Amma had paused, a slow tilt to her head, almost as if unsure that she had heard the speculation and inquiry correctly. Someone wanted to share a tent with her, something of a nearly implausible circumstance when she did not even possess a roommate. A tent appeared for more... confining. Intimate. Close. And though there was a precedence of friendship there, a hesitant conclusion that Amma was still uncertain of, she seemed almost taken back by the unfolding situation. Firstly being conjoined to work with Lorcan and Rory, being entrusted to the field, and secondly being approached by Katja when she was almost positive she would've rather bunk with someone else.
Anyone else.
With a curious pass over, she tested the words in her mind still awhirl in her musings and said: "No, I hadn't planned on sharing a tent with anyone." Such was the truth, everyone else had been paired up almost automatically, it was a given for some and a trial for others. Whilst she had no intention of participating, Amma still considered the alternative and almost denied that beaming smile, but with a slight grin and a crossing of her arms she simply nodded.
"Sure," she gestured with a slight shrug and flicked her wrist in an off-handed gesture. "Why not, I picked the one closest to the cliff there. Hope you're not afraid of heights." she deadpanned; a soft, tittering sound loosened from her smile before she resumed her walk towards the field and waved her farewell over her shoulder.
Katja didn't realize she was holding her breath until she exhaled in a sigh of relief. For a second there she feared Amma was going to decline on her offer. But those doubts melted away with the Raven-haired girl consenting to bunk with her.
Katja's smile grew even brighter upon hearing her accept. Almost to the point of it hurting. She chuckled softly at Amma's joke. “Fate would've pulled quite a cruel prank on me if it made me afraid of heights.” She gestured to herself as if to emphasize the point.
Katja waved back at Amma as the French girl made her exit. She could feel her heart pounding with excitement in her chest for some reason. She didn't quite know why, as this wasn't the first time she shared a tent with someone and she'd never felt this way about sharing one with someone before.
But with Amma it just felt… different.
Her gaze lingered for a moment on the French girl as she walked off. Katja thought about the night before on the beach, about how she still had that unasked question that had been on the tip of her tongue.
Maybe tonight, she thought to herself.
Turning around, Katja muttered to herself as she made her way over to the construction site. “Now then, where's that little shit hiding?”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Location: The Southern Plateau, Dundas Islands, Pacific Ocean - Present
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Welcome Home #1.081: High Tensions with the Hypie from the Highveld (It's OUR word!)
Banjo got to the worksite, to find himself alone, without guidance or assistance. Or supervision.
He looked around to check he wasn’t being watched.
“Hey, anyone..? You’re just going to leave me alone with copious amounts of heavy metal, wiring, and construction materials?!” He called out into the open.
“You guys know who I am, right?!” Still nothing.
“Dodgy AY. EFFF. Shoddy site management. Y’know this makes me want to do somethin’ just from the hubris of it all…”
He sighed, and took a look at the plans.
“Fuck, I hate bein’ the responsible one… Buncha bludgers.”
He got to work hauling heavy materials. Katja would be here soon, if he got things roughly where they should be, they could more easily join the awkwardly sized components together.
He looked around to check he was all clear, and drank deep from the day’s sun. His breath quickened and then halted, and his body turned black. A cool breeze came from the leeward side of him. He felt his spine straighten and seize as muscles and sinew re-knitted and his synapses flared, exhilarating him with the sudden ecstatic rush. Slowly he looked to restore his breath to its normal rate, with some effort, and the corona swirled around his form.
Comfortable that he’d taken enough to make a start on the job, he stopped ‘juicing’ and let his body revert back to its usual appearance.
Making a start, he stacked a few girders and looked to carry them to where they’d form the framework.
Having finally made her way over to the construction site, Katja immediately started looking for her co-worker of the day. Or, to be more precise, she was trying to gauge whether she was already on clean-up duty or not.
To her surprise, she saw that Banjo seemed to be putting in some serious effort into his task. Which was good, of course, as it meant her good mood would survive. At least for the moment anyway.
A loud whistle rang across the site as Katja tried to get Banjo’s attention. “Look at you, productive little wallaby that you are!” she called out as she approached him with a distinct skip in her step. A wide smile gracing her lips as she practically beamed in her happiness.
