"Did you sleep here?" Caleb looked up to Will, who smiled in a far too familiar way, not looking at him, but listening; watching her own finger glide around the rim of her cup, making the faintest humming noise as it did so.
She stopped and the room seemed to fill with silence, he wondered if she really felt as comfortable as she looked, while he was stuck feeling terribly awkward. "No.. Though I'm quite sure you thought I would be when I took you to your room.."
"Oh. Sorry if I said anything.."
Her smile cracked wider again and he found himself looking into his glass of clear substance, to the table below. "No, you were mostly just laughing and stuff.." Mr Giggles. That's what she'd meant. He chanced a look at her and felt his ears go hot as he realized she was already looking at him. A solid gaze from tree to leaf. Curious emerald to the calm burnt sienna. Brown eyes to green and back again. "You don't have to be embarrassed; I know that you were talking rubbish because of the Codeine. Most of it made a slightly askew amount of sence actuall-"
"I'm not embarressed I.." He didn't know what to say. It could be used against him if he'd been caught between dream and reality. Dreams meant nothing to him and in reality he didn't want her to be so inappropriate.. He had to stop her. He needed her to think it was all a joke; fake. That he didn't want her. And they all thought he was most fond of someone else anyway.. "I thought I'd spent the end of last night with Gaea."
...
"You thought you could hide from me, old friend." Vathek froze mid-step. He'd managed to go into hiding until there was another portal and had made it back to Meridian. He'd thought he'd been safe.
"Cedric." Vathek turned slowly; purposefully to his death, but Cedric was in human form. It would only be more humiliating this way, as for a thin man, Cedric still honed a severe refuge of strength in human form. Anyone would think he ought to be bulky. 'Nevermind', Vathek thought, 'Too late to turn back now.' He bowed low, mockingly, "My Lord."
"Stand up Vathek, I have a proposal. One through chance to redeem yourself under Phobos." Vathek's brow furrowed. 'Interesting..'
...
"Oh, sure.. Like hallucinations? I mean, of course you were; duh, you gave me like six compliments during the ride back here!" Will knew she was over addressing it, but she felt a twinge of remorse to find out that he'd thought every joke was coming from her current opposition's lips. That he might have thought of Cornelia when he'd said she looked nice smiling.. She'd actually thought he was trying to be friendly and it had all been a misunderstanding. He was just flirting with his not-quite-crush while half-zoned on the strongest drugs they had in the first aid room.
He let his glass hit the table with a loud clunk after a miniscule sip of water, and she held back the urge to tell him that he'd be better drinking it in big gulps. "Will.. I'm sorry, I just.. You are a very good friend to have stayed."
Friend. So he was being nice. She'd never been quite sure where she stood with the rebel leader and constantly heard him easily coming out with 'what friends are for' to the others, but it was nice to clear it up. It was good to be his friend.. Not just some helper-girl who transformed his newest recruits for him. "How could I not. The girls all had curfews and we couldn't exactly just leave you there, with a monster and.. Well another two monsters, but Vathek and Blunk shouldn't really count.."
"What happened?" His eyes were penetrating her for answers and she knew he was probably used to sleeping off an injury, then calling it a new day, but she couldn't help feel a little offended that he couldn't just assume she'd done the right thing. He had to ask so urgently.
"Look, Vathek and Blunk took care of the thing, and I had to carry you outside, wait for the girl's to get a paramedic, then I had to sit there for hours while you zoomed in and out of conciousness! What the hell were you thinking, trying to fight like that! You should've gone home; should've left! You can not yell at me for carelessness, then collapse on the scene whilst fighting!"
The cup lost balance when he put it down wrong, and Caleb tried to catch it, but it rolled off the table and smashed on the floor; a mix of glass and water. He stood, looking at her with wide eyes that made her want to squeeze hers closed and forget, but she hadn't been out of line. She hadn't screamed of yelled, maybe raising her voice, but appropriatly so. She held her ground. His voice faultered before he did. "I'm sorry.. Will."