Ch.3-2 ¤ Cold Homes

Honestly, this hadn't been my idea of bonding time, but I figured it would do. Now that we had finished dealing with the aftermath of our first mission together and got a little rest in, I had poked back Silke about the 'training' of sorts I had mentioned before leaving. She was a little reluctant at first but soon enough complied since she had given her word that she would help. Suzume was quick to shoo us outside of the hide-out on reasons of "not wanting to have to clean blood all over the place" and to tell us that the factory would be a much better environment anyway.

Silke didn't seem very pleased with the turn of events, but she didn't complain, simply shaking her head as if in mild disapproval. I couldn't help but feel like she knew something I didn't. Suzume's shit-eating grin didn't help either.

Once we left the relative comfort of the hide-out and entered the gray and rust confusion of the abandoned factory, Silke took a deep breath and reached for her helmet. I winced mentally in bracing, but it wasn't enough. Of course it wouldn't have been enough, stupid me. The pain that hit me when she removed it was enough to make me stagger back a few steps and reach out to my chest with one hand, the other going for my mouth.

It took me several minutes to recover; several minutes of cold, empty silence where the Culexus didn't say a word and didn't make a single noise. Several minutes of warm but blackened blood escaping between my claws. When I was finally able to stand back straight I noticed she had been looking at me the entire time with an expression of serious concern. It was the first time that I could see her face.

Her eyes were of a clear emerald color that looked as pure as they could get and her hair, apparently kept short, was of a somewhat matching light blue. They were cold colors, but her traits were anything but cold. She seemed a little older than I had thought from her short height and behavior; just a few years younger than me probably.

I managed a small smirk and broke the ice with a tone that tried to be even but couldn't quite achieve it under the strain. "So that's what you really look like under all that gear eh, not bad." She blinked twice, apparently surprised by the off-hand compliment.

"You.. really need to get your sense of priorities fixed..." she managed as she averted her gaze slightly. I had heard her be embarrassed a couple times before, but it was different actually seeing it... Damnit you're not supposed to look this cute when you're almost my age.

"Priorities are over-rated, I just go with the flow of things" I shrugged lightly, smirk turning back into a more genuine smile. I wiped my lips clean from the remainder of blood that had been left there with the back of my left hand, its ebon metal already starting to get soaked. She had kept a fair distance away from me, so she probably hadn't noticed it wasn't quite 'breakfast'.

"Jeez, you should take this more seriously! You could die you know!" she looked like she was this close to stomping the ground in emphasis, but all I could do was let out a small 'heh'. The fact that, blood-purging asides, I was still feeling like a quartet of bone saws were having fun with my skull didn't exactly help my social abilities.

"Actually, good luck with that." I snorted lightly before wincing and swearing profusely under my breath. No more snorting while bone saws are a thing. Ever.

Silke sighed heavily. "I would ask you if you are all right, but I already know the answer, much as it pains me to..." her voice trailed off slightly as did her eyes. It was in that moment that I could see the regret in her eyes, hidden every day behind that helmet's visor. I could only speculate as to why, but it was there.

"Heh, don't worry about it too much, I've been chopped and blown up before, so just a little blood is nothing to me." I tried to reassure her but only too late realized my mistake.

"B-Blood? step back and let me see!" the Culexus stormed in, barely leaving me enough time to get out of the way and causing my headache to jump to even higher levels. Dear fucking fuck what did I do to deserve this much hurt. "W-what the..."

Silke  bent down to observe the pooled up blood and her eyes widened with  small gasp. She looked back to me slowly. "I.. don't think we should continue this any further."

I just shrugged once more, trying to pretend my head wasn't about to explode and using that opportunity to practice the Art of Bullshit as Suzume called it. "It's fine, really." I put on a token smile, but it only seemed to piss her off.

"No, you don't understand." her voice was stern and uncompromising. "I have been a Culexus for five years and this has -never- happened to me before. Not even once." she sighed lightly and looked down. "There really has to be something wrong with you, I'm really sorry to say that..." For a moment she looked crestfallen instead of angry.

"Then all the more reason to get to the end of this. I won't be able to have a clear mind until I can figure out what's up with this bullshit." An half-lie, but an half-truth as well. It did intrigue me greatly, but it wasn't like I wouldn't lose sleep over it or anything. "Trust me on this one, I won't hold any of it against you."

Silke shook her head energetically. "We shouldn't. I'm seriously concerned about your health here!" Yes I can see that, but I'm not concerned about my own health so you should do the nice thing and do the same.

I sighed heavily. "I'll be fine, I -promise-, okay?" Silke shot me an incendiary glare, as if immediately and silently calling bullshit on me. I guess if she's been around Suzume this long she does have a lot of experience dealing with bullshit. Well, fuck. I remained as composed as I could under the strain and bore her glare with a serious expression, refusing to budge an inch.

