I smelt something burning and coughed as smoke filled my lungs. Opening my eyes, I spotted Astrid sitting on the toilet, a cigar in hand with her legs crossed.
“Have you cooled off yet?”
Rolling onto my side, I turned away from her. “They won’t stop hurting.”
“The new seals?”
“I threw up.”
“Hmm….” She blew out a stream of smoke. “I’ll have to work on them a bit more. They were rushed since you broke the bands.” Turning off the water, she pushed on my shoulder to see more of my back. “It’s bright red.” Astrid scratched at the edges. “It’s breaking,” she said with a sigh. “We’ll have to fix it.”
I moved to the faucet and turned on the water. Hunched over, I sat under it, so the cold water ran down my back.
“So, what are those two fucking idiots trying to do?” Astrid eyed me.
I shrugged. “Annoy me.”
She laughed. “Us both. Watt has it in good with some of the generals. I have a feeling he’s going to squirm his way in and try to run his place. Either that or little miss sunshine found someone who bought into her fucking positive bullshit vibes.”
Picking at my pruned skin, I kept my head down.
“Put up with them for now. Once General Mayer sees that Hellana’s approach is pointless, he’ll send her back to the battlefields, and hopefully, Watt isn’t far behind.” She laughed to herself. “To think I was excited for a white tattoo sealer. Now, I can’t wait for the bastard to leave. It's not like he can teach me anything. He came here to learn, which is another way of saying he’s here to steal my seals. Little motherfucker.” She took another puff.
I glanced at her. “Can you take them off?” I rubbed my upper arms.
Astrid took in a deep puff and held it before breathing out. “I’ll work on some new ones.” She stood and headed for the door. “If you want to get rid of these two idiots faster, let me know what they’re planning. I’m not buying any of that bullshit from earlier.”
Turning the shower back on, I laid down.
Astrid laughed and folded her arms. Leaning against the wall, she watched me. “You’re not going to tell me a damn thing. Just another destructive biding his time until he can blow everyone to hell.”
“Exactly,” I muttered. “So leave.”
***
“Arg! That man makes me so mad,” said Hellana. “Watt is so frustrating.”
“I know how you feel,” breathed Eidy. “I have to deal with him for most of the day.”
I pressed my ear flush against the wall.
“Everything comes so easy for him. Watt barely has to try. Even Astrid is getting annoyed with him.”
“His attitude is what pisses me off,” said Hellana. “So he has fancy tattoo powers. So what! I can heal people. Like I can physically take a blood-gushing wound and make it disappear without even a scar.”
“Gross,” said Eidy. “I’m glad I’m not a healer,” she said in an airy voice.
I heard a flopping noise, and the bed squeaked.
“I’m as good as him, if not better,” said Hellanna. “I can help Eiko just as much as he can. The only reason we’ve had any progress with Eiko’s condition is because of me.”
Eidy laughed. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”
“Excuse me? You’re taking his side.”
“No, I’m not. You’re both good at what you do. Watt is one of the most powerful manipulators if not one of the best.”
“From what he said earlier, he can’t even do black seals. He’s here to learn. A student like everyone else.”
“Black seals are beginner level,” stated Eidy. “I haven’t even mastered all of them. He skipped that section and went straight to doing white. The government put him to work before he could backtrack and learn black. That’s what makes him so annoying. I’ve been working on this one seal for months. He had it perfect in three days. Three fucking days.” She groaned. “I’ll stick with black tattoos, though. White ones get too personal. You start messing with people's minds, and that’s scary shit.”
“Are you serious? That’s what he does? Like goes inside people's heads?”
“Watt was an interrogator. They’d catch a spy, and he’d go in and extract all the information. I won’t let him practice anything on me, not even black seals. One of the lower levels always has to do it because we’re all paranoid; he might put a white seal on us and look into our thoughts.”
The room was quiet.
“And we’re letting a man like that be alone with Eiko,” breathed Hellana. “Does no one think things through?”
Eidy chuckled. “Eiko doesn’t have any secrets for Watt to pry out of him. There’s a positive side to his ability as well. Psychotherapy might help Eiko not be so nervous. You’re right about the rabbit thing. He looks like he’s constantly searching for an exit route.”
“Everyone speaks so lowly of him. Yeah, he blew out a wall, but it wasn’t like he was being rebellious. He panicked, and it happened.”
“You make so many excuses for that kid,” said Eidy with a sigh. “He is nice, but he’s also dangerous even if he doesn’t mean to be.”
A pit formed in my stomach, and it rejuvenated the dull ache in my body.
“I can’t help it. There’s something about him. I don’t think I’m the only one who feels it. Watt is the same. He went from not knowing Eiko to helping me find ways to protect him from Astrid. That woman gets a kick out of torturing him.”
“I don’t think Watt is doing this out of the kindness of his heart,” replied Eidy. “The government sent him here to get Eiko ready for war. Why do you think you’ve been allowed to wander in and out of Eiko’s rooms? Astrid has been working with Eiko for twelve years. During all that time, she has never let anyone near him without her nearby. They’re getting desperate, and Astrid is being pushed to the side. She’s pissed as hell about it, but at the end of the day, she is an aster. She’s just another asset like the rest of us. It’s not like she can rebel against the government. They’d downgrade her status and slap a few seals on her.”
“True… she’d never go that far. For an aster, she has been giving a lot of authority. At least Watt appears to want to help me. Eiko is so withdrawn from the world. Some social interaction would do him good.”
I cringed at the thought. I didn’t want nor need to socialize with any of them.
“Do you think he can hear us talking?” said Eidy softly. “I mean, his room is right there.”
“No. I’ve tried to listen in when Astrid is in there with him, and I can’t hear a thing. Eiko isn’t that quiet either when he gets upset. He lets you know when he wants you to get out of his room.”
“Good, because that would make an awkward situation even more awkward if he knew we were over here gossiping about him.”
“Very true,” laughed Hellana. “Thank god for soundproofing.”
I leaned away from the wall and picked at my lips. I felt slightly bad about listening to them so often. It wouldn’t be a big deal if they stopped talking about me so much. I was trying to prepare myself beforehand for whatever Hellana was planning.
“I confirmed for myself that he does have a hot body,” said Eidy. “Like for someone sitting in their room all day, he is fucking ripped.
My face flared red, and I clasped my forehead. Why were they talking about this again?
“Eidy.”
“What?” she laughed. “It’s just an observation. I’m not going to jump him. That would send him into a full-blown panic attack. He’d blow up the whole institution.
“Whatever you say,” breathed Hellana.
“Don’t act so innocent. Miss all-powerful healer who probably enjoys rubbing her hands all over innocent little Eiko. Forget about me; we should be worried about you.”
“You did not!”
I heard them scuffling on the other side of the wall.
“I’m kidding!” Eidy laughed. “Get off me. I’m being crushed! You’re going to smother me. For a healer, you’re so violent.”
My stomach was turning again as my tattoos flickered. Holding my stomach, I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I felt horrible, and the dull ache wouldn’t go away. I wanted the damn bands back. Falling onto my side, I took slow breaths. Was Watt working with Hellana to get me ready for war? No, Hellana didn’t want me to go to war. Maybe she secretly did. It would make her life easier if I weren’t around. I tugged at my hair. People were so difficult to understand. I just wanted to stay in my room and be left alone.
I didn’t need the seals or therapy when all they had to do was leave me alone, and I wouldn't bother anyone. My stomach gurgled again, and I dove for the toilet. I was starting to realize why onabis didn’t live long because our existence was pure torture.
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