Dozing Off [Maria/Nadia]

Maria found herself yawning uncharacteristically loudly the moment she passed outside of the Cadet Zero building. It felt remarkably inappropriate to feel so tired after broaching on such heavy topics in that meeting. It was undeniable that she felt groggy. Perhaps it was a combination of an all-nighter from that earlier mission and waking up early for the morning meeting. Or perhaps it was all the compounded stress of all these expectations placed on her by the Church and Class Zero.

No matter the case, she still felt remarkably sleepy and it bothered her. Maria glanced at the time on her watch strapped around her wrist to notice school class sessions wouldn't start for her until later. But what was she to do in all that time? Working out was out of the question, the Cadet didn't want to come in all sweaty. It really left only one option for her.

The weather was sunny, perfect for daily physical activities under the sun. But Maria had other ideas as she approached a nearby tree with her locked coffin and nestled her nun-attired back against the trunk as she pulled out a textbook to review old material. The coffin was set diagonally against the tree near her. It was going awfully well for a moment as she felt productive, a good feeling to have. But, it just made her even sleepier. No matter how much she tried to rub her eyes awake, she could feel the soft grasp of slumber take even deeper hold of her.

Before she even realized, the last thing she would remember would be the paragraph on Latin that she was just reading...

It was in between periods, and Nadia, alone as usual, was relaxing on the lawn, staring up at the sky, thinking about all the new developments of her life for the past few days. She should draw something, or do something, but at the moment, she mostly just wanted to relax and enjoy the serenity of the day. It wasn't bad to slow down every now and again.

When she grew tired of the immediate scenery, she got up to move to a different part of the lawn, walking at a leisurely pace. It was while she was ambling along that she noticed the coffin from a few nights prior. That girl...The Cadet. A spike of apprehension and adrenaline traveled up Nadia's spine, followed by a rush of adrenaline as she smiled. It was a beautiful coffin, and such an intricate person must be really interesting to watch.

Hesitantly, Nadia came around and approached, peeking her head around to look at the cadet. She was sleeping. Dozed off beneath the tree. It was hard to believe anyone was dangerous when they were asleep, but here she was, feeling safe and secure even though a Psyche Terrorist was standing over her. Granted, Nadia had no interest in violence like that. Not with people anyway, and certainly not with Cadets. But still, it made her a little worried. What if there were other Psyche Terrorists who attended this school in secret, who were not so good-natured.

Nadia looked around hesitantly before sitting down a few feet away from the girl's sleeping form. She watched her chest slowly rise and fall for a moment, wondering if she herself looked this fragile in her own sleep. Mortality was such a thin line, after all, no matter how skilled a person was. Nadia's eyes trailed next to the coffin, curious still at it's contents, but not wanting to invite the girl's Ire by opening it without permission.

So, without really knowing what else to do while she sat keeping silent vigil over the sleeping girl, Nadia pulled out her sketchbook and started sketching the coffin. She'd like to remember it this way, sitting almost like a watchful guard over it's master. The romance of it took her away, and before she knew it, she had sketched the girl beside it as well. This was turning out to be a fun little sketch.

Maria was still in her own dream world, left alone by the waking world at large, save for the curious artist who dared come close. She would continue in her seemingly peaceful slumber. But, the Cadet stirred. Her face began to crease into a troubled expression and her breathing became slowly erratic. As the artist devoted herself to her craft and perhaps she was close to being finished by then, Maria's eyes suddenly flicked open.

She seemed dazed, in a stupor slowly stepping into awareness. It was all hazy for her at first. One blink. Two blinks. Three blinks. Confusion was the first to form her face. Then the chilly tone in her voice came next as both eyes focused on the sudden intruder's figure. They were both piercing and wary. Maria wasn't pleased of this sudden situation right now and was already considering what to do from here.

