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The War for Humanity finally ended, and the Third Street Saints have proven themselves victorious in the battle. Sadly, Earth has not been restored, and there is no way to do it using the current available Zin Technology. However, that wasn't a priority right now, it was time to finally relax after a few months of hard work fighting Zinyak and living like animals. Zinyak was dead, and the Zin Empire crumbled before the Saints. According to the laws of Zin monarchy, whoever kills the current Emperor inherits the throne. And as such, the Boss became the Empress of the Zin, and the entire known, just like that, became hers.
The Boss was resting in her new throne room. She didn't like it too much, it was too big, cold, and extremely uncomfortable. The throne she was sitting on, which was made of pure gold, was quite hard and uncomfortable so sit it. But Lina never steered far away from finding creative solutions to please her comfort, so she covered the throne in royal purple pillows. After all, gold and purple has been associated with the Saints. However, part of her still knew that wasn't enough, and that if she intended to use the throne room, it would need some heavy modifications, something to make it warmer and more human.
Suddenly, the door on the far end of the room made a sound. It had been programmed to do so whenever someone inserted the access code. The doors opened up, as Shaundi, wearing a slim fit sweater and purple high waist leggings, walked inside the chamber to visit the Boss.
"I can't believe you are still wearing that hideous jumpsuit." Shaundi commented at the Boss' outfit, to which the blue haired Boss chuckled.
“I don’t know, it’s kinda comfortable when you get used to it.” The Boss replied.
“What’s comfortable about two toed shoes?” The brunette said as she reached the Boss after walking through the long hallway.
“My big toe isn’t pressed alongside other toes?” The Boss answered. “C’mon, you know how disgusting it feels when it's sweaty.”
Shaundi rolled her eyes at the Boss statement. It made no sense what-so-ever, and she was convinced the Boss knew that. However, after years and years of serving under the Boss, she knew even better that there was no way to convince the Boss otherwise, or so she thought.
“Don’t worry, honey.” She smirked at Shaundi, as she placed her hand on the lieutenant’s shoulder. “I’ll dress nicely for our date.” The Boss placed a small kiss on Shaundi’s lips, as a way to assure Shaundi that everything would go smoothly, and that she didn’t have to worry anymore.
The lieutenant was relieved to hear this, however, a bit disappointed the Boss wasn’t ready yet. "Alright." Shaundi paused as the Boss headed out to change, after which she smiled at her girlfriend, "So, when are we heading out?"
Shaundi and the Boss had been dating each other for a few weeks. It all started quite smoothly. During the final hours of the fight against the Zin Empire. It was at that point of this war where Shaundi had shown most of her use, and with this display, her growth as a person in the last 9 years the two gals had known each other. The eventful evening the so called Kinzie Gambit happened, affected the Saints greatly, which resulted around the ultimate betrayal of the Saints during their months long war against the Zin Empire. It happened when the Boss’ trusted Vice President, believing in Zinyak’s lies that the Earth could be restored for the price of her life, betrayed the Boss and got Kinzie captured so that the Saints wouldn’t have any more support.
Luckily for all, the Saints managed to get out of this one barely alive, and it was of great thanks to Shaundi. She got out of the simulation, only to find Benjamin King and Pierce unconscious on the floor, with Asha, Matt, alongside the Vice President to be gone. Upon seeing this sight, she knew something terrible was happening, but she couldn’t focus on thinking of all the terrible things that could’ve gone prior, as the proximity sensor, which served to warn the crew on the ship when something was close-by or in contact with the ship, was blowing up. Her instinct wasn’t to solve this by herself, but instead, to get Johnny, Kinzie and Lina outside the simulation as soon as possible to address this.
She contacted the crew inside through the microphone on one of the terminals in the pod room. “Boss, you need to get back to the ship. Now.” The brunette said to the two men inside, as she quickly started inputting a few commands she had learned during her weeks on the ship to open up an emergency gateway at Boss’ coordinates. After all, being stuck in a stolen Zin Gunship while what you had previously known as your home was now floating around space in the form of loose debris, there wasn’t much to do to keep you occupied, so Shaundi had started learning bits of the simulation and how the Zin computers worked, in an attempt to assist Kinzie and Matt as much as she could, especially since she still wasn’t quite sure if Miller could be trusted as much as Asha would insist. Seems as her gut was right, as the British duo was nowhere to be found. Turns out, the Saints were being invaded by Zin, and they were out of the simulation just in time to fight off the invading forces and secure their territory.
