Hilda's Visit (Pt 1)

When morning arrived, Yule would work her way out of her blankets and pat around on her bedside table for her phone, cutting off the alarm. “Burrito…” She mumbled, looking at it.

“Ergh… I hate alarms.” Haven grumbled, burrowing under her pillows.

Nilima woke up. It was strange to not hear Doron going at it with his other mates all night.

Yule had cut off the alarm and was now giggling. She sent the photo of Alex to Haven’s phone. “Looks like Loreen finally got revenge for all his teasing.” She said and sat up, stretching.

Haven looked at the phone and laughed. “That’s hilarious.”

“I know, right?” Yule giggled and got out of bed, going to Nilima to show her the picture. “Do you know how phones work?”

“It’s like a tablet?” Nilima asked. “I never got to use one.”

Haven grabbed some clothes and slipped into the bathroom to change. She was too self conscious of he scars.

“We can get a cheap one for you and show you how it works, but for now I can show you some stuff…” Yule explained, showing Nilima how her phone worked while Haven got changed. She never bothered her friend about it since she, too, was often shy and self conscious about her own scars.

“Wow.” Nilima said, impressed with the technology. The meta who invented smartphones must have been really smart.

“Yeah, they're fun for chatting with people without actually having to be with people. You can even make calls and stuff.” Yule explained as she got back up and returned her phone to her nightstand. She went to the dresser and looked through her clothes, choosing a simple white blouse with floral patterns stitched into it and a pair of jeans that Haven had helped her pick out. They had gone shopping together with Delilah’s help.

Without a second thought, she began to change her clothes since she wasn't feeling too self conscious today. Her scars were long and jagged, some twisting all the way around her arms and legs as if someone had tried to cut them off, but failed. “If you need clothes, I can let you borrow some shirts, but you might need to ask Haven for pants. I'm a bit shorter than you both.”

Nilima wondered how Yule had gotten such terrible scars, but did not ask. Maybe The Underground wasn’t so safe after all.

Noticing Nilima looking at her, Yule smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I know they're ugly.” She admitted. “I got them when I was locked up in MegaCorp…”

A knock at the door got her to dress quickly and Yule went to answer it. Standing beyond it was Hilda. “Is Nilima here? Is she doing well?” She asked, her motherly tone obvious now that she didn't have to pretend around Duuk.

“Oh, uh…” Yule looked at Nilima. “A pretty lady is here to see you.”