Exhack
Inactive Member
ON, Mizar Enclave, Maekardan
South Residential Canton
Yetsava 11, 935
17:19, Commonwealth Standard Time
Hearing of some groundbreaking news that had to be told in person, Mridula Ituri Osei had been called to the city of her birth by her twin sister, Madhu. The letter had said to meet her in the park by the dockyards in the Southern Canton of the city, a place both familiar and dear to the two of them, in particular to the athletic and energetic sibling that had called the scientist back. This area of the dockyards had undergone some renovations as part of some urban renewal plan several months ago, bringing a new vibrance to the area. A few couples strolled down the long seaside walkway, past musicians playing airy Eyr Ranr folk tunes and groups of youngsters kicking a battered Jeibuhu around.
Mridula strolled down the street with an easy manner, glad to be back in the enclave where she and Madhu had grown up. Every building was familiar - so familiar, in fact, that she daydreamed about her twin sister rather than watching where she was going. It had been long enough since they had seen each other that she had been beginning to feel quite lonely, and even though they regularly spoke to each other in their dreams, she felt it was a poor substitute. She was so excited that she had eschewed her normal, body-concealing lab coat in favor of a belly shirt with long, poofy sleeves, and a pair of also poofy shorts that barely reached the middle of her thigh. She had also left her hair untied, and it fell in a straight white curtain down to her shoulders. Her feet were simply covered in sandals.
"Sister!" Mridula would hear a familiar voice as a firm body suddenly attached itself to her back, clearly after a running start and what must have been a three meter jump based on how much wind had been knocked out of her lungs. The slightly heavier woman rubbed her face against the back of her sister's neck and let out a soft giggle. "You're on time!"
The biologist squawked loudly, toppling right forward into the grass. She managed to wiggle around enough to face her twin, embracing the other girl with just as much enthusiasm, rubbing their noses together lightly. "I'm always on time, Madhu... it's good to see you again." Her voice was a little wispy from having the breath knocked from her.
"Oh, right! I guess it was a little silly of me to think that you wouldn't be." Madhu rolled over onto her back and glanced back at Mridula, making another soft giggle. "It's been too long, hasn't it? You should treat me to dinner with that overblown Solanii paycheck to celebrate the occasion." She said with a broad grin, rubbing a small scar that ran a little bit beneath her sunburned cheeks.
"I was hoping we'd stay in today." She smirked, running a long finger over Madhu's stomach. "...what was so important that you called me here, though? You were talking like it was urgent."
"It wasn't urgent... per se." Madhu scrunched her face as she glanced away for a moment, rolling her body forwards to sit up and bringing her knees close enough to rest her arms on them. At this point, Mridula would finally have a clear view of her twin sister's appearance, her firm, well-toned and wear-hardened torso covered in what appeared to be a lustrous skintight black semi-organic sleeveless turtleneck with a baroque Eyr Ranr-styled vest over it. Tights of a material similar to vest went down to her knees, the thrills of an imaginetion only barely preserved by a short skirt that covered her upper thighs. "But I'm signed." She seemed quiet down a little, and clung tightly to her knees.
"Madhu, that's wonderful! Why are you so upset?" The biologist sat up, her surprisingly strong, warm hands stroking over her sister's shoulders... and lower, after she got a good look at what she was wearing. After she had her fill of feeling, she simply wrapped her arms around Madhu's waist and cuddled her.
"Mizar wants to recruit me, but Kaeshun and Caal Farice are both putting up better offers because they haven't signed on any strong players this season." Madhu said with a mild frown, stamping her left fist into the soft grass. "My manager is pressuring me to take the offer from Kaeshun, because that stadium is bigger and that team gives its players a precentage of the gallery. Plus... Kaeshun is a rich city, so getting endorsements should be fairly easy..."
She looked back at her sister with a conflicted frown. "Ugh... all this talk of money honestly pisses me off!" Mahdu said with a scowl, ruffling her already messy neck-length hair to calm herself a little.
Mridula nosed through that messy tangle to press a kiss on the back of her neck. "Money doesn't matter. Do what'll make you happy, sister. When you're gone you can't take the money, but you'll still be happy."
"I'd be less bothered about choosing against money if I didn't think that Mizar is less interested in me than the other two teams. Caal Farice would offer a year-round climate that would be good for me, and Kaeshun has told me up front that they want to groom me." Madhu glanced over and ran her finger across Mridula's nose, sheepishly biting her own lower lip. "Not that way. This hair is stays this long, and however I want it."
"We wouldn't have it any other way." Mridula murmured affectionately as her twin touched her nose, then scrunched it up and giggled softly. "...it sounds like Kaeshun wants you the most. Go with them, they'll treat you well." A sly smile crept across her face, and she poked Madhu in the side with one finger. "You might even meet some cute girls in the locker room."
"I don't really have any interest in anyone right now." Madhu nodded sheepishly, standing herself up and dusting off her clothes. "I mean... it'd be nice to have someone, but it's pretty bad to mix business and play like that, and a relationship would give me less free time." She said with a bit of a shrug, extending her hand to her sister.
Mridula's face contorted into a mixture of a pained expression and a massive pout. She stood without the aid of Madhu's hand, then crossed her arms over her chest. "...fine, then!"
Madhu stood there, eyes agape and scratched her head. "What did I do wrong?" She wondered to herself quietly, taking a few steps onto the walkway before pausing to look back at her sister. The woman's lightly sunburned face was shaped into a slightly uncomfortable smile. " I... I rented us a two-seater bicycle... just like when we were kids. Would you like to... ride for a bit?"
Her sister's face was still scrunched into an expression of unhappiness. "...okay. If you want to." She strode forwards, arms wrapping around her stomach. "It'd be nice to be kids again, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah... but there's a bunch of fun things that we wouldn't be allowed to do back then." Madhu said with a bit of a flourish, raising her arm to point to a small drone courier carrying a supply crate a few hundred meters ahead. The container was made of some semi-transparent plas, doing little to disguise the two-seater bike inside. "And allowance. Mother and father never really gave us much unless we broke our backs doing chores."
"Well, yes... but at least you were willing to do mine, sometimes." A small smirk passed briefly across the biologist's face as she remembered their youth. "...and we had each other, don't forget that. With a twin, nothing else matters." Her head raised to look at the bike-crate. "Are you going to drop that on us?"
"Hey, you! It's me, the customer who made the call earlier." Madhu approached the drone from the front, holding out an identification card in front of its single mono-eye, shaking it a little to catch its attention. "Geez... and to think that you guys actually co-opted with Ahmida to make these damn things. They always act half asleep."
"It's not our fault. And anyway I wasn't involved with that! If I was it would... shoot lasers, or make smoothies or something."
"Please: Confirm User!" Suddenly, a pair of tentacles ending in manipulators extended out from the sides of the machine, carefully plucking the identification card from Madhu's hand and holding it steady as a scanning beam ran up and down the piece of plastic, perking its head to the side as it observed two people who matched the description on the card in the immediate area. "Identify, M. Osei. This unit is confused by the identity of the customer who placed request: '935-01-03-C-774893'."
"Whaddya mean!? I'm right here!" Madhu gave the drone's head a throttle with her fist, her face shaped into a light frown. She glanced around for a second, looking around for some sort of explanation as to why the drone was confused about if she was actually herself. The thought that she was accompanied by her twin came up, leading the fieldball player to place her hand to her forehead and let out a small sigh. "Oh... you've gotta be kidding me..."
"Here, let's try this." Mridula stepped behind her identical twin, holding her body in imitation of the other woman. Only her poofy clothes were visible from the front. "I'm going to send our parents an angry letter for making us twins, you know. And giving us the same initials."
"User confirmed! Thank you for using Ahmida Civiltech, and have a nice day." The drone opened up its rear, small arms inside of the container picking up and depositing the contents outside of the container, including the bicycle and a pair of helmets for the two renters, and retracted back inside and closed the container shut. The courier raised one of its mechanical tentacles and made a small salute to the two sisters, and began powering the small liftspheres that adorned the underside of its body. "Virtues in quality, wealth in quantity."
Mridula saluted back, then retrieved one of the helmets and put it snugly on her head, adjusting it a bit before strapping it around her chin. That done, she struck a dramatic pose for Madhu. "How do I look? Ready for bike riding?"
