The word would be SPARCE if you had to describe Eliza's room, since she spent so much time in the lab there hadn't been a lot of time for this place. There were still some remnants of a past life however... a happy life. Pictures of her parents and friends, old toys, old inventions, scraps of paper and an occasional christmas or birthday card she couldn't be convinced to throw away.
Eliza stumbled in, leaning on Waya heavily as she looked around the room. She felt so much older... "Thanks Waya" she said weakly "Are you gonna stay here tonight?"
"Do you want me to?"
Waya asked. She eased Liz toward the bed and deposited her there. She'd not been in Liz' room for ages, the last time had been when Moe was still around.
"Yes please..."
Eliza said weakly, sitting on the bed carefully with one arm still on Waya's shoulders. She lay down, one arm still on Waya's shoulder, having to grow just to keep the grip; watching it grow was like watching chewing gum stretch, and considering how firmly her hand was stuck on Waya's shoulder it felt like chewing gum as well.
Waya peeled liz off of he and laid her down in the bed, plucking strands of Liz off of her and returning them to their host.
Eliza grumbled as her hand was removed, still quite clearly flesh and bone but looking freakily stretched until she reduced it to normal. She mumbled softly as she gazed up at Waya, then shifted over and patted the bed... she wanted to hold someone. Anyone. Just... hold them until she fell asleep.
Waya wasn't exactly the cuddling type but she sat down next to Liz, leaning against the headboard for now.
Eliza sighed and just lay on the bed, staring straight ahead at Waya's hip. "Do you think things will ever get back to normal?" she asked weakly.
"Honestly?" Waya asked, she placed her hands behind her head and crossd her legs. "I doubt it. things have already changed so much. Even if we did get them back nothing would ever be the same again.
Eliza just made a small noise of agreement, leaning in and resting her head against Waya's leg gently "Do you think they're ok?" She was talking about their parents of course.
"Considering Spot's powers... it's hard to tell."
Waya said "But look who we're talking about. I think they're alive... Something in me seems sure about it."
"I feel it too"
Eliza said softly, while her brain firmly told her it was the "denial" state of depression that was making her feel that. She told that part of her brain to shut the hell up and let her be happy.
Waya was quiet after that. She'd done her crying in the shower and wouldn't let herself now.
Eliza was still, her body strangely cold while feeling like there was a burning fire deep inside his body. Her hands wrapped around Waya's leg slowly, pulling it close, just holding it there in desperate need to hold something.
Moe had always been better at this stuff than
Waya had. She and Liz were friends but Waya felt slightly uncomfortable in Liz' time of need and asked the only think she knew to ask. "Do you want me to put you to sleep so you can get some rest? All this'll feel better in the morning."
"I'll sleep"
Eliza muttered softly "Just give me a moment... I don't want to put me to sleep." She sighed softly and hugged the leg closer, eyes closed as she attempted to sleep "I'll sleep soon..."
"I'm not trying to get rid of you or anything."
Waya said trying to reassure her friend. "I'm just not very good at this stuff."
"Neither am I"
Eliza muttered softly "But... right now I just need someone to hold. Please just... wait for a little while. I'll sleep."
Waya Put her arm around Liz' shoulder and gave her a few pats. She was tired too but she still wanted to make sure she could find liz' machine in the shadow realm. If it hadn't exploded yet there may have been a malfunction when it'd been transported. Ether that or the egg heads who'd sabotaged it had completely fouled it up.
Eliza sighed softly, slowly releasing Waya "There... you can go... I'm fine." She knew that Waya wanted to go, and she was pretty sure she knew what to do. "Look after yourself... alright?" she said gently, closing her eyes and hanging her shoulders slightly.
"You asked me to stay."
Waya said, "I'll stay."
"Yeah... but you're uncomfortable around me like this"
Eliza said gently, groaning lightly and closing her eyes "You can go if you want."
"I'll stay."
Waya said. even though she was unfomfortable it didn;t mean she coudn't be there for her friend.
"Thanks Waya"
Eliza whispered as she nuzzled up against her friend "Are... are you going to go after my machine?"
Waya nodded. "I don't know why I think it's still there." She told her "Maybe I'm just grasping at straws."