After a moment it was her who sighed heavily. "You're really impossible, you know that? Totally impossible." she shook her head in disbelief, looking rather annoyed. "Fine, fine! if you're such a huge masochist then whatever." I am not a masochist. "Just... urgh.. I don't even know what to say." Ok maybe a little, but not in this particular context. Fuck headaches, fuck them to oblivion.

I gave a small apologetic shrug. "Yeah, I know, but it can't be helped. I want to be able to communicate with you without feeling like I'm getting stabbed in the face every time you Pulse and if a shock treatment is the only way to go about making that happen then so be it." I tried to appeal to logic and use a comforting tone, but she saw through my attempts at calming her down. Probably because a 'comforting' tone sounds unnatural coming from me... whatever...

"So yeah, I know this is hard for you, but thanks, I mean it. I can tell you don't like to see people in pain." she gave a small nod and looked away, as if I had figured out some kind of horrible, shameful secret. What?

"I never asked for this you know..." this time it was her tone that wavered with pain. In that instant I understood it all. The regret I saw in her eyes earlier, her relatively isolationist behavior and even the feeling I got back on the ship that she wasn't meant to be a Magical Girl. She hated it. she hated the effect being a Culexus had on people around her. It wasn't just a simple dislike, no. she resented it deeply, and probably had been for a very long time. Had she even ever came to terms with this curse? I would have liked to think she had since she was still alive, but I wasn't so sure. Seeing her like this...

"H-hey! what are you doing? don't come any closer.. n-no!" her voice was slightly panicked and picked up with urgency, but it didn't matter.

You stay here and get your hug you little silly thing.

"S-stop! you'll get even more hurt!" she squirmed in my embrace, almost as if trying to wriggle herself out, but I wouldn't have any of it. Well that's just precious, thinking she could get out of an Eversor's grip, so I just hugged her a little tighter and she stopped squirming. She remained motionless for a few seconds before she started just.. lightly hitting me with those gloved hands of her like a stereotypical tsundere. Cute. "L-let go you big idiot... you'll.. you'll.."

"No, it's fine." I quietly whispered to her. Mostly because I would have had trouble speaking any louder with the pain my entire body was going through without bleeding all over her. That was one of the most damned lies I've ever made, but it was for a good cause, so I didn't mind. "I can tell what you've been through now, so you deserve one." This part at least was true. The Culexus sighed lightly and finally, somewhat reluctantly, calmed down in my arms and took a small breath.

"You're such a dummy..." she replied with a tired voice, but I could sense a little bit of relief in it as well. For all I knew, she probably didn't have any sort of real face-to-face interactions like this since taking up the contract. That was just so wrong, and I could tell it was hurting her, so I couldn't help myself.

I raised up my one hand that wasn't soaked with blood and brushed her hair lightly. She flinched lightly at the touch. No doubt she wasn't used to it anymore, but I kept going, slowly and gently. Eventually she relaxed once more and took a deep breath, letting it all happen. "Why... why are you doing this?" she managed to ask with a confused voice.

Somehow I managed to chuckle softly without puking more blood, but the pain was starting to get unbearable, even for a madwoman like me. "Well, you see.." I started gently, still brushing her blue hair as I did. "I believe in a thing called Karma." a small pause. "If you do bad things, you deserve bad things to happen to you, and if they don't? I'll -make- them happen." another pause as I caught my breath. "And if you do good things and you don't get what you deserve? Well, all the same, I'll make it happen." she remained silent for a moment, apparently not knowing how to react to this. "Who am I to judge? I guess no one, but I still do it because that's what feels like the right thing to me."

More silence followed and I coughed lightly, my throat was making it difficult to speak now. Finally, Silke smiled and returned the embrace genuinely, with no hints of reluctance. "You know..." she spoke up with the same tired voice as earlier. "You're not as bad as I thought." I resisted the temptation to chuckle again as my vision was getting troubled.

"Hush, just relax." I barely managed and she complied, moving more closely against me and closing her eyes. My hand continued as if on auto-pilot. My fingers were probably cold and rough, but she didn't seem to mind at all. As she simply rested against me for a few more minutes, I was rewarded by seeing a serene expression on her face for a time. Good, that's all I wanted.

I'm just sorry I had to lie...

She would probably freak the fuck out any minute now, but I couldn't help it now. My consciousness was already slipping...

--

When I came to, my head was still pounding, but in comparison to earlier it was relatively relaxing. I was back in the hide-out, laid down on one of the couches. The lighting was dimmed and the place silent. Soon enough I noticed Silke was around, with her helmet back on obviously.  It seemed like she had move one of the chairs around to look over me.

"Thank goodness, you're awake." She broke the silence first with a sincere tone and I gave an apologetic smile and slight shrug. "You really worried me passing out silently like that..."

"Sorry, I didn't want to ruin the mood." I let out a small chuckle and sat up. She motioned to try to tell me to stay down but I wouldn't have any of it. "It's a thing that happens, but really.." I tried to look at her in the eyes beyond that tinted visor and took a more serious tone. "Don't worry about me. Even more so than other Eversors, it's my job to get hurt, and my abilities make sure I don't stay hurt very long. I don't mind. I really, truly don't."

