When Aloy had initially proposed this idea - a break, just for a few days, by themselves and back out west Zero's answer had been a big, fat, definitive NO, N-O (and she'd said it like that exactly). It had taken weeks to wear her down, and in the end the only one of them who'd managed to have any sway was Zo, who was both her confidant in motherhood and unspoken sister in arms (between the strange Nora traditions and partner who extended themselves too thin in the name of duty). One of her stipulations had been that they would big brain a way for her to keep track of their child at all times and Beta being Beta had delivered; Zero is oblivious to the wonders of nature and all that - her attentions remain honed in on the digital display projected from her focus: numbers, vitals, and most importantly a little digital heart that beat in time with their child's own.
This new Focus ability had also been a great distraction when Aloy had finally pissed her off to the point of silent treatment - 'Fine, if you're not going to listen I guess I'll shut the fuck up - and shut the fuck up she had, for hours now, communicating only in the way of glowering looks. She's hardly paying attention to their surroundings and definitely not listening to GAIA, too trouble by the fact that Beta's homebrewed baby monitor was cutting in and out. The feed has grown spotty, the numbers and display increasing and decreasing rapidly, becoming more and less transparent with every step Zero took forward or back, to the right or to the left.
Panic sets in, and because Zero is Zero, that panic gives away to anger simultaneously.
"The hell?!" She takes her Focus off too, glaring at the strange pink light emanating from it. She does her usual form of troubleshooting: turning it on and then off, and then smacking it against a tree. None of these things work, of course, and she is on the verge of an explosive meltdown when Aloy (unknowing of this) finally speaks to her directly.
Zero is livid, naturally.
"You screwed the pooch big time. And that's all you'll be screwing tonight." Zero manages, through gritted teeth (Beta had warned her during her pregnancy that she had incredibly high blood pressure for someone her size - she should avoid getting too worked up, lest she harm their child or herself). She has taken to counting backwards from ten to remedy this, and so that's what she does; Zero is silent for ten seconds exactly, and when she returns to the present she is normal Zero levels of surly despite the anger boiling her stomach acid into soup.
"You can stay here until next week for all I care. I'm going back to my fucking kid."
no subject
This new Focus ability had also been a great distraction when Aloy had finally pissed her off to the point of silent treatment - 'Fine, if you're not going to listen I guess I'll shut the fuck up - and shut the fuck up she had, for hours now, communicating only in the way of glowering looks. She's hardly paying attention to their surroundings and definitely not listening to GAIA, too trouble by the fact that Beta's homebrewed baby monitor was cutting in and out. The feed has grown spotty, the numbers and display increasing and decreasing rapidly, becoming more and less transparent with every step Zero took forward or back, to the right or to the left.
Panic sets in, and because Zero is Zero, that panic gives away to anger simultaneously.
"The hell?!" She takes her Focus off too, glaring at the strange pink light emanating from it. She does her usual form of troubleshooting: turning it on and then off, and then smacking it against a tree. None of these things work, of course, and she is on the verge of an explosive meltdown when Aloy (unknowing of this) finally speaks to her directly.
Zero is livid, naturally.
"You screwed the pooch big time. And that's all you'll be screwing tonight." Zero manages, through gritted teeth (Beta had warned her during her pregnancy that she had incredibly high blood pressure for someone her size - she should avoid getting too worked up, lest she harm their child or herself). She has taken to counting backwards from ten to remedy this, and so that's what she does; Zero is silent for ten seconds exactly, and when she returns to the present she is normal Zero levels of surly despite the anger boiling her stomach acid into soup.
"You can stay here until next week for all I care. I'm going back to my fucking kid."