Breakfast

Saberteck said:

They had rested, a night without worries, he'd given her the spare bedroom, he'd done everything he could to make her comfortable. Then they slept.

It was morning now, the smell of pancakes and eggs filled the house, James was making Klef breakfast. He had become a good cook sense arriving on the island, all in all he was very capable on his own. Job, internship at the museum, he could live alone if needed.

He piled the pancakes onto a large plate and set them on the table, Klef was still sleeping. Despite he himself being exhausted he wanted to make her breakfast, so he did.

@Ballerina

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The rest of the night was a blur. Having a fever had only made her exhaustion worse, breaking down nearby the bus stop that they were dropped off by did not help either. After arriving at James' house she immediately crashed, as if her mind shut it self down after the trauma. She somehow managed to make it to the spare room, plopping down in bed immediately after taking off her hoodie and shorts. It was supposed to be a night without worry, but Klef's half conscious mind was going in circles, worried about the future and missing the past. She kept on reminding herself that all that mattered was the fact they were both safe and would remain safe for awhile.

After awhile, she finally drifted to sleep. In her dreams she saw faces of old friends and family, faces she would never see again. Klef studied them as hard as she could, even if there was a cure for the virus, her blindness would likely not be helped, it seemed to be the affect of something entirely different.

Klef woke up to the scent of pancakes. From all the time she spent with him over the past month, she noticed James never backed down on a promise, even if it was something as trivial as pancakes. She sat upright in the bed and yawned. When she tried to wiping her eyes like she usually did she still couldn't see anything. Usually by now her vision was in focus, why was it-— oh yeah. Her loss of sight was going to take some getting used to.

Whatever James was cooking smelt good, she assumed it was pancakes, but it could be anything. She put her shorts back on and wrapped the contaminated hoodie around her waist, she had been wearing an oversized tee shirt underneath. It baffled her how James could still carry on cooking with the virus, perhaps he just really enjoyed cooking?

Klef followed the smell, dragging her fingers along the hallway. The sound of plates clanking led her to the end of the hallway. She assumed it was probably James or one of his family members. Either way, she should probably talk now, even if it felt awkward and unnatural to a girl who managed to soak a pillow in tears.
" Good morning." Klef said to whoever was in the room, her voice was monotone and didn't carry the same confidence and liveliness that it used to. However it was better than not saying anything at all. "What are you making?"

Saberteck said:

He turned and smiled as Klef appeared, "morning Klef," he was happy to see her up. "Pancakes and eggs," he said as he started making a plate for her, "didn't realize I liked cooking until about a month ago, picked it up fast."

He set the plate of food on the table, "my dad headed to the school, had some work to do, my sisters are off somewhere." Stepping beside her, he guided her to the seat and food, he was happy to be near her.

He quickly set a fork beside her plate, "you are the first person I've made breakfast for," he said with a chuckle, despite this, he was a good cook, and the food was very good.

Pouring both of them a cup of coffee he sat beside her with his own food. "I hope it's good," he said with a small smile.

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She recognized that voice belonged to James, which was not very surprising, what did confuse her was how he carried on even with the virus. " Nice." Klef commented, she wanted to say more, but her mouth remained hinged shut. James never struck her as the type of person who liked to cook. Finding out about the trivial things that she used to be able to pick up instantaneously with her powers was definitely different.

She followed James to her seat, he was the only reasons why she still stayed alive after being dropped off by the Rosales. Usually she had her powers to guide her, but being powerless, blind, and sick was traumatizing, she felt lost, being by James softened the blow a little.

" Knowing you, I do not doubt it." She stuttered, patting the table to find the fork before taking a small bite. Eating was surprisingly easier than she thought it would be since she had a general idea where her mouth and the plate were. Klef did not have much of an appetite thanks to the stomach problems she faced earlier, but knew that if she did not at least try to eat something, she would pass out.

" Did you sleep well last night?" She cringed at herself, making small talk was saved for the people her uncle did business with not a close friend. However, it was much easier to pretend like nothing had changed and she was not miserably sick than to deal with the truth.

Saberteck said:

"I slept ok," he had dark circle under his eyes, it would take a while before he was caught up from his lost sleep. He felt the Shadow sorta move around a bit.

James took a bite of his food, he had hid it well but he had similar nausea, he had decided to push his aside so he could focus on helping Klef.

He looked to her, this strange girl, he couldn't help but be drawn to her, in less than a month, they became very close. "You sleep ok? I have some extra pillows and blankets if you need them," he wanted to make sure she was comfortable.

