"That should keep your wounds for reopening. I will be discharging you from the infirmary. I have already informed the Director, your team Captain, and Hibari that you will not be allowed to go out on missions for the next 3 days." Brynn wanted to groan upon hearing that. The nurse had also banned her from any strenuous exercises.
'Better than solitary confinement.' She thought, holding back a smirk as she remembered what had happened before. She whispered her words of gratitude and proceeded to make her way out of the white room that she dreaded so much.
It had been around 24 hours since she arrived at the branch, and only an hour since she woke up. The nurse had informed her that Alisa and her colleague had saved her. She made a mental note to thank them.
The moment that she woke up, the first thing that she asked the nurse had been about Nana.
The blonde glanced to the left end of the hallway, the one that led to the doctor's and now director's office. She had been informed that Nana had been confined to one of the sealed rooms.
She bit her lower lip in deep thought, would it be a good idea to visit the younger one or to first proceed to her room. The idea of a warm bath seemed appealing to her, although she knew that the blood had been wiped off during her sleep, she still felt it on her body.
'Wouldn't want her to be horrified at my appearance and stench.' She humoured herself before walking towards the elevator doors.
"What time is it?" She asked aloud. The halls had no windows so it was nearly impossible to tell the time. She patiently waited for the metallic doors to slide open.
Entering the elevator and pressing on her desired floor, she couldn't help but shiver at the thought of how much Julius and Gil would scold her. Looking back at all that happened, she realized that her actions had been foolished.
But who could blaim her? Given the situation she was in, panic clouded her judgement.
She knew that she would still be in trouble. Hoping that Nana had spared some of the details.
The platinum-haired girl arrived at the Blood Special Forces floor and made her way towards her room. Using her armlet to unlock it, it made a small click before it was slightly ajar. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of the home that she managed to find in the Den.
It was certainly homier than her room back in Friar.
Getting a fresh set of clothes from the terminal, Brynn took note of the emptiness in the room. It was 8 in the morning, the others were probably having breakfast and getting ready for missions. She doubt that she would be seeing them for the rest of the morning.
The blonde stripped out of her blood stained garments and sighed at seeing how near to impossible it would be to repair them. The sky blue coat had lost multiple parts, gaining scratched and holes instead. The usual shine that it held was gone as well, replaced with a dull blue. She tossed that into her clothes bin, she would make sure to throw them out later. Followed by the white top that had been dyed red.
Fortunately, her pouches and their straps remained in tact. She gently took them off and placed them on the counter, they were empty anyways.
Her ankle boots were the next to go. They were the sturdiest pair that she had so she wasn't surprised when they remained the same.
She opened the shower, waiting for the water to grow hotter. The blonde allowed her hair to get soaked underneath the torrents of droplets of water. A sigh escaping her as the warmth seeped through her. She grabbed her bottle of shampoo, remembering that the color of the bottle had been a lighter shade of purple. The Captain had a similar color. It wasn't an unusual occurrence when they'd end up using each other's.
It meritted them so amusing situations.
Blood just finished a mission that dealt with a Psion and a few small aragami. They were on standby while waiting for their pick up.
Romeo stood next to the Captain, he had been conversing with him and the taller one would answer his questions. The younger blonde was thrilled that the other had begun to socialize. During the times that Blood only consisted of the two of them, things weren't exactly exciting.
Midway through their conversation, Romeo's faced had changed into one of confusion as he repeatedly sniffed the air. The Captain looked at him with curiousity before asking what had been bothering the other.
"Julius? Why do you smell like Brynn?" He asked, the smell of coconut had surely been coming from the man donned in violet. Before the other could answer, Romeo's eyes widened in surprise as he accusingly pointed a finger at the taller man.
"You slept with Brynn?!" The Captain's face grew red as he tried to dismiss the other's assumptions. "I knew that there was something going on between the two of you!" He added, a grin on his face.
Brynn, who had been drinking coffee from a flask, spat out the already luke warm liquid. She wasn't a few feet away from them and heard everything loud and clear. Gil looked at her with a cocked eyebrow, she knew that the questioning stare had been meant for Romeo's statement.
