WELCOME to SYNE (Take 2)

It was early that morning did Salzem awaken, nightmares keeping him from spending his first night in Syne sleeping in. Aiko's display last night didn't do wonders for his dreams and were, in fact, the star of the horror-show that night. He had dreamt that instead of completely passing out like she had done, the little cat girl had grown massive, more biological and fleshy than her apparent android mass would allow. Her body grew and spread across the walls of the room, her head twitching rapidly and her mouth curved into an unnatural bloody smile fit only for a monster. It was as he was about to be consumed by this twisting mass did he snap awake, luckily choking down a scream as he realized what unfleshy place he was actually in.

"Ugh..." He groaned, running his hand through his hair as he shoved his covers off of him, grabbing his cloak and pulling it over himself. "Bad night... bad night... I need some food..."

And... that was all there was too it. A bad dream and nothing more, a perverse distraction from his natural nightly healing processes. He didn't dwell too much on the details, knowing full-well they were fake and had no bearing in the real word, despite ruining one of his nights and besides... It was time for breakfast and he was hungry...

Salzem wandered into the kitchen-area that came with their room, grabbing some food from the fridge and got to work. In a couple minutes, he had not only created enough bacon, eggs, and toast for himself, but also some on the side for his partner... Last night was... volatile... They were both tired and Aiko was quite twitchy then. He figured that maybe, this morning would be a better time to kindle a relationship and what better way than to make her some grub? Now, Sal wasn't the greatest of cooks, but he liked what he made... He liked to think he was pretty good at it, despite how little he actually practiced and hoped Aiko enjoyed her food too... when she woke up.

He set her plate on the opposite end of the table from which he sat, absently chewing on a crisp piece of bacon, drumming his fingers on the table as he thought about the little cat-girl... What made her so... spontaneous...?

Aikomi shifted in her bed, her eyes slowly opening to slits as she smelled something with her synthetic nose. It smelled... Surprisingly good. She slowly sat up, stretching her artificial skeleton before getting out of bed. She threw on a large white T-shirt, not really caring for pants at the moment and moreso caring for food. Half stumbling out of the door, she ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to make it look neater before giving Salzem tired eyes and a half-hearted smile, sitting down at the other end of the table.

"Thanks... For the food... Sal."
She smiled a bit brighter, yet she looked like she was wincing as she jabbed her fork into an egg and let out a sigh, hanging her head.
"Listen, Sal... I-I'm sorry about last night... This morning... Whatever you wanna call it. I'm usually better than that, I promise. I just.. Haven'tt been in the right mind lately, a lot of stuff is going on right now."

Her eyes were shadowed and obscured by hair, but her mouth was slightly visible, and in an obvious frown.
"I'm serious.. I'm really, really sorry."
At this point she hadn't even touched the food besides stabbing it. She just looked... Depressed.

"Anytime." He smiled in response to Aiko's thanks, finishing off his bacon and proceeding on to his toast. It was when he was half-way through did he notice that the little kitty-girl hadn't even taken a bite of her food yet, merely stabbing it with her fork absently. She apologized profusely about what happened last night, assuring him that she was, in fact, much better than that. He smiled and merely waved away her apology as if it wasn't necessary.

"Its okay, Aiko. Really, it's fine... We all have bad days... But... If I may... what DID happen back there...?"

It wasn't like he had to know the source of her twitching. Eventually, he'd just come to accept it as one of her quirks and move on with his life. However, he was quite curious... What could ever happen to someone that would make them have an episode like that.

"You don't have to tell me if it's... personal or something... I-In fact... forget I even asked. How did you sleep? Have any dreams?"

Aikomi casually cut off a piece of the egg, carefully placing it on top of her toast and then picking said toast up, finally beginning to nibble on it. Her ears perked up at his question, but it was only when he said "forget I asked" that she cut him off with a dark, cold answer.
"I have schizophrenia, I am highly delusional and psychotic."
Emotion was absent from her voice, she wouldn't even make eye contact.
Now, his second question, worrying about how she slept, was met with Aikomi once more cutting his words short. She looked up at him, her eyes empty, her tone flat.
"I don't dream."

But now her eyes were welling up with tears that wouldn't fall; she wouldn't let them.
"If I did dream.. I'm sure it would be hell every night." She was blank, expressionless, devoid of any feeling now as she continued biting the toast, once again averting her eyes to the ground.
"But, besides that, I slept well... I got a total of... An hour before you got here and six just now. Seven isn't too bad, huh? Heheh..." Her laugh was obviously forced, and maybe even painful sounding.

Aiko interrupted Sal before he could even complete his inquiry, letting him know flatly that she was psychotic, delusional and on top of all that, schizophrenic, making him, if only for a split second, wonder why she was ever allowed to hold a weapon in the first place. Such mental disorders would only make the girl more of a danger to everyone else and herself more than the grimm... He quickly purged his mind of these thoughts, though, a surge of sympathy replacing the Kupo in which it once sat. That poor girl... No wonder she acts so completely twitchy and strange... Her sanity was fighting a battle every moment of every day verses the corrupted data in her mind...

Salzem's expression visibly sunk, even moreso as she again interrupted him, stating that she didn't even dream. No doubt due to her programming, her sleep must've been as black and empty and someone being knocked unconscious. She attempted to play it off with humor, forcing a laugh out that nearly sounded painful, akin to being punched in the gut and letting out a *puff* of air. Sal only stared at her quietly, suddenly losing interest in his food, trying to find something to say.

