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It was an average night for Nier, Kainé, Emil, and their friend who happened to be a flying magic book, Grimoire Weiss. They’d had a long day, and their search for Yonah, Nier’s daughter, had yielded no fruit. Yet again. No leads. Nier, at this point, was quite fed up, but to his credit, he wasn’t taking it out on his comrades. So, around their fire they sat, and Emil and Kainé, still exiled from sleeping in the village, had managed to make some space for them all to enjoy some company before Nier and Weiss returned to their lodgings for the night.
Still, this night, while admittedly an average one, by their standards, led Emil to thinking. Aside from the usual thinking, of course; this was thinking. Deep thinking. He wouldn’t really have known this, bless him, but the word Emil was looking for was “reminiscing.” Still, there was something melancholy in this train of thought on which he’d embarked; he thought of Halua, thought of when he’d had to petrify Kainé, thought of when he’d managed to fuse with his sister’s soul and become… Well, whatever he was now. Even if Emil was, for all extensive purposes, at peace with his new body in the intellectual sense, he was, even if he wouldn’t admit it, still trying to deal with the change in the emotional and psychological senses. It was, in fact, a process.
His thoughts were bleak, but his reality, while still bleak, at least had the team back together and reunited after Kainé’s 5 year petrification. These thoughts had a bittersweet flavor to them. Why did they make him so sad? Before he could spiral any further into this mental rabbit hole, a gruff, mildly concerned voice cut off his thoughts. “—Hey, Emil. You all right?”
Emil turned to Nier with a light gasp. “Oh! Yeah, Nier, I’m fine.”
“Are you absolutely sure of that? We’ve been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes now,” Weiss chimed in, flying a reasonable distance away from the fire, but closer to Emil. His words dripped with sarcasm. “I think you may, perhaps, be lying.”
Emil said nothing. HIs reaction, much more lackluster than normal, clearly unnerved the rest of his ragtag family unit. Kainé, very much shocked, sat up from atop a blanket she’d placed upon the ground, pointing at their floating friend. “Hey, page-for-brains. If he says he’s fine, even if he isn’t fine, just let it be. Got it? You gotta read between the lines, asshole.”
Now that was a good string of puns. Emil couldn’t help but smile, as did Nier, who audibly groaned at the joke. Meanwhile, while Weiss couldn’t physically raise his eyebrows, it was clear from his tone that he would have while he said, surprise tingeing his tone, “Ah, Nier, Emil, did you hear that? Does our dear hussy… Perhaps… Somehow have tact? ” He let out a chuckle. “Who’d have thought?” While this was obviously condescending, the way he said this gave the impression that he was actually somewhat impressed. A fondness, surprisingly enough, coursed through his speech, though he’d never admit it.
“Shut up, Weiss,” Kainé jabbed back, but there wasn’t any true malice or anger behind it. Kainé seemed to enjoy their banter, and she’d never admit that either. She and Weiss were perfect verbal sparring partners. “Still, ‘ dear Hussy’?” She mock-gasped. “Weiss, is that a compliment? Growing fond of me?”
Weiss stammered while Kainé smirked. Before anyone else could speak, however, Nier jumped in, laughing a slight bit himself under his breath: “Can it, you two. What Weiss most likely means to say is, yeah, you have a point, Kainé. Emil, you don’t have to say anything, okay?” He said this with the sage wisdom of a father. Or, at the very least, the sage wisdom of a man who, while enjoying himself, was starting to need some sleep. Emil had spent most of his life listening to tone instead of seeing one’s face. He was still getting used to seeing without petrifying people, admittedly, but hey, sometimes leftover talents were still of use.
Emil nodded. “Thank you. I really appreciate it. It’s nothing, honestly, but…” He trailed off. “I dunno.”
“You don’t have to know. That’s what sleep’s for. Working things out.” Nier, who was sitting beside him, patted his skeletal shoulder. “That, and killing things. That one works for me, at least.”
