Morning came slowly, thankfully Negate had slept the entire night in an
exhausted stupor. Piccolo was restless however, the fighting from earlier
had left him with a need to stretch his muscles and train. He hadn't
meditated in days and his mind was fighting with itself. There wasn't
space to do kata's or even to stretch in the little room, Piccolo decided
it was for the best anyway he probably would have woken Negate and she
needed healing time.
Piccolo growled in frustration, some vacation this had turned out to be. Carefully, Piccolo pulled at the stone in the wall and jimmied it loose. Reaching inside he pulled out the contents he had barely seen before. The bottle of oil he sat carefully beside him, knowing its importance. The matches he tossed back into the depths of the hole; the blade he tested on his thumb and found it to be much like it's owner, rough looking and beaten but still sharp as a razor; the photograph he squinted at for a moment. There were two people in the picture, a woman-he soon realized to be Negate years younger or maybe time had aged her prematurely-and a boy. Their faces pressed hard together until their cheeks were mashed flat. Both had identical smiles on their faces.
"That was my baby brother." Piccolo snapped to attention and saw Negate had rotated on the bed and lay at the foot looking over Piccolo's shoulder at the picture in his hand. Negate smiled softly as she looked at it. "He was such a pain in the ass."
"Is he here somewhere?" Piccolo looked from the photograph of Negate to the original item laying on the bed. With the dirt that had been washed off hours ago, she looked more like the photo than before only her face had a harder edge to it now.
Negate shook her head, shaggy hair swayed freely around her head now that the grease had been blasted from it. "He was killed. I was taken." Negate rolled onto her back with a groan and crossed her arms behind her head. Piccolo put the items back and gently picked up the bottle of oil but Negate took it from his hands. She popped open the top and rubbed the oil across the chi ring and smiled a little bigger. Climbing off of the bed she sat beside Piccolo and pulled his hand to her and winced. The chi ring had burnt into his wrist and was clinging to the angry tissue.
"When did that happen?"
Piccolo looked at his wrist and picked at the cuff, pulling it from his tortured flesh with a small grunt. "I don't really remember." Negate gently applied the oil to the cuff, careful not to scrape the abrasion on Piccolo's wrist.
"Wholly shit, what about this?" Negate ran a finger lightly up a jagged cut high on Piccolo's shoulder and saw it continued well under his gi top. She tugged at the purple cloth, much to Piccolo's agitation, and gaped at the crisscrossing of gouges and lacerations along his back. They looked painful, but none were weeping and Piccolo made no noise as she traced them with her fingers. "You covered me didn't you?"
"You don't remember?"
"I don't remember much of anything." Negate frowned. The glaring marks along Piccolo's hide made her angry. He shouldn't have gotten involved. Slowly, and in pieces, her memory recalled the events of earlier. _ Her body thrummed with pain, she collapsed. Piccolo's face, a mild worry glowing in his eyes. The noise of feet on metal, the guards coming. Nate._ Negate gasped, "Oh no, Nate!" She bit her lip and buried her face in Piccolo's back.
Piccolo could feel her shaking at his back but couldn't do much about it. He reached behind him and grasped her leg, pulling her non-too gently to his side, awkwardly wrapping one large arm around her shoulders. He hadn't much practice at teary people, the extent of his experience was with Gohan as a boy. Negate sniffed and wiped at her eyes. "He's not dead. Yet." Piccolo looked at her, gauging her reaction. Negate nodded, accepting what he had said with relative calm. She leaned into the crook of his arm and sighed deeply.
"They're doing a good job, dammit."
Piccolo frowned, "What are you talking about?"
Negate shook her head and stood, it looked easier than it had yesterday, and sat on the bed. "Breakfast is in an hour or so, I think I'm going to take a nap." She lay curled in the fetal position, hugging a chunk of mattress to her chest. Piccolo placed the stone back in the wall and watched her back as she breathed. He knew she wasn't sleeping, and when the guard came to unlock the door an hour and a half later she still lay until Piccolo rolled her off of the mattress.
"Stop sulking like a child." Piccolo growled. Negate growled back at him and walked stiffly in front of Piccolo, not looking once to see if he followed. They entered the galley, tables full but the doors that led to work detail were closed and guards stood in the doorways looking bored.
Negate sat and frowned down at the bowl of gruel that was set in front of her. The feeling of a greasy cheeseburger dripping juices from her chin wouldn't let go of her mind. Sighing, she stomached the bowl in three heavy swallows. She looked up at Piccolo who was watching the room with a calculating gaze. Gods he was beautiful. And it was her fault he was beaten and that striking emerald skin was split open.
