No one saw her all throughout the next day. Or evening.
It was quite late that night when the three former prisoners happened to be in the kitchen together, indulging in the still deliciously sinful act of the "midnight snack". Only... Rhe seemed especially hungry. Or, at least, he was piling a rather large silver tray with quite a lot of food...
--Oh. Jerico blinked with the realization, approaching the boy with curiosity. "I take it that's not all for you."
Rhe made a quiet sound of amusement, stacking small pieces of hard cheese between the apples and the bread. He still remembered traditional arrangements from his childhood, though he couldn't quite recall why. "She'll be needing it."
Glancing over the sheer selection of neatly piled items, Jerico attempted a subtle approach. "She has a similar magic to yours?" Every time Rhe spent his energy on healing, he'd needed large amounts of food and sleep to be in any way restored. He suspected that, left drained and on his own, the boy likely wouldn't be able to recover.
"Yeah." He confirmed, almost in a whisper. "It's not quite the same, but it... works the same way." Adding... something green and rather nice-smelling on the side, Rhe stepped back to admire his work... and then remained where he was.
Jerico grinned. "I'll take it to her."
Brandon made his presence known with a snort. At least he managed to keep his mouth shut.
Placing the tray of food on the bureau, he approached carefully. Watching, waiting for a breath, a twitch, anything. He swallowed when he saw no sign of life, not so much as the motion of her eyes below their lids. Slowly, he reached out, attempting to prepare himself should he encounter dead flesh--but her arm was warm. Still alive, just... perhaps not by much.
"Hey, Nik..." He tried, carefully scooping her further up the bed so the pillows would support her upper body. "Wake up. I brought some food."
She unconsciously cringed a bit at the touch, but it took the words to get her eyelashes to flutter. She hadn't been aware of just how much had been drained until she found that she couldn't so much as move her arm to support herself.
Jerico was prepared. There had been a couple of times when Rhe had depleted his energy to that point... it was no surprise when he had to stack the pillows behind her, both to help her sit and to be sure she didn't roll off of the bed. Retrieving the tray, he had the gall to sit right next to her as if he belonged there.
She glared a bit, weak but obviously annoyed. It was somewhat forced away with the first gentle offering of bread. She hated to be helpless... but she knew it would take another few days before she could feed herself in that state.
He graciously kept the prideful grin off of his face, helping her with the bread and a bit of the cheese before she was able to grasp at the food herself. Even then he stayed by her, cautiously being certain that she wouldn't collapse back into an unconscious state. That had only happened once with Rhe, but it had been rightfully frightening.
Speaking of; there was a knock at the door. A very telltale, gentle, short knock that only Rhe was capable of. Holding his palm to Nikkira to show there was no danger, he made his way over to answer. The sight on the other side drew a rather amused expression to his face.
Rhe stood there, looking away, with a kitchen knife in one hand and a steaming cup of tea in the other. "I forgot... for the apple..." he explained the knife.
"And the tea?" Jerico teased gently.
"I thought it'd be nice." The boy responded, ever so softly.
"Come on in. She's too weak to bite." The taller of them invited, stepping back and savoring Nikkira's glare in his peripheral vision.
Rhe remained terribly uncertain for a time, not moving... but finally decided it seemed a safe enough idea, taking small footsteps to get inside. He looked up at the girl, then averted his eyes slightly when she looked back.
Jerico very nearly lept onto the bed, settling himself smugly next to Nikkira again. He waved the boy over easily, offering himself as the buffer between the other two.
That much seemed to reassure Rhe, allowing him to approach slowly and sit. Albeit on the very edge. He carefully offered the knife to Jerico, then leaned forward to place the tea on the bedside table. It was fresh, still brewing and far too hot to consume.
With a nod, Jerico accepted the knife, daring to reach over Nikkira and grasp an apple. "So." He began, his tone disturbingly innocent. "Nikkira, this is Rhe. Rhe, this is Nikkira. Now stop avoiding each other."
There was a long silence between them as Jerico cut the apple into small slivers. Finally it was Nikkira who spoke, utterly deadpan. "What about Mr. Sunshine downstairs?"
