Pleased to Meet You

It was almost noon by the time Alva alighted the shuttle and began the short walk to the orphanage. Like the day and night before, she hadn't slept well and in the morning she'd felt even weaker. She had argued with Eve about attending class that day. The older of the two agreed with the condition that Alva would only go in for the afternoon classes and that Eve would meet her at the orphanage midday for lunch to check on her.

It wasn't so much the concern Eve displayed that morning that bothered Alva. What bothered her was the Eve's mood from the night before. Alva, herself, had been excited. She'd taken the object she'd found in the tool-shed by the orphanage and lugged it home (eventually, it felt like it was heavier than her). She'd done so—not completely without deliberation—with the intention of asking Eve exactly what it was and why she'd hidden it years ago.

With the object propped up against the back of the sofa in the small living room, she'd waited for Eve to arrive home from CRYSIS. Now, Alva had gotten use to the idea of Eve occasionally being late so when she received a call of that nature from her older sister, it didn't shock her. What did was how Eve sounded. She sounded somewhat distracted, distressed almost. And she'd ended the call before Alva could ask if everything was alright.

Slowly, Alva had remembered how much she'd wanted Eve to be with her, earlier that day. Perhaps something had happened at CRYSIS? Maybe they found out they'd been sneaking around the Pillar? Was Eve in trouble? If she was, it was her fault. Eventually, Alva began to regret deciding to dig up the past. She hid the unknown object in her room, planning to return it the next day.

"So here I am," Alva muttered as she huffed, hauling the object wrapped in a sheet as to not draw attention—well, less attention than if it weren't, "What could this thing possibly be useful for?" She grunted, trying to find the best way to carry it, "How did I even manage to get this thing home?"

Eventually giving up a few yards from the orphanage's main gate, she lowered the object to the ground, against a low wall. Breathing heavily, she also dropped her backpack and flopped against the wall. Her head was spinning a little and her arms ached.

"Alva?" Eve's voice almost sent her flying off her resting place, it seemed to come out of nowhere. Steadying herself, Alva looked down the street to see Alva walking towards her, a bag in her hand.

"Hey." Alva squeaked, throwing a glance at the object near her backpack as she jumped down to her feet, hoping she would obstruct Eve's view of it, "You're... you're early."

"Yeah." The older sibling nodded as she reached her. Alva watched Eve reach into the back and take out two drink cans, "Apology for last night."

"O-Oh." Alva took the cans. Noticing they were fruit juices, she smiled, "Thanks." She smiled, placing one down on the low wall and opening the other, beginning to drink—apparently she was thirsty. She was on her fourth sip when she noticed Eve looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She stopped immediately, choking a little on the fifth sip, "What? ...I'm thirsty."

"Apparently." Eve acknowledged. She lifted the bag in her hand, "Sandwiches."

"Right! Lunch! Food!" Alva blurted nervously, "We should... eat! Here, now." she put her drink down and reached for the bag that moved out of her reach. She met a mismatched pair of eyes staring at her suspiciously.

"Okay, what did you do?"

"Nothing." Alva said quickly, "I'm just... hungry and... tired. I didn't sleep well last night and all." Concern and guilt replaced the suspicion in Eve's eyes. For a moment, Alva didn't know which made her more nervous.

"Right, sorry." Eve grabbed a sandwich out of the bag and handed it to Alva before leaning against the wall, "You're still feeling sick?" Relieved that she hadn't been seen through, Alva let out a small sigh of relief.

"Hungry and tired," She corrected, jumping up to sit next to her sister, "not sick." While she was happy she'd managed to distract Eve from her not-so-subtle screening of a certain hidden object, she also knew she didn't want the older girl to be worried. She couldn't really ask about the night before because she didn't want to take the chance that it was related to what had happened at the Pillar.

"So... how's CRYSIS?" She blurted out before she could stop herself.

"It's... interesting." Eve answered after a moments pause, "The class was given the rest of the day off." Alva nearly choked again, this time on her sandwich.

"Wh-What? Why?"

"Officer Farron, the training officer— my superior officer— requested that I participate in some special training in the afternoon." Eve explained, her voice distant, "Apparently the training is only open to ranked officers."

"Special training?" Alva asked through another bite of her sandwich, "What kind of special training?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well that's unusual." Alva admitted. She noticed a questioning look on her sister's face and shrugged, "Well just... I wouldn't have thought you'd accepted anything without knowing what exactly it was." Eve held her gaze for while before turning away, sighing heavily.

