sitting on the floor in front of the sofa was both Hana and Lucio, the latter which looked absolutely exhausted but somehow still fully focused on the game they were playing.
Angela finds that her gaze leads her to the third occupant of the room, a certain tall woman sitting comfortably on the sofa. She didn't even know Fareeha played video games.
The three of them hadn't noticed her yet so she stood leaning on the doorframe watching the evolution of all their game faces. Their expressions made it clear as day that Hana was winning but from the looks of it Fareeha was close. It was confirmed by her triumphant shout and the audible groans from her two opponents.
Fareeha's groans mixed with the look of half disappointment half determination left her smiling like a dork in the doorway. It was an amusing sight. So amusing she couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her, giving away her position.
Fareeha turned first, greeting her with a smile that was a complete turnaround from her dejected look of defeat just a moment ago. A “Hey, Doc” and “What’s up, Doctor” come from both Hana and Lucio respectively before their attention is glued back to the tv, apparently starting another game without Fareeha.
“Hey, Angela what are you doing up during peak Hana hours?” She pats the space next to her on the sofa and Angela happily accepts the invitation. Angela chuckles and Hana glares at her attempt at humor.
“I should be asking you the same question, Fareeha.”
“Oh, well Hana and Lucio showed me this game they play and before I knew it it was already tomorrow,” she laughs. “I think I kinda understand her terrible sleeping patterns now.” Fareeha pauses as if waiting for an answer to her own question, but the sudden boom of thunder from outside and the almost unnoticeable shiver from the woman besides her gives her the answer she was looking for. “You can’t sleep because you’re afraid of the storm, can't you?”
Angela frowns at Fareeha’s shit eating grin. “I am not afraid.” She flicks her on the bicep to further emphasize her point. She doesn't miss how solid they felt, though, the tinges of warmth already creeping up on her face.
Fareeha hums in disbelief. “Says the one sitting awake during the wee hours of a new day when I could've sworn I saw you head to bed.”
“And from what stalker’s corner were you watching me from to know when I decided to go to bed?”
Apparently her teasing hit the correct spot judging from the slight tinge to Fareehas own cheeks and how she turned away from the blonde to stare at the controller on her lap. Angela, amused by the reaction, scoots a little closer to her to rub her shoulder reassuringly. “I was just kidding, Fareeha.”
“Hey, when you two are done doing whatever it is you two do, can Captain finish playing with us? We have a bet going that she can beat me before ten tries,” comes Hana’s sudden chirp from the floor. The victory screen showed Hana as the winner again, but that was unsurprising.
“I’ll join on the next one Hana.”
The girl shrugs and starts up another match against Lucio.
“Don’t let me stop you from playing your game, Fareeha,” Angela chides. She ends up yawning, though, which kind of takes away from her tone.
“I’m not. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”Wanna hang around here and watch Hana ‘wreck’ me in video games?”
Angela laughs at her usage of Hana’s usual vocabulary but decides it wouldn't hurt to sit and watch. After Lucio’s defeat again, Fareeha takes his place against the gaming prodigy. Angela can’t say she’s ever seen this game before, but all she knew was that Fareeha was some anthropomorphic blue falcon and Hana was a fox of similar build and they were fighting on some floating platform where weapons of various scales seemed to just appear out of nowhere for them to fight with. While Fareeha was trying her best and improving ever so slightly it was still an uphill battle.
Two matches in Angela felt sleep creeping back on her, pulling her into the slumber she was supposed to be having right now. In an effort to get more comfortable she pulled her legs up onto the couch and in her sleepy daze leaned over to rest her head on Fareeha’s shoulder. On any other day she'd probably be heating up at their closeness, but as exhausted as she was from yesterday's work she couldn't even be bothered.
With a comfy headrest and the oddly soothing vibrations from Fareeha's grrs and grumbles, she found herself quickly dozing off. The players on the tv screen became nothing but blurs as she slowly drifted off into a well needed rest, the storm outside barely a whisper to her ears.
She wakes up again to a still darkened sky given the lack of sunlight beaming into her face as it does every morning. After taking a few more minutes to really wake up, Angela realizes the sun isn’t in her face not only because of the rainy weather, but also because her window wasn't where she remembered it being? Her bed felt a little different, too. Certainly smelled different, however pleasant the scent was, earthy and natural.