Eventually they learned, it was neither Miller nor Asha who had betrayed the Saints, but rather, the Vice President himself. He traded Kinzie’s freedom and the Boss’ life for a promise of restoring the Earth, and essentially letting him become Zinyak’s overseer of these restored humans. The same was offered to the Boss, but she knew he lied; Lina called out his bluff on it. Now, they all know Boss ended up being right about her gut about believing Zinyak.
It took some time before the Saints got around saving Kinzie, and Shaundi worked hard alongside Matt to help and keep everything on the ship in order, while the British kid was focused on getting Kinzie back. This was when the ice between the two ladies finally cracked.
The Boss approached Shaundi at the pod room, and after years of seeing Shaundi as potentially something more than just a friend, she decided during all this isolation, that it was finally time to talk about her feelings with the lieutenant.
The lieutenant got from her chair after being glued to the monitor for a few hours to do stretches, as her neck started to hurt. Lina took this chance of her taking a break to approach the brunette, and finally talk about her feelings.
She stood in front of Shaundi, “Been a helluva ride, hasn't it?” The blue haired woman joked, as Shaundi turned around towards the Boss.
The lieutenant chuckled, “That is an understatement.”
Lina glanced at Shaundi’s eye and saw a spark in them. The spark was always there, but in the years the two girls knew each other, it has changed, “You changed so much.” Shaundi has grown, she was no longer that vulnerable girl she was back in 2011.
“We both have.” Shaundi smiled at the Boss, despite her change being a lot bigger and obvious, with removing a tattoo, cutting off her hair, completely changing her lifestyle and portrayal in front of other people, people tend to overlook the changes Lina went through. She was filled with rage back when they met, and would break someone’s neck for looking at her wrong. Everyone was scared of this big bad wolf, but not Shaundi. She always tried to get Boss to mellow down and find her fun side, which eventually worked, and brought the Boss to the point of seeking therapy for her emotional problems, successfully becoming a decent person.
Lina didn’t like talking much about her past, it brought back a lot of bad memories, as well as regrets, “Hey whatever happened with that guy who won your dating show?”
“Puerto Rican Thunder God?” Shaundi chuckled. Shaundi used to have her own dating show called ‘I wanna sleep with Shaundi’, in which contestants would compete in various challenges as a way to win her over. As such, producers had their own little charm and originally added, all contestants had to apply under nicknames, which ended up being the first thing the brunette judged them about. “He was sweet and all, but performance didn't live up to the name.” The lieutenant chuckled. He won during the only season of the show, and ended up being with Shaundi for only a few months. There simply wasn’t any chemistry between them, which resulted in them separating.
“Look I gotta tell you something…” The blue haired woman rolled her eyes as she sighed and looked around the room, avoiding eye contact with Shaundi. Talking about feelings had never been her forte. “It always drove me crazy that you had exes in every city, and were willing to go on a dating show, but not once did you ever give me a shot…” Boss was a very sexual person that has slept with a number of men, women, and others, and Shaundi was aware of this.
The brunette raised her eyebrows in a playful manner “You never asked for one.” She would lie to say she never had interest in the Boss, something about powerful women, and Boss being one of them, tended to attract Shaundi.
“I'm asking now.” The Boss smirked as she teased her.
“Then let's make up for lost time...” Shaundi grabbed Lina by her hand and took her in the back, to the cargo hold, where the two girls sneaked behind a few big, chunky boxes and had their first ‘night’ together.
They were both hypersexual, which meant they both put their sexual satisfactions first. Shaundi certainly found a need to be satisfied the most important, while Lina… The Boss hasn’t been in a serious committed relationship since 2006; the one she wanted to attempt and try with Shaundi. Needless to say, Shaundi never thought that an actual banana could be used in such a manner…
“In like, 5 minutes?” The Boss replied from behind the covers, as she took off the tacky jumpsuit and changed into a more casual outfit. The Boss put on the blue denim high waist jeans, with a purple hoodie for a top, and a pair of comfortable high heel shoes with cuffs.
