Welcome to Gaia! ::

Putting the cape on the water bottle was rote, muscle memory of a thing, and even as his hands were moving his eyes were not. Fixed and forlorn, cast on the sling that stood out bright to him. Like it was lit in neon and radiated a glow. Highlighted all his problems - her problems - made it harder to do the thing she so badly wanted, and harder still for him to accept it.

"I need it--it is of the utmost importance even." blinked, and it was like breaking a curse. Like clearing a fog that was quick to want to resettle across his minds eye. Dragged his gaze away and forced himself to stand without swaying, despite the way that gravity begged his bones to ache for fighting it.

Stupid filthy cold a** flu.......

"Besides...you've not gotten to go into my study yet. It's a good time to snoop?" offered lighthearted brevity, punctuated it with a cough burried in his elbow, with a frown burried in his sleeve.

"I promise, just this one thing and then---then you get to be in charge?" then he'd let her help truly, and if putting her in charge settled the idea of it easier for him? If he parsed it that way and made it passable. Waved her on as he toddled off..after....wanted for socks or slippers or heated blankets.

Wanted soup.

Except all of that could wait.

The softest of snorts, and Reed wanted to put his face though the nearest wall for how clogged and also wet he sounded, hated it, every miserable chilly step, getting sick getting well - the entire process of it all, but he’d soldier on through it.

For Sonia…for himself?! Maybe, just a little bit…

“It’s…hah,..I’m inviting it? The snooping, I’d never do it to someone else, honestly there’s nothing truly personal in there…” some small things, pictures and old year books and degrees and…”I can’t, it’s either in the locked box with-it’s rather dull and old looking? Small enough to hide—that I’ve hidden it in there and can’t quite touch the placement of it?” In his mind at least. He remembered he’d left it in the study, locked away? Under a book? Beside a lamp?

“That! Or..or…” and he would check the hidden drawer sat inside —- oh whichever endtable or his writing desk—or…

And over the many years he’d become paranoid enough that there was more than one maybe? Backs to drawers where the end stopped before it closed, panels that popped out of slots. He did after all have to hide all the negaverse detritus away, keep it lined in lead and wood and tucked up where even he didn’t have to deal with seeing it.

“I swear it’s worth it.” Flashed Sonia a watery look, that tried to be a smile, as he opened the darkened and solid door to his office proper. Revealed old stained oak, and plants that could stand a room with lesser lighting features. Shelves stacked with books and papers askew, a well worn office chair, curled wooden arms, aged black leather backing…a number of surfaces and spaces filled with various knickknacks. Nature cluttered over with human life.

“If you search the shelves to start…or no…the ficus maybe?” And he couldn’t ascertain why the ficus would’ve taken his things—but he knew they could be tricky frondish bastards.

What answer did he give to that? The easy one - the honest one? One that she’d like to have heard? Reed sighed - looked back and thought he caught something in her gaze that bordered on the kind of irritated he approved of expressly.

Oh how he was tempted to go off on — any distracting tangent in his grasp. Whatever would delay his need to speak of something that brushed so close to an honest expression feelings that he wanted to flee. Scoffed smile for that, however brief — before he went digging —

“It’s — have you ever been in the rift?” as he pulled end table drawers with old brassed handles, scattered the contents within, rummaged behind where it pulled out and got pens - mail - letters — nothing.

Rifled in the cubbies beneath, slid aside shoe boxes, and tins full of nonsense — a rattle and peek showed dried cuttings and seed samples in careful pouches. Well…those were interesting, but not what he was looking for. “I have — numerous times now. So many times that I even forget sometimes how often it is I’ve actually been there-” soft hmm, as Reed found himself in front of his secretary desk - pulled it open and — “-that I forget the odd little things I bring back. Their myriad of uses..this is important for that. For—you want to help me, and I want to help you help me, and this - this thing? It will help with all of that - Ah - make it easier.” waved off his ramblings, shot for an explanation that wouldn’t encompass how he still felt guilty beneath it all - that he was sick of feeling guilty and sick of feeling sick of feeling guilty.

