Animal Within ~ Nova's Diary

Divakar Journal - Entry 3

I heard Rei yawning, and the bed creaked when she sat up. I looked up to see her look around a moment.

"Morning, sleeping beauty." I said smiling softy. Nova was cuddled up, half on my lap and sleeping soundly while I ran my fingers through her hair. I looked back briefly at my game of 'solitaire'. I had gotten stuck mid game.

"Morning Leo," Rei mumbled, as she got up to stretch.

"I don't think anyone is around, so it's okay if you use my real name." I chuckled quietly. I looked back at the cards on the floor, frowning before picking them up. There was no recovering that game.

Nova's tail twitched, then her ears. Yawning, she stretched out, hitting me in the face and making me spill the cards. I huffed and pushed her off my lap.

"Hm!"

"So... food? Or what would you like to do?" I asked, picking up the cards. Nova stretched out like a cat before sitting down in a crisscross. She rubbed her eyes trying to wake up.

"Food sounds nice," she replied. "I do kind of want to go out flying though. Not sure if I will be allowed to, depending on if it's night or not"

"Well, don't let us stop you." I said, then thought for a moment. "I doubt they'd keep you from going out. We're supposed to be here by free will for a job, not a... um. Well..."

I looked at Nova, trying to think of any other word than 'prisoners' or 'slaves'. Frankly I was glad she wasn't paying attention. I finally shrugged. "Ya know."

"I'm getting food." Nova said quickly after she finished stretching. She left the room without waiting for me to answer.

Rei nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'll probably go a bit later though." She replied. "Let's go find Nova and get some food, I'm starving!"

I smiled. "Yeah. We should probably find her before she causes causes trouble." I started out the door, crashing into someone coming in.

"Sorry! I realized I have no idea how to navigate this place and got scared." Nova said quickly, well I regained my balance.

"Well, we found her." Rei joked from behind me, having stopped right in time to avoid the collision.

"Heh. Yeah. C'mon, let's see if we can't find the food." I said, grabbing Nova's hand. A part of me was nervous to have her leave me again... I didn't want her to get lost. Again.

Rei nodded, following us.

I walked into the lunch, bringing Nova in behind me, I looked over my shoulder to make sure Rei was still there before stopping. It occurred to me this was the second time today I'd lead the two of them somewhere. "Well, I think this is it." I said finally letting go of Nova's hand.

Rei looked around a little, almost instantly heading for the food, but then stopped.

Nova sniffed the air, then frowned. She walked over to a cabinet and opened the door and I saw her grab a bag of chips. I took it from her to inspect it, then shrugged.

"Seems like okay food to me." I said and grabbed a bag of chips and a water, then offered a bag and bottle to Rei and she took them. Nova walked over to a table and sat down before Rei and I joined her.

Rei started eating quickly, and I started eating from my own bag of chips. I tapped my hand on the table, thinking of how violent this whole job started.

I noticed Nova move closer to Rei and start weaving together string.

My ears twitched as Rei started humming. I smiled brightly, the tune was sweet sounding. I decided not to bring it up, not wanting to interrupt her.

Rei started humming a little louder, and I realized that she had noticed me and was smiling.

"Um." I said awkwardly, stumbling over my words. "It- it sounds good."

Nova looked up, confused, before settling back on her work.

Rei stopped humming, then spoke quietly. "Thanks."

I nodded, not sure what else to say. I could feel myself blushing slightly and hoped she didn't notice as I continued eating.

I noticed Rei look down at the table. Did I make this awkward?

Nova looked up sharply, taking my attention. "Hey do you think they have more juice here?" She said while she was already heading towards the cabinets.

Rei shrugged, getting up herself. Maybe."

I just sat back in my chair, trying to act calm. Why did I feel so embarrassed?

"Found some!" Nova shouted a bit louder then necessary. She took out a juice box and then happily preceded to sip on it.

Rei came back over with more food and sat down. I noticed someone new walk in but decided to ignore it for now.

I was too busy just trying to figure out what the heck had happened with Rei and the humming.

Nova walked over and scaled the cabinets like a pirate climbing ropes to hand a sail. "Whatcha looking for?" She asked cheerfully.

I watched my sister carefully, then looked back at Rei. I gave her a concerned look. Her smile had disappeared. I like it better when she smiles. Was something wrong?

I looked between Nova and Rei. On one hand, I didn't feel like leaving Nova. On the other... Rei seemed antsy, and I she mentioned flying earlier. Nova was getting braver lately, and had been trying to 'prove herself' more often. But I don't want another Market Incident either.

I got up and walked towards Nova.

"Do you mind if I borrow my sister for a minute?" I asked the kid.

She shrugged. "Sure."

I nodded a thanks and pulled Nova out of earshot. "Would you mind if we go outside? You don't have to but you know your way to the rooms are right?"

"I wouldn't mind." Nova said, blinking

"Okay... If you need me, come running outside. Or find James or Simon."

She smiled, giving me a thumbs up before heading back to the kid from before. I walked over to Rei, and I could feel the blush on my face again.

"So... want to go outside?" I asked.

"Are you sure?" Rei asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "I mean I'd love to, but I can wait."

I looked back at Nova one more time. "Yeah. I think we're good to go. Besides I could use some fresh air.

"Alright, let's go then," Rei said smiling as she stood up.

I smiled, and started towards the door with Rei. I glad to see her look happy. Rei walked next to me as we left.

I walked outside with Rei. Stretching, I was glad to be outside. It felt refreshing.

I watched as Rei ran forward a bit before taking off. I smiled.

I wonder if I could scale the building to sit on the roof...

I shook my head and sat on the ground. I smiled as I watched Rei fly as I took out my pocket bo—

[the paragraph ends, looking like whoever wrote it broke their pencil. There's drops of blood on the page.]