DAY 64: ARTS AND CRAFTS (THIRD SHIFT)

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar had spent the morning napping in the Sun Room. Brunch had been skipped, as the nausea was still persisting. He would have been happy to lounge around all day and catch up on sleep, but his nurse had continuously been suggesting that he would be happier if he did something with himself. Fine.

So, Scar had meandered into the Arts and Crafts room. Sitting at one of the tables, he absentmindedly fiddled with the supplies at the center. The scissors were disappointingly dull. He had been hoping for something useful, but apparently they really did think of everything.

He may as well take his time to sort his thoughts. But he wasn't really sure where to begin. He looked down at his injured hand. The bandage didn't cover the rash entirely, but at least he had received medical attention.

He still wasn't at ease with this whole "illness" thing.

[For Murphy!]

Comments

[hairraising]

Rapunzel had spent most of brunch trying to perfect one of Eugene's best pouts. There were no good reasons for the nurses to keep them apart like this. None! What was she getting out of sitting by herself watching Eugene from afar? Boredom? Longing? She'd had eighteen years of both. No thanks.

She could barely enjoy her food throughout the shift, and when asked what she wanted to do for the free choice shift, she chose grudgingly and with much metaphorical gnashing of teeth. The choice ended up being Arts & Crafts, partly because she hadn't been there in a while, and partly because she had just left a note for Sora about the club on the board, which put the name on her mind. With any luck, she thought, Eugene would see that note on the board and maybe think to try looking for her there.

"A little paint never hurts when you want to feel better about things, right?" she said to herself, starting to pull down some sheets of paper, brushes, and other materials from the shelves.

[Kratos and Eugene]

[brokensmolder]

Eugene hadn't seen the note (in fact, he had yet to realize that the bulletin board was a means of communication between patients), but he had seen Rapunzel get up and begin to make her way to the arts and crafts room. Without even saying goodbye to his unpronounceable companion, the erstwhile thief stood up and followed her.

He stood in the doorway for a moment and watched her begin to get out some paints and brushes. Of course she wanted to paint. He remembered the walls of her tower, completely covered with drawings, and the chalk painting she had done in the town just...three days ago. Had it only been three days? After all that had happened since then, the lantern festival seemed like a lifetime ago.

Eugene walked over to her, arms folded across his chest. "Want to take bets on how long it takes for the nurses to separate us again? Apparently it's for our own good."

[forsworn]

He didn't think much of staying in the Sun Room and watching a movie, and even though returning to the library and picking up where he'd left off in Inferno sounded intriguing, Kratos knew that he wasn't really in the right mood for concentrating on words. His mind was currently preoccupied with all the things that they needed to accomplish tonight (many) and the likelihood of the club to do that (slim). It didn't help that he barely knew where to start with this illness.

Honestly. Where was Raine when you needed her?

From years of experience, the best solution for working off so much nervous energy was usually slicing up imaginary enemies or going for a run, but since it was pouring outside and half his body aching and protesting, that was out; he ended up settling for the next best alternative: the arts and crafts room. The last time he had gone in here, he'd come out red-faced with a paper mustache as a souvenir, but Honda was nowhere to be seen; maybe he could do a few more sector sketches, and this time remain completely undisturbed.

Armed again with a few pieces of white construction paper and a black marker, Kratos next began searching for an open and empty table, only to catch sight of two people that he had actually been meaning to find. (Well, only one of them really. He wasn't quite as worried about Eugene.) Speak of the devil.

He joined the two of them, mirroring Eugene's posture with both arms folded as best he could with the paper and marker still in his hands. "Why am I not surprised?"

...that wasn't exactly the best way to join a conversation, but at least he'd managed to sound more amused than irritated.

[hairraising]

It seemed Rapunzel's hunch had been right, because she had barely gotten her supplies together when who should come up behind her but He Of Permanent Smarm himself. She grinned, looking back over her shoulder to answer, only to see not just Eugene, but Kratos too. There was something about the combination of her boyfriend's sarcasm and Kratos's deadpan response that caught a tickle in her chest, and she bent forward with a short laugh.

"Yeah, I'm starting to think I'm going to have to tie a really big knot around you to keep them from doing that again," she answered after setting her materials down on a nearby table, lifting a section of hair and pulling it taut between her hands with a raised eyebrow. Then she tilted her head toward Kratos and looked his way. "You might have to give us a break. First time in love, you know?" she said, her grin becoming faintly sheepish.

