Day 37: Breakfast

[scarletspeedstr.livejournal.com]

[for Sylar, I believe]

At the sound of the intercom, Wally jerked awake and blinked around at the room. He’d fallen asleep. He should have been up and keeping an eye open for ZEX, but he’d fallen asleep waiting on his bed.

“Idiot,” he groaned, ruffling his hair and sighing in annoyance. “Way to help a guy out, hotshot.” Hopefully ZEX hadn’t dropped by and thought he’d left or something, or wouldn’t be too mad at him for just forgetting about it like that. If he was lucky, he’d be able to catch up with the other patient at some point and explain what had happened.

Rolling himself a little awkwardly out of the bed, Wally took the opportunity to stretch his injured leg and test how well it was holding up. It was feeling a bit better, not so much that he could abandon his crutch or that it didn’t pull painfully if he wasn’t careful, but better. Tony had apparently made it through the night in one piece as well, which was a relief. He really didn’t feel comfortable about the thought of his roommate wandering about on his own with an injured arm. Not when Wally himself could relax and fall asleep in the apparent safety of their room.

Yeah, he wasn’t going to let himself forget that one in a hurry.

It was at that moment that the door swung open to admit one of the nurses. She seemed surprised to find him awake and ready to go already, but smiled warmly. “Hungry, are we Mr. West? Well in that case, let’s get you to the cafeteria. The staff have provided some delicious French Toast as well as a range of other foods I’m sure you’ll like. Now will you be needing a hand with your leg, dear?”

“No thanks, I can handle it,” Wally replied, smiling back. After all, it probably wasn’t the nurses’ fault that this place was so messed up, so it wasn’t like picking fights with them would do anything. With a cheery wave goodbye, Wally slowly made his way to the cafeteria, keeping a tight grip on his crutch all the while. Obtaining a plate of food was only slightly less difficult than it had been yesterday – he didn’t have the painkillers to work around this time – but he managed well enough, coming away from the buffet with a tray containing a plate piled high with slices of French Toast and slathered in maple syrup, butter, and sugar, as well as a glass of juice. Not quite as good as some coffee would be right now, but the sugar would hopefully make up for it. And, with how few people were here at the moment, he could afford to take more food than might have been considered ‘normal’ – he’d have most of it gone by the time anyone came to keep him company, then he could just worry about how many extra serves would be allowed before he aroused suspicion.

Feeling pretty happy with how things were looking so far, Wally hummed faintly to himself as he dug in to his breakfast.

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[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

[after?]

Ritsuka was a little late to breakfast. He had to pull his camera out of his backpack and figure out how to hide it on himself before he could leave the room. It was hard doing things in the sparse moments before the nurses showed up, but he managed. Now, the camera was tucked into his waistband so that his shirt hid it. Not the best method, but it worked.

Then he'd stopped by the Bulletin Board and... Well, all sorts of things happened. Kio was here and he'd made it to Goura even though Ritsuka and Soubi had not. Kio had been knocked out, too, and while Ritsuka didn't know much about Soubi's friend, he didn't think he had any connection to the school, meaning he'd been hit as an innocent bystander. What a crappy situation.

Worse now that he was here.

Trying to get away without a tray was a lesson in failure, leaving Ritsuka with a tray with extra food on it that he was probably not going to eat. The nurse shoved him toward the tables gently and Ritsuka made a beeline for Soubi, regardless of her protests. "What's going on?" he demanded, the moment he was close enough for the older man to hear.

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

Straight to business. Not even a hug or a smile. But they'd fallen asleep cuddling so...Ritsuka could only be angry about one thing. And he was right to be, but Soubi's little wall of self defense disagreed.

He looked to Ritsuka, eyes and expression unreadable. He had to go into his 'human shell' mode if he was going to get this all out.

"They're testing me. That night," he said, voice still hoarse, "the Doctor told me that people will die for my mistakes. He'll go after you." Soubi looked away, eyes unable to hide his worry and anger now. "And yesterday... I had a visitor. They're testing me." Trying to pull him away from Ritsuka. He clenched his fists under the table. It had damn near worked too. But he was blaming that on his poor mental and physical state at the time. But just to think of it... he hated himself so much, and he hated that man even more.

And now they were trying to hurt him with this false Kio. It wouldn't work. Seimei had only allowed the man to be present in Soubi's life because Soubi had sworn to drop him if ever commanded to do so. No matter how much it hurt, Soubi could do it.

