#cherres

her face scrunched up in confusion as she sat up and grabbed edward’s wrist to read the thermometer they were holding. “are you kidding,” she glares at them. “99.6 is hardly a fever. i know you haven’t been a human in a while, but i’m fine.” still she remains in her bed, only because she knows if she tried to get up edward would stop her and she didn’t have enough energy to fight them today. her head was throbbing slightly and she was more tired than usual, but those weren’t things that would make her stay in bed or stop doing things around the house. back when she lived with her mom and had come down with the flu bella would still be doing the cooking, cleaning, making sure the bills were in order, and taking care of her mom. she can’t remember the last time she ever actually rested while sick or had someone take care of her. “this is because you don’t want me to hang out with jake today, isn’t it?”

she watches himeko intently and her heart swells at the concentration etched on her face and the tenderness she was treating her with. kafka tried and failed to hold back a smile when himeko apologized not once but twice. “don’t worry, you’re being so gentle that i can hardly feel anything.” it wasn’t exactly true, the wound was excruciatingly painful, yet it wasn’t currently bothering her when she had her beautiful ex taking care of her. “maybe i should get hurt more often since it’s the only time you’re nice to me.”

those three things are what keeps her afloat and living even though she very well doesn’t want to. it keeps her from teetering off the edge. a relationship would not help her, it would only give her something else to lose and a chance for her to break again. “every time i try, i fail. i’m tired of trying anything and don’t care to do so anymore.”

kafka’s eyes remain on the chessboard before her, seemingly contemplating her next move. in actuality it was to avoid the look on himeko’s face when she posed her question. she wasn’t even sure if it was a rhetorical one or not, but given she could feel the other woman’s stare on her like a brand she supposed himeko wanted an actual answer. she leans back against the chair and takes a long sip of her wine only so she could stall further. “i don’t know, maybe? you do a pretty convincing act of hating me it’s hard to believe you’re struggling at all. not to mention, you and your crew have no problem working with the hunters except for me.” finally her eyes lift to look at himeko, her voice turning melancholic. “i can’t help but think you may actually hate me enough to be completely fine with never having to see or speak to me again.” with a gloved finger she pushes a chess piece onto the next space. “your turn navigator.”

she couldn’t help but give a slight laugh. they claim they never cared about impressing anyone and yet albedo does so effortlessly with anybody they come into contact with. even her own master. it was as if anyone that ever spoke to them was immediately charmed by them. it was perhaps the one thing mona was envious of. it would be nice for people to feel that way about her rather than think she’s cruel and cold. “albedo, i think it’s impossible for you to not impress me. or anyone for that matter. but, i’m curious, why me specifically? i’m no one special.”

not even within five seconds of stepping foot into the living room and caelus was greeting her like an excited puppy. she didn’t fight the grin that grew on her face as she ruffled his hair, “you’re an eager little thing, aren’t you.” as she strode over to the couch, her grin remained knowing he most likely waited for her in the living room while she had her meeting with elio. on missions where he wasn’t joining her he usually saw her off, especially for the ones that would require her to be away for a longer period of time. the latest mission was a solo one until an hour ago when elio called for a last minute script change. kafka lounged in her seat, “change of plans darling, it’s not just me going. you’re now joining me, we leave in three system hours. should i give you the rundown of the usual rules or do you think you’ll be able to behave this time without me reminding you?”

the two were in comfortable silence for some time now, march was too engrossed in the new scrapbook she was making to know what dan heng has been doing. her teeth tugged on her bottom lip as she moved the photos back and forth on the page to decide where she wanted to glue them. she had been so used to the silence that dan heng’s voice, despite it being gentle, startled her. her eyebrows knitted together in confusion at the sudden question, but knowing him there had to be a reason. “yeah, but none of them are great. i don’t know if they would even be considered dreams, they’re more like nightmares.” usually those nightmares consisted of her or one of the crew members dying. “why?”