Day 22, Waiting Room 2, Evening Shift

[31st_of_china]

Sanzo couldn't think of anyone who would want to visit him. He knew that he wasn't exactly the most pleasant person around - not that he gave a shit - so it wasn't like he made any friends. That was more for the others: Gojyo had called him a "self-absorbed prick" more than once, and Sanzo didn't care to change it. Fuck the roach

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[brilliant_azel]

Azel could barely contain his excitement; his heart was thudding frantically in his chest -- it had started when his "real" name was announced saying that he had a visitor. There was a very short list of people it could be and he was hoping it was the name first on that list.

Calintz. Had he come at last, to free Azel from this prison? To take him away and back into the arms of the Tears of Blood, where he belonged, the place he called home and had ever called home?

He found himself praying, silently, that he be granted this one boon. To be shown his friend's face, the man he adored with every fibre of his being, with every thought and breath, the man for whom he'd willingly die, and for whom he'd carried an unrequited love for many years, also willingly.

His heart was lighter, freer, waiting here. Perhaps his punishment was over and he could go back to his life now. Yes, that had to be it. He was going to be rescued, after all this time. There was no way Calintz would let him stay here, alone; they all looked out for each other, they all took care of each other. That was their way. That was the way it had always been.

Azel took a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves that seemed to dance along his skin like electricity. Soon, soon, he would be liberated from these walls and he would never, ever look back.

[damned_visitors]

The man who looked like Calintz entered and his eyes didn't have to search long before they fell upon Aaron. He walked toward him, his excellent posture apparent with every step he took. His long white hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail and his clothing, while still well-suited to his body, was a bit more modern.

He held up a hand in a brief greeting, his eyes taking in every detail. As always, those shining, hopeful eyes looked right back. He reached over and squeezed the young man's shoulder gently before taking a seat himself. It wasn't much, but Calvin had never been a man of much emotion.

"Hey," he began, concern in his eyes, "feeling any better?"

[brilliant_azel]

"CALINTZ!" Azel more than made up for the other's lack of affection by leaping practically (at least effectively) into the man's lap the moment he sat down, wrapping his arms around his friend's shoulders.

"Oh gods, you came! You really came!" His voice trembled and he clung to his captain with a fierce grip; his eyes welled with tears and finally overflowed, as he sobbed.

He had cried before while in Landel's, but never like this. Never heartbreakingly relieved and vulnerable, his face buried in Calintz's shoulder, holding the other as if he might fall apart if he let go, or he might wake up to find it had all been a dream.

"Please. Please. Don't leave me here."

[damned_visitors]

He stiffened a bit at Aaron's sudden affection and how he still used that other name, but the way he was shaking, sobbing, just so... broken, even he couldn't just push him away. He wobbled a bit in the chair, trying to compensate for the sudden weight on his chest without making the both of them fall over.

"Aaron? Hey, come on, it hasn't been that long." His little brother had always clung to him like a shadow, so he knew it had to be difficult being alone here. He ruffled the boy's hair and patted his back in a meager attempt at being reassuring. He'd never been very good at it, but Aaron usually evened things out. "Hey, Aaron, no more tears hm? It's alright."

"Please. Please. Don't leave me here."

Calvin's face grew still. Did Aaron think it was easy for him to just leave while his brother was stuck in this place? "You know I don't make promises I can't keep Aaron," he said, his voice falling quietly. "I wish I could take you home with me today, but I can't. Not until you're better."

[brilliant_azel]

"I'm not sick! There's nothing wrong with me, Calintz!" Azel drew back, got to his feet, putting his hands over his face. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Calintz was supposed to come storming in and they were going to escape together, finally, and then rejoin the others.

Then, -then-, it could be the way it was meant to be. "Please. I want to go home with you. I'm not getting better here." He brushed the back of his hand over his face, sniffling.

"I don't know what they've told you, but I'm fine! I'm just like I always was..."

[damned_visitors]

He shook his head slowly, eyes turned to the floor. "You're not," he said quietly.

"I know it's been hard sometimes," he started, leaning forward in his chair, rubbing his temple with his right hand. "I know it's felt like it's just us against the world, but then you..."

He shook his head again. He'd always been far too blunt for his own good. It was what kept so many people at a distance. "Was some made-up fantasy so much better than facing real life? I thought," he paused, his lips a tight, thin line, "I thought I could count on you." The disappointment on his face was real enough. He hated to be so hard on his brother, but he couldn't keep indulging this daydream.