It hits her then that she isn't in her room and she shoots up to find that the surroundings certainly weren't anything close to her own. The old Overwatch posters hanging on the wall were a dead giveaway to the true owner of the room. She was in Fareeha’s room, in Fareeha's bed. She had probably brought her after she fell asleep.
Angela feels the fluttery feeling in her stomach at the fact. Both that she carried her and also that she slept in her bed, covered by her blankets, enveloped by her scent. She shakes her head from her thoughts, thinking instead that Fareeha must've slept elsewhere if she wasn't here also.
She makes sure to remake her bed before she leaves the room of course. When she manages to check a clock she finds it's almost noon. Just about the perfect time for a cup of coffee.
Angela makes her way to the kitchen to fuel up for the day. Along the way a heavenly wafting scent lingers down the hall, growing stronger in intensity the closer she got to her destination. She wasn't shocked to see breakfast being made when she walked in, having smelled it all the way there. She was shocked however to see Fareeha was the one cooking the breakfast, her two hungry customers dozing off at the dining table.
Something stopped her from entering the kitchen and she stood in the doorway similar to how she did last night, simply watching Fareeha move about in the kitchen. Her movements we swift, yet sluggish. Occasionally she'll let out a yawn into her shoulder; someone didn't get quite enough sleep last night. But despite that she hummed a nice sounding melody all the while and Angela listened closely to the lovely sound of her voice.
Eventually her rumbling stomach would give away her position. She really had to work on her stealth abilities.
“Angela,” Fareeha basically yawns out, covering her mouth with the crook of her arm. “You're just in time for breakfast.”
“Good morning, Fareeha. Aren't you a little tired to be making breakfast?”
“Nooooo,” she yawns again, rousing a smirk from the blonde. “I stayed up pretty late with those two,” Fareeha nods her head in the direction of the two knocked out at the table. “In fact we never went to sleep. I don't want to mess up my sleep schedule so I have to stay up, which is why I decided to come back breakfast.”
“You're as ridiculous as ever.”
“Yeah, ridiculously good at making breakfast. If my hot chocolate didn't woo you away, my breakfast will definitely win you over.”
“Is that so?”
“I guarantee it.”
Angela smiles, shaking her head at her Fareeha's too early in the morning antics. She starts a pot of coffee and takes a seat at the kitchen island since the table was a little occupied. She takes great joy in watching Fareeha work around the kitchen. Once she fixes herself a mug of coffee it only gets better as she can hide her smiles behind her cup.
Fareeha comes to the island with two bowls, taking a seat next to Angela. Both hold a sunny side up egg and some bean mixture Angela couldn't place. Fareeha explains that her mom used to make it for her when she was younger and assures that it will taste great. She offers Angela a spoonful from her own bowl when she sees her hesitation.
“Try it.”
And she does, opening her mouth to accept the offered spoonful. A part of her tries not to think too much about the fact Fareeha just spoon fed her, but it isn't too hard considering the amazing flavors in her mouth. Her expression must have gave away her feelings on it for Fareeha now watching her with that trademark triumphant smirk.
“It tastes amazing, Fareeha. I didn't know you could cook. You're just full of surprises, hmm?”
She doesn't reply but holds their gaze as she takes a spoonful for herself using the same spoon. She slides the utensil against her lips the entire way out, smirking all the while. It may be childish but Angela can't help acknowledge their somewhat indirect kiss, and judging from Fareeha's sly look she knows exactly what she's doing. Angela hides her face in her meal in her best attempt to hide her reddening cheeks. They eat in silence for a bit more until Angela perks up, remembering her need to thank Fareeha for her actions.
“Oh, that's right. Thanks for carrying me to bed last night. Sorry if I fell asleep on you.”
“No worries, Doctor. You looked pretty tired, I more or less expected it.”
“You didn't have to put me in your bed though. You could've woken me if the distance to mine was too far.”
“That wasn't an issue,” she replies after swallowing her mouthful. “I just figured since my room faces away from the ocean you might not be as bothered by the storm.” Fareeha shrugs as she continues to scarf down her meal.
Angela pauses from her own meal at the words. She doesn't know what to say so nods to let Fareeha know she heard before continuing her meal (which is incredibly delicious).
“You know, if you can't sleep I can always give you my bed, Angela. If it'll help you sleep better.”
“Don’t give away your bed like that.”
“I’m not giving it away, I’m giving it to you.”
