Black Hole Sun, Chapter Seven
Title: Black Hole Sun, Chapter Seven
Author: Roki
Word count: 1829
Rating: PG
Warning: OH SO ANGSTY! Also another OC.
Summary: Sequel to Fix You. Psychical therapy is tiring. And Metroman later decided that particular ring tone was a bad idea.
Chapter One: Paper Planes
Chapter Two: Feel the Rain On Your Skin
Chapter Three: Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart
Chapter Four: Sour Girl
Chapter Five: I'm Not Jesus
Chapter Six: Clocks
Thanks to all the folks in the Megamind Blast group for keeping me company and generally being fantastic fish people!
"Now tell me, does this hurt?" the doctor asked cheerfully, flexing his shoulder gently.
"Only agonizingly so," Megamind hissed, resisting the urge to wince away from his dry, scratchy hands. At least only one of them was actually on his arm.
"Mm," the doctor murmured, scribbling on a chart. "That about does it for today. Have Joan take you back to your room. Same time tomorrow, and we start getting you ready for crutches."
"I look forward to it, almost as much as I look forward to my own funeral," Megamind deadpanned at the doctor's back.
"That's the spirit," the doctor returned flatly.
"Ugh." Megamind stared at the ceiling as Joan - a great beast of a woman - wheeled him back to his room. Exhaustion made his limbs feel heavy, and he had hardly even done that much for his physical therapy. Again, he cursed himself for building the nanomachines so they were a fail safe rather than something he could use regularly. With his wounds already on the mend the little machines would not be able to work, and he might end up with some kind of horrible deformity.
He grunted a greeting to Metroman and Minion, who were once again preoccupied with playing checkers. It was a strenuous ordeal getting back into the hospital bed, and once done he could barely muster up the energy to keep his eyes open.
"Were ya wanting your lunch soon?" Joan's Bronx accent penetrated the haze of sleepiness.
"Gnf," he said, articulate and to the point.
"Aw, poor li'l guy, he's all tuckered out." Joan grinned, pleased that she didn't have to put up with his snark today. She'd heard plenty from Alice about him.
"Little, my over-sore buttocks," he mumbled, glowering at his toes.
Joan shrugged and glanced over at Metroman and Minion. "You two let him sleep now, I'll be back to check on him in a couple hours."
"Yes, ma'am." Minion smiled at her, finishing the game with a single move. "I was thinking we should go down and get some lunch anyhow. Would that be alright, Sir?"
"Yeah, sure, fine," Megamind sighed, closing his eyes and settling back.
Metroman quickly picked up the checkers and put them back in the cardboard box they had been keeping over on the counter, hidden behind the abundant flowers, leaving Megamind to sleep.
---
The diner was surprisingly quiet for the time of day, leaving Mr. Wayne and Minion their choice of seats. Minion, of course, chose the ones closest to the water feature, throwing a few coins into the fountain.
"I'd been meaning to ask you...Where do you get your money from, anyway?" Mr. Wayne asked, setting his tray of four sandwiches down on the table.
"Oh, Sir has a few patents that pay into an offshore account. Our assets occasionally get frozen, but for the most part it gives us some income for things like groceries." Minion had chosen some little sushi rolls, and was using a pair of chopsticks with expert hands.
Mr. Wayne watched in fascination as he dropped a roll through the open hatch and caught it in his mouth, chewing with an appreciative sound. "I'm never going to get used to that."
"Mmph, most don't," Minion supplied, tilting his chopsticks to point at Wayne. "I'll never get used to how much you eat in one sitting, Mr. Wayne. It's amazing."
Mr. Wayne shrugged. "Just Wayne. And, hey, guy's gotta eat."
"Mm."
And so their lunch passed in companionable silence until all they were left with were empty soy packets and wrappers. They sat, watching the water trickle from the bamboo stakes, overflowing and tipping them with a pleasing 'clonk' every so often.
Mr. Wayne glanced down at his watch and 'hmm'd offhandedly. "Hey, I gotta make a phone call real quick. Be back in a second, Minion."
