Recovery Blues, {{Open}}

[Avetea Kaiz]

Tuesday, June 5th, 3572; 1:00 PM

The first day into her recovery was not going well. She'd opened her eyes blearily that morning, and rolled over to find, with a start, that Khonsu was already out of bed. For reasons she didn't fully understand yet, that was an extremely upsetting discovery, and had it occurred in the middle of the night, her reaction probably would have been much more panicked than it had been.

As it was, she'd rolled out of bed with some difficulty, finding that her entire body felt like a large hunk of lead, weighted down by the fatigue of the early stages of an intense healing process. Unlike her senshi sisters, she didn't possess the power that would speed her internal recovery. So in that sense, now that Ruro had done what he could, he was on her own.

Well, not entirely on her own. She knew she had friends to help her. Great friends. In fact, looking down, she realized she was clad in an entirely clean outfit, not the one that had been shredded and stained with blood and sweat in the wee hours of that morning. She had remembered Raen hauling her upstairs and cleaning her up. She'd have to remember to thank her for that. She generally felt she had a lot to be grateful for.

So she'd stumbled out of bed, grateful for starters that there was a bathroom attached to the master bedroom. It had taken nearly all of her energy to stand upright long enough to wash her face and brush her teeth. She hadn't even gotten to combing her hair before she'd stumbled back towards the bed, burrowing under the covers and falling back asleep.

She awoke about an hour after that, feeling groggy all over again. She blinked, glancing around the room. Still no Khonsu. But that was okay. He was probably doing stuff. Esuna, too. She hoped Esuna's arm was alright, now that she thought about it.

What she hated to think about was how she would probably be stuck in that bed until Mars. Blast.

[Esuna Elian]

She’d called in that day. Understandably so. And as she didn’t do that very often, they’d all assumed she was sick and contagious and they’d not asked any questions. All well and good. Gaven was popping in and out of her room all morning, so she’d been in and out of sleep, but thankfully she knew her son and the sounds that he made well enough that her brain didn’t start on overdrive and she knock him out or something. Very, very thankfully.

She vaguely remembered explaining a good deal of what had happened last night to the boy, minus the whole extreme healing thing. He’d promptly frowned and headed downstairs to the kitchen, and she could hear him poking around at things that were broken. She’d fix them later, she decided, rolling over and sleeping for about ten more minutes before Gaven came back in.

”Do you think Aunt Avi likes pandas?”

She flipped an eye open and looked at him for a second, wondering what he was up to. ”Probably, hun.” And then he was gone again. She grunted, rolling her neck. It was time to go visit Avi now. She rolled – literally – out of her bed, hitting her knees and one of her arms. The other was still sore from the previous night’s activities. She made her way to her knees, then slowly to her feet, spine popping in the process.

A groan and several shuffling steps later, she was down the hallway and in front of Khonsu and Avi’s bedroom door. She knocked gently, opening the door very slowly and poking her head inside – being insane and spontaneous would probably scare the shit out of poor Avi. ”Afternoon, honey bug. How are you feeling?” She asked gently, crawling into what would have been Khonsu’s spot in the bed and propping her head up on her elbow while she gently laid the other over the other woman, snuggling her very lightly.

The door opened slightly again after a moment and Gaven came in with a tray balanced on one hand and something held behind his back. ”I made lunch for you, Aunt Avi.”He said, grinning as he set the tray on the nightstand beside her. Then he rocked back and forth on his heels for a second, then he pulled a somewhat old looking stuffed panda out from behind his back. ”And I don’t need him no more ’cause I’m not scared of the dark no more, but he can protect you and he’ll make you feel better.” He offered the bear to Avi, looking sheepish. Esuna kept quiet – she knew that he’d had that bear since he was about eighteen months old. She just smiled into Khonsu’s pillow, waiting.

[Avetea Kaiz]

Just as she had been contemplating whether or not there was anything to be done with her day, the door cracked open, Esuna's head appearing in the doorway. The Terrestrial smiled as the much larger woman crawled into bed with her, gently pulling her into a hug. Though it was a very loose sort of cuddle, she felt a bit like a stuffed animal, pulled into the crook of a comparatively large child's arm.

"Surprisingly pretty good," she responded with a small smile. "Just tired." The side of her body that had been so badly damaged the night before resonated with a very dull ache, but she could barely even call it painful, really. The exhaustion was more overwhelming, and even that, she felt, was bearable. It was a small price to pay, compared to the damage that had nearly been done.

Only a short moment had passed before the door was open again, this time with Gavin appearing in the entrance. Her grin widened a bit, and there was a warmth in her eyes that welcomed him in. "Oh, thank you! That's so nice of you." Her stomach rumbled appropriately, and she laughed a bit, her hand reflexively covering the area, as if to try to quiet it.

