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 Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 6:48 pm
11:03pm, Deus Ex Machina Infirmary.
He didn't know how long he'd been sitting here, but it was long enough that his foot was now numb and the chair he was currently curled sideways in was more than a little uncomfortable. Since he planned on not moving, however, the point was rather moot.
Gale shifted a little, wincing a little as he extended one leg, trying to stretch out some of the pins-and-needle sensation that was making practically his entire body tingle uncomfortably. The techs on duty had attempted (as usual) to get him into his own bed, but he'd outright refused, and after a while they had given up in exasperation.
He was not leaving her.
Stormy was still asleep. Gale closed his eyes once and then opened them again, breathing out slowly, and moving his chair closer to the bed to reach out to take her hand gently. Her skin was still cold, but at least it had been warmer than it had been when he had dragged her, soaked through to the bone, through the portal, and that was at least somewhat of a relief.
The panic that he had felt still made him slightly nauseated. Gale put his free arm down on the bed beside Stormy's sleeping form and rested his chin on it, is fingers curling a little around hers.
<< She'll be okay. >>] Jinhai murmured softly, a quiet reassurance in Gale's brain, and he pressed his lips together, tilting his head to the side and resting his face against his arm so that he could look at her while she slept, just to reassure himself that she was all right, that she was still here.
I hope so, he thought tiredly, and Jinhai made a sound of affirmation, Gale closing his eyes.
And after a few moments, he fell asleep like that, his head on the bed, his hand around hers, his breathing deep and even.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 7:11 pm
1:25 AM, Deus Ex Machina Infirmary.
She woke with a soft strangled noise from a nightmare. There had been darkness again, shadows like those that had swallowed her in the Silver Tower, like the scythe in the Sahara, and like the ocean just earlier that day, and there had also been a cloying sensation around her also, a feeling that something wasn't letting her breathe. And when Stormy came to, she realized she could breathe, but that her nose was running; all the salt water had burned the insides of her nose and mouth and was leaving her with the feeling of being rubbed raw on the inside.
< < You live, then. > >
She almost answered but realized the rhetorical nature of his comment and let it go. Wearily, Stormy shifted up against his pillow, confused that one of her hands felt weighed down. An experimental tug revealed both its stiffness and the fact that there was something holding it. A hand. A hand that belonged to an arm that belonged to one Gale Gentry, fast asleep at her side.
< < He is persistent, > > Thane noted with an undertone of scorn, weakened as she was but no less stern.
Please leave him alone. He's done nothing wrong.
< < We have had this discussion. Should I dictate it back to you? > >
She shivered. I've already heard your side.
< < Then sleep, Hatchling. And when your fleshy body has overcome its limitations, you will put an end to this. > >
Stormy didn't have the energy to raise further coherent thoughts at this point. But she watched Gale's sleeping form for a few moments more, engraving the peaceful image in her head until her eyelids once again felt heavy and the pillows learned the contours of her head. She shifted onto her side to face him, sliding one hand out of his to replace with another to be more comfortable.
There she'd stay for another eight hours or so, fast asleep and cold despite the blankets and his presence.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 7:28 pm
9:24am, Deus Ex Machina Infirmary.
He'd been dreaming of blackness.
It was unpleasant, like being dragged under and into a section of the world where no light shown through, like the air was thick and suffocating and unclean and cold, so very very cold, so cold that the very air felt tense and stiff like it would snap at any second -
- he awoke suddenly, but silently, Gale's eyes fluttering, his breath catching briefly in his throat and a sense of panic starting to well in his stomach until he realized that he was exactly where he had been when he had fallen asleep - in the Infirmary, at Stormy's bedside.
She was still there, and still asleep, but she had turned over sometime in the night, and now it was hers that held his, her eyes shut, her breathing slightly erratic, but still breathing.
His back hurt. Sleeping bent over as he had was not exactly the most comfortable position, especially considering the hardness of the chair and the fact that he'd been there since early evening the previous day.
