Something gently crossed her forehead, which prompted Morrigan to open her eyes. The light certainly didn't hurt as much, so she had no trouble identifying Lilith sitting cross-legged next to her on the bed.
"Are you feeling better, Morri?"
"Aye, a bit," groaned the succubus, pushing the covers off and massaging her temples.
"She says she's doing better," whispered Lilith across the bed. Morrigan followed her words until they reached Poppy, who was standing in the corner sternly.
"Gah! Ye'd think tae knock first!"
"It was unlikely that you would have woken up, even if I had knocked on the door. Since I was bringing you some more water-" she held up the glass- "I deemed your recovery more important than your privacy."
Lilith hopped off the bed and took the glass of water to Morrigan's side, where the older succubus accepted it readily.
"So you're playin' mum, then?"
"There is some similarity in the roles I am currently filling in your recovery and the roles of a mother, yes."
Morrigan frowned. "Ah, me old mum. What was her name, Nancy, maybe? Aw, I cannae remember. 'S been a ways. She wasn't half the mum you've been, too busy, I suppose."
"I am sorry to hear that," said Poppy evasively, hoping to make an exit before the conversation would pick up any momentum. Unfortunately for her, Morrigan had more to say.
"She'd be gone oll the time, outwith the castle. Always left on an auld war movie 'fore she went. Ey'd ask fer somethin' diff'rent, but every time- 'It's so ye know why we're better than the humans, 'coz oll they ever think about is war, an' we're in the business of love."
Poppy nodded slowly. "What an interesting worldview. And not entirely incorrect."
"That's the thing, though," continued Morrigan. "I'm jest not sure if she was right. Humans can cook a fair bit better than we used to, an' I know there's a lot with their minds on things o'er than war."
"Oh, really?"
"Well, Ey've spent a lot of time buildin' intimate relations with 'em, ye know. I think I'm an expert."
Lilith giggled. "On intimate relations, amirite?"
Morrigan joined her laughter, but both were cut short by Cloud bursting through the door.
"Bayonetta's back," he gasped.
"…is fantastic, I know," interjected Morrigan.
"No, I mean, she's here."
"Oh," whispered the Succubus.
"Stay here," instructed Poppy. "I do not want to deal with what happened last time you two were in close proximity again."
Lilith wrapped an arm around Morrigan, beaming. "Don't worry, Morri! I'll keep you company until you're better!"
Poppy followed Cloud out the door, down the hallway, through the foyer, and onto the porch where the witch stood.
"So you're still around?" growled Poppy.
"I was making myself a bit scarce, wasn't I?" Bayonetta cooed. "I assure you it was for a good reason." She ran a hand over her suit, and a green lollipop worked its way into her hand. Poppy knew exactly what it was.
"So, do you believe you are adequately prepared?"
"As much as I'll ever be," the witch smirked. "Although there is one thing."
"And what would that one thing be?"
Bayonetta threw a thumb over her shoulder, towards the tallest building in town.
"I'm going to need that church."
Admittedly, the donuts were probably the best thing Katniss had woken up to in a long time.
"Doing better today?" asked the man, dunking his own pastry into a mug of coffee.
"I feel okay," the girl replied, breaking off a bit of the donut and leaving it on her plate.
"That's good enouff fer a couple daysh being knocked out."
Katniss ate the piece of donut, and made sure her mouth was empty before speaking. "Are you some kind of doctor or something?"
"Naw, but I spend a lot of time patching people up. I was going to fix your friend up, too, but-"
"She was not my friend," hissed Katniss. "She was a psychopath that was out to kill everybody. I have no idea how you can't see that."
The man's smile quickly disappeared. "The life of a psychopath doesn't hold any more or less weight than ours. Everyone deserves a second chance."
She tore off another chunk of her donut. They were in a restaurant of some sort, in a booth next to a window. The man was so tall he was half-hunched over, his knees almost peeping over the edge of the table. Outside, the horizon stood as a massive wall of brown meeting a dark-blue sky- early morning, she guessed.
"I'm getting really tired of those lines. What gives you the right to let people like that take the lives of others, when you can stop them?"
"Because if we tried to exact justice for every sin, we'd damn everyone."
"I'm not saying that, I'm saying, people like that don't have a right to live!"
Katniss heard the clicking of a hammer being drawn back beneath the table.
"If that's the case," the man said sternly, "do you have any last words?"
Katniss cleared her mind to try and find the weight of her bow on her shoulder, but it was absent. She also failed to find her backpack and quiver. She had no options to resist.
"Why?" she asked, hoping that this insane character would at least say something that made some sort of sense.
"She did something that you didn't like, so you killed her. According to that logic, you did something I didn't like, so I can kill you, right?"
"N-no, I-"
"Listen, kid. I know you're not a bad person. And I know that she was crazy. But if everybody lived by an-eye-for-an-eye, nobody would see anything. Somebody's got to be the one to give second chances, right?"
"I… I guess…"
He stood up from his side of the booth, spun his weapon around his finger, and slipped it down into his holster.
"I know it doesn't make sense, but that's the code I have to live by."
Katniss was partially frustrated, partially astounded. Could he really live the way he said? All evidence pointed toward that being so. How? Surely a dangerous man like that must have seen first-hand the damage that people like Tally could do. So why would he try so hard to keep them alive? She let her head sink to the table, folding her arms under it.
"Just who do you think you are?" she groaned.
He looked up and down the diner's narrow aisle. There were no patrons other than themselves, and but one employee, who was falling asleep at a griddle.
"My name is Vash," he whispered. "Vash the Stampede."
"Oh, wow. Nice nickname, Vash," she sighed, unimpressed.
"I didn't tell you before because there's a huge bounty on my head. I know, I checked. So I was trying to keep moving around, so I could avoid anybody trying to collect, ya know?"
Katniss kept her head on her arms.
"Yeah, gotcha," she yawned. "So where are we?"
"Easton. Your talking truck is parked outside, if you want to get out of here."
Katniss considered it, but she was tired, and the donut was not that bad.
"No, I think we can stay here for a while."
Vash smiled. "Great. I'll go get another round of donuts."