Rhe was too surprised to react--until Jerico was leaning back and holding his stomach, overcome by laughter. It spread easily to Rhe, and even finally to Nikkira, though it was simply her natural tendency to keep a low chuckle to herself.
Just as the sounds began to die down, "What the hell are you all laughing at?" came from outside.
Another burst of sound exploded from the room as a rather annoyed-looking Brandon glanced in. Really, it was... weird. The girl, Jerico and Rhe... on the same bed... laughing like maniacs. What the hell had happened? Shaking his head in some kind of disgusted confusion, he turned to leave.
"No, no." Jerico gasped, trying to breathe. "Come back. I've got a lovely new nickname for you!"
"Not necessary, thanks." Brandon muttered.
Of course, genuine curiosity sobered Jerico rather quickly. "And what did you come up here for?" he called, absolutely certain Brandon had heard.
The brunette in the hallway stopped. After several drawn-out heartbeats, he simply continued on, back down the stairs.
Rhe blinked at the reaction--and then again as he was hit with the realization of where he actually was. He was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable again, though mostly through his own doing. "I should... go. And see."
Jerico nodded, holding back a sigh. Well, at least he got the kid to rather willingly step into the room, and didn't hear a single complaint coming from Nikkira's direction. Plenty of mental complaints, but...
With a nod in return and an almost nonexistent glance at the girl, Rhe excused himself. He hadn't really planned on checking in with Brandon at all, but... well. He hadn't heard the full story of what happened. Maybe it would be in his interest to search.
Jerico waited in silence for a while, watching Nikkira nibble a bit on apple slices before she seemed able to sit up fully under her own weight; but he could see the shiver moving through her shoulders, and the way the rest of her body tensed when it happened. He debated for a while, wondering if an uninvited touch wouldn't cause a broken bone... and then decided maybe he could distract her by reaching for the tea and handing it to her. Something of a peace offering, which she accepted wordlessly after a moment's searching hesitation. It was then he decided to risk his life. "Just let me rub the pain out of your shoulders, hm? It won't take long."
To her credit, she didn't openly react; only took a slow sip of the tea, then sat back as if she hadn't heard him. It was a surprisingly conversational tone for a demand: "Why?"
"Because I can." He shrugged. "Because I have experience with massage. Which you appear to need, if you don't want to be in pain. Why not?" he added as nearly an afterthought.
Another long swallow of tea and a bit of bread followed. Then the answer surfaced. "I don't want to be touched."
"So I heard." He willed something of a grin to his face... but the two things didn't particularly meet one another. That's all Brandon had told him, that she didn't like to be touched... but there was clearly something deeper there. Not between them, but in her. "It will help. And I ask nothing in return."
"You seem to be doing that an awful lot." She almost accused, voice calm but eyes on fire.
He rather easily assumed that she wasn't used to that sort of thing. It seemed she was alone... save for... "So, that's... your brother, huh?"
She spoke over her tea with a rather casual tone, "You're good at avoiding questions, too."
Jerico couldn't quite help the grin her words called up. "Well, it comes down to this: if we're going to be living here anyway... we might as well get along. And, sorry to say, that means helping one another."
She didn't buy a single word, of course. But... her shoulders did hurt... and they'd continue to hurt for days without help... and he didn't know where the knives were... not that he seemed the type to try something, but just in case... She snorted quietly to herself, not quite believing she was even considering... Perhaps she was a touch suicidal. Or tired. So fucking tired...
In reality, he fully expected his wrist to be broken; an idea he'd cringed at, but he'd survived it once before. It was a light touch, just across her left shoulder blade, hopeful to be more tempting than threatening. Her body jerked away from the touch--but the motion itself seemed more automatic. Learned. She made no other move either to attack nor move away... so he pressed his thumb lightly against the bunched muscle and proceeded to trace small circles.
It was... weird. Uncomfortable and painful, really... but there was something to it. Especially when the pressure increased slowly, kneading long-suffering muscles into something loosely resembling relaxation.
Just a few minutes. Just long enough so that he felt he was working flesh and not stone. Then he pulled away and kept his word. "Finish the food if you can. I'll be back in the morning."
Odd. So... very, very odd. She nodded and watched him go.
