Week 11, Wednesday Night: Homecoming

Violet looked Darya up and down, and turned to Sosie with a frown. Her pidginy Mandarin was fast and loud. "Who the hell is this?" She raised her palms up in question, and she shook her head, focusing back on Darya. In severe and poorly accented English, she said, "No, damnit, this your house. You sit down! Soz, I share. Sit!"

Sosie suppressed a laugh, and handed her sister a pair of chopsticks. She sounded amused, and her voice was gentle. "You heard her, Darya, sit down. You need to eat, too. It's really good. What's the dressing, Rico? It's just.. amazing."

Violet began eating aggressively, swearing in a familiar Korean before pointing to the seat with her free hand. "Dar-ya! Sit!" English appeared to be the language for yelling at her sister's dumb friends in when she wasn't exactly offended. Sosie didn't seem to notice or react to Vi's ignoring of Ida. It seemed likely that the gang member hadn't told her sister about their disagreement.

Rico shook his head. "I'm sorry, Ms. Terrehaute. Rule one of working in the food and drink industry is to never tell anyone your recipes!" he said with a giggle.

Ida, meanwhile, glanced at Darya sharply, then looked back to her plate, nibbling away slowly at her food.

Darya, with a sigh, sat back down at the table, still regarding both of the sisters quietly with a smile playing around her lips. Reaching down, she took a bite of the salad before her, spinning the `lettuce` around her fork. She didn't say anything.

Sosie batted her hand at Rico, coquettishly, which earned her an elbow from her sister. She continued, impervious to the shove, "Don't worry, I'm a terrible cook anyway, and wouldn't be able to do it if I tried. I mean, I never much got that, I can rebuilt a robot from the manual, but the second it comes to making food.." She shrugged, and went back to inhaling her food.

Violet, however, stopped after a few seconds, and focused on Darya. Considering that she wasn't going to look at Ida and Sosie was facing slightly away from her to fit her huge bowl in her arms, there wasn't much else to look at. Closer to, it did look as if Violet had been crying. Her eyes were red. Still, like her sister, she didn't seem to be willing to show that. Not here, certainly. "Dar-yaa," her voice was whining a little, but she spoke in regular Mandarin. "You need to eat. I can see you're more augmented than I am." She gave Darya a shove with the back of her arm. "Be sad after food. That's what I'm going to do." She met Darya's eyes. Like her sister, Vi had dark eyes, but unlike Sosie, she was not as good at hiding her distress. Her voice lowered, so only Darya could hear her clearly. "It's the same life whether we spend it laughing or crying, but there is no life without food. Eat."

Darya smiled properly, and looked back at her. "I'm not sad...it's just nice to see two sisters together, you know?" She took a proper bite of her food, and after chewing and swallowing properly, put her chin on her hands and tilted her head, still smiling. "I'm just looking forward to when I can do that."

She took another bite of food. "Your advice is good, but I've been eating nutribars most of the day, so I'm just not that hungry...this is very good though."

"Nutribars? Pfft. You should have seen the amount of creem I've eaten today!" Ida laughed between bites of food, then fell awkwardly back into silence again. Standing against the wall, watching the women eat impassively, Sylviane nodded slightly.

Violet gave Darya a quizzical look, then shut her mouth. "The bit--Ida is right. Nutribars are terrible. This is much better." She nodded to Rico, and then to Sosie, who was giving her sister a look. "Vi?" Sosie asked, muffled, though a mouthful of food. Violet ignored her, and So didn't push it.

"Eat when you can, you don't know when you'll go hungry." Violet was furiously fast with the chopsticks, and despite her larger portion, Sosie was almost done. The two of them ate similarly; fast, hurried, quickly, without bothering to stop properly for breath. Sosie did take one break to say, "Your sis is getting better. It will happen. Though," Sosie gave Darya a look. "You might be too big for one chair." She smiled.

"I could buy bigger chairs..." muttered Ida without her usual spirit, so far under her breath that it only came out on smeaker. She had finished her meal, and her gaze kept flickering over to her room's door. Her cheerful manner had faded away, and she seemed quite uncomfortable.

"Would anyone like more?" Rico asked cheerfully.

Darya grinned and tapped her chin in mock thought. "I dunno...Sis is pretty thin at the moment, we could probably both squeeze on..."

She settled down in her chair and took another bite, before turning to Violet. "What's wrong with nutribars? I like them..." she said, looking slightly put out.

Violet tutted in between mouthfuls of salad. "They're good to help you survive, but I was bored of the flavors 50 yeas ago. Besides, you have a replicant cook here who would probably love to make you food." She gestured to Rico with free hand, swallowing a mouthful of salad. "You should take advantage of him. It's probably better than.. his other jobs."

Sosie finished her salad, putting the empty bowl back on the table. She gave Ida a look. "Ida, what's up with you? You seem.. down."

Ida made a troubled face. "I feel... ill? Frustrated? I don't know, it's just weird..." She glanced at Violet for a moment, then stood up. "I... think I need to lie down. Maybe I'll sleep? Rico, you should get that cake out for everyone. Don't worry about saving me any, I'm not hungry any more." Ida turned and walked into her room, shutting the door behind her.

Rico reached into a cabinet and took out a large cake, covered in different colours (and flavours) of creem in impressive swirling patterns. "I hope you like this better than nutribars, Ms. Demeter!" he said with a infectious laugh as he set it down on the table and gathered plates for slices of cake.