"Straws are there to be grasped at"
Eliza muttered as if it was a proverb to live by. She nuzzled closer, sighing hard and hoping to sleep this off.
Waya didn't respond to that. She was so tired but her body was fighting the fatigue, literally washing it away, still expecting to fight for it's life at any moment.
Eliza was letting it all fade though, eyes closed and body slowly relaxing down beside Waya; Eliza was shrinking slightly as she seemed to slip towards sleep, turning smaller and smaller again waya's leg.
Waya often forgot Liz' true size. She was so often stretching herself to reach something or making herself seem taller. It was hard to believe she was almost as short as Waya was.
Eliza kept shrinking however, until finally she was almost baby sized against Waya's leg, clinging on with short arms and fingers. She felt very exposed, very overwhelmed a lot of the time... maybe in sleep her powers were playing on that. They made her small and vulnerable.
Waya had never really seen Liz go this small. It was a little disturbing and almost creepy.
Eliza was clinging to her, almost like a baby, though of normal person's dimentions so it was just a smaller version of Eliza. It was slightly disturbing adn creepy, but would Waya leave her side because of that?
Waya lingered for a while, letting sleep wash over Eliza completely before she moved to leave. She summoned her shadow to take her place, the Waya shaped form rested next to Eliza as if she hadn't moved. As long as she kept the image in the back of her mind Liz wouldn't be completely alone and she didn;t intend on being very long.
Eliza seemed to squeeze harder onto the shadows, as if feeling their strange texture to test if Waya was still there. Mumbling something incoherant she just slumped back down against the shadow leg again and slept.
Waya would make this a quick trip, she didn't know how long her shadow would last without her on the same plane. She turned out the light and as the room flooded with shadow, Waya was gone.
Only a small whimper came from
Eliza, her sleep uninterupted as the lights switched out. She thought waya was there for her, beside her, so she slept peacefully.
Eliza landed in her bed from the portal, a small whine escaping her lips as she landed on the dusty bed. She really didn't come in here anymore, so it would be surprised when she woke up; still, a bed was a bed, and she was exhausted. she'd gone to a place so similar to hell that they would need little placards up just saying "this is not actually hell". she had come out of there... exhausted... but in one piece.
About an hour passed before there was a knock at her door.
Jaden set down the try of Waya's lunch while Jayden held onto the mug of soup intended for Eliza. They really weren't sure if she was in here or down in the lab... but they recalled Waya saying she had dropped the girl off in her bedroom.
The door wasn't locked, and
Eliza was just plain out on the bed. The faint sounds of snores clearly said that; eliza hadn't slept in quite a while, so she was hitting a very deep sleep. She was in here though, just snoozing away in her room after that little trip to hell.
The twins heard the snores and smiled at one another at how cute it was. Wanting to simply drop off the soup, they opened the door with a light creak and took a few steps in to set it down on her dresser, not wanting to disturb.
Eliza twitched when they got close she twitched and groaned, hearing the sounds of muffled footsteps on the dusty floor. She squirmed, took a breath of the dusty bed, and started to twitch and sniff hard. She sneezed when they were right next to her, opening her eyes blearily and looking up towards the two figures beside the bed, her eyes bleary and unfocused.
"Oh sorry, we didn't mean to wake you."
"We brought you tomato soup." said two familiar voices with smiles down at her.
The thing about being an X-man is that you are trained from a very young age to have the reactions of a nervous badger when you sense danger. In other words, Eliza may have been fast asleep several seconds ago, but at this very moment she was spiraling out of bed at top speed, with one arm swelling up to excessive size. She pirouetted out of bed, using the momentum to swing one huge arm around and smash straight into one of the twins. She wasn't sure which. The other thing about being an X-man is that your body sometimes reacts to danger before your mind does. Tomato soup hadn't ever registered yet.
"JADEN!" called the other twin as he watched his brother's body get thrown across the room, dropping the mug with a crash and immediately running to his aid.
That twin was picked up by the large arm and immediately pushed into the wall. Even though he was facing away from
Eliza, the girls eyes were still shut tight as she pinned him to the wall. "W-w-what do you guys want?!" she almost yelped, trembling as she pressed Jayden into the wall.