"Me neither."

"Hmmmm, is he good looking?" Alva asked suddenly, finishing her sandwich and opening her second car of juice. She looked to find Eve staring at her again, this time with confusion painting her face.

"Wh-What?" Alva just shrugged, taking a sip of her juice, "Officer Farron is a woman and SHE is my superior officer." Alva swallowed her sip of juice, holding back a grin.

"I see... well is SHE good looking?" The sight of Eve gaping, at a loss for words threw Alva over the edge as she let out a laugh, "Well why else would you accept? I know you, you wouldn't be interested in any special training." She quickly let out a gasp, "Wait a minute... just how 'special' is this training-?"

"OKAY!" Eve pushed off the wall, shaking her head, waving her hand dismissively, "We are not having this conversation because you are going to class, come on." She motioned towards Alva's backpack, grabbing the empty can of juice and sandwich wrapper, stuffing them in the bag she was holding. All the while Alva was struggling to finish her drink through her giggles. She quickly stopped at hearing Eve's next question.

"Alva, what's that?" The younger of the two saw Eve's eyes on the wrapped object that, for a while, had managed to escape her thoughts. She panicked for a second before attempting to come up with something.

"That's uh... for a project..." She began, using the last few sips of her juice for time to think, "For one of my classes—we're building something! Group project, gets the kids outside, not all cooped up in their classrooms, y'know?" She groaned inwardly at the feeble attempt to cover but Eve seemed to buy it. If anything the previous topic of conversation had disturbed her enough to keep her distracted.

"Okay well, do you need help carrying it?" The elder asked, moving to grab it, "I can grab it for you-"

"No, it's okay!" Alva jumped off the wall in an attempt to stop Eve, "It's actually kinda-" Eve lifted the object up off the ground with ease, examining it briefly before turning to Alva, "Heavy..."

"What are you doing carrying anything like this around anyway, you're sick." Eve said, motioning to Alva's backpack, still on the ground at her feet. Blinking away the shock and awe, Alva grabbed it and swung it over her shoulder as they both began walking the short remaining distance to the orphanage.

"I uh... I managed." Alva answered distractedly. She knew Eve was strong but the older of the two look liked she were carrying a stick. She was still watching Eve curiously when they reached the orphanage gate. Alva snapped herself out of it to stop Eve from carrying the object the rest of the way, "It's okay, I got it from here." Eve seemed hesitant but nodded.

"Okay," She rested the object against the side pillar of the gate, "But at least try to take it easy today?"

"Yup. Sure. You got it. No problem." Alva assured, already shooing her off, "Go, go take part in whatever 'special training' this Officer Farron has planned for you."

"Cheeky brat." Was all she heard as Eve turned and jogged away, waving over her shoulder. Alva watched her until she turned a corner, out of sight. Finishing of the last sip of juice she eyed the object against the gate pillar. She frowned, the stupid thing had caused her more stress than she needed—and she hadn't even figured out what it was yet!

"-scuse me?"

"WHA-?" Alva whirled around, the can of juice slipping from her fingers into the air, flying a good few feet away.

"Sorry, I'm sorry!" The voice formed an apology. Alva ended up facing a girl mostly likely older than herself by not by much. Friendly face, cheeky grin, bright green eyes, her hair in pigtails and the strangest choice of clothes- "idn't mean to scare you."

"Huh? No I... you didn't-I mean you did but..." Alva trailed off, taking a breath, calming herself, "Can I help you?"

"I just got separated from a friend of mine-oh..." There was surprise in the girl's eyes, "Sorry, you sort of... look familiar."

Alva remained quiet. She'd have been lying if she said she'd heard the phrase a lot. In fact, Alva hadn't met anyone else even remotely resembling her—her sister included. Unlike Eve she had pale skin; she was shorter than other teens her age; her hair was light gray—silver almost; and her eyes were both a dull gold color. One could say she looked rather eccentric. To Alva her appearance was that of some sickly kid to be pitied or coddled, unable to take part in the more... energy-consuming joys of life. It was part of the reason behind her animated and occasionally overzealous personality.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I know you." Alva finally responded, her curiosity regarding the stranger already beginning to grow.

"Oh, right!" The girl grinned again, extending a hand, "I'm Vanille."

A/N:

*eats mysterious object*