“Is this comfortable enough for you?” The Boss teased the brunette, to which the lieutenant rolled her eyes and smiled.
“I mean if it makes you feel comfortable.” Shaundi replied. “Where are we going anyway?”
“I know it's our first date,” Lina replied, she wasn’t quite sure how Shaundi would feel, but the Boss wanted a quiet afternoon off, “but I was thinking about a picnic? I have a perfect spot.”
“Oh, that actually sounds quite great.” Shaundi sighed, she knew how eccentric the Boss could be and her biggest fear would be something over-the-top. A quiet picnic in the park sounded like an excellent idea, and an excellent opportunity to take a day off and finally relax, after a month-long unrested battle against the Zin Empire, and that is without including the four years of her being a part of Boss’ presidential administration team, as the head of her secret service.
“Great, so we’re settled?” Lina smirked at her.
“What do you mean settled? I mean, yeah, I’d kill for a day off, but we can’t go without any food or drinks.” The brunette protested “I don’t know, you want us to pick supplies up when we land?”
“Nah, I got it.” Lina almost forgot about the food basket, but she made sure to get some food ready for their trip beforehand, she raised her wrist to her mouth and pressed the button to speak to her steward “ZJ, could ya bring me the basket I ordered?”
In a few short moments, the alien steward arrived at the throne room, delivering the basket filled with goods. It didn’t take him much time as he was waiting just to be called in. “The basket, your excellency.”
Zinjai bowed to the Boss, as she took the basket in her own hand. He headed outside back to his own chambers, taking big steps. Shaundi chuckled at the Zin’s comment, before teasing Boss about it. “Excellency? You really going with that?”
“Hell yea,” The Boss replied, “’least they could do for me killing that tyrant.” Lina held the basket in her left hand, as she approached Shaundi and offered her girlfriend the elbow, which the brunette gladly accepted and wrapped her hands around, as the two headed off for their special little trip.
When Boss took down Zinyak and became the new Empress of the Zin Empire, the most important task to her was finding a way to restore Earth. Sadly, that was impossible since there wasn’t Zin technology that allowed them to turn float debris into their former glory. However, there was something else. Zinyak had been a huge admirer of human history and culture, and invested in the marvels of time travel. The Saints enjoyed the great deal of this invention, using it to travel all over the timeline of human history and visiting different points of history.
Shaundi and Lina took this opportunity to have a normal date, surrounded by their actual generation, in a setting that was familiar with them. They wanted as normal an experience as the two could get, to which Lina decided to take her girlfriend to one place in her hometown that meant a lot to her.
The time machine wasn’t a simple device. It was rather big and spanned across two different rooms on the ship; one of which was the time traveling machine itself. The Boss and Shaundi made their way to the Jump Chamber as the silo door behind them shut.
“Your excellency,” The voice of a Zin Technician was heard over the microphone “I have put in your time coordinates, and the gateway has started warming up.”
“Thanks, dude.” The Boss replied as Shaundi chuckled once again at how pretentious the excellency sounds. She still didn’t know how to refer to her underlings without sounding too demeaning.
The main part of the time traveling machine was the Inter-Dimensional Gateway Formatter, located in the center of the room. The Formatter was attached to the ceiling of the room, as the central body, which served as the device’s stator, had 3 different rotating spikes coming from the side, all three aimed towards the center of each other. It wasn’t long before the rotators started emitting a high energy beam, which was used to open up the gateway to the Boss’ location of choice. The five coils located around the Inter-Dimensional Gateway Formatter started to light up slowly, to indicate that the time traveling essentials were fully charged and ready to be used. Unlike the regular teleporter, which only uses the Formatter to open-up different points in the universe through the wormholes, time travel required an extra step. It needed to be prepped up to not only teleport a user between space, but also the time.
“Your excellency, the portal is almost open.” The Technician said, as four out of the five coils indicated that they were fully charged. “Take the remote, and we’ll be ready to bring you back when you use it.”
