( She drums up a still sleepy looking smile from somewhere, tugging on the comforter to try and gather it back up. Collette ends up dropping it again, rolling her eyes, and waving at Caesar. )
Hey. Been busy over at the Hold?
( She's... not sure what to say, for once. She partly blames that on being tired. )
Um. Mostly, yes. There's still a lot of running around going on over there.
[ For reasons unknown now, unlike before, when they had plenty of reason to! But that's a curiosity for later. He crosses the room to take a seat on the edge of her bed, near the end, so she doesn't need to move out of the way at all. ]
( She sets to pulling her comforter up yet again, making better headway when he's seated and her attention only redirects his way. Her smile is automatic; she stills, giving him the benefit of her full attention. )
Yeah. ( She says, considering her own answer beforehand. ) It was frustrating more than scary, most the time. And I get to be lucky, 'cause nothing they did really stuck around. Don't know why I'm so tired, though.
( She pouts, just enough to aim for tiny melodramtic flare. She doesn't want him to have to think much on what happened there, unaware that some of her blithe dismissals are worrying in themselves -- not necessarily for Caesar, but her view on what's exchangeable in the world. )
[ He does a good job of hiding it, the worry. It doesn't show on his face, it doesn't show in his voice, but oh, it's there. If they'd done something to the people they took... ]
Did the Initiative check everyone out once they were back?
I think they ran most everyone through a physical.
( To see if anything was wildly off base, she thinks. )
Didn't see the point for me.
( Neither her, not them, after considering what she'd said about morphing as soon as she'd been able. Testing her in a week when she's more normalized shouldn't matter. It's just a few days. )
Some people really looked like hell after close to three weeks.
( Casual swearing: probably one of the few times. )
( She blurts out, twiching the covers back over her legs. Her hands come up to pat the air out of the newly settled comforter. )
But I didn't sleep less when I was there, okay? They were drugging me, I was probably out for like, at least ten hours a night.
( After the first night, so only three nights in a row. )
The drugs were out of my system as soon as I morphed, and people were all kinds of actually injured from the fighting and the rest. If I wait a week, I can figure out if it's -- like before or not.
( If the tired keeps up, then she can investigate it. )
[ The time during the pandemic isn't something he wants to bring up, not really, but it still stands as the other example. Yet, if everyone else didn't seem to come back with any permanent problems, he might be overthinking it. ]
I'm just... [ He raises his own hands, palms up, in a short, kind of 'well you know' gesture. Then he drops them back down, back to rest on his thighs. ] No. You're probably right. I was worried that everyone was going to come back sick from the United Earth's drug, so I keep thinking about that and...
( Neither of them will know if they're right or wrong for a while, and by then, it'll be something else to face down and handle.
Watching him now, it's easy to smile, natural and warm as an expression on her face. She reaches under the comforter, moving her legs with barely a second thought. She's better supported once they're crossed in front of her, and she brings her hands out again, patting on the bed closer to her. )
Hey. Come here, Mr. Active Thinker. Overactive even. ( She teases lightly. If he takes her up on her suggestion or not, the next thing she does is hold out her arms for a hug and sayK ) Hugs, please?
( Stating works much better than assuming he'll somehow get what it is she'd like to offer, or take, or anything of the sort. )
[ It's a common enough request from her that he doesn't really think about it and simply moves over, closer, though the next request, he balks at. For that, she gets a look, that vaguely annoyed one. ]
( It makes her lips quirk up a bit lopsidedly at the corners. )
I like hugs.
( Is all she says. He's close enough she can try to tug him in regardless, but she allows him another few seconds of decision time. Go gracefully, or complaining?
I need to remember to stop moving so near to you...
[ He'll go willingly, but no gracefully, complaining anyway! And it'll only be a one-armed hug, an arm thrown around her shoulder and across her back once he leans in.
( He gets a one armed hug back, and another hand on his leg. Not in any sort of investigative or interesting way -- it's balancing for her, and contact on top of that. ) They couldn't risk getting us addicted. It messes up your whole system, those kinds of things, we'd be worthless for testing and the rest of what they did do to us. It turned out okay. People came back pretty much okay.
( It's her attempt at reassurance. She's milking her own with the half-hug and hand on leg contact. )
So give your brain a little rest, hmm? Some downtime before it starts working on the next slew of possibilities, smart guy. ( Her voice is lighter again, hinting at the tease, refraining from a huff of laughter. What she really wants to say is: ) Thank you for worrying. Sorry that you had reason to, but... thank you, too.
I know that now, but before, there wasn't really a certain idea of what they took everyone for.
[ Initially, the hug is met with the usual stiff back and shoulders, but the stiffness fades away soon after. 'Give your brain a little rest', huh? Considering how much sleep he's lost since that night, it's a tempting idea.
He breathes out a sigh, which, his mind having been on sleep turns into a yawn, which he moves to cover with his free hand. Yawn down, he shakes his head. ]
...tch. What a weird thing to thank someone for. What did they do to you there, anyway?
( He yawns, and she tugs him a little bit more toward her. Moving her hand, she hopes to gently start pulling him off his current vertical balance.
