Arknights One Shots

Anger (Ch'en, Swire)

A/N: Will there be any timeline for this book? Well, probably not unless I explicitly say so or reference something. As for the pairings, if it's an 'x' then they're together, otherwise it'll just be a comma if it's friendship or other. Hope y'all enjoy.

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The pencil on her desk rolled from one side to the other as she flicked it with her finger. The smell of paper and fresh ink filled the air, barely muted by the brewing aroma of coffee in the corner. The office she sat in was neatly furnished and decorated with a poise that reflected its owner's tastes. The desk was a dark wooden, the chair she sat in comfortable leather. Pictures on the walls reflected smiling faces. She hadn't cared to hang them up, but at her girlfriend's persistence she changed her mind. And, there was the photo in her desk right now. Safely secured from viewing, just as it should be.

No one needed to see the old photo anyways. Frankly, she wasn't sure why she had taken it from her old home in the first place. Perhaps because the ghosts of the past are never gone. Tallulah is still out there . . .

It was best not to let her mind wander, even if she was becoming increasingly bored. This office, for all its comforts, was rarely used by the superintendent. Ch'en resisted the urge to moan as sleepiness cloyed away at her body that had been sitting for far too long. By the time another hour had slipped by —an hour of nothing but contemplating life, filling out the same bland paperwork, and sipping coffee that was as sweet as it was bitter— she had enough of sitting around.

"I'm going out." The words were said to no one in particular. Bones ached with the effort of getting up, a soreness from being locked in one position. Predictably, the pencil clattered onto the ground. She thought about picking it up, but decided against it as her door slammed open.

Ch'en knew who it would be before the figure was revealed. Boredom turned to annoyance as she regarded her coworker with a lidded gaze. "What do you want Little Miss?"

"Why do you always assume I want something when I come here?" Swire asked. Her triangular ears were pricked and alert as the green eyes focused on her. She had her phone in hand, for what purpose Ch'en could care less. "And I told you to call me Swire. What are you doing standing up?"

Ch'en sighed. Back in the day, she would've made something vague up just to get under the other woman's skin. Now, she just gave a straightforward answer. Knowing Swire, she would be too surprised to make a jibe back. "Figured I would go out for awhile, stretch my legs. It's been awfully quiet in Lungmen lately."

"Huh. You really are being honest lately," Swire said. "I'm not sure I can handle such a change."

"Better get used to it then. I don't have time to deal with your trivial confusion."

Swire glared at her, a haughty look she was all too familiar with plastered on her face. "And there she is. The same *Lungmen Profanity* I always knew."

Ch'en glared back. Normally anger in the workplace was frowned upon. But for Ch'en and Swire, it was how they functioned. This was an atmosphere she was familiar with; this was something that relaxed her shoulders and narrowed her eyes and raised her voice. Verbal anger wasn't exactly action in the physical sense, but it would be enough to turn her boring day somewhat interesting.

"The same goes for you *Lungmen profanity*. How about you tell me why you're here so you can go ahead and leave. I'm quiet busy as you can see."

"You just said you were going out!" Swire snapped back.

"Well it doesn't matter, maybe I changed my mind!" Ch'en yelled back. Thankfully her office had soundproof walls. Their arguments were borderline to crazed fans shouting up at their favorite musicians as they performed at a concert. This butting of heads was a bit more violent however, but far more amusing in her opinion.

"You're such an idiot Ch'en! Why do I bother with you?"

"I've been wondering the same thing." She snapped back.

"Ugh! Oh my gosh. Fine! I'm here because Hoshiguma wanted us to all go out together for dinner tonight. Said it would be nice to take the next couple days off next week, go on vacation while things are quiet."

And then the scenarios slid into place and Ch'en understood. "Oh. I see."

"You see what? Don't tell me you're still mad." Swire seemed to slowly be calming down, but her gaze was still narrowed.

"I'm not. Thank you for letting me know. I've . . . been looking forward to this." It was true. Ch'en had been looking forward to an opportunity to get away for awhile, but had never assumed it would be this soon. Time with her girlfriend was always appreciated, needed whenever the hounding daily work became too much to bear. But she would not dare ask Wei herself, lest it make her look weak.

"Aww. Is Ah Ch'en a softy after all?" Swire crooned. "I didn't realize you wanted to spend time with me." She was sing songing.

Ch'en huffed, reminding herself that the vacation wasn't exactly just for her and Hoshiguma. As often as she discredited Swire, the other woman also put plenty of effort into her job. Both of them had endured many a sleepless night to keep Lungmen safe.

"I don't want to spend time with you." She scowled. And okay, maybe that was a lie. They were capable of getting along once in awhile, especially when they weren't working. She could be nice, and Swire could be sweet. Hoshiguma was the icing on the cake, tying them all together. "I just like vacationing."

Something in Swire seemed to soften, or perhaps it was just the way her tail spun behind her in an arc of a wayward kite. The stripes were like ribbons flickering with each kink. She grinned at Ch'en. "Great, lets get going then."

Ch'en took the hand offered to her. It was warm in her grasp, the anger from before gone. The two made their way out of the neat office together, ready for the relaxation they would plan ahead and the enjoyable dinner of tonight.