[Author: A hypothalamus is the part of the brain which mainly serves to
regulate temperature and other basic functions; right below the..
thalamus.]
[Readers: Uh... good to know?]
Dreaming [12]
...
Schuldig lied stretched out across two guest chairs in Nagi's hospital room. His feet were hanging off one end, and his head lay uncomfortably on the wooden armrest of the other end. He looked over at Nagi and saw that the boy had finally managed to get to sleep.
They had just gotten to the hospital, but Nagi was still so worked up about the events of the night that the nurses resorted to giving him sleeping pills. Working with his fever, the pills eventually knocked him out.
Schuldig turned in his makeshift bed and cringed as the armrest dug into his back. He'd have to think of something to get his mind off this nuisance. It was then that he remembered the promise he made to Yohji just a few hours ago. He smirked and let his eyelids fall lazily over his eyes.
~
Ken hadn't slept. No way. In fact, he was sure he'd never be able to fall asleep again. After a traumatic experience like that, he doubted he'd ever be able to close his eyes again. Currently, he was lying face-up on his bed with a pillow placed strategically over his face.
"I'm an idiot," he declared into the pillow.
Now how the hell was Ken supposed to explain this? He couldn't very well just walk up to Ran and say, 'Hey, yea so I was dreaming about you, and when I woke up, I thought I was still asleep, and since it's completely natural for me to kiss you in my dreams..'
Ken cringed at the thought. He then remembered that he had the afternoon shift with Ran that day, and immediately resorted to find a hole to crawl into.
"Oh God, please strike me down right now."
~
Yohji lied stretched out on his bed, sheets twisted around his legs, lip bitten down by clenched teeth. He'd been tossing and turning for the whole three hours he was given to sleep that night. His hair stuck to the sweat on his forehead and his eyebrows scrunched down in intense concentration.
Suddenly, Yohji took in a sharp breath of air and his eyelids flew open. He immediately forced them back down again when the unpleasant sun shone painfully onto his face. He just lied there on his bed, arms stretched out on either side, legs trapped in-between the covers. Slowly, very discretely, his lips curved up a bit.
"'I'll see you in your dreams.'" Yohji laughed, repeating Schuldig's words to himself. "Well," he sighed, "the man keeps his promises."
~
"Farfarello," Brad said sternly as he walked into Nagi's disheveled room. "Wake up."
Farfarello fell asleep the night before, lying down next to his puzzle of bloody glass shards. He faintly heard the voice pierce into his head, but all the medication Brad shot through his veins the night before made his thinking foggy.
"What is it?" He asked as he numbly picked himself up and looked around the room, slowly registering the events that took place there.
"Your new assignment is to find Schuldig and Naoe. I doubt they'll come back here, so it's up to you to locate them and inform me of their whereabouts. If I were you, I'd start looking through hospitals."
~
Omi looked exactly like a ray of sunshine. He sat by the kitchen counter, his legs dangling down the tall stool. The lack of sleep barely fazed him. After all, the missions were always at night; he was used to it. He took a sip of his tea and looked out of the window, letting the sun wash over his face.
"Good morning, world!" Yohji called as he walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Omi looked up from the window his attention was fixed upon and arched a questioning eyebrow. "You sound like you're in too good of a mood for someone who slept no more than three hours."
"Ah, and that's where your eyes deceive you," Yohji said as he pulled up a stool to sit on, at the counter. "In reality, I'm tired as hell, and I can't think of anything I wouldn't give for another couple of hours."
Omi smiled warmly at him. "How about some coffee then?" He stood up and went to the coffeemaker, knowing what Yohji's response would be.
"Thanks, babe. I owe you my sanity."
Omi prepared the drink and handed it to Yohji as he pulled himself back into his seat. "So, about what happened last night..."
Yohji looked up from his cup and raised his eyebrows. "I don't think I should discuss adult matters like that with you."
Omi's mind processed the miscommunication, and he sighed jadedly. "I meant Nagi."
"Ah, forgive me. I have my mind in dirty places." Yohji put down his coffee and slapped a silly grin onto his face. "So what about the kid?"
"I went to look for him without putting much thought into it at all, and now that I think about it, it was completely illogical. Then I realized that you did the same thing, so I thought maybe you could tell me.." Omi rambled on, losing himself in his own confusion.
Yohji looked at him as if the answer were obvious. "You think I'd let you run off, in the middle of the night, with Schuldig? I'd have to be insane."
Omi's dropped his head onto the top of the kitchen table, disappointed that Yohji didn't offer him a more profound answer. "You're one to talk," he mumbled.
Yohji smiled and rested his chin on his hand. He had finally figured it out. Ah, the glow of an epiphany. "Why don't you go make an extra delivery to the hospital today, ne?"