Caesar may have, and probably has, lost sleep since the 15th. Certainly he probably didn't need as much as he got when undisturbed, but laziness and actually deprived, worry-laden insomnia were different things. )
Poked me with a lot of needles, nothing big. I think I annoyed them 'cause the whole paraplegia being genetic thing. I got a scientist yelling about it!
( She says this smugly, like it's an achievement. Tug tug. )
I had the most amazing thigh bruise, it was kind of fascinating. All gone now of course.
[ He almost leans away at the tug, but no, really, why bother? The bed is in that direction. Technically, it's in both directions, but... She tugs on him and he moves, stopping only once he's found a spot on her shoulder to rest his head against. ]
Yelling about it? But they were a scientist. Why would it surprise them?
[ Not that he's some big science guy himself, but genetics came up in the books he'd gone through enough that they seemed somewhat important. ]
( Once he's settled, she stops tugging. She doesn't resist the urge to run a hand through his hair -- she'd thought he looked rather nice with it slicked back, but the messy, untamable tendency it had about being perpetual bedhead was more attractive in the long run.
She's pretty sure if she tried, she could get some of it to clump together into tiny horns on either side of his head.
She decides not to share this insight with Caesar. )
It wasn't about it being a surprise, it was about it being an impossible task. They can't really get my ability from my genes away, but they thought they could. And then they couldn't, because my genes are inherently flawed. To get morphing, they'd have to fix me. So he got frustrated! That was the day I got the big shot.
( She grimaces, then snorts. )
Not that I felt it, but it was still an impressively big needle! Not sure what that was supposed to be. Some kind of vitamin booster?
Later, later, tomorrow or the next day, if you really want me to! Anything they put in me went out when I got pulled out of compound. It's one of the upsides, you know? Things that aren't part of your system don't stay there.
( She does her best to look sincere. A large part of it is not wanting to be poked anymore, and being pretty sure that everything is fine. She's been tired, but not even overly tired. Just a little underfed and sloughing off anxiety now that she's back where she feels more comfortable being. )
Come on, what did I say about giving your brain a break?
( She quirks up an eyebrow, giving him a half-smile. )
That means letting the worries be less worrying for a little, too!
[ Let him worry, damnit. It isn't something he does very often and he wants it all out of his own system! The comment on giving his brain a break, though! That garners a roll of his eyes, but he does slump back over to lean against her again. ]
[ The day after tomorrow, huh? That's good enough. He won't fight for sooner. Though, now that he's checked up on her and gotten that promise, he shifts a little so he can eye the door. ]
( "Not when I'm tired" paired with "I should get going" gets a fairly standard reaction out of Collette. She snorts, free hand coming up to poke him gently in the chest. )
I'd prefer if you'd stay. We can nap. ( She adds helpfully. It's not one she usually offers. In fact, last time she was tired, he was still the one convincing her to sleep. )
Let you catch up on all your missing hours of sleep!
( Teasing, even while she figures this is... actually true. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Hey. Been busy over at the Hold?
( She's... not sure what to say, for once. She partly blames that on being tired. )
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[ For reasons unknown now, unlike before, when they had plenty of reason to! But that's a curiosity for later. He crosses the room to take a seat on the edge of her bed, near the end, so she doesn't need to move out of the way at all. ]
Are you alright?
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Yeah. ( She says, considering her own answer beforehand. ) It was frustrating more than scary, most the time. And I get to be lucky, 'cause nothing they did really stuck around. Don't know why I'm so tired, though.
( She pouts, just enough to aim for tiny melodramtic flare. She doesn't want him to have to think much on what happened there, unaware that some of her blithe dismissals are worrying in themselves -- not necessarily for Caesar, but her view on what's exchangeable in the world. )
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Did the Initiative check everyone out once they were back?
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( To see if anything was wildly off base, she thinks. )
Didn't see the point for me.
( Neither her, not them, after considering what she'd said about morphing as soon as she'd been able. Testing her in a week when she's more normalized shouldn't matter. It's just a few days. )
Some people really looked like hell after close to three weeks.
( Casual swearing: probably one of the few times. )
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[ Collette, no. ]
Collette, your morphing doesn't heal everything. You already learned that the hard way.
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( She blurts out, twiching the covers back over her legs. Her hands come up to pat the air out of the newly settled comforter. )
But I didn't sleep less when I was there, okay? They were drugging me, I was probably out for like, at least ten hours a night.
( After the first night, so only three nights in a row. )
The drugs were out of my system as soon as I morphed, and people were all kinds of actually injured from the fighting and the rest. If I wait a week, I can figure out if it's -- like before or not.
( If the tired keeps up, then she can investigate it. )
I'm not pushing it, I promise, okay? I'm not.
( She repeats, sounding soft and stubborn. )
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[ The time during the pandemic isn't something he wants to bring up, not really, but it still stands as the other example. Yet, if everyone else didn't seem to come back with any permanent problems, he might be overthinking it. ]
I'm just... [ He raises his own hands, palms up, in a short, kind of 'well you know' gesture. Then he drops them back down, back to rest on his thighs. ] No. You're probably right. I was worried that everyone was going to come back sick from the United Earth's drug, so I keep thinking about that and...
