Day 46: Sun Room

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

Peter woke up suddenly, his body twisting in the bed and then forcing him to catch his breath in pain. Pain, which was coming from his middle because of the thing that had scratched him last night, and after that...

After that, Zach had jumped in front of him like some kind of martyr, like the exact opposite of everything Sylar stood for, to take the next hit for him. It got pretty fuzzy after that, so night must have ended right around then.

The man let out a pained grunt as he straightened himself up in bed. For some reason, he got the feeling that he'd slept in. There was no way for him to really tell without a window in the room, but he just knew. The fact that Sam's bed looked long since vacated was another clue.

Sam, but was he Sam again? Had the brainwashing worn off, as he and Roland had hoped, or was he going to have to go through this nightmare for even longer? He didn't know how long he could handle "Zach" and "Harrison" before he started going batty himself.

Pulling himself out of bed, Peter lifted his shirt and saw that he was tightly bandaged. The scratch most likely wasn't nearly as bad as the bite that "Zach" had received, but it still smarted. He let his shirt fall and then had to deal with a nurse chiding him for sleeping through the morning announcements. Not that Peter really cared at the moment. He was too busy thinking about last night and the fact that in a way, he now owed something to Sylar. Except it hadn't been Sylar. That was something he was sure of now.

Lost in his thoughts, Peter reached the Sun Room right as the rest of the patient populace was trickling in from breakfast. Sighing to himself, he headed over to the bulletin board and then saw a note written in familiar yet unpleasant handwriting. Holding his pen in a vice grip, Peter scribbled out a reply and then stalked over to an armchair and fell into it with a huff.

While Sylar was maddeningly frustrating, there was one good thing about the fact that he was himself again. It meant that Nathan was too.

[For Spock!]

Comments

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

"Hmm."

Falis decided to plop down on the floor (her toe was still bothering her as it was) and propped her chin up on her hand. It was odd that despite being seated on the floor, the pose mimicked the way she typically was when on the throne in deep thought. Perhaps the princess had become far more a part of her than she ever wanted to admit.

"Sometimes after a bad injury, people go into a deep, healing, sleep for a long time. It's got some fancy fucking name, but I never bothered to remember it. Usually it's something that happens when a person falls off their horse, takes a blow to the head, get some nasty poison or something like that," Falis explained. "Sometimes they wake up. Sometimes they die. The ones that do wake up, almost never remember anything from when they were in the healing sleep."

She looked up at Namine. "Maybe that's what happened to you."

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

Following Alita's lead, Naminé also sat down on the floor, tucking her legs under her as she listened intently to Alita. And as always, her friend had an explanation for everything. She described it a deep healing sleep... The witch nodded. In a way, she did this to Sora. Of course, it was because she was restoring his memories, but...

"That makes sense. I did feel like I was waking from a very deep sleep." She smiled, her uneasiness fading away quickly. Alita had that effect on her.

"You know so much, Alita. I'm really grateful," She bowed her head slightly, thanking her friend for her input and ... also, perhaps another apology for disappearing. If only she hadn't been so weak...

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

Falis reached out and messed up Namine's hair. "You know, I really missed you. A lot of shit has happened."

She then grinned. "I like having part of my pack back, so we're gonna celebrate tonight. Party in my room. You remember where it is?"

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

"Aah!" And once again, Naminé found her hair being ruffled. The touch was actually comforting, since the people who liked ruffling her hair were also kind people. It really helped remind her that at least she was back with friends.

"A party?" It was a little strange to have a party in a place like this, but... well, at the same time, she couldn't help but be a little touched that Alita wanted to throw a party to celebrate her return. "Yes, I remember. It is still F22, right? I was moved to F20, so we're in the same hallway now."

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

"Hell yeah, we're having a party. I've got moonshine to crack open finally and I got some of that crafty shit. Glitter and stuff. Not sure what to do with it, so I figure we can fuck with it tonight," Falis said with a grin. "And yeah, still F22. I ain't moved."

As upsetting as it had been to have Hokuto moved away from being right next door, Falis was happy Namine was close by. "Oh, I need to getcha another stake."

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

Ah, so she was successful with the moonshine. Naminé could finally get the chance to taste some - Alita seemed to think highly of the drink, so she was sure she would like it too. Having craft supplies also cheered the witch up. Perhaps, just for tonight, it was good just to take a break and have some fun.

"I can't wait to try some! And ... Oh, you don't ..." Naminé blushed a little when Alita remembered that she'd need another stake. How did she know? Well, at the same time, it was probably obvious that she wouldn't have her supplies after being gone for so long, and moved to a different room to boot.

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I do," Falis stated, fixing the girl with her gaze. "That bloodsucker's still out there and he fed again two nights ago. I will not have you without one."

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

"The vampire?" So he hadn't been caught yet? Naminé understood then, nodding. Well, in that case, Alita was only trying to look out for her...

Then, it was a good thing that she had company last night. But she decided not to say any more about that. Alita probably wouldn't have approved.

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

Almost as if reading Namine's mind, Falis then asked, "When'd you actually get back? If you left me any notes yesterday there's a good chance I didn't notice them."

The hunter seemed a bit uncomfortable. Yesterday had sucked.

