Friends? [DONE]

Regina had walked to the cafeteria with Michi, thoughts buzzing rapidly in her head the entire trip. How is this going to turn out? Is she not going to accept me? What if she runs away again? What if I end up hurting her? As all of the ideas and questions bounced around in her mind, she pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed her temple simultaneously. "I wonder what they're serving tonight." this was the girl's effort to promote small talk as they walked through the doors of the eatery.

As the two girls walked into the cafeteria, Regina was rubbing her temple, and Michi wondered if she was tired or irritated. She hoped that going out with Regina would be fun and not an annoyance to her.

Regina wondered aloud about the food selection they'd have, and Michi was confronted with that idea for the first time since arriving, having not even considered what she might want. She wasn't very picky, so why worry?

"I'm not sure," Michi said. "Anything you're looking for specifically...? Oh!"

She noticed some lunch trays alongside the counter where everyone would line up, and moved toward them. She picked one up and handed another to Regina.

"You've still got a couple days' experience on me, so help me out with picking the stuff that won't poison me?" Michi laughed. Hopefully a joke will get her out of her shell a little.

Regina couldn't help but laugh at the fun Michi had poked at the schools food, but she ahd heard much praise for it actually. "Trust me, I've been here for what, maybe two days now, and I still haven't been in here." the teen girl chauckled at the thought, "Living off of crackers and water bottles isn't the most high class kind of living around here, but I regret nothing!" Yes, that was how desperate she was to stay away from people she could potentially hurt, and she was definitely willing to take further precautions to ensure the safety of others.

"Really?" Michi asked. "Why would you avoid the cafeteria if you could have better food than just crackers?" She paused and then chuckled. "Unless the food really is poison!"

Regina thought twice before answering the girl's question, and ended up just shrugging. "I don't know, I didn't have any friends, except for Grant of course, but I can't be joined at the hip to him at all times, you know..." she smiled a little nervously, "I've always found it hard to interact with other people-- younger, older, or otherwise-- so I just try and avoid them when I can." Regina mentally gave herself a pat on the back for not giving too much away (her gift), but telling the truth.

"Things in a new place are always hard," Michi said. "But just be yourself, and the people who like the true you will notice. It's only when you lie that people are unsure of how to approach you."

She patted Regina on the shoulder, and smiled.

"Just be as genuine as you can."

Regina felt herself blushing, but it was more like her whole face was glowing with warmth. "T-That was the nicest thing anybody's e-ever said to me..." she said, the biggest, most genuine smile she'd ever had growing on her face. It was true, no one had ever shown much kindness to the teenage girl in her life, other than her parents; even before her gift awakened. "T-Thank you!"
Then, without thinking, Regina wrapped her arms securely around her new-found friend, bringing her into a tight hug. Oh no! What have I done! she thought to herself, immediately letting go of Michi, but it was too late. She had already felt the other girl's bones crack and splinter under her touch; her ribs were probably fractured and the way that her left arm was hanging limply by her side was most likely the result of a severely dislocated shoulder. But this was only what Regina could see at the moment, who knew what else could have happened inside of her body. Regina felt a tear slide down her face as she looked in anguish.

Michi watched Regina blush at her comment, as she told her that what she said was the nicest thing anyone has ever told her. And then she jumped forward to hug her suddenly, which caught her off guard. But what surprised her even more was the pain in her ribs and arm that followed immediately after. She gasped as she felt her ribs break beneath her touch and bent over in pain immediately, which didn't help at all. Her left arm was hanging limp at her side and she felt an intense pain in her shoulder. "What just—?"

Michi gasped before more pain shot through her abdomen and made her cringe. She clenched her teeth before looking up at Regina, who had started to cry.

"What just happened?" she asked. "I think my ribs are broken and I can't move my arm."

Regina couldn't bear to look at Michi; at what she'd done to her. Inwardly, she cursed her gift and she chastised herself for being such an ignorant fool. This was all until she remembered when she had done something similar to this to Grant. He had wanted her to break him intentionally, but even then she, when she had intentions and purpose, she nearly lost control. She had feared for his life and their relationship, but he had told her: "This isn't about me wanting to get stronger, it's about us being friends."
His words reassured her and restored her hope. She approached Michi and began to mend what she had broken. Her hands fixed the ribs and she set back the shoulder, hoping that that was the only damage done between the two girls.

When Regina touched her again, Michi felt the pain smoothed over like a blanket, subsiding until it felt unreal. She knew she had been injured, and she thought her bones had been broken, but now everything felt so normal that the pain almost felt like a dream. A shadow of something she may have seen, but possibly misinterpreted. She reached down to feel her ribs, pressing into her abdomen to feel each in turn, checking like they may start to hurt again if she just touched them the wrong way. But she felt nothing. No pain, just the normal sensation of fingertips touching her own skin.

And then she realized she had been feeling for her ribs with both hands. She could move her left arm. She let her jaw drop open and tried to rotate her shoulder both forward and backward, testing for ease of movement.

Michi almost laughed in relief, before looking up at Regina, who seemed to be waiting for what she would say. She looked around and the few people in the cafeteria who had been sitting down to dinner were staring at them. She blushed uncomfortably and stood up tall again, before moving a bit closer to Regina and whispering, "Maybe we should grab some food and go back to the dorms? And then you can tell me what just happened."

"Yeah..." Regina just hardly let the words fall past her lips as she looked at Michi with a mixture of relief and disbelief at how she was taking this, "T-That sounds great." She ducked her head as she tried to avoid the odd looks she got from the other inhabitants of the cafeteria and proceeded to the line. She stacked a To-Go tray with a cheeseburger, a hotdog, two helpings of fries, and three apples. Never know when, or if, I'll ever shpw my face in here again... Regina sighed at the thought as she stockpiled her plate.

Regina seemed to agree to her suggestion easily enough, so Michi followed as Regina stacked a tray with food. Michi would have said she was stockpiling like a hibernating animal, as she took nearly the equivalent of two and a half meals. After everything that had happened, Michi wasn't nearly as hungry as she had felt on arriving. But she took nearly the same amount of food anyway, so she could save it for later when her appetite made a re-appearance.

I'm going to assume that was Regina's gift. It happened when she touched me, so I was confused at first as to where it came from or what happened. But the pain going away when she touched me makes me sure it was her. It's a little scary. She doesn't seem to hate me, but ended up hurting me anyway. Can she not control her powers?

Michi proceeded along the line, grabbing a bowl of soup, two turkey sandwiches, four bananas, and a bottle of water. Hopefully no one yells at us for taking too much...

The two girls reached the end of the line, and quickly dashed to the door of the cafeteria to head back to the dorms. The people sitting down to eat had started to quietly whisper and chatter to their friends. Michi grimaced a little before turning to leave.