“Okay,” The Boss replied as she picked up two devices that looked like a wristwatch, handing one of them to Shaundi, as both girls put it around their wrists. “I expect to make it back in one piece.” She joked.
The device served as a direct link between the user, now stuck in the time of their choice, and the portal device. Since the time travel means they can go to any point of history, this means that there isn’t much need of a delay between visits, as the user can return to the present mere seconds after leaving, regardless how long they stay there. It was up to the Empress’ choice, and the Zin Technicians’ jobs are to keep the gateway open until their leader comes back from their trip.
“It’s ready.” The Zin said, as the gateway formed in front of the two ladies, and the connection between two points of time had been formed.
Lina grabbed Shaundi’s hand, and interlocked her fingers with her, as she looked her lovingly in the eyes and smiled at her, “Ready?”
Shaundi smiled back, as she had decided to trust the Boss’ decision and go on this date blind. “With you… Always.” After all, the Boss knew Shaundi for 9 years now, if anyone knew the pop culture sex icon, it was the Boss. The couple walked through the portal, as for the mere second, the two of them were outside the reality, heading towards their first real, peaceful date.
The door opened on the other side as the two girls came out of it, and were greeted by the sun high above them while surrounded by the green environment. Shaundi looked around with a confused expression, as she was trying to figure out where Lina had the two of them land.
“I don’t get it.” She stated, as she didn’t manage to recognize the area around them “I thought you’d take us to somewhere in Stilwater. Where are we?”
“My hometown.” The Boss replied, with a bit of emotion in her voice. Boss was born in the Georgian city of Stanmore. It was a nice, cozy place, but nothing compared to the metropolis Stilwater had been. It was located on the coastline, and the city was known for its huge parks located in multiple locations around the city. Lina grew up in these parks, since as a child of abuse, she looked to stay away from home as much as she could. That’s why she asked the Zin to take her here, Briarwood Grounds was a tranquil place and a popular picnic and barbequing spot, where a peaceful evening for the two girls could be guaranteed.
“Oh,” Shaundi was quite pleasantly surprised, she expected something with a lot more flair, as Boss would usually crave for a more eccentric approach to things. “no, this is cool.” She was, however, quite pleased with the Boss date idea. “What year is it then? Should we expect to get stopped for autographs and stormed by paparazzis?”
“Twenty-fourteen. Sometime in May, I’m not sure.”
“Before Johnny…”
“Yeah, before Johnny died.” Lina knew what was coming, but she didn’t want her girlfriend to go through trauma, so she decided to switch the topic. “I think that show we did about zombies should premiere right about now. Don’t worry about autographs, nobody is coming here.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Shaundi turned towards the Boss, and wrapped her arms around the tall woman’s waist, pressed herself against the Boss’ body and looked her in the eyes. “Ready for our first real date?”
“With you? Always.” Lina smiled as she gently placed her hands on the lieutenant’s jaw, and planted a kiss on her lips. “C’mon, let’s head to the spot.” The blue haired girl moved her body away from Shaundi, and gently took her hand, interlocking their fingers, as she started making her way up the small hill in the park, pulling Shaundi alongside her. On top of the hill, there was a small flat surface, most of it was covered by a shadow from a large oak located in the middle.
“What is this place anyway?” The brunette asked on their way to the spot.
“Oh, it’s just somewhere I used to come a lot as a kid.” This was Lina’s favorite spot growing up, she would often come here to read books or have picnics and hangouts with her best friend. “I read all of Jane Austen’s books right here.” The Boss was a fan of romantic books, it filled a gap in her heart that was left by decades of denying herself relationships, but now with Shaundi, that would change.
She let go of Shaundi’s hand, and spread the purple covering across the ground. Lina helped Shaundi sit down, as the Boss gave her a hand so she could gently sit down, to which Shaundi returned a gentle smile. The Boss put down her picnic basket, and sat down next to her significant other, placing the basket between the two.
"Are you going to open that basket or what? I'm starving." Shaundi joked at the Boss, but only partially. Personally, she couldn't wait to have a normal meal outside of that metal prison.
