Planet Omega

Chapter 21

 "If you take three steps towards me, I'll let you be done for this session."

Phin glares at Emma. "If you don't shut the fuck up, I'll personally make sure you can only see out of one eye," she threatens.

And Emma laughs. As if Phin hadn't meant every single word of her threat. My gaze turns back to Phin, who looks like she's going to pull out a knife at any moment now, then Emma, who appears delighted.

No matter how much time passes, I'm still unable to tell whether Emma is naive when it comes to certain reactions and emotions, or if she reacts this way on purpose. Odd survival method, because it doesn't actually work, but I suppose it throws the other person off for long enough.

That, or Emma isn't phased by threats. Or Phin. The same Phin who I watched slaughter a room of twenty-eight people with her knives, without getting a single scratch on her. The gunshot had been such a fluke. A lucky shot. Phin is lethal. Emma isn't letting that very real fact get to her, apparently.

"Just three," Emma insists, holding her hands out to Phin.

While Phin is healing from her wound a lot quicker than any human would naturally, her biggest obstacle is mobility. A shattered hip doesn't just magically repair itself (well, it can, but with the right kind of magic), so Phin's only option is the old fashioned physical therapy route.

Which she loathes because it means temporary loss of her insane independence.

Though, it is kind of fun watching her think she could do things. While she looks utterly pathetic, Phin refuses to ask for help, and has previously dragged herself places to avoid talking to us.

Phin scowls at Emma, and I swear she's going to attempt to kill Emma someday. For now, Phin takes a deep breath and puts her arms out to balance. Her right hip is just fine, which gives her the stable balance to take the first step with her right leg. Her chest rises and falls with the deep breath she takes in preparation for the painful step.

I lean forward in my chair. Phin's been going at it for over twenty minutes now, which is longer than she'd done over the past couple of weeks. There's no way her left hip isn't in a lot of pain, but she's a stubborn assassin.

Then, Phin moves her left leg, hissing at the pain, but she steps down. It's the next step that will determine how she feels, but Phin keeps that momentum going. With gritted teeth, she steps with her right leg again, but her left buckles. Quickly, humanoid Will rushes to catch her from behind as she falls backwards.

"Don't you fucking dare," Phin growls, so menacingly, my eyes widen.

Will chuckles sheepishly, and then lets go of her so she can fall and hit the dirt ground. Another silly thing Phin is determined to let happen - any falls and accidents so that she can pick herself up and try again. Will, of course, doesn't have the heart to watch her fall so much, but they back off when she's firm about what she wants.

"That was three steps," says Phin, staring up the cloudy skies. "Don't talk to me today again."

Emma claps her hands together with a grin on her face. Then, she walks over and holds out her hand towards Phin. "You won't even have to see my face until tomorrow," Emma tells her. And to my surprise, Phin takes Emma's hand, and Emma helps her up and into a chair. "I'll bring you a sandwich."

No, I don't get it. I'm confused about the relationship between the two, especially since Emma had been the one most suspicious about Phin and her ability to keep the rest of us safe by not blabbing. Maybe it's the time spent with her, or even the fact that Emma just doesn't give up on Phin. Maybe Phin feels indebted in some way.