"B-but" she tried to contest but I put a hand on her shoulder and shook my head slowly and she sighed in defeat. "I don't get that.. how could someone.. just be ok with all this pain?"

I gave another smile and withdrew my hand. "There's a lot of reasons actually. The fact that I often get hurt to protect people makes it worth it. The fact that I enjoy combat a lot and that it's just the price of it also makes it worth it. The fact that the bad things make you appreciate the good things more is also a good excuse. Just pick one~" I suppressed my urge to chuckle once more and continued. "Pain can suck, sure, but it's not the end of the world. That's where I'm getting at."

Silke remained silent for a moment, probably mulling over what I had just said, and finally gave a small nod. "I see.. I'll.. keep that in mind, yes.." Her tone was.. different, even with the vox-caster distorting it. It was difficult to really explain how, but I could hazard a fair guess at what it meant. "You may not realize but.. It.. does mean a lot to me.." Silly girl, of course I do, that's why I did it in the first place.

"You don't have to guilt-trip yourself over the negative effects of your contract." I stood up cautiously and headed over to the kitchen section with a safe pace. "It's not your fault." I continued as I started to look into the counters. "But enough depressing talk, let's cheer up a little."

The Culexus remained silent for a while longer while I rummaged around before speaking up with an hesitant voice. "Do... do you have anything like that? a curse that makes you regret taking up the contract?"

I froze.

I couldn't tell her that. Not here and now. Not after the efforts I had went through to make her feel better just to ruin them by not knowing when to keep my damn mouth shut. "Neh, I don't regret it at all." This much wasn't a lie, actually, I had no regrets. But she didn't need to know I was even more of a ticking time bomb than other magical girls; fated to Witch Out some day, no matter what and with no escape even in death.

I wasn't sure if she believed me, but she decided to drop the subject and change it, much to my relief.
" You -do- remember I said there were no liquors here, don't you?" Fuck, she's right, I did forget. Well, can't really blame me, but I'll still have to fix that dire predicament soon.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Good thing I always keep some in my inventory." I closed the wooden panels and walked back to the living room, plopping back down next to her and searching through my inventory.

"More of that Vodka hm? Enjoy yourself." Huh? that seemed a little off for some reason and her crossing her arms isn't making it any less suspicious. Does she have a problem with my drinking or something? Or with my choice of alcohol? Thinking about it a little, it was doubtful. Last time I served her some she drank it all almo... surprisingly quickly actually.

"You can have some too if you want you know" I put the large bottle down on table between my couch and her chair and she fidgeted lightly. "I can always get more when it gets low so don't hesitate."

"I-I.. really shouldn't it's.. not healthy..." The little German's voice was hesitant even through her Vox and I raised an eyebrow.

"What, really?" I laughed lightly, but managed to resist the temptation to give her a small smack in the back. "You're a Magical Girl for fuck's sake, not some squishy human civie, you don't have to worry about that anymore." I tilted my head and gave her an 'are you fucking kidding me?' look. "I used to have a friend who did ALL the things; smoking, drinking, abusing pills, almost as if she was actually trying to kill herself, and she ended up fine. Live a little~"

The Culexus fidgeted a little more for a second or two before finally agreeing. "A-alright... just.. not too much okay?"

I nodded lightly as I stood back up and headed back to the kitchen to fetch some glasses, continuing the conversation as I did. "So where the heck did Suzume go? She's not picking me a coffin just yet is she?"

"W-wha!? jeez no!" Even without looking at her I could tell Silke was practically flailing in embarrassment. "She's off to meet a client again. She's got another job set-up."

"Oh, already?" I smirked lightly as I put the glasses down on the side table and sat down. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Know what it's about?" I started pouring the Drink of Kings as I let her reply.

"Not much. She only said that it was going to be a stealthy mission and that she was going to take care of it personally." I nodded.

"Oh really? She didn't seem like the kind of people to 'take care of things' on her own to me." I snickered lightly before taking a long gulp of vodka.

"She said she's bringing you along" ...and nearly spat it out immediately. God fucking damnit that would have been a waste, what the fuck? "Wait what? me on a stealth mission? How much wine did she take before leaving? I'm not subtle at all!"

"W-well.." Silke tilted her head slightly and her fingers fidgeted once more. "She said you wanted to learn how Calidus skills worked, right?" Yeah that's... right, I nodded. "So she thought it'd be best to show you first-hand, on the field." Oh, that.. actually makes a lot of sense, another nod. "she said not to worry about a thing." That's... surprisingly considerate of that blue-blooded bitch. I may have misjudged her yet.

"Sounds good to me actually." I took another sip of vodka and looked down, only to notice her glass was empty again. Even though I literally -just- filled it a couple seconds ago... what sorcery is this!?