"Like one of those holovid idols they use to sell bikes." Madhu said with a lazy grin, stretching her arms up and letting out a light yawn. She still felt a little annoyed by the incident with the courier, but she was at least going to get to bike alongside a pleasant view of the sea and felt at ease just knowing she'd be able to spend some time alone with her beloved sister... even if it was for only a short time. Placing the helmet onto her head and snapping it in place, she nodded to Mridula. "I'm thinking I'd rather ride back this time. With this weather, the view is too good to pass up."
The fieldball player's twin turned slightly pink in surprise before she realized what Madhu was actually getting at. She nodded slowly, smiling back at the other woman. "You're more idol material. I'm just a boring scientist... how about you ride in front?" Mridula's motives were transparent to everyone, probably, but her sister.
Madhu blushed a little, her sunburnt cheeks gaining a light tint of red. "Only... only if scars and sunburns are suddenly in. But..." She attempted to refuse her sister's counteroffer, but still felt a little guilty about making her sister feel bad earlier and was put off her guard by Mridula's praise. As it were, the athletic woman was too flustered to refuse properly, and let out a small defeated sigh. "Well, allright! But you better enjoy that view of the bay. I can't remember the last time it was this clear, and that sunset will probably be amazing."
"You can look, too. I'll just give you a good smack if you veer too far off course." Mridula grinned wickedly, patting her sister's side with one hand before she slung her long legs over the rear seat of the tandem bike, getting settled in by wiggling her hips about and knocking the pedals with her feet.
Her sister scratched the side of her temple and made a small gulp, taking the front of the two seats on the tamdem bike, rubbing her rear into the 'smart' material of the seat to get a good shape. The muscles in her legs and back flexed for a moment, and she took a deep breath, starting with a small kick off the ground to get them going. She immediately began peddling, pushing the two of them at a speed that would carry them a bit faster than the average jogger on the promenade.
The warm winds of the afternoon and the smell of kebab carts and fruit stands wafted into the air as the two sisters moved down the promenade by the bay. To their right was the bright blue and green ocean glowing in the light of the mid-day sun, while a series of boutiques and restaurants flanked them on the right, out of the shadows of the massive cantons of Mizar as long as the white sun lay overhead.
Mridula sprung her plot as soon as they started moving, as her own much less muscular legs very nearly struggled to keep up with her sister's pace. She leaned forward, careful not to unbalance the entire bike, and wrapped her arms around Madhu's waist, using the other girl's shoulder as a head rest. "The view here is much better, I think." Despite the flirtiness of her statement she appeared to be genuinely looking at the scenery, her grey eyes resting on whatever she found most interesting until they passed it. "...maybe we could get lunch, later. These smells are driving me up the wall."
"Ah... try not to lean on one side too much, or we'll crash." Madhu said worriedly, biting her lower lip lightly. The last thing she wanted was to break something right before the season started or worse, see Mridula get injured... especially if it was because she was getting too cuddly. "I wouldn't mind getting something to eat. As long as you aren't feeding me biomods, I think I'll be legal to play when the season starts."
"I wouldn't feed my beloved sister biomods. Hmph." Chastened, Mridula withdrew her arms and began to pedal with more concentration.
"That's not what I meant! It was supposed to be..." Madhu panicked for a moment, losing her handle of the bike for a split second. The entire vehicle experienced a curve, similar to a wave for the instant before she regained control. "... a joke!"
"Aagh!" The Solanii biologist grabbed onto her sister's shoulders as they swerved, but let go as soon as they were stable again. "...don't do that, Madhu!"
"Well... I'm never normally this distracted! It isn't my f-" Madhu bit her tongue and realized what she was saying, letting a small sigh escape her lips. "... it's my fault for not paying attention to the street."
"...distracted? What's wrong?" Mridula wobbled slightly on the bike, but gripped her seat to keep her balance as she pedaled steadily along with Madhu.
"Ah... it's nothing!" Madhu did poorly to assuage the worried question of her sister, but keenly refused to answer. The truth, that she was still unsure as to why Mridula had gotten angry before and had been wondering why, remained unspoken. "Would you prefer shish kebab, kafta or something healthier... like a salad?"
"Kafta sounds good... I try not to eat it away from here, it just wouldn't be as good. And I'd get sick with nostalgia. ...and if nothing is wrong, why did you say you're distracted?"
"Alright then!" Madhu acknowledged, slowing the pace of her pedaling as they approached a kebab stand. The bike came to a crawl as she put her foot out and onto the roughened plas of the promenade, stopping a few feet short of a kebab trolley drone being manned by a wiry Sund Wakir.
Mridula dismounted the tandem bike but stayed respectfully behind Madhu as they walked. Her eyes locked onto the kebab trolley, and she licked her lips a bit as her stomach gave a barely-audible rumble.
Both the vendor and his automated cart seemed to notice the sisters approaching, a small mechanical tentacle tapping him on the shoulder even as he turned to greet the two. The cart seemed to be of a similar design as the courier that had brought the bike earlier, although it had been modified to carry a rider in a lifecycle-style seat and had a mobile kitchen container instead of the more conventional storage crate.
"Ach, you silly machine. I saw them too!" the man barked, crossing his arms over his long grey service uniform. He seemed to be in his late sixties, just starting his 'middle-age.' The deep lines of his face and light frown betrayed his character somewhat more the shine of his eyes, revealing the distinct possiblity that he had been an old man for most of his life. "Adravni, mada-" The driver paused for a moment, a smile plastered to his lined and sun-hardened face.
"Good afternoon, Ediz!" Madhu cut in before he could resume energetically, giving him a small grin of recognition. "Must be good business when the weather is this good."
Mridula cut an elegant bow, unable to wipe the grin off her face at the sight of the wrinkled vendor. "Afternoon, ser! Long time no see. I've missed your delicious food more than I can even say!"
Ediz sized both of the young women up for a moment, tapping the side of the of his trolley with a roll of his fingers. "Saints be merciful. My heart almost stopped when I saw how much you two have grown... it brings this bitter old man sandy tears to see his two favorite customers grow up to be so beautiful." He said with a bright, mildly lecherous grin.
"Section 3, Section 3. Complaints currently above quota." The trolley drone immediately cut in on him, delivering a small jab into his back with the metallic tentacle. "Sexual harassment is a crime!"
"Auurgh! Feh on morality and conduct! If I want to be a good-living man, I would work in the offices... or some kitchen... indoors." The vendor slammed his fist down onto the drone's head, causing it to shake a little, and glanced back at the sisters. His grimace feigned innocence, but he still seemed at least a little embarassed by the turn of events. "Now... what can Ediz's Best Kebabs give you?"
The drone-abuse made Mridula wince a bit, and she leaned close in to rub its tentacle affectionately. "Poor thing, don't hit it... although I don't mind the flirting." She grinned slyly and elbowed Ediz, waggling her eyebrows. "Especially from such a handsome young fellow."
Ediz stroked his short grey goatee, his mouth pursed slightly, and spat on the ground. "I would not be so bothered so much if the franchise hadn't installed a watchdog NI into my cart. This one is always trying to avoid 'customer service complaints' and 'lawsuits'!"
Mridula stepped back slightly to avoid the spittle-projectile, but her face spread in a grin as Ediz mentioned the rules-lawyering NI. "Maybe I could fix that for you."
"You could, but the manager would accuse me of foul play. That frostbitten Mazerinii beaurocrat will be the death of Ediz' Best Kebabs!" The vendor lamented, reaching for a clear plas bottle of filled with a transcluscent red liquid.
"No bureaucrat could ever hope to put you out of business, Ediz." The Solanii biologist grinned even wider, leaning a bit on her sister as she watched the older man go about his business. "...what are you going to get, Madhu?"
"I'm kinda in the mood for Shish Kebab myself, although Ediz' kafta is probably the best on the waterfront." Madhu said pensively, staring at the viewscreen on the side of the mobile kitchen cart. "On the other hand..."
"Oh, where did I go wrong?" Mridula deadpanned, pressing the back of one hand to her forehead in an expression of mock despair, though she couldn't quite get the amused smile off her face. "My sister wants a stick of hot meat from this poor vendor."
"Of course she wants meatstick of Ediz! Ediz's Best Kebabs are BEST KEBABS in South Canton!" Ediz exclaimed proudly, placing his hand over his heart and raising the other to the sky above him. He had somehow missed the innuendo being said, and had instead gone the route of espousing his pride at the greatness of his craft. "You will not find a better kafta kebab, shish kebab or shish taouk! And if you do, it is because you are DEAD!"
