Eliza came in, one arm around Waya just to make sure the girl stayed the course in this. "The pie was nice earlier... but not really filling" she said, steering Waya over to a seat "I fancy something else. Do you?"
Waya shrugged and took a seat by the counter. She felt cold and hot all over and she couldn;t help but think about the four robotic monsters outside.
Eliza opened the fridge, pulling out a few pizza slices from a few nights ago and putting them on the table. Lots of meat on a few slices. "Here" she said, sitting opposite Waya. She looked up and watched Waya "What's up?"
"I'm scared to death of Sentinals that's what's up."
Waya said taking the soda Liz had slid to her. She didn;t touch the pizza. "I thought I'd gotten over it..."
"Oh yes... I remember that day"
eliza said, even though she was lying slightly. She remembered being told about that day, they were both really small after all. She looked up at Waya, taking a piece of pizza and biting into it "You don't have to be embarressed."
"Some big strong leader that makes me though."
Waya said, wishing her soda were somethind distinctly stronger. "I fall apart in the face of danger."
"You fall apart in the face of your greatest fear"
Eliza pointed out, stabbing a finger towards Waya "Everyone does that. I do, you do, everyone does. Don't punish yourself for being a person Waya."
Waya wasn't really listening, she was, but she was also thinking of a way around her fears. "What if the twins hypnotized me?" She asked. "Not full blown mental fuck-a-roo, but just a tweak?"
"I don't trust the twins to hypnotise you for five seconds"
Eliza said firmly, shaking her head and sighing "Look... sometimes fear is good. I mean running headfirst against Sentinels is never a good idea. I know you could fight it if you needed, it's just when you don't need to fight it it gets worse."
Waya ran her hands through her hair. She didn't often reveal her tattoos to anyone, but she was frustrated and still frightened. "I don;t know..." She said quietly. Eliza was half right. She'd always done her best to stay away from them, she could run, but she couldn't stand and fight.
Eliza sighed softly, reaching out and taking Waya's hand gently, squeezing it and watching her face. "For this one... we'll pick up the slack. Don't do anything drastic, don't change yourself, just... let us take it for a change ok? Just this once."
"I already told Rhydian to handle it."
Waya told her, having basically agreed already. "I don't want those thigns anywhere around me."
"That's..."
Eliza wasn't sure she trusted Rhydian either "good." She coughed slightly, was there a single guy around here, apart from Phinagin, who wasn't a complete ass? Or gay...
Waya trusted Rhydian, but unlike Eliza, she was a telepath and she understood the subterfuge he'd used to defeat Cortez... even though it had peeled all the flesh from her body in the process.
Eliza understood, she had had a long shouting match with Rhydian after all, she just... didn't like him ever since she'd been trapped into that tight compartment, in the dark. She hated that environment, and how could she ever really like him in the same way again?
"For now I'll just steer clear of them."
Waya told Eliza. "I mean... they're here to help anyway right? Whoever this guy is, he's supposed to be coming for us... Maybe I'll think of them differently when he gets squished to a pulp."
"Or when they get scrap metaled..."
Eliza pointed out... nothing works quite as well to get over a fear as to see that fear being completely stomped into the floor.
Waya smiled. Eliza was a good friend. Moe had been the best, but she was gone now... She should have realized sooner what a close friend she had in Eliza, instead of waiting till now to do so.
Eliza had been busy, very busy, but now with no machine, at least not one completely in tact, then she was finding a lot more time for people. And she also found that she could be friendly. "Sure you don't want some food?" she asked, taking another slice of Pizza and smiling at Waya "It's gooood."
"Nah."
Waya told her, sipping her soda. "Butterflies." Her stomach was a bit uneasy, but thanks to Liz, she'd stopped panicking and that's what mattered.
Eliza nodded to Waya "I always squash the butterflies with heavy food." She chuckled softly and shook her head "What should we do then? To be honest I don't want to go out there myself."
"Maybe do a security sweep?"
Waya suggested. She didn't know what all Liz had scrounged from the systems for her machine, but she'd fell better if she knew everything was up and running properly. "We do have some bad guy who's supposed to come and try to kill us all."
Eliza nodded slowly "Alright, security sweep, there's a load of tech stuff down below so..." She nodded and stood up "Lets go make a sweep down there, check all the alarms and stuff."
With something important to do,
Waya felt more at ease. They could spend all day checking the systems and cameras and she wouldn't have to set another foot outside where those damnable robots were.
Eliza grinned to herself, moving over to the door with Waya "Come on then, a sweep of the downstairs security systems would do some good." She waved for Waya to lead the way, she wanted to make sure Waya was alright.
Waya finished off her soda and tossed the can in the recyclables before followign Liz.
Soe time later
Waya came back. She wasn't hungry, she just needed to get away from the twins and Phinagin. Not knowing what to do she opened the fridge only to slam it shut again.
