Day 50: Chapel

[full-score.livejournal.com]

The last thing Claude heard was the Head Doctor's voice faintly filtering into the corridors of the ship before he found himself tucked beneath the sheets of his bed. It took a moment to register he'd even changed locations, but then he he abruptly sat up, fought the wave of nausea that washed over him, and felt the blankets beneath his fingers. The room. He was back in his room now. Under different circumstances, he might have wondered if last night had been some horrid dream, but the sharp pain in his eyes gave him a rude awakening. Hissing through his teeth, Claude buried the heels of his palms against his lids, only to discover two cold compresses had been taped over them.

"Good morning, Thomas," he heard the nurse's cheerful voice from beside his bed. Her sudden presence nearly made him jump out of his skin, and he sharply turned toward the source of the greeting, heart beating rapidly in his chest. "I'm sorry you're not feeling well today, but hopefully you can still enjoy some of the activities we have planned."

'Not feeling well' was a bit of an understatement. His hand hurt, his stomach kept turning with every movement, and it felt like someone had dumped a bunch of sand into both eye sockets. Right now, Claude just wanted the nurse to leave him be, but it didn't look like that was an option. Taking his uninjured hand, she gently tugged him out of bed, despite his protests that, no, really, he just wanted to stay in and sleep, please.

"I think getting out of your room a little bit will do you good," she told him. "I'm sorry your eyes are probably hurting, though. If you're ever feeling uncomfortable, don't hesitate to ask one of us for some pills."

"What about eye drops?" Claude asked tightly.

"Oh, no, too much of that could damage your eyes," she cautioned, and the sheer irony of the situation hit Claude so hard that it would have been laughable if he didn't already feel like crying right then. The nurse was as oblivious to it as always, however. "I know you usually go into the chapel during this shift. Would you like to go there again?" Claude didn't answered immediately, but that didn't deter the nurse. "Yes, I think that sounds best..."

In truth, he probably should have requested the sun room -- it was closer, for one, which meant the nurse didn't have to lead him as far of a distance. For another, lying down on one of their sofas sounded like a good option. But by the time Claude came to that conclusion, he was too stubborn to say anything, and he made his way up to the second floor, his footing slow, but steady.

The nurse deposited him on one of the central pews, next to the aisle, before leaving him to himself. Thankfully, it was still early in the shift. As he paused to listen, the room was mostly silent, save for the footsteps and hushed voices of the occasional staff member or patient who trickled in. But it was probably only a matter of time before others came. For some reason, the thought of being stuck in a crowded room made him tense, not necessarily because he thought anyone would pay him any mind, but because he simply didn't want it right then.

Somehow, the full implications of what happened last night hadn't sunken in: experiments, healing himself, the issue of whether he could actually go home after this, not being able to see, the ship, father. Instead, he just felt saturated with all of it, paralyzed by the horror of what they'd done to him, and the uncertainty of what it all meant beyond this moment. Claude took a shuddering breath, uninjured hand balling into a fist in his lap.

[For Guy.]

Comments

[ai-no-minako.livejournal.com]

Well, now. Not only had he not tried to pry into that even though he must have realized that she'd said something she hadn't meant to, but he seemed to be admitting to something himself. Something that he probably didn't want to talk about, judging from how carefully he was saying it, too. Minako re-tied the ribbon and lowered her hands to her lap again, considering both the audible question and the silent one as well.

"Like... if you looked different, but you were still you?" she asked, tilting her head a little in a curious fashion. "I dunno, it'd be kinda unusual, sure. But I don't know about crazy. It's who you are that matters, right? Not what you look like."

Of course, when Artemis changed forms he was pretty cute... not that she was going to say that to him or anything. That'd be just weird, and she didn't like him that way anyway, so it didn't matter. But her friends being covered in fur wasn't all that strange to her, so she just shrugged and grinned. "I bet blue would look good on you, anyway."

[fuzzy-diablo.livejournal.com]

Kurt chuckled. "Someone told me something similar this one time," he said, continuing to stare at his knees. Amanda, when she'd seen what he looked like up-close and personal, had said that blue was her favorite color. It was a little weird (given that nobody normal ever said that they looked good in their own skin-tone), but he could go with it.

"I just wish everyone felt the same way," he said, looking up and smiling at her. "Not everybody... thinks that the outside doesn't matter." He rubbed at his black eye nervously, wishing that it would go away faster. It at least looked better than when it had first happened, but black eyes were nasty, nasty things. He knew.

"But this is all, you know, hypothetical," he said hurriedly. "And totally depressing, right?" Kurt forced a laugh. "I guess my friend disappearing kind of started me on a depressing path, sorry."

[ai-no-minako.livejournal.com]

No matter how potentially weird (hypothetically speaking, of course) Kurt might end up looking at night, he seemed like a really nice guy. Though... why only at night? It probably didn't matter, and would likely be rude to ask, though she was admittedly still curious. Oh, well.

"Well, you're allowed to be upset. I give you permission." Minako grinned and reached out to ruffle his hair in an impulsive gesture. "You've been kidnapped from home, stuck in a weird place, and one of your best friends here is gone." And apparently someone hadn't believed so much in the idea of 'what's inside is what matters' from the looks of the fading marks on his face. It'd be more surprising if he found it all completely normal, really.

"But my offer still stands. If you want a friend, I'm happy to volunteer. Well," she added, a little sheepishly. "If you wanted. You don't have to."

[fuzzy-diablo.livejournal.com]

"O-of course!" Kurt said, instantly flustered. Of course he wouldn't turn down someone offering to be his friend. So few people offered to be his friend, he wouldn't turn anyone down. The idea that he might turn her down embarrassed him. "And I could be your friend... if you don't mind someone who's really..." he smiled awkwardly. "Blue, all the time."