"Sure." Minion bobbed in his bowl. He watched as the man went over to a corner by the pop machines, pulling out his phone and turning it on - the nurses had warned them having them on could interfere with the machinery, which was also why Megamind was not allowed to have his wristwatch communicator - to make his phone call. Politely Minion turned his attention back to the fountain, staring at it but not really thinking about that.
What could possibly make water taste and smell weird? He still needed to take the chemical testing supplies down to the little stream to find out what was going on in his friend's home. Well, she was sort of a friend, more of an acquaintance really. He wasn't sure where to classify her, but she still had yet to change homes, so he was able to have someone else to talk to at the end of the day. He would have to go see her again after visiting hours and hopefully remember to take a water sample while he was there.
"No answer; I left a message though."
Mr. Wayne's abrupt return startled him out of his thoughts. "Huh? Oh, your phone call. It's not urgent you reach your friend, I hope?"
"Not urgent, I'm just worried." Mr. Wayne tapped his fingers on the table, hardly noticing the tiny indentations he left in his distraction.
Minion noticed, and withdrew his arms into his lap.
"That was Roxanne I was calling. I called her the day before yesterday to see how she was doing. She was being pretty evasive and made some excuse as soon as I mentioned your boss. Has she called up here at all, that you know of?" Mr. Wayne frowned at the table top, noticing the tiny dents and reaching below the table to gently press them back into place. It just made them look worse, so he left it alone.
"No, if she had, Sir would have been going on endlessly...It has been almost four days since she was released." Minion's gills fluttered in concern. How had he missed this?
"Seems kind of fishy for someone who was coming up daily to hold his hand, right?" Mr. Wayne looked back at Minion. "No pun intended."
"You're right, it does seem...strange. Perhaps she's just busy?" Minion could only hope. Sir would be devastated if this was her way of dumping him again. There was no telling how he would react.
"Maybe. I'll try and touch base with her tomorrow, make sure she's okay." Mr. Wayne scooted the chair away, glancing at the clock. "Visiting hours are almost over; we better go say goodbye to your boss."
"Yes, of course," Minion agreed quickly, fetching up their trays and disposing of the contents in the trash on the way out. He had a lot to think about later.
---
When they arrived back on Sir's floor he was staring at the television mournfully as it did nothing but crackle static at him. He was so preoccupied he didn't even notice them come in for several moments before Minion cleared his throat politely.
"Oh! I wish I could just go fix their cable." Sir waved a hand at the snowy nothingness.
"I'm sure they would appreciate it, Sir." Minion let his feelers curl, tasting his own mixture feelings in his water; apprehension, worry, and a flicker of hope. Sometimes he hated being a fish, everything he felt leaked our through his skin in the form of chemical signals.
Ms. Joan came in behind them, moving around them like they were furniture. Sir froze and stared at her, sizing her up for their next verbal battle. Minion rolled his eyes. Though he understood that Sir had difficulties filtering through the feelings of others he still found it childish to be so difficult to the people trying to help him.
Mr. Wayne's phone chose that moment to ring, screaming a dreaded name into the confines of the room.
"Rooooooooooxanne! You don't have to put on the red light!" it chirped, then paused, then repeated the phrase.
Sir forgot to even launch his protest, he was staring at Mr. Wayne with such blatant confusion. Ms. Joan took the opportunity to get his blood pressure, shooting Mr. Wayne a nasty glare over her shoulder.
"I...uh...sorry. I forgot to turn it off. I better take this though," Mr. Wayne sputtered, coloring in embarrassment. He stepped over by the room's bathroom and flicked the phone open. "Hi, Roxanne. What? No, nothing's wrong. You forgot to call back, so I just wanted to check in on you."
Sir was straining to hear every word, eyes wide and brow furrowed. His lips parted and he licked them. "M-Wayne. Let me talk to her."
Mr. Wayne nodded at Sir, holding up a single finger. "Yes, I'll let you call next time, sure. Don't forget this time."
