Damage Control II
(Previous!)
Cylion is still sitting in a daze when Nymira reaches his room, her sudden awakening leaving his own consciousness to snap back into place like a spring-loaded rubber band. He can almost envision a cartoonish halo of stars circling his head, the static in his skull akin to stinging.
It’s not as if he wasn’t expecting this, though. She needed a scare––a proper scare. He knew what that meant when he was crafting it. The odds that she even notices the state he’s in are next to none, especially having just woken up herself.
The door flies open more dramatically than usual, clearly driven more by frantic terror than Nymira’s typical childish distress. She stumbles in, face wash with tears, and he nearly finds himself distracted by the inky rivulets running down her cheeks. They pour out of her at a hurricane’s velocity, each drop a swirling dance of color in the way they refract the light.
“Cylion!” She blubbers, choking on her own sobs. “Father– I-I saw Father–”
His heart twinges at the anguish in her voice, and he finds himself once again wishing that his sister were a less stubborn sort. He would have much preferred it never come to this.
Even in his stupor, Cylion wastes no time in opening his arms to her. Nymira falls into them just as quickly.
With a gentle shush, the prophet smoothes his goddess’ hair and hugs her to his chest, holding firm even as he feels her shoulders wrack with sobs. He angles his head to press a kiss to her hairline, again petting the younger troll with one steady hand.
She always looks so tiny from this angle.
“I-I couldn’t find anyone,” she hiccups, gripping him as if terrified he will vanish into smoke. “I couldn’t find you and then–”
“It’s alright, Mira. I’m here.”
A pitiable sob draws itself from her throat, and Cylion can feel cool tears soaking through his shirt.
“Take your time,” he soothes her, “we’ll decipher it once you’re ready.”
She acknowledges him with a feeble nod against his chest, weary hands still clutching the yellowblood with all the strength they can muster. He bundles her further into his arms and rises from the kitchen island, tension melting from his shoulders as he corrales her toward his bedroom.
As they pass Somnia’s door, he taps his foot two times against the wood.
––––––
Somnia never bothered to ask what Cylion had planned for their sister that morning, but after hearing her reaction to it, he figures it must have been a doozy. One might even suggest that Cylion took it farther than he had to, but hey, who is he to question the master?
His biggest gripe, really, is just that he’s been forced out of bed for this mess.
He scratches idly at his ear as he steps into Nymira’s room, lips screwed together in thought. If he were a severed arm, where would he be?
Before he can lose himself to the thought fully, Somnia’s attention is captured by the faint scraping of metal, a grating screech that sounds in short, choppy bursts from across the room.
Nymira’s curtain inches open, seemingly on its own, and a thin strip of sunlight dips inside to cleave the room in two.
There’s a pause, then another scrape, and the beam widens ever so slightly.
Somnia can’t help but grin.
With all the confidence of a playground bully, the goldblood strides to the window and thrusts a hand towards the sill, fist closing tightly around smooth, sun-soaked wood. He can feel the doll’s joints tighten in his grip, a charming mimicry of tensing muscles as response to his intrusion.
It twists in his hand, little legs kicking fruitlessly and arms pinned at its sides, and he gives it a small shake as he draws it into view.
“That could have been smart,” he admits, patting its head with his thumb. “Shame you didn’t start sooner.”
Little Friend glares up at him, painted face displaying a rather impressive amount of vitriol. Amusing. On any other night, he might have been inclined to take a break and bother it a while.
With how stressed Cylion has been, though, that kind of delay seems likely to give the poor man an aneurysm.
“You can go back once I’m finished here,” Somnia assures the doll before shoving it headfirst into his pocket. It thrashes, fighting to turn itself upright, but he pushes it deeper before it can gain much leverage.
Satisfied that the thing won’t be climbing out any time soon, he laces his fingers to stretch his arms in front of him and sweeps his gaze around the room, thoughts drifting back to the topic at hand. That being, of course, Marrie’s hand.
He checks the reasonable places first––desk, bookshelf, reading nook––but to no avail. The closet and dresser prove similarly useless. When it finally hits him, he feels more than a bit ridiculous.
Where else would Nymira bring something she was trying to safeguard?
It takes some patting down to find it in her bed, tangled up in the mass of pillowy blankets she burrows into each morning, but he knows he’s guessed correctly when his palm hits something solid.
He’s struck with the realization that his sister has more than likely been sleeping with this thing, and Somnia’s face contorts in disgust. Sure, it’s made of wood, but it’s still a bit creepy, isn’t it? He pictures her clutching it to her chest like some kind of demented teddy bear, a visual that is, for once, too grim to be hilarious.
For a brief moment, he allows himself to pity her. He stares at the ring still sitting on Marrie’s finger, a knot forming in his stomach. Nymira made that, didn’t she? She’d shown it off to him when she did, buzzing excitedly about the opportunity to give her friend a gift.
Would it ruin Cylion’s plans to let her keep it?
Somnia chews his lip, eyes still locked on the trinket. This doesn’t seem like the type of decision he should be making.
But with circumstances being what they are… who else can?
After some extended deliberation, he pulls Little Friend from his pocket and drops it on the desk. The doll, disoriented at first, takes a moment to clamber to its feet before turning back to resume its glaring.
Somnia holds up the ring. “Where would Mira lose something like this?”
A look of confusion crosses over Little Friend’s face, and he responds by shoving the object into its chest, knocking the doll over in the process.
“She made it for Marrie. She never gave it to her. Where did she lose it?”
It looks dumbfounded by the question, dotted eyes shifting back and forth as it searches Somnia’s expression. Then, it raises an arm and points toward her bed, little hand angled at the floor.
“Under the bed?”
It nods.
“That’ll work.”
Finished with the doll, Somnia flicks Little Friend to send it spinning halfway across the desk, whatever brief sincerity he had donned morphing right back into his usual satisfied smirk.
Genuine care sufficiently stifled, he sets the ring in place and tucks Marrie’s arm under his own, traipsing out of the room without another glance.
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