Grabbing a hanky from her pocket, she wiped the coffee that was beginning to dribble down her chin. As she did that, she shook her head. Gil only turned to Romeo, who had been continuously talking, and Julius, who grew flustered by the minute.
Brynn made her way over to the unsuspecting male and whacked his back with the end of her flask. This earned a strangled and surprised scream from the other.
"Quit making things up. Julius merely confused my bottle of shampoo for his." She sighed and gave the other a comforting smile, which quickly changed into a cheeky smirk.
"But then again, that wouldn't be such a bad thought." The Captain grew even red, completely silenced as he turned away. Brynn laughed at his dismay.
A smile cracked on her face upon remembering that event. Julius refused to speak to her for a few hours but it had been worth the laugh. He soon got over it anyways.
Brynn's thought then drifted to the letter that had gone unsolved. She practically memorized the entire thing already. That wasn't a shock after how many hours she stared at the printed symbols. Due to the heat, the glass divider of the bathroom had fogged up. She sued the opportunity to write the symbols down.
Still, there was nothing important that she could make out of it. She washed her hair and her body with water, her fingers began to wrinkle at how long she stayed in the bathroom. Just before she was going to take a step out of the bathroom, she noticed that what she had written on the glass had still been there. But droplets of water trailed down from it connecting some of the symbols. Her eyes widened upon seeing what it had formed.
Be Prepared.
So it had been a warning, a vague one, but still a warning. She wanted to bang her head against the wall at how she didn't think of such a simple thing to do. She tried to find conversions for the symbols, and other complicated attempts.
Getting dressed, she opted to go for the black Long Blade top and black Boost Hammer shorts to go with them. Her had been customized with gold that greatly showed through the black of the cloth.
"You take forever to bathe. I wonder how your roommate deals with it." The moment that she stepped into the room, she had been met with her favorite brunette.
"I wake up before him." Brynn casually said as she picked up the basket that contained her old clothes. Nessa crinkled her nose the moment that Brynn passed her. She had been sitting on the edge of one of the beds.
"Maybe if you had been smart enough to figure out the code you would have been able to save your clothes." The brunette joked to which Brynn had scoffed at. She wasn't going to let her get under her skin this time.
"Why are you even here?" Still, she asked. Dropping the basket and walking over to her. A wide grin appeared on Nessa's face as Brynn stuffed her hands inside her pockets.
"I just wanted to congratulate you for finally cracking the code, yeah?" Nessa paused for a while before giggling, "A bit too late but at least you cracked it."
Brynn cocked an eyebrow, "It wasn't of much used anyways."
"But it will be for the next coming days." Nessa stood up and walked over to Brynn. Clasping her hand over her shoulder as her eyes bore into the other's. "And by the way, I'm going to make a deal with you soon." The devilish smile on her face had not calmed the blonde, she rolled her hands into a fist as Nessa's hand tightened around her shoulder.
"You won't be able to resist it. But I'll only offer it to you if you..." Nessa paused deep in thought, "How do I put it lightly? Hmm..." Brynn felt the fabric of her pockets as she waited.
"If you don't manage to save the next chess piece!" The brunette clasped her hands together as she cheered. "So you better hope that you succeed in your next conquest, eh?" Brynn stared in shock and confusion as the brunette walked past her towards the door.
"Until then, Eos. Good luck!" Brynn heard the metallic door sliding open. "You'll be needing it."
She tried her best to not be bothered by the brunette's words. The last time she was, things didn't end up too well. Instead, she made her way to the laboratory area with a packed odenpan in hand.
The door to the main lab had been unlocked when she walked in, upon entering, she was met with multiple computer screens that were turned against her, the walls were metallic and the floor had the same greenish carpet.
"Oh, you're here." Brynn perked up to see the Russian silvette who she was planning to look for after visiting her comrade. "How are you doing?" She asked as she picked up a cardboard box and stacked it on one of the tables. With a cutter, she ripped open tape that sealed it.
"I'm okay, doing better," Brynn said as she took a few steps closer to the other girl. Inside the box had been folders and papers that were in an organized fashion. "I was actually planning to look for you after I visit Nana to thank you."