It was becoming an exhaustive pulling thing. It ached.

While Reed often abhorred quick fixes? If ever a situation called for it..

Reed dug through, one drawer, another, ‘ahahed’ gently over a small black slender box yanked free - sealed in next to scrawling spines of books blind long enough show to be antiquities. Things set up alongside journals and diaries containing squared papers that were well past frayed at the edges.

It was a wonder to him that she hadn’t garnered a promotion already, for all that her profile was a mess of redactions. The woman herself — Sonia — Hatsya? She had experience. All the training and time spent places that Reed would’ve pointed were both good and necessary things. He wondered if she’d simply lacked a person on her side with her name on their lips enough to pass it on to the right person — to push her up.

“To be fair?” Pointed as he fiddled with a combination lock - squinted at faded numbers on the scroll. “Your magic would do you far more good there than ever my blades would. For all that you are — to those denizens — an enemy. You are at the very least, not something to be ignored. They can choose to disobey me. They can withstand a blade? The youma — the larger ones that are a bit less feral.” Listened too. Click of a latch and cooed for finagling the thing open.

“What may be perceived as a weakness — for you? It would be a strength, the threat of mutually assured destruction. The threat of dusting them into little more than piles of irate ashes…” not that Reed would’ve ever seen it done. Indecisive humm that took in a sour note as he considered.

“I would never use you as bait Sonia…you deserve better than that. It’s a shame though..” how he thought she might like iolanthe. Maybe more on the surface, a friendlier territory laid out than one that sat in the depths of a darker place. “Oh, it’s not. It’s hardly a dangerous thing…there was once a mission for our Queen. One of many — a graveyard of a place they had us scour I swear—and I remembered.” had traipsed back in, had Iolanthe hunt something special down for him, dragged a few with just in case for the sake of retrieval — no point venturing into boneyards on his own.

“Here—-come snort the bone dust Sonia.” Deadpan dropped in tone, dumped the contents of the box onto the floor with all the careless motions of a child, shuffled through until he plucked up — a femur — a shin? A terrifying finger…

Some sort of bone amidst a an empty seed satchel and piles of notes and other bits and baubles.

“Well, yes, but also — no.” Nasally scoff, that sounded ever so childish with how the congestion of his sinus’s plagued him. How long it’d been since he felt sick enough to be — a baby — a b***h? Some middling ground between the two that made him fly through how he felt, like some viciously bored toddler was playing with his emotional switches for shots and giggles.

“Lisnn, Sonia…do you trust me?”

Halted question, except — he suddenly wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. Surely she had no good reason to trust him, not after everything.

“You are..”

A Senshi, his Senshi? A Senshi that had become his even without his choosing, and that she was (as loath as he was to admit it) highly intelligent and often ‘right’…about things….

“Injured..I had Iolanthe collect this before..and then. Well..” he hadn’t wanted to push, for pride, for keeping a semblance of a story straight. The real world would certainly have stated strangely at her arm going from in pieces to not in a manner of days..he’d planned to wait —

“It works though. I promise. I would never hurt you. You’re not a Guinean pig..” how he tried to hold back the wince for that, because he certainly had hurt her, hadn’t he?

‘Oh what lies we weave to ease our guilty conscience, eh Reed?!’

“Ah..better yet..if anything bad happens after you — huff the bone dust? I will hand you my weapon and personally let you — I don’t know! Is there anything you’d like to stab? Ah — are you the stabbing type? I can’t quite remember if your fencing is a matter of habit, hobby, or pure passion and skill..”

Though he supposed it could’ve been all of the above for her. How the bone meant to be cracked and thusly have its inner gasses huffed, became something twirled between pointer and index finger, like how he oft played with his pens when he got bored of grading papers.