Jayden grunted loudly when he hit the wall, secretly praying his ribs didn't snap under the pressure. "S-ss....soup.
" he muttered with his last breath in his lungs.
Jaden was groaning, still not quite alert and knowing what had just happened. He fumbled on the ground, managing only to roll over.
Eliza peeked out to the sides, and eased back on the pressure slightly. She didn't want to snap the boy. well... alright, she didn't REALLY want to snap him. "W-why... are you... bringing me soup?" she finally asked.
"To say 'thank you' for fuck's sake!" Jaden rolled over on the ground, moaning in pain as the wind had been knocked out of him. It was unusual for Jaden to swear like that if it were the other, no one would bat an eyelash. Needless to say that the twins were sick of getting smacked around for no reason.
"T-thank you...?" Eliza carefully dropped Jayden onto the floor "For what?" she took a step back towards the bed, settling down onto it and wrapping her large hands around her head. she didn't have the images anymore, but she knew what they had done. At least, what Waya shot into her skull.
The spilled mug of tomato soup was still warm as it stared up at Eliza from the carpet.
The twins slowly rose up. Jayden's cheek bone red from the blow and Jaden's lip swollen and slightly cut. He had bit down on it when Eliza punched him across the room and into a wall. The twins didn't say anything else as they went to one another's side.
"What... what happened guys? sorry that I... freaked out like that... but Waya... she... well... she shot some... stuff... right into my head. I... freaked out a bit... when I saw you two... standing over my bed." Eliza's arms were wrapped around her still, keeping her protected as she stared down at the soup "Why are you thanking me?"
"For convincing Waya to listen to us." they said, rubbing their sore spots and hesitantly walking over, very alert of her should she try to attack again.
"Oh... oh right. sorry, I was quite asleep when that happened," Eliza said to the twins, swill with the arms around her "How... how did that go? well? Is Waya feeling better?" She guessed that everything was better now... somehow. Maybe it had all been a misunderstanding?
"She's fine...better even." the twins explained. "At least she is smiling again... and It went so well we came up to say thanks and brought you some soup." They looked down at the puddle and Jayden used his powers to lifted the moisture clean out of the carpet fibers. It was hovering under his hand in an orb of red.
"Right... sorry guys... really... sorry" Eliza was blushing now as she gazed at the twins, slowly letting her arms turn back to normal size "I really was just... It wasn't too long ago that I had... all of Waya's... stuff... put right into my head. I just freaked out. I'm sorry." She felt really bad now. "Come down to the infirmary, I'll patch you up in no time."
"Just how much did she show you?" they asked, tossing the soup orb into her bathroom sink before returning to pick up the mug.
"Well, I got a full blast of what information she had... you know, from you guys and stuff... and those... you know... weeks of stress and fear and hate and stuff... basically, she shot everything into my head. Everything." Eliza shuddered slightly "The images are gone and everything, but I know what was done, and I know what she felt. And I know that it was so terrible I spent ten minutes sitting in a ball on the floor and throwing up."
"Sorry you had to see that...whatever you saw." the twins remarked, turning around to head back to the door. "Want some soup then? Home made of course."
"Hang on a second alright?" Eliza said, standing up and moving shakily towards the twins "What happened? I mean... I got all this... crap shot into my brain. I'd... like a little bit of an explanation here. Just a little one? Please? Since I got Waya to talk to you and all."
The twins sighed a little, "Fine. Listen-" they trailed off and Jayden spoke first.
"Months ago... it was a full moon and she eagerly came to us. Then-" he paused, "After it all happened, she told us to wipe the memory from her, making Waya forget everything." Needless to say this probably broke their hearts. For the twins to have the women of their affection submit herself to them like that only to turn around and immediately deny the entire confession and beg for the memory to be wiped.
"When Waya leeched into our brains..." Jaden began, "We think she only got little snippets of what happened, making it seem like we... forced ourselves onto her. In truth, she came onto us and although we were both aware the moon may have played a part... we couldn't help ourselves as our passion got away from us." This was the same line that Waya had hated them for saying, before she knew the truth.