Omi looked up at him and allowed an innocent smile to play on his lips. It was nice not to be in such a situation by yourself.
~
Ran opened his eyes, feeling the sun shining through his window. He made a quick mental note to get darker curtains, and began the process of identifying the series of feelings surging through his body. He frowned, sat up in bed, and wearily acknowledged the fact that he has been waking up like this all too often lately.
Ran pulled himself out of bed and angrily trekked down the hall to the bathroom. Walking in, he locked the door behind himself and ran the shower. Once satisfied with the coldness of the water, he pulled off his clothes and stepped inside. He let the water painfully wash over him, and then sat down against the wall.
"That damn kiss," Ran grumbled and allowed the water to splash over his face. "What the hell was he thinking?"
~
"Love?" Schuldig almost choked on his hospital Jell-O.
"Yea," Nagi said, poking his food with a straw. "What is it?"
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Would you please take me seriously." Nagi frowned at him.
"Alright, well I suppose there can be some confusion with everything that's been.. going on," Schuldig started and perched his feet on top of the table next to Nagi's bed. "So, you've been hearing all this nonsense about the birds and the bees, when in reality, bees can make do without the birds, and same goes for the other way around."
A book from Nagi's nightstand levitated at Schuldig's head. "No, idiot. I mean 'love' love."
"Oh, the human thing." Schuldig frowned and sat back in his chair. "I don't know really."
"What do you mean you don't know? You go into people's heads. How hard can it be to figure out?"
Schuldig thought for a moment, and then remembered reading something about examples being the best way to explain things. "Remember Abyssinian and Siberian at the last mission?"
"Yes. So?"
"That."
Nagi didn't like the direction this was taking. "They don't even know.."
"Alright, let's put it this way: love is a lot like a hypothalamus."
"How can that possibly make enough sense inside your head that it would be considered alright to say out loud?"
Schuldig laughed but soon placed a serious look on his face. "Just hear me out. It controls everything, right? But few people know it's really there."
Nagi's breakfast discretely floated into the trashcan, uneaten. "You're an idiot."
"Well!" Schuldig announced, standing up from his chair and tapping his watch. "Your date should be here soon so I think I'll just give you your privacy."
"My who?"
/You know where to reach me if you need me./ With that, Schuldig waltzed out of the room, waving good-bye to a very confused and embittered Nagi.
~
Farfarello settled himself comfortably against a tree and watched the comings and going of the area around him. Yet another ambulance pulled up, and yet another poor victim was rolled out of it and in through the front doors. He was bored out of his mind and was about to give up on this place totally when an interesting sight caught his eye. He watched as Omi perched his bike against the side of a tree and went to retrieve the flowers to be delivered. What an unexpected turn of events.
Omi took a few moments to study the front entrance to the hospital and finally decided to go in. Had he known that Farfarello inconspicuously made his way across the street to follow him in, he might've had some second thoughts. He walked up to the desk where visitors were asked to sign in and placed the flowers on top of the counter.
"Good morning, Asami-san. I have a delivery for Naoe Nagi." With the many deliveries made to the hospital everyday and Ran's frequent-flyer miles, the florists of the Koneko no Sumu Ie were well-known there.
The lady behind the desk smiled pleasantly at him and pulled up some information on her computer. "Good morning, Omi-kun. I hope you're well. I'll deliver these the moment I get the chance."
Omi put his angelic face on. "You look busy, Asami-san. I can take them up for you."
"Oh, how considerate of you." She smiled up at him. "Naoe-san is in room 126, just on the second floor. Thank you for saving me the trip."
"Any time at all. Take care," Omi said and made his way down the hallway to the elevator. Had his mind not been completely focused on the task at hand, he might've noticed Farfarello following him a safe distance away.
Farfarello, being a man of worldly knowledge, realized that if Omi took the elevator, it would be smarter for him to use the stairs; and so, he waited patiently, hidden by the door to the staircase, for the elevator to reach the second floor.
Omi stepped out of the elevator and looked around at the numbers by the doors. "One-twenty," he said to himself as he walked down the hall. "One-twenty-two, one-twenty-four," and finally, "one-twenty-six." He stepped into the dark room and quickly noted that it was colder than any of the others in the hospital.
Nagi's head lay on his fluffed pillows, and his eyes looked directly up, towards the ceiling. He felt someone walk into the room, but he wasn't sure if he really wanted to exert all the energy necessary to acknowledge this.
"Nagi," Omi said and took a few more steps into the room.
It was suddenly clear that acknowledgement would be necessary so Nagi turned his head to look at his visitor.
Meanwhile, Farfarello leaned against the wall outside of the room. His original plan was just to walk in there and cause hell as always, but curiosity suddenly got the better of him. He decided to stick around for a while and see where this would lead. Besides, it promised to be a rather interesting confrontation.