[brilliant_azel]

Azel looked at him and went a ghostly shade of white, taking a step or two back, away from this man. "... Calintz." One could almost see the cracks in the boy's being widen with every word the other spoke.

"..." He just stared; his legs trembled and he dropped to his knees, his strength gone. Disappointment. The trust he always held in his captain, his friend, the person he loved beyond all reason, beyond all barriers, began to quake and shudder.

"I... I thought..." I thought you loved me. He wanted to say, but the words wouldn't come.

[damned_visitors]

He shook his head slowly, watching his brother, "It's Calvin." He got up from his chair and bent down to one knee, trying to meet the boy's eyes. "You think it doesn't hurt me too? That you can't remember your own brother?" He knew he had a way of coming off as too harsh sometimes, but sometimes... sometimes that was the only way he could get through to Aaron. And sometimes... it was all he could do to apologize later and hope he'd be forgiven.

"I miss you, you know?" he let his gaze drop to the tiled floor. "I'm... I'm sorry if I wasn't there for you as much as I could have been. Maybe... maybe I could have stopped this." He reached out with an unsure hand to brush the hair from the boys face and tuck it behind his ear.

[brilliant_azel]

Azel trembled as Calintz -- no, Calvin? -- touched him, leaning into that contact, eyes closed almost all the way. "Brother... I can't stay here. I can't. Please. Take me with you."

He latched on to the other, to any scrap of hope, his hands closing on fistfuls of Cal-- Calvin's clothing. "Please. I beg you. Don't leave me here any longer. I can't take it."

[damned_visitors]

He seemed to relax a little as Aaron finally recognized him. Relief showed in his eyes and he wiped the last remnants of tears from the boy's face.

"I wish I could," he replied, more feeling in his words than usual. "But they won't let me. Not until you're better," he sighed, and it was only by sheer force of will that he kept from shaking as well. "They already think I'm unfit to be your guardian. I'm..." he paused, trying to regain his composure. "I'm doing everything I can Aaron, but I need you to try your best too, ok?"

[brilliant_azel]

Just play along. Even though you know it's a lie. This isn't Calintz. You never had a brother... but play along. See what happens. Even if -- even if it's a lie. It's all a lie. But if you get 'better'... maybe you can leave. Azel's inner voice whispered to him and he knew the value of that reason, but the sight of Calintz's face was just too much to bear.

"Calvin... you'll come back, won't you? Some day, to take me home?" He looked up pleadingly into the other's eyes. Just play along. "Promise?"

[damned_visitors]

He searched his little brother's eyes for a moment, appearing relieved to hear the boy say his real name. Those that knew him better might even notice a flicker of a smile passing across his features.

"Of course. I couldn't leave you behind Aaron." His voice dropped just a little, "You know that, right?"

[brilliant_azel]

"Yes, yes, I know that." He attempted a smile, reaching up to touch Calvin's cheek. "They're going to let you stay a little longer, right? I.... I get so lonely without you here... I don't... really have friends. I mean, there are people I talk to, but... they quickly forget about me. You're everything to me, my whole world. Without you, it's pointless for me."

Azel looked up into the other's eyes. "I just... I want you to hold me and talk to me so that I have something happy... anything, to remember when you're not here..."

[damned_visitors]

He tried not to appear too uncomfortable, Aaron had always been a little clingy and it was only natural for him to be this way after being apart for so long. And the things he was saying... it just sounded so pitiable. To think that his brother wouldn't want to keep living if not for him. "I'll stay as long as they'll let me," he assured Aaron. "Don't... don't think like that. I want you to do this for you as much as for me Aaron."

At the boy's last statement he relaxed a bit more and patted his head, gently mussing his hair, "What are brothers for, hmm?"

[brilliant_azel]

Azel wormed his way into his brother's arms, nestling as close as he could get. He laid his head upon the other's shoulder and sighed. This was as near to Calintz as he was likely to achieve.

It was a lie.

Or was it?

After all, they couldn't just conjure up people who had these kinds of memories, now could they? They couldn't just manufacture a brother as caring and as kind as this one?

No. Which meant that... he really might be insane. Delusional. It wasn't so far-fetched for a troubled boy to create a life in which he was daring and brave when his life at home was so fractured.

[damned_visitors]

There was no reply in words, but Aaron seemed to be doing better. At least he wasn't crying or shaking or... or any of the other things that made Calvin feel helpless. There were few people that he could warm up to and even that took years, but Aaron was his brother. He let the boy lay there for a while, it seemed to make him feel at least a little more at ease.

"We'll get through this. We always have," Calvin repeated, as though if he said it enough times it might come true.