At that, Mridula couldn't keep in her amusement, and she began to laugh so hard tears nearly came to her eyes as she clung to Madhu to keep her balance. She barely managed to gesture to the cart in her conniptions, wheezing, "...c-can I get some k-kafta, please, Ediz?"
"Haha! None may resist the lure of kafta kebab!" Ediz grinned, tapping the drone's head. "One kafta kebab, the usual way." He turned to Madhu, anxiously rolling his fingers across the head of his cart. "And you, my strong-bodied lady, will be having... ?"
"..." Madhu stayed silent for a moment, cracking her fingers by pressing her fist against her hips. She almost brought herself to reply immediately, but realized that it would have come out sounding like a battlecry, or some sort of death threat. She bit her lip, feeling the blood boiling in her head soak through her body down into her feet and through the ground. A small smile graced her lips at the end of those three seconds of silence, followed by a rather ordinary question. "Hey Kebab Cart. What was a crime again? I've forgotten..."
"Sexual harassment!" The drone complied with another jab into Ediz' back with its mechanical tentacle. "Sexual harassment is a crime!"
"Auurgh!" Ediz grunted, turning to Madhu with a bit of a malicious grin. "You little-"
"I'll take two shish kebab, with the yogurt sauce." Madhu said innocently, tucking her balled fists behind her back and staring up into the air as she gently puffed her chest out. She couldn't help but feel a little amused. "Oh, and could you get us Caalian Springs sparkling juices? Biking around in this weather is pretty thirsty."
Mridula murmured a little and tapped Madhu's hip with her hand, puffing out a breath of air onto the side of her sister's helmet. "Don't terrorize the poor man, love, he'll poke us with his kebab sticks or something." She smirked as she hugged the more athletic woman around the waist.
Madhu frowned. "Ediz deserves it... even if his kebabs are great." She whispered, biting her tongue to keep herself from saying more.
"Your food." Ediz tended an opaque bioplas bag to Mridula, full of heat and oily steam, and another transparent one that clearly contained a pair of bottles filled with the same red liquid that he had ingested earlier. "I do not really care if you think Ediz is a monster now that you are all grown. I sell you BEST KEBABS, you stand around looking pretty for a few minutes, we talk and I remember times when I did not have a robotic moralist assaulting my hindquarters all the time." The man made a slight exaggerated bow. "Enjoy meats of Ediz's Best Kebabs. Best Kebabs in South Canton."
Mridula took the bags, then opened the one containing the food, letting the fragrant steam wash over her face. She grinned and licked her lips before closing it up again to be sure all the goodness wouldn't escape. "...smells just as delicious as I remember, Ediz. Thank you."
"Payment: Eight Kuon Dalri." The drone extended a small card slot at the end of another tentacle. "Please."
Madhu moved to retrieve her KD card from her pocket, and slid it across the grooved box the cart had extended to her. "It was uh... nice to see you again Ediz. I'm the food'll be great!."
"We should go." The athlete turned to her sister and tilted her head to the side, grabbing the handlebars of their rental bike and began walking - away from Ediz and the cart.
"Enjoy your day, and say hello to your parents for me!" Ediz called out in the distance, with an energetic wave that seemed to defy his crotchety appearance and attitude.
As they walked, Mridula eyed the food hungrily. "What do you have against Ediz? He's just a harmless old man; nothing wrong with a little teasing."
"Well, it's nothing really. I'm not really used to be oogled like that... and he was using weird words like 'meatstick'. You'll have to excuse me if I wasn't a little creeped out."
"You don't like meatsticks?" The scientist gave her twin her very best innocent look.
"Bu... hwa..." Madhu let go of the bike and slammed her hands against her thighs, her sunburned cheeks taking on a light color of wine as her mouth quivvered lightly. She was honestly trumped by the question, and felt like either of the obvious answers would be an equivalent, if slight divergent form of death. She lunged forward, gripping her head and did a sudden jerking movement as her entire upper body shook downwards, in clear defeat. "WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?!"
"I was only teasing! Don't get so upset, Madhu..." She ran a hand down her sister's back over and over, frowning deeply. "...I'm sorry... I'm not a very good sibling, am I?"
Madhu placed an arm on Mridula's shoulder and let out an apologetic sigh. "You aren't. I'm just lousy with feelin's and stuff. It's not your fault you're more comfy with them, and can actually make jokes about sex." She glanced at the ground for a moment and placed her other hand to her mouth. "Well... actually, it is... But I'm still sorry for not taking it like a joke!"
"I love you anyway." Mridula beamed and embraced her sister tightly, and their helmets bonked together as she pressed the very sweetest of kisses on the other girl's cheek. "Is there... anything you want to talk about? You seem a little uncomfortable."
"I love you too, sis." Madhu replied with an equally happy cast, slinking her other around Mridula's neck and hugging her tightly. She breathed in quiet, deep breaths as she held onto her sister. "It's just been so long since I've been able to spend time with my favorite sister. You act like that girl genius I grew up with, but sometimes it almost feels like being around a stranger. "
The athlete gulped. "I... kinda like it."
Mridula smiled even wider as her sister held onto her. She gave Madhu a loving squeeze, reaching up to undo both their helmets and then wrestle them off. That done, she leaned her forehead on her sister's. "I like it, too. You're my strong, brave sister, and the star fieldball player I watch all the time."
It was a confusing and disorienting moment for Madhu. She could smell the sweet and slightly bitter aroma of her sister's breath, the heat of the skin pressed against hers and for a moment, the voice of her twin sounded full of love... or lust. "I... uhm." She let go, and gently slipped out of Mridula's grasp, masking her discomfort with the easy sort of smile she put on at the end of a good game, that her team had lost. A playful laugh forced its way past her lips. "It's pretty awesome that I have a perfect sibling like you."
She patted her stomach, and beamed brightly. "But I kinda wanna eat now."
The biologist looked a little sad as she was divested of her warm, cuddly sibling - she'd thought they were finally as close again as they had been when they were young, but it seemed like there was something bothering Madhu. She decided to wait to press the issue until after they'd eaten, though "...alright. Where do you want to sit?" Just as she spoke, her stomach let out a small rumble, and her cheeks tinted lightly.
Madhu set the bike against the thick composite barrier on the waterfront edge of the promenade, and climbed atop the knee-high wall, dangling her legs over the low beachfront, where the tides had already risen and overtaken the land. "How about here? Not really safe, but kinda nostalgic."
Mridula climbed up beside her sister, sitting with her legs crossed elegantly, the bags resting in the small space in between them. "It's beautiful. I like this spot." She gave Madhu a big smile, trying to cheer her up a little - whatever was wrong.
Her sister seemed to brighten a little as she reached for one of the piping hot kebabs, gingerly placing the end into her mouth and pulling off one of the cubes of well-marinated and lightly-charred meat. Tearing into it with gusto, she glanced over at Mridula as she finished her first bite, placing the now-bare tip of the skewer against her lower lip. "Hey sis, mind if I ask something?"
"Mmm? Sure." Mridula watched her sister eat with a grin before she produced her own skewered kafta, holding the stick in one hand as she worked the first ball off and held it in three fingers, nibbling delicately on it. "...delicious."
"Did you have any uh... luck? At Solan... people... I mean." Madhu blurted out nervously, before slipping two pieces of her kebab into her mouth and chewing furiously.
"Luck? With... oh! Oh, right." The Solanii liaison laughed softly, finishing off the first bit of kafta and licking off her fingers before she continued. "I had a few flings, yes. None of them lasted very long, you know how work relationships go... but there were some good times." She worked another kafta loose. "How about you? Anyone?"
"Bu... hwa..." Madhu stumbled, staring at Mridula for a moment. Her attitude seemed to be a little bit different from the confident and energetic person the scientist had seen earlier, but actually rather bashful. "I..." The dirt-roughened indexes touched as she tapped them together nervously, glancing away into the bay. "I was in a relationship with the captain of my training camp team... and the physio the league hired for us..."
"Oh, details, details, Madhu!" Mridula turned towards her sister, her eyes bright and curious. "You tell me all about them, right now!"
"The captain was an amazing player... maybe the only person I could respect at the camp. She was beautiful... a Mazerinii. Tall and albinic, with white hair and dark red eyes that could cut right through you." Madhu laughed to herself quietly, leaning into the lamppost set into the wall next to her. "The physio... was probably the nicest guy in the world... and then things got really complicated."
