Inception

Chapter 7: Blood Sugar

A tap on her shoulder broke Lena from her concentration. She flipped off her fine-tune soldering stick and flicked up her welding goggles.

The third and last of the base's full-time scientists hunched just a bit too close. He could never figure out what was too much or too little personal space and he avoiding meeting people's eyes.

Even now, he was looking at something to the left as he kneaded the second knuckle of his long, knobbly pointer finger. In another life he could have been a pianist, but in this one he only had eyes for tests. Test rules. Test steps. Test results.

"It's five." His voice was soft and wispy, like the graying hair on his head.

"Thanks, Yoji." She pulled her googles over her head, catching a few silver hairs from her ponytail with it. The pain of her pulled hair seemed delayed. She blinked for far too long at the space between her and Yoji. "Three inches."

He moved back. Exactly three inches.

"Sorry."

"No! It was close. Real close. And you're sweet for trying."

He gave a wan smile as he moved to kneading the second knuckle of his pinky.

"Make sure you save your results on the computer before you leave."

"Course. You gonna stay longer?"

"Yeah."

"Do you need dinner?"

He shook his head a bit too enthusiastically, like a child, despite being in his forties.

"I brought a sandwich. And a mango."

He pulled on another finger before scuttling back to a table loaded down with a deflated, purple kaiju organ the size of an ATV.

Lena drowsily reminded herself not to feel sorry for Yoji as she cleaned up her station and entered in her results in the lab's system, one key at a time. Yoji was living his dream come true sequestered down here in the lab. His social anxiety ate up the lightless basement like grass drank water. Kind of came with being on the spectrum, but she understood that that didn't exactly mean he didn't need any socialization. Just socialization on his terms, which she was more than happy to comply with. Eccentrics aside, Yoji was an absolute sweetheart. She was lucky to have such easygoing coworkers. Well, at least the ones she would be around the most.

The work induced haze blurred Lena's awareness. The next thing she knew, her body had auto-piloted her to the cafeteria. It was a sea of white-shirted men and women wearing the same gray uniform pants, speckled with the blue-green scrubs of the medical staff.

She rubbed her aching temple as she made her way to the queue. Her hand was shaking. Or was it her arm? It smelled good tonight. The food was usually good. Once she had a tray of some pasta shrimp scampi and various yum yums, she turned and searched the crowd for the silver head of her brother. She wanted brother. Gnaw on his stupid head. A love gnaw.

She didn't have to look long as he raised his arm from a corner table beside the tall form of Hibino, who noticed her at the same time and started waving as well.

She smiled until she got close enough to see a familiar bowl-cut head sitting at the same table. She sighed, then took the space offered to her by her brother and Hibino, who were scooting close enough to get elbows in each other's faces.

Maybe if she just pretended Hoshina wasn't there...

"Damn, Ichigawa, what is up with your bloodline?" asked a familiar young man with bright pink hair.

"Yeah," said another, who didn't even try to hide his appraising look of Lena. He gave a low whistle.

Lena frowned. "What's that mean?"

"Only good things, only good things," said pinky. "Go on, dude, be a gent. Introduce us."

"Like hell," said Leno. He took the cupcake from his tray and put it on hers. "Apology cupcake."

"Apology cupcake accepted." Mmm, it was red velvet too. She got to work peeling it free from its paper cup. It was actually work. Paper was scrunchy. Her first bite made her groan. She hadn't realized how low her blood sugar was until just then.

"Forgot to snack again?" said the Vice Captain from the far end of the table.

She ignored him. Of course she'd forgotten. One didn't exactly think of food when they were elbow-deep in kaiju guts. It really was a thankless job, but she'd gotten done early and had a whole extra hour to work on the spare fortitude sensor they'd given her. She hadn't wanted to waste the time by eating.

"You're still doing that?" asked Leno.

"Doing what?" asked Hibino through a full mouth.

"Lena's got issues with her blood sugar. She has to eat every three hours or she either becomes a zombie or a monster, and she was always forgetting growing up. Even had a timer on her phone, probably still does."

Lena shoved him with her shoulder. Leno just shoved back. It made her warm from the inside out. Gal, why'd they have to be adults? Couldn't they just be kids again and live together forever? Stupid brother not even bothering to call. Nnrrrgh, cupcake.

"Oh, I had a teacher like that once," said Hibino before taking another bite. "She always smelled like trailmix...and prunes."

Lena listened with only partial attention as the conversations carried on around her. A comfortable drowsiness settled over her, like one would feel in front of a warm fire on a holiday while beloved family members chatted nearby. Her hands had finally stopped shaking. For a moment, she forgot that this was a cafeteria full of soldiers. She had her brother and good food. Maybe she could just bundle him up in her pillowcase and use him like a scented satchel for good luck.

"Did you shower?" she asked him.

Leno wrinkled his nose. "Yes?"

"Good." Meant gross little brother BO wouldn't interrupt her sleep. Wait, no, he wouldn't fit in her pillowcase. He'd grown. Stupid brother.

"Is she okay?"

"Guess it's zombie this time. It's going to take her a bit to recover. Come on, Lena, you're twenty-four years old, you should know how to take care of yourself by now."

Lena hummed. Shrimp was nice. The table was nice. Maybe she could eat while laying her head on it. Sideways. Like those pictures of rich Greek peeps being fed grapes.

She leaned down to try it, but a hand on her head stopped her.

"Staaaaaawp," she whined.

"No," said Leno. "No sleeping on the table."

"I'm not sleeping. I'm not sleepy. You're sleepy. Your mom's sleepy."

Someone snorted.

Hibino looked concerned. It was cute. "Jee, do you think they'll give us another cupcake for her?"

"Iharu, give me your soda."

"Yeah, sure."

A cup of dark and fizzy was stuffed into her hand. She blinked at it stupidly.

"Eww. Cooties," she mumbled.

"Eh!"

"You hear that? You got cooties."

"Oo, indirect kiss!"

"Seriously, dude?"

"Just drink it," said Leno, irritation lacing his voice.

She did so. It kind of felt like tiny cool strings into her brain.

Mmm...bubblies.

__________________________

The little black kitty I brought home has chosen my husband as his favorite human. Now he's my husband's cat. *sigh* Traitor.