"So… soft…" Mumbled Beth, while shoving a whole piroshki in her mouth. I manage to make a LOT of those.
Bell was enjoying one of those while sitting on my shoulder, Gonzales and Amelia are enjoying themselves. Well, that was until Amelia caught my knowing smirk and started acting rude to our resident big guy, who just kinda… laughed it away.
Dakota was eating in silence with a satisfied expression on her face. I only just noticed the scarf below her suit, it's the same one Red uses, most likely an E.G.O gift. I guess she didn't see a reason to cover her mouth with it.
The real deal here was BongBong and Rober, it seemed like the sense of shame they had before was slowly being replaced by just the need to show their… let's call it enjoyment, of each other's presence. And by that I mean BongBong is actually feeding Rober, and Rober is basically doing the same. It was honestly a cute sight.
It's not like they didn't notice my shit eating grin, it's just that they enjoyed the moment more and that overshadowed any embarrassment I could try making them feel. Not that I would actually ruin their moment at this point.
I took a bite of my last piroshki… damn, I outdid myself with this one.
But even surrounded by these nice vibes, there was this… tension in the air. Wonder why it would be like that?
I suddenly was about to get up, maybe walk around the facility, and then Beth just pulled me back into my chair.
…
Slowly, I glanced at her. I tried to get up again, this time Gonzales helped her.
…
What's going on right now?
And... did the tension in the air became even thicker? "You know, if you didn't want me to leave, you could just say so." I rolled my neck, getting a satisfying pop.
Everyone exchanged glances. Then, as one, looked back at me.
"Stay." They said at the exact same time, with a completely flat tone… well BongBong said Bong, but the message and tone was the same.
Seriously? I mean… nothing against it, not like I had anything better to do, "Am I going to get an explanation?"
Dakota's stare was one of befuddlement, "It's the fifth day. Are you stupid or something?" I blinked, thought about it for a moment.
And then snorted, so that's why they are so worried, "I assure you, what happened with Malkuth and Yesod won't happen today." No one seemed convinced.
"Literally everything say's otherwise." Groused Amelia while narrowing her eyes at me.
I rolled my eyes, "Not really. Netzach is depressed, sure, but he isn't about to lose his mind. He is actually… weirdly stable." My words confused everyone.
"And… you know that how? I never questioned your frankly inhuman ability to understand emotions, but I feel like I should right now." Rober said with a worried frown.
Oh yeah, it literally never came up, "I'm an empath." I replied flatly. There was this… weird moment of silence.
Dakota pointed at me with an accusatory finger, "What Wing made you!?" She received a punch to the shoulder courtesy of BongBong.
Snorting at the interaction, I gave her a shrug while making a big attempt at hiding how uncomfortable my 'birth' is. More specifically, the fact that I had no idea where the hell I came from, it bothered me, "I'm just build different." At my… I wouldn't call that a response, some snorted. While others just stared at me like I shouldn't be alive.
"God, what have you done to me? I should be surprised, but I can't be anymore…" Amelia grumbled, then stuffed another piroshki in her mouth.
Beth sighed, "Angela said that when you experienced something enough times, you find yourself with the strange need to ignore it but watch anyway. Kind of like watching someone just walk out in the night on the Backstreets, you know what's going to happen, and you still just… watch it happens anyway." Apparently I have done enough outlandish stuff to desensitize her to it.
Dakota rubbed her eyes, "Alright… guess you can go. Just don't start problems for no reason." I perked up and smiled at everyone near the table.
There was a brief moment of confusion amongst everyone. Dakota, Amelia and Rober picked up first what was happening, I was an empath and I knew what they were feeling.
Worry. More specifically, worried about me.
Rober tried to hide his embarrassment while waving at me furiously, "Just, fucking go do your thing… son of a bitch…" I chuckled to myself and got off the chair.
Waving at the goodbye, and noticing that Beth also just caught on what had happened, she threw me a pouty glare, of all things. That was just precious.
I still walked out of the cafeteria with a smile on my face. Probably going to Safety… again.
Bell was still on my shoulder, finishing her piroshki, while I simply let my empathic sense wander around. I hummed to myself for a moment, before catching onto… four interesting emotions.
The first was an annoyed one, it felt big and stressed, along with a bit blind? Another one felt calm that was showing a slight amount of worry. I recognized the next two, Netzach had his usual air of 'I don't give a fuck' along with a minuscule amount of anger, and then there was Yesod, who was just tired and frustrated.
All of them are in Safety too. What the hell is happening?
Making my way through the facility, it wasn't long before I reached Safety…
"Where did you even get Enkephalin anyway!? I'm literally in charge of handing the stuff now!" I recognize that voice… Tiphereth F, that little rascal.
"Just my spares, really…" That's definitely Netzach.
"Netzach, stop. You are not making your case any better." Yesod, poor man was in the middle of that particular mess.
"Tiphereth, just try to lay off him a little. It wasn't that much, and he is still in top shape." And probably the only positive person in the room, Tiphereth M.
Poor kid...
