Day 66: Sun Room (Second Shift)

[his_legacy]

Link wasn't in the mood for 'rest and relaxation,' as the boss had put it. Daytime here was completely unproductive, and it was frustrating. There was little he could do, other than keep up with recording his map. He supposed he ought to take the chance to get to know the other patients: Who was powerful, who needed help, who knew what... Perhaps some of the people who had been here longer. Link was lucky he had Sora as a friend, who seemed to know a good deal about how things worked.

It was a two-edged sword, though, that the boy had to have been trapped here for quite some time to be as settled as he was.

The Hylian settled into a chair with his journal, tapping the strange sort of writing device he had been given against his chin. It had become evident last night that the building was relatively organized, the second floor being similar in its main layout to the first floor. That was somewhere to start, at least.

[Nina, dearest!]

Comments

[oyaji]

"Bunny," he sighed, unhappy and unwilling to let his partner wallow in guilt when he had no control over himself last night. Looking down at the blond's hands, he placed his bandaged one over Barnaby's, squeezing his fingers tightly within his. It was easier to do than trying to give him a hug in a wheelchair.

"You didn't attack me," he emphasized, shaking his hand gently to make sure the young man was paying attention. "And there's still plenty of time to find a cure!" At least, that was what Wild Tiger was telling himself. This couldn't be the end of them. It just couldn't; the idea was just too cruel and the longer he thought about it, the more depressed he felt. He had to hope that something could revert his partner to his former self.

[baniichan]

"I still remember doing it," he said with a tight voice. Even if he hadn't been in control of his actions, that knowledge didn't do much to squelch the horror he felt. Losing control of his body was terrifying enough, but to have his humanity ripped from him?

Kotetsu didn't deserve any of this. The man had a daughter at home, and he'd decided to live a quiet life with her before waking up here. He couldn't stand the thought of harming him anyway, but knowing that Kotetsu had so much waiting for him back home just made his chest ache all the more when he considered what could happen to him.

Still, his fingers lightly curled around the bandaged hand that tried to ground him. You don't know we have time, was what he wanted to say, but a larger part him desperately wanted to believe Kotetsu when he said things were going to be okay. He knew it wasn't rational. He knew that Kotetsu had an awful way of lying when the truth was just too painful to admit.

But Barnaby didn't want to think about that right then. He just wanted to trust him.

"What are we going to do?" The question came from a desire to start putting together some kind of plan of action for tonight, but he wound up sounding more lost and vulnerable than he'd intended. Who was he kidding, anyway? He already doubted his ability to continue his Hero work. What made him think he could trust himself with something like this?

[oyaji]

That was a good question. Wild Tiger had sort of opened his mouth without really thinking, as he usually did. He had no plan except repeating the same process the last few nights. Sure, they were learning, but they weren't exactly getting anywhere. The knowledge they had couldn't be put to use so far. What were their options?

"Well, we'll look at the bulletin board again! Someone's bound to know more about that painting. Hell, maybe someone's got a hot lead on a cure!" He would be damned if he let pessimism get in the way of his investigation before he even began snooping. "We're not the only ones dealing with this..."

The expression on his partner's face tore up his heart. If the older man could trade places with him, he would in an instant. Barnaby had gone through enough for three lifetimes; to add insult to injury like this was sadistic. Sighing through his nose, Wild Tiger squatted down to Barnaby's level so he could see his face and the blond could see his. "This isn't the end, okay? I'll fix this, I promise."

[baniichan]

As optimistic as Kotetsu sounded, Barnaby wasn't so sure the bulletin would be enough. The messages leading everyone to the X-Ray room had been clear. They had all seen the exact same clues that were supposed to lead to them an antidote. He suspected most people would be as uncertain as they were.

When Kotetsu lowered himself enough that they were at eye level, Barnaby looked up to meet his gaze. His partner's assurances warmed him in a way he didn't dare vocalize, though it showed in the way his green eyes began to soften, and the fact that he didn't remove his hand from Kotetsu's grasp. Still, there still a lingering sense of dread he couldn't quite shake.

There was no doubt that Kotetsu would do his best to help him. He was the sort of man who would take a bullet for Barnaby without a second thought. What he questioned, though, were the benevolent people trying to "save" them by arranging strange objects in the medical wing.

"I'm worried we're making a leap by assuming there's a cure in the first place," Barnaby quietly admitted. "We're placing a lot of faith in someone we've never met."

One of them had to say it. Although he wasn't suggesting that they ignore the cryptic messages entirely, they probably needed to at least prepare for the possibility that there was no simple way to fix this. Surgery would have to be their last resort. Without trained doctors or the proper tools, though, that very well could have been its own death sentence.

[oyaji]

"Well... I mean, that could be the case..." Barnaby was really testing his optimistic fortitude today--Not that he could blame the blond. Honestly, he wondered if he could keep up his usual airheaded attitude in the face of such debilitating horror. Death was one thing; continuously and painfully shifting into a monster was quite another.

"But we won't know until we keep trying! Who knows, maybe we'll stumble onto a cure those bastards didn't want us to find. We just, you know, have to keep going." His smile was confident as always, but his amber eyes held a sadness that couldn't be so easily masked. Wild Tiger refused to accept that this was their lot in life. It was too painful to imagine that they would forever be separated by this terrible disease. That he wouldn't be able to comfort Barnaby at night for fear of losing a hand to the beast he had become. The more he tried not to think about it, the worse the imagery became, permanently burned into his mind.

Swallowing a bitter taste in his mouth, the older man rested his forehead on Barnaby's knee for a moment, hoping the dark would cover up the visions. All it did was remind him how he held his partner while he turned and covered him in blood and gore.

"It won't end like this. It won't."

[baniichan]

Despite the confident-sounding words, Barnaby could sense his partner's sadness and grief. When his warm forehead pressed against his knee, he unconsciously flexed his pale hands, wanting to reach out and touch him, but held back just the same. The spectacle would have normally embarrassed him in public, yet Barnaby didn't have it in him to care. He hated what was happening to him. He hated seeing Kotetsu like this. He hated all of it.

"We can't let it," Barnaby quietly said. In the end, whether they would get through this depended on their own actions.

"I won't be able to help you like this, though," he confessed. That thought tore at him more than anything else right then. "At least, not at night. But we can plan our strategy during the day, and we can...quarantine me after dinner so I don't accidentally hurt someone."

He mainly had Kotetsu in mind when he suggested that, but it was true that there were other lives at risk here.