Without even slowing down in her stride she easily picked up two stacks of girders and tucked them under her arms before finally standing beside Banjo.
"Don't say 'wallaby'. You start sayin' rugby words, my ribcage starts hurtin'." He called back, dumping a load of metal. Picking up cable and timber to save himself a trip later.
Katja flashed a knowing grin as she recalled the last time she played rugby against the little Aussie and practically folded him in half. “Honestly, with you being on your own here, I’m shocked that you haven’t burned the place down yet.” She laughed a little too loudly at her own joke before gently tapping his shoulder with her elbow. “Then again, we’re only just getting started.” Finishing the phrase with a playful wink.
"What kept you, anyway? Too busy listenin' to heavy metal to be haulin' it?" She seemed in good spirits, but that also seemed to be standard fare for Katja.
On occasion the large South African girl would have a flicker of despondency. A flash across the face of what would otherwise be an omnipresent smile, so brief you could barely tell that you'd seen it. If it hadn't repeated on other occasions. But if you'd experienced the same things she had, that was more than understandable.
As if the girl was keeping the dark memories at bay with built momentum of positivity. Forgive the brief loss of power whilst her transmission's changing gears on occasion.
Watching what happened to her family would do that to a person. Or worse.
Katja rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion to Banjo's metal comment. “Of all the people to comment on my music tastes, you probably have the least right to complain.”
She carefully put the bundle of I-beams she held under her left arm down on the ground, making sure that they wouldn't get too banged up. “Besides…” Katja then swung the other bundle of girders in front of her, grabbing it with both her hands before effortlessly lifting it high above her head. “You know I'd never pass up a good opportunity to lift heavy shit!”
"My tastes are impeccable, and beyond bloody reproach. This just goes to show that shit you listen to has made ya ears cactus. And another thing, when sdasdf ... " He kept mouthing whilst no sound at all came out, before finally mutely mouthing the words "Can you hear me at all?" and pointing to his ears.
Rolling her eyes at his tomfoolery, Katja put her second bundle next to the first before turning to Banjo and apologetically raising her hands. “But yeah, you're right. I'm a bit late. Sorry about that, bru!” A smile formed on her lips. “It just took a bit of time before I found someone crazy enough to share a tent with little old me. Not everyone hit the jackpot like you did five years ago!
She chuckled at the memory of the Aussie rascal and the New Mexican Ice Queen's first couple interactions back then. They were such an unlikely pairing and yet, they seemed to be made for each other.
The corner of her lips dropped for only a millisecond as she recalled what happened shortly after. A quick shake of her head cleared her mind of that aweful recollection. And with those memories tucked back into the dark corner they belong, her wide smile reappeared in full force as she thought about her bunkmate.
A gentle softness took hold of her voice when next she spoke. “If I'm honest, I kinda expected her to say no. So when she actually accepted the offer...” She cut herself off with a pleased hum as her cheeks visibly reddened.
It took her a few seconds to realize how she looked and she tried to turn her face away from Banjo. But she knew she was probably far too late with that action.
"Aaah... so that's what brought this on." A wide grin of recognition crossed his face, as he didn't hesitate to take the opportunity to tease his friend. "All of this." He said, gesturing to the blonde South African girl.
Katja put her hands on her hips as she looked over at Banjo for a brief moment, regarding him with a slightly tilted head and a raised eyebrow. “What do you mean, ‘All of this’?” Though she quickly turned her face away again when she felt her cheeks heating up.
"This sunny bloody disposition of yours... I could power m'self for about a week off it."
He put some space between them before continuing the thought.
"Lemme guess, New Gal, yeah? Well, just you mind yourself. You know what the French rugby players are like..." His grin started to turn into a more cheeky leer.
"Almost as dirty as the Bokkies. So mind you don't go gettin' a finger in the eye, in that tent there. Or were you lookin' for a fing--?”
Katja’s head snapped to meet Banjo within less time than it took either of them to blink. Her icy blue eyes were filled with unmistakable embarrassment which, as her pupils narrowed, slowly turned into rage. Her head became as red as a tomato, though it was hard to tell whether this was due to embarrassment or anger. Probably both. She bolted after Banjo within a split second, her big open right hand stretched out to grab the joking Aussie’s head.