Sighing to myself, I walked in. Now seeing the small box that is Tiphereth F pointing her finger at Yesod, "Of course you would know. It's not like this is anything new for him, but it's not like you Uppers actually care." Yesod gave her one glance and quite literally just let her comment slide off him.
"Netzach, you know that Enkephalin is being distributed by Tiphereth. You should have known this would have happened." I blinked, did Yesod just try to… be understanding with Netzach?
Witchcraft.
Tiphereth M noticed my presence, "Mister Trigger." He waved at me, I just blinked at him… mister? We only met once, a bit more respect than I expected after only one talk.
"Sup." I gave him a nod, while I glanced at Netzach and then back at Yesod… who was just slightly nervous now.
Tiphereth F put her hands on her… hips? Low corners? And just hmph'd at me, "Work doesn't start for another hour." She stated at me.
"The early bird gets the worm. Heard Netzach is doing drugs again." My words got an approving nod from the little girl.
"Guilty as charged. Probably never pulling it off again… may as well use the last I had." Netzach didn't even deny it, and to be honest, it must not have been that much. Couldn't see Enkephalin dripping out of him, and he was very sober.
Tiphereth F glared at him, "There shouldn't have been a 'last time', you should have just handed it back to me!" I threw a look to Tiphereth M, who shrugged at me with a small laugh.
Yesod stepped in, "Simply arguing will do nothing about this. Calm down, Tiphereth." For his troubles, he received a glare.
"Let's take it easy, Tiphereth. It's not like Netzach ignores his work and he won't do it again anyway." Tiphereth M tried to calm his… sister(?) down before she does anything too dumb.
Tiphereth F seemed to actually pay attention to her brother, "You are always so soft with others, especially with the Uppers." I focused back on her brother, who was dripping nostalgia with a somber feel to it.
"I can't help it, we know them too well for that. It's a bit sad when they aren't around." His words... I kept my face neutral, even if I was frowning internally.
I could pick the uncomfortable air around Yesod when the kid said that. I threw Tiphereth F one look, and she didn't bother looking at me in the eye.
"It's a bit hard to just see people you know go away. Wouldn't you feel sad if Tiphereth M wasn't with you?" I said with a small shrug. Tiphereth F puffed up and just-
"Not at all, he can always be replaced..."
…
What?
I threw Yesod a look, and now he found the wall to his left very interesting, "Context?" I asked whoever could fucking answer my question.
Tiphereth M was the one to speak, "I've heard from Tiphereth that I tend to malfunction from time to time. So I get crushed for spare parts." I don't know why everyone suddenly tensed.
I KNOW I didn't show any kind of emotion.
But now that I think about it, I was radiating enough anger to make anyone second guess to even trying to glance in my direction. Slowly cooling myself, I opened my mouth and huffed.
Alright, very much angry, but I need to confirm something, "Wouldn't you like it more if that didn't have to happen?" I asked. Specifically, Tiphereth F.
"What's the difference? He'd still be here." I narrowed my eyes at her.
"So you don't care about him?" I questioned.
She blanched, and took a step back, as if I had hit her. She narrowed her eye at me and found herself staring straight into mine, it didn't take long for her to glance away, "Let's go Tiphereth, and you better not pull anything funny again, Netzach." She grabbed her brother's arm and stormed out of here.
Through the whole thing, I felt the conflict between anger and sorrow, that she probably didn't even understand herself.
Netzach glanced between me and Yesod, "That… was it really necessary?" He asked me and I frowned.
Yesod sighed, "That doesn't matter. It happened, and it can't be taken back. Do try to not use Enkephalin to postpone whatever is bothering you, Netzach." Netzach grunted, but didn't deny what Yesod said.
"Yeah, yeah… I'll be going for now. Trigger looks like he wants to talk with you anyway." Netzach walked away with annoyance and a bit of uncertainty surrounding him.
Like I thought, Netzach is still pretty stable… but let's put that in the back for now.
I walked forward, grabbed Yesod by the top of his metal can dumbass and rose him to eye level. His body made it so that his eye would be at the middle of it, and the Sephirah aren't that small to begin with, it was like carrying a pillow.
"What. The. Fuck?" I spat the words with venom.
Yesod was unmoved, even if he was uneasy, "That is something I do not have to tell you." I narrowed my eyes at him.
"You won't? Malkuth and Angela would be happy to tell me anyway, so I'll ask again. What. The. Fuck?" I felt my face twist in anger, the same one I showed when I fought joy. Yesod tried to play it off, but there was worry in him now.
"And I think he told you that he didn't have to tell you." I glanced behind me to see the red Sephirah, her flesh sword hanging on her 'shoulders' and she held it in a tight grip. For some reason… I felt her courage and protectiveness, it was there for a moment, and it was mixing up with her anger.
The air grew suffocating between us, it was like two trains were about to crash and no one could do anything about it.
Some would even think the air was distorting in between me and Gebura.
Slowly, I put Yesod down, "This is not over." I said gravely.
"Back off already." Warned Gebura and I simply growled at her before walking out of Safety's Main Room.
I have to talk with Angela and Malkuth.