[Mari]

(( TheSpatialWeeg ))

Raffine laid in a hospital bed. She'd come dangerously close to losing everything, including her mind and body, but she'd managed to defy fate and was now on the steady road to health. Even now though she'd seen better days. For now Raffine was bed bound, not strong enough to safely move around on her own as of yet. It was like torture to her; all she wanted to do was get up and start training back into peak fitness. Yet, she had her limits. It didn't seem like there was much she could do to.

The only thing more depressing than the knowledge that she was stuck here was that, over the hours, she'd come to expect that no one would visit her. I mean sure there was an apocalypse going on, but no one had remembered her birthday either. She couldn't help but begin to suspect that she was alone here, even though she had miraculously survived her terrifying encounter. How had she survived anyway?

She wasn't a hundred percent sure really. All she remembered were a pair of gentle yet firm arms holding her tightly and the disjointed voice of a prince answering her call. She must have passed out in that no doubt handsome prince's comforting grasp, but who was he? Would she ever meet him again? Was this her prince? Just the thought was enough to chase her bad feelings away, a smiling creeping onto her face as she distracted herself from the hours slowly ticking away.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

It took her a while, but there she was.

Rider took a bit of her sweet time to get to the hospital. She wanted to give herself a well-deserved break for that dangerous mission...and bring Amitie up to speed on the matters. While the bubbly girl insisted to pay a visit alongside her, Rider kept insisting that it was better for her to go alone. Raffine would probably not enjoy Amitie being there anyway, so Rider was better off on her own.

After some time waiting around on the lounge for confirmation on visit, Rider finally managed to get it. Now, she slowly opened he door to Raffine's temporary room, bringing a bouquet of flowers (whether they were man-made or not was up for the debate) with her. The bouquet had one of those birthday cards attached to it, written in bold letters "HBD Raffine".

"U-um...I-I hope you don't mind a visit...?"

The smaller girl sat down in a chair and pulled herself closer to Raffine. Awkward silence filled the room for a few minutes until... "So...how are you feeling...?"

[Mari]

Raffine turned her head to acknowledge Rider as she entered, but before she could verbally acknowledge the other's presence she was taken aback by the beautiful flowers Rider has brought. It looked like there was a card attached, but Raffine couldn't read it from her current position. Were those... for her? Raffine was tempted to ask, but her pride would not let her. However, one could see how stunned she was by the gesture without even knowing what the card said. The moment would pass however and she would smile in satisfaction.

Regardless of why Rider was there, she was still company--and not annoying company either. This was enough to make Raffine happy. "Miss Rider, what a pleasant surprise~" she replied, doing her best to present herself calmly. The only flaw to her presentation was a mildly noticeable lack of energy in her voice. "I'm feeling better already. What about you? How have you been adjusting to this place?" Raffine asked, her gaze occasionally drifting in the direction of the bouquet. She was, of course, lying a bit. She wasn't entirely comfortable showing her weakness in front of others. It also wasn't clear if she realized Rider had been involved in rescuing her, or had seen her melt down for that matter.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

"...?"

Rider tilted her head a bit in curiosity. Raffine was acting...a tad nicer than usual. For a moment or two, Rider found herself questioning if she saved the same Raffine of her world or if she saved an alternate reality one or a fake one. Regardless, she nodded in response to Raffine's question. "I've been adapting fine...m-more or less...I am still rather...unaccustomed with that mission system..." She pondered for a while if she brought Raffine up to speed about Amitie...it was better to do so, despite how Raffine wasn't in the best terms with her.

"I...also found Ammy around here...we're living in the same apartment..."

Rider settled the flower bouquet and the card next to Raffine, before gazing away for a brief moment. Was the pink-haired fighter aware that Rider saved her? Most likely not. Would that be the case, she didn't knew how would she able to break it down to her. Especially the prince front Schezo pulled out. "S-so...um...do you recall anything before you got here...?"

[Mari]

"Mission System..?" questioned. What little she knew of Li had come from the nurses assigned to take care of her. The Police HQ and it's bulletin board was unknownst to her. She couldn't help herself but smirk a bit as she was told of Rider and Amitie's living conditions. She saw her opportunity and, of course, went for it. "Well it's good to hear that Ms. Amitie is being taken care of~" Raffine remarked. The insult was... somewhat subtle. She had of course implied that Rider was the more reliable of the two of them in spite of their large age difference, but one who didn't really put too much thought into it might easily mistake it for genuine relief at hearing Amitie's safety.

...Or was it a little bit of both? Genuine relief and a little bit of teasing?

