Day 48: Intercom, Evening
"AACHOO! Ahem!" The Head Doctor's slightly-better-but-still-congested voice came on clearly over the intercom. The sound of Nurse Lydia sighing and pulling out a tissue from somewhere in the background was also audible
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But before he could mention any of this, Peter spoke up again and the slightly confused look on Brainiac 5's face deepened into a frown as Peter started something that quickly became a rant.
"Try and calm down," he said automatically as Peter finally paused to collect himself. "It doesn't sound like he's a real doctor by any means, for one thing. And while it sounds like his appearance is a little... unusual, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Though I doubt the screw is really through his head, Peter. That's just not possible."
Settling a little more comfortably into his chair, Brainiac 5 half-turned to pick over his dinner while still keeping an eye on the other boy. "Tomorrow isn't something I'm particularly looking forward to either, but there's some opportunity to try and obtain some new items, maybe work towards a more cohesive plan of escape... I don't want to get too worried over what might happen there. And anyway-" He smiled faintly, a quick flicker directed at the other boy. "As I recall you were able to handle things well enough."
He wasn't entirely sure if anything he was saying was actually helpful in anyway, but it was better than remaining silent or allowing Peter to continue panicking. Hoping that one way or another his roommate had calmed down more, Brainiac 5 focussed his attention on his dinner. But despite how nonchalant he seemed to be, his eyes flicked sideways to Peter briefly. "By the way, I don't believe you mentioned having a 'spider sense' before," he observed.
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"It could have been an optical illusion, or something else to make you think he really had a screw through his head in order to unnerve you. Most likely it was just to keep you off-balance during the session." He shrugged slightly, and directed an apologetic, if brief smile at the other boy. "I'm not trying to say there isn't any possibility of him being dangerous, Peter, but a screw in his head? It doesn't work."
The smile, such as it was, faded as Peter continued speaking. Brainiac 5 had been trying to put most of the actual events of the last Doyleton visit behind him - and human memory with its ability to help scab over less pleasant things had helped very much there - but he knew that it was highly likely several people hadn't made it back from that trip. Not to mention that Peter definitely had a point about everything piling up. If the Legion had been here, if Brainiac 5 had been Coluan rather than forced into a human body, he knew things would have been different. They'd have achieved more, been more organised, and Clark--
He shook his head in a quick, impulsive movement, aborting the thought. "I know what you mean, Peter. But I can't- we can't let those in charge of this facility simply do whatever they like with us. Maybe it is what they want, for us to keep coming back time and again so they can try to... break us down. But giving up entirely is worse. I know Superman wouldn't give up in this situation, so I can't do anything less."
A faintly hopeful smile tilted the corners of his mouth. "I know you won't either but... you can always talk about it. With me." His eyes dropped to his plate and Brainiac 5 prodded his dinner. "If you want to that is. I imagine you have other friends as well, for one thing."
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Peter was quiet for a while, and Brainiac 5 had to wonder if maybe he'd said something wrong somehow. He hadn't thought mentioning Superman or the offer to listen to the other boy's concerns would be such a problem; everyone knew who Superman was, after all, and he hadn't made any connection between knowing the man of steel and Clark, so that couldn't be it. The only thing he could think of was that perhaps Peter was annoyed that Brainiac 5 hadn't taken him seriously about his claims the doctor had a screw through his head, but, well. Scientifically speaking, it wasn't possible, so there had to be another explanation for what his roommate had seen. It was as simple as that.
He was debating the virtues of trying to apologise again when Peter spoke up and a slightly relieved smile spread across his face. "I wouldn't say you complain that much," the Coluan said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "But I suppose it's possible I could have built up an immunity due to continued exposure."
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