Sosie watched Ida, a puzzled look on her tired face. "What was that? Rico, what's up is Ida?"

Violet ignored Ida's departure, and eyed the cake hungrily. Sosie watched it too, a little smile on her face, but she looked as if she was going to fall asleep. She'd been up since the explosion, except for the bits where she was under in surgery or dead.

"I don't know, Ms. Terrehaute. She was certainly very happy before the meal. Perhaps the food disagreed with her?" Rico seemed puzzled, but still cheerful despite his owner's odd behaviour.

"That's weird..." Sosie shrugged it off though, giving only a few cursory glances at Ida's door. Violet merely focused on the cake.

Darya finished off her salad and took her plate back over to the side, before sitting back down. "Maybe Ida's suffering from lack of adraline? She's so used to having it that all the relaxation she has done has caused her to crash?" Her tone was jokey, but her face was concerned, and she turned and faced the door. "Any idea, Syl?"

Sylviane stood static as she spoke.

"Her indulgence was not the cause of this. As my mistress' discomfort began when Violet came to the table, there is a clear connection between her presence and my mistress' reaction. Given the nature of her behaviour and the unfamiliarity of the sensation she felt, my mistress is clearly feeling guilt because of her blunt manner when she informed Violet of the possible death of her comrades. I suspect this may be the first time in her life she has felt this emotion, considering her typical attitude and approach to life."

None of the residents of Seoul Waste Away had heard Sylviane speak for that long at once, and she'd never voiced any opinions or suspicions about anyone behaviour or feelings before.

Sosie watched Syl with critical interest, then turned her head slowly to Violet. Violet looked from Syl to Rico to Darya to her sister with defensive quickness. "What?! I mean, she's right." Vi bit her lower lip. When she wasn't holding her emotions back, they spilled out of her with violent force, unsubtle. A wave of regret and sadness washed over the table. "She.. was so.. ..unthinking. Like I haven't been with the Hand longer than she's been alive, and I still don't.. I.."

The older sister reached an arm out to encircle the nearly crying sister. She nodded a little, putting her head against Violet's. "I'm sorry, Vi. But you know them. They would have run and hid. And this.." She gestured a hand around. "Is that bitch's home." Sosie didn't even deny that fact that Ida was probably terrible. That was given. "She tries hard, but for someone so lovely and so good at looking good, she's not good at.. being good. You need to apologize to her, or at least tell her you.. know she meant well."

Violet shouted something incredulous in pidgin Korean, and Sosie shouted back. The argument which immediately chugged translators, and went something like this: what's wrong with you, do you know what I've been through, this is just like you to make demands when you know I'm upset. No, this is her home and you did say some things in retrospect which were pretty crude yourself, she's an indulgent bitch but she deserves some respect. This is just like you to mother me, I can't believe you--No, this is just like you to complain, you said yourself you've been with the Hand longer than she's been alive, she's a kid, they all are. But. But she risked her life to find the Hand, and saved me when I couldn't. ...But. Go.

Sosie watched as Violet stood and walked over to Ida's door. She gave it a little knock while Sosie looked at Darya, shaking her head.

"Who's at the door?" Ida's voice, shaking slightly, came over smeaker. Rico could be seen moving his lips ever-so-slightly as he replied, and a quiet "Oh..." from Ida could be heard in reply. For a few seconds, nothing happened, then Ida's door creaked open slowly. Awkwardly, she looked down to Violet. "D... Do you need something?"

Violet tapped her foot a few times, and looked at Ida's floor, in her room, the door, her legs. "Look, Sosie said.. I.." Her voice sounded strained, the woman who never apologized talking to the woman who never felt guilt. "You were a bitch. But I know you meant well and Sosie says you're a good person. ..You didn't hurt me and it's not your fault." Violet's wandering eyes eventually found Ida's face. "Now don't be a sulky whore and go eat cake."

Sosie watched, a bemused and strange expression on her face.

Tears began to run down Ida's face, seeming quite out of place as her slightly discomforted expression didn't look at all like the face of a crying person. "I'm... sorry." Ida's voice shook a little as she spoke, and she still sounded somewhat bewildered. Confusion spread across her face as she wiped away a tear and then looked at her finger. "Huh... Weird... Cake sounds good." She smiled vaguely at Violet, and walked back to the table and sat down.

Violet watched Ida walk away, incredulous and slightly stunned. She looked from Sosie to Darya, clearly wanting an explanation. Sosie shrugged, and patted half of her seat. "Let's eat, and then we'll sleep, and tomorrow.. We'll find Bosco, at least." She gave a quick glance to Violet, and smiled a little. "And Sang, that prick. I'm sure he's fine too."

The little sister nodded and took a seat, wiping her own eyes too for un-Ida-related reasons. It was going to be, like every other, a long week.

Darya shrugged in response to the look that Violet gave her, before disappearing into her room and coming out with two large, firm looking pillows. She gave one to each Ida and Violet. "Squeeze them." She said quietly, sitting down in her place. "Puts pressure on you. Calms you down."

Sosie laughed, and squeezed her sister who took the pillow and crushed it between her hands mutely. Violet looked at Sosie, and in their shared tongue quipped only, "I see why you like her."

Ida took the pillow and squeezed it between her legs, freeing up her hands to hold her plate and fork respectively as she ate cake in silence and the tears subsided.