Day 46: Sun Room

[human_sponge]

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

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[full_score]

The transition from night to day had been abrupt, though not really unexpected. By now Claude had gotten used to waking up in his bed at the strangest times, so when he opened his eyes and saw the white ceiling staring down at him, he automatically shuffled around to hide his things before the nurse came. As he did so, however, his thoughts continually buzzed with last night's revelations.

Dias and Guy -- alive? Was it true, or had they narrowly missed a fatal encounter with another one of Landel's tricks? He'd probably need to check on Celes over the board if he couldn't find her in person. And then there was Anise to see to. As well as to verify whether his friends were truly back or not...

He could scarcely think on how he would feel if he saw them in person today, as if doing so would somehow jinx everything.

And yet he managed to grab the paper crane he'd failed to deliver last night before the nurse arrived to escort him out of his room. It was slightly beat up from its ride in his pocket during his encounter with "Stephen" and the trip to the morgue. Claude gently worked at straightening its wings and neck as he walked down the hallway, his eyebrows faintly furrowed in concentration. It gave his fingers something to do, at least.

"Taken an interest in origami?" the nurse asked cheerfully. "That's wonderful, Thomas. Maybe you can make some of those cranes with the paper next to the bulletin board."

Claude was about to reply, but he paused when he realized that the sun room was crowded with more people than it normally was during breakfast shift. A lot more, come to think of it. Upon noticing his confusion, the nurse kindly said, "Oh, you missed first shift already, dear. Why don't you relax a little bit until lunch?"

Well, that was disorienting. It was rare for Claude to sleep through breakfast, though he guessed it showed just how run down he'd become over the last few days. After offering the nurse a forced smile, they parted ways, and he began wandering across the room. Part of him considered leaving a note on the bulletin. Actually, he was about to head toward the board to do just that, but his heart skipped a beat once he caught sight of a familiar face, forcing him to stop in his tracks.

Guy.

Before he could even think, his legs brought him closer to where the man was sitting until he was standing just a few feet away. Despite the immense wave of relief that washed over him, it was almost surreal, seeing him doing stretches like that, as if he were preparing to lift some weights or run a marathon. To think that just the other day he'd been lying cold and stiff in the morgue!

A chill ran down Claude's spine. On second thought, maybe it was better not to think too much on that after all.

There was so much he could have said to him -- so much he wanted to say. But Claude's thoughts were so jumbled that all he could do was excitedly blurt the first thing that came to mind. "Y-you're really back!"

[razing_phoenix]

Guy had been so taken up in working through the pain that he didn't realize someone had walked up until he heard Claude's excited exclamation. His shoulders straightened as he looked up and saw a surprised (and almost happy) look on his friend's face.

Of course he was back. Hadn't they seen each other last night? Still, Guy could understand why it would be hard to believe even after all that. People weren't supposed to be capable of waking up after a broken neck, but Landel's had always proved itself capable of working outside the realm of the ordinary.

"Yeah, looks like I am," he said with a sheepish smile. "Still waiting for my body to finish putting itself back together, but it's a start." He shook out his right hand, hissing in pain as he tried to work the kinks out of it.

"Go ahead and sit down," he said as he gestured to the empty spot next to him on the couch. While Guy hadn't been aware of the time that had passed, he knew that the day that he'd been gone must have been terrible for Claude. It would be good for them to spend some time together that wasn't in a morgue.

[full_score]

That had probably been a weird way to greet him, but he'd barely allowed himself to believe that Guy had actually come back until now. Running into him in the light of day like this was not only a huge relief, but a shock in of itself. He wouldn't have thought that Landel would just give someone back right after taking them away. But maybe it was better not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and to just accept this for what it was.

It honestly wasn't any stranger than some of the things he'd seen before coming here.