Suddenly something occurred to her, a look of bewilderment falling over her face. She moved to sit up so that she could accept the flowers without spilling them onto her chest. It seemed to be uncomfortable for her to move, but she managed to sit up at least with ease. She then accepted the flowers, allowing herself to bring them to her nose and take in their scent. Flowers were not common on Li, but they also weren't a particularly valuable resource. The idea that Rider could have obtained some was not too far a stretch, but an entire bouquet? That was something for special occasions. This was not lost on Raffine. She gazed into the flowers for a long moment, pondering something.

"I... remember a great fall from the sky, and the silken arms of a valiant prince whisking me away." Raffine recalled absent-mindedly. She was leaving out the days of suffering that had taken place between those two things, mostly because they insulted her pride. More importantly, though, Rider would likely become aware of a potentially amusing misconception Raffine had. She thought a prince was the one who carried her away, not realizing perhaps that the person she'd heard through her delirium was in different from the one who carried her.

Raffine moved to open the card attached to the bouquet, only for a frankly stunning message to hit her right in the feelings. Rider... remembered her birthday? Even when she was gone? Raffine turned her head and closed her eyes in an attempt to hide exactly how much the gesture meant to her, but one could see it had made her very happy just by looking at the smile on her face. She did question the abbreviation of Happy Birth Day; it seemed like something Amitie might do, but she wasn't about to let that ruin the moment.

"...Ms. Rider--These are beautiful. Did you put this together on your own?" she wound up asking, unable to resist satiating her curiosity however.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Just then, her previous thoughts were confirmed. Raffine remained oblivious to the fact that the 'silken arms of a valiant prince whisking her away' was actually Rider and her huge silky sleeves carrying her away from a gigantic robotic lion. Now the question shifted to whether Rider should reveal what happened to her, all events included. "U-um...I know...what actually happened, b-but...I fear you'd be...mad if I told you..." Rider said.

Rider turned herself away from Raffine, opting to look at...nothing. Her mind drifted away for a second or two until Raffine asked about the bouquet. Well, she asked, better let her receive it.

"W-well...y-yeah, I arranged the flower bouquet by myself...the card was...A-Ammy's doing."

Rider didn't knew if it was a good idea to reveal who made that card. She was probably gonna go throw it away, despite Amitie wasting quite an amount of time drawing an exuberant image on it, which she may have overlooked. The drawing Amitie made was something a tad more befitting Raffine's own eg--I mean, personal ladylike tastes. It was nothing but the birthday girl in a fancy (and somewhat frilly) princess dress.

[Mari]

Raffine was... torn. On one hand, Rider seemed to imply that what she'd dreamed had been true, including her prince! ...On the other, she had reason to believe Raffine would be mad if she told her something. Those were some pretty conflicting emotions those realizations gave her. She allowed herself to be momentarily distracted by the bouquet again, however. Gazing back down to the card, Raffine took notice of the drawing. It was her, in a very flattering dress. She wound up staring for a long moment, bemused by how much effort Amitie put into the card. ...If Amitie could dress her up this well, why did she insist on that gaudy outfit of hers?! ...It took her a moment to realize this thought was perhaps a bit harsh. She supposed Amitie's heart was in the right place. It always had been, hadn't it? She wondered how long the other had spent figuring out what Raffine would appreciate in a dress.

...Curse that plucky girl. She made it too difficult for Raffine to hate her at times. It almost made her want to ask some hard questions about herself, but she silenced those insecure thoughts. Her pride was her strength. If she allowed herself to be fazed by a simple gesture like this, what would be left but a pitiful child? ...Hm. That thought was ominous, in hindsight. She quickly banished that too from her memory. However... she chose not to rid herself of the card, instead placing it back in the Bouquet where it would be safe. She had no pockets, and would have to keep it in her arms until she found a place to stay. She wasn't about to admit that she loved the drawing, but she wasn't going to deny it either. She opted just to stay silent on this matter in hopes no one would ask.

"...I never knew you had such talent for floristry, Ms. Rider. But if you could help shed some light on what happened it would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps I could find out which lovely prince I owe my life to~" Raffine replied, halfway slipping into a day dream for a moment. If only she knew her savior's true identity.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rider blushed as Raffine complimented her floristry skills. She kept that a quiet little secret between her and Amitie at first, but now it was apparent to Raffine now that she knew her stuff when flowers was a thing. But now the challenge of revealing the truth to Raffine stood out, as she knew that it meant mercilessly shattering Raffine's dreams of seeing that 'prince'...which was actually Rider.

