Work Text:
When McQueen got the call that Teio had gotten injured at work, her heart sank into her stomach, and she’d almost forgotten to listen to every other word from the other end of the line.
Why? The word kept repeating in McQueen’s mind. Her grip on her phone tightened so hard her knuckles turned white. Why now? After everything we’ve been through…
Apparently, a shelf of equipment almost fell onto one of her trainees while they were cleaning up for the day, and Teio had pushed her out of the way just in time, but not fast enough that she herself came out unscathed.
“I…I see,” McQueen said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Thank you for letting me know.”
She ended the call and immediately started putting away her belongings on the desk in her study. She’d had work to take care of at the estate but it was nothing so urgent that she couldn’t simply continue it at home or leave it for a later date; Teio was injured and McQueen wasn’t by her side, and she needed to fix that.
Her butler drove her there in record time, and when she got there she had all but run to the infirmary. But when she got there-
“Hey, it’s okay guys,” Teio said, laughing.
McQueen stood in the doorway, watching her, and felt a bit of the tension leave her. Teio was smiling and calming down her trainees, who were all fussing over her, as if a shelf of equipment didn’t fall on her leg. Her leg itself was propped up by a pillow and had ice on what was a large bruise.
Teio caught McQueen at the door frame out of the corner of her eye, and her eyebrows and tail shot up in shock. “M-McQueen?! It’s still the middle of the work day isn’t it?”
McQueen walked over to Teio’s bed and the trainees all immediately scrambled away, leaving a generous amount of space for McQueen to be by the bedside of her partner. “Are you alright? I heard you were injured at work?” Mcqueen bit her lip nervously as she tried to examine Teio. Her face was mostly fine, though there was a small cut on her chin. McQueen took Teio’s hands and turned them over, inspecting them for any signs of injury.
“I’m okay, McQueen-“
“Are you sure? I’d heard you rushed to save one of your students, and after the adrenaline leaves your system in a situation like that, you start to feel the pain and soreness much later… your leg might feel much worse later.”
“The nurse did mention that might happen,” Teio admitted sheepishly.
“Then-!“
“But,” Teio said calmly, looking into McQueen’s eyes. “She also said it was nothing serious.” Teio smiled, squeezing her hands. The feeling grounded McQueen, and she felt herself steadied further when Teio said, “I’m okay. I’ll be fine.”
The strength left McQueen’s legs and she knelt down, leaning her body against Teio for support. The trainees behind her raised voices of concern and one quickly brought a chair over to her, but McQueen paid them no mind as she buried her face into Teio’s leg.
“I was so worried when I received that call…”
“I know,” Teio said softly. She started gently stroking the back of McQueen’s head, running her fingers through her hair and occasionally brushing them against her ears. The sensation was pleasant, and McQueen felt herself relax further. In a more lighthearted tone, she said, “I told them to wait until you were done for the day to call, but they wouldn’t listen.”
McQueen looked up and glared fiercely at her.
“If I found out you were injured and didn’t hear about it until hours later, I would have written Symboli Rudolf a very strongly worded letter about her choice of staff. Be glad they did.”
“Ahaha…”
“Honestly…” McQueen sighed. “Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? I nearly told my butler to break a few traffic laws.”
“...Sorry, McQueen,” Teio said.
“...I just want to make sure you’re okay,” McQueen said quietly.
“I am now that you’re here.” Teio gave her a small smile. “Why don’t you sit down in one of the chairs?”
“Alright.” Finally able to relax fully, McQueen smiled back at Teio, and pulled the chair behind her to sit in it, making sure she was as close to Teio’s bedside as physically possible.
…This was brought to me by one of Teio’s girls, wasn’t it?
She turned around to thank them, but they flinched in surprise. They were speaking quietly amongst themselves, when one of them stepped forward. Her head was turned down and she fiddled with her hands, her ears fully flattened against her head. The other girls stood behind her, likely for support. She looked like she wanted to say something, so McQueen waited for her to speak.
“Um…” It took her a moment before she continued to speak. “Um, you’re our trainer’s wife, right?”
Wife?
McQueen’s eyebrows shot up; that wasn’t what she expected to hear. It sounded like this girl had some kind of idea about them… She felt Teio bristle against her, but the trainee was earnestly trying to say something, so McQueen focused on her and simply nodded to let her continue.
“I’m sorry!” The trainee bowed deeply. “It was my fault she got injured! I wasn’t careful enough when we were cleaning up and she pushed me out of the way and got hurt!”
Teio scratched her cheek. “She’s been apologizing the entire time… I keep telling her it’s okay, but now that you’re here she’s apologizing to you.”
The girl must have seen the entire exchange she’d had with Teio and felt even worse about the entire ordeal.