Softly exhaling, he closed the gap between himself and Guy and settled down close beside him. As he did so, he couldn't help but study his friend's face for a moment, taking note of details like the healthy color in his face, and the vaguely embarrassed smile. Even though he still looked like he was in pain, it was such a far cry from the horrific scene that he'd witnessed in the coliseum. All of that seemed so far away now, as if it had been nothing but a passing nightmare.

Less than a day ago he'd thought he'd never get a chance to even hear Guy's voice again, much less sit next to him like this. He was at a loss of what to say, especially when he felt moisture sting at his eyes. Shaking his head a little, he hastily rubbed at them.

"I'm sorry," he said with a faint smile. "When I saw you last night, I didn't really believe it was you. That's why I didn't give you a warmer greeting. Can you forgive me?"

[razing_phoenix]

There was something calming about the fact that Claude was sitting with him like this. Suddenly it was like none of that stuff in the coliseum had even happened. Of course, he still had the pain all over his body to make it very obvious that it had happened, but it felt pretty good to go back to the basics like this.

It occurred to him that he was getting used to this place, that hanging out in the Sun Room with Claude had translated into "normal" in his mind. It was almost frightening, but he also didn't see what was wrong with getting close to someone in dire times.

The thing that was harder to admit was that if they ever did find a way to go home, it was going to be more difficult that it should be due to the fact that it meant possibly not seeing people like Claude ever again.

Geez, his mind had totally wandered. By the time he tuned back in, Claude was busy wiping his eyes; Guy had a guess as to why. A pang of guilt shot through him, but he knew it wasn't his fault that Claude had been put through so much.

He was a little surprised at the younger man's admittance, but he couldn't blame Claude for it. With the way the institute messed around with them so much, it would have been typical to try and trick his friends into thinking he was alive when he really wasn't. And then throw some kind of monster at them for good measure. "Of course," he replied with a smile. "I probably would have felt the same way."

[full_score]

It hadn't been an unreasonable thing to think, he knew. Not to mention he'd had Celes and Anise to worry about at the time, as well. Still, after everything Guy had been put through, it seemed wrong to keep him at arm's length. No one deserved that, but especially not him.

At least Guy was understanding about it. Really, he was lucky to have met such a good friend here in this hell hole, and even luckier to have him back in one piece. It had been hard to imagine pressing on without his anchoring presence. Just the fact that he'd had to constantly reflect on some of the things Guy had said to him was kind of telling of how important his friendship had become to him.

"Thanks." Claude returned the smile, pausing just to look at him again. At that moment he couldn't help but recall the way Landel had found a way to use him against Guy like he had, and his stomach gave an uncomfortable twist. He knew he could never let anything like that happen a second time. Maybe this place didn't afford much control, but there had to be something he could do.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" he asked him after a brief silence. "I'm sure the nurses would give you something if you told them you were uncomfortable." Then again, maybe going near the nurses was something Guy generally avoided, for obvious reasons. With that thought in mind, Claude turned in his seat a little, as if trying to see where the nearest staff member was. "Heck, I could go talk to them for you if you wanted, you know."

[razing_phoenix]

It wasn't too unexpected to hear that Claude had noticed the pain he was in. Guy hadn't been trying too hard to hide it, mainly because Claude wasn't someone that he felt he had to act particularly strong in front of. The other blond had seen him at some pretty weak moments during their time here, so it seemed silly trying to put up a strong front about his pain tolerance at this point.

When Claude made his offer, Guy couldn't help smiling. He knew exactly why Claude had thought to suggest such a thing, and he was grateful for it, mainly for the fact that Claude hadn't outright stated why he would be willing to do that. Still, it took some consideration. He wasn't sure if he wanted to accept anything from the institute after all that had happened, but he was in a good deal of pain...

Then he remembered the medicine he and Claude had taken in order to fight off the pain from their zombies bites--

And that was when Guy remembered. How could he have forgotten all about that when it had been such a huge problem? He knew he'd had a lot of other things to worry about, but...

"Hey, I just realized. When I woke up last night, I wasn't feeling any of the symptoms of the infection from that bite." He was pretty sure the wound was mainly healed, as well. Guy peered over at Claude. "How about you?"