<< Good morning, sunshine. >>
Jinhai sounded sleepy and content inside of his head, and Gale thought Good morning, Ginny, before he pushed himself upright, his body stiff and creaking unpleasantly. Reluctantly, he pulled his hand away from Stormy's to stretch upwards, hearing his back crack.
He still wasn't about to leave, but maybe he could grab something to eat, some morning tea and then come back. Gale inched his chair closer to Stormy and stood up, leaning over her. One hand hand reached out, gently brushing a few stray locks of hair away from her pale face.
He bent and kissed her forehead gently and then straightened, wincing slightly as he turned to leave.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 7:49 pm
Either Gale had amazing timing, or it was coincidence that it was around that time she started to stir. Stormy knew almost immediately, before even her conscious mind had caught up to her body, that she felt worse. Swallowing hurt, breathing felt tight, and her nose kept on running down the back of her throat--probably had been all night. She refused to open her eyes just yet, but she felt the lingering warmth of Gale's hand in hers and curled her fingers in order to keep it a few seconds longer.
Time to review. Place? Infirmary. Time? Probably somewhere in the morning hopefully. Reason? Ghost ship. Ghost ship. Bugs and dark water and skeletal servants and literary references and flashing lights and ice cream and--
Her eyes shot open and she immediately regretted it with a soft moan as the light irritated them. But she had to make sure, had to feel for herself--
The trinkets clinked together as her other hand brushed over them. Stormy gave a small sigh of relief and then proceeded to wince as she squinted against the light. A glance above the cot and--
Oh! Gale was still there. Maybe she'd just caught him on his way out? She considered not bothering to catch his attention, but her body ached and she wasn't ready to be alone just yet, and she was a terribly needy creature. So she made a soft noise that was apparently meant to be "hello", but that even with just bare minimum of effort hurt her throat.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 7:56 pm
It wasn't until he heard the soft, familiar tinkling sound of little silver charms clinking together that Gale realized that Stormy was moving, that she was stirring, that she was -
- she was awake.
Immediately he turned around, nearly tripping over his own two feet in the process, and crouched over her, not touching her but just giving her a quick once over, a worried expression on his face.
"Hey..." said Gale softly, once he was certain that she was not just sleepwalking or shifting in her sleep. Slowly he lowered himself to sit back in the chair he had just vacated, scooting it over so that he could be beside her again, though he still hadn't reached out and taken her hand or done anything physical.
A small smile made his lips quirk upwards, just a little, in the faintest hint of pleasure.
"You're awake," he said, and the sheer relief these words brought nearly staggered him, Gale giving a slightly surprised shake of his head, his breath catching in his throat. He struggled to catch himself, trying not to overwhelm her.
"Good morning, Watson."
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:06 pm
The sudden turn towards her made her grip the sheets instinctively, but her hands relaxed as quickly as they had tightened. As Gale scooted his chair back in, she roused herself into something closer to awake and tried to sit up and meet him eye to eye. But the world spun and her head started to throb when she tried, and thus Stormy groaned and stayed with her head on the pillow for the moment.
"Hey~ Any new cases?" she asked in a scratchy tone, her eyes about half open from both the light and the drowsiness that was harder to shake off than normal. "I'm . . . afraid I'm at a bit've a loss right now . . . Met the Sandman, y'know." She dry swallowed and started to stretch her limbs lazily, sniffling. Gale wasn't the only one who wanted to overwhelm: there were a good dozen questions running amok in her head, and more besides as her brain trudged towards full awareness.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:19 pm
"Hey, woah - " He held out his hands, very gently pushing her back onto the bed. "Lay down, miss, you're not going anywhere fast, not after nearly inhaling an entire ocean on your own."
Gale settled back into his chair and gave her a wan smile. "Nothing all that exciting," he said, and then the smile slipped away as he tried to tamp down on the urge to do something, to scream and shout and yell and just kill Caelius, or to throw things because Stormy had almost died and he couldn't quite put everything he wanted to say into the proper words.
He wanted to hug her, pull her against his chest and just hold her there to listen to her heartbeat, but he refrained and instead folded his hands together on the side of the bed, letting out his breath in a slow sigh.
