"You remembered. I thought you had forgotten for good, but... I'm so glad I was wrong." Of course, this also meant that he had remembered his old goals, and probably how he had made the Red Chain. Mars would have to be very careful not to let him return to his old plans.
The blue-haired man spent several minutes lying there in silence before finally turning to look at Mars and posing a question.
"Mars, how long has it been? Since the day that it all fell apart."
It was a question that the young woman figured that he'd ask eventually, but not quite this soon. Still, she supposed that it might be important information if the two of them were going to sneak into Galactic's headquarters the next day.
"That terrible day... on Spear Pillar, in late Spring. Since then, it's been nearly four-and-a-half years."
The man's expression didn't change too much, but Mars could swear she saw some small element of surprise in Cyrus's face.
"Actually, it's been a few months more than four-and-a-half years, to correct you." Charon had just walked by the couch in his PJ's, then stopped a few steps from the bed to make his comment.
Over four-and-a-half years? Wait, how could that be? Mars had been counting the months.
"It's only November, though. What happened at Spear Pillar was in mid-June, so four-and-a-half years is about accurate."
A look of confusion crossed Charon's face at Mars's comment. He stood there looking puzzled for a moment, but then a look of realization seemed to hit him.
"It might not have felt like it, but you were in the Distortion World for a good two months. Today is January eighteenth."
January eighteenth... that really was a good couple of months. What it also meant, as Mars knew well, was that it was the day of Cyrus's birthday. He had turned thirty-one that day.
"It's January eighteenth... Cyrus, it's- well, I'm sure you can remember why this day is special." The red-haired woman was sure he'd know the day of his own birthday. Right?
Cyrus appeared to be thinking hard for a good minute before he spoke.
"I do not know what you are referring to," the blue-haired man replied, shaking his head.
Did he really not know? Well, between the Distortion World and the drugs, she supposed it really wasn't too much of a surprise. Still, Mars wasn't about to let her former leader's birthday pass without doing something in honor of it.
"It's your birthday, Cyrus. Counting the time you spent in the Distortion World, you're thirty-one today. I'm sorry I didn't buy a present for you. Just between the Distortion World and getting you and time acting weirdly... I'll get something for you today."
"No. I-" Cyrus seemed about to tell Mars off for suggesting such a thing, but stopped mid-sentence. His expression softened, going from his trademark judgemental glare to a slight smile, the coldness gone from his eyes.
"Don't concern yourself about a gift, Mars. It's enough that you brought me back from the Distortion World. Your unwavering support means more to me than you might think, in a practical way, obviously, not in a sentimental one. I will need that same support throughout my recovery, and likely beyond that as well."
This was the Cyrus that the red-haired woman had always been so fond of. The times when he dropped that hard and icy attitude of his and showed a much different man. His expression was almost kind... well maybe with "almost" being the key word. Still, the point was that Cyrus seemed to have decided against resisting Mars and realized that the two of them needed each other.
"Cyrus, I..." The young former commander's voice trailed off as something hit her.
What if this wasn't the real Cyrus? What if he was simply adjusting his behavior to keep her loyalty? Maybe the real Cyrus was the cold-natured man that she usually saw.
No way. She had just gotten the one person she cared about back from the clutches of that horrible place. She couldn't question him now, that was not in the cards. What did Cyrus always say when she started to question anything he said? He had told her that she was letting her emotions take control. She couldn't let this happen now, not when the man needed her.
"Mars, you appear concerned." See? Cyrus was worrying about her, that surely showed that he cared!
"I'm fine," the red-haired woman answered, shaking her head and forcing her expression back to a warm smile.
"It's just that... I am going to find a present for you. After all you've done for me, it would be insulting to forget your birthday."
"Fine, if I can't convince you otherwise."
Yes, it was time to try and get a present together before tomorrow. What should she bring him? That would take a bit of thinking.
