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Chapter 49 : Can I interest you in some tea?​

12th of May, 2011

Brockton Bay, Bonesaw's hidden lab

My return to full-body consciousness is something hazy, lazy even, in spite of technically being already awake.

I simultaneously yawn and grumble a little as the strident 'beeps' of the nearby alarm tells me that yes, I am supposed to get a move on with my day, even if I really don't want to.

After all, yesterday had been a lot, and I pushed myself mentally by making so many complicated surgical operations in parallel and I really could use a couple more hours of-

Something pokes me in the side, making me yelp in surprise.

I straighten a little to give my current pillow a baleful glare.

Sibby clearly doesn't care if the expectant raise of her left eyebrow is anything to go by.

"Whyyyyy?" I petulantly whine as I drop my head back into the fur of her collarbone, "I just want five more minutes!"

My well-thought argument apparently doesn't sway my Big Sister if the way her fingers poking at my sides is any indication.

Nonetheless, I try to stoically endure the onslaught of 'poke poke poke' until a giggle slips out of my lips, prompting me to stiffen and to try - emphasis on the trying part - to slap her hand away.

"Stop it!" I giggle while hugging her closer, face still mushed into her fluff, "It tickles!"

She pauses.

I can almost picture the predatory grin blossoming on her lips.

The onslaught redoubles.

I end up laughing so hard I nearly wet myself, begrudgingly consceding the point she is making and waking up in truth.

***​

I admit giving in to my laziness as I let myself get pampered by Sibby in front of the mirror of our makeshift bathroom as she deftly take care of my hair, setting them in my usual ringlets - a hairstyle that I kinda stopped doing on my lonesome since it is a lot of works and I'm not naturally curly haired - while I wash my teeth.

Not that I really need to do the latter, mind, since I replaced my enamel with something a little more convenient a couple of years ago, but good habits die hard!

"'ish ish nishe." I point out, blinking once as I realize that I'm not really understandable with my mouth full of toothpaste, before bending over the sink to spit it out, "I said, 'this is nice.'"

Sibby's hand momentarily halts, and she locks eyes with me through the mirror, the edge of her lips curling a little before going back to her self-appointed task of ironing my ringlets.

"... I missed this, you know." I babble a little, shuffling on my feet, "Having someone taking care of me, not being the one who has to juggle everything all the time..."

Her left, and relatively free, hand quickly signs something.

It takes me a hot second to understand what she said since I read it 'flipped' through the mirror.

"Gran is nice. Very nice, even." I start, one hand coming to rub at my arm as I mull over my words while looking away from the mirror for a beat, "But… She doesn't know me. Not really, you know.

"This?" I gesture at the both of us, a little shy smile on my lips, "This is familiar, grounding."

Sibby makes a sound like a mix of a hum and a purr in the back of her throat, and her free hand comes to rest on my shoulder to squeeze it, once.

I lean a little deeper into her touch, and let myself get all dolled up while closing my eyes, a little smile on my face.

***​

I sit at a relatively free-ish workbench, a bowl of cereal in front of me and my all-purpose laptop next to me as I look through today's news while eating my breakfast, Sibby seated nearby with one of her magazines.

I take the time to swallow before speaking aloud.

"The internet is going nuts." I comment aloud, a little amazed, "I mean, I was already aware that this was the case, but it only got worse during the night."

My Big Sister quickly signs something that I distractedly registers in my peripheral vision.

I do a cute little snort at her question.

"'Divisive' would be the better qualifier, I think." I muse in answer, tapping the handle of my big spoon against my chin a couple of times, "People are happy that the meanie monster is dead, obviously, but they have a hard time getting over the fact that you're the one who killed it with Mister Armsmaster's help."

Sibby makes a silent scoffing gesture, before motioning for me to hand her over the computer to look at PHO by herself.

Considering I can always tap into the several other thousands of electronic devices in the Bay if I really need to look at something on the internet, I shrug a little before sliding it over the workbench.

"Sure, help yourself!" I chirp, before going back to my cereals.

She signs a quick thanks in my direction as she drops her magazine on the table before straightening a little on her stool to get a better access to the keyboard-

-and I jolt a little when I feel my laptop for all intents and purposes vanish from my perception.

