Jeanne Alter had expected a lot of things during her session of watching Izuku- er… watching anime with Izuku.
Rubbing his back as a pork cutlet, rice, eggs and other assorted ingredients coated the inside of his toilet bowl was not one of them, nor was it one she could classify as a "pleasant surprise".
She glanced at the door to the bathroom as Izuku retched again, several loud splatterings coming across loud and clear. Nemo Nurse came into the room in a rush, bottles and syringes on a tray, "Oh, dear, that doesn't sound good…"
Izuku agreed violently, his body convulsing with the retching. Jeanne awkwardly patted him on the back in quiet support.
"What happened?" Nemo Nurse asked, walking over and holding out a pill in her small hands. Once Izuku had finished another round of retching, she put it in his own, "dissolve that under your tongue. I can't promise it will stop everything, Master, but it will cut the worst of it, at the very least."
"I ate katsudon," Izuku said, before following her instructions. Nemo Nurse paused before sighing.
"Why would you do something like that?" She asked, "You've had nothing to eat in a month and that's… quite heavy on the stomach, to say the least."
"Mom offered to make it," Izuku mumbled, taking Nemo and Jeanne's hands and standing up. Nurse walked him towards the bed with a quiet 'ah.'
"And your heart moved faster than your mind," Nurse said, sliding him into bed and handing him a bucket, "at least it was in the right place."
Jeanne wasn't sure about that, honestly. But then, she didn't have a mother, and the closest thing she had to a father had been killed by his alternate self. So who knew, maybe that was in the right place. But it seemed weird to have made yourself sick over their food to be 'in the right place.'
"Do we need to do anything special?" Izuku asked.
"Not particularly," Nemo said, fluffing his pillow and running a hand through his air in a way that could be considered motherly, "just get some rest. You and Jeanne can watch whatever show you were going to, but I'm going to put a Nemo Marine outside to make sure you don't go do whatever else was on your itinerary. Your health can't wait, whatever you have to do can. Ok?"
"Ok," Izuku said, sounding slightly petulant. She swore he was allergic to staying still.
"I'll make sure too," Jeanne said, sitting on the comfy chair next to the bed and pulling the lever to deploy the footrest, kicking back, "even if I've gotta sit here all night."
"Thank you, Jeanne," Nemo Nurse said with a smile, "I'll leave you to it, but remember, I'm always just a call away."
Jeanne watched her leave, before biting her cheek and, after making sure nobody was coming in (by getting up and locking the door), climbed into the bed next to Izuku.
"J-Jeanne-"
"Shut up," she muttered, worming into his side, "I missed you, you know that right, you idiot?"
"Yes?"
"Then let me stay like this for now," she said gruffly, grabbing the remote and hitting play, "and chew on some gum, your breath stinks now."
"Ok," Izuku said, sliding a piece into his mouth and beginning to chew as he wrapped an arm around Jeanne's shoulders.
- X Anastasia X-
Anastasia was in the middle of crashing a crystalline glass over Caster Cu's head when Viy started trying to grab her attention. In a move not quite suited for the Grand Duchess of Russia, she kicked the druid flat in the chest and sent him flying towards Edison. The lion Heroic Spirit caught him by the neck and swung him straight for Tesla. A rune flashed on either side of him, and both inventors were sent flying away from each other and Cu with explosive force.
Seconds later, she had lost track of them in the vicious war zone that made up floor thirteen, the first of four floors dedicated to letting the Servants vent their frustrations at each other in a... percussive way.
In short, it was where they went to beat the shit out of each other. Sure you could spar on other levels, but anything escalating from a brawl to just outright attempts to kill each other (rare though they were lest you brought Izuku's hard to draw ire upon you) happened here.
And many Casters were currently doing their level best to burn through the Bounded Fields that kept it safe as they argued over what type of Familiar was best for Izuku. Like the answer wasn't obviously an Elemental.
Preferably an ice one. Maybe with big Mystic Eyes…
Ok, so she might be a bit biased.
Contractor.
Anastasia turned her mind to the link between her and Viy. She froze for a second as she peered into Izuku's room, before snapping back to reality and freezing Caster Cu solid as he went to slam the flaming butt of his staff into her stomach.
The world around her dropped in temperature as she swept out of the room. Come on, Jalter. They had already let her out to see Izuku's home, now she was cuddling with him?
...God, she felt needy at times, keeping Viy on watch in Izuku's room. She… she didn't want to be like that, honestly. But…
Father collapsed with three bullet wounds in his chest, eyes wide as he raised a shaking hand to them. Alexandra was shot in the head before she had time to stand from her chair. Maria ran for the door only to be shot and bayoneted. Anastasia's black hair grew light as she touched something dark and cold within her as bullets hit home in her chest. Jimmy, loyal Jimmy, attacked them despite his small size the second he heard his owner cry out in pain, only for the dog to be skewered on a bayonet as she fell.
Anastasia shivered, Viy rising up in a mockery of a hug that only left her feeling colder. Despite that, she smiled up at the Elemental.
"We got them back," she muttered vindictively.
Vengeance…
Anastasia didn't particularly care if Izuku grew close to other girls, he would have to include Kiyohime in some way to keep the peace, and she could easily use that as a jumping off point…
But she kinda expected it to be Mash who broke through whatever barrier Izuku had placed around his heart.
