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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[sewenteen-sir.livejournal.com]

Unable to eat anything, sedatives still running their course through his body, Chekov's nurse shoveled him into the Sun Room and onto a couch. The young man sat there, staring at the floor, wondering if this was how it felt to go insane.

Commander Spock had died, and someone (he thought) was trying to tell him that Spock was still alive. He'd looked up at the sky last night and found nothing familiar, nothing comforting. He didn't know which galaxy they were in, which reality (if any)... he didn't even know if all of his learning had been real, everything in the sky was in such disarray. What if he was insane? What if he was only imagining comfort in the form of his captain and the commander? What if there was no Federation, no space travel, no Enterprise?

Then what was he before them?

He stared down at the carpet past his folded hands, and began to wonder if he was seeing a pattern in it.

[Free to someone who doesn't mind a drugged up nawigator!]

[sheisthecause.livejournal.com]

[yay!]

There was nothing like a shower to really make you feel like one of the living, Meche thought. The shower had felt so good--and given her time to clear her head, which was important. She'd rather have taken it before she saw Manny, but she was also ready to take what she could get around here. At least she'd still be clean tonight.

She saw a few familiar faces--Soma and Albedo--in the Sun Room, but both of them looked so preoccupied that she decided to leave them alone for now. Instead, Meche found herself walking toward a young man she'd never met before. He was staring down at the floor. Also preoccupied, but in what she thought was sort of a lonely-looking way--maybe someone who could stand to talk about it. This place was bad enough as it was, but it must be even harder on the kids.

Meche took a seat at the other end of the sofa. She didn't say anything at first, just waited a few moments to see if the young man would react to her presence or tell her to get lost. After a little while, she asked quietly, "Are you all right?"

[sewenteen-sir.livejournal.com]

Chekov didn't notice the presence of someone else on the couch until he was spoken to. It didn't occur to him that someone would want to talk--somewhere far away, he'd probably reasoned that someone just wanted to sit on the couch.

He looked up at the question, taking longer than he thought was possible for him to process it. Was he all right? Was he all right? What did being 'all right' constitute?

"...no," he finally said, looking at the woman with slightly wide, scared eyes.

[sheisthecause.livejournal.com]

It wasn't just that she didn't have a good answer to that--there was no good answer. Meche knew she could say that whatever had happened, things were bound to get better sooner or later, and she...well, she certainly believed it would be true. But sometimes hearing that really didn't help, especially when you were as scared and sad and upset as this boy looked. If he were a child, she'd try telling him a story, but she didn't think that would help right now, either. If only she had something she could give him.

"Tough day, eh?" was all she could come up with. Ugh, what a ridiculous thing to say when the poor kid looked as though his whole life had come crashing down around his ears. Chances were good it really had. Meche shook her head. "That's probably the understatement of the year. Sorry."

She could bet that just about everyone here had spent a shift or two staring at the Sun Room floor in a funk, but telling him that might be more depressing than comforting. It was better to take things slowly so he could push her away if he needed to.

She offered him a small smile, hopefully just enough to show she meant well even if she'd just put her foot in her mouth. "My name is Meche," she said.

[sewenteen-sir.livejournal.com]

Chekov looked down at the floor again. It had been a tough night, honestly. The day hadn't been more than a few hours and a colorful blur. Was there food? He thought there was food. Food he didn't eat.

When the woman introduced herself, Chekov seemed to catch on. Now he had to actually respond. And it was something he was absolutely certain of. His name was his own. He knew that much.

"I am Chekov," he replied. His speech was a little slow and disjointed. "Pavel Andreievich. But just Chekov is fine."

He looked back down at his hands and hunched over a little. It wasn't as though he couldn't figure out how he should sit--just that something seemed more comfortable from one minute to the next. Some thoughtful position might fix this...

"My crewmate," Chekov began. "A wery... accomplished one, was killed last night. But now someone is telling me he is not dead. And ze sky... it was all wrong. I couldn't see anyzing..."

[sheisthecause.livejournal.com]

"Chekov," Meche repeated. "It's nice to meet you." He seemed as though he might be willing to talk a little now that they'd put a crack in the ice, so she kept quiet and listened to what he had to say.

It wasn't a very happy story, not that most of them were. None of the people with Meche had died last night, but she'd seen the messages on the bulletin board. No wonder Chekov was so upset. Seeing one of your friends die must be terrible, even if it was only temporary. Or even if you knew where they were going and how fast they'd travel.

"You haven't seen him yet today, or gotten any messages from him?" she asked. "I know it sounds strange, but I don't think he was the only one who died and came back all right this morning. It certainly sounds like the kind of trick Landel would enjoy, anyway."

They already knew that man had power over life and death, but still, she had to wonder about that--why and how those people hadn't really died, or at least why they hadn't stayed dead. Well, why was the easy part; it had happened for the same reason anything else happened here--Martin Landel wanted it to happen. But how.... What would happen if a reaper never same? Would the soul just stay wrapped in its mortal coil forever, or could it come back? Maybe that was what happened to people who had near-death experiences, Meche thought; all the reapers missed the memo because they were gossiping at the water cooler. She'd have to ask Manny about it later.