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When she comes to, it's with a dull throbbing in her head and stinging pain near her stomach and arms. She seethes a breath out, reaching for the murky darkness of sleep once more.
Then she remembers faces, mocking laughter and a child too terrified for someone his age. Her eyes shoot open and she pushes herself up, expecting the resistance of ropes and a cold ground. Pains sings through her body when she meets no resistance, and she groans. She's not tied up, which is a good start, and when she actually takes in the scenery, she finds she's in a small room, seated on a bed. A blue and white bed, surprisingly soft, much softer than her own.
Briefly, she entertains the thought of getting a softer bed for herself.
She shakes the thought out of her head quickly. It would be a temptation each day, drawing her back into blissful sleep before she can get ready for work, and she had far too much work to risk it.
Still, it's nice…
She rubs her head to alleviate her headache somewhat, only to be met with bandages. Her hand jerks away, and she takes the time to examine herself. She's in pajamas, blue and loose on her frame. It catches on bandages underneath, on her arms and stomach.
Suddenly, it clicks.
Her shoulders droop in relief. She knows this place, knows this room, knows this familiar scent of lilies. She berates herself for not recognizing it earlier. And if her bandages and pain are anything to go by, Kaeya took care of her wounds himself, forgoing taking her to the church to get proper healing.
Quietly, she's thankful. She can see a healer later, on her own time, of her own will, if she needs to. But that is a burden the healers shouldn't need to deal with, and she would much rather tough out the pain. Her injuries are minor, anyways.
Slowly, she stands up, birds idly chattering outside the window. His closet has a change of clothes for her, she knows. Her clothes from yesterday are likely in no state to be worn. The thought leaves her a little sad, but such is the price of confronting dangers to the city.
She finds spare clothes in his closet, in the same spot she remembers him placing them ("just in case you'll need them later"). Old, slightly wrinkly, but they fit well and she feels far better with clothes she can wear around town. Most of the bandages are well hidden under the cloth as well, except for…
She finds one of his mirrors, frowning at the bandage on her head. She remembers the blow, a hard hit to her head with a bat, enough to rip skin and draw blood but not crack her skull (thank Barbatos). She sighs. If she were to remove the bandages, there would certainly be a nasty bruise beneath, drawing concern from everyone she'd pass see.
She'll keep the bandages.
Yet her hair is a mess of knots, dirt, and dried blood. She winces and looks to the bed, noting the debris left behind. She'll clean it for him later.
With one final look at herself, she turns to the door, making her way over. It opens with a small creak, and she closes it as quietly as she can. Kaeya is almost certainly in the guest room sleeping, and she has no intention of waking him.
When she enters the kitchen, though, Kaeya's definitely awake, working on a third plate of pancakes. His eye widens slightly when he sees her before he offers her a small smile.
"Care for some breakfast?" he asks, in a way she knows he won't take no as an answer for, and she has no intention of turning him down regardless. Her stomach rumbles angrily at the sight of food. She had forgotten her hunger until now.
She pulls out a chair at the dining table. The table is empty aside from a pitcher of water, three glasses, papers, and crayons. Kaeya hums in approval, and she finds herself smiling before her head thrums and her memory comes back to her.
"What happened to the treasure hoarders and the boy?" she asks, certain he knows what she's asking about. He wasn't supposed to be out on the field, but there's no other explanation for how she'd end up in his bed instead of dead or tied up.
He glances at her, a mischievous smile in his eye, and he doesn't need to answer beyond that. "They're no longer a nuisance," he confirms, and she sighs. She loves Kaeya, but truly, his disregard for the law leaves her more than a little frustrated at times. "The kid's home, too," he adds on, cheerfully, as if he didn't potentially kill around ten people yesterday.
She thinks back to the kid's terrified expression, and finds she can probably excuse his actions. Just this once.
If she presses further, she'll just complicate the situation in a way that's beneficial to neither of them. So instead, she changes the subject, asking, "Why did you put me in your room?"
At this, Kaeya glances to his guest room, a frown tugging on his lips. Jean follows his gaze, wondering, before a door opens and slams shut, someone running down the hall.
"I got the berries, Uncle Kaeya!" Klee yells, an excitable ball of red appearing from the corner.
"'Atta girl," Kaeya smiles, leaving his post by the pan for a few seconds to lean down in front of her and pat her head. Klee beams at the praise before noticing Jean and perking up.
"Oh, Auntie Jean!" she says, a grin blossoming on her face until it falls.
"Klee?" Jean asks.
"Are you hurt?" Klee looks at her, eyebrows knit together in worry, and oh, she forgot about her head.
She musters a smile despite her pounding headache. "Yes, I'm doing well, Klee."
Immediately, Kaeya ruffles her hair and kisses her forehead. "It's almost breakfast, Klee. How about you help set up the table and enjoy some berries?"
Klee perks up again and looks at the bowl in her hand as if she had forgotten she had them at all, and Jean chuckles. What a good kid.
She stands up and walks over to Klee as Kaeya goes back to the pan, flipping what was hopefully an unburnt pancake. "Let me help," she says, taking the bowl from Klee and putting it on the table. She sees the crayons and papers again, and suddenly it clicks.
Klee had stayed over, meaning the guest room was occupied.
With the guest room occupied, Kaeya left Jean in his bed.
Meaning Kaeya likely slept on the couch.
She pinches her nose in frustration. If they didn't have company, she would have scolded him for not sleeping in a proper bed. She wouldn't have won, of course - her bed's less comfortable than his couch, somehow, and this argument is well worn between the two - but instinct still pulls at her.
"Jean?" Klee asks again, and Jean lowers her hand and smiles at the girl.
"I'm fine," she says.
Klee gives her a look that says she doesn't believe her, and Jean winces slightly before Klee reaches over to the bowl, picking out some blue berries.
"These ones are my favorite!" she says, popping one in her mouth. Jean smiles and picks her own berry, a red one, idly chewing on it.
"Here we are." A plate of flower-shaped pancakes is placed in front of her, and she looks up just in time to meet Kaeya's proud look before he places a bowl of rabbit shaped pancakes in front of Klee and wolf shaped pancakes in front of himself. He goes back to the counter for a brief moment to bring a jar of cold cream to the table. He plops some of the cream onto Klee's pancakes before offering the jar to Jean, who shakes her head. He shrugs, putting cream on his own meal before locking the lid back in place.
She opts for berries, though, waiting patiently for Klee to get a handful for herself before picking some out.
It's been months since she last sat down to eat breakfast at a table, much less with company. She savors the food, allowing herself a moment of peace.
She can scold Kaeya later for ignoring orders.