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The bite was probably going to scar. Madison sighed and deliberately did not pick at the runic bandages still wrapped around her left shoulder, but they itched and tickled and she hated them. Kouki's shield and her own speed had protected her from major scarring up until this point, but she supposed it was only natural for her luck to run out, given her occupation.

The Death Hunter was back in her dorm, but given that it was lightless other than what came in through the window, she thought the infirmary was far preferable. Not that you could hang out in there; the Life techs were damn good at kicking people out as soon as possible.

Could go out, Kouki suggested, giving her the impression of uneasy slithering.

"We could," she said aloud, then sighed. She probably should, and get out to the training fields to work on the basic rehabilitation exercises she'd been assigned. She had to regain full mobility in that arm, or else she was going to pick up more scars in short order.

With a sigh, she kicked up off her bed and headed for the door before she could change her mind, grumbling under her breath as her shoulder throbbed one more time.

"... Robert?"

Madison's voice sounded perplexed, if not entirely surprised. Apparently she was used to finding Robert in weird places by now. A moment later, she crouched down next to him, wincing against the aches the movement awakened in her still-healing body.

"Hey. Robert." She hesitated, then reached out and laid one hand on his shoulder, squeezing a little. She wasn't going to ask if he was okay. Even Robert didn't lay on the floor for no reason. Unless he was drunk. She didn't think he was drunk. At the moment.

Madison grimaced. "Yeah, I decided to go one-on-one with a Horseman. Damn thing bit me... but I won, so it's okay." Her grin was a little lopsided. She wasn't entirely sure it had been worth it, but she'd gotten the crystal Caelius had wanted and proven that she could take on a Horseman solo and survive. "Laid me up for a while, though..."

She looked at him more closely, and her grin turned into a frown. "You look like hell," she said, bluntly. "What happened to you? Did you end up on Tear duty?" A duty she'd escaped due to being physically unfit at the time.

Madison's eyes widened, and she moved her hands to cover her mouth. "Oh... oh god. <********>. I'm... I'm sorry, Robert..." She felt dizzy, like the world had shifted under her feet - which it had, in a way. And she'd been nowhere near as close to Clarice as Robert had been, not since she'd been transferred to Death, but she had admired the Huntress greatly. And now...

Slowly, she let her hands fall to rest on the back of his head, on the back of his neck. "********. Wh-" She stopped herself then, from asking what happened because she could get that from someone else who wouldn't break in the telling of it. "I'm sorry," she repeated, numbly, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Of course I care about you, dork," she said, giving him an awkward sort of noogie, as best she could manage with his head on her lap. "Geez." She let out a sigh and glanced up at the bright blue sky above them.

"Yeah. It is nice... way better outside than in." Madison made a face. "And I was going to the training grounds, actually. Gotta get back mobility in my left arm, here." She rolled the shoulder and scowled at the stiffness in the joint, the faint twist of pain that came with the movement. "I'll be damned if some a*****e Horseman is going to put a dent in me."

Madison frowned. "No. No dying. Don't even joke - I don't want to even think about it." She poked him crossly with one finger. "And sure - I could use the workout, and you could use the practice. Sitting all up in your labs and stuff, using test tubes and s**t instead of real weapons..."