"Damn, didn't you have breakfast a few hours ago." Lina was baffled by Shaundi's comment. She planned for them to have a casual drink first and maybe talk about their lives, but it seemed the brunette didn't quite think the same.
"I ate canned beans, Boss. Canned. Beans." During the war against the Zin, the kitchen was almost exclusively supplied by canned beans, and it was the only thing the crew ate on board. Frankly, Shaundi was quite sick of eating the beans all the time, so she wasn't quite pleased with having more baked beans for breakfast. "I want to eat something that actually tastes good."
Lina blinked at Shaundi, stunned "Why didn't you just order something from the royal chef?"
"You were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you up."
"You know Zin royal staff serves for you too?" The blue haired Boss asked "Just like the rest of the crew?"
Shaundi paused for a second, she never thought of it that way. "Wait, what?"
"All of you have royal access." Lina replied "I thought you knew that."
"We had every meal in the last few weeks together, I thought I only got the special treatment because I was with you." Shaundi felt quite embarrassed about this, her cheeks blushing from shame. She grunted, and placed the palm of her hand over her face “Ugh. I’m so stupid.”
"Awww, don't worry, babe." Lina rubbed the brunette's cheek, trying to comfort her. Shaundi was one of the smartest people in the gang "I gotchu covered. We'll eat now."
Shaundi lowered her hand, and looked at the basket, waiting for the blue haired woman to open it. “So, what did you bring us? Ham and Cheese sandwiches? Fruit salad? Apple pie?” The brunette could only imagine all the goods they could be eating. From the canned beans and pineapple slices, to the royal lobster, she missed the simpler days when she could take a cheat day from her diet and enjoy a single carb.
“Better.” The Boss said as she moved her hand on top of the basket, slowly opening it. Shaundi glanced at the contents of the basket to see what it had inside, and she smiled, as she was pleasantly surprised by Boss’ choice. Inside was nothing other than five pound and a half of meat, straight from Stilwater’s own Freckle Bitch’s, still quite hot. It was one of the favorite meals among the Saints, but they haven’t had any in quite some time, especially after moving to Washington. Shaundi’s eyes grew wider as she watched those Fists in the basket as she could imagine the taste of that delicious beef, mixed with the taste of a hot spicy brown mustard. She could hear her stomach growl for it, as her mind unlocked all these memories of Freckle Bitch’s meals, which she didn’t have a taste of in almost 7 years.
“God, I could kill to just taste one of these.” The brunette replied, as she took The Fist out of the basket and started unwrapping the paper package. “I haven’t had one since before my show.”
Lina grabbed the other one from the basket and started unwrapping it, as she handed her lieutenant a milkshake cup she got alongside the burgers, after which she took one for herself “Damn, you really miss Freckle Bitch’s?”
Shaundi took the large bite out of her burger and wiped the mustard sauce that was left on her mouth with a napkin, like a lady “Mm-hmm.” She mumbled with her mouth as she chewed, and then proceeded to swallow it. “I have been on a strict diet for the whole media bullshit since 2012. I haven’t had anything this tasty in years.”
Lina smirked, as she started digging into her burger. She wasn’t as deprived of Freckle Bitch’s as Shaundi was. In fact, she had some during her re-election rally in Stilwater which was just a few months ago, but she missed the days back in 2015 when she could eat at the fast food dinner whenever she felt like it. Her managers didn’t mind it at all, she worked out a lot and her metabolism was great, which kept her skinny enough to be acceptable to the media team. Shaundi, on the other hand, was met with quite a different treatment, she was imminently put on a strict diet, to give her an ideal body of a sex icon at the start of her modelling career. At first, it was extremely painful getting rid of all the carbs, but eventually grew accustomed to it. Even after she left that life behind and moved to the White House, Shaundi still remained on a healthy diet, on top of her new Secret Service training. She did regret keeping up with this diet, but always thought if she did end up giving up on it, it would just be one of her thousands of failures, so she did it by sheer will to prove to herself, and everyone else, that she’s strong enough to make it through. She was no longer that little girl munching on pizzas and cinnamon rolls every day. But alas, after the entire Earth got blown to Hell, she survived an alien invasion and realized Gat wasn’t actually dead, she made time to be finally at peace with herself, and realized, she doesn’t have to prove to anyone she’s strong.