"First of all, let's get that tea I promised you." She had kept some cinnamon tea in her private stash, and there was a small microwave in the apartment that she had brought in from the van.
"While the water's heating up, is there anything else I can get you for now? More bread? Yes, of course, you haven't eaten since yesterday, and only a tiny bit of food at that. Here, I'll get more of the loaf." Mars located the sealable plastic bag and brought it over to the sofa.
This time, Cyrus didn't protest to being hand-fed, which was a relief. The man even made an effort to lean forward and take the food from her hand, whereas before he had only done so much as to begrudgingly open his mouth and let her insert the bread pieces. Sure, this resulted in the occasional piece of bread falling out, but Mars found that if she held onto the food until she was sure it was far enough in, this was much less likely to happen.
"That's one slice, and just in time- it looks like the water's finished heating in the microwave." Well, in actuality the microwave had beeped and stopped around a minute ago, but the red-haired woman figured that the water would stay hot enough while she fed Cyrus the rest of the bread slice.
Once the bag of tea had been put in the cup to seep, Mars gave Cyrus another slice of bread piece-by-piece. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it or not, but it appeared that the blue-haired man was now eating at a considerably faster rate than the last two times, and having much less difficulty keeping the food in his mouth. Progress?
Actually, by the last piece, the red-haired woman could swear that she had hardly even held the scrap in front of the man's face for a few seconds before realizing that her hand was empty and that the piece of bread was already in the process of being swallowed.
"Sir, I know you must be starving, but might I recommend slowing down some? Especially considering your condition, I'm worried that you might make things worse... or choke."
Come to think of it, had Cyrus always been such a fast eater? As far as Mars could remember, the few instances when she had seen him eat solid food (as opposed to the odd beverages that he usually could be seen consuming, which he claimed were a "better" way of sustaining oneself), he hadn't taken much time to finish.
The blue-haired man's reply to this was to stare back at Mars with his usual cold gaze. Had Mars said something that he didn't like?
"It's- not to judge you or anything! I'm sorry, I- let's just bring over your tea." With that, the young former commander stood up and took the mug off of the coffee table that she had laid it down on and brought it over to Cyrus. It seemed to have cooled to slightly above room temperature, which was probably much better than giving it to her former leader boiling hot.
With a bit of help, Cyrus was able to drink the tea without (too much of it) spilling. Well, it was more than just a bit of help, but Mars saw progress. When the tea mug was empty, the red-haired woman set aside the cup and stood up.
"I'm going to go find a gift for you. Please stay right where you are, and don't do anything to strain yourself. If you were to walk out, you would be arrested in no time." Well, not that Cyrus exactly could walk out given his condition, but it would pay to be safe. Besides, if he tried to move too much, the man might hurt himself, or dislodge the IV in his arm.
It was frigid cold outside, and the wig Mars was wearing seemed to once again try its best to fly off of her head and into the night. It wasn't quite what the young woman would call a blizzard, but it was getting close. The only good news in this was that the flurry of falling snow would make her harder to see when out in the open.
Since the mall would be much too far away to walk to, Mars decided to stop in a much smaller store that was nearby instead. She had shopped there before, due to the large discounts that the shop offered, along with the fact that it was relatively close to the apartment complex. It was a tiny store, but the small selection of wares would have to do for now.
Once the red-haired woman had braved the storm, the sight of the shop's window coming into view was more than welcome to her. She hoped dearly that the bell ringing at her entrance wouldn't draw too much attention. However, thankfully, she appeared to be the only customer in the shop at the moment.
She made her choice quickly, even though she was having trouble deciding on which item would suit Cyrus better. In the end, the young former commander decided to just pick the one she was currently holding, and made her way up to the register to pay in cash.
12,000 poké was no sum to sneeze at, but it wasn't like Mars was going to settle for anything substandard for her former boss. She had never gotten the impression that her birthday and holiday gifts had actually impressed the man, but this time she had the perfect idea. Of course, the fact that Cyrus was no longer the richest man in Sinnoh certainly helped.