"...how are you feeling," he asked, and it was a stupid question, but a necessary question.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:31 pm
Stormy was too drained to bother fighting getting back up, enjoying instead that brief contact. "Did I really . . .?" She pondered over the idea with a thoughtful look. "There was a storm out there . . . Stormy in the ocean with storm winds. Lucy in the sky with diamonds. Picture yourself in a boat on a river . . . With tangerine trees and marmalade skies . . ." Her half-singing was abruptly interrupted by a small cough, which she tried to smooth over as much as possible into a clearing of her throat.
"How m'I feeling? Guess it depends where you mean." She winced and rubbed at her throat a little. "My body feels like it's been tossed around on a rogue horse and my head's fuzzy--fuzzier than usual. Which is weird because I told Candace my head was a bouncy ball once, and bouncy balls can't be fuzzy . . . Can they?" She looked to Gale for an answer, blinked, and added, "Think I've got sniffles and my throat's starting to hurt too. Should go away within the day . . . I think . . ." But that would mean having good luck for once.
"How about you, Sherlock? Feeling right as rain?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:36 pm
The fact that she was singing a little made him feel somewhat more relieved than he had, since it meant that she was lucid enough to be her old self. Which, thinking about it, was probably a tad odd, but it was pure Stormy, and that was a small comfort in a time where it was severely lacking.
"Pretty sure there are fuzzy bouncy balls somewhere in this world," said Gale. "In fact, I almost guarantee it, since I can't think of anyone not coming up with that idea at some point."
His smile, the calm facade, slipped a little at her question.
"I, ah..." he started to say, then trailed off, trying to figure out what he wanted to say to her, because everything felt as though he were still underwater, his mind feeling waterlogged and heavy.
"I've seen better days," he admitted finally. "But," Gale continued. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me, all right? You, on the other hand, just need rest and relaxation for the next several days."
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:57 pm
"Wouldn't that be nice?" Stormy pictured it with a sleepy smile. "I told her--Miss Candace, I mean-- I told her my mind was a bouncy ball 'cause it's flexible and bounces back like rubber and s'the stuff of kids . . . A fuzzy one'd explain why people keep petting me all the time." Jake, Gale, Nevada, Candace . . . She assumed it was just an affectionate action, though she'd never really encountered it before Deus.
Looking more awake now, the random thoughts started to come in as she shifted on the bed. "Did you know, I almost called myself Rain?" Stormy told him, reminding herself of the past with that colloquial phrase. "But then I thought, how many people are called Rain? Or Reine with the e's, or Raine with an e at the end, or Rayne with an a-y. And I like rain--the weather rain this time--not that Rain or Reine or Raine or Rayne is bad either--I mean I like the rain, I like bad weather and clouds and storms, and I have nothing against people with that name at all, they're probably very nice and smell good." She paused, trying to find her trail of thought. "But . . . rain's not what I felt. Well it was, but it wasn't, it wasn't what I wanted. Well, no, I like rain--I said that, didn't I?--but feeling like rain is . . . bad. Sort of." Her head was cloudier than before, and she frowned as she tried to chase after her meaning with little results.
Several days, though? She groaned again and looked crestfallen. "I don't want to be a regular face in the infirmary," she complained. "If all I need's some R&R, I can do that somewhere else." Like her room where it was comfier and had pillows and didn't smell of antiseptic and busy lab techs . . . Less noise, less action, less disturbances. "Can you bust me out, Gale? Please? You owe me."
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:02 pm
He smiled a little at the metaphor because it was so very like Stormy to think in such visual terms, terms that for anyone else would sound odd or misplaced or awkward, but for Stormy that sounded pleasant and quirky and unique. It was one of the reasons why he felt so drawn to her - because she could express things that he could not.
"...you found a little too much rain," Gale said, very softly. "Rain is supposed to be soothing, not drown you. As for me, I like storms too. And I like rain, but I also like warmth."
It was unclear whether he was speaking literally or metaphorically, Gale closing his eyes briefly before opening them again. He glanced sideways at the techs milling about and then looked back at her, because that sort of request was not one that he was going to ignore.
