Christmas Eve update, feat. absolutely nothing to do with Christmas and also the penny finally dropping for Daisya.
You might wonder if I ever regret the things I do to this kid, such as covering him in a combination of burns ranging from first to third degree and making him draw on the emergency strength native to most humans (it allows for those stories of people lifting cars and boulders to save themselves or others), but frankly it's quite enjoyable.
Anyhow, enjoy, read, and if you can, review. Thank you very (very) much to karina001 for always doing the latter two things and hopefully doing the first.
When Daisya opened his eyes, he could barely breathe.
Not because of any damage to his lungs or anything, but because even the smallest movements sent the melody of pain into trills above an ostinado of burning aches. Every cell of his body was cashing in to repay the line of credit it had taken out the night before. Aaargh, and he felt like he was going to be sick.
Had he taken any painkillers last night? Maybe, but that was probably way too long ago. He'd been shovelling them in every couple hours these past few days.
Instead of moving, he examined the ceiling. There was a shadow on the edge of his vision that he dismissed, and the central view was taken up by a rough wooden surface. A few low cross-beams indicated that he was in an attic, somewhere. There was dust on the wood, even up there. It was probably pretty thick on the tops of the beams. No one had used this place for a while.
Above the pain, he could feel the weight of the sheets over him. They were rough, probably off-white from age, and tucked in tightly. This room was probably an old bedroom in a house that hadn't had enough people in it. There was the same draining sense, as if the room was trying to lap up every bit of life that wandered in, to have the sense of being lived-in again. Maybe some grandfather's or spinster's attic. There was a bit of a shadow in the corner of his right eye. A bedside table, probably, enough for a glass of water and a kerosene lamp. Not too fancy.
The mattress wasn't that comfortable, either. Better than the floor, though. Wasn't on fire, either.
Speaking of which, how had he ended up here in the first place? Lessee, they'd been travelling to the village. The kid said that the circus was travelling around here. Pity they never got to see it. He'd played with Kanda a bit, then they had to fight. There were trees. It was dark. The moon was red.
That wasn't it.
The last thing he remembered was…
…Marie, gasping on the ground. The shrieking noise that tore the akuma to pieces was taking its toll on him.
And Kanda, unaffected and looking almost…calm, staring at the akuma falling in shreds around him.
And then he looked at Daisya.
Daisya's reflexes kicked in, and he sat up. Bad, bad idea. He hissed in a stuttering breath, and let it fall out no less jerkily. Every square centimetre of his skin protested the movement.
Yes, the sheets were off-white. And old. The bed was pretty basic, made of wood. Where was Marie? What had happened? Where was Kanda?
The last thing he remembered was Marie…
No, the last thing he remembered was Kanda. Not anything about him, just a sense. Something to do with Kanda.
He looked sideways, to where the shadow had been in his peripheral vision. It was only then that his mind properly woke up.
…
Kanda was still there, sitting on a wooden chair beside the bed and staring at him without a trace of emotion. Not exasperation, not anger. The only indication of his thoughts were his arms and legs, both crossed defensively.
Daisya looked away, almost in shame. Kanda didn't look too angry, which should have been good, 'cause he'd probably think the stunt he'd pulled was stupid. But somehow it was…wrong.
Something landed in his lap. A glass vial, with a handful of tablets. Good old Tiedoll. The old man was pretty useful, sometimes.
"Don't take more than two."
Kanda got up, walking towards the door. Soon, his light footsteps had disappeared down the stairs.
He was alone again, for better or for worse. Though why Kanda was waiting here just to give him some meds was beyond him. Just leaving them on the bedside table would have been enough.
Daisya inspected the contents of the bottle, and poured three of the tablets into the palm of his hand. Looking around for a glass of water, or something liquid, he spotted a glass on the table and washed the medicine down with its contents. Yep, it was probably water.
He imagined the euphoric feeling of the pain fading — or even better, of the pain ceasing to exist. Those painkillers sure tasted good.
A set of less elegant footsteps came up the stairs, and the old man appeared in the doorway. The lines on his face were a bit more pronounced, making him seem older than normal. He had some killer dark circles, too.
"Ah, I see you're awake. You were quite enjoying your sleep for some time."
Daisya shrugged gingerly, eyes following Tiedoll as he made his way across the room. You didn't notice it the first time around, but he had a way of walking that made it look like he wasn't moving purposefully at all, just drifting.
"Hah, yeah. Don't even know how I managed to knock myself out. It's pretty boring, when you don't even dream."
The old man sat down in Kanda's chair, looking thoughtful.
Recollection waved its timid cue card a few seconds late.
"Oh, yeah, did Marie tell you what we did? It was pretty badass, I gotta say."
He grinned hopefully.
"Yes, I suppose it was. Combining Innocence is difficult, so I'm surprised you managed it. It pushed your synch rates up too high, though, which knocked the two of you out. Kanda had to carry y—"
"Wait— Kanda carried us?" interrupted Daisya, eyebrows raised, "Yeah, right. How strong is that kid?"
Tiedoll looked confused for a moment. Then, an expression crossed his face that would be similar to that on the face of someone halfway to work who remembered they'd forgotten to turn off the oven.
"Remind me again: did I tell you anything about Kanda's special abilities?"
Daisya made a face, and shrugged emphatically.
"Dunno if he has any. I mean, he sliced up his arm and he sounded okay, so maybe he can heal…?"
Tiedoll paused as the suggestion trailed off, then nodded.
"Yes, that is correct. He is able to heal at a remarkable rate, and he also is far stronger than most human beings. He can carry you and Marie far more easily than I could. I'm sorry about not telling you sooner, but, as you know, things were a bit rushed."
Tiedoll finished the sentence in a hurry, and looked sheepishly to Daisya, who was staring at him.
He had been prepared for Daisya to be upset about not being told. However, he had not been prepared for Daisya to burst out laughing. Not giggling either, but loud, raucous laughter.
"Oh, now that's great. So Kanda can heal, can he?" Daisya asked, once he'd gotten his breath back, "Oh, I'm definitely a moron."
The General let his apprentice ramble on a bit in the pink clouds of seratonin and morphine.
"Y'see, I had to drag him off when we were fighting, and he got really pissed off, because he didn't even need saving in the first place!"
Another bout of laughter was forestalled as Tiedoll put a hand on his apprentice's shoulder to wake him up.
"Daisya, you should probably have some breakfast. You've been out for quite a while."
"Okay," answered Daisya with a resentful sort of energy, "It's going to be porridge, isn't it? I hate porridge."