"I was at their wedding... last month." She said with a wistful smile, taking a sip of the red drink they'd purchased.
"...oh, Madhu." The scientist put her kebab down and leaned over to embrace her sister again, kissing both of the girl's cheeks. "I'll go beat them up, or something... nobody hurts my sister's feelings and gets away with it." She clung fiercely to Madhu, one hand moving up to stroke her hair. "I'm so sorry."
"Eeep~" Madhu squeaked as she was hugged suddenly and embraced, but leaned in as best she could with two full hands and slightly messy mouth. "I... I don't really hate them, as a matter of fact... I think I can say that I still love the two of them as my best friends. It hurts, but I don't think I've ever been this happy to be hurt." She smiled and placed a slightly oily kiss on Mridula's left cheek. "So cheer up sis. I'm just fine!"
Just as Madhu pulled back from the cheek-kiss, her twin cupped her cheek in her long-fingered hand and pulled her right back in, touching their identical lips together in a tender, soothing kiss.
The Mridula's twin sister wrapped her arms around her as best as possible without touching the foodstuffs to her back, gently leaning deeper into the kiss. All the confusion and malaise she'd experienced earlier seemed to be a distant notion, and for a few seconds, she had a sense of clarity unlike anything she had felt since the simple years she'd spent growing up with her sister. Like she'd been reunited with some distant missing piece of herself, and latching onto it, never wanted to let go.
But reality rushed back all too quickly, and she realized that the person embracing her was the same young woman that had shared everything with her until two years ago. She pulled away, gasping for air in light, shallow breaths and turned away. Her cheeks burnt a bright rosy color that cut through the sunburnt brown, and the confusion that had been dispelled so suddenly had come back, stronger than ever. Madhu had learned something that she wouldn't ever be able to admit. She was in love with her sister.
"..." Madhu learned back against the lamppost and resumed eating, saying little or nothing.
Mridula, on the other hand, had always known she loved Madhu - deeply and passionately, since the very first time they had kissed; it had seemed lifetimes ago since they parted, but now, all the feelings from those long years ago came rushing back. Kissing her twin felt more than good - it felt right, and she never wanted that kiss to end. When Madhu pulled away, the tip of the biologist's tongue ran over her own lips, tasting the kebab and, more importantly, her sister's chapstick - simple and unflavored, and it only made her love grow all the more.
The liaison's cheeks had only blushed the smallest bit; she was too busy enjoying the feeling of her heart lifting in her chest - until Madhu turned away and started to eat again, without another word. Then, Mridula's face fell, and she felt her heart thump down into her shoes at a speed far greater than the ones granted by the distortion catapults she used to get into orbit. She felt hot tears prickle at her eyes, and she turned away as well, her appetite suddenly gone.
"..." Her sister finished her second kebab and wiped the yogurt sauce container clean with some of the flatbread included in the bag, stuffing herself until her portion had been completed. Half the bottle of the sparkling drink followed soon after, washing the bits of food down and cleaning her mouth out entirely of the taste of meat - and of Mridula's tongue. "You should probably finish the kafta. I really worry about you taking care of yourself... when you're on long assignments with Solan..."
"...no, no, it's... fine." She picked up her own drink and swigged a good portion of it down without stopping. "I'm... not hungry." The biologist realized she was experiencing something she hadn't felt in her entire life, being as she was constantly in the company of her beloved sister - she was heartbroken.
"I... you really should. It'd be a shame to let Ediz' cooking to go to waste..." Madhu said weakly, contemplating the spout of her drink bottle.
"You can have it." Mridula rested the half-eaten kafta kebab on top of the bag it'd come from before she stood up, dusting her bottom off. "I'm... going to... go, I think."
"Well... no. I..." Madhu wiped her hands on a napkin and stood herself back up. She grabbed a hold of Mridula's arm, her grasp loose and palms sweaty and cold. "Mri... it's just..."
"...just what? Just that you don't love me?" Mridula whirled on Madhu, tears starting to streak down her soft brown face. "Just that you... you don't..." She wrested her arm free and buried her face in her hands as she began to sob, her shoulders shaking. "Just that y-you've never wanted me h-how I've wanted you? I'm... I'm j-just going to... leave..."
"It's not that! I..." Madhu exclaimed at the top of her lungs, climbing onto the short wall behind her. "Mridula! I..." The first part of the statement seemed to flow quite easily, but those words that had meaning were like sand in the athlete's lungs, more difficult to speak than any exotic language in the universe.
"...it d-doesn't matter, Madhu." Mridula dragged her puffy sleeve across her face, trying futilely to wipe away some of her tears. "We're n-not kids anymore, and... what we did t-then doesn't matter. I'll just go." She struggled down the composite barrier.
"Mridula! I love you, more than anything in the world!" Madhu continued, raising her arm into the sky as if she was carrying some championship trophy. The anxious and shocked sister from before had given way to the absolutely confident and passionate fieldball player that had grown alongside, and apart from, Mridula. "And I- uwaah~"
A sudden gust of wind put the young woman off-ballance, knocking her backwards from her perch and backwards into the shallow drink that had come up over the waterfront with the high tide. Madhu plunged back-first, and sunk all the way to the bottom of the two meters of blue-green water, murky from the sudden uplift of debris and sand that had been shaken up.
"MADHU!" The athlete's sister clambered as fast as she could possibly manage back up the wall as she saw Madhu vanish, toppled by the same breeze she'd just felt. When she realized where the girl had gone, she leapt into the sea without a second thought. She'd been trained in swimming, and so was able to speed the short distance easily, one arm wrapping around her sister once she was close enough. Her long legs kicked, pushing them both back up to the surface.
The land-loving Madhu had done poorly during her descent into the water, and coughed up a large amount of water as she brough back into the air. Still, a little dazed from the impact, she stumbled to murmur an apology to her beloved sister, choking not on the words this time, but more literally gagging from the saltwater she had taken into her stomach and lungs. "Mri... du... la... I'm... s-so..."
"Sshhh, sh..." She dragged Madhu to the shore, laying the young lady down on her back and pressing on her stomach rhythmically. "...don't be sorry, don't be sorry, just... spit it up..."
Madhu rolled away and onto her stomach, vomitting a little from the shock the water gave her and the severe pains in her stomach, from both the water the the unnecessary CPR her sister had given her. She eventually manage to pulled herself back up onto her elbows and knees, and glanced over at Mridula with a mixture of immense confusion and great happiness. "You... shouldn't.. h-have done that. Now... Ediz is g-going to be... p-pissed."
"Ediz can be pissed all by himself... I have my lovely sister to keep me company." Mridula's face was conflicted - she didn't know whether to be excited that her sister loved her, or worried that she was lying. She ran a finger over her twin's wet forehead, tucking a strand of hair out of the way. "Are you alright?"
"... Y-yeah." Madhu wobbled as she stood up, peeling the soaked Eyr Ranr-style vest and skirt that she'd worn earlier, leaving her with the tight black garment that covered her torso and thighs. At a glance, it didn't appear to have been changed that much by the water, save that the water droplets had given it a slight shine... and the manner by which it clung tightly to her body was now uninhibited by the clothing she'd layered over it. "Jeez... this won't hide much for the ride home..."
While Madhu's outfit had been made to hug her body, Mridula's poofy clothes hadn't - at least until she took a dunk in the sea. Now, the light, filmy clothing had pressed incredibly close to her skin, and was nearly transparent on top of that, revealing that evidently Mridula had decided to wear some rather nice lingerie for her appointment with her twin. She didn't even seem to notice how her body was now shown off, though.
"Ah huh..." Her sister would have taken the time to admire it, or say something clever, but decided against it for the obvious reason that Mridula would probably freak out. She instead plucked the thin rectangular phone that was stored in the pocket of her vest, and dialed for the number of a taxi while the tucked her sopping wet hair behind her horns. "Yes... South Canton Rental Taxi? Could you send a two seater taxibike to the waterfront?"
"..." Mridula bit her bottom lip lightly, trying to keep the delighted little grin off her face.
"You're on my GPS marker? The nearest road, right? Oh... good. Thanks." Madhu shut her phone as she finished conversing with the attendant from the taxi service, and turned to her sister with a bright smile. "I'd like it if we could finish this discussion at home, sis. Can you wait... that long?"