‘A shame’ — sadness that lingered in his down-turned mouth, for the thought that she surely had better people to haunt than he. How that all transformed into a twisted grimace of abject horror, wide glassy emeralds that blinked Morse surprise, as she ever so casually —-

N o — no benign intent, but with malicious glee! Layered threat upon threat against his precious, sweet, innocent — petunias, basil and burgeoning baby date palms.

He nearly upped himself off the floor to snatch the thing *back*, so taken by her boldness. So stunned by the utter audacity!! Mayhaps anyone else would’ve taken her words as mockery, as falsehood and fiction — Reed however? Had seen some s**t, witnessed firsthand resurrections, zombies, unearthly otherworldly bizarreness….

He had no doubt Sonias soul would blacken and carve barren his one beloved hobby.

“I—well—“ and then she twisted the knife; did he trust himself?

Had he ever trusted himself?

“I trust Iolanthe…and…well, at this point I have a semi-long history with the rift and it’s denizens.” She’d never lead him astray, his beloved bethorned rose..”You’d like her, I think.”

Cleared his throat and fidgeted nervously before settling on crossing his legs and waving her on — “Do remember to inhale deeply, whatever pours out of it.”

'Fascinating'

In the most macabre sense of the word.

Of all the things he'd been expecting - the wideness of his eyes told the tale - that what was happening to Sonia, wasn't quire it. Though it wasn't as if the exact properties of the bone had ever been thoroughly explained to him. Likely not even thoroughly researched, as to what extent they could --- well -- h e a l. Though the idea of some twisted being playing with beings in the sense of -- keeping them undying -- unbroken - un...

It was a little too much for him to even begin to consider, no, he was glad for the vagueness of rumors, and Iolanthes care in picking the right kind of bone. Instead of, say, a completely normal a** non magical bone that would've been full of marrow dust instead of whatever dark essence lurked in the rift and filled the graves of beings long left behind to wither...

"Well...That is...entirely fair, considering...uh..." <********, are you, is your arm alright? Or, no, please tell me you haven't managed to injure something else in the middle of fixing --- and I'm very glad your not in an actual hard cast -- that would've been...." there was suddenly a variety of 'oopsishits' that he hadn't even begun to consider before offering her the bone. He maybe, was a bit too sick to be thinking straight enough to demand these sorts of things of her!!

"It would've been..ah...is a mess..I'm -- well..."

He was sorry, for sure, but he was also very curious. For all of her flailing like a flayed and enraged fish, for the way pain had clearly lanced through her features -- Reed reached out as if he was tempted to touch her recently healed arm; tentatively careful about it all, as if moving too quickly might spook her.

Which -- would've also been fair!

The concept that he had - possibly - maybe - <******** up. Just a tad bit....just...just a touch...

It was quite possible he should've researched things better, or tried it on himself, or -- but already that thought crumbled just as the bone did. Fine ground filaments and cracked shards that now littered his floor as the only evidence of its existence. As if the act of it being snapped was the final straw, and whatever magic held it's incomparable healing powers, was all that had kept it solid for gods knew how long.

How his war with self-preservation and concerning fascination waged internally. How he nearly lost out against his own endless need to poke and prod. Except Sonias sharp hiss and stare -- oh --- if looks could have killed. If that foot could've kicked. Certainly it would've, and he didn't wish to add injury to illness. No, he liked his bits intact, didn't revel hunting into the rift for a second bone because he got ballsy enough to stick his nose any further in her business.

"I am..Doing that. That exactly, right now even...going to bed...Ah..." and standing was fine, he could absolutely do that, could walk to the door and --- "Please, tell me if you start to not be fine? Or -- something like that?" held his breath instead of following up his question with anything else, and much like a dog that had been caught doing wrong, he tucked his tail and fled his own office.

She'd close the door behind her - he was sure - not that it actually mattered, who else was there to invade his space? Just him and her and the bits of bugs and flora that lived in his space already.

"Good night Sonia!" it wasn't late at night - it didn't matter - bed - that's where he would be.