“…Please, you don’t have to bow,” McQueen said. “If anything, I’m proud of Teio for making sure you were safe.“
The trainee brightened up and bowed again. “If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you and trainer Teio-”
“It’s fine,” McQueen said. “The fact that you’re safe and Teio’s injuries don’t seem to be serious are all that matter.”
“Yeah! Really, don’t worry about it.This’ll get better after some rest,” She said cheerfully, then leaned against McQueen and giggled. “And after I get McQueen to spoil me a little.”
“Are you sure?” The trainee looked hesitant. She turned to the other trainees and they all mouthed words and gestured amongst themselves briefly, then she turned back to Teio. They seemed like sweet girls, and McQueen was already starting to understand why Teio did what she did. “But-”
Teio held her hands up and laughed again. “It’s okay, really! I don’t wanna keep you girls here and I’ll probably go home in a bit. And…” her eyes narrowed and she smirked mischievously. “Since I’m gonna be taking tomorrow off I’ll make sure to ask Kuronuma to assign you stamina training from hell while I’m gone. So enjoy today while you can!”
The girls went pale as she snickered ominously, and quickly said their goodbyes before leaving. McQueen shook her head and sighed
“Was that truly necessary?”
“Ahaha, well, I couldn’t help it! I didn’t want them to get any weird ideas about owing me or anything, you know? Plus…” Teio took McQueen’s hand and gave it a kiss. “I wasn’t lying about wanting you to spoil me. I don’t know when you’ll go back to work so I wanna enjoy this while I can.”
McQueen’s cheeks warmed slightly. It was bold of Teio to tempt her in the middle of the infirmary like this, and it took her back to their school days for a moment, memories of hushed giggles under white sheets flashing through her mind.
“Well,” she said, clearing her throat. “You’ll be happy to know that I have no plans to return to work, and will be taking you home.”
Teio’s eyes widened.
“Are you sure? Don’t you have an important meeting coming up?”
“If I really want to do some work, I can read through a few documents at home, but I’d rather spend time with you.” She squeezed Teio’s hand. “Are you fit to move? What did the nurse say?”
“She just said to stay off my leg and it should be fine in a few days, though it’ll be sore for a bit,” Teio explained. “She said she’d be out for a while though, so I don’t know how I’ll get out of here without walking…”
“Don’t worry,” McQueen said sweetly. She stood up and moved her chair away, then rolled up her sleeves. “That can be easily taken care of.”
“Uh… McQueen? What are you doing?”
“Hm? I’ll be carrying you in my arms,” McQueen said matter-of-factly. Teio froze.
“What…?”
“My butler should be waiting outside in the car, so we’ll be home rather quickly.”
McQueen made a motion to put her arms behind Teio and under her legs carefully, but Teio protested loudly.
“Woah, woah- Hang on! We can ask the nurse for help on what to do here when she gets back!” Teio’s face was a bright red. “You don’t have to do this!”
“But we don’t know when she’ll be back, correct? If anything, I think it’ll be simpler and quicker to do it this way,” she said. “Unless… you’d prefer my butler come carry you?”
“No, he doesn’t have to- it’s the whole…” Teio blushed harder as she awkwardly struggled to speak. “You carrying me like this in front of all the students is kind of embarrassing…”
McQueen paused and then smiled at Teio teasingly. She felt herself blush as she said, “And… referring to me as your wife isn’t?”
Teio’s face somehow turned an even darker shade of red, her voice pitching up as she spoke defensively. “Th-that was- I- that was all them! I didn’t-”
“I think we can continue this conversation later,” McQueen said, chuckling. She may have been lightly teasing Teio, but dwelling on this topic any further would be bad for her heart as well, and definitely not fit for where they were at the moment. McQueen put a hand on Teio’s back and an arm under her legs again and looked at her, and very gently, said, “May I?”
Teio covered her face with her hands and made a strangled sounding squeak before saying, “...Yes.”
McQueen lifted her up with ease, a noise of surprise leaving Teio’s lips as McQueen held her securely in her arms. McQueen looked down at her and felt affection swell up within her. Her whole world fit in her arms so easily… This was… Dangerous. Teio’s ears fluttered and twitched, and she peeked at McQueen through the gaps in her fingers.
“McQueen…?” She asked her name curiously, as though waiting for her.
Seeing Teio acting so cute was really starting to do things to her, and now that she was actually holding Teio like this, she could see how this would be at least a little embarrassing for her. And while McQueen would love to continue carrying her and show off to the world that Teio was hers, she wanted to let her maintain some of her dignity in front of the students.
That, and there was a small part of her that thought that she didn’t want anybody else to see Teio like this.
“...Perhaps I should carry you on my back instead.”
“Why didn’t you try that first…?!”
After they readjusted themselves so Teio was now on her back, McQueen carried Teio as she walked through the halls and across the campus. As they passed by, students whispered and stared. Teio waved at some of the girls as they greeted her in passing, clearly beloved by all of the students despite not being their trainer directly.