END
South Residential Canton
Yetsava 11, 935
17:19, Commonwealth Standard Time
Hearing of some groundbreaking news that had to be told in person, Mridula Ituri Osei had been called to the city of her birth by her twin sister, Madhu. The letter had said to meet her in the park by the dockyards in the Southern Canton of the city, a place both familiar and dear to the two of them, in particular to the athletic and energetic sibling that had called the scientist back. This area of the dockyards had undergone some renovations as part of some urban renewal plan several months ago, bringing a new vibrance to the area. A few couples strolled down the long seaside walkway, past musicians playing airy Eyr Ranr folk tunes and groups of youngsters kicking a battered Jeibuhu around.
Mridula strolled down the street with an easy manner, glad to be back in the enclave where she and Madhu had grown up. Every building was familiar - so familiar, in fact, that she daydreamed about her twin sister rather than watching where she was going. It had been long enough since they had seen each other that she had been beginning to feel quite lonely, and even though they regularly spoke to each other in their dreams, she felt it was a poor substitute. She was so excited that she had eschewed her normal, body-concealing lab coat in favor of a belly shirt with long, poofy sleeves, and a pair of also poofy shorts that barely reached the middle of her thigh. She had also left her hair untied, and it fell in a straight white curtain down to her shoulders. Her feet were simply covered in sandals.
"Sister!" Mridula would hear a familiar voice as a firm body suddenly attached itself to her back, clearly after a running start and what must have been a three meter jump based on how much wind had been knocked out of her lungs. The slightly heavier woman rubbed her face against the back of her sister's neck and let out a soft giggle. "You're on time!"
The biologist squawked loudly, toppling right forward into the grass. She managed to wiggle around enough to face her twin, embracing the other girl with just as much enthusiasm, rubbing their noses together lightly. "I'm always on time, Madhu... it's good to see you again." Her voice was a little wispy from having the breath knocked from her.
"Oh, right! I guess it was a little silly of me to think that you wouldn't be." Madhu rolled over onto her back and glanced back at Mridula, making another soft giggle. "It's been too long, hasn't it? You should treat me to dinner with that overblown Solanii paycheck to celebrate the occasion." She said with a broad grin, rubbing a small scar that ran a little bit beneath her sunburned cheeks.
"I was hoping we'd stay in today." She smirked, running a long finger over Madhu's stomach. "...what was so important that you called me here, though? You were talking like it was urgent."
"It wasn't urgent... per se." Madhu scrunched her face as she glanced away for a moment, rolling her body forwards to sit up and bringing her knees close enough to rest her arms on them. At this point, Mridula would finally have a clear view of her twin sister's appearance, her firm, well-toned and wear-hardened torso covered in what appeared to be a lustrous skintight black semi-organic sleeveless turtleneck with a baroque Eyr Ranr-styled vest over it. Tights of a material similar to vest went down to her knees, the thrills of an imaginetion only barely preserved by a short skirt that covered her upper thighs. "But I'm signed." She seemed quiet down a little, and clung tightly to her knees.
"Madhu, that's wonderful! Why are you so upset?" The biologist sat up, her surprisingly strong, warm hands stroking over her sister's shoulders... and lower, after she got a good look at what she was wearing. After she had her fill of feeling, she simply wrapped her arms around Madhu's waist and cuddled her.
"Mizar wants to recruit me, but Kaeshun and Caal Farice are both putting up better offers because they haven't signed on any strong players this season." Madhu said with a mild frown, stamping her left fist into the soft grass. "My manager is pressuring me to take the offer from Kaeshun, because that stadium is bigger and that team gives its players a precentage of the gallery. Plus... Kaeshun is a rich city, so getting endorsements should be fairly easy..."
She looked back at her sister with a conflicted frown. "Ugh... all this talk of money honestly pisses me off!" Mahdu said with a scowl, ruffling her already messy neck-length hair to calm herself a little.
Mridula nosed through that messy tangle to press a kiss on the back of her neck. "Money doesn't matter. Do what'll make you happy, sister. When you're gone you can't take the money, but you'll still be happy."
"I'd be less bothered about choosing against money if I didn't think that Mizar is less interested in me than the other two teams. Caal Farice would offer a year-round climate that would be good for me, and Kaeshun has told me up front that they want to groom me." Madhu glanced over and ran her finger across Mridula's nose, sheepishly biting her own lower lip. "Not that way. This hair is stays this long, and however I want it."
"We wouldn't have it any other way." Mridula murmured affectionately as her twin touched her nose, then scrunched it up and giggled softly. "...it sounds like Kaeshun wants you the most. Go with them, they'll treat you well." A sly smile crept across her face, and she poked Madhu in the side with one finger. "You might even meet some cute girls in the locker room."
"I don't really have any interest in anyone right now." Madhu nodded sheepishly, standing herself up and dusting off her clothes. "I mean... it'd be nice to have someone, but it's pretty bad to mix business and play like that, and a relationship would give me less free time." She said with a bit of a shrug, extending her hand to her sister.
Mridula's face contorted into a mixture of a pained expression and a massive pout. She stood without the aid of Madhu's hand, then crossed her arms over her chest. "...fine, then!"
Madhu stood there, eyes agape and scratched her head. "What did I do wrong?" She wondered to herself quietly, taking a few steps onto the walkway before pausing to look back at her sister. The woman's lightly sunburned face was shaped into a slightly uncomfortable smile. " I... I rented us a two-seater bicycle... just like when we were kids. Would you like to... ride for a bit?"
Her sister's face was still scrunched into an expression of unhappiness. "...okay. If you want to." She strode forwards, arms wrapping around her stomach. "It'd be nice to be kids again, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah... but there's a bunch of fun things that we wouldn't be allowed to do back then." Madhu said with a bit of a flourish, raising her arm to point to a small drone courier carrying a supply crate a few hundred meters ahead. The container was made of some semi-transparent plas, doing little to disguise the two-seater bike inside. "And allowance. Mother and father never really gave us much unless we broke our backs doing chores."
"Well, yes... but at least you were willing to do mine, sometimes." A small smirk passed briefly across the biologist's face as she remembered their youth. "...and we had each other, don't forget that. With a twin, nothing else matters." Her head raised to look at the bike-crate. "Are you going to drop that on us?"
"Hey, you! It's me, the customer who made the call earlier." Madhu approached the drone from the front, holding out an identification card in front of its single mono-eye, shaking it a little to catch its attention. "Geez... and to think that you guys actually co-opted with Ahmida to make these damn things. They always act half asleep."
"It's not our fault. And anyway I wasn't involved with that! If I was it would... shoot lasers, or make smoothies or something."
"Please: Confirm User!" Suddenly, a pair of tentacles ending in manipulators extended out from the sides of the machine, carefully plucking the identification card from Madhu's hand and holding it steady as a scanning beam ran up and down the piece of plastic, perking its head to the side as it observed two people who matched the description on the card in the immediate area. "Identify, M. Osei. This unit is confused by the identity of the customer who placed request: '935-01-03-C-774893'."
"Whaddya mean!? I'm right here!" Madhu gave the drone's head a throttle with her fist, her face shaped into a light frown. She glanced around for a second, looking around for some sort of explanation as to why the drone was confused about if she was actually herself. The thought that she was accompanied by her twin came up, leading the fieldball player to place her hand to her forehead and let out a small sigh. "Oh... you've gotta be kidding me..."
"Here, let's try this." Mridula stepped behind her identical twin, holding her body in imitation of the other woman. Only her poofy clothes were visible from the front. "I'm going to send our parents an angry letter for making us twins, you know. And giving us the same initials."
"User confirmed! Thank you for using Ahmida Civiltech, and have a nice day." The drone opened up its rear, small arms inside of the container picking up and depositing the contents outside of the container, including the bicycle and a pair of helmets for the two renters, and retracted back inside and closed the container shut. The courier raised one of its mechanical tentacles and made a small salute to the two sisters, and began powering the small liftspheres that adorned the underside of its body. "Virtues in quality, wealth in quantity."
Mridula saluted back, then retrieved one of the helmets and put it snugly on her head, adjusting it a bit before strapping it around her chin. That done, she struck a dramatic pose for Madhu. "How do I look? Ready for bike riding?"