Alisa looked up from what she was doing and gave the other a small smile, "You don't have to thank us for that. You saved me once before and you've been helping out a lot with the Director's and Soma's research." Brynn tilted her head to the side at the unfamiliar name.
"Was he the one who was with you when you saved me?" She asked, struggling to remember the person's appearance. The Russian nodded, completely dismissing the box from earlier as she placed a hand on her hip.
"Yes, that was him," Alisa said, "I would have introduced you to him but he had to go back to Cradle just a few hours ago." Brynn couldn't help but feel disappointed. "I'll let him know though. I'm tidying up the room because he's moving back."
Brynn smiled, "I'd love to meet him then." Alisa look towards Brynn's hand which carried the sandwich that she made for Nana.
"Nana's room is on the right. I'll be right here if you need anything." Brynn expressed her gratitude. She made her way into the room where her comrade had been confined.
The insides of the room had been startling white, besides the childlike drawings that had been scribbled on the walls in different colors. Brynn couldn't help but wonder if they kept a child in here. At the left corner, was a metallic bed, similar to the ones that they had back in the brig.
Nana immediately perked up when she saw the Vice Captain walk in, "Hey, Brynn! You're okay!" She jumped from the bed and tackled the other girl. Brynn felt a strain on her stomach area but dismissed it and used her hand to return the hug.
"I made this for you, Nana." Brynn showed the packed odenpan the moment that the other girl had released her from the tight embrace. Pink eyes lit up in excitement as she accepted the item.
"Boy, I was just thinking about how much I was craving for this! Thank you, Brynn." Instantly, the girl unwrapped the food and stared at it as if it were the most important thing in the world. She began to devour the sandwich as Brynn watched with a smile.
"Thank you for back then, Nana," Brynn began as the girl was halfway through her sandwich. "I'm sorry too. I forced you to-" Before she could carry on with what she had been saying, Nana momentarily stopped eating and cut her off.
"Don't say sorry, Brynn! You made things a whole lot better." The blonde raised an eyebrow inquisitively.
"But I made you risk your life. I wasn't thinking clearly." She softly continued.
Nana gave her a comforting glance before looking back at the sandwich at her own hands, "I think that, because of what happened, I can control my power now." Brynn looked at her, waiting dor her to continue. "Doc Rachel came by just before you woke up, and she told me that my Blood Power had been stabilized."
Brynn's ochre colored eyes widened and a smile soon replaced the frown that had formed on her lips. "Is that so?"
"Yeah! Isn't it great?" Nana cheered before taking a huge bite out of the sandwich, with her mouth full, she continued, "I think it's all thanks to you, Brynn."
"Back when we were first supposed to retreat, when you guys told me to pull back, I couldn't. I was so afraid." She began, her eyes had been downcast on the floor.
Brynn wondered where the sandwich had gone.
"And it got us into trouble. You got hurt and we got stranded. But you never blamed me for it, even if it really was my fault." Nana looked up and stared directly at the Vice Captain's eyes who had been paying full attention, "That's why, that's why when you asked me to run. I knew I had to do it. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt, and I know that, it would have what mommy would have wanted me to do."
Brynn grinned and ruffled the smaller one's hair after she had finished her declaration. "I'm glad that you finally realized that," She paused as her hand found itself on Nana's shoulder. She squeezed it comfortingly. "Don't ever forget that Blood's always got your back."
Nana smiled and nodded. Mirroring the happy expression that Brynn had.
"I won't."
Brynn was tired but she spent the next few minutes in the place that Nana had been confined. The younger one had informed her that she was just waiting for the results of the tests that were being conducted at Friar and the Director's go signal. It didn't take long until she was released and they parted ways.
The rumble if Brynn's stomach had reminded her that it had been quite some time since she last ate, but before that, made her way over to her room.
Strangely, the sliding metallic door was slightly open. She remembered that she had closed it before she left but walked inside. Nothing unusual had seemed to happen in the room, but she was aware of another presence.