Nadia was silently sketching away as the girl slumbered, glancing up in time to see the girl's face furrow. Quickly, Nadia switched to a new page and did her best to sketch the troubled look before it passed out of existence....and then returned, as the girl blinked herself awake and saw Nadia. Immediately that brow furrowed again and Nadia found herself smiling easily in the presence of the other's tense gaze. After all, it wasn't the first "What are you doing" she'd received when drawing someone.

"I found you." Nadia smiled, tone even. "I wanted to say hello, and thank you for looking out for my...For Cecil and I the other night. But I didn't want to wake you, so I waited." She explained. It was true. Even though she was a Cadet who worked for a corrupt government, Maria seemed like she was honestly trying to protect people, which was something Nadia admired. One day, their paths might cross as enemies. But for now, she wanted to know more about the girl who carried around a coffin around with her.

"Also...I was still curious about this guy." She looked appreciatively at the Coffin, settling up against the tree. "I'm sorry if I startled you."

She didn't seem entirely convinced of the explanation the girl relayed to her. Maria had reason to be wary. It really wasn't every day anyone would come meet them in the next night again. Though then again, that has been the kind of luck she's been having which was already strange in itself already. But as much as she wasn't quite sure of what to do with the situation, the Cadet finally came to a decision. After a moment of tense staring, her taut shoulders began to relax as she leaned further back into the wood. She was still feeling the stupor and didn't want to even bother.

"No... It's fine. It was rather rude of me to be so stand-offish," The Cadet sighed as she gave a glance towards the coffin before diverting her attention back to her. She noticed the book was still left open, but due to the lack of a bookmark, Maria had no way to know where she left off as the wind evidently blew away the pages backward. She regarded the text with annoyance as she closed it and set it aside. Searching for that desired page had to wait as someone apparently wanted her attention at this moment.


She was firm in her delivery. This was truly one of those times when Maria would want to wrap her fingers around the insane scientists who came up with such a ridiculous design for a weapon. At times, the Executor wondered if they were just bored people with nothing to do. Or if they actually had a thing about making her life miserable for... less than savory reasons. It didn't take long for her to realize there was what appeared to be a sketchbook and pencil. "You... you were drawing?"

Nadia tapped her chin at the girl's words. "Nothing Special" she said, and yet, this person seemed to have some notoriety around school. Specifically revolving around this "Nothing special" aside from that... "I'd have to disagree about it not being special. You carry it around with you every day, so of course it isn't special to you. But for those of us who live more mundane lives, every aspect of your 'work' is something special. Including you." Nadia replied easily, looking down when attention was drawn to her sketchbook.

"I draw everything that interests me, everywhere. We live in dangerous times, and everything disappears eventually. When I disappear, my sketches will be all that's left of the world as I saw it." Nadia offered by explanation. She flipped the sketchbook all the way closed, and offered it to the Cadet. If she wanted to look through it, she could look through it from the start. If she took it and looked through it, she would see there were drawings in pencil and pastel of people going about their lives, Dying flowers, dead animals on the road, skulls, flowers, Eryka, Cecil, and Kendra's pictures were in here too, as well as this picture of her Coffin and herself.

Maria was silent when Nadia disagreed. She wasn't wrong. It was hard to dispute it when the Cadet stuck out like sore thumb every time like this. It was vexing, really. People wanting to idolize the Cadets and here she was, wanting to be left on her own devices. To do her duty and her role as their protector and wanting nothing from it. It was all she wanted from her work. That said, she firmly insisted. "Then I imagine you will be disappointed. There's nothing for you to see."

Death. The few pages bore death as its theme. It was eerily beginning to remind her of the Psyche-Terrorist Demon Painter. The disturbed artist who terrorized other artists like Jacob. The reports were gruesome and even maddening. Thank Isla that they managed to apprehend him and free the prisoners from their painted incarceration. It was rather distressing with all of these drawings and how it oddly kept giving call backs from the mission with the Painter.

When she finally moved to that page, Maria raised an eyebrow. The Cadet held up the page to the sketch artist.

Nadia hadn't allowed anyone to see her sketchbook in a while. It made her feel a little self conscious. Probably a side effect of spending so much time with Cecil lately. She felt so much more sensitive about things. Though she supposed there was nothing wrong with that....not really.

