Night 50: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

[heroesdontshave]

[from here]

Nothing in here either. Snow was starting to wonder if maybe Badou had been exaggerating when he said all of the staff turn into monsters. The place'd probably be crawling with Cie'th if that were really the case, or maybe they were all off in another part of the building. At least there wasn't anyone getting attacked or anything yet.

Comments

[swornandbroken]

Mello rolled his eyes, but he handed the vials and syringes over. There was a slowness and care to Matt's movements that said he might be overcompensating for something, and there weren't too many options for what that might be, in this place.

"Yeah, there's smokes around here." If Matt had managed to get himself sedated, he'd be a liability if they ran into anything nasty, but he'd fare much worse on his own than he would if Mello had his back. Fine, he concluded his brief mental debate. Maybe helping Matt out would assuage that lingering feeling of guilt, the one that persisted no matter how many times he told himself he hadn't yet sent him out on the mission that had killed him. Don't even try to kid yourself, came that unwelcome voice. You'll know the cost and do it anyway, if you think you have to, if you get out of here in time. That's what you do, because no one else is an important as you are, right?

Mello's jaw tensed. When I get out, I'll find another way. The only way to shut that voice up was to prove it wrong. He forced a smirk.

"What do you say? Feel like busting into a doctor's office?"

[gamingsostfu]

He managed to tuck the drugs into his coat pocket before his friend's words sank in. For a minute, Matt stared at Mello, unsure of what exactly had brought out the change in their interaction. Could the blond actually feel guilty about what he'd learnt the night before, during their probably unintentional trip to Japan? No, that just wasn't in Mello's nature, to feel guilty over things like that, and if he did, he just talked himself out of it, Matt was sure.

But it was the only explanation for the abstract truce that Mello was offering. The smirk seemed out of place somehow, like it wasn't supposed to be there; that was bollocks, though, because Matt had seen the prat smirk several times before.

But those expressions had been far more natural than this one, and it suddenly made sense what was happening. They fuck with brains here, he thought, staring at Mello a moment in stunned realization. They did something to Claude's eyes... Are they advanced enough to do something to Mello's confidence? It was a long-shot, but it was a highly plausible situation - though one that would require further investigation.

He smiled at the thought that his head was starting to clear up considerably, and he rather enjoyed the idea of ransacking a doctor's office for some cigarettes. "Hell yes," he replied, with quite a bit more vigor than he'd been feeling that day, and Matt relaxed visibly. Maybe things could look up for them both after all.

[swornandbroken]

Something was definitely up with Matt. He'd always relied too much on those goggles to mask his expression, and now that they were gone, his face was an open book, especially with the slowed ability to hide his reactions, which Mello was all but positive, now, was due to sedation.

He didn't like how wheels were visibly turning, in there. Maybe it was paranoid to think they were grinding away at what was wrong with him. It didn't feel like paranoia, not with the way Matt wouldn't leave it alone last night. Mello was still aware of the temptation to give up and just let it out, if only to tell someone, but he was also just as determined not to. It could only end badly. Talking himself back up to normal was hard enough; he didn't need Matt dissecting every fucking thing he did.

"Stop gawking at me, then, and let's go," he snapped, and started for the main hallway.

[to here]