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Watching him now, it's easy to smile, natural and warm as an expression on her face. She reaches under the comforter, moving her legs with barely a second thought. She's better supported once they're crossed in front of her, and she brings her hands out again, patting on the bed closer to her. )
Hey. Come here, Mr. Active Thinker. Overactive even. ( She teases lightly. If he takes her up on her suggestion or not, the next thing she does is hold out her arms for a hug and sayK ) Hugs, please?
( Stating works much better than assuming he'll somehow get what it is she'd like to offer, or take, or anything of the sort. )
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What is it with you and hugs?
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I like hugs.
( Is all she says. He's close enough she can try to tug him in regardless, but she allows him another few seconds of decision time. Go gracefully, or complaining?
She hardly minds either way. )
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[ He'll go willingly, but no gracefully, complaining anyway! And it'll only be a one-armed hug, an arm thrown around her shoulder and across her back once he leans in.
There. ]
Happy now?
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( He gets a one armed hug back, and another hand on his leg. Not in any sort of investigative or interesting way -- it's balancing for her, and contact on top of that. ) They couldn't risk getting us addicted. It messes up your whole system, those kinds of things, we'd be worthless for testing and the rest of what they did do to us. It turned out okay. People came back pretty much okay.
( It's her attempt at reassurance. She's milking her own with the half-hug and hand on leg contact. )
So give your brain a little rest, hmm? Some downtime before it starts working on the next slew of possibilities, smart guy. ( Her voice is lighter again, hinting at the tease, refraining from a huff of laughter. What she really wants to say is: ) Thank you for worrying. Sorry that you had reason to, but... thank you, too.
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[ Initially, the hug is met with the usual stiff back and shoulders, but the stiffness fades away soon after. 'Give your brain a little rest', huh? Considering how much sleep he's lost since that night, it's a tempting idea.
He breathes out a sigh, which, his mind having been on sleep turns into a yawn, which he moves to cover with his free hand. Yawn down, he shakes his head. ]
...tch. What a weird thing to thank someone for. What did they do to you there, anyway?
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Caesar may have, and probably has, lost sleep since the 15th. Certainly he probably didn't need as much as he got when undisturbed, but laziness and actually deprived, worry-laden insomnia were different things. )
Poked me with a lot of needles, nothing big. I think I annoyed them 'cause the whole paraplegia being genetic thing. I got a scientist yelling about it!
( She says this smugly, like it's an achievement. Tug tug. )
I had the most amazing thigh bruise, it was kind of fascinating. All gone now of course.
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Yelling about it? But they were a scientist. Why would it surprise them?
[ Not that he's some big science guy himself, but genetics came up in the books he'd gone through enough that they seemed somewhat important. ]
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She's pretty sure if she tried, she could get some of it to clump together into tiny horns on either side of his head.
She decides not to share this insight with Caesar. )
It wasn't about it being a surprise, it was about it being an impossible task. They can't really get my ability from my genes away, but they thought they could. And then they couldn't, because my genes are inherently flawed. To get morphing, they'd have to fix me. So he got frustrated! That was the day I got the big shot.
( She grimaces, then snorts. )
Not that I felt it, but it was still an impressively big needle! Not sure what that was supposed to be. Some kind of vitamin booster?
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[ Just when he was getting comfortable! That has him sitting back upright and eyeing her. ]
Are you sure you shouldn't go get checked out? It wouldn't hurt, you know. I'm sure they've cleared up most of the worst off by now.
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( She does her best to look sincere. A large part of it is not wanting to be poked anymore, and being pretty sure that everything is fine. She's been tired, but not even overly tired. Just a little underfed and sloughing off anxiety now that she's back where she feels more comfortable being. )
Come on, what did I say about giving your brain a break?
( She quirks up an eyebrow, giving him a half-smile. )
That means letting the worries be less worrying for a little, too!
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[ Let him worry, damnit. It isn't something he does very often and he wants it all out of his own system! The comment on giving his brain a break, though! That garners a roll of his eyes, but he does slump back over to lean against her again. ]
You shouldn't ask for the impossible, you know.
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( She says brightly. It's a moment of thought before she sighs, pressing a kiss into his hair and living up to her own word. )
I'll go the day after tomorrow. A few days, and I'll have a better idea if anything's out of wack for me, 'kay? I promise.
( Not a scout's promise. Those she's usually only half serious about. )
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[ The day after tomorrow, huh? That's good enough. He won't fight for sooner. Though, now that he's checked up on her and gotten that promise, he shifts a little so he can eye the door. ]
I should get going...
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I'd prefer if you'd stay. We can nap. ( She adds helpfully. It's not one she usually offers. In fact, last time she was tired, he was still the one convincing her to sleep. )
Let you catch up on all your missing hours of sleep!
( Teasing, even while she figures this is... actually true. )
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[ It's not really a big fear he has, to be honest! Still, that guy... He isn't interested in another run-in so soon. ]
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( She asks, intending for it to be more of a joke. Her next question is not. )
What exactly did Break do?
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