Waking was like slogging through waist-deep snow, difficult and only worsening the bone-deep weariness he felt. When the morning came, accompanied by the sound of that voice on the intercom, he'd given up on it entirely and fled deeper into unconsciousness. It might not be something he could do forever, but for now and as long as he needed to, he wanted to hide from the world, from this place in which he'd been trapped and forced to make an impossible decision. Until Fai had made the decision for him, at least, and he'd caused the death of someone he was supposed to protect.

When the intercom sounded for the second time, though, this time he wasn't allowed to continue sleeping, as one of the nurses had arrived and was shaking his shoulder in an insistient fashion. "Come now, Alex, you can't sleep all day," she said, in a chiding tone, even as he tried to ignore her. "You've already missed breakfast. Up and at 'em."

He finally gave in so that she would leave him alone, allowing himself to be led to the Sun Room. It wasn't as sunny as usual, however, and that suited his mood perfectly. He found an unoccupied couch and settled down, fully intending to go back to sleep, ignoring the momentary flare of annoyance as he sat on his hair and pulled it painfully. Putting it up into the usual braid was too much effort, though, and he allowed the idea to fade away as he dozed off.

[reserved for Touya]