When Maria stopped on the page with her drawings of Eryka, Nadia nodded. "yes. Eryka and I are friends. We ate Sushi together the other day." Nadia replied, fondly recalling the Memory. "You must know her too, since she is a Cadet. I didn't even think about that."

Friends, huh?

Maria thought back to Brittany for that small moment. How different would life be if the Cadet never met her? Maybe not all that different, but it did feel less lonely. She wondered if Eryka was the same as well. How many people were out there damaged as she was? It was a thought that weighed heavily in her mind.

The Cadet handed the sketchbook back to the girl after closing it shut. "Not very much, she was a recruit who just joined. But I think she might do well in her work with time. I helped her get situated in the dorms, but I know little of her. You seem to know more of her than I do. What is she like exactly as a person?"

Nadia accept the sketchbook back, and tucked it neatly away in her bag as she watched the other girl talk about her more professional relationship with Eryka. She supposed that not all Cadets were friends with each other. That would be uncanny. But still, they knew of each other...

Nadia wondered what it must be like to know the identities of your comrades. Surely the Cadets were able to work as a team much better than those of the Playhouse. She was glad she knew Cecil's identity at night. She latched on to it. "Eryka has hard eyes, and doesn't like to address her real emotions very often. Most of her considerations are on a fundamental level, what to eat, what to buy that she needs...how to survive against whatever it is that haunts us. She's strong and loyal, but sometimes I think that she needs to talk about her emotions more. But it's not really my business, I suppose. Though, as her friend, I've taken it as my personal goal to get her to smile about something. I'm not sure how I'll do it, but I'll find something." She smiled a little fondly, remembering Sushi.

"I didn't have very many friends until recently. I'm a pretty strange person. But...I think they're important. I've had a lot of great experiences in a short amount of time, thanks to them. Do you have many friends? Forgive me for saying, but you seem like kind of a lonely person." That was probably overstepping bounds, but Nadia never much cared for bounds anyway.

Maria quietly heard what Nadia had to say about the new recruit. She slowly nodded along on each sentence as if agreeing with it. The assessment wasn't far from what the Cadet would have observed for herself. From their first meeting, they didn't seem very inviting or keen to socialization, hence it did surprise her that she had any friends at first. Though life wasn't so predictable nowadays as she realized recently. "I'm glad she has some friends. In a job like this, you'll need one where you can get it... Or you just won't last for long. That said, I hope the two of you will remain friends."

The horrors of this job was enough for some to lose sleep. Others had frayed nerves that tested their worth. Maria had years to prepare herself for these horrid rigors, but sometimes that wasn't enough to ready her for some of the most heinous actions committed by Psyche-Terrorists. It made her wonder if she could ever hold up long enough. There was going to be a time when the Cadet will make an irreparable mistake. Would she be able to get up after that...?


It wasn't exactly wrong. She liked spending time on her own, as part of her re-breather from all of the work that was required of her. Sometimes she had to socialize with others, especially Cadets. Though it did get lonely at times even if solace could be found. But that's why Brittany was there for her, for better or for worse. Maria glanced at the watch on her wrist and frowned. The coffin would find itself leashed to her shoulder after packing up. She turned to give the final words of farewell. "Anyway, my class is starting. You'll have to excuse me."

With that said and done, the solitary Cadet began to head back into the school building.

Nadia sat and watched the Cadet walk off, thinking. It was a little frightening, being so close to the enemy, even admiring or valuing them as a "friend" She'd met Eryka before being she'd awakened to her power, but this cadet was seasoned, and knowing Nadia or not would likely take her out at a moment's notice. It was her job, her mission in life, after all. But Nadia's mission in life was simply to live it. And she decided, sitting there in the wake of the conversation, that she'd like to know a little bit more about this person, and the way the wheels of their mind turned. With any luck, she'd get that chance in the future.

But for now, she gathered up her own things, and headed off in the opposite direction.