“You’re quite well liked, I see,” McQueen said.
“I’m still a double crown umamusume and I did do that miracle run,” Teio said, waving at another student who greeted her. “Every time we get a wave of new students there’s at least one girl that asks me about it.”
“Oh? And what do you tell them?”
“That it was really hard,” Teio laughed. “But it was worth it. Cause I did it for you. For us.”
Teio really had a knack for saying such sweet, kind words like this without thinking so easily. It’d been so long since that fateful race, but even now, the sight of Teio crossing the finish line was fresh in her mind. The way she looked into her eyes afterwards when she won and gave her that reassuring, calm smile, the same one that’s always anchored her at her lowest moments…
“I love you,” McQueen said without thinking, smiling fondly. A group of girls they’d passed by saw and squealed, and she heard Teio laugh embarrassedly. “Ah- I’m sorry, Teio… I didn’t mean to-”
Teio gave her a kiss on the cheek and rested her head against McQueen’s, her arms wrapping around her midsection.
“What are you apologizing for? For loving me?” Teio laughed. The number of onlookers only increased, but Teio seemed to pay them no mind and nuzzled her head against McQueen. “Let ‘em watch. It’s fine. Besides, thinking about it, the moment those girls saw you in the infirmary it was probably gonna be like this no matter what.”
“Teio…”
“Hey, let’s get going! You took off to take care of me, right?” Teio’s voice was easy-going for the most part, though it shook slightly when she said, “I wanna spend time with my wife when I get home!”
McQueen nearly dropped Teio, her own face burning. She couldn’t see Teio’s face, but she wondered if it was as red as hers felt.
“R-right, of course,” McQueen said, and she picked up speed as she headed towards the car parked outside Tracen’s entrance.
Her butler greeted her and opened the door to the backseat for them, and when she let Teio down to get in the car, McQueen saw her turn her head away and face the window, though her tail flicked restlessly as they sat in the car. It was almost certainly due to her earlier comment, and realizing this made McQueen laugh quietly to herself. It’d been some time since Teio had gotten embarrassed about anything in their relationship, so this was a nice treat for her.
“Butler, would you take us to our apartment?” McQueen asked when he entered the driver’s seat.
“Of course, milady,” he said, nodding at her.
The drive back was mostly quiet, and when they reached their apartment complex, Teio made to get out by herself, but McQueen stopped her.
“I can at least walk up the stairs myself, it’s not that-”
“The nurse’s orders were to stay off your feet, remember? Let me carry you up.”
Teio pouted but relented, and after saying goodbye to her butler, McQueen carried her on her back again but up the stairs.
“Are you sure I’m not too heavy for this? You’re going up a bunch of stairs… It’s not going to be bad on your knee?”
“Not at all, you’re light as a feather,” McQueen said, and she smiled as she felt Teio hug her a little bit tighter.
When she got to their apartment, she had Teio dig into her bag and give the keys to her as her own hands were full, but otherwise they entered without any issues. The familiar scent of their living space welcomed them, and McQueen kicked off her own shoes before she set Teio down on the ground to take hers off for her.
Teio giggled as McQueen carefully untied her shoe and gently took it off her foot.
“Hm? What is it, Teio?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“You’re sure?”
“No, it’s…” Teio hesitated before speaking. “I feel kinda like a princess right now, hehe.”
It was an unexpected sentiment, a very cute one at that, and McQueen’s heart skipped a beat. She leaned forward to give her what was meant to be a quick kiss, but Teio’s hand reached up and grabbed the collar of her shirt as she began to pull away, pulling her closer. Teio’s lips were soft, and the sounds of her contented sighs were cute, inviting her to take more and more of her, but McQueen stopped before she could go any further and pulled away. Teio whined and looked at her questioningly with upturned eyes.
“We should at least get to the living room, lest you tempt me any further while we’re at our front door,” McQueen said, and Teio laughed.
She scooped Teio up and carried her in her arms again, this time in the privacy of their home, and Teio yelped from the sudden movement. If Teio felt like a princess, then today, she would take care of her like she really was one.
McQueen let her down gently on their couch and asked, “Is there anything you’d like that I can get you?”
Teio rolled her eyes and tugged on McQueen’s wrist.
“You, duh,” Teio said. She looked at her partner in amusement. “Were you actually going to leave me here after we were starting to make out two seconds ago?”
“I’m more than capable of showing some restraint when necessary,” McQueen said, blushing. “If there were any needs you wanted met, I wanted to take care of them if possible.”
Teio’s gaze softened, but she pulled on McQueen’s wrist again, more forcefully this time, and McQueen sat down next to her.
“There’s only one thing I need right now.”
McQueen smiled and leaned in, ready to fulfill her every desire.