"No... I just wanted to talk." She said as she floated in and closed the door behind her. She could feel all sorts of pressure already and she was feeling quite nervous. She took another deep breath and sat down next to her, sort of fidgeting. She didn't know how to start, so she already assumed that her point is going to be hard to convey. She then tucked her legs in and hugged them, looking at Chelsea. "Do you see me as a patient... or as a friend?" She then had a serious look in her eyes which you could tell, she was sort of hurting. She was hurting to see Chelsea think in this type of way, even hearing her thoughts made it more obvious. "Or perhaps... Do you see Bright as a patient, or a friend?"Chelsea's POV
Interactions:CasualTea
Chelsea internally flinched when she heard a bang on the door. She had vaguely heard the voices in the living room, but she hadn't tuned in to them, they were simply background noise. That was what made this sudden bang such a surprise. She had been expecting Albright's voice, not Lunaria's, and it made her hesitant to open the door. She got off the end of her bed, dragging the blanket she had wrapped around herself like a cape. She realized how childish it made her look and she slid back over to the bed, folding it and making it look as neat as possible. Patient. Remember she's nothing more than a patient. She opened the door, and while she originally had just meant to stand in the doorway, she found herself moving out of the way, opening the route for Lunaria to walk through. "Did you need something?" she asked, the same cool tone that she used with most patients coming out. She sat down but didn't invite Lunaria to do the same, practically staring at the other girl, waiting for an answer.
Ene's POV
Interactions:BoltBeam
"I've never had anyone ever say that to me before," Ene murmured, but she smiled. She was a nuisance to a lot of people, she couldn't deny that. In her short life as a coded being, it wasn't hard to find her looking at and doing things she shouldn't have. Being told she was worth a thought made her a little happy. Ene wasn't surprised that Inari would ask what she was doing. She tapped her finger on the keyboard she had been using, trying to think of how to explain what she was doing. "I'm just comparing cyber life and real life, just for science or whatever," She said, turning it around, there were reasons that had been crossed off, as she had labeled them as too pessimistic. They were actually about equal, but Ene was doing that just so she wouldn't seem too negative. "I just never really looked at them before," she added reasoning, smiling again.
Chelsea was quiet for a moment, both voices in her head going head to head. “A patient.” A friend. “You’re both patients.” She continued to deny it, believing that if she ignored it, it would eventually be implemented in her head. She noticed Lunaria’s hurt expression, but forced herself to ignore it. “You came here with a problem, we fixed the problem, and you’ll be going on your way.” She started vocalizing her thoughts, only picking out the moments that helped prove her point. She squeezed her hands together in her lap, staring at them for a second before she looked back up at Lunaria. “I shouldn’t make friends.” She said stiffly, proving what Albright said about her to be true.
"Children will be children, right?" She asked calmly, shaking her head. She was enjoying the coffee, mind you, but paid attention to Gal'Gore's last statement. "I have no need for a monster for a weapon when I 'am' the monster 'and' the weapon." She stated sharply, yet also a hint of a fearful tone could be heard among those words. "...Though, I guess there's only such a limit to what someone can and will do - plus you seem to have already found a partner... I would rather go alone anyhow."
Huntertabbysandshark3
Inari smiled. "First time for everything, Ene." She remarked simply, seeming happy to have it heard and recognised. Did it mean something to her, too? Perhaps, perhaps not. But either way, it's a learning experience.
"I see..." Inari nodded in understanding. "It does look quite interesting; complicated, too..." She added, not wanting to stare 'too' long considering it is in fact Ene's 'property' so to speak, not hers. She figured she'd rather not 'intrude' on it too much.