They turn to face each other then, Fareeha smirking and Angela straightfaced at the smart reply. She keeps her expression passive still when she notices the food smeared on the side of her mouth, resisting the urge for her mouth to tilt even the slightest bit upwards.She doesn't know where she got the boldness to do so but Angela reaches over to wipe it away with her thumb, the rest of her fingers securing the bottom of Fareeha’s chin as she did so. She wipes it away, trailing her thumb along her bottom lip as she did so before pulling back.
Of course Fareeha is in shock at the sudden contact and its then Angela gives in to her pressing smirk as she places her thumb in her mouth to wipe it clean, their eyes locked throughout the whole action. Consider it payback for her earlier teasing with the spoon. Oh how she tried to hold her serious facade, but Fareeha’s shocked and confused face was just too adorable and too amusing. Feeling the embarrassment coming on from her actions, Angela decides then to be a good time to start getting some work done before the storm starts up again.
“Thanks for breakfast, Fareeha. I'll see you around.”
She flashes one more smile before sliding off her seat and taking her leave. Fsreeha is left alone seated at the island, her own thumb retracing the path of Angela's as she stared blankly into the countertop.
Angela sits on the sofa, wrapped up into the coziest of blanket burritos as she watched the documentary on the screen. It was late and the storm outside had some back tenfold. Harsh winds struck against the outer walls like whips, the rain pelting harder than hail. Angela tried to apply Fareeha’s distraction technique from before but it wasn’t very effective… Such is how she found herself trying to watch something peaceful on TV to soothe her mind. It was a documentary about snow leopards and was probably one of the cutest things shes ever seen. Her brain attempts to conjure up something equally as cute and she blushes when an image of Fareeha comes to mind, shaking her head and focusing on the television.
The noises from outside start to blend in with the documentary and angela pulls the blanket around herself tighter. The leopard is hunting a nearby rabbit, stalking it from a distance. Its an average hunting scene but the harsh winds and rain makes it appear so much more suspenseful.The closer the leopard gets the harder the rain seems to get. When the animal on screen finally leaps in for the kill something large plops down next to Angela on the couch, and having been so focused on the documentary she jumps up and screams in shock, startled.
The blankets cover her completely now in an attempt to protect herself from whatever monstrosity has come to attack her, but when instead of being attack she hears an uncontrollable fit of laughter she pulls the covers off her with a glare. Fareeha laying over the armrest in a dying fit at Angela’s response, her eyes shut tight and her arms around her sides. Angela squints at her in mild anger. Were those tears in the corners of her eyes?
“Fareeeeeha!” Angela gave her a few slaps to her shoulder as a scolding for frightening her. Her voice and actions only seemed to urge her more into her laughter and she turned over onto her stomach. Angela pouted with her arms crossed, scooting as far away from the other woman as she could. “It’s not funny, Fareeha.”
When Fareeha finally came to, trying to fight off the aftershocks of her laughing fit she realized how upset Angela looked. “Aww, Angela I’m sorry I didn't think I’d scare you so bad” she admits, a few giggles still getting through much to Angela’s dismay.
The blonde turned away from her, scooting as far into the armrest as she could as Fareeha shifted closer to her. Once she realized Angela was actually upset for real she frowned. “Wait, Angela, nooo I’m sorry. Don’t be mad,” she pleaded, but Angela wasn’t having it. She decided to give her a few minutes to cool off, but one snow leopard rabbit eating scene later and she still looked pretty bothered.
In a last ditch effort to win her over Fareeha inched closer and closer until they were pretty close, earning a suspicious glare from the blonde. Blue eyes immediately picked up on the mischief in brown orbs and she held up a finger in objection once she realized her intentions.
“Fareeha, don’t you dare,” she warns as her hands are held up on either side of her in tickle formation. Her warning fell upon deaf ears though and before she could even prepare Fareeha was on top of her, her fingers assaulting her in all the spots she knew she was the most ticklish in. Thus beginning their battle as they both wrestled on the couch in laughter.
“Fareehaaa, nooooooo, s-stoppp,” Angela laughs as fingers dig into her sides. Her legs try to kick the larger woman off of her to no avail. She almost accepts her fate until she decides to shift to the left and toss both of them off the couch in a last ditch effort to escape. The shock from the sudden fall is all the opening she needed to grab the offending hands as they rolled onto the floor. There was some minor struggle but Angela had the leverage and in the end came out on top, her hands pinning Fareeha’s wrists on either side of her head.
