[R] Oh Hey, You're Back?

[Lady Mist]

Theresa Killingworth sat in her apartment. It looked just the same as the day she had moved in (with the exception of minor adjustments such as Nova's death way back when), its walls white and plain, cupboards almost as empty as the walls, a bed ruffled only by her sitting on it now. She never seemed to bother sleeping under the covers.

Everything that had happened felt as if it had been so long ago. Or had it? She couldn't remember. Theresa never did manage to get a good grasp on the concept of time. Days blurred together, and when her only real contact to life outside hunting disappeared, the days oddly got even longer. It was the strangest sensation, wondering if that girl would ever wake up..

But then people did start waking up, and so many things had changed. With the Negaverse in such initial disarray, Theresa had kept to herself and simply gathered starseeds. She didn't even bother turning them in half the time, to which the haphazardly placed box under her bed could attest to.

Long hair flowed about her as she sat upright, stretching absent mindedly while contemplating another attempt at cooking some ramen (in her defense, she was trying to make it more interesting when she added that egg in that last time. This round she planned to put the egg in while the water was still boiling..)  

[revenant aria]

"Theresa, you could lock your door you know." Serah spoke as she poked her head from doorway, having opened it partially. She had stuck her head in at first to make sure the corrupted soldier was home, thinking upon first glance that the apartment was empty. But when she glimpsed the long blond hair flitting through the kitchen, pleasure rushed through her, bringing a smile to her lips.

The pink haired captain had awoken-- naturally, one of the first people she visited would be Tisiphone-Theresa. It had taken forever for her brother to let her out of the house-- his worrying never seemed to cease, thinking that she would suddenly relapse into a mysterious coma again.

But it was a relief to see that Theresa was still up and active. Well, not really active since she hadn't checked into the negaverse all that recently. But active as in still eating and walking around. Although ramen wasn't the healthiest choice for dinner.

Luckily, Serah had brought some with her. (She didn't think there would be a time where Theresa ever fully got used to house chores.) "I've got dinner!" She volunteered, holding up a bag with two take-out plates proudly.  

[Lady Mist]

Theresa froze upon seeing the shining face in the doorway, her own face unmoving and staring.

"You're awake." Stated Captain Obvious, though she didn't move just yet. Oddly her limbs felt a little numb, "You're.. alive."

It was the funny, realizing how much you miss someone only after they had been gone. Theresa had the strangest feeling to.. well, hug the girl. She cleared her throat instead, waving her hand across the apartment, "Food is always welcome, do come in."

And for once she wasn't looking forward to the food more than the visit (which wasn't ever actually true, but Theresa would never have admitted such to herself until now).

She didn't even know where to begin, so she started with the most basic of questions: "Are you alright?"  

[revenant aria]

Theresa's words all repeated what several family members had been saying once she woke up. It had stirred a pleasant feeling in Serah, knowing that there was people who cared about her. Her brother especially, had been most moving. But aside from her brother, what moved Serah most was Theresa's bland reaction. Why? Certainly not because it was stuffed with emotion, of course.

Horribly awkward but genuine. Serah wondered what Tisiphone must have been like before, with all of her memories. Was she any less awkward? Had she been more out-going? Did she have any other best friends she left behind? But that Tisiphone wasn't the one that Serandite would have liked to stand before her now. Thank god, the one before her now, was the Theresa she had always known and loved.

Tears welled up in her eyes, memories of the General King tending to her in this very apartment. Countless memories of always barging in on Tisiphone and dealing with the girl's annoyance and reluctance-- it all came flowing back into her. Like Theresa had dumbly stated, Serah was definitely in the world of living. Unfortunately, some were not. She raced forward, giving the taller female a tight hug, burying her face into Tisiphone's clothes.

The food dropped next to them, dropping flatly on the ground with a small rustling sound, ignored for the moment. "I mrghh chuu." Translated to "I missed you."  

[Lady Mist]

The shock of being hugged was a short one before Theresa found her arms returning the embrace, albeit a bit more awkwardly. Her best friend was alive. The dark senshi's mind still scrabbled to grasp this piece of news, finally mumbled softly, "Don't do that again." There were no tears in her eyes; she never cried. But there was a strange waver in her voice that spoke a lot more of her feelings than any words she could possibly muster would say.

