Day 44: Sun Room, Second Shift

[superdynamic.livejournal.com]

[from here]

He really had beat the rush. Suzaku found a chair as close to the corner and as far from the bulletin as he could, and turned it to face the wall before curling up in it. His nurse frowned at him again, but she was still being cooperative, and frankly he didn't care what she had to say in the slightest. He didn't care even if he got sedated. All he cared about was finally having a few moments to himself, to sort out what Euphie's love meant and what the hell Lelouch's problem was.

It felt like he had all the pieces of a puzzle and was just too stupid to figure out how they fit together. What Lelouch had said about Shirley at breakfast and the tone he'd taken with Euphie on the board, Lelouch asking how Suzaku was, Lelouch dying. . . "All we can do is move forward and look out for the ones we care about." Euphie struggling to get out her last words, pain overtaking Suzaku's consciousness while he fought pathetically to carry out Lelouch's order. . . The last couple days, when he'd felt like he was finally figuring this out, seemed so far away now.

There were a couple things that were certain, at least: he hated what Lelouch had done, he always would. But he -- he didn't hate Lelouch, and he hadn't for a while now, and that wasn't going to change. And he didn't have much time, because everyone but Suzaku was terrifyingly mortal. And Lelouch was an idiot, but he still wasn't sure about the how and why of that one yet.

[for the Saucinator]

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[boyking]

[from here]

Hair still damp, Sam started to move towards a more secluded area in the room when he spotted someone familiar out of the corner of his eye. Skuld. Right. She'd made it out of the town all right, it seemed, though considering she was apparently a goddess, that probably wasn't unexpected.

There wasn't much reason for him to stop and chat, and in truth, he didn't particularly want to: what happened last night wasn't leaving his mind any time soon; as much as he didn't feel like dwelling on it—he already knew how much he'd screwed up; it wasn't like this fact required further contemplation—he also didn't want to be distracted from his thoughts, either. He wasn't inclined to spend the next thirty minutes or so acting as if everything was fine, as if he wasn't feeling like the thing he wanted the most next to a goddamn miracle was a drink or the ability to sit for longer than two minutes without the snaking realization that he'd never be able to save Dean because it just wasn't his lot in life to keep what little he had. God knew he had to do enough of that in front of Dean.

But it'd be rude to pass her by, especially since she was alone. Besides she was doing him a favour, and when it came down to it, she was probably as safe a conversationalist as he was ever gonna get. She didn't remind him of anything he didn't want to be reminded of, and didn't seem much interested in approaching especially personal topics.

He could deal with that.

Sam walked over, a casual smile in place, put on with practiced ease after four years of Stanford and way too many interviews with witnesses. "Hey."

[innovator-skuld.livejournal.com]

Skuld had refused to go to the Arts & Crafts room, partly because she didn't want to be handed glitter and glue like some kid, partly because it was more likely she'd find people in the Sun Room.

And more likely people would find her, apparently. She glanced up from her journal, not sure she was the one being addressed, then nodded when she saw--Eddie, was it? "Hi."

She wasn't the best at carrying on conversations with people she didn't know, so she figured it was better to get down to business. "Are you busy tonight? I have a slot free." Not that it mattered if he showed up, but he might want to.

[boyking]

So maybe small talk wasn't immediately necessary, then.

Sam blinked, not really expecting it to be tonight, but it wasn't like he had any solidified plans—he didn't think Dean would wanna head up to the morgue again, not after what'd happened—and from the way she spoke, it didn't sound like this was something that'd take too long. He could get this done, go snag the files. And he was getting those freaking files tonight. Not knowing how much time Dean even had left on the clock?

Jesus, that wasn't even a curveball he'd been expecting, as stupid as that sounded now in retrospect.

"Uh—yeah." He nodded. "Sure, that'd be great."

Oh. This was going rapidly in the direction of awkward now. He couldn't really leave yet; it'd be kinda abrupt. Besides, even if he slunk off somewhere on his own, he'd probably get interrupted by someone else. It seemed to happen a lot around here. He still wasn't quite used to being surrounded by a crowd 24/7 like this.

He scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, I was just...dropping by to see how you were doing."

[innovator-skuld.livejournal.com]

...thanks? Skuld didn't even know what she was doing here right now, aside from the weapon-making, but she knew that wasn't enough. "I'm... okay. My oldest sister visited yesterday--not that she's ever any help."

