AEDOLIS > Haviah

All This Time [Lion]

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Cheesigator:
Her head was pounding as she struggled with shaking hands to take the pain killers offered by the nurse who started massaging her own temples once her hands were free of the pills and glass of water.

She tossed her head back and downed them as if swallowing them any faster would make the pain go away that much more quickly. She knew how much the nurses hated coming in here when she was having these episodes; the pain was so much she had a hard time not accidentally broadcasting it to anyone in the immediate area, so the workers would often complain of migraines and headaches out in the hall. She couldn't help but hear it, all of her senses were so much sharper now and she hated it.

She started to raise her hand to wave the nurse away, the poor thing already looked like she was paling from the pain, when suddenly the nurse remembered something.

"Ah, that's right--your comm. Uh. We have your comm for you. Here." She fumbled awkwardly for a moment to find where she'd set it down, and then handed it over.

Gingerly, Andromeda took it and stared at it through swimming vision for a moment, before grunting and waving the nurse away. It hurt too much to nod and she couldn't think clearly enough to speak. She was dizzy, nauseous and in pain. Socializing was a bit too much for her, even looking at the screen as she held the power button on the side and it lit up was almost too much.

She laid her head back against the pillows, not even hearing the door clack shut as the nurse power walked out of that awful, painful room. She felt something warm and itchy tickling her upper lip, and reached up to wipe it away, the back of her hand coming away smeared with blood.

Honestly the nose bleeds were so common she wasn't even surprised anymore. Instead she just let her hand drop to her side, closing her eyes as she waited for the pain killers to help ease her mind, and the last thing she remembered before drifting off was the familiar vibrating buzz as the comm set powered up.

A few hours later a nurse was gently rousing her; time to go to the bathroom and have dinner. And that had been Andy's routine now for... She didn't know quite how long. Maybe a couple weeks? Sleep, pee, eat, repeat. Despite everything, when her mind was clear enough to keep her pain to herself and the nurses felt sorry for her, they would tell her how remarkably quickly she was recovering.

Getting your mind flayed in Axis Point was something everyone experienced differently, and something that some didn't survive at all. She supposed she was lucky.

And she also supposed that the nurses largely pitied her; what they probably saw was a former thorn in Aedolis' side, the rowdy trouble-making mighty and furious Andromeda, being reduced to nothing more than a tired, exhausted Pilot no different from the rest. Like a wild horse that had finally been broken of its spirit, or something.

As she shakily ate a spoonful of chowder she slowly remembered that she had turned her comm set on earlier, and as she reached over and turned on the screen she furrowed her brows at the sheer number of message notifications.

Messages? From who?

Who could have possibly missed her while she was gone? There should be no one--

She opened the messaging app and while there were a few messages from various persons, the most of them came from... Theo.

Theodoryk Kray.

Theo: Hey what's up? You doing anything tonight?
~3 hours later~
Theo: Okay so you don't wanna answer messages, I get it but the least you can do is tell me to fuck off lmao loser.
~3 days later~
Theo: Good morning beautiful
Theo: jk that was my hamster
Theo: But maybe not actually lol. Hmu when you get a chance
~2 weeks later~
Theo: I know you haven't replied to my messages. I'm not desperate or anything but like it'd be nice to hear from you is all. Mom keeps asking about you and I don't know what to tell her about how you're doing. So I just say you're busy. Keep in touch, don't be a stranger.
~3 weeks later~
Theo: Mom says hi. She'd love to do lunch soon. She figures life never pauses for a pilot so she doesn't wanna bug too much. Talk to you later.
Theo: Okay are you playing hard to get because this isn't really that funny anymore. Also it's Hamtato's birthday tadatadatada He's got a cake for being a 12 yo old man
Theo: (uploads video of Hamtato in a party hat with a birthday cake of nuts, seeds, and berries. Hamtato also gets a new hamster wheel.)
~3 months later~
Theo: I get you're not talking to me anymore but the least you could do was tell me why. I miss hanging out with you so like this cold shoulder shit is getting old.
~3 weeks later~
Theo: I miss you. I'm sorry if I sounded like an asshole before. I'll leave you be. But also you're a loser, loser.
By the time she reached the bottom, the comm set fell into her lap as she covered her face with her hands, curling up in her bed, food left cold and forgotten. Her body started tensing, wracked with ugly sobbing as the tiny, prideful part of her that still remained vaguely hoped none of the nurses stepped in to see her like this.

