Despite all of her forced bravado, and the distinct sensation that Vera was still watching her somehow even after she heard the door close behind her, Jeanne still felt her hand shaking a little as she knocked on Helena’s door. Once lightly enough in the hopes that she wouldn’t hear, and twice a little more firmly once her paranoid mind realized that the sound of her unlocking her own door would likely be loud enough to hear anyway.

She grit her teeth, and forced herself to have something resembling a smile as she looked up at the peephole, and wrung her hands a little as she waited for a response, reaching out to knock on it once more just before she heard the distinct sound of a key being turned, and her breath caught a little in her throat as the door slowly swung open to reveal… the room from last night, and the woman from the party in casual clothes, just looking down at her like nothing had ever happened.

She opened her mouth, and simply said, “Good morning Jeanne, did you get any sleep last night? You still look kind of… nevermind, at least you’re up early enough.”

It took a while for Jeanne to register that someone asked her a question, mostly because she was utterly consumed by feeding the sense of impending dread that grew with every little piece of furniture and fixture in Helena’s room that she somehow recognized still. But she eventually turned her gaze back up to the woman standing directly in front of her, and managed a weak, “Huh? Oh! Yeah, I guess I did.”

“... Right, well breakfast’s inside if you want some, come right in,” Helena said, shaking her head a little as she took a few steps back to make way for Jeanne, who simply coughed, and mustered enough presence of mind to mutter a common arabic greeting in response as she stepped inside.

“So um, how about you? Did you sleep good? I mean, did you have a good night’s sleep?” Jeanne said, her gaze narrowing onto a familiar looking knife on a familiar looking countertop.

“I don’t sleep,” Helena bluntly stated, before she closed the door behind her and locked it in one swift motion.

“Oh, of course, just like in the uh,” Jeanne instinctively turned around in response, that awkward smile of hers twitching just a little as she held back a sigh of relief at the sight of Helena’s still human form.

“Yes, but don’t worry, I actually find it very convenient. Do you know just how much time you waste each day on sleeping?” Helena said, sounding a little proud of herself as she asked her rhetorical question.

“Like, four hours or so?” Jeanne replied without a hint of irony in her voice.

“I-nevermind,” Helena stated, taking the first few steps forward, a cold hand gently bumping against Jeanne’s shoulder as if to nudge her in the right direction. “Do you like sausages?”

“I’m fine with just about anything to be honest,” Jeanne noted, slowly walking towards a plastic and steel chair near the countertop that she definitely didn’t remember seeing last night.

“Well you’ll love these then,” Helena said, walking around the counter after ushering Jeanne into her chair to pick out a pair of plates previously hidden away by the fridge and placing it down on the countertop turned dining table. There was a lone sausage on each, albeit one the size of a tv remote, it was strangely brown colored as well.

“Oh nice, sausages, are you going to make some instant noodles or fried rice with it or something?” Jeanne noted, while eyeing the loaf of bread Helena was taking from the countertop.

“What?” Helena blurted out mid slice.

“Uh, nevermind, it’s fine,” Jeanne said, trying desperately to backpedal.

“Well, having three square meals a day is probably already an improvement, but it wouldn’t hurt to eat healthier than that every now and then right?” Helena said, turning her attention back down to slide a few slices of bread into something that Jeanne now recognized as the first toaster she’s seen in her life.

“I guess?” Jeanne shrugged, “What are we having anyway?”

“Homemade beef sausage with a side of toast and a salad I made earlier this morning with a balsamic vinaigrette,” Helena confidently noted, already turning to face the fridge to fetch something.

“Oh, ok,” Jeanne said in a monotone voice, as she watched Helena place shredded red cabbage and carrots on the sides of both plates.

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“Not what you’re used to huh?” Helena said, still trying to keep the conversation going.

“Yeah, but like I said I’ll eat just about anything.”

“Well, what do you like then?” Helena finally ventured, a hint of annoyance in her voice even as she placed a loaf of brown crusted toasted bread on each plate, and casually pushed Jeanne’s across the table.

Jeanne looked down on the plate, took in the vibrant reds and oranges of the salad, and breathed in the smell of fresh if oddly lumpen and unevenly cooked toast carried up on the warm air. It made her sigh a little, her stomach growling a little as she picked up a nearby fork and poked at the brown mass that was her sausage, and surprised herself with how little give it had. “No no, it’s fine I’m just sorta.”

She cut herself off by stabbing into the sausage, immediately lifting it up to her mouth to take a big bite before she let out a muffled, “Look, I’m eating see?”

Helena sighed, before she reluctantly replied with, “I guess you are,” and dug into her meal as well, albeit while still staring directly at Jeanne’s face the whole time, it was a little off putting.

