She let out a long, dramatic groan. She slammed her right arm flat onto the wooden table. She dropped her upper body forward. She rested her pale forehead heavily onto the top of her forearm. She hid her face entirely.
Zenjiro shook his head slowly. He placed his chopsticks parallel across the top of his ceramic bowl. He left his hot food unfinished.
He stood up. He grabbed the wooden back of his chair. He dragged it around the edge of the dining table. The wood shrieked against the floorboards. He positioned the chair directly on the left side of Liora. He sat down extremely close to her.
He looked at her slumped posture. He could see her messy blonde hair spilling over her arm. He could see the wrinkled white fabric of her unbuttoned blouse.
He looked down. He saw the heavy dark fabric of her pleated skirt. The skirt rode high up her legs because of her slumped position. He saw the smooth, pale skin of her bare thighs.
A sudden, violent flash of memory hit his tired brain. He remembered the exact feeling of the heavy sandwich. He remembered the intense, agonizing heat clamping entirely around his right leg. The phantom friction burned instantly across his skin.
He jerked his eyes away. He shook his head hard to clear the dangerous thought. He raised his right hand. He placed his open palm gently onto the top of Liora's messy head. He patted her soft hair.
"Raise your head," Zenjiro said quietly.
"No," Liora mumbled into her own arm. She acted exactly like a stubborn child.
"Liora," Zenjiro said. He patted her hair again. "Just look at me now."
"You ignored me, Onii-chan," Liora complained. Her voice was completely muffled. She kept her forehead pressed firmly against her arm.
Zenjiro silently sighed. He knew he had to play the game to get her to cooperate.
"Sorry," Zenjiro said softly. "Please forgive me."
Liora did not answer him. She did not move a single muscle.
Zenjiro kept his right hand on her head. He rubbed her hair gently. He reached across her with his left hand and grabbed the small foil packet from the table. He tore the top edge off. He squeezed the plastic blister. A single white pill popped out. He held the bitter medicine securely between the index and thumb fingers of his left hand.
He moved his right hand down from her hair. He reached under her face and touched the very bottom of Liora's chin.
Her skin was incredibly hot. A mild fever radiated directly into his fingertips. He gripped her chin firmly. He gently pushed upward. He forcefully turned her face toward him.
Liora offered zero physical resistance. Her head turned. She looked at him with half-open, lazy eyes. Her blue irises were completely dull. She did not say a single word.
Zenjiro slowly moved his left hand toward her face. He held the white pill ready.
He looked directly at her mouth and stared at her soft lips. Another heavy memory crashed right into his mind. He remembered the damp seal. He remembered the intense, suffocating heat completely trapping his breath. He remembered the slow, deliberate movement of his own mouth breaking the vacuum. Watching her mouth right now was an immediate, powerful trigger.
He forced himself to stop thinking about it and pushed the vivid memory entirely out of his head.
"No," Liora whined again. Her lazy eyes tracked the approaching pill. She acted like a crying toddler refusing vegetables.
Zenjiro ignored her whining. He pushed his left hand forward. The tips of his index and middle fingers brushed directly against her soft lips.
A sharp jolt of electricity shot straight up his left arm. The physical contact burned his skin. He ignored the sensation completely. He held the medicine tight. He kept his right hand firmly clamped under her chin. His right thumb rested gently against her warm cheek.
Liora kept saying the word "no" repeatedly. She refused to open her mouth. She kept her lips pressed tightly together. She shook her head slightly from side to side. Zenjiro held her face steady to stop the movement.
She tightened her lips even further. The soft skin pressed into a thin, stubborn line.
Zenjiro tried to force his fingers inward. He pushed the white pill against the seam of her mouth. She absolutely refused to yield. Her lips remained completely shut.
She is acting like a spoiled child. Zenjiro realized the logic of the situation instantly. He had to treat her exactly like a little girl and he had to spoil her with sweet, childish words to break her stubborn defense.
"Come on," Zenjiro whispered softly. He pitched his voice low and incredibly gentle. "Open up for Onii-chan. I will protect you from the pain. Let me make the bad headache go away. Just open your mouth for a second. I know you are a good girl. Good girls take their medicine."
Liora stopped shaking her head. The gentle, coddling tone worked perfectly. Her tight lips slowly loosened up. The stubborn line softened.
Zenjiro immediately pushed his left index and thumb fingers completely inside her mouth.
His fingertips slipped past her lips. They entered the dark, hot space. He felt the intense, slick moisture inside her mouth. The wet heat enveloped his fingers instantly. He placed the white pill directly onto the center of her tongue.
Liora gagged.
She violently spit the medicine straight out.
The white pill flew from her mouth. It landed squarely onto Zenjiro's left palm. He instinctively caught it. He looked down. The medicine was completely covered in her thick, clear saliva. It glistened wetly in the morning light.
Liora scrambled backward in her chair. She grabbed a tall glass of cold water from the table and drank half the glass in three big gulps. She slammed the heavy glass back down onto the wood.
"It's bitter!" Liora shouted. She wiped her wet mouth aggressively with the back of her hand. "I don't wanna drink it."
Zenjiro stared at the wet pill resting in his palm.