"Wayne! I want to talk to her!" Sir was struggling to sit more upright. Ms. Joan was trying to admonish him but he held a hand up with a glare that barred her from speaking. She looked insulted.
Mr. Wayne put a hand over the speaker and mouthed 'wait a second' before continuing. "Hey, guess where I'm at right now!" Mr. Wayne headed over towards the bed, Sir reaching out his good hand eagerly as Mr. Wayne bent to hand over the phone.
"No, not there. Not there either. I'm visiting our favorite blue buddy. He wants to say he-what's that?" Mr. Wayne straightened sharply. "Oh, it'll just take a second."
He paused. "Oh come on, just- Roxy? Roxanne?" He held the phone away from his ear, looking at the screen, perplexed. "She hung up."
"Perhaps her call dropped, call her back!" Sir demanded, struggling to reach for the phone. Mr. Wayne gave in and handed it to him, showing him the redial feature before Sir's ear was plastered to the phone.
Minion exchanged a wary look with Mr. Wayne as Ms. Joan strode out of the room in a huff.
Sir tapped his good foot impatiently, listening to what must have been multiple rings. His face abruptly lit up. "Oll-ello, Roxanne! How ar..." His brow furrowed.
"Message at the beep? What bee-oh that one. Roxanne? Hello? Hello? Roxanne? Why are you so quiet? Roxanne?" His voice raised slightly in pitch with every questioning greeting.
His face fell with the phone, flopping his hand into his lap and staring dismally at the fading screen.
"Hey...hey, little buddy," Mr. Wayne said softly, touching his shoulder through the flimsy gown.
Sir had never looked as small to Minion as he did in that moment, utterly defeated in an overlarge hospital gown.
"Here. You should go. Visiting hours are over." Sir shoved Mr. Wayne's phone into his hand.
"Hey, don't sweat it, she'll come aro-"
Sir interrupted before Mr. Wayne could finish consoling him.
"Just get out."
Sir then leaned back in his bed and closed his eyes, barring further conversation.
Minion and Mr. Wayne exchanged another glance and left quietly, leaving Sir in his empty room.
Next chapter: Lemon Parade
Author: Roki
Word count: 1829
Rating: PG
Warning: OH SO ANGSTY! Also another OC.
Summary: Sequel to Fix You. Psychical therapy is tiring. And Metroman later decided that particular ring tone was a bad idea.
Chapter One: Paper Planes
Chapter Two: Feel the Rain On Your Skin
Chapter Three: Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart
Chapter Four: Sour Girl
Chapter Five: I'm Not Jesus
Chapter Six: Clocks
Thanks to all the folks in the Megamind Blast group for keeping me company and generally being fantastic fish people!
"Now tell me, does this hurt?" the doctor asked cheerfully, flexing his shoulder gently.
"Only agonizingly so," Megamind hissed, resisting the urge to wince away from his dry, scratchy hands. At least only one of them was actually on his arm.
"Mm," the doctor murmured, scribbling on a chart. "That about does it for today. Have Joan take you back to your room. Same time tomorrow, and we start getting you ready for crutches."
"I look forward to it, almost as much as I look forward to my own funeral," Megamind deadpanned at the doctor's back.
"That's the spirit," the doctor returned flatly.
"Ugh." Megamind stared at the ceiling as Joan - a great beast of a woman - wheeled him back to his room. Exhaustion made his limbs feel heavy, and he had hardly even done that much for his physical therapy. Again, he cursed himself for building the nanomachines so they were a fail safe rather than something he could use regularly. With his wounds already on the mend the little machines would not be able to work, and he might end up with some kind of horrible deformity.
He grunted a greeting to Metroman and Minion, who were once again preoccupied with playing checkers. It was a strenuous ordeal getting back into the hospital bed, and once done he could barely muster up the energy to keep his eyes open.
"Were ya wanting your lunch soon?" Joan's Bronx accent penetrated the haze of sleepiness.
"Gnf," he said, articulate and to the point.
"Aw, poor li'l guy, he's all tuckered out." Joan grinned, pleased that she didn't have to put up with his snark today. She'd heard plenty from Alice about him.
