Day 59: Game Room (Fourth Shift)

[razing_phoenix]

Guy's head was still spinning from finding out that his friend was back once again. He realized that he'd done a good job of keeping his cool while explaining everything to Luke, mainly because nothing would have been solved if both of them had been reeling, but

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[human_sponge]

Well, that had been one of the more interesting intercom announcements that he'd heard. During the day, at least. Peter couldn't help laughing to himself a little as he left the cafeteria, although his concern for Firo hadn't completely left his mind. Still, there was just something funny about overhearing that. It made it clear that maybe some of the people involved in this were more human than they wanted to let on

[autophoenix]

Finding her uncle was kind of second nature at this point. Like Where's Waldo, but with a worse haircut and not such exciting clothes. She picked him out of the game room and smiled when she saw him in front of a checkers board. She headed over, rolling her eyes a little at the announcement that had gone off. As she seated herself across from him, she smiled.

"You'd think eventually they'd get the hang of the press button for on and off idea," she mused with a wry look. She picked up some of the checkers themselves and turned it over in her hands. Figures. Nothing to tell them anything about where they were or when, just standard board games that had been used for at least the past twenty years. Beyond that, she was so far from obligated to know

[human_sponge]

It was only when Claire took a seat across from him that Peter realized that he really hadn't devoted much of his time to worrying about her today. It was usually something that was always at the back of his mind, but it just went to show how busy he'd been trying to get the whole paramedic thing in order. He would have felt bad about it, but he was guessing that Claire would actually be glad to know that he wasn't putting his stomach into knots worrying over her

[autophoenix]

"Surviving. I know, no surprise there; it's what I do best," the way she said it had edges of wry humor. Call her jaded, but she was starting to learn that there wasn't much reason to get all panicked and hysteric about this place. She was the survival master, this place was one big game of it … but, it was never going to get better. For the variances of answers to 'how've you been,' good was never going to be an option in here. The scale was different. Alive was good. If you were dead, no one would be asking you anyway.

"I've just sort of been keeping quiet. Which, believe it or not, has greatly reduced the number of monsters I've encountered." She smiled at that, but shook her head. "I'm sorry." For not seeing him more, and for striving to take this whole thing as far from seriously as possible. He probably didn't share her sentiments there.

"What about you? Your'e all in one piece, that's a nice change. You know, every time I come in here, it's like I keep expecting to see you rocking the wheelchair again."

[human_sponge]

Keeping quiet and avoiding monsters was all fine by Peter when it came to Claire. That's what he had wanted her to do from the start, but it seemed like the best way to actually get that result was by not pushing her. The moment he'd left her to her own devices she seemed to have calmed down and lost some of that urge to toss herself into the middle of everything

[autophoenix]

His disbelief at her comment made her feel a little self-aware. So, maybe she was being beyond ridiculous. Maybe she didn't need to worry because Peter, more than anyone, knew what they were doing. He was her hero -- she needed to stop forgetting that. Being here had put them on more of an equal plane, but he was still her uncle and way older (kind of older? she honestly wasn't sure how much) and this wasn't the first time he'd ever fought bad guys. These bad guys were just … well, slimier

[human_sponge]

You're all I've got. Peter didn't quite know what to make of that, and the smile that he gave in response was a mix of relieved and a little sad. While he was glad that the two of them had each other to rely on, in many ways they only had each other. Mr. Bennet wasn't here, Nathan wasn't here -- and there didn't seem to be much sign of them coming back. It was just the two of them and Sylar, and Peter was beyond the point of hoping that the killer was gone. It seemed like any time he actually let himself believe that, the guy showed up to ruin his life all over again

[autophoenix]

When her uncle grabbed her hand, Claire instinctively squeezed it. It was more comforting of a gesture than she was prepared for, and before she could even become conscious of it, she was clinging to that. It was tiny, but it was still more than she'd let herself have in all her time in the institute. A little depressing, really

[human_sponge]

Her smile seemed to mirror his, but the fact that they could manage to do that at all -- even if they weren't the brightest smiles -- meant that they were still holding up. Peter could accept that. He held onto her hand for as long as she gripped back, only pulling away when Claire let go of him. It was enough to make it clear that he was always there to support her, though she should have known that already.

"Well, I've got a couple people set to come with me already. And... I don't really want to make you go up there again." What he meant was that he didn't want to force her into that hallway where they'd gone through those terrible hallucinations. He hoped he wouldn't have to spell that out.

"I'm fine with you checking out the kitchen, so long as you've got someone with you." Maybe she didn't need a bodyguard -- in fact, if he was being realistic Claire should be the one taking the lead during nights -- but he just didn't like the thought of his niece wandering through dark hallways all on her own. "I do need more blood, but

[autophoenix]

His dismissal brought an unpleasant tension to her gut. He was babying her. As badly as she didn't want to face down the hallucinations again, he was babying her and that was quite possibly worse than the hallucinations themselves. She could handle herself, but he'd never believe that. So, her smile looked strained for a minute, but she forced herself to let it go.

She'd show him, one of these days. She was stronger now, stronger than she'd ever been. And she didn't need the mollycoddling, even if the comfort she was taking from holding his hand seemed to very much contradict that.

"Okay. I'll be careful, and I'll come by tomorrow night." Nowhere in there did she promise to bring someone with her. So, technically, she wasn't lying. But, there was no reason for her to drag someone else into danger. She'd be fine. She was always fine. Other people who wound up in the line of fire with her had a way of being not-so-much so.

[human_sponge]

If Claire didn't like what he'd said, she at least didn't admit to it vocally. Maybe she was just trying to avoid another fight, or maybe she was getting used to the fact that he was going to be overprotective. Peter didn't see that behavior changing any time soon, seeing how he was the one person here who could look out for the girl. She'd just admitted to that earlier in the conversation, hadn't she?

"Tomorrow night sounds good," he agreed with a nod. "I'll try to make sure it hurts as little as possible when I take the blood." Claire had obviously been through so much worse than a prick from a needle when it came to pain, but Peter still thought it was worth making it clear that he was going to put that effort in.

With that settled, Peter glanced down at the checkers board that they had managed to forget about during their talk. He nodded to Claire. "It's your turn." Maybe it was silly to try and do something normal when nothing about their situation was, but Peter thought that made it even more important to put the effort in.