Unfortunately for her,
the twins followed her all the way into the kitchen. "You alright, petal?" they asked with smiles on their faces amd hands behind their backs.
"Just go away."
Waya told them. She'd opened the fridge again to grab a soda. She didn;t really want one, but she was here, it was there and it was a distraction, so she popped the top and took several long drinks before coming back up for air.
"You seem tense."
"More than usual."
A
twin elbowed the other.
"What we mean is, 'what's the matter'?"
"Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine."
Waya lied. Liz had already tried helping her through her issues, but it wasn't going to go away after a few kind words and a slice of pie.
"Don't make us hypnotize you." one threatened with a smirk.
Jaden and Jayden sat themselves on a stood each, waiting for her to comply.
Waya sat her can down on the counter sharply. "Fuckin try it." She growled, already preparing a telepathic block to throw them out if they tried. She didn't know if it would work or not, but she didn't want the twins anywhere near her mind at the moment.
The twins looked at one another for a moment. That was definately not a good approach. "Sorry petal." they said honestly, holding up their hands. "We didn't mean to upset you."
"Yeah... well..."
Waya didn't know what to say. They'd actually apologized for something... that was strange.
"Something is bothering you, isn't there?" one asked.
"Is there anything we can do?"
Not unless they could completely switch off her overpowering fear of sentinals and Liz had already said having them try that might not be a good idea. "No."
Waya told them.
"You sure?"
Jaden asked.
"I think you underestimate us."
"Go ahead, give us a shot."
"Please?" they asked together. "It's the least we can do after how you stuck up for us like that."
"You really want to help?"
Waya asked them. "You
really want to help?"
The twins looked at one another, then back to her. They figured what she would say- probably something along the lines of 'leave me the fuck alone.' Nevertheless, they said, "Yes."
Perhaps they were a little telepathic, because that's exactly what
Waya said. "Then leave me the fuck alone." she told them seriously.
They sighed and shrugged their shoulders. They had tried. "Ah well... suit yourself." they turned and headed out for the door. "There is more pie in the fridge if you are interested." They both lifted a hand and waved, still with their backs to her as they exited.
"Awe fuck..."
Waya groaned... That was just what liz had been trying to tell her not to do. "Guys... I'm..." Oh no, was she about to apologize for something... to the twins?
The boys' eyes sparked with life as they stared at the door when they heard her voice. With wide smiles, they turned their heads slowly, "Mmmmyessss?"
"<small>sorry...</small>"
Waya told them with her head down. Surely they remembered the six months when everyone had thought she was dead... she'd nearly been killed by a sentinal...
There was a twinkle in their eyes and
Jayden and Jaden strolled back over. "Now that
that's over, what's the trouble, petal?"
"As if you don't know."
Waya told them. "You remember... that day in the city... we were seven...'
"Is that when we all went ice skating?"
a twin suggested, rubbing his chin.
"No, she's talking about when we went bowling." argued the other.
"Petting zoo."
Waya told them both in a tone that denoted they were idiots.
"Oh." they paused, "OHHHHH!"
The boys got it now. "So that's why you were so against them coming here."
"Yeah."
Waya said taking a sip of her soda. "The things scare me... I can't help it..."
"Awww, petal."
the twins pouted and smiled a bit. She was so cute when she was scared...somet
hing they rarely saw. "If anything goes nuts, which it won't, we'll take care of you. Promise." Despite their usual tricks and lies, their words were sincere.
"I don't need you to take care of me." Waya told them. "I need you to keep those things away from me... I'll be staying inside, but it'd no less comforting knowing those things can smash through the roof."
They still smiled, "As we said, we'll take care of you, our darling petal."
"Stop it..." Waya told them. "I'm not your darling and I'm not some flower for you to sniff at all the time..." She looked back at her soda can... she sort of liked it when they called her petal, but she couldn't deal with that now.
"Flowers aren't just for smelling. They are also for looking at."
"Such radiance and beauty in a single blossom." they mused.
"One can't help but fall in love with it."
Waya froze, stunned, the only thing moving was her eyes, between the two of them. What did they just say?... What did that mean?
There was a long silence before the twins cleared their throat, "Pie?" they asked, heading to the fridge as if nothing happened.
"No." Waya told them darkly. "I'm full of bullshit for now." And she left the kitchen by the most direct rout possible. Shadow.
"But-!" the twins began, but it was too late, she was already gone. They sighed and hung their heads low. Dad would be disappointed if he could see them now. Sighing again, they opened the fridge and looked at the half eaten pie they had cooked this morning. Nope, not hungry- and closed it again.
The only thing remaining was the half finished can of soda she'd left behind.
The twins went to her soda and lifted it up, looking down at the soda caught in the rim. One of the boys brought it to his lips and sucked some of it up, passing it to the other who did the same. It was an odd ritual, but they had their little indirect kiss and proceeded to dump the soda in the sink.
Stumble!