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There is a saying out there.
One that people usually only say as a weak excuse or a joke.
'Sleep is for the Weak'
Not that night.
Not that fuckin' night.
That night sleep was for the weak.
Because nobody else was dealing with what she was dealing with that night.
Looking toward the digital clock in the room revealed that it would be a long night as it read '3:52 AM.'
She huffed, pulling her arm up to look at her bare hand as she flexed her fingers.
Nothing looked out of the ordinary.
Nothing except for her gritted teeth and stiff movements, both barely noticeable for someone who doesn't know her.
Her usual shark-toothed grin and quick movements mask both of those incredibly well.
As she pushed herself off of her bed, it felt as though her bones were scraping against each other.
As stealthily she could manage, she crept out of her and Kit's bedroom, every movement sending waves of pain through her body.
Once out of the bedroom, she swiftly exited their apartment and stumbled through the hallway.
The breakroom isn't far, if food and water doesn't fix this then..
She'd have to try the machine shop in the morning.
Entering the break room provided an expected, although unwelcome sight.
Whisper the Wolf is sitting in the breakroom eating a bagel and reading a book at four in the fucking morning.
She doesn't hate her by any means, it's just that she's the most likely to see through her facade of normalcy out of the three original Neo Diamond Cutters.
Putting extra care into her movements, she walked over to the fridge, trying to be as nonchalant and smooth as possible.
It seemed to work because she swung open the fridge, snatched up some leftover pizza and ate the cold slice without interruption.
Cold pizza is, while not preferred, is easy and still delicious.
"Ma'am?" Ah shit, not stealthy enough.
"Drippy, what the hell're you doing outta bed?" She asked, turning to face the fennec.
Upon her turning around, Kit did a full-body flinch.
Very noticeable, very not normal, very much draws attention to her.
Definitely just pulled Whisper's attention to the conversation at hand.
"Why are you doing that, ma'am?"
She sneers, a hint of annoyance seeping into her tone, "Doin' what?"
"Smiling like that. You only smile like that when-" She quickly cut off the fennec, "GO back to bed Drip."
She turned away from the fox, she doesn't need to see his eyed glow fuchsia.
She already feels bad enough.
Silence fills the room before she sticks her mouth under the faucet of the sink and turns it on.
"Why are you awake?" Could barely be heard over the running water.
She flipped the water off, wiped her mouth, and looked at Whisper.
Fake smile still plastered onto her faces, movements still stiff, but she answered with a partial truth instead of the full truth, "Couldn't sleep."
She quickly walked toward the exit of the breakroom but before she could leave, "Bullshit." She similarly had a full-body flinch.
Which fuckin' hurt by the way.
For once, turning to look at an upset teammate wasn't just mental agony, but physical agony.
Maybe if you listened closely enough, you could hear her metal bones scraping against one another.
"'Scuse me?"
The wolf shut her book, her bagel long since eaten, and looked up at her.
"You're lying, Kit saw through it, now I can see through it. What's wrong?"
"I'm fine." She replied before turning back to the exit.
Before she could leave, a hand gripped her shoulder and turned her around.
"You are bad at lying."
She huffed before stomping to the table in the breakroom to sit down.
"Y'remember that stuff about the Metal Virus and the cyborg shit that me n' Drippy have refused to talk about?" Whisper nods, "It's about that."
The wolf motioned for her to continue, "My bones're metal n' it feels like they're pushing against each other. Moving hurts and my fingers won't stop sparkin'."
At this, she held up her actively sparking fingers, "This hasn't happened before, didn't want to worry Drippy so I was just hoping it'd go away and-"
Whisper, without responding, grabbed her wrist and began leading her to the medical wing.