Chapter Text
"Do you have any idea that you've just told an inmate in prison that she should be a correctional officer? Uh, what the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Count time, kids!"
A gruff, thorough New York accent booms through the hall, and Piper staggers back, bright orange uniform making her more vulnerable to what demon dares to destroy everything in its warpath. She's barely been incarcerated and already everyone has descended upon her, adamant on making her life (or what remains of it anyhow) a pure, pitiful, painful endeavor.
"U-Um..." She stammers, desperately looking to Demarco for a reassurance of any kind. "What do I-"
"Chapman, relax." Demarco raises her hands. "This one's a good egg. It's Nichols. She'll give ya candy if she thinks you're hot. Mainly does it with the white people."
"That...doesn't exactly sound like-"
Nicky Nichols sways into the room, boots thumping on the pristine floors and keys jangling at her side like an uneasy windchime. She leers at the inmates with a quality of infinite arrogance most would abhor, a cocksure smirk plastered on drug-addled(?) skin. Her body, though lithe in stature, carries a gargantuan leverage, and it's clear she's capable of profound power. Masscaraed eyes flicker from Demarco, to Miss Rosa, to Mendoza, back to Demarco, then to Piper, where they scrutinise every spectacle of her body in a predatory gaze. Like the hunter on the ascent for its breakfast, relentless in its endeavour until that ghastly hunger is sustained. The personification of rebellion, socks are pulled up above her boots, blue shirt sleeves are rolled back to flash a sampling of tattoos and a wild, untamed mane hangs down loose. Piper gulps, wondering if DeMarco is deceiving her, because this guard is-
"Yo, Demarco." Nichols nods, clicking her counter. "Found Luke Skywalker yet?"
"Ha." Demarco snorts. "How original, Nichols. And tie the hair back, ya shit for brains."
"Eh, fuck the rules." Nichols shrugs, chuckling. "Now to Miss Rosa 'I Got Cancer' Cisneros." She trudges over to Miss Rosa's bed and repeats the clicker process. "Good to see you're still in the land of the livin', eh?"
Miss Rosa groans weakly, rolling over in the sheets to glare up at Nichols. "Good to see you too, asshole..."
"Immigration, Mendoza!" Nichols laughs and clicks the counter once more, looking to a wide-eyed, frenzied, terrifying Mendoza. "Hands up, swords down! This ain't Guatemala!"
Mendoza takes a deep, controlled breath before swiftly commencing with her comeback. "I would kick your fuckin' mouthy white ass if you weren't no CO."
Nichols sniggers, spins on her heels and scans Piper's form once again, but there's a greater intrigue twinkling in her watchful eye. She clicks for a final time, dragging it out slow and steady. "Holy shit, well look what the cat's dragged in. What did you do, Blondie? Kill someone with a kayak?"
Piper frowns, always one to take the literal route. "Well kayaks can't exactly-"
"Tell ya what," Nichols asserts abruptly, holding out her fist, "take a lollipop, kid." She unclenches her fingers and, as if she were committing an act of illusion, unveils the candy in her palm. "Little welcome aboard gift from moi. Keep me sweet," her smirk returns, "and you'll get sweet treats."
"Uh...thank you?" Piper reluctantly claims the lollipop; does she fufill the criteria of what is 'hot?'
"So I hit the jackpot with the contraband. Snuck in a few nifty lil' things," Nichols delves deep into her pockets. Moments later she pulls out a flip phone and a miniature bottle of alcohol, "I know it ain't the god tier of booze, but yunno, I couldn't exactly schlep a whole fuckin' pint of that shit in my pants."
As Nichols hands the items to Demarco, an instant grin tugs at her lips. "Bless ya, hon. You're a fuckin' gem in that pila' rocks."
Even Mendoza's smiling. "You like Heroin Robin Hood or some shit, kid." She shakes her head. "Just prayin' you don't get caught, y'know? You riskin' your job for us an' all."
So she is an ex-junkie.
"I do what I can." Nichols shrugs, grappling her belt with both hands. "System's fucked and I'm the only one that gives a shit round here. Even Caputo's too busy sniffin' Fig's genitals to give a damn. But hey, that's life for ya. Someone's gotta pick up the pieces, right?"
"Why?"
Everyone stares Piper's way, eyebrows cocked, and even Miss Rosa peers up from her pillow.
"Why do you do this?" Piper continues, fixing her glare on Nichols, her demeanour cool, collected and mechanical to the touch. "What are your incentives? What do you gain from helping...us?"
Nichols exhales, and for the first time since her intrusion, a trace of vulnerability drips through the leaking pipe. She rakes a hand through her hair and thrusts it back, exhaling once more. "Look, uh, it could've been me in these beds, Blondie. I ain't exactly a fuckin' matriarch. I've done shit. Shit-shit I ain't proud of. But now I'm here to keep you on the straight n' the narrow."
"Oh. Right." Piper nods, but she still can't comprehend any valid logic behind Nichols' actions; she's definitely a Robin Hood-esque figure (that Piper can agree with Mendoza on), and yet with a certain anti-heroism that just can't be established. Maybe, as she'll slowly grasp the reigns of prison, the queer enigma of Nichols will unfold.
"So, uh," and with that, Nichols' oozing confidence reignites, "I'll see you around, gentlemen," she strides out of the room, but it's not long before she's screaming up the hallway like a banshee, "watch it, Meth Head! People are fuckin' walkin' here...! Oh, you want a shot?! I saw you fuckin' flip me off, inmate!"
"Nichols is a fuckin' legend round here, Chapman." Demarco begins, and Piper glances down at the stout Italian. "She'll let you off your work duties, give ya somethin' a lil' extra in your juice," She winks, hoisting up the bottle, "she's a nice kid. Tries her hardest. Inmates respect her cos' of it. But believe me, she's still an asshole when she's feelin' nasty." Demarco gestures to the doorway. "Don't take advantage."
"Hey! Morello!" Nichols' bellowing voice echoes across the building, ricocheting off dreary white walls. "Get your ass over here! Ya give Blondie her cosmetics?!"
"Oh, and she's fuckin' Morello." Mendoza casually adds, whipping out her compact mirror.
And with that, Piper's eyes bulge out in a fit of absolute horror.
"Wait, what?!"