narcissisticnugget
"That's... not healthy for you." Lunaria said with a more hurt tone. She can still read her mind and what she means to say, but it seems that the cause is true. She then moved a bit closer to Chelsea, sort of trying to go for a push. "...If I were a patient, then would a patient treat a nurse and a doctor for food?" She asked but spared no time to let her answer. "Would a nurse let a patient sleep in their bed? Take a stab for the nurse? Help with carrying stuff? Allow them into their room?" She was pretty much staring her dead in the eyes. "Also, help them dress or even, hug let alone kiss them?" Lunaria asked, finished with her questions. She then curled back into her ball and let out a soft giggle. "Y'know, even if I wasn't really present. I still considered you and Dr. Albright as friends. Dr. Bright did so too." She then frowned as cold words left her mouth. "Imagine Dr. Bright who had reincarnated dozens of times." The next part, Bright was also heard through telepathy and Lunaria was speaking them, their sentences in sync, Lunaria's voice dead and monotone and Bright's voice warm and dark. "Making friends and family, only to forcefully abandon them upon death because they would never understand the blessing and the curse." Lunaria then took another deep breath, this time her whole body shivered. All her nervousness seemed to had washed away with that sentence alone, and it implied that Lunaria, Dr. Albright, and Chelsea are the first few to know about Bright's condition outside the foundation. She stopped her shivering and looked at Chelsea. "Knowing this, do you think Dr. Bright has given up on the idea of... friends?"
CasualTea
BoltBeam
"It's a matter of perspective, really." Inari said simply, shrugging. In response to Ene's second question, Inari would look around to find she may have taken a wrong turn. She rolled her eyes, went back to said turn, and took the 'actual' right turn and would make it there shortly. "Now we are. Yes." She joked, sighing but managing a minor smile.
narcissisticnugget
Lunaria saw this memory and floated over to her and hugged her from behind. She can't say much since she's acting like this because of trauma too. All she could do was keep silent. Bright however, started to speak. "Perhaps, you need to learn when to make time for work and for free time. We all have busy lives. And even if you say you're not strong, I'm not either." Bright said, continuing to speak his mind. "Physical pain is a lot more endurable than emotional, or even mental. There are no defense methods for true feelings. That is why friends can be there to support you in your time of need. Help you move on, grow, and mature." Lunaria soon let go and began floating again, levitating in the middle of the room as if she was about to leave. "Believe me when I say this. Losing many families is not easy for me to do. However, with what friends I've entrusted my secrets to, have helped me overcome and start anew. Lunaria soon heard Bright say something to her only, which meant Bright was getting better at harnessing telepathic abilities. She summoned a piece of paper with their phone number on it and left it on the nightstand and floated towards the door. "What happened to your friends is truly unfortunate. Nothing can be done about it now, but something can be done for you and your future. It is up to you to take the first step." Bright said before Lunaria opened the door and headed out into the living room again. They couldn't do much now, it all rested on Chelsea's decision of what she would want to do now.Chelsea’s POV
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Chelsea’s emotionless eyes stared back at Lunaria, hearing what she was saying. It was hurting her, every situation that was presented to her only made her protective belief deteriorate more. However, this had been the belief she had for nine years, it wasn’t going to deteriorate too quickly. She slid off the bed, standing and talking as she walked. “And his belief never wavered? He always believed that it was worth it to make friends?” she tilted her head, and just like Lunaria presenting what had happened, she didn’t leave enough time to answer. “Friends require work to keep up. Time that could be used to save lives is instead traded for pointless activities. And for what? Those bonds can come crashing down with a single action or word.” She was quiet for a second, “My track record with friends is bad. With the last people I really called my friends, our relationship came crashing down in moments.” The same girls from the graduation photo were in Chelsea’s head again, all on a bloody battlefield. Two were dead at the smiling third’s feet. Chelsea was there with Albright, a clear liquid in a syringe in her hand. The memory ended there, and it could only be assumed what happened next. “I’m not enduring that ever again.” she said quietly, sitting back down on the other side of the bed. “I’m not that strong.” Her voice was even softer now, hiding her face in her knees that she had pulled up to her chest.
Ene’s POV
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Ene shrugged. She was glad that she could receive praise. Sure, her not ideal track record would probably be heard soon enough, but that wasn’t right now. “I didn’t think it was that complicated,” she murmured, but she didn’t wait to prove that it wasn’t. “Are we almost there?” she asked, leaning against the screen again.
