It had been, doubtlessly, the worst night Zero had ever been through in this place. Nothing he'd set out to do had been accomplished. He'd gotten himself seriously wounded, and there had been one casualty at the end of it all. And now, he had the pleasure of waking up to tremendous aches and pains in his body. Did anything ever go right in this place...?
He slowly sat up in his bed, wincing from the effort, and quickly realized that his injured right arm was now wrapped in a cast. He threw a hand up to the wound on his neck to check; there were bandages wrapped around that, too. Since when...? They'd...taken care of him while he'd slept? Was this supposed to be a gesture of kindness on the part of Landel? It was only salt on an open wound.
...Many open wounds.
The once-Reploid carefully moved himself to the edge of the bed and sat there, staring at the floor. Counting each breath. Yes, he knew what pain was like. He knew how to deal with it, in a sense. But he'd never felt pain like this before. Lingering, almost numbing. Human pains...
... He knew he only had himself to blame for all of this. The lesson he'd learned from the night before was a hard one. It didn't matter how brave he was. In this body, he was almost useless, unable to complete a mission or even save one person's life....no. It wasn't Zex's death alone that bothered him so much; it was the fact that he had been so stupidly, almost over-confidently certain that he could have protected Zex when he really couldn't that hurt the most.
Zero clenched his fists tightly, then let out a long sigh. He needed to put this all out of his mind. His usual coping mechanism at work. Getting depressed and self-hateful over past events would get him nowhere. He could only do his best to redirect that negative energy into fuel. Fuel to keep fighting, to bring Landel down...for people like Zex's sake. Didn't mean it was easy to move on so quickly... But he would try his best.
Before he could think about the night any longer, his nurse came in the room to take him to breakfast. She carried with her a sling that she put on his bandaged arm before they left. Zero allowed her to do this without a word. At least she wasn't being obnoxiously chatty for once. Perhaps she was taking pity on him and had decided to make his day just a little less miserable? Unusual, but he wasn't going to complain. He was, however, going to ask to stop on the way to the cafeteria to announce Zex's death over the bulletin board. Perhaps someone knew him, perhaps someone didn't, but people still needed to know.
At breakfast, he got himself a plate full of food, but only to avoid having his nurse come by and reprimand him for 'starving himself'. Truth was, he had no appetite at all. There was instead some strange feeling in his gut that he'd never felt before...something that didn't feel good. He could only describe it as the opposite of hunger. Would it be alright to eat even though he felt this way? He wasn't sure.
But he'd figure that out in a moment. For now, he should find a place to sit. His first instinct was to sit alone and avoid all social contact for as long as possible, but when he spotted Leanne at one of the tables, he found himself walking over to her without a second thought. After the hell that had been last night...it was good to see someone he knew who still looked so cheerful. "Leanne," he greeted after sitting down across from her, sounding far more like his usual self than he looked right now. "You okay?"
I sincerely apologize for the gigantic teal deer that is this tag.....
He slowly sat up in his bed, wincing from the effort, and quickly realized that his injured right arm was now wrapped in a cast. He threw a hand up to the wound on his neck to check; there were bandages wrapped around that, too. Since when...? They'd...taken care of him while he'd slept? Was this supposed to be a gesture of kindness on the part of Landel? It was only salt on an open wound.
...Many open wounds.
The once-Reploid carefully moved himself to the edge of the bed and sat there, staring at the floor. Counting each breath. Yes, he knew what pain was like. He knew how to deal with it, in a sense. But he'd never felt pain like this before. Lingering, almost numbing. Human pains...
... He knew he only had himself to blame for all of this. The lesson he'd learned from the night before was a hard one. It didn't matter how brave he was. In this body, he was almost useless, unable to complete a mission or even save one person's life....no. It wasn't Zex's death alone that bothered him so much; it was the fact that he had been so stupidly, almost over-confidently certain that he could have protected Zex when he really couldn't that hurt the most.
Zero clenched his fists tightly, then let out a long sigh. He needed to put this all out of his mind. His usual coping mechanism at work. Getting depressed and self-hateful over past events would get him nowhere. He could only do his best to redirect that negative energy into fuel. Fuel to keep fighting, to bring Landel down...for people like Zex's sake. Didn't mean it was easy to move on so quickly... But he would try his best.
Before he could think about the night any longer, his nurse came in the room to take him to breakfast. She carried with her a sling that she put on his bandaged arm before they left. Zero allowed her to do this without a word. At least she wasn't being obnoxiously chatty for once. Perhaps she was taking pity on him and had decided to make his day just a little less miserable? Unusual, but he wasn't going to complain. He was, however, going to ask to stop on the way to the cafeteria to announce Zex's death over the bulletin board. Perhaps someone knew him, perhaps someone didn't, but people still needed to know.
At breakfast, he got himself a plate full of food, but only to avoid having his nurse come by and reprimand him for 'starving himself'. Truth was, he had no appetite at all. There was instead some strange feeling in his gut that he'd never felt before...something that didn't feel good. He could only describe it as the opposite of hunger. Would it be alright to eat even though he felt this way? He wasn't sure.
But he'd figure that out in a moment. For now, he should find a place to sit. His first instinct was to sit alone and avoid all social contact for as long as possible, but when he spotted Leanne at one of the tables, he found himself walking over to her without a second thought. After the hell that had been last night...it was good to see someone he knew who still looked so cheerful. "Leanne," he greeted after sitting down across from her, sounding far more like his usual self than he looked right now. "You okay?"