As she lasso'd her emotions back under control, Theresa became acutely aware of a lack of social understandings for such situations. Glad you're alive, shall I make you a cup of tea? Curiosity, always ready to plague the poor senshi, came ahead and so she pulled herself a step back, her hands on the girls shoulder's as if her friend might disappear, "What happened? You're really okay?"  

[revenant aria]

"Well, I can't promise that. But I can try." Serah's muffled voice came out, pulled away from the warm embrace that encircled her. Serah didn't miss the waver in Theresa's voice-- Considering the female rarely displayed emotions, any hint of it had to be caught.

"Well, even if I did tell you, I'm not sure if I believe it myself. I suppose, you could say it was one heck of a dream. I'm okay now, the hospital said there was nothing wrong with me." She lowered to pick up the bag of take-out plates, holding them up towards Theresa. "We can eat your ramen too. I'm sure you worked hard to make it-- Care to share?" Serah offered, clapping her hands together excitedly. It was unspoken, what happened to their leaders. But perhaps, it might be too soon to say, since the captain had recently just gotten out of the hospital.

"Unfortunately, I can't stay too late tonight. My brother is keeping an eye on me. He wanted to pick me up from here-- Of course, it'd be a lot easier if I just teleported home." Serah sighed, shaking her head, exasperatedly.  

[Lady Mist]

She was unsatisfied with the explanation, and pursed her lips to show as much, be didn't push it any further, "What rame--Oh, yes, that's right." Theresa had forgotten she even had an appetite.

Oddly energetic, Theresa swung towards the kitchen, proudly proclaiming, "I'm putting an egg into it. I'll add another for you." As if adding an egg to ramen was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Theresa frowned at the mention of a brother. Her first thought was that she herself could keep a much better eye out on her friend than some human boy; could he run around tossing inexplainable magic balls of doom? Her second thought was: Serah has family?

In all this time Theresa had never bothered to ask details of her partner. It was a strange realization that it had never bugged her before, "How many brothers..sisters.. do you have?"  

[revenant aria]

"Add the egg as it's boiling!" Serah added in as Theresa headed for the kitchen, giggling over her enthusiasm. Theresa was enthusiastic over the strangest possibilities but it wasn't far form understandable.She was improving in her cooking skills, Serah noted. She had yet to burn the kitchen down, which said something.

If Theresa had voiced her first thought, Serah would have been rolling on the ground in laughter and would had been highly flattered from Theresa's protective nature. But her second thought which translated into a question, was almost as good. Theresa hadn't displayed an interest before but neither did Serah mention it. She was opening the takeout plates, setting them on the table as she responded to Theresa.

"Simply one. He recently came back from abroad-- Me and my parents could hardly care less about each other. But my brother? An entirely different story. You should come over and meet him sometime, Theresa." Serah suggested, pausing to snap open the disposable chopsticks.  

[Lady Mist]

"Perhaps." She replied with a guarded voice of doubt, but her pale face flushed with pleasure at the apparent success of the egg in the boiling noodles. Without looking over her shoulder, Theresa added, "When? A visit, I mean.."

The senshi swept the five-star gourmet ramen and dished it into two portions at the table. For a moment she wondered if she had ever had any family, but as usual thoughts of the Negaverse came instead. The Negaverse was her family. Anything from her other life didn't matter.

And speaking of which.. Theresa hadn't been terribly keen to bring it up, but she figured it had to be done sooner or later, "What is.. the status of the Negaverse? I haven't really kept in check. I have, of course, kept up on duties." The box full of stolen seeds under her bed testified to this.  

[revenant aria]

"Whenever you want! Actually, preferably soon-- I'll be here to drag you out, as usual. How about.. next week?" Serah suggested, the delicious odor of food filled the small apartment. She really should have bought Theresa a cookbook. But if she did, would the girl go out and get the ingredients? (She got eggs, didnt she? By this train of thought, one had to assume that it was a yes.)

"Who knows? My brother wouldn't let me out of his sight-- You're the first person I came to check up with. Well, second, if you consider the empty subspace room. I thought I might check next door when I leave here." Serah informed Theresa cheerfully, unaware of the heart-breaking pain that would later encompass her that night when she tentatively opened the door.. to an empty apartment.

Nobody would be there. There would be traces that nobody had been there for at least a week. Nobody would come and open the door-- least of all, the people Serah had been expecting. They would never open the door again. But that was later. This was now. It was just Theresa and Serah, like the many dinners they had before she fell into the coma.. as if nothing had changed. But everything had changed. This would be a realization that hit home when Serah exited Theresa's apartment.