The way back was even more difficult than getting to the shop. It was not only because the red-haired woman was now carrying a package, but also due to the fact that the winds had gotten even stronger. Thankfully, this time Mars remembered that her jacket had a hood, but the frigid gusts threatened to knock that off of her, too.
After what seemed like far too long, Mars finally reached the door to her apartment complex. Once she was inside, everything was much easier to carry. She reached the right door soon after, and made her way into the apartment. Thankfully, she had hidden the key in an inside pocket of her coat, so it would have had a hard time falling out.
The lock clicked, and seconds after the red-haired woman's footsteps could be heard, although the noise was muffled rather well by the somewhat filthy carpet. Apparently she hadn't been quiet enough despite this, as the blue-haired man on the couch was already looking her way as she turned her head to see him.
"So much for sneaking up on and surprising you with this. Though I guess there wasn't much point in trying, you always have had excellent hearing. Anyway, I got you a present for your birthday. Sorry about the package being a bit damp, snow got onto it while I was carrying it back."
Mars laid the rather large package in front of her boss, but soon realized that his arm and hand muscles were probably too weak to pick up the box, let alone pull off the tape and brown paper.
"Oh, sorry, silly me. I'll help you open it." With that said, the red-haired woman started taking off the tape and paper that the store employee had used to wrap the box at Mars's request. She tried to work fast, but carefully- just as she had seen Cyrus doing all those years ago whenever she had given him a gift.
"Oops." She had just ripped off a little more paper than she had intended, ruining her perfect unwrap of the package. Oh well, Cyrus couldn't care too much, right?
"Here it is!" Mars lifted the item out of the box and showed it to her former leader.
"A coat," Cyrus remarked, his expression hard to read.
"Do you like it?" Mars asked, somewhat dreading the answer. What if he disliked the style? Or what if it wasn't fancy enough for him? Or warm enough?
"I believe it is a very appropriate gift for our current situation. Your efforts are not going unnoticed." It was a bit hard to tell, but Mars could swear she saw the faintest hint of a smile on his face.
"I thought since your old coat is torn, bloody, and would get you noticed much more easily, that you could really use a new one. It was the warmest one I could find at the store I went to. I told Charon to buy some clothes in your size, so those should be lying around here as well. Oh, and there's something else in the box for you, too."
Mars stopped rambling and pulled out a thick, wooly-looking scarf from the bottom of the box, and placed it on top of the coat, which was now sitting on her lap.
"Those blankets weren't doing a good enough job protecting your neck for my liking, so I thought a scarf would be a good addition to the coat." Cyrus looked from Mars down to the scarf for a moment before responding.
"Mars… thank you. It is very beneficial to have you back on the team. You will be a vital piece in building back our former glory."
She had been right, he really did appreciate her, or at the very least her actions. All those rumors she had heard after Galactic's fall, about what he had apparently told the child who had taken him on- they were all untrue. They had to be. Cyrus did care, and he certainly was willing to reward those who did their job properly.
It was a bit unclear at first what the man was doing by raising his right hand and holding it out in front of her. At first she thought that he was reaching for the scarf, but when her former boss kept it in the air for a few seconds, Mars understood. She then raised her own hand and firmly, but gently, grasped the man's hand in a handshake.
"Sir," Mars declared, letting go of her leader's hand and standing up. "I humbly dedicate my service to aiding your recovery in any way I can."
With that, the red-haired woman bent down on one knee with her head down in a gesture of respect.
What Cyrus didn't know was that she no longer had the intention in following him in his lofty ambitions of godhood and a spiritless world. She felt guilty for this eventual disobedience that she would have to show, but knew it would be in his best interests to force a change in his goals. However, that could wait until a later day.
For now, there was tomorrow's infiltration of their old headquarters to think about, and that alone was enough weight on her mind.