"And it was only this one time, right?" Eliza asked, being more than a little suspicious still; you didn't forget two weeks worth of betrayal that had been shot into his brain after all. "And only Waya?" she wanted to know the truth, and the feeling of someone violating Eliza had still rather... lingered, even after Waya removed all of the emotions she'd shot in there. She wanted to know for certainty that the twins hadn't touched her.
The twins could sense that in her voice and nod, "Don't worry Eliza, we wouldn't do something like that. To be honest, we are a bit offended everyone was so eager to jump to that conclusion."
"Well... I'm your cousin... and you constantly hit on everyone, even me. So people would become... worried that you would... do stuff like that" Eliza pointed out. They had never exactly displayed themselves as the most chaste people around "All the comments that were thought idle kidding before become rather... sinister."
"We guarantee it's not, Eliza. Come on... you know us." the twins said, still a bit offended. "You coming sledding?" they asked, wanting a change of topic.
"I know it's not, and the others will know it by now, but that was what really got to me in those first few moments. Just... a little warning." Eliza sighed, then moved over to the twins and hugged them close "I'm sorry for thinking ill of your boys. I might come sledding, lets just fix you up first, right?"
The twins hugged back, patting their little cousin on the head. "It's not that bad, is it? Just a bit sore... nothing to fix really."
"Please guys?" Eliza asked with a small whine "It won't take long. Just a little something to protect the cuts from infection and stuff. It won't take long, I swear."
"Alright alright... just so long as Waya's soup and sandwiches don't get cold." the twins said, whining a bit at her persistence.
"We can drop them off on the way if you want" Eliza said, smiling at the twins as she took their hands and lead them out towards the door. "It won't take long though, just a little repair job."
"But we are really fine." the twins said, not wanting Eliza to be any more pushy. "We'll just put some cold snow on our bumps anyway. Let's not bother...what the hell would you do anyway?"
"Disinfectant..." Eliza said simply "And stuff to seal the lip up, so the cold doesn't get in." She sighed gently and shrugged at the twins "Should we go give her the soup and stuff then?"
"Will it give us more time to convince you that we are fine?" the boys tested with sly grins. They really were fine. Just a little cut and some bruises... maybe their pride had taken a beating too...but other then that, they hid the soreness rather well.
"Yes. And probably a few more moments of talking..." Eliza said with a weak shrug "I mean, I've had all this information presented to me in a VERY short time. I'm quite confused about... everything." She had some idea of what was going on, but she still wasn't completely sure.
"Sorry we woke you up." the twins bowed their heads politely. They picked up the try from the hall and added, "Are you awake enough to hang out with all of us? Everyone would understand if you are too tired."
"We'll see" Eliza said with a little shrug "After I patch you guys up we'll see how tired I am. I haven't slept in a few..." Eliza paused, blinked, then said "What day is it?"
"Tuesday." they replied simply, looking at her seriously. "That's not healthy you know. Sitting down there all alone... with nothing but your machine. Don't get us wrong, we completely respect your drive and determination and maybe it's not our place to say... but that's probably ont what our parents would want." They rolled their shoulders, thinking about Uncle Tom and Auntie Lyra for a moment, "At least give yourself the weekend for crying out loud."
"I'll rest when I'm dead" Eliza huffed, shrugging slightly in the twin's direction "I get plenty of time off anyway. Honest." She didn't. She knew she didn't, but the more she said it the more it would seem true. "I just... working keeps my mind occupied," Eliza said softly, gazing into mid-air "And if I'm thinking about that all the time then I don't have to think about anything else, right?"
"What's wrong about that?" they asked. "What's wrong with thinking about other things? Like... I donno, friends, what you want for Christmas, socializing, shopping, hobbys or maybe even getting a boyfriend."
"Well, what's the point in thinking about boyfriends? the only people here I'm not related to are either gay or... rhydian" Eliza still felt a twinge of anger at that name, but she hid it better these days. "I think about friends, that's why I went out and came to waya's side, and I think about hobbies, because that IS my hobby."
"What about Phinagin? And really you are only partially related to Junior." the twins suggested.
