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#Halisi'sApartment – March 21, 2018
Ilyna has cleaned the apartment and gone out to buy some food that she could tell would be needed the next day (forgetting a thing or three in the rush to get back quickly if Li didn't come with), but she has spent most of the day watching TV with Li and writing to her family and friends back home. Right now she is sitting in the couch waiting to hear from Halisi when she'll be home so she can start making dinner.
It's evening and dark outside on the 2nd of December when Halisi gets back from the clinic. There's been no shortage of work, although Oxaris' surgery has taken up most of her time. Li has spent most of the day watching TV after making some half-hearted attempts at interacting with her teaching VI. She's fallen asleep on the couch some while ago, her sleep schedule something of a mess after her kidnapping and the spacetravel
that followed. Halisi lets out a tired sigh as she steps through the door, scraping the snow off her boots and starting to remove her winter clothes, starting with her scarf. "Hello?" she calls out in a tenative tone, craning her neck to look towards the couch.
Ilyna raises her brows, and she carefully stands from the couch trying to avoid waking Li up. She couldn't blame her, they've both been up since the early hours of the morning. "Hey," Ilyna says while approaching her, sounding tired. "Why didn't you tell me you were going home? I could have made dinner." Despite these reasons, she still look a bit guilty for not delivering on that promise.
Halisi lets out a quiet chuckle as she continues with removing her winter clothes. "Dinner?" she asks, raising her eyebrows slightly. "I appreciate the thought, but don't be silly, you're my guest!" Soon enough she's down to a gray sweater and black pants, removing her boots last before stepping further into the room. "I got some groceries on my way home. I hope what I had was enough for today..." she says, picking up a bag
left by the side of the door as she first stepped inside, lifting it slightly to draw attention to it.
Ilyna shakes her head in disagreement. "Your guest that's staying for free," she says with a chuckle. "The least you deserve is dinner." She steps closer and reaches out to offer to take the bag of groceries. "So-," she looks down to her omni-tool that starts beeping, and declines the call immediately before looking back up to Halisi again. "How has your day been?"
Halisi seems a little caught off-guard by the gesture, but lets Ilyna take the bag off her hands. "Busy." she replies, walking further into the apartment. When she spots Li a small smile crosses her face, and she makes a note to try and be somewhat quiet. "Oxaris' surgery was a success. It's... going to be a long recovery process, and there's always risks, but things are looking good." she adds, lingering behind the couch,
The TV is on very low volume, and Ilyna had switched to watching galactic news after Li fell asleep. Right now they're talking about some Citadel politics which makes no sense without the context of the earlier half of the section.
Ilyna nods, letting out a small smile. "That's good," she says as she starts to put the groceries on the kitchen counter. "I… just hope she takes the time she needs," Ilyna says, as much out of admiration for her determination as concern for it. "She couldn't lie still when I visited her on the ship."
Halisi snorts quietly. "Redrock provides no shortage of stubborn patients." she sighs. "I'm getting used to dealing with bull-headed mercenaries." She heads over to the kitchen, taking the things Ilyna have removed from the bag and putting them away in the fridge and pantry. "So how have things been back here?"
Ilyna chuckles at her comment, having seen that first hand during her hospital stays. She gives a low, disappointed sigh at Halisi taking over in the kitchen, but she doesn't voice her protest beyond that. "It's been quiet," she says, "which is welcome after… everything we've been through." She turns towards Halisi. She looks thoughtful for a moment, opening her mouth to say something and then closing it again,
Halisi furrows her eyebrows slightly, stopping her stowing away of the food. "Uhm... no. Like I said, you can have mine. It's... really quite alright." she assures, flashing Ilyna a small, slightly awkward smile.
Ilyna shakes her head. "That's…, that's…. No, I can't agree to that," she says, looking a bit guilty at the hospitality she's getting without being asked for anything in return. "You work tirelessly all day, that just wouldn't be fair." She shakes her head again. "You and Li can have the bed, I'll take the couch."
Halisi sighs to herself, shaking her head. "You're my guest. Please. I have had far worse sleeping conditions, I assure you. Night shift at a hospital teaches you to sleep just about anywhere." she says with a slight snicker, a hint of tiredness in her expression as she starts to head over towards the bedroom after putting away the food items in her hands. "After everything you, and Li have been through, you deserve
Ilyna frowns, still not convinced. "I… I can do without, it's unliekly Jason will call the meeting tomorrow," she says as she follows her to the bedroom. "Many people are counting on you though, like Oxaris. They need you at your best."
Halisi smiles at the thought, stopping shortly inside the bedroom. She turns around, a sincere look on her face as she places one hand loosely against Ilyna's upper arm. "Ilyna... I'll be fine. I promise. Li should be with you, in case she wakes up... she's been through a lot. There's plenty of room for both of you here." she says, gesturing towards the two-wide bed.
Ilyna looks at her when she touches her arm, though her eye contact is fleeting due to the guilt she feels. "Halisi, you're… you're… you don't have to," she says, lowering her voice. "I'm nearby if she needs me, I just… I don't want this to be at the cost of your comfort." She closes her eyes as she adds with a strained smile, "I'll be fine."