[full_score]

Claude had been totally willing to get up and seek someone out for medicine if Guy needed it, but then he suddenly changed the subject. Upon hearing that Guy's zombie bite had healed, he blinked and automatically brought a hand to his healed shoulder. "O-oh, yeah! I noticed yesterday that all of my wounds were gone, including the infection." He hadn't really had the time to rejoice over that, though, given the circumstances. Still, it sounded like Guy's illness had cleared up as well, which was a huge relief.

"Looks like it wasn't permanent after all," he said with a grin. "Whew!" Well, unless there was a chance of it flaring up again later, but he wasn't going to think too hard on that right now. Man, he didn't really want to consider going around and salivating every time some poor innocent person happened to walk past him. He loved meat as much as the next person, but Claude drew the line at cannibalism, thanks.

Wow, though -- talk about a load off of his shoulders. It was almost as if he felt physically lighter once Guy had called that to his attention.

"Oh, right, that reminds me," he added, face lighting up a little, "you should still have some of my medicine in your room. Don't hesitate to take it sometime if you're not feeling too great, okay? There's no reason for you to hurt more than you have to right now."

[razing_phoenix]

So it was true, then. They had been cured. The only gash on Guy's chest now was the one he had gotten two nights ago, and he didn't think it was the best idea to bring that up. Chances were that Claude felt responsible for the two sword wounds that Guy had sustained, but he really shouldn't. After all, he'd been pitted against Dias, and it was much harder to raise your sword against a friend. Attacking Sync, on the other hand, had been easy.

Guy remembered the curse slot that the God-General had put on him with distaste. He couldn't be sure if it was still there (the marking disappeared after it was first applied), but he was hoping that Sync's powers were no longer strong enough for him to control the curse slot. Nothing had happened so far...

It was like he'd traded one infection for a whole other affliction. Things really hadn't been going his way lately, had they? Well, except for Luke showing up again.

When Claude mentioned the medicine, Guy smiled and nodded. "Thanks a lot. I'll keep that in mind." Depending on how long the pain persisted, he might have to resort to that. "But for now, I think I'll take you up on that offer." He'd be able to have a better conversation with his friend if the pain wasn't so distracting, after all.

[full_score]

Claude nodded, glad that Guy was willing to let him help out. "Sure thing. Just wait here, I'll be back in a jiffy."

With that, he slipped off from the couch and approached a nurse that was standing near the bulletin board. As much as some of the other patients here hated the staff, Claude couldn't really bring himself to feel angry at them. After his encounter with Dr. Sohma, and his subsequent meeting with Kagura, it was hard not to wonder if the other staff members had families and friends like they did, if maybe they were victims in all of this as much as the patients themselves.

He tried not to think too much on all that when he was met with the nurse's smiling face. "Can I do something for you?"

"Yeah, um..." Claude rubbed the back of his neck and gestured over to where Guy was sitting. "My friend, he...had some kind of accident the other day, and he's still in a lot of pain. Do you happen to have any medicine he could take?"

The nurse peered over Claude's shoulder to see who he was talking about. As soon as her eyes settled on Guy, her face lit up a little in understanding. "Ohhh, Mr. Browne? Yes, I imagine he's not feeling very well this morning. Let me go get something for him real fast."

She turned and disappeared into the crowd of patients for a moment, leaving Claude to himself. Though it was easy to feel a little impatient, particularly when he wanted to get back to Guy as soon as possible, he knew it was probably best for him to wait and bring the medicine over himself. After a few minutes, she finally returned, though it looked like she was heading straight for the couch. Flashing the woman a nervous smile, Claude managed to intercept her before she made it over to him. "I, uh, can take care of that, ma'am."

She opened her mouth to reply, but then paused as if remembering something. "Well...all right, then." Claude gladly took a small cup of pills along with a larger cup of water from her. With that done, he hurriedly headed back over to where Guy was sitting.