"Junior's practically my brother. Yeah, he's also a cousin, but even then... no." Eliza said, grimacing at that idea "And as for phinagin... no." she didn't MIND Phinagin, but he wasn't her type.
"And what's stopping you from online dating or going out into the city?" they inquired, knowing the answer.
Eliza sighed and shook her head "No... look... you know why. And I'm busy." She shrugged slightly and stared down towards the floor "Just... I'll have a day or two off... and Christmas too... but after that I'm going to fix my machine a bit more."
The twins couldn't stop as they rolled their eyes. Why can't these guys just face facts and move on? To keep hearing about everyone trying to bring their dead parents back was a stab in the stomach every time.
"No rolling your eyes" Eliza was tempted to flick the twins on the forehead for that "Look, even if I did go out there and try to meet guys, no guys want me. so there. Lets just go deliver the food to Waya."
"Not with your hair like that and smelling like an oil can." they commented, pacing around her for a moment. "We can help with that."
"Guys? waya?" Eliza said, still feeling not TOO comfortable around them. With their eyes roaming like that it just made everything worse "We've got to deliver her stuff before it's cold right?"
"Lead the way." the twins accepted with a bow, stepping aside so she could lead. At least there were some mannerisms that the boys had learned from being princes.
Eliza sighed, but instead of her usual telling off she leant forward and kissed them both gently on the forehead, hugging them close again "Oh you two..." She yawned gently, then started to lead them off to find Waya.
The twins smiled. Not in their usual, cheesy way...but genuinely smiled. Their cheeks tinted a little, "Aw shucks Liz..." the twin with the tray said.
"Your making us blush." said the other, placing a hand on his cheek.
"Now, you two stop that" Eliza said, pausing once she realised that the twins weren't following but standing there and blushing. It was just a friendly motion, why should they blush?
Any sign of true human affection made them blush like that. They couldn't help it... cousin or not. "Sorry sorry! We are just so glad things are good between us and mostly everyone again."
"Yeah well... lets keep them good. come on" Eliza nodded in the opposite direction, trying to convince the twins to follow "If you follow me now then I'll give you another kiss on the forehead when it's all done."
The twins laughed at how Eliza used kisses as a form of currency. "Okie dokie!" they said and the three headed down to the rec room.
Jayden came in with Eliza in his arms and flipped the light with his elbow before heading to the bed. "Do you have to do to the bathroom at all? Might wanna give it a go before you lay down."
"It'sh... over thir..." Eliza muttered, waving his hand towards her bathroom door "But... put... put me down fer a sec... I can solve thish... without vom... vom... throwing up."
"Please don't." he said and set her bum down on the bed. He was 100% sober and very caring in terms of her well-being.
"No... I... I mean... Ugh..." Eliza clutched her stomach as she began to grow in front of Jayden. He was soon dwarfed by a nine-foot Eliza, who blinked a few times and gazed down at Jayden with more sense in her eyes "Thanksh... Thanks Jayden... Are you feeling alright? I think I drank too much."
"You think so?" he asked sarcastically. "Come on... bathroom." he said.
Eliza stood up perfectly straight, gazing down at Jayden as she stood over him, before nodding and putting a hand on his shoulder. Her hand was so large that it practically enveloped his shoulder and bordered on his neck. "Alright. I'll head to the bathroom... but really, I'm not that bad any more..." she said before letting him go and heading to the bathroom.
"Oh come on...so you just make yourself bigger and your kidney takes care of it all?"
"Metabolic processes are sped up a bit when I grow... and you know... organs get bigger." Eliza said with a shrug, rubbing her stomach "Liver takes care of half the alcohol... I'm not reeeeeal better you know?" She grinned before moving through into the bathroom "Just don't need to throw up no more. Understand?"
"Right right well.. .are you going to be okay on your own then?" he aksed.
"Yeah... yeah..." Eliza called through the door as she shut it "Thanks Jayden... I'm just gonna drink some water and stuff... try and avoid a hangover and... stuff."
"Pickles." he told her through the door. "I'll make sure you have pickles tomorrow. Anyway- night Eliza." he said and headed to the exit.
"Night..." Eliza called through the door before taking a drink "Have a nice sleep Jayden... I'll see you tomorrow."
Stumble!