Underground Hatred - My Hero Origins (MHO)

33: Rising Phoenix

Word Count: 2211

(Kat)

 Kat's fingers fumbled with the durable red plastic in her hands. Her teeth gnawed at her bottom, chapped lip, blood seeping in every once in a while. The pads of her fingers were coated with dried glue, flaky and sticky and smelly. In one hand, she balanced two pieces of red plastic together; the other, her fingers squeezed a tube of super glue onto the plastic. Her amber eyes remained fixated on the scene, her brain absentmindedly listening in to her methodical breaths: in, out, in, out. The thuds of her heart were slow, no adrenaline to pump against the walls of her veins. Rather, she was at peace, in a meditative state.

The throbbing inside her head lacked for once. Her thoughts maneuvered around the pain, no longer interrupted by it. They drifted from philosophical ideas to miscellaneous things: what was she set out to do in her life, does she need to pick up soup at the store, what would set her on the right path to finally relieve herself of the constant battle for a single suit, did that letter get sent to the post office. Though, without the stabs within her brain to silence her thoughts, her fingers quivered as her mind ran.

Reflections of memories played within her mind as well. The red of the plastic in her hands was a deeper shade of the power that escaped her hours before. The glue on her fingers resembled close to the glue that she worked with in elementary school, only for her parents to rip her out of class. The fumes of the glue gave leeway to the warehouse that belonged to Triton, so many materials mixing with noxious scents. Gore, ridicule, pain repeated behind her eyes, the countertop below her hands the background of a projector. It was almost like a mindless television program—only on for white noise—but the faded voices were loud and clear in Kat's ears.

A hand landed on the middle of her back from behind: "Kat?"

Kat jumped a mile high, a gasp hitting her lungs. Panic flooded her veins after being dormant for so long. She whipped around, plastic and glue thrown to the counter. The small of her back pressed against the ledge of the counter, amber eyes wide and ready to fight. A stab made its way through her brain, striking just behind her eyes. A flinch was held back as she found who stood behind her.

Davis was standing there, sleep deep in his indigo eyes. The glow of them was dull, blank, exhausted. They were hidden in the sockets that were purple and bruised, but the swelling was diminishing. He squinted at Kat, hair tousled, t-shirt a wrinkled mess.

A large breath blew out from between Kat's lips, heart quieting. A meek smile made it up to Davis as she murmured, "You scared the shit outta me."

"Sorry..." His sleepy eyes wandered from Kat to gaze behind her. His hand lazily pulled itself up to slightly point to the counter. "Wh—What are you doing? It's two in the morning."

Kat blinked a few times. A hand mindlessly made its way to her face, the back of her hand pressing her glasses back to the bridge of her nose. Her throat cleared before speaking. "I—It's just—" She blew out a breath, gathering her words as her face grew warm. "I... couldn't sleep—and your visor needed fixing so I wanted to maybe bring some justice to it."

A tiny smile crept across Davis's lips. One of his hands reached out and slowly pushed Kat to the side, looking over at her work.

Half of it was done: the left side of the visor was glued completely back together, just propped in a position to dry in place. The right side was still in pieces, but laid out to be glued in the order it was in. The tube of super glue sat off to the side, thrown just as Kat had left it. A small trail slowly left the tube, locking to the countertop.

"Th—Thanks, Kat," Davis quietly said. His fingers picked up a piece of the red plastic for a moment before putting it back down in its original place. "You didn't have to... Honestly..."