"Here you go," he said cheerfully as he extended both cups out for him to take.

[razing_phoenix]

Nodding back to Claude, Guy watched as the younger man headed off to go find a nurse. He watched their conversation and noted the polite way Claude dealt with the woman (just like a proper gentleman), but when the nurse disappeared and there was nothing more for him to observe, Guy slowly let his eyes close. Even though he'd been dead for a whole day, part of him felt like he needed to rest. His body was still healing, and he could definitely tell through every bit of soreness.

His mind had completely wandered, so he was somewhat startled when his eyes blinked open and Claude was back and holding two cups out toward him. He gave a small shake of his head to clear it and then slowly grabbed both cups.

The whole swallowing pill thing was still new to him, but Guy wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. There were only two in there, so it could have been worse. (What was a normal dose, he wondered?) He did take them one at a time, but both eventually made it down his bruised throat, and that was what mattered.

"Thanks," he said when he finished. "Hopefully it'll kick in fast." If not by this shift, then surely by lunchtime. Or so he hoped.

Now, to get back to his earlier thought. "So, I've been meaning to tell you..." He wasn't sure what Claude was going to make of this after Luke had come and gone twice already, but it wouldn't have felt right to keep it from him when there was no reason to. "Luke's showed up here again."

[full_score]

"No problem," Claude replied with a grin. He wasn't sure exactly what the nurses had given him, but it'd probably start working within the next half hour or so. At least he was taking the pills now rather than later. Thankfully it looked like he didn't have any problems getting them down, even though he knew Guy wasn't used to taking medicine like that back on Auldrant.

With that taken care of, Claude settled down beside Guy again, careful not to accidentally jostle his seat too much. When his friend mentioned wanting to tell him something, he perked up. After everything that had happened over the last few days, it had been easy to forget about the stream of new arrivals that seemed to steadily trickle into this place. That was why he was visibly stunned to learn Luke had come back. Had he been asleep this whole time, or had he forgotten his earlier time in Landel's again? Luke had never answered that bulletin note he'd left for him several days ago, but that was all he'd known about his last disappearance.

"That's great!" he said with excitedly. Then, pausing, he suddenly ran a hand through his hair. "Er, not great that he's stuck here, but great that he's okay, I mean." He knew how worried Guy must have been about Luke this whole time. He had been through so much lately, it must have been a huge relief to have something good happen to him for a change.

In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but believe that maybe that meant that, somewhere out there, Ashton was okay, too.

"You know, I think you've still got that meat cleaver in your room," he added. "Maybe you should give it to him to use until he can get a proper sword."

[razing_phoenix]

It was nice to get such a strong reaction from Claude about the whole thing. For one thing, Guy wanted to be excited about it too, so it was good to have someone else's enthusiasm to work off of. He smiled back, and was quick to wave his friend off when he tried to clarify. "Don't worry, I know what you mean. He pretty much had the same thing to say."

Talking about this with Claude did make him think about Ashton, though. He and Luke had originally disappeared around the same time, but Ashton had never once returned the way Luke had. Guy didn't really know if that was a good sign or a bad one, but it did make him worry for Claude. It probably would have reassured Claude immensely to see Ashton again.

Though what came as a real shocker was when Claude brought up that meat cleaver. Considering how much had been going on, Guy had completely forgotten about it. It seemed only right for Luke to inherit his old weapon, and Guy's face lit up at the realization.

"Hey, you're right! How could I have forgotten? I'll have to let him know." Hopefully Luke wouldn't refuse the offer. It wasn't like the cleaver was getting any use out of him, so there was no reason why his friend should feel like he was taking advantage of Guy. Maybe he could get a hold of Luke over the bulletin and then arrange to drop the thing off with him tonight. He'd rather his friend didn't go without a weapon for any longer than was necessary.

"Thanks for reminding me," he said with a small laugh. "You'd think I could keep track of my own things." Usually he was sharper than that, but something felt a little off after the whole dying thing. He hadn't been able to put his finger on it so far, though.