"Where do you want to go?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:15 pm
"Only turkeys drown from getting too much rain: they tilt their heads skywards and open their mouths and forget to close because they're in awe. I think." She frowned in thought. "Or maybe that's just hearsay . . . I can't remember if I made that up. Can plants drown? . . . Yes, Stormy, plants can drown. How dare you ignore their feelings." She lightly touched her hand to her face as if to slap herself.
But Stormy did pass Gale a look when his eyes closed, musing over his response curiously for the same reason. Literal or metaphorical? Or maybe he was starting to learn how to Stormy Speak, to mean both at the same time. Or perhaps neither. Maybe her babble was infectious.
Either way, there was a little smile on her face as she looked at him.
"Anywhere but here please," she told Gale in an undertone, glancing around as well. "Lemme just--" She sucked in a breath and tried to inch her way sitting up, her head feeling grossly overweight for some reason. Her stomach still turned, but it wasn't quite as bad as before at least, and eventually she managed to sit back up. And feel how plastered her hair was.
Stormy only then noted that her dress was probably ruined. She passed it a disappointed look while they were at it.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:23 pm
He probably was learning ow to speak Stormy, whether little by little or just winging it; either way, he was very slowly starting to see the world through a different perspective, one that was less analytical and more freelance.
"All right," said Gale, and he stood up, sliding one hand beneath Stormy's back and the other arm under her knees, pulling her up and out of the bed and back into his arms, the same way he had carried her through the portal in the first place. "Breathe deep and let me know if you want me to put you down. Also your room is closer, so we'll go there, unless you want to go back to my place and rest."
He had caught the glance to her dress, but refrained from mentioning it, Gale cradling Stormy in his arms as he inched towards the door of the Infirmary, the lab techs distracted by some sort of computer device they were looking at.
" - and then I heard them say Mark squealed like a girl - "
" - what else is new - "
Laughter echoed from the little office, and Gale moved a bit more slowly, quietly, sliding closer and closer, his footsteps quiet on the tile floor, and then he had reached the door and -
- he slipped out, pressing his back to the wall just outside the Infirmary as though he half expected someone to shout after them, but there was only silence.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:39 pm
She was just getting ready to brace herself to try a thing called walking when Gale swooped in and picked her up, erasing the need to even try and act like she wanted to be on her feet. For sick or not, Stormy enjoyed attentions like these (even if at the same time, when in a lower mood, these were exactly the things she grew bitter about), and as such did not fight him. Rather, she curled into herself against him, wondering briefly if she might be too heavy.
And then she remembered Gale had carried her to the portal, and that he had also let her piggyback in the Sahara.
Things had a funny way of making them close to each other. Things also had a funny way of making her stomach turn in a way that didn't make her feel sick.
Stormy clung quietly to him, not daring to do more than breathe until it looked as though they were in the clear. "Whichever," she mumbled, feeling a little sleepy again now that there were warm, familiar arms around her. "It's early. Nobody should work hard in the morning." Though she was quite tempted to ask Gale to go to his house again, if only so she could spend more time being carried around, to have a chance to see that little sunspot again, to explore the house more . . .
"Think I need soup," she added helpfully.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:45 pm
He weighed his options, trying to figure out which path would be best to take.
"My house, then," Gale said finally. "If I take you to your room, then I'd have to go and get some food from the cafeteria. But I'm pretty sure I have some chicken noodle leftover at my place, and that's one less trip to make, so we'll just go straight there."
He tried not to think about the fact that her curling against him made his stomach twist, made him feel as though he were actually doing something that made her feel as though she were wanted and cared for.
It took them a few moments to walk across the grounds to the little town, but Gale didn't stop the rest of the way, even if his arms were beginning to hurt a little by the time he reached the little yellow house. Stormy wasn't heavy in the slightest, but the positioning put all the weight on his arms.
The door wasn't locked. Gale nudged it open with his hip and carried Stormy inside, through the little hall and into the living room, where he set her down carefully onto the couch.
"Wait a second," he told her, and disappeared upstairs for a moment, returning with a soft, white blanket, which he draped over her. "Now, let me see if I can find that soup..."
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