Then she lifted her communicator to her mouth, "Nobu? How do you feel about a prank?"
- X Jeanne Alter X-
Jeanne Alter felt like something had crawled across her nonexistent grave briefly. Izuku looked over at her, pulling the blanket around them slightly tighter. She swore, he knew what he was doing, if only at a subconscious level, "are you alright?"
"It's nothing," Jeanne said, leaning back on the throne of pillows they were lying against.
"If you say so," Izuku said, before turning his eyes briefly back to the screen… and wincing, "Why did you want to watch this again?"
"The manga is super good," Jeanne said, looking over at the kitchenette, "pause it real quick?"
Izuku did so, letting Jeanne stand up and walk over to the kitchen and began a bag of microwave popcorn. Izuku gave a quiet, "Oh… We're settling in for the long haul?"
"You've been unconscious for a month," Jeanne said, "That means we have a month of anime to catch up on."
"Alright," Izuku said, nodding.
Plus, if she was honest, she didn't want to risk being caught coming out of Izuku's room at some weird hour. She could trust Nemo Bakery to keep her mouth shut when the time came for a better meal. But everyone…
There was a sharp knock on the metal door, "Senpai? Are you awake?"
"Yes, Mash."
"Alright," Mash said, "I'm going to bed. If you need me for anything…"
"I'll be fine," Izuku said, using James's cane to stand and walk over to the door and open it while Jeanne ducked.
Stupid… frustrating… GAH, why did she have to trust this oblivious… GAH!
"You shouldn't be standing," Mash said.
"It's just for a minute," Izuku smiled, "just keep it a secret from Asclepius. Hug?"
Mash wrapped her arms around Izuku, and he hooked his free hand around her.
"Maybe tomorrow some of us can go out and see Mustafu together," Izuku said, letting go of Mash, "I can show you all where I used to live, and UA, and some of the other stuff."
"I'd like that," Mash said, "Goodnight, Senpai. Jeanne."
Crap on a cracker.
"Night, Mash." Jeanne said, gruffly.
"Goodnight," Izuku smiled, before letting the door slide shut and looking over at Jeanne, "Sorry, this is supposed to be your night, and…"
"Mash was worried sick about you," Jeanne said, pulling out the popcorn, "I won't be surprised if she pops up throughout the night. Now back in bed, I wanna see how this goes."
"Didn't you say you already read the manga?"
Yeah, but she was talking about his reactions.
-X Izuku X-
Izuku quietly stewed in indignation as he was pushed through the halls of the Border by the newly dubbed Nemo Adjunct. Or, in layman's terms, a Nemo Marine wearing a fancy pin of a bird in flight. He hated this.
Hated it. He hated being forced to rely on a wheelchair to get around. They were working to fix his leg, this felt like they were backsliding.
Finally, they stopped at a door deep within the Border, and Izuku glanced at Nemo Adjunct, "Do you mind giving us some privacy? She's probably… not gonna be happy. I won't stand up, I promise."
"Yes, Master," Nemo said, saluting and walking away to talk to another Nemo Marine crouching in front of an open panel with a toolbox. Izuku reached out, knocking on the door, "Kama? Can I come in?"
Nothing. Yeah, that was fair.
"Alright," Izuku said, leaning back and twiddling his thumbs, "I'll just talk to you through the door then… I'm sorry about this. I know you don't wanna be here, I really do… but I can't let you out into the world."
Still nothing. Izuku shimmied the chair until it was resting against the wall, leaning his head back so his crown rested against it.
"I'm… I'm just gonna talk at you," Izuku said, "you don't have to say anything, ok?" … "Ok. I'm sorry I haven't really had time to talk to you before now. I wanted to, but… well, life has been hectic with the Lostbelts, and Beast VII, and everything. I hope you've been getting food, right?" … "right. Sorry, remember, even if you don't want to talk to us, Nemo Bakery can always get food made and run down to you."
Izuku listened closely, hearing a shuffle on the other side of a wall, and finally, a quiet, petulant voice half-muttered and half-spat, "I've been getting food, Master."
"That's good," Izuku said softly, "how is it?"
"...It's good," she said, "She always makes what I want, no matter what I want… she is a she, right?"
"That's complicated," Izuku hedged.
"So you don't know."
"Yeah," Izuku chuckled, "you got me."
"...Why are you doing this," Kama asked, "there are hundreds of people for you to talk to. A dozen that love-"
"Don't…" Izuku snapped, breathing in and closing his eyes.
"Oh…"
"What?" Izuku asked softly.
"Nothing," Kama said, a laugh in her voice, "why are you here."
"I want to be your friend," Izuku said.
"And what do we have in common for us to be friends?"
"I don't think we need stuff in common, or we would find it eventually if we talked but… uh… we both really don't like Kiara? I saw that prank you did to her last week. It was pretty funny."
"She deserved it," Kama said.
"I'm sure she did something to do so," Izuku shrugged, "don't worry about it, like I said, it was pretty funny."
- ? X -
"You think he'll like them?"
"They worked with him over… over me, back in Scandinavia. And if he doesn't like, we can reshape them."
"Fair enough."