CasualTea
BoltBeam
"I'm probably going to end up getting food - but take a look as I'm in here anyhow." Inari stated. "Might as well make the most of the time, right?" She added, beginning to look at what there was to begin with. "Now, what is there in here that looks good..." She mused to herself silently, thinking and observing what there was before she makes her decision at all.
narcissisticnugget
Lunaria ended up signing as she went to to fridge and took her crepe and milkshake. "I can't do much now, wounds are too deep. I don't want to push her, so it's up to her now." She said before looking to Albright and let out a breath. "If... there isn't anything else, I'll be going to look around the school." She said before she turned a corner and saw Chelsea. She stopped where she was and let herself down, so she was standing on her legs. She just looked at Chelsea awaiting her answer.Chelsea and Albright’s POV
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Chelsea didn’t recoil from the hug. She took it in and let it comfort her, it didn’t help much with Bright’s words, which scalded her. She brought her face out of her knees and placed her head on them. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t even look at Lunaria. She took the words in quietly, flowers popping up in her hair and around her head. She found it hard to listen, but she still did so. With each word, Chelsea could feel the shield she had put up breaking. When Bright mentioned her friends, she recoiled a little bit. She had forgotten that Lunaria's powers involved reading minds. That was a trauma that no one had lived to witness other than her or Albright. She didn't move her head, trying to think. Once she heard Lunaria leave the room, she got up, taking the note and typing the number into her phone under a contact. Her entire philosophy had been prioritizing anything over friends. That was what she had done. Every patient that had tried to speak with her after being hospitalized was treated with a cold shoulder. She forced all her burdens onto herself, which eventually led to her straight up forgetting about them until they would assault her again. It all finally clicked together, and she walked out of her room, her legs feeling shaky.
Albright looked at Lunaria as she walked back in, lowering his phone. “So? How’d it go?” he asked, a little nervous, since Chelsea didn’t seem to have followed. A few minutes later, her head poked out from behind the corner of the wall. She looked afraid to walk over. Something had obviously shifted in her, though her face didn’t show it. Albright tilted his head as he looked at her, still waiting for Lunaria’s answer, both hopeful and afraid of what the answer would be.
Ene’s POV
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Ene shrugged again. She looked back at the route, letting Inari figure out where She was supposed to go. “Okay, now that we’re here, what are you going to do?” she asked, looking around the cafeteria. “Are you going to get food like this room is intended for, or are you just here to look?” she asked, tilting her head again and taking a sip of her milkshake.
CasualTea
BoltBeam
Lunaria watched Chelsea tear down her walls and smiled. She walked up to her and hugged her, more so to comfort her and welcome her into her arms. "Yes, we can still be friends." She then heard something that Chelsea was denying that she was crying. She didn't do much except pat her head as she did so. "There there, let it all out. This will be healthy for you." She said softly as Bright stayed quiet, satisfied to what he's seen. This was also Lunaria's first time making some actual friends, and not the ones who forced her to be friends.Chelsea and Albright's POV
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Albright nodded, trying to hide his disappointment. It probably didn't matter since Lunaria could hear his thoughts anyways, but he still wanted to try and be at least a little reassuring. There was still the fact that Chelsea was there, looking for a moment to interject. She didn't know what to say when she was finally acknowledged, making noises that sounded like words, but they couldn't be strung together to form anything comprehensible. "I...I..." she wanted to say something smart, something that she thought excused the way she was acting, but her eyes were watery and her words weren't coming out. "I'm...” she couldn’t bring herself to say something. She could only say what she hadn’t said in ages “Can we...can we still be friends?" There it was. It was in no way crafted the way she had wanted it to be, and tears started rolling down her cheeks. Seven years of neglected feelings all pushed themselves out at once. She hid her face as she tried to wipe away her tears. She mumbled something that sounded like "I'm not crying," but it was lost in the fabric of her sleeve. If anything other than her physique made her look like a child, it was the tears pooling in her eyes. She was trying to keep herself together, her mind screaming at her to stop crying. She looked up, praying that her knees wouldn’t give out, biting her lip and focusing on Lunaria again. Albright watched, unmoving. He had never seen Chelsea on even the verge of crying, that was a shock all on its own, but he didn't say anything, fidgeting with his phone case as they both waited for Lunaria's answer.