Dreaming [12]
...
Schuldig lied stretched out across two guest chairs in Nagi's hospital room. His feet were hanging off one end, and his head lay uncomfortably on the wooden armrest of the other end. He looked over at Nagi and saw that the boy had finally managed to get to sleep.
They had just gotten to the hospital, but Nagi was still so worked up about the events of the night that the nurses resorted to giving him sleeping pills. Working with his fever, the pills eventually knocked him out.
Schuldig turned in his makeshift bed and cringed as the armrest dug into his back. He'd have to think of something to get his mind off this nuisance. It was then that he remembered the promise he made to Yohji just a few hours ago. He smirked and let his eyelids fall lazily over his eyes.
~
Ken hadn't slept. No way. In fact, he was sure he'd never be able to fall asleep again. After a traumatic experience like that, he doubted he'd ever be able to close his eyes again. Currently, he was lying face-up on his bed with a pillow placed strategically over his face.
"I'm an idiot," he declared into the pillow.
Now how the hell was Ken supposed to explain this? He couldn't very well just walk up to Ran and say, 'Hey, yea so I was dreaming about you, and when I woke up, I thought I was still asleep, and since it's completely natural for me to kiss you in my dreams..'
Ken cringed at the thought. He then remembered that he had the afternoon shift with Ran that day, and immediately resorted to find a hole to crawl into.
"Oh God, please strike me down right now."
~
Yohji lied stretched out on his bed, sheets twisted around his legs, lip bitten down by clenched teeth. He'd been tossing and turning for the whole three hours he was given to sleep that night. His hair stuck to the sweat on his forehead and his eyebrows scrunched down in intense concentration.
Suddenly, Yohji took in a sharp breath of air and his eyelids flew open. He immediately forced them back down again when the unpleasant sun shone painfully onto his face. He just lied there on his bed, arms stretched out on either side, legs trapped in-between the covers. Slowly, very discretely, his lips curved up a bit.
"'I'll see you in your dreams.'" Yohji laughed, repeating Schuldig's words to himself. "Well," he sighed, "the man keeps his promises."
~
"Farfarello," Brad said sternly as he walked into Nagi's disheveled room. "Wake up."
Farfarello fell asleep the night before, lying down next to his puzzle of bloody glass shards. He faintly heard the voice pierce into his head, but all the medication Brad shot through his veins the night before made his thinking foggy.
"What is it?" He asked as he numbly picked himself up and looked around the room, slowly registering the events that took place there.
"Your new assignment is to find Schuldig and Naoe. I doubt they'll come back here, so it's up to you to locate them and inform me of their whereabouts. If I were you, I'd start looking through hospitals."
~
Omi looked exactly like a ray of sunshine. He sat by the kitchen counter, his legs dangling down the tall stool. The lack of sleep barely fazed him. After all, the missions were always at night; he was used to it. He took a sip of his tea and looked out of the window, letting the sun wash over his face.
"Good morning, world!" Yohji called as he walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Omi looked up from the window his attention was fixed upon and arched a questioning eyebrow. "You sound like you're in too good of a mood for someone who slept no more than three hours."
"Ah, and that's where your eyes deceive you," Yohji said as he pulled up a stool to sit on, at the counter. "In reality, I'm tired as hell, and I can't think of anything I wouldn't give for another couple of hours."
Omi smiled warmly at him. "How about some coffee then?" He stood up and went to the coffeemaker, knowing what Yohji's response would be.
"Thanks, babe. I owe you my sanity."
Omi prepared the drink and handed it to Yohji as he pulled himself back into his seat. "So, about what happened last night..."
Yohji looked up from his cup and raised his eyebrows. "I don't think I should discuss adult matters like that with you."
Omi's mind processed the miscommunication, and he sighed jadedly. "I meant Nagi."
"Ah, forgive me. I have my mind in dirty places." Yohji put down his coffee and slapped a silly grin onto his face. "So what about the kid?"
"I went to look for him without putting much thought into it at all, and now that I think about it, it was completely illogical. Then I realized that you did the same thing, so I thought maybe you could tell me.." Omi rambled on, losing himself in his own confusion.
Yohji looked at him as if the answer were obvious. "You think I'd let you run off, in the middle of the night, with Schuldig? I'd have to be insane."
Omi's dropped his head onto the top of the kitchen table, disappointed that Yohji didn't offer him a more profound answer. "You're one to talk," he mumbled.
Yohji smiled and rested his chin on his hand. He had finally figured it out. Ah, the glow of an epiphany. "Why don't you go make an extra delivery to the hospital today, ne?"
Omi looked up at him and allowed an innocent smile to play on his lips. It was nice not to be in such a situation by yourself.
