I'm not hiding. I was just - [Thinking. Trying to remember something that isn't there, exhausting herself with the wall she always slams up against when trying to push to the other side. Sometimes it feels like there's a heavy chain weighing her past down, but when she looks behind her to try and find the lock, the restraint moves to her throat instead. Her eyes, her wrists. She can never catch the thing that's holding her back, but she sees the holes - everywhere.
She shakes her head.]
... Never mind. Hand it over. If you won't eat it, I will. [Gratitude will have to wait until she's relaxed from her defensive coil. Maika's snarky banter is familiar and maybe even comfortable, and it might even be easier to slip into it alongside her.]
[ She's going to be hearing that one a lot lately, isn't she? "I'm not hiding" "I'm not running."
Well... she can understand that, too. Sometimes, you just want to be where other people aren't. She hefts the tray on over to pass to Kainé, careful despite her flippant words. She might not be a chef but it's still solid and comforting food; soup with an abundance of vegetables and roots for Maika to take out her wrath on, slightly crooked but well-made dumplings. Maika waits until Kainé has a hold on it before flopping back for a seat. ]
I hate this place. I haven't felt like myself in weeks. Can't fight like I should, can't even eat like I should.
[ She gives a yawn and a stretch, keeping the complaint more offhand than not. But it's a little bit of an invitation, too. ]
Thanks. [She takes the tray gratefully and props herself up next to a shitty, dorm-style desk. Even if the food in front of her is piping hot, Kainé tucks in immediately.] I already stopped being able to use magic a while ago. [Before they were kidnapped away to this city, at any rate.] But I feel way less strong. Around this many people, I don't like that.
What's going on with you and food? [It's the first time she's heard something like that, and it stands out to her given their very first meeting at the welcome party refreshment table. It seems like it's bothering Maika, and, contrary to the disinterested public image Kainé usually keeps, she sees it and she asks about it.]
[ Maika flops on her back on the floor, making herself at home — with the tiniest intentional courtesy towards not staring at Kainé while she eats. It's funny to see some of her own traits so mirrored, but distorted in reflection. Maika knows that "thanks" wouldn't have come as easily to her lips. ]
Same shit. I hate feeling weaker around so many people, too.
[ She pauses for a second; but she has no reason to hide what's common knowledge back home. And she wants to meet Kainé halfway. She tugs her tank top down casually far enough to bare the brand of the eclipsing eye on the center of her chest, vertically bisected by a fading, healed scar. ]
Normally... I'd be a lot hungrier than this. Call it a family trait. That got taken away before I got here, too. [ Another pause, as she figures out how to put it: ] I hated it, at first. But having something ripped away from you after you'd made it part of you? I hate that, too.
[ She wonders about Kainé's magic, how she can say that so offhand. Maika's never learned to be sanguine about losing things. ]
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She shakes her head.]
... Never mind. Hand it over. If you won't eat it, I will. [Gratitude will have to wait until she's relaxed from her defensive coil. Maika's snarky banter is familiar and maybe even comfortable, and it might even be easier to slip into it alongside her.]
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Well... she can understand that, too. Sometimes, you just want to be where other people aren't. She hefts the tray on over to pass to Kainé, careful despite her flippant words. She might not be a chef but it's still solid and comforting food; soup with an abundance of vegetables and roots for Maika to take out her wrath on, slightly crooked but well-made dumplings. Maika waits until Kainé has a hold on it before flopping back for a seat. ]
I hate this place. I haven't felt like myself in weeks. Can't fight like I should, can't even eat like I should.
[ She gives a yawn and a stretch, keeping the complaint more offhand than not. But it's a little bit of an invitation, too. ]
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What's going on with you and food? [It's the first time she's heard something like that, and it stands out to her given their very first meeting at the welcome party refreshment table. It seems like it's bothering Maika, and, contrary to the disinterested public image Kainé usually keeps, she sees it and she asks about it.]
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Same shit. I hate feeling weaker around so many people, too.
[ She pauses for a second; but she has no reason to hide what's common knowledge back home. And she wants to meet Kainé halfway. She tugs her tank top down casually far enough to bare the brand of the eclipsing eye on the center of her chest, vertically bisected by a fading, healed scar. ]
Normally... I'd be a lot hungrier than this. Call it a family trait. That got taken away before I got here, too. [ Another pause, as she figures out how to put it: ] I hated it, at first. But having something ripped away from you after you'd made it part of you? I hate that, too.
[ She wonders about Kainé's magic, how she can say that so offhand. Maika's never learned to be sanguine about losing things. ]