Ene's POV
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Ene nodded, looking at the food and summoning her own. It felt better to eat with friends after all. "Do you know if you need food to survive or not? I mean you probably shouldn't test it, but I'm just curious since you said you were made of code," she said, sitting back down on the apps again. "Cafeteria food isn't always the best, but I'd say you'd be good with anything here," she offered, since it looked like Inari was deciding what to choose.
Chelsea nearly fell into Lunaria’s arms, the tears finally falling. Her cheeks were soaked within moments, hiding her face in Lunaria’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she mumbled, still trying to avoid crying, despite what Lunaria had said. She stayed there for at least a few minutes, her sobs eventually becoming quiet breathing. She moved back a little, but she was afraid to leave the hug. Her mind was still getting readjusted to the idea of a friend, and that left her unable to know where to go next. “What do we do now?” She asked incredibly softly. She still felt fragile, as if one word could have her break down all over again. She moved back a little, still kind of trembling from throwing herself out there immediately after tearing down the walls she had put up.
"Honestly, I don't know yet." Inari admitted. "I've not come across anything bad from it, sooo..." Inari shrugged - perfect time to find out! A bit of a risky investigation this time, perhaps, but that's how the 'live and learn' perspective works.
"Hmm... Anything goes, then..." Inari thought aloud before picking something at random with intent to give it a try not too soon later. When able (after whatever else that can and would be needed to be like 'are you sure you want this' - that kind of stuff), Inari would sit down and give it a try, taking her time. It would take a while for it to sink in, but she would eventually start to feel chest pains - keeling over. "OK... Yep... Now I know..." She said in pain, coughing a little. "Got... it..." She added, groaning as she managed to somehow find strength to get up and stay up - though it seemed to indeed hurt a lot. Knowing her 'made of code' thing, one would probably be safe to assume it's only a good idea to eat things made of code as well, or made for the situation... But that's incredibly specific 'and' hard to come by!
narcissisticnugget
"Well... Heh, I dunno. I wanted to walk around the school but my legs still feel a bit funny so I guess we'll just chill here" Lunaria said with a chuckle. She still hugged Chelsea, not really sure when to let go. It's mostly if she felt her arms part away from Chelsea backing up too much that she'll just have to let go. She herself was also unsure of what to do next, which is ultimately why she's going to stay there a little longer.
CasualTea
BoltBeam
Rachelle rolled her eyes at Marcus, sighing. "Defensive? That's because it's a personal problem." She said simply. "It is none of your business - I would hope to keep it that way for the time being." She added, staring out at both of them from behind the mask. "Though; if you 'really' want to find out, I could give you a 'demonstration'." She said in a warning tone, but she also sounded like she didn't want to give off such a demonstration. "The choice is yours. Just... please don't make me..." She said, moving her mask out of the way to unveil a worried expression.
Huntertabbysandshark3
Inari groaned as she would gradually get over it. "It was worth a try, don't worry yourself." She said to Ene, trying to assure her at first. The second one however, she shrugged and shook her head. "I... Um... Hold on..." She tried to 'dig' through her memory or something like that, to figure out 'what' to do in such a situation. "Well, judged on 'that', food made in the real world won't mix with my code... So... This is a bit awkward..." She admitted - the only way she 'would' feed herself in this situation would be to use her power or use elaborate means to 'transfer' or 'alter' foods (or something like that), but that's a long process, so it's generally not done. "That'll teach me for not listening..." She added, the food seeming to have made a considerable impact - though it would cease the trace soon enough (it was still consumed, but it did a lot of damage and generally didn't bode well). Thankfully, she seems to be slowly regenerating, but that makes the matter of consumption more difficult...