My head snaps in Sibby's direction, electric blue circuits lines dully glowing on alabaster skin as she purses her lips a little, her aura apparently having latched on the electronic device without her really paying it attention.

"Sibby?" I ask, looking intently at the scene, "Is something the matter?"

'Don't know.' She one-handedly signs, 'Trying something.'

I hum in acknowledgement and leave her at her task as I take another spoonful of cereal.

A beat passes.

My curiosity is piqued.

I slide off my stool to step behind her to watch what has apparently caught her attention and have to blink in surprise when I see web pages changing by themselves on the screen, without Sibby having to tap at the keyboard or fiddling with the touchpad.

"Touch-based technopathy." I whisper under my breath, easily recognizing the subset of my own ability.

'Think so too.' She distractedly signs with her right hand, the left kept in contact with the laptop's casing, 'Intriguing. Not sure useful.'

I go on my tippy-toes to pat her on the shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll find out!" I chirp, "You're a smart girl, after all!"

She gives me a little amused look over her shoulder, her own hand coming to pat at my own head.

I squint a little in delight under the attention, before scampering back to my stool to finish my breakfast.

All the while I start thinking about what I'm going to do now that we dealt with Leviathan's attack.

The good thing is, Sibby and I got a lot of brownie points with our contribution, the PRT's propaganda for once on our side and smoothing out a lot of ruffled feathers.

Which reminds me…

I swallow my mouthful of cereal before directing Sibby's way an amused look.

"JJK brainrot, really?" I ask with a grin.

She pauses, locking eyes with me before slowly grinning.

She quickly gestures a complex sentence that takes me a few hot seconds to understand.

When I finally get it, I end up giggling like a lunatic for ten solid seconds.

"You- You do have a few points in common with Sukuna, I give you that." I answer while clamping down on another laughing fit and wiping away a stray tear of laughter, "But don't try to make me believe for one second that this was the best you could come up with!"

Her smirk widens a little.

'The funniest.' She signs with a wink.

I snicker, before shaking my head.

"If you end up soothing Mister Armsmaster's ego with a meme of all things, I'll call baloney!" I tell her mock-sternly.

***​

As he goes over his most efficient morning routine in the - slightly soggy - Downtown PRT HQ, Collin Wallis is suddenly overtaken by a very strong urge to sneeze.

***​

I shake my head in amusement one more time, before going back to my original line of thoughts as I take another spoonful of cereal.

We got brownie points, sure, but we're still, well, divisive, like I told Sibby earlier. Which means that I have to find a few other ways to improve my public image - if only to make it more palatable for the normies that the heroes don't want to poke us with a stick.

I think over the problem for a few beats longer, before deciding on a course of action-

I blink, then look at my Big Sister consideringly.

… She's here, now, I realize, which means I probably should include her in my decision process, right?

I think about it for a beat, before ultimately clearing my throat while discretely coughing in my fist.

It does the trick - as well as make her cat-like ears twitch a little, which, dawww! - and she locks eyes with me once again.

"I was thinking about what we could do to improve our image." I prelude with, gesturing idly with my big spoon while kicking my feet against my stool, "We're off to a good start with yesterday, but we still can do more while the Truce holds."

She nods while gesturing to me to elaborate further, her right hand leaving the computer to give me the full brunt of her attention as she props her head against her left to adopt a more boneless, almost lazy, pause.

The corner of my lips twitch a little at the cat-like attitude she subconsciously and effortlessly displays.

"Dragon still has one of her forks here, so I'm going to collaborate with her on the relief effort by providing her with a more comprehensive map of the power grid." I start to enumerate while ticking my fingers, "It should help pinpoints where the electricians should focus their efforts to restore the current in both the Docks and Downtown.

"Next, I'm going to send two squads of my little helpers to map the sewer system." I tick another finger, "With ten of those working at the task, they should be done by today, tomorrow at the latest, and we will have an idea of where Leviathan's hydrokinesis caused the most damage. The faster we deal with the issue, the faster we can eliminate human waste products, the less people fall sick, the less we stress the Bay's healthcare infrastructure. That too, I'll give it to Dragon to handle.