"Like one of those holovid idols they use to sell bikes." Madhu said with a lazy grin, stretching her arms up and letting out a light yawn. She still felt a little annoyed by the incident with the courier, but she was at least going to get to bike alongside a pleasant view of the sea and felt at ease just knowing she'd be able to spend some time alone with her beloved sister... even if it was for only a short time. Placing the helmet onto her head and snapping it in place, she nodded to Mridula. "I'm thinking I'd rather ride back this time. With this weather, the view is too good to pass up."
The fieldball player's twin turned slightly pink in surprise before she realized what Madhu was actually getting at. She nodded slowly, smiling back at the other woman. "You're more idol material. I'm just a boring scientist... how about you ride in front?" Mridula's motives were transparent to everyone, probably, but her sister.
Madhu blushed a little, her sunburnt cheeks gaining a light tint of red. "Only... only if scars and sunburns are suddenly in. But..." She attempted to refuse her sister's counteroffer, but still felt a little guilty about making her sister feel bad earlier and was put off her guard by Mridula's praise. As it were, the athletic woman was too flustered to refuse properly, and let out a small defeated sigh. "Well, allright! But you better enjoy that view of the bay. I can't remember the last time it was this clear, and that sunset will probably be amazing."
"You can look, too. I'll just give you a good smack if you veer too far off course." Mridula grinned wickedly, patting her sister's side with one hand before she slung her long legs over the rear seat of the tandem bike, getting settled in by wiggling her hips about and knocking the pedals with her feet.
Her sister scratched the side of her temple and made a small gulp, taking the front of the two seats on the tamdem bike, rubbing her rear into the 'smart' material of the seat to get a good shape. The muscles in her legs and back flexed for a moment, and she took a deep breath, starting with a small kick off the ground to get them going. She immediately began peddling, pushing the two of them at a speed that would carry them a bit faster than the average jogger on the promenade.
The warm winds of the afternoon and the smell of kebab carts and fruit stands wafted into the air as the two sisters moved down the promenade by the bay. To their right was the bright blue and green ocean glowing in the light of the mid-day sun, while a series of boutiques and restaurants flanked them on the right, out of the shadows of the massive cantons of Mizar as long as the white sun lay overhead.
Mridula sprung her plot as soon as they started moving, as her own much less muscular legs very nearly struggled to keep up with her sister's pace. She leaned forward, careful not to unbalance the entire bike, and wrapped her arms around Madhu's waist, using the other girl's shoulder as a head rest. "The view here is much better, I think." Despite the flirtiness of her statement she appeared to be genuinely looking at the scenery, her grey eyes resting on whatever she found most interesting until they passed it. "...maybe we could get lunch, later. These smells are driving me up the wall."
"Ah... try not to lean on one side too much, or we'll crash." Madhu said worriedly, biting her lower lip lightly. The last thing she wanted was to break something right before the season started or worse, see Mridula get injured... especially if it was because she was getting too cuddly. "I wouldn't mind getting something to eat. As long as you aren't feeding me biomods, I think I'll be legal to play when the season starts."
"I wouldn't feed my beloved sister biomods. Hmph." Chastened, Mridula withdrew her arms and began to pedal with more concentration.
"That's not what I meant! It was supposed to be..." Madhu panicked for a moment, losing her handle of the bike for a split second. The entire vehicle experienced a curve, similar to a wave for the instant before she regained control. "... a joke!"
"Aagh!" The Solanii biologist grabbed onto her sister's shoulders as they swerved, but let go as soon as they were stable again. "...don't do that, Madhu!"
"Well... I'm never normally this distracted! It isn't my f-" Madhu bit her tongue and realized what she was saying, letting a small sigh escape her lips. "... it's my fault for not paying attention to the street."
"...distracted? What's wrong?" Mridula wobbled slightly on the bike, but gripped her seat to keep her balance as she pedaled steadily along with Madhu.
"Ah... it's nothing!" Madhu did poorly to assuage the worried question of her sister, but keenly refused to answer. The truth, that she was still unsure as to why Mridula had gotten angry before and had been wondering why, remained unspoken. "Would you prefer shish kebab, kafta or something healthier... like a salad?"
"Kafta sounds good... I try not to eat it away from here, it just wouldn't be as good. And I'd get sick with nostalgia. ...and if nothing is wrong, why did you say you're distracted?"
"Alright then!" Madhu acknowledged, slowing the pace of her pedaling as they approached a kebab stand. The bike came to a crawl as she put her foot out and onto the roughened plas of the promenade, stopping a few feet short of a kebab trolley drone being manned by a wiry Sund Wakir.
Mridula dismounted the tandem bike but stayed respectfully behind Madhu as they walked. Her eyes locked onto the kebab trolley, and she licked her lips a bit as her stomach gave a barely-audible rumble.
Both the vendor and his automated cart seemed to notice the sisters approaching, a small mechanical tentacle tapping him on the shoulder even as he turned to greet the two. The cart seemed to be of a similar design as the courier that had brought the bike earlier, although it had been modified to carry a rider in a lifecycle-style seat and had a mobile kitchen container instead of the more conventional storage crate.
"Ach, you silly machine. I saw them too!" the man barked, crossing his arms over his long grey service uniform. He seemed to be in his late sixties, just starting his 'middle-age.' The deep lines of his face and light frown betrayed his character somewhat more the shine of his eyes, revealing the distinct possiblity that he had been an old man for most of his life. "Adravni, mada-" The driver paused for a moment, a smile plastered to his lined and sun-hardened face.
"Good afternoon, Ediz!" Madhu cut in before he could resume energetically, giving him a small grin of recognition. "Must be good business when the weather is this good."
Mridula cut an elegant bow, unable to wipe the grin off her face at the sight of the wrinkled vendor. "Afternoon, ser! Long time no see. I've missed your delicious food more than I can even say!"
Ediz sized both of the young women up for a moment, tapping the side of the of his trolley with a roll of his fingers. "Saints be merciful. My heart almost stopped when I saw how much you two have grown... it brings this bitter old man sandy tears to see his two favorite customers grow up to be so beautiful." He said with a bright, mildly lecherous grin.
"Section 3, Section 3. Complaints currently above quota." The trolley drone immediately cut in on him, delivering a small jab into his back with the metallic tentacle. "Sexual harassment is a crime!"
"Auurgh! Feh on morality and conduct! If I want to be a good-living man, I would work in the offices... or some kitchen... indoors." The vendor slammed his fist down onto the drone's head, causing it to shake a little, and glanced back at the sisters. His grimace feigned innocence, but he still seemed at least a little embarassed by the turn of events. "Now... what can Ediz's Best Kebabs give you?"
The drone-abuse made Mridula wince a bit, and she leaned close in to rub its tentacle affectionately. "Poor thing, don't hit it... although I don't mind the flirting." She grinned slyly and elbowed Ediz, waggling her eyebrows. "Especially from such a handsome young fellow."
Ediz stroked his short grey goatee, his mouth pursed slightly, and spat on the ground. "I would not be so bothered so much if the franchise hadn't installed a watchdog NI into my cart. This one is always trying to avoid 'customer service complaints' and 'lawsuits'!"
Mridula stepped back slightly to avoid the spittle-projectile, but her face spread in a grin as Ediz mentioned the rules-lawyering NI. "Maybe I could fix that for you."
"You could, but the manager would accuse me of foul play. That frostbitten Mazerinii beaurocrat will be the death of Ediz' Best Kebabs!" The vendor lamented, reaching for a clear plas bottle of filled with a transcluscent red liquid.
"No bureaucrat could ever hope to put you out of business, Ediz." The Solanii biologist grinned even wider, leaning a bit on her sister as she watched the older man go about his business. "...what are you going to get, Madhu?"
"I'm kinda in the mood for Shish Kebab myself, although Ediz' kafta is probably the best on the waterfront." Madhu said pensively, staring at the viewscreen on the side of the mobile kitchen cart. "On the other hand..."
"Oh, where did I go wrong?" Mridula deadpanned, pressing the back of one hand to her forehead in an expression of mock despair, though she couldn't quite get the amused smile off her face. "My sister wants a stick of hot meat from this poor vendor."
"Of course she wants meatstick of Ediz! Ediz's Best Kebabs are BEST KEBABS in South Canton!" Ediz exclaimed proudly, placing his hand over his heart and raising the other to the sky above him. He had somehow missed the innuendo being said, and had instead gone the route of espousing his pride at the greatness of his craft. "You will not find a better kafta kebab, shish kebab or shish taouk! And if you do, it is because you are DEAD!"