"Little, my over-sore buttocks," he mumbled, glowering at his toes.
Joan shrugged and glanced over at Metroman and Minion. "You two let him sleep now, I'll be back to check on him in a couple hours."
"Yes, ma'am." Minion smiled at her, finishing the game with a single move. "I was thinking we should go down and get some lunch anyhow. Would that be alright, Sir?"
"Yeah, sure, fine," Megamind sighed, closing his eyes and settling back.
Metroman quickly picked up the checkers and put them back in the cardboard box they had been keeping over on the counter, hidden behind the abundant flowers, leaving Megamind to sleep.
---
The diner was surprisingly quiet for the time of day, leaving Mr. Wayne and Minion their choice of seats. Minion, of course, chose the ones closest to the water feature, throwing a few coins into the fountain.
"I'd been meaning to ask you...Where do you get your money from, anyway?" Mr. Wayne asked, setting his tray of four sandwiches down on the table.
"Oh, Sir has a few patents that pay into an offshore account. Our assets occasionally get frozen, but for the most part it gives us some income for things like groceries." Minion had chosen some little sushi rolls, and was using a pair of chopsticks with expert hands.
Mr. Wayne watched in fascination as he dropped a roll through the open hatch and caught it in his mouth, chewing with an appreciative sound. "I'm never going to get used to that."
"Mmph, most don't," Minion supplied, tilting his chopsticks to point at Wayne. "I'll never get used to how much you eat in one sitting, Mr. Wayne. It's amazing."
Mr. Wayne shrugged. "Just Wayne. And, hey, guy's gotta eat."
"Mm."
And so their lunch passed in companionable silence until all they were left with were empty soy packets and wrappers. They sat, watching the water trickle from the bamboo stakes, overflowing and tipping them with a pleasing 'clonk' every so often.
Mr. Wayne glanced down at his watch and 'hmm'd offhandedly. "Hey, I gotta make a phone call real quick. Be back in a second, Minion."
"Sure." Minion bobbed in his bowl. He watched as the man went over to a corner by the pop machines, pulling out his phone and turning it on - the nurses had warned them having them on could interfere with the machinery, which was also why Megamind was not allowed to have his wristwatch communicator - to make his phone call. Politely Minion turned his attention back to the fountain, staring at it but not really thinking about that.
What could possibly make water taste and smell weird? He still needed to take the chemical testing supplies down to the little stream to find out what was going on in his friend's home. Well, she was sort of a friend, more of an acquaintance really. He wasn't sure where to classify her, but she still had yet to change homes, so he was able to have someone else to talk to at the end of the day. He would have to go see her again after visiting hours and hopefully remember to take a water sample while he was there.
"No answer; I left a message though."
Mr. Wayne's abrupt return startled him out of his thoughts. "Huh? Oh, your phone call. It's not urgent you reach your friend, I hope?"
"Not urgent, I'm just worried." Mr. Wayne tapped his fingers on the table, hardly noticing the tiny indentations he left in his distraction.
Minion noticed, and withdrew his arms into his lap.
"That was Roxanne I was calling. I called her the day before yesterday to see how she was doing. She was being pretty evasive and made some excuse as soon as I mentioned your boss. Has she called up here at all, that you know of?" Mr. Wayne frowned at the table top, noticing the tiny dents and reaching below the table to gently press them back into place. It just made them look worse, so he left it alone.
"No, if she had, Sir would have been going on endlessly...It has been almost four days since she was released." Minion's gills fluttered in concern. How had he missed this?
"Seems kind of fishy for someone who was coming up daily to hold his hand, right?" Mr. Wayne looked back at Minion. "No pun intended."
"You're right, it does seem...strange. Perhaps she's just busy?" Minion could only hope. Sir would be devastated if this was her way of dumping him again. There was no telling how he would react.
"Maybe. I'll try and touch base with her tomorrow, make sure she's okay." Mr. Wayne scooted the chair away, glancing at the clock. "Visiting hours are almost over; we better go say goodbye to your boss."
