Chapter 23: Routine?
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What truly belongs to the moments of everyday life?
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After the meal, which Liu enjoyed just as much as the midday one. Liu went directly to her room.
'... I hope tomorrow's meals will be just as good...'
She got ready for bed directly, being extremely tired from what she considered the busiest day of her entire life.
She quickly put on her beloved pajamas, went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth... and without even reading a few pages of the guide, she turned off the lights and lay down directly in bed.
'... I hadn't seen...'
There was a skylight on the ceiling above the bed, which she hadn't even noticed during the afternoon while reading.
'... it's incredible... and strange...'
Lying on her back with her gaze passing through the window, witnessing a view worthy of her dream, Liu felt a feeling that was among the most gripping and new.
'... it's so...'
She didn't have the words to define what she was feeling. Her body, it had them... shivers that Liu had never experienced before.
'... new...'
Shivers that made her curl up under the duvet. Feeling something like a soft cold running through her, she bundled herself up as much as possible in the duvet.
A cold that was among the most pleasant she had ever experienced. Pulling the duvet up to her nose, she lost herself in her memories of these past few days.
'... it's like in the garden...'
She recalled the view of the void from the garden, searching for words to define what she was seeing.
'... those are... stars?...'
The sight of the luminous dots in the middle of the deep black void, reminding her of her dream, made her smile strangely. A different smile. One she had never had before.
'... why am I smiling?...'
A smile of peace.
After all the events of the day, the light of the stars illuminating the inside of the room with an indescribable softness... Liu fell asleep... without a single worry...
...
The next day... the room was still plunged in darkness, the atmosphere hadn't changed.
'Can't be bothered...'
But Liu, herself... had woken up.
'... what time is it?...'
She stayed under the duvet, feeling comfortable in her current position.
Too lazy to look for her watch to check the time, and even to turn on the bedside lamp right beside her, she once again contemplated... the stars.
'... the ceiling is completely different... not even wood... I think...'
She stayed like that for a few seconds, then... closed her eyes again, wanting to fall back asleep.
'... I must have slept barely more than three hours... I can still...'
But she didn't manage to fall back asleep.
Some time later, the frustration began to manifest, when she finally made the effort to turn on the bedside lamp.
'... what a pointless effort, having to press a button to turn it on...'
She took her hand out from under the duvet, feeling an unpleasant cold.
Click.
A few seconds after turning the light on, she suddenly remembered that she could say: Light! For all the lights to turn on.
'.....'
This realization frustrated her even more, making her cry out:
"Light!"
And there was light... a bit too much.
She hadn't taken into account the contrast between the darkness of the room before and after saying: Light!
And all the lights in the room turned on with a brightness far surpassing Liu's expectations.
"Nngh!"
She quickly closed her eyes, and covered herself with the duvet.
'... shit!... that hurts!...'
It was the first time in her life she had been blinded so brutally.
The lights at the chalet were completely different and dimmer, and apart from the days of Obscurity there was no moment where she had had the occasion to be dazzled in this way.
'... shitty morning...'
Staying under the duvet rubbing her eyes, she prepared herself to... face the light!
She straightened up, throwing the duvet to the side with an aggressive movement.
"Ha!"
Her eyes were squinting, remembering the pain from a few seconds ago.
But contrary to what she expected, they adapted in just a few seconds.
'Is that all?...'
"Haha... I won."
She gave the lights on the ceiling the finger, fully displaying her hostility toward an inanimate object.
'... in the end that light isn't so strong...'
Having finished her moment of madness, she crawled to the edge of the bed to sit on it and observed the room, looking for her watch.
'... where did I put it again?...'
Not seeing it anywhere on the floor or on the furniture, she looked closer, on the bed and the bedside table.
'... had I put it there?...'
She found it placed on the guide, which was itself directly on the bedside table.
"Let's see..."
She checked the time, and widened her eyes upon seeing that it was:
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02.90/10.00
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"Already!"
'... I slept more than four hours?!'
Although this greatly surprised her, being the first time she had woken up this late.
"Hhaa..."
Her laziness had in no way disappeared, on the contrary it manifested fully.
Liu let herself fall back onto the bed, to continue looking through the window.
'... if only I could fly... or teleport...'
Thinking about teleportation, she suddenly remembered Lumian's movements and the Form...
'... like the Form... that's right!... training!...'
... also remembering the conversation from yesterday with Lumian, she sat up.
'... they better not have started without me...'
Finally getting out of her bed, she went to the bathroom, to quickly rinse her mouth and face with cold water.
Splash!
'... that wakes you up...'
Like Mimie, she felt better after rinsing her face, and could finally truly begin her day.
Without even looking at herself in the mirror she grabbed her towel nearby, dried her face and went directly toward the dresser where she had placed her clothes.
'... socks, sooocks...'
She quickly grabbed and put on one of the remaining pairs of clean socks, and went directly out of her room without a glance back and without even turning off the lights.
Clack.
'... he hadn't said what time training was starting...'
"Light!"
Crossing the hallway, she passed in front of Milo's bedroom door, giving it a quick glance.
'... I hope they're not already outside...'
