Night 67: Main Hallway, 1-Center

[freewill]

[From here.]

They'd already neared the Sun Room and the door that led to the building's exit, but Castiel wasn't aiming for either one tonight. It was still quiet on this side of the building, which seemed strange to him. He was using crutches, after all... He would have expected that plenty of other patients would have beaten him and Lust to this point.

It didn't matter. If their path wasn't littered with obstacles, that would make it easier to reach the greenhouse. As for Lust's question...

"There is one person I know who I believe is still ill," he explained. "Her name is Aigis. She used to be an android, though she's been made human here." Just like him, and perhaps just like Lust. Though she was a created human, so he had no idea if she could ever be the real thing. Did she even have a soul? There was no way he would be able to feel for it in this place; he didn't have that kind of power at the moment.

"We have a few things in common, but she hasn't been taking her illness very seriously." Which frustrated him, especially since she had struck him as the goal-oriented type. Did she really have that little concern for her own well-being?

Comments

[impudentsongbird]

[from here.]

Gabriel and Murphy bolted around the corner more suddenly than was probably usual. Or maybe it wasn't unusual. The Archangel wasn't sure, except that he was relieved they were somewhere there was just a touch more light. Just a touch--not much. Enough for Gabriel to realise he'd left his torch behind.

And he didn't dare go back. Maybe later, if they waited for the man to move elsewhere, and hope that no one picked it up.

As it was, the corridor they'd just left was long enough that once they reached roughly the door to the sunroom, Gabriel felt safe enough to slow. There were more people, here. Not many, but a few. Enough that someone would hesitate to attack; the man, or demon, or whatever he'd been, had waited until he got someone alone.

A little startled by the way his side ached, the way his chest burned with a weird need for air and yet dearth of it, the Archangel turned toward Murphy. "Are you alright?" he demanded anxiously, turning the man's hand over in his and peering into Murphy's face, giving him a visual inspection. "You aren't--aren't hurt?"

The loss of air made it hard to speak. Something else Gabe had always known, but never really known. At least Murphy didn't look injured, but that didn't mean much.

[stop_the_rain]

"No..."

The man normally known as Murphy shook his head, his throat painfully dry. "You're not real...this isn't real..."

But saying it didn't make it seem so. He was shaking and felt sick, as though he were going to lose his dinner. He wanted to back away but he couldn't with the...man holding onto it. And he couldn't really deny the man's existence, either, when he could feel him.

Nothing made sense. His head ached. He shouldn't be having any delusions. They'd given him something, he remembered clearly, something to help...

But he knew what he'd just seen.

[impudentsongbird]

"Don't hurt me," Murphy begged, the tension in his body taut like a spring as if he wanted to pull away but didn't dare. "Don't hurt me, please ..."

Gabriel flinched and pulled back himself, though not enough to actually let go. Instead he cradled Murphy's hand in his, trying to be as gentle as possible. Why would Murphy say that? Why would Murphy think that?

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, as gently as he could but not without puzzlement and unease. This wasn't the man he remembered. Murphy had been pained at heart and soul, but not timid and terrified. "What's wrong, Murphy? Did they--"

Blinding realisation almost made the Archangel gasp. Instead he went still, studying the other man. "They gave you something, didn't they?" he asked softly. "Like they gave me. Is it making you afraid?"