“God, this is so delicious, why did you ever let me go on that stupid diet?” The brunette said, as she finished her burger, and got ready to take another one. Beans on an empty stomach surely awoken her appetite.
“I don’t know.” The blue haired Boss shrugged, as she swallowed the chunk of her first burger and swallowed with a help of her strawberry smoothie, almost finishing her first Fist. “You insisted on keeping the diet, and I always respected your boundaries.”
“Well, you could’ve convinced me to cheat on my diet.” Shaundi argued back “I wouldn’t get mad… too much at least.” Lina didn’t know about Shaundi cheating on her diet every once in a while, to treat herself for a job well done.
"Oh, honey," Lina pinched Shaundi's cheek teasingly, much to the other's annoyance "I know you can't be mad to me." She smirked, and she was right. Lina knew very well Shaundi would never be mad at her, and that proved during their years of working together. Whatever the Boss decided to do Shaundi would follow, and there was no denying that. "You'll hate yourself for letting go. I'd love it if you started eating like a normal person, but I want it to be your choice."
Shaundi stopped chewing for a second and looked down. Deep down, she knew the Boss was right, and she hated how much she was right. She remembered those days back when the show was still on, where she’d have a single cheat meal during her diet, and hate herself for the rest of the week for it. The brunette had problems with her own security, and as such, spent a lot of time in her life making sure she had every piece of her life under her own control, even when that was way under her control. From blaming her cheating on the diet for not meeting unhealthy industry standards, she blamed her uncoordinated movement for being unable to match military trained soldiers, despite being a black belt in Tai chi. In Shaundi's mind, it was always her fault for not trying harder. She couldn’t realize it in her mind that people aren’t born perfect, and that she was allowed to make mistakes every once in a while. It was something she started to learn for herself very recently.
"Yeah... I can see that." The model replied. Part of her felt bad about this, and she thought it would be a perfect time to change it. “I think we should maybe go back to eating unhealthy food too, sometimes.”
“Glad to hear you decided.” Lina said, right after swallowing the last bite of her burger.
“Just promise me one thing though.” Shaundi smirked, as she was about to make a joke regarding the whole situation “Just make sure I don’t get fat.”
Lina chuckled “I will, honey. Don’t worry, I gotcha.”
At this moment, the eyes of the two women met with each other, and for a minute Shaundi thought to herself. Man, what did I do to get this lucky? The brunette hasn’t felt like she was being this loved in years; like she mattered to someone. Boss was the first person who ever looked at Shaundi as an actual person rather than just an accessory to go with her. She felt loved, and respected by the Boss for a while now, but Shaundi never thought the two would end up being together. It’s not as if she never thought about it, as the brunette did have thoughts about the Boss plenty of times. After all, the Boss was quite an attractive woman. With her beautiful face, bright blue eyes, and a 6’3 athletic body, who wouldn’t be attracted to the leader of the Saints. Shaundi, however, respected the Boss too much to make the first move and potentially ruin the loving friendship the two gals held for each other. She was quite anxious it might have ended up being a disaster like every other relationship in Stilwater. It was generally better to not try anything, than ruin a beautiful friendship.
The Boss hadn't thought of herself as a type for a committed relationship, in fact, she was only ever so comfortable with being in ones because she knew they wouldn’t last. When you live the life of a crime-lord, you get used to losing people important to you. She realized this multiple times in her life. It took a long time for her to get over the wound of losing Gabriel, her first real boyfriend and Carlos' older brother, who was fatally shot by a member of the Stilwater Police Department, and the years later, losing Carlos, who was like a son to her. She learned that the gang wasn’t a good place to start a family, so she never planned on settling down. To her, relationships were just there for the sex.
“You got mustard left on your lip.” Lina said to Shaundi, her voice being softer than it has been for months. She looked at her girlfriend lovingly, as Shaundi reached for the napkin inside the basket.
"No, no. Don't worry. I'll get it for you." She interrupted her, as she leaned in to give Shaundi a kiss. There never was any mustard left, she lied in an attempt to give herself an excuse to kiss the reality star, and it worked, as Shaundi allowed Lina to plant one on her lips.
