[3rd] Week 329: Happenstance

[Rob]

Happenstance
1040 words
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So, waltzing into a friend’s room? Not too bad, actually. Waltzing into a friend’s room whose changing? Not too terrible either, really. Waltzing into the room of a friend whose entire body was under reconstruction? Yeah, not too great. It had happened before, and it wasn’t perhaps the most awkward moment she could ever imagine with Scarlett, but it was still a bit of a sad view.

“So this is what he meant,” Miki said with a soft sigh as Scarlett looked up and their eyes locked.

“Hey,” the blonde responded somewhat sheepishly.

“Had a bad night?”

Though the awkwardness was mostly gone, Miki still couldn’t help but worry for her friend. It wasn’t often that her entire body needed reconstruction. At worst, it would mostly just go offline for maintenance, to have to go for reconstruction meant something incredibly terrible must have happened to her.

Scarlett nodded softly, but what came from her mouth didn’t really align itself with what her expression told her. “It wasn’t too bad,” she said, but Miki could tell it was a bit of both worlds. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. If the young Orpheus lieutenant had to take an educated guess, she’d say Scarlett’s dream last night was one of the ‘not too bad’ dreams in a line of nightmares.

“I see,” Miki responded, slightly raising a single eyebrow in retaliation to the woman’s response. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m surviving, I guess.”

She wasn’t sure what was more painful. Watching Scarlett’s reconstructing body, or her numbed down responses. She was usually much more upbeat, full of life and always busy doing this or that. For her to be this quiet was... unsettling to say the least. Normally she would’ve loved it, she would’ve embraced it, but now it was a terrible silence.

Walking over to the bedside, she sat down right next to half-human, half-robot girl and locked her eyes with her friend once more. Whenever she looked into Scarlett’s eyes, she always had trouble discerning what emotion she was feeling at that exact moment, but right now...? To her, it was as clear as day what emotions were going through her mind.

“Are you going to tell me what happened,” Miki began, her startling blue eyes surprisingly serene, “or would you like for me to settle in first and we’ll talk more when you’re feeling up to it?”

As seconds passed by and Scarlett didn’t respond, Miki began to feel increasingly more uncomfortable with the situation as time went on. She really wanted to know what had happened yes, but she didn’t want to push her friend... or what was left of her, really. It wasn’t the strangest thing she had ever done, but talking to a mounted head where a pillow was supposed to be was still a bit odd even after all she’d been through with Scarlett. It was painful seeing her like this and, as such, Miki decided that in order to not let things get even more awkward than they already were she’d leave.

“I... I’ll come check up on you in a couple of hours, okay?” she asked, though whether Scarlett wanted to or not, she would come regardless of her response.

To her satisfaction, Scarlett nodded softly and managed a faint smile. It must be tough, Miki thought to herself as she stood up and made her way back out of Scarlett’s room. Virtually immortal, but what good does that bring you if you can be reduced to such a state?

What was still worse about all of this was that the only way for this to happen was if something really outrageous had happened. Whoever had assaulted her had to have had not only some serious firepower, but some ridiculous anger issues as well.

“How was she?” Kurt asked as soon as Miki left the host’s room.

“It’s... hard to tell what she’s really thinking, Kurt,” Miki responded. “I don’t suppose you can fill me in as to what has happened to her?”

Shaking his head in defeat, Kurt’s eyes gave her all the confirmation she needed. Scarlett hadn’t really spoken to him about it either, which means this was more pressing than she had thought. Something had happened that kept Scarlett to herself and she didn’t like it, but what could she really do? She could only hope that her friend would turn around and tell them what transpired.

“I’m sorry,” Kurt responded.

“That’s okay, it’s not your fault she won’t talk.”

“No,” he continued, “but it is my duty to see her safe. To see her like this means I have failed as a guardian.”

“Even then,” Scarlett interjected, “you can’t protect her from every single thing, Kurt. We will find out what happened and punish those who hurt her, that is a promise. It’d just be easier if she would just tell us what happened.”

“I know, it’s... driving me crazy.”

She wondered if it really only drove him crazy, or if he was secretly hurting more than he let on. She guessed on the latter, knowing Kurt. He was never the type to listen to anything she ever said, and would always hurt himself over the smallest things. Sighing softly, she shook her head and looked Kurt in his eyes.

“I guess there’s no use in fretting over it right now,” she said. “There’s not much we can do right now anyway, plus it’s getting late.”

“I guess you’re right,” he admitted as he cast his eyes upward for a bit. He’d always had some trouble looking her back in the eyes, as if he was afraid of what might be hiding behind those veils.

“Your room is the usual and your belongings should’ve been brought there by now.”

“Thanks,” Miki responded as she watched Kurt walk away. He was always like this when things seemed to come to a finale. This was his way of halting a conversation and, though she had come to expect it from him, it still ticked her off even now.

Sighing one final time, she looked back to Scarlett’s room one last time before heading off for the night.