"...I'm sorry." Was really all he could come up with. What else could he say? 'sorry your crazy? sorry you don't get a quality distraction when you sleep? sorry you can't do anything about it?' No... Just 'sorry' would do. He seemed like he wanted to say more, but didn't quite have the words. He wanted to assure her that everything would be okay, perhaps even give her a hug if he thought it'd be appropriate. He didn't move however nor say anything else as a silence fell down between them.

Aikomi rested her elbow on the table and curled her hand into a fist, placing her forehead against it and letting out more hiss-like laughs. She shook her head in self-disapproval before speaking.
"Now, you're probably wondering how in the hell someone like me is allowed at this school, right? Well, it really only gets bad at night, that's when I get delusional. I'm naturally insane, though. Isn't that just great?"
Again she looked up at him, a forced smile on her lips; but her eyes told a very different story: they were just... sad, defeated, hopeless, accepting of her fate.
"But hey, nobody's perfect ah? Some less so than others..."
A little huff of irritation as she picked up the toast and began eating again, hunger overwhelming this need to let it all out.

"'Course this school is already full of nutjobs anyhow, I fit in just fine, y'know?" She felt like talking now, talking in a bored, unamused voice.
"God, Sal, why can't you catch me in a good mood sometime, eh? I'm pretty fun when I'm not ticked off at everything or having a breakdown, you know."
This time she actually giggled- it souned exhausted, but it was an actual chuckle alright.

"Anyways, let's move on to a friendlier topic." She perked her ears up in a fashion that resembled happiness. "You're a pretty good cook-
where'd you learn?"

Aikomi must've had some kind of psychic power because she was able to discern his thoughts without him even saying a word. He didn't say anything as she remarked how great it was she was naturally insane and how she explained that her episodes usually only happen at night. She remarked that the school was already full of nut-jobs and crazy people anyway so that made her fit in somehow. She then laughed somewhat genuinely as she asked the rhetorical question why he couldn't catch her at a good time. He only shook his head quietly, not laughing along with her joke. At the risk of being repetitive, Salzem was at a loss for words, and merely stared at her quietly. He wanted to say something but her dark and disturbing comments shut down whatever he had to say yet again... She seemed quite talented at leaving him speechless.

He managed to snap himself out of his trance when she remarked how good of a cook he was, asking where he learned. He blinked, coming back into reality before answering, realizing that he left about half of his food untouched. Grabbing a piece of bacon, he answered.

"I guess I always had a knack for it." He commented, munching on the cooked meat-strip as casually as one could in this situation. "Never really had a teacher either... Just picked it up and found I was pretty good at it, you know? Anyways, I'm glad you like it."

Aikomi very briefly twitched spasmodically, bursting out into a hiss-like laughter and rather violently slamming her fist onto the table. She left it there for a few moments, lettng out a quiet "God-effing-damnit" before raising herself to a sitting position, once again forcibly smiling at Salzem.
"I like it, it's really good, Sal- you don't mind if I call you Sal, do you?" She gazed casually at him, her eyes unmatching of her tone; she sounded light and peppy, whilst her stare was obviously dark and lazy. Half of her was trying to be a dumb cat-girl, the other half trying to stay in this annoyed mood.
"I mean, usually I'm quite stupid. Just another glitch in the program, huh?
Ahah... Hah....."

The girl had succesfully finished a piece of toast and an egg bundled with it, now moving on to toast with bacon.
"Never learned how to cook, me. Never tried either. I don't actually need food. Need water, though."
"Now I dunno if you've noticed or not, but I'm not your standard android. No, no, cupcake, I'm a ~synthetic~. But not just that, I'm moreso a ~cyborg synthetic~. Wow, cool right?"
"So basically, I'm a half robot robot. A robot cyborg. I'm fleshy like a person, I got blood, I got organs, I got all of that wonderful stuff, but I don't... Really... Need them. Only thing I actually need is water, moderate temperatures, and psychotic delusions every five minutes. So yeah,
I'm fine 'n dandy. How 'bout you Sal? You screwed up in any way or are you some normal kid who'll be scared off by my behaviour by Tuesday? ...- Wait, crap, today's Tuesday. How's Wednesday sound then?"

Salzem flinched as Akio suddenly slammed her fist upon the table's face, letting out an ominous laugh and twitching fit before getting herself back under control. He could tell the smile she flashed him was painfully forced, almost cruel in shape... It made him wonder why she kept trying. She complimented his cooking once more, asking if she could call him "Sal" and he nodded, more concerned with her at the moment than himself.

He didn't say a word, as she insulted herself, then go on a rant, stating how she was just some glitchy cyborg, full of organs and blood she didn't need and full of frustration regarding her psychotic breaks. He could hear it in her tone even if she didn't directly say it. She seemed so tired and wasted and alone, lashing out at him because he was the only one around that would listen. She indirectly accused him that he would soon leave her like so many others, if not today then tomorrow, scared of the madness and chaotic nature she possesses. Salzem only shook his head when she inquired if he was a "normal" kid, looking at her sadly. He had no desire to tell anyone his real purpose here, but he could assure her that he wasn't just an average guy, for better or worse.

"Aiko..." He whispered, finally able to speak. He reached a hand across the table, taking her hand still clenched in a fist in his and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I'm not just going to disappear. I'm not scared of you either... I'm just... jumpy, okay? Calm down..."