Sanctuary (Chrollo x OC)

30. Careful Observations

Azuma wakes up alive and well. That's something to be glad for. (She half expected to wake up bound and beaten. She is, after all, playing with S-class criminals. That's worse than fire.)

The morning is not quiet. Outside comes the song of birds and toads and Azuma's own footsteps sound on the floor, softly, but nonetheless. She checks in on the troupe. Feitan is asleep, Kortopi slumped on the mattress beside him. Their heads are lightly touched together, strands of hair brushed up against each others faces. Oh. Azuma...leaves them be.

Machi and Shalnark, on the other hand, are wide awake, even at the crack of dawn like this. When Azuma slips in the door she has to avoid the sudden fling of needles. They thunk into the wood and floor mats. Shalnark looks akin to a startled deer.

"I'll have you know," Azuma says, loud and firm. "We do not throw needles in this house! Think of the woodwork!"

Shalnark's expression turns sheepish. Needles disappear into the folds of his clothing. "Forgive me?"

"Happens to everyone!" Azuma brightly responds. "You can make it up with a day of hard work!"

Machi pinches the bridge of her nose. "When does work start?" There's no hint of tiredness in her voice despite and her eyes are sharp. Azuma wonders if she slept at all.

"Glad you asked! Right now."

Machi angrily stabs her needles back into a pincushion and tucks away the cloth she had been working on. She stands to her feet. "Great."

"You too, Shalnark!"

He sighs in a way that is clearly exaggerated and pulls himself into standing. "Coming..."

The morning unfolds like this: Shalnark splits wood, Machi washes things in the stream, and Azuma weeds. Well—she weeds, but she also makes onigiri and laughs at Shalnark. He verbally bites back, but not in quite the same way Chrollo always did. She makes due. Color fades from the sky. Dew evaporates from the grass. It's at almost-noon when Feitan stumbles out the doorway. Azuma is sitting on a bench her and Chrollo had made. Shalnark is smiling wide and telling a story full of empty details—Azuma isn't even sure it's a real story. Machi is nibbling her own rice ball and nodding along.

Then Feitan is in the door way, leaning on the wood and supported heavily by Kortopi, skill flushed, hands shaking, and so obviously not supposed to be out of bed.

"Bitch," he says, "rematch."

Azuma's brow climbs. "Manners."

"I forgotten your name. Can't think!"

Azuma sets aside her onigiri and stands up. Machi stiffens. Shalnark doesn't tense, but his eyes follow her movements. "No. I will not fight with you."

"No."

"No?"

"Fight me." He lets go of the door frame and promptly falls on his face. Kortopi yelps and tries standing him back up. It's futile. No matter Kortopi's decent strength, he simply doesn't have the size.

"You just proved my point exactly." She doesn't bother to hide the dry amusement in her voice.

"I'm fine."

"You're on the floor wiggling like a worm with toxins in you're system and running a fever." This man. Has he no sense of self preservation at all? Really. Although, it's funny, so Azuma can't be too concerned.

"She has a point," Shalnark brightly agrees, laughing. Azuma doesn't miss the way his fingers almost anxiously drum on the ground.

Feitan mutters something in a language Azuma doesn't recognize, but his tone conveys enough. Maybe she should throw a pebble at him? No. Just look at him.