Shaundi chuckled “God, you’re so cheesy.” She joked, the woman gladly accepted a kiss whenever Boss offered one, but she couldn’t help and call her lover out whenever she threw a pickup line her way that the teenage boys would use.
The Boss blushed at the pop icon’s comment, it has been a while since she flirted with anyone. Luckily for her, love was recently woken up in Shaundi, and she got reminded of all the good and fun parts of being in a relationship, and relaxing with someone you loved. She was playful with Lina, teasing her for the rusty seduction skills.
“Try it like this.” The brunette pushed down Boss, who fell on her elbows, and proceeded to place her arm around the Boss, giving her a more passionate kiss than the one Lina gave. As soon as the brunette released her girlfriend from the kiss, she caressed the blue haired woman’s cheek “This is how you do it.” She said, her voice was soft and quiet with a seductive energy to it.
Lina was flustered by the brunette’s actions, as she stared into her brown eyes her cheeks started turning red. She saw Shaundi treat many people like this over the ten years the two have known each other, but she had never thought she would live to see her being on the receiving end of it. The blue haired woman’s heart started beating faster, as she thought about it more, before finally breaking her silence.
“First outdoor sex time?” She broke her stunned facial expression, with a snarky one, which was the one she was known best for, as she made a joke directed at her lover.
The brunette chuckled, keeping her flirtatious expression. “In your dreams.” She gently caressed the Boss, after which the brunette pushed her down on her back and gently placed her head on Lina's shoulder, snuggling against her. The Leader of the Saints couldn’t just let her girlfriend have the full control, so, as a proper big spoon, she started playing with Shaundi’s hair, taking a break at certain times to scratch her scalp.
The couple stayed in this position for a while, looking at the different clouds that blessed the afternoon azure sky. For a moment, the two of them went back to the time, remembering how it was when they weren’t aware of the whole world that was out there. Shaundi always believed they weren’t alone in the universe, but she would’ve never guessed that a civilization out there would be willing to wipe out all of humanity. Neither of them had a chance to stop and just lose themselves in their thoughts like this for years now. Ever since Cyrus was assassinated, their lives have constantly been bringing up new adventures. From the presidential campaign, to the four years in a presidential office, and in the end, the Zin Invasion and their War for Humanity.
Shaundi's mind was uneasy about everything that would come after this, for she wasn’t sure herself what the Boss’ plans were, or how she'd execute them. More importantly, she wasn’t sure if the Boss had a place for her in this plan. The thoughts of it worried her, she just started feeling true love again after years of having a void in her heart, she didn’t want to lose all of this so soon.
“Babe…?” Shaundi said with a soft voice, she started getting sleepy from cloud watching.
“Hmm?” Lina hummed back at her, giving her a sign that she’s awake and listening.
“What happens after you get crowned as an Empress?" The reality star asked. Despite having all the royal benefits, such as using the throne room for herself, The Boss wasn't yet officially declared as the ruler of the Zin Empire, which covered the reach of the entire known universe, as well as the thousands of species that survived the Zin conflict on their own home world.
When she ripped Zinyak's spine out of his body, Lina officially made herself a candidate for the next Emperor. However, the process wasn't a quick one, and required a lot of traditions to be completed first, before she officially could sit down on the throne. She was required to study Zin history, and as such, familiarize herself with the Zin culture. She learned about the Zin monarchy, their military, the technological infrastructures, which went over her head, and many more Zin traditions.
“I don’t know. Restore Earth, I guess.” Kinzie had an excellent idea on how they would do it, but they couldn’t start anything about it until the Boss was crowned, all the Saints were able to do was get Zin to release all captured creatures.
“No, not that.” Shaundi paused for a second, which she used to raise her head, and look at the Boss’ face. “What happens with us?” The brunette was afraid that the crown would end their relationship.
“Oh…” Lina let go of Shaundi as she started to get up, and sat down on the blanket once again. “I know it’s kinda early but…” Lina got flustered, she was afraid of any type of commitment “Would you like to share the throne with me?”