Maybe he'd at least be curious enough about her family to to keep talking to her? She didn't want to admit it, but she was awfully lonely this days.

[boyking]

Huh. So she'd gotten someone she actually knew, not just someone who claimed to know her. Sort of like what'd been Peter's experience, then.

Sam realized suddenly that he wasn't sure what had happened with Dean's visit. If his brother had even had a visit. They hadn't had a chance to cover it, and he had to admit that he didn't quite want to go there. What was he supposed to tell Dean was said? So, you might not even have as much time to live than you thought you did.

Yeah. No, he definitely didn't want to go there. And if Dean's visit went anything like Sam's had, Sam doubted his brother would be all that keen on relaying the full encounter.

Not too much of a shock that Skuld had a sister, though. There was nothing to confirm that the three Norns were blood relation—they weren't exactly born, strictly speaking—but it was a close enough interpretation.

He smiled wryly. "Well, siblings. They can be that way."

Skuld hadn't brought up anything about the meeting with her sister being odd or strange, so he opted not to ask whether her sister had been brainwashed, too, like Nathan apparently had when he'd visited Peter. He knew better than to pry into that without easing into it first.

[innovator-skuld.livejournal.com]

Skuld groaned and flopped back against the couch. "Yeah, that's Urd." Not that Belldandy had been much better... well, she brought Sigel, at least.

It sounded like he had a good idea what she was talking about, though. Maybe they could commiserate. (Nothing wrong with making friends with an adult; really, she was older than him. Way older.) "Is Dean your brother?" Dean didn't seem like he trusted easily, but he was at ease around Eddie, so it would make sense. And she could see a little resemblance between them.

[boyking]

It wasn't a fact they went around advertising, but there were enough people who knew or who somehow picked up on it that Sam didn't see too much point in lying about it when he was asked outright. He figured she was fairly safe.

Besides, anyone who posed a real danger to them—demons, pretty much—already knew of their relation. And the demons had used it well.

Still, his brother wasn't a topic he discussed with too many people. Granted, his family, his childhood, and essentially his entire life, was something he didn't discuss with too many people, so this probably wasn't anything particularly special.

But he couldn't get out of this, and he'd kind of brought it on himself by addressing siblings, anyway. So much for having a non-personal conversation with Skuld.

He sat down across from her. "Yeah. Yeah, he is. Older brother."

He didn't add anything more, though he felt that he should've. He just didn't know what else he could say. There wasn't a lot he could put into words about Dean, now that he thought about it. Dean was just—his brother. That'd always been all the explanation he'd ever needed.

[innovator-skuld.livejournal.com]

"Is that nice, or a big pain?" That could definitely go either way; Skuld desperately wanted someone she knew here, but if Urd ever showed up for real she would be ready to scream.

By this point she had nearly every array she could possibly need, so she was working on calculating one she probably couldn't actually use here... a composite bow. Made out of fiberglass. Guns seemed too impractical, but she really was looking into crossbows and the like to see if she could make some good long-distance weapons. She was going to need a new journal at this rate, since the sketch of the intended finished product, the calculations, and the array itself took three or four pages at the least.

[boyking]

That...was a complicated question that Sam knew Skuld hadn't meant to be complicated, and these days, he didn't know what to think about Dean anymore. He felt guilty for feeling as if it'd be easier if Dean hadn't come back, if Dean had let him move on, instead of making him relive this nightmare all over again, but the truth if it was undeniable. He'd never admit it, though.

But he couldn't regret having his brother back.

"It's always nice to have a familiar face," he replied, effectively edging around the issue.

He paused. He could stay further, change the topic by asking her more about alchemy since it looked liked she'd scrawled in Hebrew all over those pages. He felt bad for leaving her alone when she didn't seem to have anyone keeping her company at the moment. But discussing Dean had opened floodgates he wasn't willing to sit here and hold at bay while talking inanely about something else.

"I'm sorry, I should...leave you to your work," he said, sounding apologetic, and hoping that it made up for the fact that it was probably pretty damn obvious he was making an excuse to get the hell out. With any luck, she wouldn't think it was anything she'd done 'cause yeah, he was aware that these were his issues. "Thanks again, Skuld."

[going here]