After the moment had passed, Rapunzel moved into a seat, inviting the boytoys to sit with her. "Seriously, though, are you okay after... Well, all that?" she asked Kratos.

[brokensmolder]

"That could work," Eugene replied lightly, frowning as if he were considering it. He reached over and lightly ran his fingertips through her hair before pretending to tie a hank of it around his wrist. "Might work if we had more to work with, though." Arching an eyebrow, he added, "Unless you want me on a tight leash."

Kratos had joined them by that point, tall and red haired and slightly surly. Eugene had just been about to make a smart quip in response to Kratos' comment...but Rapunzel got there first.

And what she said made his heart skip a beat.

First time in love. Sure, they'd hinted at it, and after everything that had happened there was no way that what he felt for her wasn't being reciprocated, but they had never called it love. All that talk of dreams, and yet they'd never gotten around to actually calling it by its proper name. Until now, when Rapunzel had said it so casually.

Eugene grabbed her hand, looked into her eyes, and smiled.

[forsworn]

Ah.

Kratos had played the third wheel last night, but it hadn't been nearly so...mushy? Sappy? 'Hideously awkward' also sounded like a viable choice of words. Granted, romance wasn't entirely unpalatable - after all, he had even proven himself susceptible to it a decade or so ago - but even so, he had half a mind to quietly excuse himself and slip away to get started on his sketches and perhaps leave a note for Rapunzel instead.

Somehow, he didn't do any of that. "I see," Kratos said dryly, slightly tilting his head and raising an eyebrow in what had become standard procedure for encounters with teenagers. He stepped to the side to allow Eugene, who looked as if he were about to faint with joy, to sit down first before sliding slowly into the seat next to him and setting his materials down on the table.

"As for 'all that', I've been through worse." He certainly wouldn't be doing an encore any time soon, but the cuts and bruises he'd suffered were much easier to scoff at than, say, a dislocated elbow. "I'll be fine in a day or so."

[hairraising]

It didn't hit Rapunzel until Eugene took her hand, just what she had said. In that moment of explaining to Kratos, she had tricked herself into forgotting about all the tiptoeing, the uncertainty, the lack of a name for what they had. It really was that simple, though, when she stopped over-thinking it: they were in love. They were in love! And Rapunzel couldn't have been beaming more when Eugene smiled her way.

Sadly, the revelation couldn't last too long. They did have another person with them, and Rapunzel didn't want to leave him out. So instead of tackling Eugene to the ground and kissing him right then and there, she gave his hand a squeeze and tilted her head his way, a non-verbal expression of "Let's talk more about this later."

She turned back to Kratos, relief over his words making her feel less guilty for smiling. "That's good. And you always have me if you need to speed things up again, remember," she said. "Don't be too proud to ask." She knew Kratos was a warrior, but even warriors could use a little help every now and then, she thought, giving Kratos a look.

[brokensmolder]

Eugene wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Rapunzel and gave her a huge grin. It was official now: they were an item. And it had taken a conversation with their perpetual third wheel to do it.

Still dazzled, he sat down at the table next to Rapunzel and gave her hand one more squeeze. For now, they had other things to worry about...and he felt a little bad for Kratos. The other man was doing an admirable job of not letting on how awkward this situation must be for him, though.

Speed things up again? Did that mean what he thought it meant? Eugene's expressive eyebrows were at it again, this time arching in confusing. "So...are we not keeping that a secret anymore?"

[forsworn]

Don't be too proud to ask: it was a little late for that, actually, although he really was being honest when he'd said that it would only take him a day to recover. "I'll keep that in mind, but it shouldn't be necessary" Kratos said, bowing his head slightly. "I can speed the process up through my own powers if need be, and the injuries I sustained this time are well within their range."

Of course, that didn't mean that he would be using them, given the considerable toll using his magic took, but he wanted to reassure Rapunzel that he wasn't claiming relatively good health solely to maintain a reputation.

Eugene's question confused him as well until Kratos realized that he was talking about Rapunzel's unique ability. "You're referring to her hair, I assume." He glanced at Rapunzel. "I haven't told anyone about it, if you're concerned about that." He wasn't surprised at all that something like that needed to be kept under wraps, even though a girl with an unnaturally long mass of hair just screamed to be investigated.