~
Ran opened his eyes, feeling the sun shining through his window. He made a quick mental note to get darker curtains, and began the process of identifying the series of feelings surging through his body. He frowned, sat up in bed, and wearily acknowledged the fact that he has been waking up like this all too often lately.
Ran pulled himself out of bed and angrily trekked down the hall to the bathroom. Walking in, he locked the door behind himself and ran the shower. Once satisfied with the coldness of the water, he pulled off his clothes and stepped inside. He let the water painfully wash over him, and then sat down against the wall.
"That damn kiss," Ran grumbled and allowed the water to splash over his face. "What the hell was he thinking?"
~
"Love?" Schuldig almost choked on his hospital Jell-O.
"Yea," Nagi said, poking his food with a straw. "What is it?"
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Would you please take me seriously." Nagi frowned at him.
"Alright, well I suppose there can be some confusion with everything that's been.. going on," Schuldig started and perched his feet on top of the table next to Nagi's bed. "So, you've been hearing all this nonsense about the birds and the bees, when in reality, bees can make do without the birds, and same goes for the other way around."
A book from Nagi's nightstand levitated at Schuldig's head. "No, idiot. I mean 'love' love."
"Oh, the human thing." Schuldig frowned and sat back in his chair. "I don't know really."
"What do you mean you don't know? You go into people's heads. How hard can it be to figure out?"
Schuldig thought for a moment, and then remembered reading something about examples being the best way to explain things. "Remember Abyssinian and Siberian at the last mission?"
"Yes. So?"
"That."
Nagi didn't like the direction this was taking. "They don't even know.."
"Alright, let's put it this way: love is a lot like a hypothalamus."
"How can that possibly make enough sense inside your head that it would be considered alright to say out loud?"
Schuldig laughed but soon placed a serious look on his face. "Just hear me out. It controls everything, right? But few people know it's really there."
Nagi's breakfast discretely floated into the trashcan, uneaten. "You're an idiot."
"Well!" Schuldig announced, standing up from his chair and tapping his watch. "Your date should be here soon so I think I'll just give you your privacy."
"My who?"
/You know where to reach me if you need me./ With that, Schuldig waltzed out of the room, waving good-bye to a very confused and embittered Nagi.
~
Farfarello settled himself comfortably against a tree and watched the comings and going of the area around him. Yet another ambulance pulled up, and yet another poor victim was rolled out of it and in through the front doors. He was bored out of his mind and was about to give up on this place totally when an interesting sight caught his eye. He watched as Omi perched his bike against the side of a tree and went to retrieve the flowers to be delivered. What an unexpected turn of events.
Omi took a few moments to study the front entrance to the hospital and finally decided to go in. Had he known that Farfarello inconspicuously made his way across the street to follow him in, he might've had some second thoughts. He walked up to the desk where visitors were asked to sign in and placed the flowers on top of the counter.
"Good morning, Asami-san. I have a delivery for Naoe Nagi." With the many deliveries made to the hospital everyday and Ran's frequent-flyer miles, the florists of the Koneko no Sumu Ie were well-known there.
The lady behind the desk smiled pleasantly at him and pulled up some information on her computer. "Good morning, Omi-kun. I hope you're well. I'll deliver these the moment I get the chance."
Omi put his angelic face on. "You look busy, Asami-san. I can take them up for you."
"Oh, how considerate of you." She smiled up at him. "Naoe-san is in room 126, just on the second floor. Thank you for saving me the trip."
"Any time at all. Take care," Omi said and made his way down the hallway to the elevator. Had his mind not been completely focused on the task at hand, he might've noticed Farfarello following him a safe distance away.
Farfarello, being a man of worldly knowledge, realized that if Omi took the elevator, it would be smarter for him to use the stairs; and so, he waited patiently, hidden by the door to the staircase, for the elevator to reach the second floor.
Omi stepped out of the elevator and looked around at the numbers by the doors. "One-twenty," he said to himself as he walked down the hall. "One-twenty-two, one-twenty-four," and finally, "one-twenty-six." He stepped into the dark room and quickly noted that it was colder than any of the others in the hospital.
Nagi's head lay on his fluffed pillows, and his eyes looked directly up, towards the ceiling. He felt someone walk into the room, but he wasn't sure if he really wanted to exert all the energy necessary to acknowledge this.
"Nagi," Omi said and took a few more steps into the room.
It was suddenly clear that acknowledgement would be necessary so Nagi turned his head to look at his visitor.
Meanwhile, Farfarello leaned against the wall outside of the room. His original plan was just to walk in there and cause hell as always, but curiosity suddenly got the better of him. He decided to stick around for a while and see where this would lead. Besides, it promised to be a rather interesting confrontation.