At that, Mridula couldn't keep in her amusement, and she began to laugh so hard tears nearly came to her eyes as she clung to Madhu to keep her balance. She barely managed to gesture to the cart in her conniptions, wheezing, "...c-can I get some k-kafta, please, Ediz?"
"Haha! None may resist the lure of kafta kebab!" Ediz grinned, tapping the drone's head. "One kafta kebab, the usual way." He turned to Madhu, anxiously rolling his fingers across the head of his cart. "And you, my strong-bodied lady, will be having... ?"
"..." Madhu stayed silent for a moment, cracking her fingers by pressing her fist against her hips. She almost brought herself to reply immediately, but realized that it would have come out sounding like a battlecry, or some sort of death threat. She bit her lip, feeling the blood boiling in her head soak through her body down into her feet and through the ground. A small smile graced her lips at the end of those three seconds of silence, followed by a rather ordinary question. "Hey Kebab Cart. What was a crime again? I've forgotten..."
"Sexual harassment!" The drone complied with another jab into Ediz' back with its mechanical tentacle. "Sexual harassment is a crime!"
"Auurgh!" Ediz grunted, turning to Madhu with a bit of a malicious grin. "You little-"
"I'll take two shish kebab, with the yogurt sauce." Madhu said innocently, tucking her balled fists behind her back and staring up into the air as she gently puffed her chest out. She couldn't help but feel a little amused. "Oh, and could you get us Caalian Springs sparkling juices? Biking around in this weather is pretty thirsty."
Mridula murmured a little and tapped Madhu's hip with her hand, puffing out a breath of air onto the side of her sister's helmet. "Don't terrorize the poor man, love, he'll poke us with his kebab sticks or something." She smirked as she hugged the more athletic woman around the waist.
Madhu frowned. "Ediz deserves it... even if his kebabs are great." She whispered, biting her tongue to keep herself from saying more.
"Your food." Ediz tended an opaque bioplas bag to Mridula, full of heat and oily steam, and another transparent one that clearly contained a pair of bottles filled with the same red liquid that he had ingested earlier. "I do not really care if you think Ediz is a monster now that you are all grown. I sell you BEST KEBABS, you stand around looking pretty for a few minutes, we talk and I remember times when I did not have a robotic moralist assaulting my hindquarters all the time." The man made a slight exaggerated bow. "Enjoy meats of Ediz's Best Kebabs. Best Kebabs in South Canton."
Mridula took the bags, then opened the one containing the food, letting the fragrant steam wash over her face. She grinned and licked her lips before closing it up again to be sure all the goodness wouldn't escape. "...smells just as delicious as I remember, Ediz. Thank you."
"Payment: Eight Kuon Dalri." The drone extended a small card slot at the end of another tentacle. "Please."
Madhu moved to retrieve her KD card from her pocket, and slid it across the grooved box the cart had extended to her. "It was uh... nice to see you again Ediz. I'm the food'll be great!."
"We should go." The athlete turned to her sister and tilted her head to the side, grabbing the handlebars of their rental bike and began walking - away from Ediz and the cart.
"Enjoy your day, and say hello to your parents for me!" Ediz called out in the distance, with an energetic wave that seemed to defy his crotchety appearance and attitude.
As they walked, Mridula eyed the food hungrily. "What do you have against Ediz? He's just a harmless old man; nothing wrong with a little teasing."
"Well, it's nothing really. I'm not really used to be oogled like that... and he was using weird words like 'meatstick'. You'll have to excuse me if I wasn't a little creeped out."
"You don't like meatsticks?" The scientist gave her twin her very best innocent look.
"Bu... hwa..." Madhu let go of the bike and slammed her hands against her thighs, her sunburned cheeks taking on a light color of wine as her mouth quivvered lightly. She was honestly trumped by the question, and felt like either of the obvious answers would be an equivalent, if slight divergent form of death. She lunged forward, gripping her head and did a sudden jerking movement as her entire upper body shook downwards, in clear defeat. "WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?!"
"I was only teasing! Don't get so upset, Madhu..." She ran a hand down her sister's back over and over, frowning deeply. "...I'm sorry... I'm not a very good sibling, am I?"
Madhu placed an arm on Mridula's shoulder and let out an apologetic sigh. "You aren't. I'm just lousy with feelin's and stuff. It's not your fault you're more comfy with them, and can actually make jokes about sex." She glanced at the ground for a moment and placed her other hand to her mouth. "Well... actually, it is... But I'm still sorry for not taking it like a joke!"
"I love you anyway." Mridula beamed and embraced her sister tightly, and their helmets bonked together as she pressed the very sweetest of kisses on the other girl's cheek. "Is there... anything you want to talk about? You seem a little uncomfortable."
"I love you too, sis." Madhu replied with an equally happy cast, slinking her other around Mridula's neck and hugging her tightly. She breathed in quiet, deep breaths as she held onto her sister. "It's just been so long since I've been able to spend time with my favorite sister. You act like that girl genius I grew up with, but sometimes it almost feels like being around a stranger. "
The athlete gulped. "I... kinda like it."
Mridula smiled even wider as her sister held onto her. She gave Madhu a loving squeeze, reaching up to undo both their helmets and then wrestle them off. That done, she leaned her forehead on her sister's. "I like it, too. You're my strong, brave sister, and the star fieldball player I watch all the time."
It was a confusing and disorienting moment for Madhu. She could smell the sweet and slightly bitter aroma of her sister's breath, the heat of the skin pressed against hers and for a moment, the voice of her twin sounded full of love... or lust. "I... uhm." She let go, and gently slipped out of Mridula's grasp, masking her discomfort with the easy sort of smile she put on at the end of a good game, that her team had lost. A playful laugh forced its way past her lips. "It's pretty awesome that I have a perfect sibling like you."
She patted her stomach, and beamed brightly. "But I kinda wanna eat now."
The biologist looked a little sad as she was divested of her warm, cuddly sibling - she'd thought they were finally as close again as they had been when they were young, but it seemed like there was something bothering Madhu. She decided to wait to press the issue until after they'd eaten, though "...alright. Where do you want to sit?" Just as she spoke, her stomach let out a small rumble, and her cheeks tinted lightly.
Madhu set the bike against the thick composite barrier on the waterfront edge of the promenade, and climbed atop the knee-high wall, dangling her legs over the low beachfront, where the tides had already risen and overtaken the land. "How about here? Not really safe, but kinda nostalgic."
Mridula climbed up beside her sister, sitting with her legs crossed elegantly, the bags resting in the small space in between them. "It's beautiful. I like this spot." She gave Madhu a big smile, trying to cheer her up a little - whatever was wrong.
Her sister seemed to brighten a little as she reached for one of the piping hot kebabs, gingerly placing the end into her mouth and pulling off one of the cubes of well-marinated and lightly-charred meat. Tearing into it with gusto, she glanced over at Mridula as she finished her first bite, placing the now-bare tip of the skewer against her lower lip. "Hey sis, mind if I ask something?"
"Mmm? Sure." Mridula watched her sister eat with a grin before she produced her own skewered kafta, holding the stick in one hand as she worked the first ball off and held it in three fingers, nibbling delicately on it. "...delicious."
"Did you have any uh... luck? At Solan... people... I mean." Madhu blurted out nervously, before slipping two pieces of her kebab into her mouth and chewing furiously.
"Luck? With... oh! Oh, right." The Solanii liaison laughed softly, finishing off the first bit of kafta and licking off her fingers before she continued. "I had a few flings, yes. None of them lasted very long, you know how work relationships go... but there were some good times." She worked another kafta loose. "How about you? Anyone?"
"Bu... hwa..." Madhu stumbled, staring at Mridula for a moment. Her attitude seemed to be a little bit different from the confident and energetic person the scientist had seen earlier, but actually rather bashful. "I..." The dirt-roughened indexes touched as she tapped them together nervously, glancing away into the bay. "I was in a relationship with the captain of my training camp team... and the physio the league hired for us..."
"Oh, details, details, Madhu!" Mridula turned towards her sister, her eyes bright and curious. "You tell me all about them, right now!"
"The captain was an amazing player... maybe the only person I could respect at the camp. She was beautiful... a Mazerinii. Tall and albinic, with white hair and dark red eyes that could cut right through you." Madhu laughed to herself quietly, leaning into the lamppost set into the wall next to her. "The physio... was probably the nicest guy in the world... and then things got really complicated."