The smol girl took a while. She took some deep breaths, all the while processing what would she say and preparing herself for the worse. Regardless, she donned a calm expression, one that could be most likely attributed to Ms. Accord.

"Ms. Raffine...I didn't know how to break this to you, but...I'll give it a try. There's no prince who saved you. It was me. That voice you heard belonged to the Dark Wizard, Schezo, who I was partnered with to rescue you. It was...a mission issued by Ms. Feli..."

She was already expecting Raffine to ignore everything she just said and enter in a state of denial. 

[Mari]

Raffine was listening carefully to Rider, anxiously anticipating whatever she had to tell her. However, nothing could have prepared her for the reveal. Her first alarm was that there wasn't a prince. But... that wasn't--She'd heard... Before Raffine could complete that thought, Rider claimed it was her who'd rescued her. It was at this point that Raffine kind of tuned out. One could see the shock on her face. The person she'd been waiting to meet--the hero to whom she owed her life to--the supposed prince she'd been fantasizing about... was Rider?! Her?! ...She almost couldn't believe it. Yet, in hindsight, she realized those soft, silky arms lined up perfectly with the smaller girls' constantly covered hands. She'd been so desperate to believe in her fantasy that she hadn't even thought about why she'd never felt actual hands grasping her.

A wave of despair washed over her. Her prince was right in front of her, treating her to flowers and cards and good company and ... and ... He was a girl?! Augh! What had she been thinking, enjoying those memories so much?! ...Probably that being carried like that had felt really good after a really bad few days in the wilderness, but that was beside the point!

For a long moment, it looked like Raffine might just pop like a balloon, her face becoming somewhat red and the tiniest little wimper escaping her. She almost seemed to tremble a little, but perhaps that was someone's imagination. Finally, after a couple of moments of holding her angst in, Raffine ... deflated. The energy just seemed to leave her all at once. She was actually trying very hard to contain herself, not wanting to explode in front of Rider. That wouldn't be very ladylike, especially after everything Rider had done for her. It hurt, a lot, but she managed to maintain something vaguely resembling composure.

Instead of exploding she would weakly smile, her gaze falling. "...If only you were a prince, Ms. Rider." Raffine lamented. If one were very perceptive, they might notice that she actually seemed a little desperate, perhaps a bit lonely. She wasn't joking at all with that statement. It was probably something she didn't want Rider observing, but this was a fault in her composure. "You've made me very happy, and if only yours was the regal hand I've been looking for I might just take it." she went on to remark, this time in a more lighthearted tone. Hey, that's not fair Raffine! Who said little girls couldn't be princes?! Jerk.

In spite of Raffine's words, she didn't seem as happy as she claimed to be. Though a smile crept onto her face, it seemed a tad half-hearted. "...You--...You said Ms. Amitie and yourself share an apartment, didn't you?" Raffine asked. She, of course, had no idea people were handing out free apartments to children, nor did she have any reason to suspect that was the case. It was kind of an insane idea, after all.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Unfortunately, Raffine's statement just happened to offend Rider for all the wrong reasons. She reflexively scowled at the girl before changing her expression to something more neutral. ...Really now? She saved her life and that's how she thanks her? That didn't feel heartfelt at all, it felt ungrateful! Granted, Rider already expected something like this to happen, but...still, she at least wanted to hear a singular 'thank you' from a her. A singular 'thank you'! Rider tried to hide the inner pain that statement caused as best as she could this time around, though.

"........Yeah...sure..." Rider replied half-heartedly, breaking eye contact with her. She let out a disappointed and somewhat angry sigh as she heavily considered cutting the visit short and convince Amitie not to visit her later. Well, she didn't have much time to think about it, as Raffine asked another question. Well, no point in leaving her out in the dark. Rider wasn't the type of person who would do that, despite what Raffine's poor choice of words did to her.

"Yeah...we do share an apartment. What about it...?" She asked.

A part of her bet she was going to ask soon whether or not she was gonna get her own apartment. It was true, she would eventually get a place to own...as soon as she got out the hospital. That was just how things rolled, apparently. She wasn't think of giving Raffine directions, however. Why give more help to someone that apparently wasn't thankful for a save she performed?

[Mari]

Raffine lolled her head at Rider in confusion at the other's actions. She easily grasped that something was wrong, but wasn't quite sure what she'd done. She was trying really hard to be nice! Her brows furrowed for a moment as she tried to grasp what she'd done to earn that reaction.

...After a moment, it occurred to her. Rider didn't want her kindness. I mean--What other answer could there possibly be?! Rider's supposed rejection hurt, prince or not, and she was momentarily stunned. A pout formed on her face as she tried to control the inevitable outburst that now brewed just past those lips. Yet, this was Raffine we were talking about. Restraint was not her strong point. A groan escaped her moments before the anger did.