Arriving in front of the door, she opened it without further delay, a hint of apprehension in her movements.
'... and the carriage, is it stopped?...'
Entering the living room, she only saw... Lumian, on the couch watching television.
"~~~~"
'... huh?... and Milo...'
Upon hearing Liu open the door, Lumian lowered the volume of the television and turned his gaze toward her, asking:
"Up already?"
'... already... did I misread the time?...'
Too surprised to move, Liu asked directly:
"...is he still sleeping?... isn't it already three hours?..."
Without reacting more than that, Lumian replied calmly as was his habit. Making it clear there was no reason to respond otherwise.
"Well, generally he sleeps every two days, but yesterday he was tired so he went to bed just before ten hours."
After setting down the thing he presses quickly that had lowered the volume of the television, he got up and headed to the kitchen, passing in front of Liu.
'... every two days?... that's actually... manageable...'
"Do you want breakfast?"
In the kitchen, he opened a few cupboards, taking out a few things, but Liu was still thinking about whether she too could sleep only every two days.
"There are cereals. And other things, but if you want them you'll have to find them yourself."
He brought over directly a box of cereals with a bowl, and placed them on the table. Then he went back to the couch, another package in hand, visibly food.
Without paying too much attention to his actions, Liu remained fixated on the cereals.
'... there are cereals?... isn't that like... normally super expensive...'
Muffled footsteps resonated behind her, accompanied by an unpleasant voice.
"Do you really like staying put in front of doors? What a strange habit."
Milo had also woken up and come out of his room, heading to the living room like Liu.
And Liu, having remained without moving in front of the door, she shifted abruptly out of reflex, and looked behind her, strangely on the defensive.
'It's...'
She spotted Milo who had just woken up.
'Pfft...'
Unlike her, he wasn't in pajamas, but...
"What's with that hair?" They both said at the same time.
... a massive spike was visible on his head.
'... what did he say?...'
The problem being that the same thing applied to Liu. She hadn't looked in the mirror while rinsing her face, missing the spike on her own head.
"And why are you still in your pajamas?"
Milo asked her, passing in front of her to head to the kitchen, not even waiting for an answer.
'... he looks ridiculous in the morning...'
Liu also completely ignored his question, instead she raised her hand to touch her hair, and noticed that there was indeed a spike.
'... I didn't comb my hair at all...'
This didn't bother her in the slightest, instead of worrying about it, she finally went to sit on her chair in front of the bowl Lumian had placed.
"~~~~"
Lumian had turned the volume of the television back up, and Milo was making noise in the kitchen, but Liu was focused on something else.
'... the second time I'll eat some...'
She looked at the box of cereals in front of her and hesitated to serve herself.
She reached her hand toward the box, her heart tightening a little, remembering what her grandparents had told her about cereals.
'... it's at least twenty lumens a box... all because of production that costs super expensive...'
Just as she was finally about to grab it to serve herself... Milo arrived, put down his bowl and grabbed it faster than her.
Pa.
'Hey!...'
"Too slow."
Without waiting for Liu's reaction, he opened it and served himself directly, ignoring Liu's intense stare.
'... I had finally worked up the courage to serve myself!'
Feeling outraged by Milo's actions, she was about to complain, when he cut her off and offered:
"Do you want milk with it?"
He had a bottle? of... milk? in his hand, which he opened and poured directly onto the cereals in his bowl.
This scene was very strange for Liu, milk not being a part of daily life for the inhabitants of the citizen zone. The combination of all of it left her silent.
'... milk?... in a bottle?!... and with cereals?...'
Still hearing no answer, Milo continued talking to himself, as if he was used to it.
"I put the cereals first then the milk. Apparently friends always debate about the order."
Having finished serving himself, he pushed the cereals and the milk toward Liu, handing her a spoon in passing. These gestures being strangely considerate for Liu.
'... what does he mean by that?...'
Having forgotten that Milo had taken the box right from under her nose...
"Thank you."
... she thanked him and accepted the spoon.
Then she grabbed the box of cereals and...
'... like this?...'
... clumsily served herself in the same way as Milo, trying to copy each of his movements in the smallest details.
Milo didn't even look at her, instead he looked directly at the television, while eating.
'... there we go...'
And Liu after finishing serving herself, followed suit and watched the television, while starting to eat.
"~~~~"
The drawings... or transcription things just wouldn't stick in Liu's mind, her concentration elsewhere.
'... mm, it's not bad... but it's not incredible...'
The cereals with the milk tasted good, but... nothing incredible.
'... why is it so expensive?...'
She didn't understand how the price could be so high for something with quite a basic taste.
'... yet I had loved it the first time hadn't I?...'
Trying to recall the first time she had eaten cereals, she continued to empty her bowl, eyes on the television but without really watching it.
'... it was too long ago...'
Her memory being too old, she abandoned her thoughts about cereals.
'... anyway it doesn't matter... and...'
Suddenly she remembered what had preoccupied her before arriving in the living room.
"... by the way, when do we start training?"
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The things we are most accustomed to are a part of our everyday life, even if the way they unfold can be somewhat new and foreign to us.
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