Halisi seems simultaneously amused and exasperated by Ilyna's continued insistance. "How about we table this discussion for now? I was hardly intending to sleep just yet anyhow." she suggests with a slight chuckle, moving to collect spare bedsheets from her dresser and going back to the couch, providing a proper blanket and pillow for Li, carefully so as to avoid waking her.
Ilyna frowns, not happy about her inability to convince Halisi what's right. "I was," she mutters as she follows her out of the bedroom. She stands back as she watches Halisi tuck Li in, hoping it won't wake her up. "We're… fortunate to have you, Halisi," she says. "You're…," she sighs and looks away, trailing off as she fails to find the words.
Halisi looks back over her shoulder at Ilyna, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. "Of course you are." she says with a brief chuckle, before her smile fades with a shake of her head as she continues to look Ilyna over. She turns around to face her and a sigh slips out. "You can't go around feeling guilty about having people that care about you in your life. We all help each other out when we need it, right?" She furrows her
eyebrows slightly, another, quieter sigh following. "You're just as stubborn as the rest when you want to be, you know that?" she asks, a brief smirk crossing her lips before it fades. "How about this: It's a big bed. Plenty of room. We can share." she suggests with a slight shrug, a matter-of-fact tone to her voice.
Ilyna chuckles, and lets out a long sigh. It's a compromise at least, even if it wasn't entirely what Ilyna would like. "Yeah, I know I can be," she admits. "I just… I thought I would help you." She steps closer and places a hand on her shoulder. She is quiet for a few seconds before she gathers the courage to say what's on her mind. "Halisi, I… when I think of, well… us, I…," she says. "You're wonderful,
kind, everything I would aspire to be, but… that makes it just so much more difficult." She takes a slow breath, doing her best to remain composed. She tries to continue, but she just doesn't know what to say. "Fine, we can share the bed," she accepts in a mutter.
Halisi furrows her eyebrows as Ilyna speaks, studying her in silence. She seems just about to offer some words of assurance when she hears the mutter that follows, a gentle smile crossing her lips. "It's settled, then." she snickers. She almost seems to consider leaving it at that for the moment, but guilt crosses her face and she sighs, reaching up for Ilyna's hand and removing it from her shoulder, giving it a squeeze
before letting go. "Look, I-... I'm sorry for springing all of that on you. I never meant to-... you have a lot on your mind, and I don't want you to be worrying about that on top of everything." Her gaze falls briefly, before darting back to Ilyna. "I understand that you-... I care about you, and I-... I just want to help."
Ilyna closes her eyes as she listens to her, fighting back tears at this point. There was more to be said, but she also longed to postpone this conversation yet again. "Goddess, you're just... hard to believe at times," she says in barely more than a whisper. She takes a step back. "I too wanted to help," Ilyna says with a chuckle. "Thank you, for... being so patient with me, even if...." She sighs, and instead
repeats, "Thank you." She walks over to her travel bag that she left near the entrance, opens it and starts looking for her nightdress.
Halisi 's only response is a smile, opting to leave it at that for now. She heads over towards the kitchen to get something quick to eat, hunger being her main obstacle to heading to bed at the moment.
Ilyna leaves the bathroom a few minutes later, wearing the blue night dress. It's of a light, silky material that hangs loosely on her and goes down to below her knees. Other than that, it's no less modest than is typical for her. She doesn't say as she heads directly to the bedroom.
Halisi takes a seat at her small kitchen table, looking out through the window at the snowflakes that swirl in the dark while she eats from a bowl of yoghurt and cereal, a thoughtful look on her face. She eats in silence as a multitude of thoughts run through her head. Thoughts about everything they have just been through. About the Collectors. And about Ilyna. About the wedding and its aftermath. She remains there for
Ilyna walks over to the bed and sits down on it, looking thoughtfully at the wall. The guilt has started to fade, but she still doesn't feel content with where she and Halisi stands. After about ten seconds of staring at the wall, she crawls under the blanket and lays her head on the pillow, facing the wall. She closes her eyes, but despite having been up since the early hours of morning, her mind is too noisy to
Halisi makes a quick detour to the bedroom after finishing her food. She grabs some clothing to sleep in and disappears into the bathroom for a couple of minutes as she gets ready for bed. Soon enough she reappears in the bedroom, wearing an oversized t-shirt for a makeshift nightgown. It's white, with a print so faded it can't really be made out in the dark, and it reaches about two thirds to her knees. She sits down on the
edge of the bed before slipping beneath the blanket, lying on her back. After a moment's hesitation she lets out a quiet, slightly awkward: "Goodnight...", staring up at the ceiling in the dark. The bed is big enough that there's plenty of room for both of them.
Ilyna doesn't look up as Halisi enters the bedroom, nor when she gets into bed. She does respond with a whisper of "goodnight" after a few seconds of silence, so she hasn't fallen asleep yet.
Halisi glances briefly Ilyna's way, but says nothing, instead just smiling slightly before turning to her side, facing away from her as she gets comfortable.