"Nnnn... Never mind that! Why did you even save me if your disdain for me is so great?! Wouldn't you rather spend your time with 'Am-it-ie'?" Raffine snapped, becoming flustered. She couldn't beleive she'd been moments away from asking Amitie of all people for a place to stay! She honestly had no idea what she was going to do after she got out, but her pride was all she had. She couldn't give that up, even if it meant being homeless.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

"...Disdain...?"

Rider turned her head back at Raffine. She couldn't handle her bottled-up emotions anymore. It all came down to this very moment, and Raffine was going to suffer every second of it. With a soft and almost breathless sniffle, Rider had her face contorted into a expression that heralded rage throughout it all...but at the same time, sadness. Tears went streaming down her delicate little face as she maintained a furious scowl.

"I never had any disdain for you! Nor I will ever possibly have! However, you...you sound like such a jerk sometimes! I went through a polluted beach, got attacked by robots and I was almost buried alive by a giant ghost to save you...and what you say to me is 'if only yours was the regal hand I've been looking for I might just take it'?! I initially thought I finally did something I could be proud of...but...you...you just sounded so...ungrateful...and for the record, Amitie is much nicer than you'll probably ever be...!"

She jumped off the chair she sat on and soon opened the door. She wasn't going to pay attention to her anymore.

"...Happy birthday...jerk."

Rider begun to show herself out. However, it isn't too late. Raffine could still stop her and try to clarify things...maybe even apologize? Of course, that was all dependent whether or not Raffine would expose her more...vulnerable self. She would need to sound honest if she ever wanted to have her words ever get through Rider now.

[Mari]

Raffine flinched. Since when was Rider so bold?? She was rendered silent by the other's words. So that was what was going on. Suddenly Raffine understood why Rider was actually upset. Yet, as Rider turned her back in the other, Raffine was left without a voice.

...If only she could have told Rider how she really felt. How she'd never meant to make light of her accomplishments. How she'd intended her words only as the highest of praise.

Yet, she could only watch as Rider left. Perhaps it was her pride that prevented her from speaking, or perhaps it was the itching realization that she'd done something wrong and the ensuing guilt that kept her from speaking. Either way, she was now alone again and filled with a newfound bitterness.

She was bitter because her heroine had hurt her feelings. She was bitter because Amitie was always so succesfull at everything without even trying. More than anything else though, and the only reason she wouldn't admit, Raffine was bitter because it all made her feel terribly inadequate.

...Raffine eventually got to her feet and began testing the limits of her recovering body. A good work out would help her heal faster and, more importantly, suppress all this self-loathing. She'd just have to channel her frustrations into outperforming Amitie. It was a noble goal, she figured.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rider had left for a couple of minutes now. She had left as a sobbing mess from start to finish, and after a walk back to her apartment, she settled herself on her bed and covered herself in blankets, before she attempted to cry herself to sleep...

...Hadn't a certain girl with a Puyo Cap suddenly appear and question her about it. Once Rider brought her up to speed, Amitie made absolutely sure to make Rider feel better by the end of the day. That strategy worked after a while, and Rider had returned to her usual self before the day was done, thankfully. After a while, Rider decided to buy pizza for the two. As she went to check over the delivery number, Amitie was starting to leave the apartment.

"Ammy, wh-where are you going?"


"I just got something to settle~ I'll be right back!"

With that said, Amitie left the apartment and went straight to Lightweather Hospital. By the time she got there, Amitie face turned to one of anger. Raffine had crossed a line, and oh boy, was she going to pay dearly for that. She waited outside a bit, glaring at the door with the full intent of teaching Raffine a little...'lesson'.

[Mari]

Meanwhile, Raffine had spent her day trying to ease her body back into exercise. It hadn't been anything intense, as while the life sphere's hospitals were incredible there was still a recovery period. However, simply getting up and moving around had her feeling much better about her condition. She probably wasn't ready to actually leave the hospital, but... Well, that wasn't going to stop her was it? She hated being cooped up in there almost as much as she hated being homeless. Speaking of which she didn't entirely know what she was going to do about it. The idea of being homeless was frankly horrifying, and, of course, the idea that the life sphere was giving out free homes was never something she would have guessed on her own. Who does that?

Yet, here she was on the steps of the hospital. She stretched and looked around, only to find herself gazing upon her rival Amitie.

"Ohohoho! Well hello, Amitie! Small Sphere, isn't it?"