The more she cried, the more her head hurt, and eventually blood started mixing with the saltwater in the palms of her hands.

"I know I sound like a hypocrite when I'm saying this, but I really think you should believe in others a bit more. Not everyone is out to get you--if they were that would mean the whole world revolves around you, and I hate to burst your ego bubble but it doesn't."

Addie's tail had flicked a bit as they spoke, and she couldn't tell if it was mild irritation after hearing her go on for the umpteenth time about how there was probably nobody waiting for her back home, or if it was anxiety to say something so daring to the only friend they had in this wasteland. Or both.

"Especially that Theo guy, I mean think about it Andy. He sounds like he genuinely likes you, not just because you're famous and a popular model Pilot."
"Maybe..."
"No, no maybes. Cut the guy some slack, you even met his MOM, right? When someone introduces you to their parents I hear that's like... Really big."
"I wouldn't know."


"They were right," She mumbled to herself in between painful sobs, the congestion in her sinuses making her migraine come back tenfold, "I am a fucking i-idiot."

After a while of trying to calm herself, forcing herself to take some sips of water from the styrofoam cup by her food tray, she picked up her comm set with shaky hands and looked at it for a good, long time, despite how the glare of the screen hurt her eyes, trying to think of what to say.


Andy: I'm in DOSAM, if you still want answers.

Lion:
As far as he was concerned, Theo was dead to Andromeda Messiere. Without so much as a scoff of a response from her in six months, he figured she dropped him like last week's fashionable panties and he was better off moving on to greener pastures. Normally that might not be the worst thing in the world except for a few concepts that stood in the way. Theo often described himself as a fly by the seat of his pants kind of guy. It was one of the few things that kept him going because of how much little commitment he required in life. Except that's what changed and the listlessness that allowed him to do whatever he wanted before now plagued him with something else: emptiness.

Just when he thought his life couldn't get anymore mundane, Andy had to up and leave it. For months he'd gone through the effort of trying to get her attention because if there was one thing he was really good at it was being really irritating. He wouldn't ever do anything that would cost him a career move, because, for one, there was so little for him to actually move up into. He wasn't a combat Pilot after all. But he could be just irritating enough to get people to notice him and when they did, they had a good time. And when they were bored of him, they conveniently moved on with their lives to be just as non-commital as he was trying to be.

If Andy really did move on, then why couldn't he?

He knew why. He was fooling himself trying to escape in late night movies at the cheap seats. The poor theatre staff didn't look that entertained by his presence after going for a few months in a row. Suddenly he'd seen every midnight showing of every single blockbuster that came out at least four times that they lost their luster. And every other showing of everything else at least ten times in rotation.

They really didn't make movies like they used to anymore.

Theo didn't know what that meant, but it sounded like something that was apt to this moment of watching the finale of "Furiously Fast 18" where Din Viezel was going to die in a fiery crash yet again only to be found 'he didn't die after all' in the inevitable sequel because the power of family kept him going.

He was the only one in the auditorium, and he'd already gone through his second refill of his big drink and extra large popcorn. The junk food didn't taste good anymore. He only got it because he had plenty of points on his rewards account. He even had a free ticket.

There was something about sitting in the dark at the top row that made it so that distanced himself from the rest of the world for a while. In here no one recognized him as a Pilot, no one stopped and stared (although so few did that anyway - one of the perks of not being a combat Pilot), and he was just another face in the crowd.

That anonymity was comforting. And at the same time, it was painful. Because the only person he wished he could be acknowledge by fell off the face of Aedolis.