Something about that sounded mildly concerning to Emil, but he let that slide. One copes how they can, right? And a lot had happened in the 5 years they’d been apart. He didn’t blame Nier for taking out his sadness about losing Yonah on every Shade he could see.
“—Still, Emil, remember that we’re here for you whenever you’re ready to talk. Just let us know.” With that, Nier got up, giving Emil an affectionate, paternal pat on atop his head before throwing a short wave Kainé and Emil’s way. “Well, Kainé, Emil, we’re off. ‘Night.”
Weiss waved a page as well, and with that, the two of them were off, back to the village. Emil watched Nier and Weiss’ forms fade into the distance, into the night. As they left, Kainé had begun to lounge atop her blanket, laying on her side horizontally, still facing the fire. To her credit, Kainé did let Emil have some space—not just physically, but aurally. She said nothing, looking quite deep in thought. She clasped her bandaged arm—her Shade arm, as he’d remembered, then twiddled her fingers atop the mangled white cloth with a bit of tenseness. After a long silence, Emil finally asked, breaking the quiet that had laid itself upon the night air: “Hey… Kainé?”
The fire blazed beside her, illuminating her gossamer hair and the Lunar Tear hairpiece that Nier had made her to celebrate her de-petrification. Embers from the flames of their meager fire drifted into the sky, fizzling out as soon as they’d taken flight. Kainé looked up at her friend in reply. Emil could tell that she was, quite understandably, wiped out from her own attempts at foraging earlier that day, which were hijacked by unwelcome Shades. “Yeah, Emil?”
“Kainé… I don’t know why, but I’ve been thinking about everything that’s happened.”
She nodded. “That's fair. Me too.”
Another awkward silence. He moved from a small tree stump to a blanket that had been laid out beside Kainé’s. “...What are you thinking about?”
“...Eh, nothing new. Revenge, wanting to tear Weiss’ pages out if he doesn’t stop calling me a ‘hussy,’ how goddamn tired Nier looks, and… Well, how much I missed you. All of you.” She counted each off on her hand, that last one lingering in the air.
This warmed Emil’s heart.
“But,” She continued, looking back at the fire once more, “don’t tell Weiss that. He won’t let me have the end of it if I do.”
“...How about you?” As Kainé said this, she sat herself back up, sitting cross-legged. She didn’t take off her high-heels, even when she was resting at ease. Not that Emil ever really understood fashion, but he had a deep respect for her, because that… Looked painful.
“Well... I’ve been wondering. Kainé, when I unpetrified you, you said you recognized me immediately. This may be a stupid question, but...” He gestured to himself. “ How? How did you?”
“...Emil, your voice was instantly recognizable,” she replied, voice completely flat. “I thought that was obvious.”
“Oh, no no! I mean, oh, how do I explain this…” Flustered, he fumbled around for words: “I mean, uh, er, I—Um, how could you recognize me once you saw me?”
“Aside from the process of elimination? Emil, I knew for a fact that you sure as hell weren’t Nier or Weiss.”
He gulped. Wow. This wasn’t going as he’d hoped. “...Kainé, I’m sorry. This was stupid of me to ask—stupid, stupid … ! ”
She put a hand on his skeletal shoulder, stopping him mid-spiral. “No, Emil, it isn’t. I mean, yeah, it’s a dumbass question in some ways, but I get what you’re saying. I’m just messing with you.”
He let out a sigh of relief. “Phew! You scared me there, friendo.”
Emil scooted a bit closer to her. “Well, Kainé… I don’t know how to explain this, but… I told Nier. You remind me...”
“—Of your sister?” She finished for him. “Yeah, no shit. I didn’t hear you say it, if I was petrified when you did, it’s… obvious.”
“Ah.” While his face couldn’t physically blush anymore, the mental thought of it was there. “Oh. Well. This is embarrassing.”
“Still, it’s flattering. I never had a brother before. Just Grandma.”
“Better late than never?” Emil asked, pointing to himself.
