Day 29: Sun Room

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

It was with some relief that Yuuhi awoke the next morning, in his own bed, sore and tired and achy.  He would've slept more had they let him, his face down in the pillow, away from all the others and their questions and their concern.  He didn't want to see them, but he managed a little smile when the nurse came in and didn't object when she lead him out into the open hallway that had been splattered with blood, plenty of it his, just last night. 

The Chapel or the Sun Room?  He felt he had good reason not to be terribly religious and had a feeling he wouldn't be very welcome there anyway.  The Sun Room would be nice though.  It was bright and cheery and he could always doodle or write notes on the community board if he'd nothing better to do.  Besides, the nurse was kind enough to let him take a book with him.

He found a seat on one of the couches, far from the entrance and seated himself in the far corner, legs scrunched up against his chest so he only took up one of the cushions.  He opened up where he'd left off, fingers carefully turning the worn pages  of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. 

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[zeus-incarnate.livejournal.com]

Once again nothing had been done. No doubt that would put Recluse in a bad mood, but Marcus didn't see him as he stepped into the sun room. The thought that Recluse had perhaps gone to the chapel was strange, but not impossible if Landel was going to appear.

Marcus had considered making his way to the chapel instead, but he'd never been much of a religious person. Well, not most conventional modern religions. It was slightly odd to try to believe in some sort of higher power when he had the essence of Zeus inside him.

More than that, he felt it would not be wise to attack Landel, and he was sure he would not be able to restrain himself if the man appeared. With newly drawn stars on his shoulders from his smuggled out blue marker, Marcus went to sit down next to a man who was looking at a photograph.

"Morning," He didn't really feel like prefacing his greeting with 'good'. It could hardly be described as such, and Statesman had the feeling that this man shared his opinion, if the look on his face was any indication.

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

Hughes glanced over at the other man and nodded in reply. Generally he was a talkative sort, but he just wasn't in the mood. Not today. He couldn't shake the worry and fear of what it would bring.

It was ironic. Sundays in the Hughes household were days for relaxing, for lazing about the house and doing nothing much but spending time together. Now, they came with a crippling fear of being confronted with imitations of Gracia and Elyisa.

Imitations that were almost indistinguishable from the real ones.

[zeus-incarnate.livejournal.com]

Marcus glanced at the photo briefly before deciding to start a conversation. There was a topic that was on his mind... he couldn't imagine who would be visiting him here, unless it was alternate dimension versions of his team or his granddaughter. They could hardly do worse than the Praetorian dimension's version. Just thinking about what horrible twisted mockery of his team or loved-ones might exist in this dimension was enough to make him frown.

"Have you been here long?" There was, of course, no guarantee that this person had been here long enough to have seen one of these visits, and there was nod point in bringing that up if he didn't... but Statesman had his suspicions.

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

"Yeah." Too long. Hughes returned the photo to his pocket, and turned. "A month, maybe two. You lose track of the time, after a while. All sort of blurs together until you can't tell anymore. I'm Maes Hughes."

[zeus-incarnate.livejournal.com]

Marcus' frown deepened slightly. A couple months... and he could see how it would be easy to lose track of time in a place like this.

He held out his hand for a friendly hand-shake, "Marcus Cole."

And now time to get to the question that he really had on his mind, "What's the deal with the visitors?"

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

"Good to meet you." Hughes shook the man's hand. "And the vistors....just pray you don't get one."

That was all he could say. The pain on his face and his voice said the rest - they were horrible. No sane, feeling man could handle what they brought.

[zeus-incarnate.livejournal.com]

Perhaps there was a version of his granddaughter worse than Dominatrix? Or maybe there was something else sinister about the mysterious visitors.

Certainly, Hughes looked absolutely horrible at the thought of them.

"Do you have a family?" Encountering alternate versions of his own team and loved ones had been difficult, and what his alternate self did to Dominatrix...

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I've got a wife and daughter back home." Hughes' expression softened some, just mentioning his family. "The lights of my life, those two. Elysia's just seven - looks just like her mother." He offered the other man the photograph, though it was creased and folded with wear and being kept in his pocket for so long.

"That's them."

[zeus-incarnate.livejournal.com]

Statesman took the photograph carefully, looking at the happy family in the picture. He could remember when his own daughter had been that age, and then his granddaughter...

"That's a good family you've got, Hughes. I've got a granddaughter myself," Marrying Monica and having a child with her had been one of the best things that Marcus had ever done. He remembered the first time she had ever shown him that she had inherited his power, lifting up with one hand the limousine they had been riding.