"Yes, of course," Minion agreed quickly, fetching up their trays and disposing of the contents in the trash on the way out. He had a lot to think about later.
---
When they arrived back on Sir's floor he was staring at the television mournfully as it did nothing but crackle static at him. He was so preoccupied he didn't even notice them come in for several moments before Minion cleared his throat politely.
"Oh! I wish I could just go fix their cable." Sir waved a hand at the snowy nothingness.
"I'm sure they would appreciate it, Sir." Minion let his feelers curl, tasting his own mixture feelings in his water; apprehension, worry, and a flicker of hope. Sometimes he hated being a fish, everything he felt leaked our through his skin in the form of chemical signals.
Ms. Joan came in behind them, moving around them like they were furniture. Sir froze and stared at her, sizing her up for their next verbal battle. Minion rolled his eyes. Though he understood that Sir had difficulties filtering through the feelings of others he still found it childish to be so difficult to the people trying to help him.
Mr. Wayne's phone chose that moment to ring, screaming a dreaded name into the confines of the room.
"Rooooooooooxanne! You don't have to put on the red light!" it chirped, then paused, then repeated the phrase.
Sir forgot to even launch his protest, he was staring at Mr. Wayne with such blatant confusion. Ms. Joan took the opportunity to get his blood pressure, shooting Mr. Wayne a nasty glare over her shoulder.
"I...uh...sorry. I forgot to turn it off. I better take this though," Mr. Wayne sputtered, coloring in embarrassment. He stepped over by the room's bathroom and flicked the phone open. "Hi, Roxanne. What? No, nothing's wrong. You forgot to call back, so I just wanted to check in on you."
Sir was straining to hear every word, eyes wide and brow furrowed. His lips parted and he licked them. "M-Wayne. Let me talk to her."
Mr. Wayne nodded at Sir, holding up a single finger. "Yes, I'll let you call next time, sure. Don't forget this time."
"Wayne! I want to talk to her!" Sir was struggling to sit more upright. Ms. Joan was trying to admonish him but he held a hand up with a glare that barred her from speaking. She looked insulted.
Mr. Wayne put a hand over the speaker and mouthed 'wait a second' before continuing. "Hey, guess where I'm at right now!" Mr. Wayne headed over towards the bed, Sir reaching out his good hand eagerly as Mr. Wayne bent to hand over the phone.
"No, not there. Not there either. I'm visiting our favorite blue buddy. He wants to say he-what's that?" Mr. Wayne straightened sharply. "Oh, it'll just take a second."
He paused. "Oh come on, just- Roxy? Roxanne?" He held the phone away from his ear, looking at the screen, perplexed. "She hung up."
"Perhaps her call dropped, call her back!" Sir demanded, struggling to reach for the phone. Mr. Wayne gave in and handed it to him, showing him the redial feature before Sir's ear was plastered to the phone.
Minion exchanged a wary look with Mr. Wayne as Ms. Joan strode out of the room in a huff.
Sir tapped his good foot impatiently, listening to what must have been multiple rings. His face abruptly lit up. "Oll-ello, Roxanne! How ar..." His brow furrowed.
"Message at the beep? What bee-oh that one. Roxanne? Hello? Hello? Roxanne? Why are you so quiet? Roxanne?" His voice raised slightly in pitch with every questioning greeting.
His face fell with the phone, flopping his hand into his lap and staring dismally at the fading screen.
"Hey...hey, little buddy," Mr. Wayne said softly, touching his shoulder through the flimsy gown.
Sir had never looked as small to Minion as he did in that moment, utterly defeated in an overlarge hospital gown.
"Here. You should go. Visiting hours are over." Sir shoved Mr. Wayne's phone into his hand.
"Hey, don't sweat it, she'll come aro-"
Sir interrupted before Mr. Wayne could finish consoling him.
"Just get out."
Sir then leaned back in his bed and closed his eyes, barring further conversation.
Minion and Mr. Wayne exchanged another glance and left quietly, leaving Sir in his empty room.
Next chapter: Lemon Parade