Avi couldn't help but grin even wider as Gavin offered her a very well-worn bear. She shifted a bit, sitting up against the mound of pillows that had been placed under her the night before, probably by either Khonsu or Raen. She took the bear from him, hugging it into her chest. "Thank you so much, Gavin. He's so cute! I already feel better," she responded with a smile.

She'd always liked kids, and Gavin was a good boy. He was surprisingly independent and sufficient, but also warm and friendly. "Would you like to join your mom and I for lunch?"

[Esuna Elian]

She very much enjoyed cuddles. Avi was her favorite to cuddle, too, because Avi always, to some extent, acknowledged her cuddles in a positive response. Khonsu and any of the children tied for second, because there were occasions that they just didn’t smell so great. Oggy drooled so much that he could only be tied with all of the rest of the Senshi that she dared to cuddle – any of the Outers, in the right circumstances, and all of the Inners save Amina and Raen, because she very much liked her throat and fingers where they were and not in Raen’s mouth.

”I’m glad. You had me scared for a little bit there.” She hummed for a moment, sighing. Then her attention turned towards the door – she wouldn’t be caught off guard again, not after that. It didn’t matter if she saw anything coming or not – she would know. Innocents would not be harmed because she was not diligent. She could sleep at the gates, she decided – there would be no sleep here until the rise of the King and Queen. Until all was well and safe, especially for Avi and Khonsu and the girls and Gaven, because they couldn’t defend themselves anyway.

Speaking of Gaven, it was just him. She hummed again, allowing the conversation to continue without her interruption. The bear was happily accepted, and Gaven was grinning like a loon. ”His name is Braska. That means bear in Plutonian.” Of course, he’d had to ask his mom about that, because he didn’t know Plutonian very well, but he was going to try to start learning soon. Mom would help him. He wanted to learn Uranian as well… Maybe someone would help him with that, too.

”Sure! Lemme run and get me and mom’s sandwiches.” He took off out the door and down the stairs again, undoubtedly going to make sandwiches for the pair of them. Esuna chuckled, flipping over so that she was laying on her back and looking at the ceiling. ”He’s had that old thing for years… You don’t have to keep it if you don’t want it. And Avi… I’m sorry. I should have seen her coming.” She sighed, staring straight towards the ceiling. She felt an apology was in order, yes – what was the point of living with one of the Senshi if you weren’t protected? Especially being who she was, there was no excuse. But she’d fix it. This would not happen again. Ever.

[Avetea Kaiz]

From the looks on everyone's faces, she had pretty much scared the whole team. Understandable. Her near-death had been gruesome and shocking and just totally unexpected. It wasn't even as if she'd been caught in the cross-fire of a battle.

That was probably what would haunt her... what was already haunting her. That it had been in her own house. It meant that there was truly no safe haven for her, or for any of them, for that matter. They were all in danger at every single moment.

Gavin rushed off to grab food, leaving the two of them alone. "Of course I want it. It was a very sweet gesture." She set the panda down between them, allowing her own gaze to rove upwards towards the ceiling, and then back to Esuna. Her eyebrows furrowed a bit.

"Don't talk like that. If you hadn't come in when you did to stop her, well..." She wanted to be able to finish that sentence, as though she was already somehow over it, but she couldn't. Her voice trailed off, hitching on the last word a bit. She cleared her throat, more determined now. "Anyway, you saved my life. So really, I owe you a thank you."

Undoubtedly, if no one had come to her aid, Fille would have just tortured her in some ungodly way, drawing out her death in the most painful way possible. The thought of it sent an involuntary shudder through her body.

[Esuna Elian]

She let out another hum, rolling onto her side to flip an arm over the other woman, head placed near her rib cage. ”Regardless, Te, it’ll never happen again. I swear on my life.” There was no reason for Avi and Khonsu to get dragged into this mess that they had all been born into. They were advisors, not warriors. And it was just dirty of Beryl to attack her like that.

She was telling the truth, though – none of their enemies were going to hurt the pair of them. Or Diana, when the time came. She’d have to be cold and dead first, and those bastards better hope she didn’t see them coming if they even considered hurting any of them, because she would come from any point in time with the vengeance that only she could possess, with eternity to stew on a point.

The sounds of feet coming back up the stairs were heard, and Gaven reappeared with another tray. Khonsu seemed to have plenty of everything around, and the boy had taken no time at all in finding things and making use of them. ”I made two for Uncle Khonsu, but I don’t know when he’ll be home, so I wrapped them up and stuck them in the fridge.” He crawled onto the end of the bed beside his mother’s feet, shoving them out of the way without ceremony.