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

Testing? What did Soubi mean about testing? Did it have to do with the scars? What had that damned doctor told him? Ritsuka put his tray down on the table and stood next to Soubi, not bothering to sit down because he didn't want to increase the distance between them. Did Soubi think Kio was a fake? Was that what this was about?

Reaching out, Ritsuka put his arms around Soubi's shoulders and rested his forehead against the side of Soubi's head, so that his mouth was close to the man's ear. "That's what this place does, Soubi. It's supposed to break you, but we can't let that happen, okay? I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you."

He hoped this was the right thing to say. It was a little bit of a lie, but he could tell a white lie in order to make Soubi feel better. He couldn't promise that he wouldn't go anywhere. He couldn't promise that he wouldn't die because of some terrible mistake that happened. He couldn't really do anything, but say that he'd try to stay by Soubi's side, so that's what he did. "You're not alone here, Soubi."

But the problem boiled down to Kio right now. Kio remembered different things than he did. He said they'd done things they hadn't. Time flowed differently, sure, but to have Kio be from a different time while he and Soubi were from before they reached Goura? It seemed strange. "Listen, if he's fake, then why would they put him in here during the day? Those things that steal faces only come out at night. It might be the real one we saw on the board. He's your friend, right? Maybe you should at least talk to him. I'll be there when you do, if you want."

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

Soubi didn't flinch when the tray was put on the table and Ritsuka moved, but he suddenly remembered a time when he might have wanted to. Of course, actually doing it would have made the situation potentially worse. He'd failed. He should expect to pay for it without a complaint.

But what Ritsuka did.... It was new. Soubi completely relaxed, feeling safe in the boy's arms, eyes closed and head leaning lightly against Ritsuka's.

He was breaking. The cracks had been there a long time, but Ritsuka could see him falling apart and he wasn't going to force the wounds closed. He just made Soubi aware. And, while Soubi felt utterly ashamed of himself, he felt stronger already. Determined. For Ritsuka's sake. Neither of them was leaving here without the other.

One hand held onto Ritsuka's arm while the other reached up to stroke the boy's hair like he had last night. He nodded. He wasn't alone. It hurt to be cared for like this, but he wanted it.

As for Kio. Soubi wouldn't admit what a real Kio was worse than a fake one. A fake one....he'd have to dispose of. Or at least keep at bay. The real one was too soft to handle this place. While Ritsuka should never get hurt, at least he could handle it. Was Kio one of those who was relying on Soubi not to fail? Ritsuka was right that Soubi shouldn't over think it and let the Doctor's games win. But there had to be something in all this. The experimentation followed by a visit from Ritsu, his heartless roommate and now.... his friend.

And if it really was Kio, it was entirely Soubi's fault. He'd let Kio tag along. He'd desperately begged for rescue from anybody, even his friend, that night. And now he had him. Everybody but Seimei had come for him in some way or another...

"I'll talk to him," Soubi nodded. He wasn't sure how to test his friend since this Hospital has an awful lot of information on him. But....

"Why would they have taken him from Goura. We weren't there." How could they be with Kio and here at the same time? He knew this place was beyond normal and nothing would make sense, he just felt unsettled at the thought of them living on someplace else. Back home.

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

Ritsuka didn't know what Soubi was thinking, but he knew he was turning over something in his mind. The careful touch on his arm and the fingers in his hair reassured him a bit, but he was still worried. What if he'd said the wrong thing? What should he have said? Was it alright now? He knew it would take time, but he hoped that he'd been able to help him just a little bit. Soubi nodded though and Ritsuka sighed, giving him a small smile. Maybe he'd said the right thing after all.

Soubi seemed willing to at least talk to Kio, which was, he hoped, a good thing. Soubi's friend, his only friend, was finally here. Soubi had called Kio when he had been hurt out in the field, so he had to be someone trustworthy. It had hurt when Soubi had called Kio instead of him, but in the end, Ritsuka was glad that at least Soubi had someone.

"I don't know," he said, pulling back finally. He didn't want to sit down yet, not with Soubi's hand in his hair. Standing next to him wasn't that hard either. Ritsuka wasn't exactly all that tall. "People have hypothesized that time is layered and multidimensional rather than linear, meaning that all moments are happening at the exact same time as all the others, which could account for us being pulled out at one time and still being there at all. If we were cut out of a single layer, then while that time would have stopped for us, it may not have stopped on the other layers. So it's entirely possible that we never made it to Goura, but 'we' on a different time layer did. Kio could have come from a time when we did make it - a world identical to our own, save for that one event."

