(C) Shedding Light (Monica/Zrion BC)

[lawna]

Monica snatched up the clothes Zrion had left for her and yanked the t-shirt on. The shirt had a deep 'V' in the front, so she pulled it back on her shoulders, making it swoop in the back. The shirt went to about her knees, and when she turned around, nothing showed.

The pants, however, were another story. She slid into them and was instantly swimming in them. She hiked them up above her belly button and pulled the drawstring tight around her waist, and it was still loose after knotting it. She stood on the pant legs, and she swiftly cuffed them, but she didn't think they would stay that way for long.

Deeming herself decent, she threw her towel over the shower curtain rod, folded her dirty clothes and stuck them under her arm, and walked out of the bathroom.

She didn't get far before the smell of breakfast made her mouth water. She clamped it shut to keep from drooling everywhere.

She then she came to the doorway of the kitchen and saw Zrion pour the contents of the kettle into two cups.

The smell still tormenting her, she set her clothes on an empty chair, and came to stand beside him, seeing the plates of food on the counter.

"I can put these on the table if they're ready," she said, already picking them up.

[Darkjak87]

"Go ahead." Zrion replied. He left her to it, and took it upon himself to get the toast out of the oven, setting the pan on a pot holder on the counter. He put some butter (the non-moldy bits, anyway) and some strawberry jelly on all the slices, and decided that breakfast was ready.

"Alright, that's everything." He said, obviously a little proud of himself, despite his efforts to be casual about it all. To be fair, most of the food had been frozen, but he still managed not to burn anything.

He got two slices of bread, and spread mayonnaise on one of them. He laid most of his egg on the bread, and added a sausage patty. Normally he'd put some cheese on it, but after his search for fresh slices turned out to be futile, he ate the sandwich plain. He ate his toast and the remaining eggs separately, as was his habit, and alternated sips between the tea and coffee. The food wasn't bad, if he said so himself, although the sausage did taste a little funny.

"So." He began. "How is it?"

[lawna]

Monica chewed her mouthful of food, swallowed and then exclaimed, "Great! This was exactly what I wanted. I never made a fire in the alley to cook stuff, and I didn't have a way of keeping meat and eggs cold, so I didn't even bother to steal-"

She had let her personal shame slip, to a Krimzon Guard officer nonetheless. She hated taking something that wasn't her's and not doing anything in return. But no one would give away good merchandise for nothing.

She dropped her fork on her plate and grabbed the hem of Zrion's shirt, twisting it. She looked down at the table, her face red in embarrassment.

"I mean... what I did... you have to see... I never wanted to OK?" She said, looking Zrion pleadingly in the face. "I would have made it right to those people, but they were so angry, and nothing I had would make them happy anyway. I never took more than I needed and I didn't want to... and... Oh, Zrion, I'm sorry." She said at last, putting her face in her hands in shame.

[Darkjak87]

It didn't come as a surprise, really, but he still felt disappointed. There hadn't been a way around it really, but he had been hoping that, somehow, despite all she had been through, she had always managed to do what was right in the end. Zrion didn't like think of himself in a 'holier-than-thou' light, but the act of any person wronging another was probably the thing he hated more than anything else in the world. More than a few times, he'd made use of 'street justice' on the basis of his own ideals, and KG laws made that perfectly allowed, provided Zrion could justify it. That was easy enough. A passing mention of the Underground, or attempts to set up traps for Guards, and there wouldn't be much of an investigation.

But this was quite a bit different. It wasn't a man holding an old woman at a knife's edge, demanding her wedding ring or a necklace. Monica's acts had been of necessity, but regardless it was technically a crime. There were two ways he could think of this. He was 'supposed' to think about it 'the KG way' and immediately condemn it as a crime, no questions asked. He could also think of it as 'his way', that is to say, his own morals, which overlapped with 'the KG way' more often that he was comfortable with, given their reputation.

He knew it wasn't fair to judge her for it, so he tried not to. He didn't react outwardly, or he tried not to anyway, and instead finished chewing his mouthful of food, taking his time and swallowing, mulling her statement over.

"One question, Monica," he began, "Who did you steal from?"

[lawna]

Monica brought her hands away from her scarlet face, but kept her gaze on the table.