"I was at their wedding... last month." She said with a wistful smile, taking a sip of the red drink they'd purchased.
"...oh, Madhu." The scientist put her kebab down and leaned over to embrace her sister again, kissing both of the girl's cheeks. "I'll go beat them up, or something... nobody hurts my sister's feelings and gets away with it." She clung fiercely to Madhu, one hand moving up to stroke her hair. "I'm so sorry."
"Eeep~" Madhu squeaked as she was hugged suddenly and embraced, but leaned in as best she could with two full hands and slightly messy mouth. "I... I don't really hate them, as a matter of fact... I think I can say that I still love the two of them as my best friends. It hurts, but I don't think I've ever been this happy to be hurt." She smiled and placed a slightly oily kiss on Mridula's left cheek. "So cheer up sis. I'm just fine!"
Just as Madhu pulled back from the cheek-kiss, her twin cupped her cheek in her long-fingered hand and pulled her right back in, touching their identical lips together in a tender, soothing kiss.
The Mridula's twin sister wrapped her arms around her as best as possible without touching the foodstuffs to her back, gently leaning deeper into the kiss. All the confusion and malaise she'd experienced earlier seemed to be a distant notion, and for a few seconds, she had a sense of clarity unlike anything she had felt since the simple years she'd spent growing up with her sister. Like she'd been reunited with some distant missing piece of herself, and latching onto it, never wanted to let go.
But reality rushed back all too quickly, and she realized that the person embracing her was the same young woman that had shared everything with her until two years ago. She pulled away, gasping for air in light, shallow breaths and turned away. Her cheeks burnt a bright rosy color that cut through the sunburnt brown, and the confusion that had been dispelled so suddenly had come back, stronger than ever. Madhu had learned something that she wouldn't ever be able to admit. She was in love with her sister.
"..." Madhu learned back against the lamppost and resumed eating, saying little or nothing.
Mridula, on the other hand, had always known she loved Madhu - deeply and passionately, since the very first time they had kissed; it had seemed lifetimes ago since they parted, but now, all the feelings from those long years ago came rushing back. Kissing her twin felt more than good - it felt right, and she never wanted that kiss to end. When Madhu pulled away, the tip of the biologist's tongue ran over her own lips, tasting the kebab and, more importantly, her sister's chapstick - simple and unflavored, and it only made her love grow all the more.
The liaison's cheeks had only blushed the smallest bit; she was too busy enjoying the feeling of her heart lifting in her chest - until Madhu turned away and started to eat again, without another word. Then, Mridula's face fell, and she felt her heart thump down into her shoes at a speed far greater than the ones granted by the distortion catapults she used to get into orbit. She felt hot tears prickle at her eyes, and she turned away as well, her appetite suddenly gone.
"..." Her sister finished her second kebab and wiped the yogurt sauce container clean with some of the flatbread included in the bag, stuffing herself until her portion had been completed. Half the bottle of the sparkling drink followed soon after, washing the bits of food down and cleaning her mouth out entirely of the taste of meat - and of Mridula's tongue. "You should probably finish the kafta. I really worry about you taking care of yourself... when you're on long assignments with Solan..."
"...no, no, it's... fine." She picked up her own drink and swigged a good portion of it down without stopping. "I'm... not hungry." The biologist realized she was experiencing something she hadn't felt in her entire life, being as she was constantly in the company of her beloved sister - she was heartbroken.
"I... you really should. It'd be a shame to let Ediz' cooking to go to waste..." Madhu said weakly, contemplating the spout of her drink bottle.
"You can have it." Mridula rested the half-eaten kafta kebab on top of the bag it'd come from before she stood up, dusting her bottom off. "I'm... going to... go, I think."
"Well... no. I..." Madhu wiped her hands on a napkin and stood herself back up. She grabbed a hold of Mridula's arm, her grasp loose and palms sweaty and cold. "Mri... it's just..."
"...just what? Just that you don't love me?" Mridula whirled on Madhu, tears starting to streak down her soft brown face. "Just that you... you don't..." She wrested her arm free and buried her face in her hands as she began to sob, her shoulders shaking. "Just that y-you've never wanted me h-how I've wanted you? I'm... I'm j-just going to... leave..."
"It's not that! I..." Madhu exclaimed at the top of her lungs, climbing onto the short wall behind her. "Mridula! I..." The first part of the statement seemed to flow quite easily, but those words that had meaning were like sand in the athlete's lungs, more difficult to speak than any exotic language in the universe.
"...it d-doesn't matter, Madhu." Mridula dragged her puffy sleeve across her face, trying futilely to wipe away some of her tears. "We're n-not kids anymore, and... what we did t-then doesn't matter. I'll just go." She struggled down the composite barrier.
"Mridula! I love you, more than anything in the world!" Madhu continued, raising her arm into the sky as if she was carrying some championship trophy. The anxious and shocked sister from before had given way to the absolutely confident and passionate fieldball player that had grown alongside, and apart from, Mridula. "And I- uwaah~"
A sudden gust of wind put the young woman off-ballance, knocking her backwards from her perch and backwards into the shallow drink that had come up over the waterfront with the high tide. Madhu plunged back-first, and sunk all the way to the bottom of the two meters of blue-green water, murky from the sudden uplift of debris and sand that had been shaken up.
"MADHU!" The athlete's sister clambered as fast as she could possibly manage back up the wall as she saw Madhu vanish, toppled by the same breeze she'd just felt. When she realized where the girl had gone, she leapt into the sea without a second thought. She'd been trained in swimming, and so was able to speed the short distance easily, one arm wrapping around her sister once she was close enough. Her long legs kicked, pushing them both back up to the surface.
The land-loving Madhu had done poorly during her descent into the water, and coughed up a large amount of water as she brough back into the air. Still, a little dazed from the impact, she stumbled to murmur an apology to her beloved sister, choking not on the words this time, but more literally gagging from the saltwater she had taken into her stomach and lungs. "Mri... du... la... I'm... s-so..."
"Sshhh, sh..." She dragged Madhu to the shore, laying the young lady down on her back and pressing on her stomach rhythmically. "...don't be sorry, don't be sorry, just... spit it up..."
Madhu rolled away and onto her stomach, vomitting a little from the shock the water gave her and the severe pains in her stomach, from both the water the the unnecessary CPR her sister had given her. She eventually manage to pulled herself back up onto her elbows and knees, and glanced over at Mridula with a mixture of immense confusion and great happiness. "You... shouldn't.. h-have done that. Now... Ediz is g-going to be... p-pissed."
"Ediz can be pissed all by himself... I have my lovely sister to keep me company." Mridula's face was conflicted - she didn't know whether to be excited that her sister loved her, or worried that she was lying. She ran a finger over her twin's wet forehead, tucking a strand of hair out of the way. "Are you alright?"
"... Y-yeah." Madhu wobbled as she stood up, peeling the soaked Eyr Ranr-style vest and skirt that she'd worn earlier, leaving her with the tight black garment that covered her torso and thighs. At a glance, it didn't appear to have been changed that much by the water, save that the water droplets had given it a slight shine... and the manner by which it clung tightly to her body was now uninhibited by the clothing she'd layered over it. "Jeez... this won't hide much for the ride home..."
While Madhu's outfit had been made to hug her body, Mridula's poofy clothes hadn't - at least until she took a dunk in the sea. Now, the light, filmy clothing had pressed incredibly close to her skin, and was nearly transparent on top of that, revealing that evidently Mridula had decided to wear some rather nice lingerie for her appointment with her twin. She didn't even seem to notice how her body was now shown off, though.
"Ah huh..." Her sister would have taken the time to admire it, or say something clever, but decided against it for the obvious reason that Mridula would probably freak out. She instead plucked the thin rectangular phone that was stored in the pocket of her vest, and dialed for the number of a taxi while the tucked her sopping wet hair behind her horns. "Yes... South Canton Rental Taxi? Could you send a two seater taxibike to the waterfront?"
"..." Mridula bit her bottom lip lightly, trying to keep the delighted little grin off her face.
"You're on my GPS marker? The nearest road, right? Oh... good. Thanks." Madhu shut her phone as she finished conversing with the attendant from the taxi service, and turned to her sister with a bright smile. "I'd like it if we could finish this discussion at home, sis. Can you wait... that long?"
END