narcissisticnugget
"Well, we can just play some video games or something, and not drink alcohol. Or maybe we could read a book. It---" She was cut off when she heard a notification from her phone. It was the foundation. She put down her crepe and milkshake on the counter top to look at the notification. Of course, Bright was looking at this too. Lunaria then put her phone away and shrugged. "Bright told me to ignore that, it was something minor." She said as a humanoid back at the foundation is causing problems via containment breach and the only way to get him back into containment is to shove a D-Class into its containment chamber and have their femur broken, since that type of pained scream is what the humanoid likes, weird bastard, and goes to kidnap that poor victim into its own pocket dimension. Then the containment breach would be nullified. "Anyway, what was I saying...?"Chelsea’s POV
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Chelsea nodded at Lunaria’s proposal, trying to think of something to do. She could offer a wheelchair of some kind if Lunaria really wanted to move around the school, but she seemed content with staying here for the time being. She finally broke away from the hug, leaning on the wall as she tried to think of something they could do. “Well, we can either keep the serious tone we’ve had, and learn about each other a little more...” she sat there, trying to think of something else to do. ”Or we could also just do something simple. I...don’t really know what that would entail.” She said, rubbing one of her eyes with her fist.
Ene’s POV
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Ene watched Inari take the food, trying to act like just a floating phone so the lunch ladies wouldn’t talk to her. That was why she was quiet through the whole line. She continued to stay quiet as Inari sat down, watching as she started to eat. That quickly seemed to go downhill, and Ene got visibly nervous. “W-Was it a bad idea?” She asked, trying to figure out what had just happened in front of her. “If real food is a no-go...then what do you eat?” she asked, tilting her head.
CasualTea
BoltBeam
"At least it does, yeah..." Inari said. "At least, to that regard, is 'is' energy efficient - hurts a bit too much just for a little scrap of energy, though..." She added, sighing. It seemed counter-intuitive to her, Inari shaking her head in disappointment with her own decision.
Inari smiled. "I mean... That's true..." She said, hope returning to her. "Only problem is it's gonna take a lot of energy management if I'm to make food to fill myself with, eh?" She chuckled a little, seeming to appreciate Ene's input and realisations - so on, so forth.
narcissisticnugget
"Hmmm..." She soon had an idea. She looked at Albright with a curious look. "Hey, when Chelsea was younger, did you ever take her out to an amusement park before? Or hang-gliding?" She asked since the idea she had come up with was involving her powers. Since she can pick things up just fine, she wondered if she can do some flying around the school. It'd was a fun hobby that Bright did, but not to the point he had tested any limits to it. Lunaria is more confident in her powers so she knew she could fly pretty recklessly. She then began to have second thoughts. If they hadn't been to neither, then maybe she'd just... Actually, upon thinking about it further, it was probably a bad idea. Maybe they could so something that didn't involve her powers. "Actually, on second thought, have you guys ever had funnel cakes before?"Chelsea and Albright’s POV
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Chelsea listened to the things Lunaria was discussing, quietly standing there as she checked her phone. She tugged the sleeves of the hoodie she was wearing down, hiding the bandages that dotted her arms. When Lunaria explained that Bright had told her to ignore it, Chelsea assumed that it was for work, and she didn’t press any farther. “You were listing activities that we could do, you got cut off by the notification.” She recapped, the shakiness of her legs finally going away so she could stand up straight. “Did you have more ideas?”
Ene’s POV
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“Okay, it’s good we don’t have to take you to the doctors.” Ene looked relieved. If she was helping a person, and they suddenly got ill, she believed the blame would be pinned on her. As Inari explained what she would probably have to eat, Ene processed it. “Does the food still generate energy then? That would mean that you have to use energy to make energy, right?” she asked. This was confusing her. If the food made energy, but she had to use part of her stamina to make that energy, would it refill stamina, go to a different thing, or not have any effect at all? She shook her head, trying not to make it seem too complicated. “At least it means you can eat whatever you want...” she muttered, trying to see a bright side.
CasualTea
BoltBeam
"Ordinarily, yes." Inari began. "The bigger the item, the more energy is needed to be used in order to make it. Ergo, smaller items are often the safer choice, as they leave me with more energy at later times to make what I please - case and point; the phone you presently inhabit, and that capsule surrounding said phone as well. They each take up a small-medium chunk of the energy I am 'supplied' daily, though the complications of what I make can also influence how much energy is used to make it..." She explained, hoping Ene understood the explanation.
narcissisticnugget