"You have to forgive me." She mumbled and Piccolo looked down at her.
"You haven't done anything to me." Negate shook her head. "Don't let them bear you down. You can either break or build up again." Piccolo held her gaze, one that told her all he said was true. One that said if you fail in this the world will stop turning. One that believed as long as you stand, you have good on your side, and the will of good always triumphs.
Negate nodded, her face set in grim determination. She stood laughing, the room grew quiet as hundreds of eyes turned to her. Piccolo looked at her like she was going crazy, ready to fight off the first wave or guards he knew would surely come. Her laughter deepened, and the room seemed to dim. But no, Piccolo noticed, the room didn't dim.she grew brighter.
Piccolo had never once felt desire, thought he knew the meaning of lovely, of inner strength but they all in turn were given new meaning as Negate breathed deeply and laughed harder, wiping a tear from her eye. When she looked at Piccolo he would have fallen if he hadn't been sitting. The bruising of her face seemed to fade and her dark eyes sparkled with mirth. Then as suddenly as she began, she stopped, breathing out in words of "woo" that only come after hard laughter makes your face cramp and sides hurt.
She sat again, chuckling lightly under her breath as the room slowly began to murmur again. Piccolo looked at her, eyes wide, not understanding what had just happened. Negate grinned at a small table in the corner, the old man and twins both smiling brightly.
"What the hell was that?"
"You told me to build up. When people see that life hasn't beaten me, they all feel better, and when they feel better so do I." She grinned, looking up at Piccolo with those same lovely dark eyes and Piccolo looked away, not sure of what had passed.
A hand fell onto her shoulder and she jumped slightly but nodded her head and smiled at the aged man and twins that stood behind her. She stood, Piccolo standing and following, not sure of what was happening. The guards in the doors came to attention, especially the ones that were standing before the small door they had walked into the day before. "What business do you have here? Go sit down." The guard frowned at them. The old man nodded his head sagely.
"This young lady still needs to be treated, her ribs are broken and she is in much pain." He motioned to Negate who, although still in pain and bruised badly, gripped her side and moaned so pitifully nearby tables were scoffing at the guard and getting teary.
"Fine. But make it quick." The guard stepped out of the way, the small group entered quickly. Piccolo paused in the door and looked down at the man and gave him a toothy grin. The man swallowed thickly. "I mean-- take all the time you need." Piccolo nodded and shut the door behind him.
The old man was watching Piccolo with a keen interest. Not enjoying attention, Piccolo shifted from one foot to the other and finally crossed the room and sat. He waited patiently for them to patch up Negate, but the women were busy stuffing things into a small leather bag and Negate was quietly placing small bundles of food into a bladder. "Hey, Beautiful." The girls stopped their moving, giggled quietly together and continued their work. Piccolo looked around the room confused. Negate leaned across the table and looked down at him. "Don't you know your name?" She didn't smile but Piccolo could see the humor in her eyes.
"That isn't my name." Piccolo frowned and crossed his arms over his chest as he stood.
"Well, since you never bothered to offer." Negate shrugged and drew the strings on the bladder tightly shut.
"It's Piccolo." Still frowning Piccolo took the bag she held out to him.
"Okay." She smiled up at him briefly and turned to the wall, pulling the grating carefully from the vent. It wasn't exactly large, but it wasn't small either and she pulled herself up onto the ledge and motioned the girls to hand her the bag they still clung to.
Piccolo stepped forward and stopped them. "Wait a minute. What are you doing?"
"I'm going to help Nate." A determined look on her face, mixed with the nonchalant attitude told Piccolo that this wasn't the first time she'd done this. He grunted and allowed the girls to hand over the bag. She slung it over her shoulder and tied the bottom around her waist. Then motioned for Piccolo to hand over the bladder.
"You're going by yourself?" She nodded. Piccolo looked around the room at the other three who averted their gaze. "Then get moving, I won't stand here all day."
Smiling lightly she turned and moved head first down the darkening tunnel. Sighing, Piccolo easily lifted his bulk into the tube and followed her, swearing softly in Namekien at how tight the passage really was once inside. He heard a small giggle from the wriggling form ahead of him and he humphed.
Suddenly, the body ahead of him was gone. Stopping in the tube he reached out carefully and felt around, they had reached the end of the tunnel. _How stupid are the Eliokon's anyway, to have a vent connecting directly to solitary?_ Dropping softly to his hands, Piccolo bent in half and settled onto his feet again. It felt great to stretch. A sudden spurt of light in the darkness hurt his eyes and he shielded them with one hand and saw Negate crouching near Nate with a small lamp she had pulled from the satchel. He walked slowly over and grimaced at the sight that lay at his feet.
