Brass Skies vol 2 (Draft)

Hired Gun part 35

When she woke up, Asuka found Peters asleep in a chair by the door. Part of her was touched that he was still there, but she clamped down on that, hard. Letting people get close was a mistake. The past few days had driven that home. Anna was gone and Clarabelle's revelation hurt. Besides she didn't even like Peters.

She thought about waking him up and kicking him out of the room, but despite herself she couldn't quite bring herself to do so, so instead she hung a sheet and changed quietly behind it before heading to the mess.

If Peters had not been in her cabin, she would have taken her food and returned there. However, he was and her desire to avoid him won out over her desire for solitude so she searched for the least crowded table she could find and plunked herself down on it.

She had barely started eating when Clarabelle slipped into the seat across from her. "Good morning," the blonde said hesitantly, her blue eyes still puffy and slightly red.

"Ohayō gozaimasu," Asuka replied emotionlessly.

"Can we talk?" Clarabelle asked softly.

"If it is not about the ship or the mission, then no," Asuka's replied. "I wish to eat in peace. I will see you at your lesson. Do not be late."

The two ate in relative silence despite the noise surrounding them. At last Clarabelle could not take it any longer. "Asuka," she reached across the table to try and touch the other woman's hand. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry."

Asuka pulled her hand away and stood up. "I'm suddenly not hungry," she said as she walked off, leaving her plate on the table.

Clarabelle started to get up to follow, but a hand gripped her shoulder and gently held her down. She looked up to see an unusually disheveled Peters standing behind her.

He gently squeezed her shoulder while shaking his head. "Give her time," he said softly. "She's hurting too much right now to be ready to hear you out."

***

When Clarabelle showed up to her lesson that afternoon, Asuka demolished her repeatedly with attacks that were so emotionless and so precise they could have been made by a clockwork automaton. However it was the critiques that really demolished Clarabelle. Delivered with the same emotionlessness, efficiency,, and precision-like brutality as Asuka's sword strokes, they left Clarabelle shaken and drained by the end.

Clarabelle tried to cheer herself up by telling herself that it would be better the next day. But things were not any better the next day, or the day after that. Eventually, Clarabelle couldn't take it anymore and asked Asuka if she could take a break from the lessons. Asuka's instant and emotionless agreement left Clarabelle in tears.

Another week passed, and no matter what Clarabelle tried, Asuka remained cold and aloof to her. Clarabelle found herself withdrawing from others as well. She tried to keep Robert and Jezebel from finding out about the rift between her and Asuka in fear that they would become angry with Asuka. She did not want Peters to feel put in the middle, so she avoided spending long periods with him as well.

Instead, she buried herself in her work. It wasn't as if the Robert's Revenge didn't have plenty of work for her to do. The damage from battles and stress from constantly traversing the continent meant that Clarabelle could easily bury herself in sixteen hour days without even her sister questioning her.

Less than a day into the following week, however, Clarabelle's new routine was brought to an unceremonious end. It started with a message across the crystal radio that brought one of the kids frantically running to the deck looking for the captain. Since Robert wasn't on the deck, Clarabelle left the steam line she was working on, and let the young runner into the captain's cabin.

There they found the captain studying some maps. When Robert looked up, Clarabelle had the runner deliver the message. When he did, Clarabelle, found herself staggering to one of the chairs to sink down.

Even Robert looked shaken, as he quickly dug out another map and spread it on the table. He looked up and ordered the messenger to fetch Jezebel and the first mate and then wrote down a reply for the messenger to give to give to the crew member manning the radio.