She smiled lightly. “Better late than never, indeed.” Kainé patted his shoulder.
Another bit of warmth tickled his heart. “Still, Kainé… You didn’t answer my question.”
“Oh, yeah,” She realized. “I didn’t, did I.”
“...It’s what you said before, isn’t it?” Emil admitted defeat.
Kainé shook her head, her long side-bang and asymmetrical loop of a braid bobbing as she did so. “Well, that, and also… Emil, no matter what, you are still you.” It was her turn to pat his head fondly. “Emil will always be Emil. Nothing will change that. No matter how... ” She gestured to his obviously exposed bones in his new form. “... Skeletal you may be.”
“You mean scary,” He sighed. “I may be used to it now, but… Kainé, do you think I’m scary?”
He gave him a flat look. “Emil, I have a Shade living in my goddamn arm ready to flip its shit at any moment. Nothing scares me at this point. And even then, you aren’t scary. Still...”
Kainé was, shockingly enough, good at this whole “familial advice” thing. She really did have tact. When the situation called for it, of course. Even if it was seasoned with swearing. It really was quite endearing. Emil appreciated that about her.
“...No matter how sad, or lonely, or just fuckin’ hopeless you feel, Emil, just remember that you’ve got us, got it? And don’t you fuckin’ forget it.”
Emil sniffled, incredibly moved. “Kainé…!”
“Hey, don’t cry,” She insisted. This wasn’t meant to chastise him, however. Kainé gave him another pat on the head.
“Kainé… Thank you.”
A smile. “Thank you for unpetrifying me, Emil. I missed you.”
He hugged Kainé from the side, resting his bony head against her shoulder. “I missed you too, Kainé.”
She didn’t flinch; she welcomed the embrace wholeheartedly, hugging him back awkwardly—she wasn’t used to this kind of affectionate contact, but she was clearly trying her best. It was likely not horribly comfortable hugging a sentient skeletal creature, so Emil appreciated the fact that she was letting him hug her to begin with. The flames before Kainé and Emil illuminated them both, mirroring the warmth that they both felt in their hearts. Kainé, meanwhile, used her free arm in this hug between friends to offer Emil a hand, which he gladly took. His hand shook. Kainé squeezed it tight.
After a while of sitting like this, Emil asked: “...Kainé, can we move into the inside of your hut? I don’t want to risk getting rained on. Just in case.”
“...That would suck. Good idea.”
With that, Kainé got up. Emil also got up again, using some magic to levitate an inch or so off the ground. Easier than walking, considering. They moved their blankets into her hut itself, which, lack of door aside, was quite sturdy. They could still feel the fire in there, and after shuffling around some makeshift pillows and their blankets, they each made their beds.
Setting their beds beside each other, Kainé and Emil tucked themselves in, and she offered her hand to Emil again—this time, the one with the bandage. The Shade hand. Emil, lying on his side, took it with both hands, clasping her hand as if he were praying. He could feel something wriggling underneath the cloth that wrapped around her arm, as he had when she’d first insisted on that fateful day when they’d met that his eyes were not a sin. He couldn’t believe that it had been 5 years. How time flies.
“Thanks, Kainé,” Emil said softly. He squeezed her hand. “Goodnight.”
. “No problem. Thank you. Goodnight, Emil.” She squeezed back.
While Emil’s face was perpetually caught in a smile due to his recent transformation, a genuine smile emanated out of him from within his core. Kainé smiled in reply. From there, the two of them fell asleep, getting some much needed rest. Weiss and Nier, meanwhile, unbeknownst to Kainé and Emil, slept soundly as well.
While the night had started out quite unremarkably, the two of them learned that, sometimes, the sweetest of scenes happen on the most ordinary of nights. The next day, Weiss and Nier walked up to the hut, and, seeing them both still sound asleep, figured it was best to leave them to sleep in peace. After all—these two had been through a lot. Kaine and Emil deserved the rest that had eluded them as of late. Here, finally, for the first time in a long while, they did.