Still thinking about Thula taking care of Anissa during the scourge and deciding to just take her out of the hall among all the other damned souls and bring her home to care for her there instead.
With so few others left no one would’ve noticed her do it. Picking her up and flying her away to her abode that’s entrance rested on a high perch to one of the buildings that seemed just as dead as all those around it.
Anissa resting in Thula’s bed, freshly bathed and draped in a thin blanket that’s now already decorated with red speckles from her coughing.
She keeps Anissa on her side, a metal bucket beneath her that she can spit or retch into if need be.
The entire process of undressing her from her blood and sweat addled uniform and cleaning her was done with caution and precision. Maternal instinct dressed up to look like cold automation before drying her off and laying her down.
Even if there was no one around for Thula to wear the mask for here, her apathetic expression was as natural to her as breathing. To stop doing it would have to be a conscious decision…
Thula just sits on the bed, hand on Anissa’s shoulder to keep her on her side, able to see out at Viltrum from where she sat, her balcony wide open. Watching sleeplessly, protectively, even if there was no one there.
All while Anissa lays curled in on herself. Feverish yet very aware of her humiliation, still couldn’t help but cling to her presence as a means of comfort. Just so she can fall sleep and forget the pain she felt, even if only for a few hours…