Work Text:
Familiarity
Night City wasn't known for easy living. The only way to enjoy its greatest pleasures was to claw your way to the top of the Corpo ladder. But even that posed its own risks. As V had discovered months ago when she'd been tossed out on her ass thanks to Jenkins and his bullshit.
She had quickly learned that the life of a merc in NC wasn't much different than what she was used to. It was a grind to survive. After yet another day spent working gigs around Heywood for Padre, she felt as exhausted as she had in her early days at Arasaka.
As she did anytime she found herself in this part of town, she'd stopped by El Coyote to check in on Mama Welles. Only after promising to come over for dinner sometime soon was she allowed to leave. Her next, and final, stop of the day was her new apartment in the Glen.
V entered the elevator, pressed the button for her floor, and waited as it began slowly rising. She was so exhausted she couldn't focus on anything except the graffiti on the wall until she finally reached level twelve. The elevator ground to a stop and she walked into the large apartment she'd only recently saved up the scratch to rent. She looked around the open space, admiring the view of the city through the wide windows that made up two of the walls.
“Even you can’t deny it, V. All this hard work of ours is starting to paying off.”
She sighed heavily as she walked toward the couch and slumped down beside Johnny. “The hell you mean ours, Rocker Boy? I’m the one bustin’ my ass.”
Johnny chuckled and leaned back, draping his arms across the back of the couch as he stretched his legs out across the middle section. She felt his arm against her upper back, but didn’t shy away as she once would have. “You’re missin’ the point, V. What I’m sayin’ is you’re finally working your way back up. Makin’ a name for yourself. Movin’ past the shit ‘Saka left you with.” He nudged against her before leaning his head back and staring up at the high ceiling above them.
“Feels like a waste of time though, Johnny. Not sure if you’re aware, but I’m runnin’ outta time to figure this out. Makin’ a decent livin’ ain’t gonna save my life.”
She could feel his sympathy for her as he lifted his head and turned to look at her beside him. “Trust me, I know. And I’ve already told you I’m gonna do everything I can to help you. We just gotta wait for Hands to call again about the Voodoo Boys. Try to relax until then.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one losin’ parts of your brain every damn day,” she retorted as she stood up with a huff. She crossed the room quickly, leaving Johnny sitting sprawled across the couch. She climbed the stairs to the upper level, ripping her grimy shirt off over her head and tossing it onto the floor unceremoniously. Just as she unbuttoned her jeans, the elevator sounded as it stopped at her level once again. The doors slid open and she heard footsteps echoing below as her visitor entered the apartment.
“V?” A familiar voice called as the footsteps faltered.
“Upstairs,” she called out with a smile.
The footsteps continued, though the echoes changed when he reached the metal staircase. V heard Johnny groan loudly from downstairs and smirked. Half the fun of her relationship with River was the way the rocker boy reacted to it.
The footsteps stopped as he reached the top of the stairs and found her standing half undressed near the foot of the bed. He offered her a sympathetic smile as he held up the pizza box he was carrying. “Your message sounded like you had a hard day, so I brought your favorite pizza,” he said as he took a few steps forward.
Her expression softened at his thoughtful gesture. “You didn’t have to do that, Riv,” she replied as her shoulders slumped.
“I did. I know you better than you think.”
Her heart ached at his words. “Oh you do, do you?” she teased softly, sauntering toward him. She took the pizza box from him and tossed it onto the bed.
“Yeah, I do.” He reached toward her and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head affectionately before holding her at arm’s length, gently gripping her shoulders as he spoke. “On the days you call me and ask if I’ll come visit and your voice has that edge to it, it helps to show up with comfort food. Hence, pizza.” He gestured toward the box now sitting on the bed and smiled triumphantly as the corners of her mouth twitched upward, stubbornly refusing to give him the satisfaction of a smile.
“Don’t use your cop skills of observation on me,” she warned playfully.
He laughed. “Hey, I don’t need skills for that. It’s simple: your girlfriend has a bad day, you bring her her favorite food and maybe give her a few orgasms after she’s eaten.”
V raised her eyebrows and chuckled. “Guess you do know me better than I realized.” River nodded his head and smiled broadly, letting his hands fall to his sides as V took a step backward. She moved her hips from side to side as she pushed her jeans to the floor, kicking them to the same spot she’d tossed her shirt.
River’s eyebrows rose as he watched her attentively. “So, you want those orgasms before pizza?” he asked with a chuckle.
V smirked as she continued taking steps backward, toward the bathroom where she intended to rinse this day off. She brought her hand up and beckoned him to follow with a come hither motion of her finger. “Who says it’s gotta be one or th’other?”