Shaundi’s eyes widened as she heard the Boss’ statement, her heart starting to beat faster. “You mean… marry you?”
“Well, not yet, but yes. Kinda. I guess.” Lina started mumbling, failing to sound causal about this as she intended to be. She scratched the back of her head as the anxiety started to set in. It was an extremely unusual thing to ask on the first date, and Lina felt quite uncomfortable doing so, but with their crazy lives leading them all around the universe now, and with the situation of being the first human ever to be crowned an Empress of an intergalactic civilization, the things weren’t usual, and couldn’t be done as a normal person would do. Lina didn’t know what waited for her after becoming the royal family, or if this meant she’d be faced with countless wars and resistance, but what she knew for sure was that she wanted to spend every second of this rulership with her beautiful girlfriend right by her side, as an Empress, nonetheless.
“I don’t know…” Shaundi sighed, she really wanted to spend the rest of her life with the Boss, the two have been friends for ten years now, and despite being only in a relationship for a few weeks, this was the Shaundi’s most valuable relationship yet. “I love you, but I feel like it’s too early.”
“I know, but…” Lina grabbed Shaundi’s hand with both of hers, and started caressing the brunette’s palm as she looked her directly in the eye. “I don’t want this to be ruined because of a stupid title.”
There was nothing within Zin tradition that prevented the two women from having a relationship, but Lina was afraid that if they don’t talk about their futures, the two of them will drift away and break up with each other. It was a risk asking something like this so soon into the relationship, but it felt so much more right to her to call Shaundi her betrothed, rather than just her mistress.
Shaundi looked into the distance and thought for a moment, she was unsure what to say to all those things. Obviously, she didn’t want to end it all, but a thought of marriage put so much unneeded weight on her shoulders.
She remained silent, not knowing what to say, to which Lina released her hand from holding Shaundi wrist, and placed it along the pop icon’s jawline, gently pushing her head back so she could see her eye to eye. “I know it’s a hard choice, but I don’t see us going anywhere from here. We’re the new Zin Empire, I want to by my side even if we aren’t together anymore. Forever and always.” In the midst of her pause, Lina rubbed her girlfriend’s cheek, and with the trusting look in her eyes, ensured the brunette everything will be fine, as long as they stick together. “We don’t have to marry right now anyway; we’ll wait for the Earth to get restored. We’ll just be girlfriends that wear each other’s rings.”
“I don’t know, babe.” Shaundi replied. “I am afraid of locking this in and then regretting it later.”
“I know…” Lina ensured, she felt exactly the same way, but her heart said this would work and, as all those books Lina would read growing up said, she should always follow her heart. “But you don’t have to lock in if you’re afraid.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know, we can have an open relationship.” Lina suggested “If you ever want to try anything with someone else, I’m cool with it. I just want to wake up in the same bed with you for at least most of the week. Till whatever comes next.”
Shaundi was stunned for a second, she didn’t expect this suggestion from the Boss. All of her former lovers usually only wanted the reality star just for themselves, which hurt Shaundi on many occasions. She hated when people have been possessive over her, and still wanted to experience her own freedom. However, the Boss was different from all those previous lovers she had. The Boss was willing to let her have her own sexual freedom, as long as Shaundi was happy, and romantically committed to her. The reality star didn’t want their relationship to come to an end, or reach the place where Boss wouldn’t be enough for her to be pleased. She too wanted to wake up in the same bed as the Boss for the rest of her life, and the thought of forming a healthy romantic relationship with someone for the first time filled her heart with ease.
“Fine, I’m in.” Shaundi replied, as she felt pressure on her lungs after saying that. It was a leap of faith, but the one she thought it was worth taking. “Let’s have an open relationship, slash, engagement.”
“Glad to hear that, honey.” Lina smirked, but to her surprised, before she could do anything, Shaundi leaped in her arms and wrapped her hands around the blue haired woman’s shoulders, squeezing her hard. At the moment, Lina decided to lay back down once again, and have Shaundi lay on top of her chest. Shaundi didn’t let go of the hug, and it didn’t seem like she planned to anytime soon. Lina just planted a kiss on her forehead, and whispered softly “I love you.”