Providence, Somewhere

Words Remain Unspoken

(A/N: Content Warning for some medical imagery involving needles. Reader Discretion is advised. I don't know how to put this any bigger.)

Lapis Lazuli waved one more time, taking out the last of the burning embers. She had heard from Ashi that Sunset set fire to Finn's place, but over what, she didn't know. At least she could fly, that was something.

She looked below. Sally was taking pictures, surveying the damage in the dying light. She waved Lapis over. "Lapis, think it's safe to get up there?"

She shrugged, swooping down to pick her up. "Just be careful on the inside. The damage is more extensive there."

Up she went with Sally, setting her down on the deck before landing herself. Lapis pushed the door open.

The inside seemed quite wrecked. A large hole was burned shortly near the entryway, making an irregular pattern across the floor leading to the kitchen, then near the bedding area. The broken shade flapped in the wind, hole visible from where it was punched into.

"What did Sunset do?" Sally said.

"And Finn," Lapis added, checking her phone. "Just got word from Danny that Finn somehow escaped the hospital."

Sally hopped onto the counter, crawling on all fours warily as to avoid the cabinets. "He got burned by the Distortion, right?"

"Yup. He's also being kept under observation, according to what he told me. Dexter ended up getting the blood samples done."

"Anything came of it?" Sally felt something slimy underneath her hand, and cleaned it off on her shirt.

"Yeah, said that he's under something Acht coined as 'Distortion Sickness'. The Distortion touched him a lot, and it most likely caused him to go berserk, escaping from containment. Sunset was here, though, so could Finn have—"

"Lapis, can you shine a light over here?" Sally interrupted nervously.

Using the torch on her phone, Lapis glided next to Sally. The counter had splotches of liquid on it, and based on the lower cabinets having fire damage, it seemed like the countertops didn't catch fire.

Sally immediately jumped onto Lapis, much to the latter's displeasure and surprise. She almost dropped her phone, managing to keep it in her hands as Sally clung to her leg.

"Some warning would've helped," Lapis said.

"With my deepest apologies, Lapis, I don't want that stuff on me."

"But you touched it!"

"Then clearly you know what to do!"

"Hey!" came a third voice.

The two looked down, seeing a little, large-eyed girl with a lavender dress and light aqua locs.

"Sally," Lapis said. "We need to get this kid back to town."

Her first evening in the apartments, aside from the raucous yet warm welcome, maintained itself rather nicely. She looked forward to staying in such a large place, larger than the motel room, yet there were some technologies she needed to figure out with the others. As in, why was the kitchen on the inside? What is with the big black box that seems to show nothing but patterns? Why did the box have a few slots?

Zelda did not want to touch any of that. At least, not until someone helped her figure it out. Not like she couldn't try it herself, but considering how things went in the Tech Labs back home, she wasn't willing to make something explode.

She lay in bed after changing into pajamas given to her by Marinette as part of a housewarming gift, which was just some clothes tailored to her. They were comfortable and warm; a light blue pullover with pants. At least, with the new wardrobe, the new home was seeming more like, well, a home.