His comm buzzed but he ignored it. Olivia was probably messaging him again asking for him to bring home some theatre snacks but the concession stand was closed by now. It was already 1 am.

When the movie was over, he figured he'd call her and see what she wanted. But his eyes widened when he checked his phone and his stomach dropped. He frowned and considered replying back. No, he'd wait...  He wanted to make her wait, to make her curl up into a ball and feel as miserable as he felt but something else kept him from pocketing his comm again.

Instead his thumb swiped across the screen and he wrote. "Ok. omw now but it might be a while." If she was in DoSaM, she wasn't going anywhere any time soon.  And he'd already slept through the first half of the movie.

Cheesigator:
Theo: Ok. omw now but it might be a while.
When her comm buzzed she paused in the middle of chewing on her dried out biscuit, slowly looked over to where it was lying next to her on the hospital bed, and felt a cold chill in her chest that worked its way down to her stomach.

Honestly, she hadn't known what to expect, if she should expect anything at all. Considering how he'd been left in the dark for six months and seemed to have waffled back and forth between being sad and being angry with her, she wouldn't have blamed him if he never responded at all. The fact that he did in an hour or so was more than enough to make her stomach flip.

On his way, huh? She didn't know how to respond, so she didn't, and simply left the message on "Seen". She would see him soon enough, and they could talk then. It was fairly late in the evening but she called a nurse to her room and warned them she might be getting a visitor, the first visitor since she'd been back, other than the one or two times Addie had managed to hobble by to say hello.

She could see the surprise in the nurse's face, clearly they all thought she was a lonely Pilot with no one to care for and no one who cared about her, and that seemed to be pretty close to the truth. It was her own fault; she'd made it that way on purpose.

Unable to finish her dinner, much to the worried and sympathetic expression of the nurse, her food was taken away and she was left to sit and stew in her anxiety over what would happen when Theo stopped by, if he did at all. Maybe he wouldn't come at all, as a way of getting back at her. She honestly didn't know. All that she did know was that her throat was dry, and her body temperature was starting to go up, so she kicked off the blankets and still ended up in a shivering cold sweat as the pain slowly started to creep back.

They were trying to wean her off of all the pain killers, and she'd already had her last dose for the day. All she could do was grit her teeth and try to bare it, clenching her fists until she was white-knuckled and the palms of her hands bled from the crescent moons indented by her nails.

They really were more like claws now, and every time she glimpsed herself in the mirror she found herself spooked. She still had nightmares about the incident, and they always ended with Addie pulling her out of it only for her to wake up alone in her hospital bed, panting and gasping. That incident had left her hair darker than before, a deep raven purple, her skin a deeper tone of mauve, her ears longer, her canines sharper and her remaining eye so bright it seemed to glow in low light. Her other eye she kept tightly patched up, and only allowed one or two nurses to help her change the dressings; the blazing and eerie remains of the other half of her vision was unnerving to say the least, and the last thing she wanted was to scare the only people who could help her.

Eventually she found her way into a fitful sleep, dreaming of that day they were roaming like always in the Wastes, looking for their next shelter.

A horrible shrieking sound had pierced their ears, a kind of signal, and in moments they were swarmed. Experienced raiders who had been living in the Wastes their whole lives with techniques well versed in ambushing left her and Addie dazed as they tried to fend off attacks from all sides. It happened in an instant, a flurry of commotion that stirred up a whirlwind of dust as screaming and the smell of iron blood filled the air.

A slash across her backside left her howling as Addie called her name in alarm, and the momentary distraction was enough to afford one of the enemies the chance to swipe at her from the front. Metal sickle claws caught her skin by her brow and ripped across her eye, blinding half of her vision with red as she recoiled and fell to the ground, desperately clutching at her bleeding socket as she screamed in agony.

In that moment she couldn't tell if her vision was stained red with blood or anger, as the pain was so great it made her brain tingle and her ears ring. What happened next was a blur, but like an animal she seemed to hone in on the enemies based purely on instinct, on smell, on hearing, and then blood was gushing in her mouth. It crunched, and the cracking and breaking of bones rattled into her jaw and vibrated in her brain as she clenched harder, the taste of iron washing over her while something just... Clicked.

