Running • Iggy

Breakfast

I heard my door open slowly from my plain bed. I was pretty zoned out, not caring who opened the door. It shut soon after, so I knew the person was clearly in my room or had opened it to check if I was asleep. "Cee..?" Nudge's voice called for me softly. "Ig send me up." Nudge walked over to my bed and sat down carefully, my back still turned from her, face out of view. "Here. I got food out for you." Nudge set the plate on my nightstand, making me turn around slowly. "Thank you Nudge, darling." I smile softly.

"You shouldn't get punished for this... Max is just angry, is all." Nudge's dark eyes were like dark chocolate, warm and swirling. "She'll come around eventually, maybe not thank you, but she won't stay mad forever." Nudge picked the plate up once I was sitting with my back against my bed frame, and put it into my hands. "Eat please. You're worse off than the rest of us right now." Nudge poked at one of my bony ribs, making me jump.

"Ah, yeah." I muttered, self consciously pulling my sleeves further down over my wrists. I didn't like the way I looked, trapped somewhere between a child and a teenager, too skinny, bony and flat to be a teenager, but too tall and well-spoken to be a kid. I wasn't exactly a model, especially with my strange skin. "Hey, not-" Nudge cleared her throat "You're beautiful, Citrus. I would kill for your figure, honestly. You're just skinny, you haven't eaten well and you've been more active than any of us. I'm just worried you'll faint on us... again." she said 'again' in a sheepish tone, looking away.

"Nudge, sweetie." I stopped eating for a second, setting down the utensils and put my hand on her knee. "I'm fine, I promise you. You know as soon as Igs would find out anything wrong he'd come straight to you, and I tell that boy everything." I was lying through my teeth, sure I was fine physically, but I wasn't okay in ways I didn't know how to describe to Iggy or Nudge. None of us were, call it bad experiences or trauma. "If I feel faint I'll tell Fang. He can help, remember?" I tried to reassure the nervous 12-year-old with minimal success. "Please just eat more." Nudge begged, practically forcing my hand to the fork again. I rolled my eyes and began eating again as Nudge shifted the topic, talking about fashion.

Once I finished eating, which honestly didn't take long, Nudge wrapped her arms around my shoulders, hugging me tightly. "Promise me," she said as she stood up to leave, holding the used plate. "You'll tell someone if you're sick." Nudge watched my expression carefully, so I was careful to control it. I smiled, emerald eyes no doubt piercing her soul. "I promise, Nudge." I patted her arm and watched her leave. I sighed, closing my eyes. I'd rather sleep than listen to the flock have their evening playtime.

I don't like missing out on stuff, even though I'm too old to play the way the youngers do. I pulled out my sketchbook, zoning out as I flipped through page and page of photographic-like drawings. That was technically two of my many useless skills. Hyper-Photographic memory, and capability to draw anything perfectly from my memory. The second one wasn't genetic, but a skill I had practiced over the years. I closed my eyes as I landed on a clear, white page, picking through my memories. I began to draw. I'd probably drawn this one over 5 times, but I kept going back to it when I was bored.

It was of Iggy, standing on a rock on a beach, overlooking the ocean. His arms spread out like he was trying to beckon the wind into a bear hug, facing away from me. I had managed to convince Max to let Iggy and I out 2 years ago, we had both been so excited we strayed from our usual path. Iggy had stood on those rocks, feeling the misty spray of the cold water against his skin, and I had felt so happy for him. Of course, he had fallen into the water about 10 minutes later, not life-threatening deep but enough to make me panic and run to grab him. Of course, being Iggy, he dragged me in too as a joke, and we ended up going home very soggy to an angry-looking Max. Not that I cared, because the look on Iggy's face as he laughed about my hair as he felt how frizzy it was from the water was priceless.