Piccolo growled in frustration, some vacation this had turned out to be. Carefully, Piccolo pulled at the stone in the wall and jimmied it loose. Reaching inside he pulled out the contents he had barely seen before. The bottle of oil he sat carefully beside him, knowing its importance. The matches he tossed back into the depths of the hole; the blade he tested on his thumb and found it to be much like it's owner, rough looking and beaten but still sharp as a razor; the photograph he squinted at for a moment. There were two people in the picture, a woman-he soon realized to be Negate years younger or maybe time had aged her prematurely-and a boy. Their faces pressed hard together until their cheeks were mashed flat. Both had identical smiles on their faces.
"That was my baby brother." Piccolo snapped to attention and saw Negate had rotated on the bed and lay at the foot looking over Piccolo's shoulder at the picture in his hand. Negate smiled softly as she looked at it. "He was such a pain in the ass."
"Is he here somewhere?" Piccolo looked from the photograph of Negate to the original item laying on the bed. With the dirt that had been washed off hours ago, she looked more like the photo than before only her face had a harder edge to it now.
Negate shook her head, shaggy hair swayed freely around her head now that the grease had been blasted from it. "He was killed. I was taken." Negate rolled onto her back with a groan and crossed her arms behind her head. Piccolo put the items back and gently picked up the bottle of oil but Negate took it from his hands. She popped open the top and rubbed the oil across the chi ring and smiled a little bigger. Climbing off of the bed she sat beside Piccolo and pulled his hand to her and winced. The chi ring had burnt into his wrist and was clinging to the angry tissue.
"When did that happen?"
Piccolo looked at his wrist and picked at the cuff, pulling it from his tortured flesh with a small grunt. "I don't really remember." Negate gently applied the oil to the cuff, careful not to scrape the abrasion on Piccolo's wrist.
"Wholly shit, what about this?" Negate ran a finger lightly up a jagged cut high on Piccolo's shoulder and saw it continued well under his gi top. She tugged at the purple cloth, much to Piccolo's agitation, and gaped at the crisscrossing of gouges and lacerations along his back. They looked painful, but none were weeping and Piccolo made no noise as she traced them with her fingers. "You covered me didn't you?"
"You don't remember?"
"I don't remember much of anything." Negate frowned. The glaring marks along Piccolo's hide made her angry. He shouldn't have gotten involved. Slowly, and in pieces, her memory recalled the events of earlier. _ Her body thrummed with pain, she collapsed. Piccolo's face, a mild worry glowing in his eyes. The noise of feet on metal, the guards coming. Nate._ Negate gasped, "Oh no, Nate!" She bit her lip and buried her face in Piccolo's back.
Piccolo could feel her shaking at his back but couldn't do much about it. He reached behind him and grasped her leg, pulling her non-too gently to his side, awkwardly wrapping one large arm around her shoulders. He hadn't much practice at teary people, the extent of his experience was with Gohan as a boy. Negate sniffed and wiped at her eyes. "He's not dead. Yet." Piccolo looked at her, gauging her reaction. Negate nodded, accepting what he had said with relative calm. She leaned into the crook of his arm and sighed deeply.
"They're doing a good job, dammit."
Piccolo frowned, "What are you talking about?"
Negate shook her head and stood, it looked easier than it had yesterday, and sat on the bed. "Breakfast is in an hour or so, I think I'm going to take a nap." She lay curled in the fetal position, hugging a chunk of mattress to her chest. Piccolo placed the stone back in the wall and watched her back as she breathed. He knew she wasn't sleeping, and when the guard came to unlock the door an hour and a half later she still lay until Piccolo rolled her off of the mattress.
"Stop sulking like a child." Piccolo growled. Negate growled back at him and walked stiffly in front of Piccolo, not looking once to see if he followed. They entered the galley, tables full but the doors that led to work detail were closed and guards stood in the doorways looking bored.
Negate sat and frowned down at the bowl of gruel that was set in front of her. The feeling of a greasy cheeseburger dripping juices from her chin wouldn't let go of her mind. Sighing, she stomached the bowl in three heavy swallows. She looked up at Piccolo who was watching the room with a calculating gaze. Gods he was beautiful. And it was her fault he was beaten and that striking emerald skin was split open.
"You have to forgive me." She mumbled and Piccolo looked down at her.
