The Black Dirge [Sci-fi]

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

Inside Zee sees the form of Kimiko, hot water streaming down on her pale, scar-wracked skin, her sopping wet hair draped over her. There's a new injury on her arm, seeing the blood on the brush makes it obvious how it happened. More worryingly, the girl has her eyes shut tight, her mouth biting her knee, her arms wrapped around her legs, hugging with what little might she has. Her arm doesn't look too bad, but her knee... that might need stitches. What the hell happened to put her into this state!? And upon closer inspection, her other knee bares a similar, older mark...

[accalia]

Zee looks at the scene for but a moment for a moment, then she sits next to the girl and reaches around her, drawing Kimiko towards Zee and simply holding. Zee says nothing, she simply holds Kimiko in her arms, water streaming down on the both of them.

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

The embrace seems to do the job. She gradually stops shivering, stops whimpering, and opens her eyes slowly. She sees her legs, her teeth embedded in her knee, and removes her mouth, the taste of blood spreading through her senses. Zee was hugging her... oh. Zee. The training. The shower. The hot water continued to fall on her... she was in the shower. Her father wasn't here... he couldn't hurt her anymore. "Zee..." she said quietly, calmer than she expected. "I'm... sorry." Zee could practically feel her frowning. "I thought... I was okay... but... I guess I wasn't..." She gave a faint, feeble smile, tears in her eyes. She hadn't even noticed she'd been crying, but now it was so obvious.

[accalia]

Zee doesn't answer for a long time, she just keeps holding Kimiko in a hug. Finally she answers, her voice a bit distant remembering something in the distant past.

"You did good kiddo, We're gonna get through this together, Terry. We're going to make this right again."

Zee then blinks, a frown crossing her face and her eyes refocusing on the present.

"what... oh. Well, there's...Look, I think we need to talk about this, but i don't think this is the right place. Let's get you dressed and then i'll take you over to your quarters, fix up a little something for that knee, and we can talk. Figure out what happened maybe, or maybe just what i can do to help next time, yeah?"

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

Kimiko barely manages a nod, "Okay..." she seems grateful to have been pulled away from her own mind, and with some assistance, manages to stand again. She has more scars all over her than most veterans... these weren't just caused by her powers. Some were self-inflicted, but most were much older and couldn't have been done by her or her powers. Those kinds of scars take a long time to heal... she must have been in pain every day. It's no wonder she always seemed so distracted, not quite all there. And now she has a bleeding bite mark on her leg, and brushed away her skin on one arm... she's done a hell of a job enduring everything so far. Even after all that she hasn't told Zee, the girl still wants to improve herself, to get better, to be useful. She's so broken, but despite all her pain, she -still- wants to help...

[accalia]

A weird expression crosses Zee's face as she helps Kimiko get dressed, a strange combination of a smile and a frown, both distracted. Here in front of her was someone that resonated with her in ways that she had thought impossible, at least since...... no. that was somewhere she would not go again. there were memories that she could not relive again. But still... 'She's so like you Terry. So innocent, so brightly shining. Full of desire to help.... and yet.... and yet..." Zee thinks, her expression slipping into a frown again. no. focus on the present. you can do right with this one, even where you failed Terry.

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

Noticing her expressions becoming a bit strange, Kimiko quietly pipes up, "U-Um... are you okay...?" Genuine concern. The girl is standing there in pain, recovering from the stress and fatigue of the training, all those scars, and the new wounds... and now she's concerned for Zee? Shouldn't she be more worried about herself!?

[accalia]

"It's.... It will be okay. Just memories from the past." Zee says. her focus once again returning to the present. that's one thing that's Kimiko's alone then. terry never was that quick on the uptake. maybe it was something empathic to do with her powers?

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

"Oh... kay..." she pauses, then speaks up again, "Umm... earlier... you... in the shower... called me Terry. Who's that...?" Such an innocent question. Such a heavy question.

[accalia]

"She is... was.... My wife." Zee says flatly. answering the question and nothing more. She tenses up at the question as memories from the past try to rise and play themselves inside her head and she flat out denies them that opportunity. now is not the time for that. Now is the time to treat an injury. "Can you walk?"

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

She stares for a moment about the mention of a wife, then nods slowly, "I... think so. But... um... if I'm wrong... could you stay... close?" Somehow she looks cuter after having admitted weakness. She's blushing slightly... curiously, seeing her face closer, her head and neck don't have scars on them. She must have done well to protect them, that or her assaulter made sure not to make the wounds easily visible.

[accalia]

"Of course." Zee confirms straightening to stand tall again. "Lead on. i'll match my pace to yours."

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

"Okay." She leads the way a bit clumsily, seeming to barely even notice what pain she's in, but rather more notices the weakness in her muscles that she isn't used to. As an aside, Zee may find herself thinking, the girl looks better with her hair down. She usually has it up all the time.

[yamikuronue]

Shinigami had left when Zee suggested, deciding she had better things to do than figure out what was going on with the new recruit. As they walk down the hallway, a door shuts quickly; someone was spying on them, and has ducked out of sight. Unsurprising, to Zee at least. Siegfried was a shy little bugger, but he was also curious. Now that he's seen Kimiko, he probably won't come out and talk to her until he's ordered to again. At least, not face to face. On the comms is a different story.

[Rednaxela]

After leaving the showers, Kenji had decided to head into a corner of the gym, furthest from the entrance, to sit down and close their eyes. Say generally near trouble... but relax... always best to relax... alaways easiest to spring into action if need be that way, when listening for footsteps that might lead to plasma bolts being fired. Wait.... plasma bolt? This is not out on a field mission...