"Still with Dragon, I want to see if she could funnel some ressources my way to craft more Nanobiotics." I tick another finger, "The more I have of it, the less reliant we are on Panacea's biokinesis, and, well, the less likely she is to snap out of the blue. As things stand, I can barely restore three adult limbs a day with my production capabilities. This isn't going to be sustainable long term, and I'm going to be stretched thin with my chemicals if I'm going ahead with Project Serra."

I trade a look with Sibby, only to see that she's pursing her lips in consideration.

She signs a question my way.

I slowly nod at her remark.

"You're right, I can probably ask for some resources from the local PRT." I admit, tilting my head consideringly, "It'll also show that I'm willing to play ball with them, too."

I grin my Big Sister's way.

"That's a great idea, I'll do just that!" I chirp, before going back to my little list, "... Next is… A bit more personal."

Sibby quirks an eyebrow at that.

I sigh a little.

"Gran's house got flooded." I answer the unasked question through pursed lips, "She's been good to me, so I'm going to discreetly send Mister Nurse and a squad of little helpers to clean up the mess."

Her lips curl a little, and she signs something.

"Of course I don't want to sleep in the refugee camps with my other body!" I scoff while crossing my arms over my chest defensively, "It's for the best anyway, I don't want to risk someone annoying me!"

Sibby rolls her eyes theatrically, but nonetheless concedes the point.

"Not like Mindy isn't already doing it in any case." I grumble under my breath, before going back to my list, "I'll be at the hospital for the next week for a full shift a day too, not like I can do much here anyway while things still cook, and analyzing Eden's flesh is going to need my full focus so I don't want to start now."

My Big Sister hum-purrs, while looking over her shoulder toward one of the incubation devices where an embryo is already burgeoning.

I watch as she tilts her head consideringly, before signing a question.

I slowly blink.

"... Yes. I mean, I do have those samples, but why would you-" I ask.

Another short gesture.

"Oh, sure! I can do that, the other incubator is free anyway." I answer with a shrug.

She signs her thanks, before looking back my way.

"Next is- Where is Jade, anyway?" I start ticking another finger, before looking confusedly back at Sibby.

'Outside. Patrolling. Helping.' She signs quickly, 'Wanted help. Told her help heroes. Woke up early.''

"Uh." I vocalize aloud a bit dumbly, "I guess that takes care of that. Since she's associated with us, it'll do our rep good."

Finally, I let my hands fall back on my workbench.

"That's all I have for now, do you have some other ideas?" I ask, tilting my head questioningly.

My Big Sister tilts her head this way and that in consideration, before shaking it.

'Good ideas. Good start.' She ends up signing, 'Tell if something comes mind.'

"Great!" I chirp, my eyes all crinkled up in delight as I hop down my stool, my empty bowl of cereal in my hand, "Lemme just wash this quickly, then we'll go to the hospital!"

I barely finish my sentence that a slow, three beat knocks gets heard in the relative quiet of the lab.

I trade a confused look with Sibby, who merely shrugs back.

"You handle it?" I ask while leaning on the balls of my feet.

She dismissively waves as she glides off her stool to sort-of sashay in the door's direction.

I scamper in our sort of 'kitchen area' to drop my bowl before coming back toward the entrance just as Sibby opens the door.

I promptly not-quite lock eyes through the medium of one of my nearby little helpers with the cowled form of a thin, slightly monochromatic figure of a blond preteen, three shades standing ramrod straight at her back.

Instantly, Sibby tenses as my own steps grind to a screeching halt.

Then, Glaistig flippin' Uaine curtsies, before regally straightening.

"Good tidings, Kingly Chirurgeon, Avatar." The Fairie Queen clasps her hands in front of herself, "We've come to parlay. We swear on our name to abide by guest rights as long as thou doth in kind."

I mull that over lightning-quick, then end up giving the only possible answer I can under those particular circumstances.

"Gladly, Miss Fairy Queen." I beam while clasping my own hands in the same way she just did, "Can I interest you in some tea?"

I swear, I internally grouse, I really can't have nice things!