trans_9 | Lie in Peace [Open]

It was both difficult and easy to sleep. Easy, because no matter how much she tried to fight it, Miku's eyes would slide closed any time of the day despite getting plenty of sleep. But, difficult because her sleep wasn't restful at all. Miku thrashed and whimpered, moaned and sighed. Upon waking, she held her breath as the Snake and Holly wound down her torso and her back. Her time was growing shorter with each centimeter the tattoo claimed.

Mafuyu was waiting for her, she wanted to go to him, and see him. Just... one more time. Who wouldn't want that? Who wouldn't want to see loved ones they'd never meet again? The Manor of Sleep drew her further and further in, beckoning with her brother's shade. For now, she avoided that room that was waiting for her. If she had just a little more time, if she could figure out some way...

But not tonight. In the wee hours of the morning, stumbling blindly down the hallways of the ship, the tattoos drove her onward with sheer, unimaginable pain. They burned in her skin, until they were bone-deep, the constant tap-tap-tap of an ancient needle on her skin. Miku covered her mouth to keep her sobs choked and muffled, and hid herself away in a hall. She just... she just needed to wait out the wave without going to sleep. She was sure, so sure that she could do that.

Just a little longer. What would Tess-san think if she just let it overwhelm her? What would Rei?

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"I know it won't be like the real thing, but..." Miku said as she opened the door, and thought about the house she lived in with Rei until the two of them appeared in the foyer. It was very clean, the smell of citrusy floor wax coupled with the warm smell of summer night air was just how Miku remembered it. Ruri slept on the sill of the window beside the door that led to the living room, kitchen and second floor. "I think some omurice is in order."

The cat on the sill opened one eye and yawned, purposely ignoring her owner and the little girl in virtual reality, just the same way she had in life. Miku's heart panged when she thought about her pet, but led the little girl to the next large room. Outside through the sliding glass door, a gentle rain fell. Two couches framed a coffee table and in the corner, a large TV set sat, unused. To the left, lay the kitchen, separated from the rest of the room by a long bar and its own little partial wall. To the far left of the sliding glass door, a stairwell led up to the second floor where the bedrooms were, though she'd find all of them closed.

For a Japanese house, it was surprisingly spacious. "Please make yourself comfortable, Yuri-chan. This won't take very long," she promised. Miku plucked an apron from where it hung on the wall and put it on.

Yuri followed and wondered at the sudden spike of familiarity. The house was clean and well lit. Except for its size it could have been her own family's apartment.

She sat on one of the couches, leaning forward on the leather and flipped through TV shows that were old before she was born. Catching something from the reflection off a blank channel, she turned to watch Miku on her knees. She was going to make the omurice. That meant so much to Yuri, that even in virtual reality, Miku was going through the steps of cooking rather than having it instantly and eerily appear. There was a rythm to life, Yuri knew at some unconscious level, and when outside things disrupted that rythm it unsettled her.

What did she need and where did she put it? Miku sighed and got to work, pulling down a mixing bowl, finding a whisk and her omelet pan, her left over rice, still warm in the cooker, a bit of chicken, ketchup, onion, mushroom, mirin, eggs, butter... Miku hummed a soft song from her dream as she worked.

It wasn't long until good smells started wafting from the kitchen. The cat from the foyer crept up onto the couch, her large blue eyes inspecting the little girl again.

Yuri was in her spot.

Yuri put Borg on the coffee table where he snoozed. She looked down at the cat as it meowed pointedly at her, seeming to make some kind of point.

"What is it?"

"Nyaa!"

She had long experience decoding nyaa-speech from Kasumi and was quick to comprehend. "Oh, i'm sorry." And scooted over. From further down the couch, she still watched Miku, big eyes peering over the top of the end. The clicks and soft frying smell reminded her of home, when her mother would cook this for her on chilly days, the smell of fall and childhood, her socked feet dangling over the edge of of the tall chair.

Ruri eyeballed Yuri a little more before she made a little circle on her spot and plopped down, tucking her paws into her chest. Seat obtained, little girl moved, it was time for some more napping.

Miku, mean while, was finishing up wrapping the rice in the omelet. She pounded on the handle, the noisiest thing in the house thus far, and flipped the whole thing on the plate. For once, she was proud of herself; the omelete didn't flip out of the pan an on to the floor. She added a little handful of salad, and nodded to herself. Good enough to eat, if she did say so herself. (And she was.)

Miku rummaged for a spoon with one hand and and drizzled the lines ketchup on the fluffy yellow egg with the other. Then, she brought the plate out to the little girl, shooing Ruri from her place.

"Alright, here we are. One... far-too-late snack for Yuri-chan." Miku smiled.

Yuri marvelled at the little feast, readied fork and knife (peeved kitty rubbed at her calves).

Utensils posed for the plung, she paused just at the moment before. "Hinasaki-san, aren't you going to have some?"

Miku held up her hands and shook her head, "No, this is for you. Besides," she grinned a little and patted her stomach. "I have to watch my weight." She sat back against the couch and took a deep breath, watching the rain outside drizzle down, backlit by the streetlight in the next yard over. "After this, we should probably go to sleep, I think."

If Miku could just close her eyes without worrying about seeing something. "It's kind of nice, this place. It even has the smell of my house down perfectly." It was also a little creepy, but, Miku would rather praise it than demonize it.

Yuri shook her head with childish insistence. "Hinasaki-san is very slim and pretty and she went through the trouble to make this for me. I won't eat it unless she has some for herself." She pushed the plate in her benefactor's direction.

Miku picked up a spoon and smiled, "Well, alright. I'll have a little, but this is really for you, Yuri-chan," she tweaked the little girl's bangs playfully. "So, let's eat, mm?"

She scooped up a bite of warm, fluffy egg and rice, and popped it in her mouth neatly. Miku eyed Yuri's Borg quietly, as though trying to divine it's purpose.

Yuri let the egg virtually melt in her mouth, instantly cheered. She caught the look.

"That's my Borg. He helps me catch aliens." She was used to giving this little shpiel.

"Aliens?" Miku questioned, her eyebrows pulling together in confusion. "You seem... a little young for that," she added.

Thanks to Tess, she was much better at believing weird stories. It was no... weirder than Tess's Friendlies, she supposed.

Yuri shrugged as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "The aliens in my world are pests. Sometimes they're dangerous but they're not really intelligent. Every school has its own Alien Party and I got elected...really, forced...into mine 'cause noone else in my class wanted to do it. It sucked bad and was scary...But now I don't have to do it anymore!" And she homphed some more omelette.

"Well... I guess there is that," Miku replied and watched Yuri eat. "Why do they have schoolchildren do that... the alien capture?" It sounded a lot like child abuse to Miku, personally.

She reached down and picked up Ruri, knuckling the cat's head lovingly.

"Jaime-niichan asked the same thing. Nobody ever told us much of anything, besides some stuff about how everyone has to do their duty." Miku was Japanese too. She'd understand how that could be persuasive. "Maybe the adults get the really dangerous ones." Or maybe the whole thing is one giant Xanatos Gambit to get more bodies for these clans of alien symbionts. Anything's possible.

"Ah." Oh yes, Miku understood the concept of "duty" all too well. "Well, I'm glad you don't have to do that anymore. Who is Haimei-niichan?" She supposed, logically, it would be perhaps a relative, but 'Haimei' didn't really sound like a boy's name.

Lie in Peace [Open]

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