Somewhere in the back of her mind it was like a switch had been turned on and the person writhing beneath her, gasping between blood curdling screams was no longer a person but... A thing. She breathed them in, something strange filling her lungs and rushing into her blood stream, making her entire body feel as if it was engulfed in fire while somewhere Adele kept screaming and calling her name--

She jolted upright from her bed, the pain radiating out from her telepathically before she could even try to pull it back in, a scream escaping her in between coughs as blood gushed from her nose and mouth, her hands coming up to hold her head as if she as trying to hold the pain in as she clenched her eyes shut and grit her teeth.

It's okay, you're here, you're here, you're not there anymore, it's not happening again, you're fine, it's okay--

After a few moments she finally took a gasping, shuddering breath as she pulled the pain inwards, knowing the nurses out in the halls were probably upset and in pain again because of her; it was only then that she realized while blood steadily dripped from her nose, staining the white sheets to match the front of her hospital gown, that she wasn't alone.

Lion:
He'd lost count of the hours, minutes, seconds, that it took to finally arrive in Haviah. He couldn't sleep no matter how many times he tried to close his eyes. All he could see was Andy's face looking at him, but not really. It was as if she was somewhere else, expression distant and the glaze to her eyes was actually something else he didn't recognize. Tears? Come to think of it he'd never seen her cry or become overwhelmed with emotion like he'd seen plenty of other people do time and again.

Of course, she wasn't heartless. He knew that long ago. And she proved it when she rescued his little sister from a life of living hell. No one that was heartless would have gone to such lengths to save someone else, when they gained nothing from doing so. Andy didn't even so much as ask for a drink or something.

And come to think of it that was about the last time that Theo remembered seeing Andy. After that she fell off the earth and all he had was her ghost.

When he came back to the land of the living, he stared at his stop when the announcement for Haviah chimed. Theo stalked off the train, feeling his body light and airy, walking without any input from his brain. He somehow made it to DoSaM. Every Pilot knew how to get there for the most part. He'd only been a few times before for nothing more than a check-up here and there.

Once inside he was directed to Miss Messiere's room once they understood she'd specifically requested for him to be there even though visiting hours were far from over. It was well into the early morning. The sun would be up soon no doubt.

And when he walked in the door, his stomach dropped and watched in silence. She was having a fit and he stepped forward as she struggled with blood and a pain she projected out to everyone that could bear it. His ears were ringing and he bit his tongue trying to hold back his own screams. He sat down beside Andromeda and reached for her hand, squeezing it.  When his tongue was saved from being halved, he shook her arm a bit and beheld her bruised, bleeding face with another.

"Andy!" he yelled at her. "Andy! Snap out of it! "

Cheesigator:
There was a voice tangled somewhere in the knotted mess of ringing in her ears, the sharp tingling like carbonation in your nose spread throughout her senses making it hard to discern.

As she slowly came to she started to realize there was warmth on her face, and after a few delayed moments of spots and clouds clearing from her vision as she pulled everything back in, she realized she was looking at someone. Theo--when did he get here?

"Th--Th..." Her tongue felt numb, and she coughed, blood coming out into the crook of her arm.

"The--o," She coughed; "Axis point."

She reached over blindly and snatched up the styrofoam cup, pulling the plastic lid off of it and the straw with it as she suddenly tossed her head back and drank some, the rest splashing cold over her face, though the ice had melted hours ago. It washed away some of the blood, making it run down her jawline and neck to be absorbed into the light blue gown, staining the neckline pink.

She panted as she tried to get air back in her lungs, her remaining eye dark with boiling rage as she wiped her face with a hand. Axis Point had been unnecessarily unkind to her, she felt, given how swimmingly Addie seemed to be doing.

"Sorry." She grunted, pushing her hair back from her face as she looked at him.

"You got here fast." She rumbled, her usual deep tone still rough and scratchy.

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