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

"I came back... It was yesterday, but it was at dinner time. So I didn't have a chance to leave any notes," Naminé answered, looking back up at the board when Alita mentioned it.

"When did the nurses start looking after it again? I thought they stopped doing that."

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

Shrugging, Falis replied, "Yesterday morning, I think. Mighta been the day before." She rubbed her temple and looked across the room. "I kinda got fucked with yesterday, so I'm a bit off. Sorry."

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

Oh... Naminé wondered if Alita was referring to the events Sora had told her about.

"My friend Sora told me that many things happened while I was away. About... dead bodies raising up from the ground, and people dying mysterious deaths, and something about people acting differently?" She wanted more information, but she also was worried about Alita. She was strong, but to hear her friend say things like that made her wonder.

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

At least this meant Namine already knew the basics, which meant Falis didn't have to describe them. That made things a bit better.

"Yeah... They did something to me yesterday," she admitted in a quiet voice, still not really looking at Namine - an odd behavior for the hunter. "Made me think I was some fucking pansy named Rose that was terrified of herself..."

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

So, Alita had also been affected by this... 'brainwashing' or whatever. She wasn't sure what it was, but it sounded terrifying. Naminé noticed her friend's discomfort, reaching out and gripping her shoulder lightly.

"But you're back now, right?" Naminé wanted to be optimistic for her friend's sake. "You're Alita now, not Rose." She didn't know who 'Rose' was, but it didn't matter.

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

Namine didn't want to know who Rose was. No one wanted to know who Rose was, if Falis had anything to say about it. The hand on her shoulder was oddly comforting, and the hunter looked back.

"Yeah... I'm me," she said. "I fucked up so much shit yesterday. I even warned one of the bloodsuckers about myself on the board. I don't think it's the one I'm hunting, though. That's something at least." Not that it mattered since the one she was hunting could have seen it.

She then sighed. "You know... I've got something really important to tell you when you first get to my room tonight, before the rest arrived." It was high time Falis told the girl about how she really became princess. "It's just not something to talk about here."

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

It seemed that being another person had caused Alita to make some errors, but it wasn't her fault. Perhaps the vampire was brainwashed too... though, since Alita remembered what she wrote yesterday, then the vampire would have remembered what he read.

She shook her head lightly. No, such thoughts wouldn't do.

"That's right, the one who you're looking for probably didn't see it. A lot of people were... changed, right? Perhaps he was one of them." In that case, he'd have no reason to look at the bulletin, she hoped. Then there was...

"I see. I'll make sure not to be late," Naminé smiled, feeling much better about the trip. It was only two doors down - there was virtually no chance of her getting hurt.

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

The optimism was appreciated, but Falis knew better than to believe in it. At least she'd never specified that it was herself that was dangerous, just that there was someone out there looking for the vamps.

"Good. So what'd your friend tell you about Doyleton? Nothing good came from that place. Nothing good happened there." Nothing.

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

"He told me that there were... dead bodies, coming up from the ground. Like an attack? You were there?" Naminé actually didn't visit Doyleton much; she didn't know if it was just exhaustion from spending her nights awake catching up to her, but she almost always slept through entire trips and often didn't even go. It seemed to be working to her advantage, really.

Alita didn't seem like she was hurt, but Naminé looked over her form nervously all the same.

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

"Oh yeah, I was there," Falis replied in an odd voice.

Aside from the pair of healing scratches on her cheek, the hunter looked fine. The pale outline of the nastiest bite she suffered from the zombies was covered by her sleeve, so that wasn't apparent and the superficial bites had all healed by that point.

"The place was overrun."

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

Alita looked to be in one piece... so Naminé was sure her friend had made it out alright. The real reason she was worried was because she knew Alita well enough to know that she would probably jump right into the fray.

"It... It sounds terrible," Naminé looked disturbed at the mere thought. "How did you all return? Or did you just survive until morning?" She wasn't sure if Doyleton worked the same way as the main institute did.

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

"I... think we just survived and ended up back here like any other night," Falis replied, that odd tone still in her voice. "I was pretty drunk at the end of it..."

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

Drunk? Like... Naminé frowned. Wait, she knew what that meant, that meant that Alita wasn't in her best fighting form, at the very least.

"But there were..." She seemed stunned, like she was trying to figure this out. There was an attack on Doyleton and Alita got drunk? "You didn't try to fight the monsters like that, did you?"

Somehow, Naminé felt like she already knew the answer.

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

"No," Falis replied, giving Namine a bit of a look. For that word, her voice was normal. Then something changed in her eyes as she remembered looking over the slaughter she'd committed.

"I got drunk after... that."

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

Finally, the meaning of the look sank in. Of course, she had misunderstood. Then... Naminé nodded again, to show she understood.

"Ah, I ... see." Well, if Alita had 'taken care' of the problem, so to speak. But she still couldn't shake off the fact that it had to be dangerous.

"It's alright, you're still here. I'm glad. I can't believe such things happened while I was gone..."

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

"No, you don't," the hunter replied flatly, looking away. "I'm glad you weren't there for that. I might have..." She clenched her jaw and her nails cut into her palm a bit.

She might have hurt Namine. Like she almost hurt Hokuto.