Thought I heard them talking in their sleep yesterday [OPEN]

[dead_black_eyes]

Who: L, Tony, Belle and OPEN to anyone who might want to come visit them.
Where: One of Locke City's bigger hospitals.
When: August 18- 19
What: Two idiots get in a fight. Belle is a good listener for Tony and talks L out of a rash decision. Also a catch-all for visitors on the 19th.
Warnings: Profanity, violence, feels, two guys displaying some
symptoms of PTSD.




Sometimes, people could afford to be selective about the hospital they were admitted to. Specialized clinics and treatment programs, top ratings, and individual needs were all carefully considered during the best of times. Specifically, when one had the luxury of time.

This was not such an occasion. With one patient bleeding out in critical condition and the other in a dissociative, violent state of psychological shock, the only things that really mattered about the hospital were that they could be speedily admitted and that the facility had enough departments to reasonably accommodate both physical trauma and fractured mental states. The honor had fallen to Locke City's largest and most complete hospital, where Tony Sparado and Lazarus Lawliet had been sedated, separated, and taken to different wards on different floors.

This was two days ago. Now, some things had improved; Tony's condition had stabilized and they were both keeping down food. Other things remained uncertain; L, grimly committed to not answering the Mafia's questions during their captivity, was still not talking.

Regardless of what the future held, both young men would remember Albero's hospitality for a long, long time.

Comments

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

"Meh. It's... It changes things, for sure; lots of new responsibilities. If nothing else, college juggling's going to make things harder in not too long. Right now, though... We've got more immediate concerns."

[dead_black_eyes]

He blinked, eyelids closing and opening unevenly. They wouldn't tell him what medications he was on, but whatever they were, they were lessening his anxiety, slowing down his heart and mind and making his mouth dry as hell.

"College isn't so hard," he answered. "Hardest thing is paying for it, and it sounds like that's not something you'll have to worry about ever again. Leaving you free to worry about more 'immediate concerns,' which... are very concerning."

Brilliant reasoning. Inwardly, he cringed at how thick he sounded; dimly aware was still aware.

"I don't... know when I'll be back. Or if I'll be back. I might be going to another hospital, so... it means a lot that you'll stay until Belle finds someone to replace you. With the basement, like it is..."

Obvious allusion, there. With Project Jump it's important that the place isn't understaffed for even a second.

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

"Right. Even if I stop working there, I'll probably hang around as I can to help keep the place secure. No one better than us for that, right?"

Rita sighed. "We've got more than that, though, to worry for. Most of us still have our lives... Trying to keep it that way just seems wise."

[dead_black_eyes]

His eyes softened as she voiced her intentions to stay on for security, if nothing else. "Some of us aren't terribly capable, as you can plainly see, but... the people I trust the most are numbered, and I..." he shook his head restlessly. "I need help, because I don't want this to happen again. To anyone."

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

"I can't blame you. I was freaked out when I heard that this happened. There's things happening, and... Well, they're kind of scary, to say the least."

[dead_black_eyes]

"Tony's in bad shape," he said. "I saw his chart, his heart stopped during surgery. Someone else was killed. It's so much more than scary. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

"He... Oh."

Rita looked down for a second. "Another one lost, huh. That... How do we stop it?"

[dead_black_eyes]

"If I knew how to stop it, I wouldn't be here like this. Neither would Tony. I would have reunited a man with his brother; some would have called me a hero," L rattled off, tone taking on a dreamlike quality. "My best wasn't good enough, so. So I guess we hope that someone's best is."

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

"It's not just these people... Though doing more to stop them would be good, too. It's all the related crazy junk..."

[dead_black_eyes]

"All of it? That's too much for anyone to deal with. For any group to deal with, even. I don't have an answer, especially not now."

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

"I... I know. All we can do now is try to keep moving until we can figure out what's next - what we're up against anew."

[dead_black_eyes]

"At least 'what we're up against' has a way of making itself known," he sighed, leaning back against his pillows and closing his eyes. "I'd rather see a monster with the lights on than hear something moving around with the lights off."

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

Rita sighed and nodded. "That's true. Maybe next time I can set 'em on fire or something..."

[dead_black_eyes]

"That sounds like the definition of rash, and I just... I can't condone rash after. After what I came back from. Moises died because even after months of planning, what I did was kind of rash. I think if this happened again... aggression would be a bad idea."

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

"... A fair point. But still... We do have to stop them, somehow. And I don't think they'll back down easily..."

[dead_black_eyes]

"I want to help," L said, his earnestness apparent despite the fact that he was washed out on a cocktail of drugs meant to keep him blank and docile. "But my last plan didn't go so well, so... I don't think I can help."

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

"... We'll figure something out, somehow," Rita responded.

[dead_black_eyes]

"You sound so sure, and I don't know how you can be. It's not that I don't appreciate it, but..." he trailed off, shaking his head, staring at the wall.

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

"I have to be sure. If I don't think we can win this, then what's left?"

[dead_black_eyes]

"I had to be sure, too," L sighs, casting his dark gaze downward in disappointment and shame. "What's left is... this, I suppose."

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

"You don't have fairly powerful fire magic, though, right?"

[dead_black_eyes]

"No. I don't," L said, honestly and simply.

[blastiaobsessieanonymous]

"Different people, different tools, different solutions. As long as we can put them together, we can win. It's not like we're short on people with powers for dealing with this sort of thing."

[dead_black_eyes]

"The world isn't short on people, but... cooperating has been a problem since antiquity. Even among us, someone's been leaking information for quite some time. It's why I got caught in the first place."