"You haven't done anything to me." Negate shook her head. "Don't let them bear you down. You can either break or build up again." Piccolo held her gaze, one that told her all he said was true. One that said if you fail in this the world will stop turning. One that believed as long as you stand, you have good on your side, and the will of good always triumphs.
Negate nodded, her face set in grim determination. She stood laughing, the room grew quiet as hundreds of eyes turned to her. Piccolo looked at her like she was going crazy, ready to fight off the first wave or guards he knew would surely come. Her laughter deepened, and the room seemed to dim. But no, Piccolo noticed, the room didn't dim.she grew brighter.
Piccolo had never once felt desire, thought he knew the meaning of lovely, of inner strength but they all in turn were given new meaning as Negate breathed deeply and laughed harder, wiping a tear from her eye. When she looked at Piccolo he would have fallen if he hadn't been sitting. The bruising of her face seemed to fade and her dark eyes sparkled with mirth. Then as suddenly as she began, she stopped, breathing out in words of "woo" that only come after hard laughter makes your face cramp and sides hurt.
She sat again, chuckling lightly under her breath as the room slowly began to murmur again. Piccolo looked at her, eyes wide, not understanding what had just happened. Negate grinned at a small table in the corner, the old man and twins both smiling brightly.
"What the hell was that?"
"You told me to build up. When people see that life hasn't beaten me, they all feel better, and when they feel better so do I." She grinned, looking up at Piccolo with those same lovely dark eyes and Piccolo looked away, not sure of what had passed.
A hand fell onto her shoulder and she jumped slightly but nodded her head and smiled at the aged man and twins that stood behind her. She stood, Piccolo standing and following, not sure of what was happening. The guards in the doors came to attention, especially the ones that were standing before the small door they had walked into the day before. "What business do you have here? Go sit down." The guard frowned at them. The old man nodded his head sagely.
"This young lady still needs to be treated, her ribs are broken and she is in much pain." He motioned to Negate who, although still in pain and bruised badly, gripped her side and moaned so pitifully nearby tables were scoffing at the guard and getting teary.
"Fine. But make it quick." The guard stepped out of the way, the small group entered quickly. Piccolo paused in the door and looked down at the man and gave him a toothy grin. The man swallowed thickly. "I mean-- take all the time you need." Piccolo nodded and shut the door behind him.
The old man was watching Piccolo with a keen interest. Not enjoying attention, Piccolo shifted from one foot to the other and finally crossed the room and sat. He waited patiently for them to patch up Negate, but the women were busy stuffing things into a small leather bag and Negate was quietly placing small bundles of food into a bladder. "Hey, Beautiful." The girls stopped their moving, giggled quietly together and continued their work. Piccolo looked around the room confused. Negate leaned across the table and looked down at him. "Don't you know your name?" She didn't smile but Piccolo could see the humor in her eyes.
"That isn't my name." Piccolo frowned and crossed his arms over his chest as he stood.
"Well, since you never bothered to offer." Negate shrugged and drew the strings on the bladder tightly shut.
"It's Piccolo." Still frowning Piccolo took the bag she held out to him.
"Okay." She smiled up at him briefly and turned to the wall, pulling the grating carefully from the vent. It wasn't exactly large, but it wasn't small either and she pulled herself up onto the ledge and motioned the girls to hand her the bag they still clung to.
Piccolo stepped forward and stopped them. "Wait a minute. What are you doing?"
"I'm going to help Nate." A determined look on her face, mixed with the nonchalant attitude told Piccolo that this wasn't the first time she'd done this. He grunted and allowed the girls to hand over the bag. She slung it over her shoulder and tied the bottom around her waist. Then motioned for Piccolo to hand over the bladder.
"You're going by yourself?" She nodded. Piccolo looked around the room at the other three who averted their gaze. "Then get moving, I won't stand here all day."
Smiling lightly she turned and moved head first down the darkening tunnel. Sighing, Piccolo easily lifted his bulk into the tube and followed her, swearing softly in Namekien at how tight the passage really was once inside. He heard a small giggle from the wriggling form ahead of him and he humphed.
Suddenly, the body ahead of him was gone. Stopping in the tube he reached out carefully and felt around, they had reached the end of the tunnel. _How stupid are the Eliokon's anyway, to have a vent connecting directly to solitary?_ Dropping softly to his hands, Piccolo bent in half and settled onto his feet again. It felt great to stretch. A sudden spurt of light in the darkness hurt his eyes and he shielded them with one hand and saw Negate crouching near Nate with a small lamp she had pulled from the satchel. He walked slowly over and grimaced at the sight that lay at his feet.