"Vice Captain, how are you feeling?" Brynn felt her breath get hitched in her throat as her brown eyes met with the Captain's grey ones. His face held no trace of emotion, but he seemed relax. He was seated on the chair adjacent to his desk, a leg crossed over the other as his arms were on the armrests.
The blonde girl stayed glued to her spot, "I'm feeling okay." Those were the only words that she managed to summon. A whirlwind of thoughts had been spurring in her mind. She braced herself for the scolding that she would be getting, so instead of looking at her superior, she glanced at the floor.
She heard the chair screech against the floor as Julius stood up. Brynn couldn't help but think back to what had happened in the garden when she did something reckless. Biting her lower lip, she refused to look up at her companion the moment that he stood in front of her.
"Brynn." She nearly winced at his touch, his gloveless finger had tilted her head to face him. Ochre clashing with grey once again, Brynn searched his eyes for any trace of anger. But instead, they held anguish and sorrow.
"Yes?" She barely whispered a reply, the howlite like eyes had been agonizingly enthralling. She was quite aware that she would never tire of them, they were unique. Her brown ones were dull and uninteresting.
"You don't appear to be 'okay'." The tall man wistfully admitted, not bothering to tear his gaze away from the other. "What's bothering you?" He asked.
Brynn knew that the Captain out of concern wouldn't let her behavior pass. Thinking for a moment, she thought it would be best to just speak her mind.
"I..." She paused, still hesitating with her decision. "I was just anticipating that you would scold me, Captain." She searched his eyes for any change but they remained unmoving. Unconsciously, she bit her lower lip.
"I suppose that you can't be blamed." She was taken aback when Julius chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. The same hand that he had used to make her 'forcefully' face him. "I apologize for that, Brynn. You must be thinking of what had happened back then in the garden?"
Brynn hesitantly nodded. That occurrence had stirred the need in her to stop her teammates worrying about her.
"So..." Brynn voiced out before Julius could say anything else, "You're not going to scold me?" She managed to ask, better to be upfront about it rather than avoiding it.
"Do not fear, I have no intentions of scolding you." Normally, Brynn would have thought that a situation like would be awkward because of the leader's choice of words, but she grew used to them.
What she wasn't used to was the closeness that he was initiating. Sure, it had been okay when she was the one being clingy and touchy. But him? The last time he initiated something was when she had a fight with Gil.
"I've come to terms with it..." Julius began which earned him a cocked eyebrow from the blonde girl, "That you'll always put others before yourself. Your selflessness is quite admirable." He praised her, Brynn felt her heart swell in her chest and her cheeks lightly burning at his words.
"Although," Julius cough awkwardly and looked away as if to hide something, "I cannot say fully agree with it." Brynn's mood dampened. As if water had been poured over her flames.
"Why is that, Captain?" She asked, being the curious girl she was, she wanted to know why.
Julius sighed which only made Brynn's anxiousness multiply, she found it confusing why she was so bothered about it. Grey eyes connected with her once again.
"Because," Julius parted his lips to speak but there was clearly some hesitation, nothing came out the first time that he opened them. "I care about you, more than I should."
Brynn blinked. She was tempted to stuff a finger into her ear and see if there had been anything blocking them. She wanted to rub eyes to see if the man was really standing in front of her. But she knew that even if she did, she had heard correctly, and that he was clearly standing right there.
"I-" She stuttered, struggling to find words to say. She wanted to hit herself for becoming a stuttering full and not being able to say anything during a time like this. Maybe she interpreted him.
He couldn't have meant 'more than a friend' right?
She gulped and decided that since she couldn't speak, she would express how she was feeling through a different way. The girl knew that the other incredibly tensed the moment that she threw her arms around his waist and buried the side of her head into his chest.
She could hear the way his heart thumped loudly and quickly against his chest, she knew that it had been the same for her. Somehow, this embrace had been different. It meant more to her. She soon felt his fingers gently comb their way through her platinum-colored locks.
Finding a little bit of courage, she breathed deeply, inhaling his lavender scent before looking at him in the eye.
"I care for you too, Julius." Her eyes closed as a smile reached her lips. "More than anything and anyone else."