[full_score]

"No need to thank me," Claude replied with a sheepish a smile. "I was the one who accidentally left it in there." It had originally been his to use, but he was glad Luke was around to receive it now. Either way, though, he didn't blame Guy for not remembering. The past few days had been terrible enough to make anyone forget a small detail like that. Still, he silently reflected, it was almost humorous how often their stuff wound up in the other's room.

It was at that moment his eyes settled onto the paper crane that was perched beside him. With the shock of finding Guy sitting in here, it looked like he'd forgotten some of his own items of business. His face grew somber for a moment, and he plucked it up from its place on the couch. After gently setting it into the palm of his hand, he presented it to Guy.

"By the way," he quietly said, "I was supposed to deliver this for Okita. He made it once he heard about..." Claude momentarily averted his eyes. "You know..."

[razing_phoenix]

Despite what Claude said, it was still nice of him to offer like that. Guy wouldn't have minded returning it, but it was probably best to hand it off to Luke. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Claude had any new friends coming in who might be able to use it. Guy felt partly guilty for that, but at the same time he knew he had no control over who the institute brought here.

When Claude suddenly picked up a small, folded paper bird that Guy had until now not noticed, he was about to ask if the younger man had made it himself (it was a neat skill), but before he could say anything it was being handed over to him.

"For me?" he asked with wide eyes, but he quickly took it and held it as carefully as he could. It seemed fragile, and the last thing he wanted to do was accidentally crush a gift from his roommate. While all was well now, he still appreciated the gesture, and it was nice of Claude to remember to deliver it even after Guy's awakening.

"I wonder where he learned how to do this," he remarked, tone impressed as he examined the details of the paper bird. "Thanks for delivering it," he said as he glanced up to Claude with a slightly solemn smile.

[full_score]

"It's called 'origami', a special art indigenous to Okita's homeland," Claude explained. "Origami cranes are known as a symbol of peace in my time, though I don't doubt the meaning is a little different in his era." That was back before nuclear weapons had been developed, before humans on Earth had nearly destroyed themselves. Naturally, lots of things had changed and evolved throughout the several centuries that separated them.

"He actually taught me how to make them awhile back," Claude added. "I'm sure he'd be happy to show you if you asked." Actually, he'd probably be happy to see Guy at all. The thought of their reunion was enough to put a smile on Claude's face. Despite how calm Okita had been for his sake, he knew the news had been hard on the man. Thinking on that reminded him of something else, however, and Claude's eyes widened a little.

"Oh yeah, I think he wrote a message inside," he suddenly said. Unfortunately, reading it would mean having to unfold the crane and ruin its shape, though Claude thought he could assemble it back together if that was what Guy wanted. Well, unless he asked Okita to do it, anyway.

[razing_phoenix]

While the word was one that Guy had never heard of before, he wasn't surprised that "origami" was considered an art form. He wouldn't even know where to start when it came to folding a piece of paper and making a crane out of it. The idea of it being a symbol of peace was a nice one, but the way things were regarded where Claude came from could be largely different compared to how Okita looked at things. Guy would just have to ask his roommate about it at dinner, then.

Guy was taken aback when Claude mentioned that Okita had taught him how to do the same thing. First of all, he was impressed that Claude had been able to pick it up so easily, but even more shocking was knowing that Okita and Claude had spoken so many times. While he knew they'd been vaguely aware of each other, he hadn't realized they'd really started to get to know one another. "That was nice of him," he remarked. "It's good to hear that you guys get along." It didn't really matter too much in the end, but Guy was still glad to know that.

As for the fact that there was some sort of message hidden within the folded bird, Guy decided against unwrapping it and finding out what it was. He didn't want to destroy the piece of art, especially since the note was obviously never meant to be read. He could ask for Okita's opinion about the whole thing tonight and go from there.

"I think I'll wait on reading it," he said with a sigh. "It wouldn't seem right to do that without asking him first."