"I never went into anyone's house, or stole from a business I knew wasn't doing well. I took from the mean merchants, that had a lot to sell most of the time. They would forget what I looked like and I could come back maybe every other week. Zrion, your not going to arrest me are you?" She said, hesitantly meeting his eyes. "I wouldn't have done it if I wouldn't of had to. It was food, from people that could afford to loose it."

[Darkjak87]

That came as a relief. He wouldn't admit it, but he'd been picturing street brawls and snatching scraps of food from other unfortunate people while they slept. The fact that Monica made sure to only steal from those who had it to spare, but were too greedy to help her, definitely helped ease his mind on the matter.

"Of course I won't arrest you." He said, startled. He hadn't expected her to actually think he would - he would refuse to do such a thing regardless of any level of thievery she had taken part in. "You had a good reason, the best one possible really, and the fact that you only stole from those who were prospering means a lot. It shows that you're willing to do what you have to do, but you managed to stay a good person while doing it. There aren't many people who can do that, Monica, and it proves to me that you're one of the strongest people I've ever met."

[lawna]

Monica's first reaction was relief at the fact Zrion wasn't going to arrest her, and then pride bubbled up inside her at Zrion's words.

Monica couldn't say that she thought herself a good or strong person, or that she even did it with the intentions Zrion seemed to think she had. She had needed food, so she had gotten food, but she couldn't argue with Zrion. If he thought she was strong or good, she would try hard to be. She would try to live up to these expectations he had unexpectedly placed within her.

The best part of all of this was despite the fact Monica had done something she saw as a personal disgrace, Zrion was still proud of her.

She couldn't just sit with such strong feelings inside her, but she didn't want to tackle him like she did earlier in the hallway.

She stood up from the table, and traveled slowly around to Zrion's side. She hesitantly touched his shoulder, thinking too much surprising physical contact might put the serious man into cardiac arrest, and then wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her face placed on his bicep.

"Zrion," she tried to begin, but for once the words were stuck in the back of her throat. She tried to clear the obstruction away, and she tried again. "I've felt so bad about this for such a long time, and I don't ever want to do it again. Now I don't feel so bad, so thank you."

[Darkjak87]

He did hesitate, but for once, he decided to ignore the part of himself telling him to get out of there, to sever the contact. He turned towards her and returned her embrace, gently wrapping his arms around her. "Don't worry Monica," He said, "There shouldn't be any shame in doing what must be done." His words carried a heavy weight, as if he was trying to reassure himself, more than Monica, but he did not elaborate. "Don't worry. I promise you now, you'll never have to resort to such a thing again."

[lawna]

Monica was a little surprised to have her hug returned, but the feeling of surprise didn't last for long. She had really forgotten what a returned hug felt like, and she tried to soak in the warmth.

"Well, that's good." Monica said, withdrawing to look at Zrion's face. "I wasn't good at it anyway. I almost got caught a couple of times."

She really didn't want to leave the sympathetic arms wrapped around her, but she politely entangled herself and went back to her side of the table.

She took a big gulp of her tea, thinking it might have been the same brew she had last night, and took a bite out of her jelly covered toast. A glob of it fell off onto her plate.

"So after this we are going to wash my clothes? We should probably throw the bed stuff in too. I don't think they are as bad as I thought they would be, but they were kind of yucky. And you know my bear? I don't know if he can get washed in the washing machine, but Lucky smells bad, and his fur was yucky parts in it."

Monica hoped her bear could be salvaged because she didn't know what she would do if Zrion made her throw him away. He had been her first friend in Haven City, and he held so much sentimental value.

She took another gulp of what she was sure had been recycled tea, and awaited Zrion's orders.

[Darkjak87]

"Yeah, we'll wash your clothes when we're done eating." He responded. "We wouldn't want you going out wearing clothes like you have on, now would we? We'll throw your sheets in with the clothes. As for Lucky, we can certainly try, but you might want to spot wash it first to see if that's enough, because the washing machine might ruin it." He paused, thinking more as he finished the last bite of his sandwich.

"I've got to tend to my equipment today. I'll work on that while the laundry is being done. It'll take me an hour or two, but we'll have to do at least two loads of laundry if we want to get enough done to last a while. If you do the second load, I can get my work done faster and we can leave sooner."