He added a bit more syrup to his food, he thought it might be best to slowly ease into the subject of last night's events if they were going to talk about it at all.

He guided her cup of coffee to her hand, making sure she knew it was there, "careful its hot. I picked up a few things from a store nearby, snacks for us."

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Klef shook her head. Even though she wasn't able to see how physically exhausted he probably looked, his voice gave it away. She wondered if James felt the same way that she did. He may have had his sight intact, but he was in quarantine with her for a reason. The two pretended that the events of the night before had never happened while attempting to eat with upset stomachs.

Her night was spent trying to remember faces like his, she wanted to remember at least a few if this was how she would be like forever; that wasn't something he necessarily needed to know, he would probably get concerned. " T-totally." Klef lied, stumbling on the 'T'. The last thing she wanted was for James to fuss over her more than he already was. James needed to take care of himself, after all, Klef was not the only sick person in the room.

Klef tried taking a sip of coffee. The weight of the cup caught her of guard. Her hand wobbled a bit as she brought it towards her. " You have really outdone yourself this time." She joked, taking a sip. It surprised her how hungry she actually was as the virus suppressed her appetite. Then she had practically fasted for the entire week. It pained her to look back a week ago when she thought that the virus would actually help her grow stronger and taller. So much for that.

" Honestly, how do you do it?" She asked, a dull flicker appeared in her eye for a moment. " You are just as sick, but you're making pancakes and buying shit, how?"

Saberteck said:

James could tell she knew he was lying, and he could tell she was lying too. "Oh we'll both be able to rest more later if we need it," he smiled a bit.

He chewed his food, thinking about her question, all the while the Shadow watched, curious about his answer. "I just keep pushing," he took a sip of his coffee, letting the hot liquid warm his sore throat, "yes, I'm a little sick, a little tired, but I don't want to let that keep me down. I have people to help, and you know, a great girl to make breakfast for."
."

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Klef nodded. It was easy to ignore the physical pain she was in when she broke down, it felt like her head was spinning and all she did was cry. Now that she was rested and slightly less disheartened, she could feel her skin and throat burning. Between yesterday and today, she was not quite sure which one had her hurting more

She winced before forcing another bite of food into her mouth. it made her feel nauseous, but eating kept her from losing consciousness. Her foggy eyes widened, James never failed to confuse yet inspire her. " That's amazing..." She mumbled, envious of his stamina.

His last comment made her face turned even redder, but she quickly dismissed it as him expressing pity on a blind girl. Her irises shifted to the side, " I wouldn't say that," she said, placing down her fork. " But if we ever get better I owe you big time. I'm bad at pretty much everything, but I'll find some kind of way to make this all up to you, I promise."

Saberteck said:

James blushed for a second as she said it was amazing, "nah....I'm not amazing," he couldn't help but smile a bit, "just doing what I can."

He took another sip of his coffee, "bad at everything?" he asked, knowing what she meant. "I think I have to disagree with that," he set his coffee down, "you're good at a lot of things," he smiled at her, "for one....you're good at having fun, enjoying life, caring about others. That's something I think the world needs a lot more of."

He finished off his coffee, "so many people, just don't care because it seems easier," he looked to her, "despite that fact you continue to care about others.....that is truly amazing."

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Klef was surprised that James didn't know how unusual it was for him to just go about life like everything was perfectly fine. She envied him for that. Doing anything at all, even eating or walking was a major feat for someone with the virus.

Klef shook her head in disbelief. " You are kidding me," if she still had sight she would have been rolling her eyes, it wasn't the fist time she heard that crap, " it is not going to be like that anymore." She took another sip of her coffee before slamming it down, causing the coffee to swirl around inside her cup. The virus had stolen most of her strengths, preventing what could have been a disastrous moment.

" All I do is care about myself anyways," she sighed, prodding at the pancake with her fork. " I should have looked out for you back there... but instead I was too busy focusing on myself. Maybe if I acted like a responsible human being back at that party we wouldn't be in this mess, or at the very least I'd have my sight to help you." Klef continued to poke at the pancake, flipping half of it over, she did not want to tell him the truth and have him think that she was an even worse person than she already was, but it felt like the only thing she could say.

" Back at Quarantine... when the Rosales were escaping..." She stuttered, the words struggling to come out of her mouth. " I almost ditched you... I forgot you were there with me..."