“oh shit, she's comin'! HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Banjo ran away from the large, rapidly reddening blonde girl, cackling with laughter. Relieved that he was comfortably able to keep a safe distance because he'd juiced earlier.
It was only a matter of inches, but she could’ve sworn she’d had him this time. She closed her hand with so much force that it actually made such a loud noise that people dozens of feet away got startled by it. In hindsight it was probably better that Banjo dodged that one, as his skull likely would’ve offered as much resistance to her squeeze as a ripe tomato.
Her eyes lingered on her empty hand for a few heartbeats before her gaze shifted back to the object of her ire. “I promise you…” She said with a voice that rumbled with barely repressed anger. “When I get my fucking hands on you…” Turning to face him, she continued with what almost sounded like a growl. “I’ll toss you all the way across the Pacific back to Australia…” Katja crouched down to prepare her pursuit, the volume of her voice ever increasing. “You little Aussie shit! She howled before leaping after the little bastard.
If it weren’t for the tremors each of her steps made and the craters her feet left behind, one wouldn’t have guessed Katja’s mass was anything noteworthy by the way she moved. Despite her great weight, she never seemed to be encumbered by it in her movements. She was already a freakish athlete without her powers. With them? Well, she was known as one of PRCU's star athletes for a damn good reason and it was clearly shown in just how close her pursuit of Banjo actually was. However, each time she nearly had that runt by the throat, he’d slip between her fingers, cackling all the way.
A smile slowly started creeping up on Katja’s lips as the initial anger and embarrassment subsided and made way for amusement. They had gone over this routine countless times now. He would say something to aggravate her, she would attempt to squish him like the bug he sometimes could be… Fun times all around, really.
She finally called it quits after what felt like an eternity, though it probably was only a few minutes. She didn’t like to admit she lost, and Banjo most certainly knew that, so she just feigned disinterest in the entire pursuit. Banjo usually knew better than to continue prodding the bear when that time arrived, and they’d merrily continue on with their business. As she looked over at the now ruined field, she hoped that today would be one of those days where he wouldn’t try to rub salt in the wounds.
As her attention shifted to the cloudy sky, she addressed her fraternal menace. “We should really get to work on this…” Katja panted before looking over at Banjo with a grin. “While we’re both still able to get some work done.”
“You’re getting quicker.” He said with a wide grin, still backpedalling freely, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I mean, I still had a gear or two to go, but if I wasn’t juiced to the gills to haul this crap around, may well-a been a different story. But you didn’t even let me get the punchline out.” He crowed cockily.
Katja chuckled softly as a smirk started tugging at the corner of her lips. “You better pray I don't ever get you into a ring or something. You'd become the damn punchline if that were to ever happen!”
“Awww... dunno 'bout that. Still got the ol' slip'n'dip... the ol' One-Two Timmy Tszyu!” He said, bobbing and weaving and throwing rapid left-right combinations. Before he stopped and thought for a moment.
“Don't know how much it'd do, but...” He said scratching his neck at the thought of throwing a combination at someone who tipped the scales at... well, tipping the scales. So he continued in earnest.
“So I’m glad. Someone to get a bit over-protective over. If anyone’s deserved someone like that, it’s you. Someone like that… sounds like Home.” The cheekiness dropped from his smirk, before returning. “I’d let ya go the hug, but I’m still a bit wary of lettin’ ya close just yet.”
The redness returned to her cheeks while her smirk turned into an embarrassed smile. But Katja didn't turn away this time around. Instead she just looked at Banjo, her bright eyes shining with appreciative joy at the Australian's words. “Thank you. she mumbled softly with a hint of embarrassment.
He looked at the damage to the terrain and the job that was still very much at hand, and let out a long, low whistle.
“Bet I’ll get blamed f’r this…”
Katja followed Banjo's gaze and, after surveying the aftermath of their little scrap, instinctually scratched the back of her neck. “Nah bru, we'll both get yelled at if we don't fix this by the end of the day.” She admitted with a hint of guilt in her voice.
Katja quickly made her way over to the bundles of girders. “Come on, let's get to work!” She snapped the reinforced wires keeping the bundles together with a quick jerk of her fingers, the steel beams tumbling down from their neat packages into a pile. “No messing around until we're at least half way through the schematics, deal?”
“I mean, we might as well. There's nothin' left to destroy right now...”
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