It took a bit of time for Jeanne to resurface so to speak, despite her initial reluctance the first bite of that pleasantly savoury and salty, if admittedly dry and slightly gristly sausage was enough to convince her starved mind to stuff another down as soon as she finished chewing, and another. Until she found herself idly poking at the only vaguely recognizable thing still left on her plate outside of the mystery salad, and found her gaze being drawn up again when she heard Helena say something to her.

“Hm?” Jeanne muttered, before using her spare hand to grab onto the toast and try to stuff it wholesale into her mouth.

“I said, are you really still wearing the same shirt from last night?” Helena replied, a little more firmly this time, with that same slightly judgemental look from before.

Jeanne pulled the strip of toast away, her cheeks moving up and down as she chewed through what little she managed to tear off, “No, I just have like, 10 of these things, why?”

For a brief second there, Jeanne thought she could spot a look of… disgust or discomfort on Helena’s face before she replied, “Oh wow that’s… certainly something alright, were they just half off or given to you or?”

“I just don’t really like to think about what I’m wearing,” Jeanne replied swiftly and normally.

“Okay, okay,” Helena replied, seemingly opening her mouth to say something more only to cut herself off with another fork full of salad.

“So what are your plans for today anyway?” Helena eventually ventured out to say, her eyes boring into Jeanne’s again.

“Uh, what do you mean?” Jeanne said, blinking a little like a deer in the headlights.

“Your 12 step plan for sustainable happiness, the one you were talking about last night, which step are you going to take today?” Helena said, in a kind and calm tone.

“Oh, that uh… that old thing? Uh, ahahaha,” Jeanne let out, breaking down into nervous laughter a little as she idly wondered how quickly she could get to the door.

“Jeanne, last night you told me on pain of certain death that you had a way out for yourself, that if I just gave you some time you’d… sort out the mess that is your life well enough to think of something that’d give m-give her the ‘happy ending’ she deserves, before you leave the rest of us well enough alone, correct?” Helena said, still in that same calm tone, her hands seeming a little longer than usual as she cut into her sausage.

“Well I uh, I did yes,” Jeanne said, while wishing that she could bury herself into her chair somehow.

Helena sighed, her stance shifting slightly to look down on Jeanne as she implied, “So are you really sure that you want to come into my house just the morning after, eat my food, and tell me that was just what? A joke?”

Jeanne blinked, and retained enough presence of mind to stammer out a, “Uh, no… it’s just…”

Helena craned her head to the side, the sudden movement causing Jeanne to shift her chair back a little, “Just what?”

Jeanne took in one deep breath after another as she tried and failed to look away, squirming in place until she finally let out a loud and desperate sounding, “Where the hell do I even start? I mean, I want to ‘get better’ but what does that even mean? Cleaning my room? Eating regularly? Working out? When the hell have I ever done any of that? Are you kidding me? I can't even take out the trash regularly and that shit’s just down the hall.”

“Uh huh,” Helena said, blinking a little in place.

“So it’s all just, lying there, in piles and piles, near my bed, in the toilet, under the sink, waiting until I can be bothered to do something about it just like, everything else, all of the dishes, most of my clothes, sweeping the floor, buying absolutely anything to eat that I can keep in the fridge, it’s all just… lying there,” Jeanne slumped back into her seat, her gaze downcast as she simply took in one breath after another.

There was a long silence, before Helena put her fork aside, and with a slightly disgusted look on her face replied with, “Well… ugh, is this really how you’re asking for help?”

“Huh?” Jeanne said, with a slightly confused look on her face.

Helena snorted, her free hand swiftly moving to grab her phone from the table to check her calendar, before with another sigh she continued with, “I guess my schedule’s free enough today, but you really have to learn to… ugh, look I’m not your friend okay? I’m not your family or a loved one, I don’t have to care about you, I don’t have to invite you into my home and listen to you whine about how hard your life is like this.”

“Uhhhhh,” Jeanne muttered, still unsure of where this was going.

Pointing at Jeanne with the knife still in her hand, Helena says, “So I want you to know that I am really going out of my way when I say that I ugh, wouldn’t mind, coming over there to help clean up if you really need someone to help you get started.”

“Oh! Well, thank you? I mean, thank you!” Jeanne said, with a genuine smile on her face that made Helena look at her funny.

Helena put the knife aside, already moving to sit up from the table to put her plate away as she replied with, “Just, just finish eating already so we can go, I really don’t want to spend too much time on this, mucking out someone’s home isn’t really… ugh, at least it can’t possibly be that bad right?”

Already moving to stuff the last bits of her toast into her mouth, Jeanne simply blinked, and said “No, no it is.”