Thinking about it made Ritsuka's head hurt, but he had read theories about that when he checked out books from the city library. Elementary school libraries just didn't have enough to hold his interest and the local branch thankfully had books on more educated subjects beyond elementary math and storybooks. He'd gotten a lot of weird stares when he checked those books out, but he was used to those by then.

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

Soubi's bubble of protection gently burst as Ritsuka moved, but... he was still standing close, Soubi's hand in his hair. Soubi smiled and shifted in his seat, pulling Ritsuka down to perch beside him before he resumed the gentle caressing of hair.

All that stuff about time layers. Dimensions. It had always seemed as real as magical beasts to Soubi. But he just hadn't a clue what to believe anymore. He just had to believe in Ritsuka. He didn't want to face Kio but he had to.

Ritsuka was so strong. Soubi had always admired that in the boy. His determination. Desire. All of it. He leaned in and pressed his lips to Ritsuka's hair.

"I love you."

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

Soubi pulled him down and, for once, Ritsuka didn't resist as he was moved onto the seat beside him. There was something comforting about the way Soubi's hand moved through his hair - it told him that the older man would be alright. It reassured him that he wasn't going to break completely. Everyone had to hit bottom before they could start to climb back up, but only the truly strong could get up the courage to do so. Ritsuka had learned that strength didn't come from within all the time, either. Sometimes, a person needed help first.

Which was why, when Soubi leaned in and pressed his lips to his hair, he didn't move. Soubi needed him and he needed Soubi. Maybe he'd never be able to admit it to the man, but ever so slowly since they'd met at the school gates, Ritsuka had changed. He could no longer think of life without Soubi there. However frustrating the man could be, no matter how many lies Ritsuka had to put up, he needed Soubi there. And it killed him. He was still so young and there was so much he didn't know, and he'd always be chasing after someone who was already too far ahead. He'd still follow after him though. He didn't want it any other way.

"I love you."

The words buried into his heart and he closed his eyes, the sound of Soubi's voice echoing in his chest. Ritsuka still couldn't say it back. It still sounded ridiculous when he said it, even in his head. He didn't know if it was true or not, or if it was merely that he never wanted to let Soubi go. Opening his eyes, he looked down, a blush quickly turning his cheeks pink. Half the time he didn't know if Soubi was serious or not, but the words still made him happy. Right now...he felt like he could pretend that those words were sincere and it hurt more than anything. They were too far apart, even sitting next to each other.

Turning, Ritsuka put his arms around Soubi's neck, hugging him lightly, careful not to disturb his wounds. He buried his face against Soubi's shirt and just stayed there, listening to his heartbeat.

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

Oh that sweet little blush. And to be the cause of it! Soubi smiled softly as he looked at his Sacrifice before being hugged.

Ritsuka was being incredibly...complacent. While his usual objections could be cute at times, they were still a little frustrating and hurtful. But now he had to wonder if Ritsuka was taking pity on him or simply giving in. He wanted the boy to want this as much as he dd. To need it. Seimei had needed him in a different way but it had always been clear that he had.

He held Ritsuka against him, deciding it was better to just accept this than try to dissect the situation. He continued, instead, to stroke Ritsuka's hair with one hand and back with the other. He wanted Ritsuka to rely on him, tell him everything he felt or wanted to feel. Maybe one day the kid would trust him enough?

"What are you doing today?" he finally asked. He wanted to stay like this, but he was fairly certain that if Ritsuka didn't have other plans then it would be the nurses that kept them apart. But it wouldn't hurt to watch Ritsuka from a distance.

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

Somehow he doubted the nurses were going to like it that he and Soubi were doing this in the cafeteria. They always gave him weird looks whenever he and Soubi spent a shift together and he was afraid that if they started getting the wrong idea, they might keep them apart. Even though it felt nice to have someone's hands in his hair and on his back when they weren't pulling and beating him, he knew he shouldn't stay like this too long.

Although from the sounds of it across the cafeteria, he didn't think he'd need to worry. People were getting into a fight again and he sighed, pulling back so he could see what the hell was going on. How retarded did they have to be to throw food around like that?

"Not much. I guess..." He'd been posting on the bulletin before coming in, but he didn't know what he should say to Soubi about that. Tonight was when people got taken again and Ritsuka had promised himself he'd never let anyone come out of that room again without someone waiting for them. Asking about that could wait for a bit though. "What about you?"

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

Soubi hoped the food fight would keep the nurses entertained enough to leave him and Ritsuka alone for a while. People really did overreact when it came to his relationship with Ritsuka. Whatever it was.

"Not much," he replied. There was a moment's silence. "Ritsuka... Stay with me tonight? I liked holding you."