damned_institute | Day 51: Breakfast

Yuffie Kisaragi, indomitable bouncing ball of sunshine and unfathomable ebullience, was tired. It'd been a long night full of gibberish and getting nowhere fast.

"Can't I—"

Plucky, who had been busily loading a plate full of French toast and bacon, tittered. "I'm afraid not, Hanna, darling. A chat over a nice, hearty breakfast would do you a world of good, don't you think?"

"Aaaaactually—"

"Come on, let's find you a seat. Plenty to choose from this morning!"

For a long moment, Yuffie seriously considered doing something—anything—to act out. Punch her nurse, rub jam in an orderly's face, climb a wall and hang off the ceiling, jump on a table and parody Loveless… A ruckus like that would definitely jolt her back into gear, right? Sedation aside. And it'd turn Plucky's good day right on its head, which was always a bonus worth shooting for.

But, by the time she'd reached a decision—and it was an epic decision, a really awesome one; everybody'd appreciate the genius, she was sure—she was already alone. Her breakfast tray had been set down neatly by the nurse, who had left with an infuriatingly winsome smile.

"Wow," Yuffie muttered. Shaking her head, she picked a chair at random and threw herself into it. She kicked back, one arm slung across her eyes, to wait. For what, she wasn't totally sure. Some moron to decide that she looked like good company? That was how it usually went.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This was becoming habit: another to join in company who appeared as battered as himself. Nigredo fortunately had the sense this round to be attentive before she offered her greeting. "Hello," he returned in a quiet voice. Brief hesitation had the child glancing at his uneaten food, only to look back at the newcomer. Her features were taken in with calculated indifference, but a part of him had to wonder why she looked so terrible.

One might have mistaken his upcoming question as sympathy. In truth, he could only act on a numbing sense of morbid curiosity. Such was the consequence of living the past few days.

Nigredo carefully tipped his head upward to meet the woman's eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Maybe it was because she'd never talked to the boy before. Maybe it was because she didn't even recall seeing him either, that she decided to give an honest answer.

"Not even close."

Sheena glanced up as the nurse returned with a plate containing way too much food. At least she had a bowl of fruit, so the ninja picked a grape from a spring and chewed on that. At least it was a small enough bite that it didn't hurt her any more than talking did. She wondered exactly how horrible she looked with her lips like that.

"I'm Sheena," she offered.

Yes, he didn't think so. Still, Nigredo could say a negative response was a significant improvement over none. It did not matter that his habits pushed opposite (or pushed nothing, if the idea fit the analogy), but the child understood that was far from the case with most others. She even ate. Nigredo had yet to stomach any food since two days before the last.

That hardly meant she was in a better state. Just that she could recover.

He watched the nurse move away for a long minute (ignoring the presence of a connection), before the boy accepted her name by offering his own. "Nigredo." Green eyes returned to Sheena. Again, the boy would take to objective questions than pity, no matter how the words seemingly touched on the latter. "Bad night, I take it?"

"Horrible night," Sheena replied quietly, something like fear and deep, deep pain flashing in her eyes. The only reason she could recover from this, as hard as it was to imagine, was because there had been that split between the evil youkai and her youkai. And she'd been able to feel it, feel the internal protests from Yukari.

"I should be broken."

Had Nigredo known of the situation, he might have drawn more similarities in their circumstances than most others. As it was, the child could only focus on the words spoken. If they had conversed before Rubedo told him, before brothers fought to an incomprehensible end, he might have left the subject alone out of propriety. That part of his mind even balked at the idea that Nigredo would pry to assuage a selfish need.

How fortunate, then, that those protests were quickly dying. "But you're not," he said in his signature quiet. It was a simple fact, containing the bare bones of Nigredo's observation. Sheena had her choice on how to react.

"No...I'm not." Sheena looked down at her plate quietly. "I'm not whole, but I'm not broken."

Then she looked up, eyes straying past Nigredo to a commotion on the other side of the room. Someone was hurting her youkai. A part of her wanted to go stop that woman from attacking Yukari, but the sight of the youkai made something in the ninja's stomach turn.

The feel of a tongue pushing deep into her throat where it hadn't been wanted. The piercing pain of teeth. Sheena paled and immediately pushed her tray, tearing her eyes from the scene.

"I'm not broken," she whispered.

She seemed to be trying to convince herself. If her movements held any indication, the woman's focus was far from Nigredo, her breakfast, and the words exchanged. That was fine. The boy understood more than he would say. In fact, he couldn't blame her in her condition. Whether or not she was broken, she was not fine.

He didn't even need to look behind him to know that it was unwanted.

Past the apathy, the coldness growing toward other existences, Nigredo wondered. Had he acted similarly that one night? While his own brother offered the opposite of his current response, even. How much upset warranted a narrow focus? He couldn't say, but here, he could give a proper action.

A strange fire bubbled beneath the stoic variant's skin, and he reached out with a finger to tap toward Sheena's tray, as though to call attention to the little things outside the hurt. It then retreated back to his own, where he lifted a fork to his plate. The food smelled sweet enough to rot Nigredo's stomach, but he seemed not to mind when he took little bites. Eating was only movement, in the end.

After a few moments of trying to calm herself down, and failing, something drew her attention and it wasn't Yukari. It wasn't even the memories of the previous night. No, it was... her breakfast?

Breakfast. She looked at the tray for a moment before she took another grape. She needed to eat. There was mana within her again, but she needed to eat or she'd burn it out. Sheena popped the fruit into her mouth and then shifted in her seat so she couldn't look in Yukari's direction without turning her head enough that it pulled on her stitches and hurt.

"What about you?"

By now, Nigredo was gingerly nibbling on soggy bread, barely aware his breakfast partner had taken to doing the same. Good. They were both partaking in what needed to be done, even if either probably lacked in wanting. He took another small bite, resisting the urge to throw it back up on the plate.

"I'm well as I can be," answered Nigredo after a polite swallow. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth. It simply pushed the parts to the background.

"I guess I can understand that."

Sheena wasn't broken, but she was far from fine. But considering what happened to her, she was as well as she could be. Interesting how Nigredo's words were a bit of a comfort. Almost like she wasn't alone in dealing with what she'd been through the night before.

"Have you ever... " She fell silent a moment, debating on whether she wanted to ask or not. "...ever been betrayed by someone you care greatly for and know it really wasn't their fault it happened?"

Day 51: Breakfast

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject