Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

A scream. Hunger a gnawing hunger.

Gilbert tossed and turned as he slept heavily trapped by the demons who danced in his head. Under his eyelids his eyes moved back and forth quickly. Sweat beaded

on his forehead and ran down sunken cheeks. With a start he sat up rubbing his face. He climbed out of his bed pulling his covers off of him and tossing them in a

messy heap on the floor. His too-lean body showed the marks of a recent struggle and beating. He staggered to the bathroom and leaned over the sink. With a

squeak he turned on the faucet and the cold water began flowing. He splashed the cool water onto his feverishly hot skin. He glanced up into the mirror his eyes

haunted and hair a messy. "nicht awesome" he muttered. He could still feel the hunger and the pain of living in his house. He shuddered crossing his arms and

stumbled back to bed. He stared at the ceiling a long moment unable to catch any sleep. He got out of bed again and went to the closet and threw it open. He began

to dress slowly, painfully. It would take him a while to recover from this. He soon was on his way from his house to the local bar. As he painfully staggered in, people

quieted for a moment before returning to their drinks. He made his way to the bar he spotted who he had been looking for. A blond was talking to another who spoke

rapidly. They both turned with grins and waved him over. Gilbert hobbled over and took a seat. The Frenchman slid gilbert his usual beer and smiled. The Spaniard

raised his glass in a toast and they all taped their glasses together. Gilbert grinned glad to be back among his friends. With them he could ignore the pain; he could

ignore the screams that echoed in his head. As they talked a woman entered the bar. Gilbert ducked away at the sight of her and quickly gulped his beer before, to

no surprise, he coughed. The Frenchman whispered in his ear and pushed him off the stool with a little wave. Gilbert now aware of himself cleared his throat and

started over. He tapped her shoulder and when she eyed him with suspicion he held out his hand to dance. After a moment he took it and they began swaying to the

music. They spun and gilberts head spun. He was thinking everything and nothing…then his chest began to hurt. He flinched slightly and the Hungarian stopped and

looked concerned. "gilbert… Are you alright."

"It's fine. Just a little chest pain. hehe." He startled as he felt pressure on his chest, gently and relaxing. And it seemed to make the pain vanish. "vhat are you

doing?! Stop." he had the oddest sense of déjà vu.

The Hungarian didn't stop but instead replied. "exploiting your weakness." She kneaded one last time before stopping and pulling away to look at him. "goodnight

gilbert. Get well because you're not yourself when you are hurt." she said quietly laying a land on a scratch on his cheek, running a thumb along it, before kissing him

on the cheek and walking out of the bar.

Gilbert had flinched thinking she had been going to hit him. He rubbed his cheek slightly not knowing what was going on. All he knew after he said goodbye to his

friends is that when he returned home to his brother and his home he might actually be able to sleep.