”Smells like tuna.” Esuna sniffed at the air and Gaven nodded, handing her one of the plates. She shifted so that she was sitting up about as much as Avi was, curling her legs to the side so that Gaven could move a bit more. ”You can have one of mom’s if you want one, Auntie Avi. I made her three.” Esuna made a face, sticking her tongue out at him. ”Did you hear that, Avi? He called me fat!” She chuckled, winking at the other woman.

[Avetea Kaiz]

She was uncomfortable with the amount of blame that Esuna was taking for what had happened. The Plutonian rarely showed it, as she had a tendency to express herself in more light-hearted and comical mannerisms, but she clearly took a lot upon herself, and expectations for her own performance were high... unreasonably so.

Senshi of time and all of that or not, she wasn't an omniscient being, and couldn't have known that Beryl was still alive, let alone coming for Avi specifically. She hadn't really been a target before, since most of their enemies in the past had had a tendency to go for the kill, rather than a morale hit. After all, the loss of Luna or Avi would be nothing more than that - something to mourn. Not a loss of power and brute strength.

If anything, it would've given the others something more to fight for. And, essentially, it had done just that, she guessed. Though she hadn't talked to anyone that morning besides Esuna, she could guess what each of their reactions would be - mostly varying shades of rage. And that level of anger had a way of driving people past previous limitations. That was what Fille had gotten herself into, whether she intended it or not.

Still, the Terrestrial offered her a small smile. "Thank you." Luckily, that point of conversation was broken up by Gavin's return. He was such a good kid. Esuna had really done an amazing job with him. So polite and considerate and all these other wonderful things. Avi's smile broadened.

"Well, I'm not sure that's really fair. Look how tall you are! Takes a lot of food to stoke a fire that big," she responded with a giggle, gently prodding Gavin.

Her mind was still racing and crawling at the same time, but for now, she was comforted by the presence of familiarity and kindness.

As long as she didn't have to be alone.

[Esuna Elian]

She’d be watching whatever she was shown like nobody’s business for the next while, until she was certain that the bitch was dead. It’d be painful, she knew that much. Even if it wasn’t her that got to make the woman regret ever even looking at Avi wrong, it would be a painful death for her by any of their hands. She got an uneasy feeling when she looked at Gaven when he came back in, though she just grinned and nestled into Avi’s side more, giving an almost Martian-esque purr of pleasure.

She stretched across Khonsu’s portion of the bed, toes curling happily. This was happiness, even if she was imagining the painful and torturous death of a certain Venusian woman. She’d gotten that much out of her, at least, when they’d been fighting – the woman’s appearance in this life was unmistakable Venusian. She had to wonder, though, if it was sheer luck or something else that had led her there. In lives past, Beryl had been content to let others do her dirty work… What made attacking Avi any different?

”Yeah, I do eat a lot. Mom says I could eat half of this whole house and still be hungry!” Gaven laughed, a big grin seating itself on his face. Esuna had laid her hear back down, musing on her current train of thought. She allowed her eyes to close, breathing deeply for a moment. Something didn’t make sense. ”Avi… my dear girl… did you know who that was, last night? Or did she just… find you?” Esuna had passed the word along that it was Beryl, but her identity thus far was a secret. She’d be pouring over files soon enough, looking for that face.

[Avetea Kaiz]

Although Esuna was mostly relaxed, curled up beside her, Avi could feel a tension that hung over them, one she wasn't sure if Gaven noticed. Bright as he was, he was still a child. Sure, he understood the severity of the situation, she was sure. But did he feel safe in his home? Would they be able to distract him? What were his thoughts on the whole matter?

She didn't want to ask. It wasn't her place, and she didn't want to put negative fears into his mind. Perhaps she'd ask Esuna for her take later, when they were speaking privately. For now, though, it was best not to delve into it too much with him still in the room.

The conversation quickly drifted back to that matter, though. Blue eyes shifted uneasily to Gaven, and then back to Esuna. They didn't know? Well, actually, it made sense. Though she was Zoi's sister, Zoi hadn't actually seen her himself, and therefore couldn't warn them of her identity.

"Yeah, it was Fille Wynne, one of Zoi's sisters. I met her when we were on Venus. She was..." Avi paused, swallowing the lump in her throat at the sudden rush of memories of all things related to Fille. There weren't many to go off of, of course, since their interaction had been brief, but now her head was filled with images of the blonde that had nearly taken her life. "She was stiff and angry, at first, but then settled a bit. I got a bad feeling about her, but I thought, maybe she was just a little stressed out."

As it turns out, she was more than a little stressed, judging by the way she'd nearly ripped the Terrestrial apart with her bare hands.