Tetra of The Fall

18 - Close Punishment

"...etra...? Tetra you ok?"

Ever so slowly, my eyes cracked open, the world's blur soon sharpening as the rest of my senses did. Deep down the back of my throat, a warm burning sent bubbles of bile to my tongue. Eyes opening wide, a hand held a bucket to my side where I coughed and gagged.

Kwah~ spit!

"Ugh..." I groaned with a wipe of my mouth. My head thumped as the surroundings began to sharpen - the beaming white downlights coupled with the sunlight through the window turning this innocent recovery room into the brightness equivalent of a road flare. A thin blue-green curtain surrounded the space, held up by a single railing. It wavered with a slight breeze, the familiar face of Nihilla slowly solidifying before me. "I take it we're in medical then..." I spoke with a slight repositioning jostle. After all, these beds are surprisingly comfy - even if the blankets knotted beneath me. Springless, clean, good smelling mattress. This moment was bliss.

"DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!"

"BWAH!" I cried as she pounced on top, shaking me violently by the shoulders.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED WE WERE?!"

"..."

Pat!

"... don't..." She muttered, sitting on my shins with a shuddery breath. Though she looked away, I still stared into her eyes. When she blinked, there would be a wet plip! "Nihilla..." I whispered, placing a hand atop hers. This was not the plan at all.

"She's right you know." A voice came from around the curtain. Emirah stepped into view, a number of small paper cups pressed to her chest, straws poking out of each. "You owe me. Do you know how heavy Sche- I mean, your item is?"

I frowned as she stepped forward, placing a cup in each of our hands. "Light...?"

She flared with pink as she sucked, the wet crackling of a near-empty cup piercing through the air.

"We had to drag you along the floor so that the thing would slip into your pocket! Cause we couldn't even make it budge! What the heck is that thing made of?!" She leaned forward, grasping at one of my arms and squeezing. "How did you even...? Ya know what, that's not even the start of the list of questions I have to ask"

SSSLLLLUUUURRRRPPPP~!

"Do you know how distressed she was?" She spoke with a nod towards Nihilla who'd now hung her head. "Look, that wasn't the plan... I didn't know that was going to-"

SSSLLLLUUUURRRRPPPP~!

She held the cup up, releasing her fingers for it to drop into the bin below. Nihilla glanced sidewards, eyes webbed with tiny red veins, lashes clumped and reflective. My brows began to waver, a heavy weight in the pit of my stomach suddenly growing immense in size. I perked my chin, lips pressing, eyes evading.

She tilted her head with a sniffle.

I nodded.

"I mean, surely you need some sort of repercussion right? But I don't know, what do you think Nihilla?"

Put!

I felt her weight press from above, her head resting gently yet heavily against my cheek. She squeezed her arms close, doing her best to hug me around the waist despite the mattress. Somewhere between a frown and a smile, I was stuck - her hair tickling my nose - breaths whispering sharply in my ear. But her warmth - especially from her face - proved surprisingly comforting. Homely. For a brief moment, though I'd doubtful admit it, these small annoyances quickly lapsed, almost becoming pleasurable, comforting.

"Hey..." Emirah groaned, placing a hopeless hand to her own forehead with a sigh.

Lifting an arm, I placed it on Nihilla's shoulder with a pat. The outcome was immediate as her humming began, squeezing getting tighter.

"This is my punishment" Nihilla whispered in my ear, just loud enough for Emirah to perceive. With one big squeeze, she released, slowly pulling herself up to a sit once more.

She gave a gentle laugh.

"She doesn't let me do that very often"

"Yeah... shush you" I turned my head to hide a grin.

Emirah stood, scratching her forehead whilst attempting to process the interaction. After a time, she came to a nod.

"Alright, well, the medical staff say you can't travel through the ley for a while. Also I'm interested to hear what your manager has to say about ignoring your medicals. So get up, we're going to see him now"

"Wait, what do you mean I can't travel through the ley?" I sat up as I spoke, raising my cup with a sip. Small chunks of ice poured atop my tongue, melting in the mouth to reveal a sour watermelon syrup. Though my eyelids shuddered, lips pressing tight, I continued to happily suck up more.

"The info was strangely confidential, so I had Nihilla sneak in to your file while I distracted the nurse"

I froze.

"That's... confide-" I began, though a subtle buzzing from my pocket caught me off-guard.

"She was the only one who saw it. She snapped a picture that I've assessed and then sent on to you. We both then deleted the image" Emirah spoke with a somewhat serious tone.

Retrieving my phone, I held it up, unlocking it with a touch. After some quick navigation, the message appeared.

My eye wavered.

"... I..." My jaw clenched as I frowned. "I can't believe... are you telling me that jackass knew I was sick?"

They both nodded.

The curtain warped inwards, wavering and jostling against its connection to the railing. Emirah's cup shuddered in the bin, both hers and Nihilla's hair beginning to sway. As I looked down, my uniform began to light up with a deep shuddering pink.

I elected to take a calming breath. In through the nose... and out through the mouth.

"Can someone please explain what's wrong with me? Simpler, thanks. I just woke up"

.         .         .

Step after step my feet pounded to the carpeted ground, a rapid and resounding thump after thump working just well enough to quell my wanting to lash out. Emirah and a mostly invisible Nihilla pursued from behind, occasionally having to jog to keep up. Despite being shorter, I had plenty of experience speeding past others.

Especially when pissed off.

"What's got you so worked up eh?" She stood with a wide stance, one hand to her hip while the other reached out. Her messily done hair hung in two tails, some frizzy lengths of fringe running before her ears as well. On her uniform, some pink had rubbed off - probably because the fake vivid pink hair was originally curly. For just a moment, I stopped. Silent. "...Who are you?"

"Really now? I'm rank C! Tetra Draav! Now hand me your allowance"

I smirked.

"Twat" With a flick of my wrist, a metal cup came flying from one of the occasional beverage tables, though I managed to keep the speed low.

Bonk!

"Ow!"

"Here" I muttered, walking past as she rubbed her head. "Your clown act actually helped" as I stepped, I pressed a hand to her shoulder, a few of Peirce's crumpled notes gripping to her jacket.

"I'm the real Tetra Draav"

From behind, a small nervous squeal - like a squeaky tap. She froze on the spot. "Th-thank... you..." With a smirk, I continued on, laughing quietly to myself. Though the stomping still continued, and my speed remained at fast, my head had become strangely more open. I was finally offered a chance to ponder.

After all, what can I do to make my manager quit?