forum For Better or for Worse? (ONE ON ONE)

Started August 18, 2018 by @Painted-Iris group

tune

Nagai bit her lip harder, fighting the urge to yelp. She eventually let out a raspy cry, wincing at the pain. Now there was pain in her foot and her throat. Great.

Lata dropped the bandages hearing Nagai cry out. The young girl was unsure what to do. Quickly turning, she searched through the box of medical supplies in search of something to numb the pain. "Come on… Something, something, please…" Lata muttered under her breath. Sitting back onto her heels, her thoughts were now overwhelming. All she wanted was to curl up and pretend everything was fine. But everything was just the opposite. Taking a deep breath, she tried to swallow her worries and continued looking in the kit.

Nagai noticed Lata had stopped. She saw her rummaging through the first aid kit and reached over to grab her sleeve. Nagai stopped. Maybe she knew what she was doing. It would be kinda rude to stop her when she was trying to help. Nagai waited patiently.

Let’s be evil mwahahaha >:)

Oh no I already feel bad//

(oof ok
and yeah same for even considering being evil)

Lata swore she turned the box inside out, but nothing. Putting her head in her hands, she took a shaky breath. Biting her lip, she thought about what to do. She really didn't know though. She was no medic. She wasn't born with a healing ability. The girl was unable to do anything.

The slum tended to have that effect on people. Draining any hope out of you until you were at the bottom again. You may have supplies to last, but the aura on the broken part of town made it feel desolate.

That is, unless you had those who would lift you up and care for you.
Despite Nagai having an injury, the young girl embraced the other, instantly feeling a bit better.

Nagai hugged the girl back, even though it didn’t actually relieve the pain, it somehow made it feel better, or maybe it was just a distraction from the pain. Nagai separated from Lata and looked into her eyes with determination. She nodded firmly, hoping she looked braver than she felt. Nagai thought of using one of the shirts from the pack or even the pack itself to bite down on, but decided not to use the new clothes. She grabbed part of the shirt she was wearing sticking it into her mouth. She clenched her jaw and closed her eyes, bracing herself for when Lata would start.

Feeling a bit better, Lata shimmied away from Nagai's lap and grabbed the gauze once again. She began to wrap the injury starting with the instep portion and towards the heel. After wrapping it thick enough, she went once around the ankle before cutting the bandage and tying it.
"Done," the small girl announced.

Nagai sighed in relief. Finally, it was over. She smiled brightly at Lata. Nagai grabbed the
pencil that was somehow still behind her ear. She limped over to the wall, being cautious of her injured foot, and wrote on there. It was readable, but just barely, I lost my notepad, so we might need to find another way to communicate. I can always teach you ASL, but it’d take a long time, so we’ll need another way.

Lata frowned as she read the message. Go figure.
Stretching, Lata yawned, tired from the eventful night and from using her ability for longer than normal.

Nagai sighed and lay down, exhausted. She closed her eyes, telling herself she’d only rest them for a bit. After a minute or so, Nagai fell asleep.

Bump//

Lata leaned up against the wall, unsure of what to do at that point. Being both physically and emotionally exhausted, she gave into sleep. It could wait until after sleep right…?
(Time skip?)

Ye//

Nagai woke up, well rested. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked around, ‘I guess this is my new home,’ she thought.

Lata was softly snoring nearby, still not awake. Usually she slept longer than normal when it came to magic exertion. She was curled up against the wall, seeming peaceful.

Nagai sat where she was, not wanting to do anything that would wake Lata. She looked at the younger girl and frowned, why would a young girl like her have to live like this? She sighed and tucked her knees to her chest, now lost in thought.

The young girl seemed smaller this way. She squirmed a bit in her sleep every so often, but would continue sleeping through the morning should the day let her. Suddenly awakening to the cold feeling of the concrete room, Lata groaned in protest. She wanted to get up and wrap herself in blankets but she refused to get up. Opening an eye, she grabbed onto the black hoodie beside her and made a tired attempt to tug it on.
After a few moments, she got the clothing on, only to find Nagai awake and watching quietly.
"Before you ask, no, you didn't wake me."

Nagai perked up and nodded. She sighed, slumping her head and biting her lip, what now? She couldn’t easily communicate with Lata anymore, her notepad was gone. It had been running out of pages quickly anyway, since she had been giving pages to Lata, ‘That’s right!’ Nagai thought and grabbed the pencil on the floor. She got up as started for Lata, stumbling a bit. She tugged at the girl’s hoodie and signed, “Paper, we have paper!” even though she knew Lata probably wouldn’t understand.

Lata watched with pure confusion. What was she doing with her hands? Was it that ASL thing? The young girl still felt exhausted, but did her best to try and understand.
"Um… yeah you're gonna need to write on the wall again."

Nagai sighed and scribbled on the wall. It was hard with the peeling paint and her jittery hands. Eventually, she was able to write out, Do you have the papers I gave you? although it was messy, If was still readable.

Nodding, Lata slowly stood, wobbling slightly as she did so. Her neck ached from sleeping in a bad position, but ignored it as she walked toward her baskets of supplies. Digging through one, she pulled out a small box full of previous notes.

Nagai grinned. She took one out and flipped to the back, I never wrote on the back, we can still use these! she wrote. Nagai made sure to write in small letters, making sure there’d be enough space for more writings.

Hello? :P//

Giving Nagai a soft smile, she nodded her head. At least they'd have a way to communicate for awhile.
"What are we gonna do when it runs out…?" she asked hesitantly.

Nagai bit her lip, I’ll teach you ASL with the paper, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll need to find more paper.

Nodding again, Lata tried to stifle a yawn, but failed. Testing the strength of her magic, she summoned a small glowing swirl. The brightness varied depending on how much strength it had at the time. It was dim, but still had a slight glow.
"Not gonna be able to use that for awhile," she muttered.

Do you need more sleep? Nagai asked, a concerned look on her face.

Sorry my replies are so short, I’m doing homework :P//

Lata shook her head. She would have the time to rest later. She felt responsible for getting Nagai in trouble. It may of been the older of the two to come in the first place, but that meant nothing. They had formed a bond of unlikely friendship which ended them up where they were now.
"I don't remember if I asked, but who did this to you?" she asked, gesturing to the gauze wrapped foot.

Let's torture these children more! :D//

Nagai gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of her head when she showed Lata the text, I did. I think I accidentally cut myself? I don't know.

(oof)
Lata felt a bit better when reading it. Letting out a sigh of relief, she quickly explained herself.
"I'm not glad you hurt yourself, but I'm happy that it wasn't someone else! I mean it's pretty bad and nothing to be relieved about, I mean I barely knew what I was doing when bandaging it…" the young girl paused abruptly when she realized she was rambling. That was a first. Was she really that worried?