They both lay on the floor, their laughter dying down into heavy breaths as they regained their composure, Angela most of all considering the effort it took to stop the assault. Her head was rested upon Fareeha’s shoulder as she tried to catch her breath. It wasn’t until then that she realized that she was basically lying on top of her friend, legs strattling her waist. Her face was definitely the reddest it's ever been in her lifetime.
Letting go of her hold on Fareeha's wrists she sits back a little bit doesn't get off the body below her, drawn in by the close proximity of their faces. Fareeha's eyes are closed as she's still trying to stifle her laughter and get herself together from the ordeal and Angela can't help but stare.
She's so beautiful. That's the first thought that comes to her mind at the sight. From her smile to the dying sound of her laughter, they were the only things that existed at that moment. The storm outside forgotten just like when they had hot chocolate together. In her facial study she notices the small bump on the corner of her forehead and frowns, hands immediately going to smooth over the blemish. Her touch cause brown orbs to snap open, Fareeha's hand moving to rub the spot herself.
“I'm sorry, that's my fault,” Angela apologizes as she further inspects the bump. But Fareeha shrugs it off as if it's nothing.
“Eh. It's my fault for sneaking up on you like that.”
“And then proceeding to tickle attack me,” Angela adds smartly.
“Yeah, that too.”
They share a laugh before falling into silence.
Its later during that same night that Angela finds herself having trouble with sleeping again, tossing and turning in her bed, using the pillow as makeshift earmuffs, and anything else she could think of to stop her quivering from mother nature’s rage outside. The sky was lit up with lightning tonight, the storm most likely at its peak. For the couple of hours she’d been laying in bed trying so hard not to think about what was going on outside Fareeha’s offer sat in the back of her mind.
A large part of her wanted to take her up on that offer. Fareeha’s presence throughout the gloomy weather has been one of the best remedies. The smaller part of her, though, didn’t want to bother her so late. If she recalled she should be leaving for a mission tomorrow afternoon and probably wanted to get as much rest as she could. A louder and longer than usual crash of thunder throughout the sky is what finally urges her to slide out of bed.
The entire walk to Fareeha’s room she’s contemplating turning back, but when her feet stop and she finds herself standing at the sliding door to her destination. With shaky fingers she inputs the code to her door, knowing Fareeha prefers to lock her door at night. She locks it behind her upon entry and just stands at the door looking towards the sleeping woman in bed. It wouldn’t be too late to leave…or so she thought before another flash from outside spurs her to move again and before she knows it she's pulling back the blankets and slipping in besides her. She tried to do it as softly as possible as not to wake her, but figured it would be an impossible feat.
Realizing the extra body in bed she begins to roll over to the other edge no doubt to leave, but Angela reaches over to stop her. “No, stay, please.”
Fareeha turns over so she’s facing her, more than half asleep and probably barely registering what was going on, but she reaches over and pulls Angela close regardless in an attempt to fit them both in the single person bed. Once settled she rests her chin on Angela’s head, and presumedly returns to sleep, at least that’s what Angela thought before she hears her speak suddenly.
“S’you are afraid,” Fareeha mumbles into blonde locks. Angela can feel her half asleep smirk against her head and delivers a light kick with her foot.
“I’m not afraid.”
A sleepy ‘hmm’ sounds from behind her. “You just wanted to sleep with me then.”
Angela almost wants to laugh at how even in her sleep Fareeha is so cheeky.
“And what if I did?”
“I’d rather you take me out to dinner first.”
“How does breakfast in bed sound?”
“S’long as there’s enough for three.”
Angela shifts in her arms to turn and face her, tilting her head up to get a good look at her face eyes closed as if she were already asleep. Perhaps she was more or less there. “Why for three?”
There’s a pause before she answers and Angela was sure she was borderline sleeping already. “The Talon agent under the bed.”
“Ah, right,” she chuckles, smiling. “You have been particularly bad today.”
She doesn’t receive a response this time and is certain Fareeha had finally drifted all the way under. Slim fingers reach up to move some of the hair out of her face as she reaches up to place a light kiss on her cheek. “Goodnight, Fareeha. And thank you,” she whispers before snuggling back up against her.
Wrapped in Fareeha’s arms she thinks that maybe the sounds from the storm aren't so bad, since they were what placed her in a moment as soothing as this. Her eyes are closed and she’s barely conscious enough to hear Fareeha’s late and tired reply.
“You’re welcome.”