Aries remembered a time in the hospital that between the five of them there were no inhibitions or secrets; in other terms, for a while, they all could be very candid with each other.
In waking up, aside from a lingering numbness from the medication in his blood, he didn't feel anything out of the ordinary (although that's more of a pun, saying that he couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary when the one thing out of the ordinary—that being his hand—was completely gone, which meant he wouldn't be able to feel it in any event). He shook his head to clear it and saw Theophilus curled into a furry red ball in the corner, fast asleep, while Mew was curled half under the bed in a similar dream state. Henry was leaning against the pale wall on the far side of the room next to the solitary window, arms crossed over his chest as he slept quietly. Then Denise was sitting in a folding chair at the foot of the hospital bed, her head down so her curls were all over the sheets and her arms were thrown over his legs. He full-on laughed at that sight, causing her to stir.
"Wha's… Aries?" She rolled her head to the side to look at him sleepily. "Am I dreaming this…?"
"I understand that I have a very divine visage, but I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a dream," he smirked. She groaned and turned away—then Denise sat up straight, eyes wide.
"Aries? I really—you're awake?"
"Yes," he laughed quietly, his voice somewhat hoarse. She started to make a sound that sounded suspiciously like an amazed squeak but choked herself off, waking Henry in the process.
'Wha's goin'?' he slurred, looking around in confusion. He saw Aries and broke into a grin. 'You're awake!'
"Yes, that seems to be the theme of the party," he said. Mew, too, came awake, tackling the side of his face with its thoughts too disorderly to decipher, but it was obviously glad to see him conscious.
Where's the party? Theo muttered, unfurling and flopping on his back.
"Aries is awake, you fluffed-up rat!" Denise said to him. He snorted and rolled over, but Aries could see the small smile on his face. Denise's hands curled into fists as she looked into his eyes.
"How do you feel?" she asked hesitantly. He thought for a second.
"Tired," he admitted. "Burned out. But the point is that I'm alive, right?" he smiled.
Your spiritual purity is like acid to my mind and barf signals to my stomach, Theo piped up.
'Don't mind him; he's just mad that he can't find a Pokémon hair stylist,' Henry said.
Aries, Mew said, finally getting itself together. It hovered just above his lap before moving forward, touching his bandaged shoulder and chest warily. None of this affects you?
"Do you mean physically or mentally?"
Both.
"Physically, it's all numb, but mentally…" He shifted to draw his arm out from under the sheets, staring at his bandaged wrist. The warp panel's energy had cut it very cleanly; his wrist very much resembled a stump, flat and smooth down to his remaining bones. "This will take some getting used to, but I try to look at the positives."
"You always do," Denise muttered.
"Why does that sound so depressing coming from your mouth?"
"No reason," she said in a tone that denoted plenty of reasons.
Denise is acting odd, he thought to Henry.
You mean more than usual?
I'm not joking, Henry.
I know, I know, just… She was real worried about you, and she feels culpable since she was the one that suggested going to Team Rocket's HQ in the first place.
Aries scowled a bit, finding the thought absurd in many ways. "Denise, please, don't act so rigid around me, especially after you've begun taking so much comfort in constantly threatening my life and person."
"I don't have fun doing it, I just do it to teach you a lesson," she said, suddenly affronted. He was more used to that than her moping, at least. "Like how parents spank their kids so they learn not to put their hand on the stovetop."
"I think that putting your hand on the stovetop will teach you not to put your hand on the stovetop well enough," he pointed out. Theo barked something that sounded suspiciously like a laugh and even Mew chuckled a bit.
"You've a crappy way of making people feel better," she muttered.
"Aww, I'm sorry, do you want a hug?" he mused, taking her hand in his remaining one.
"If you hug me I'll rip your arms off and beat you with them."
'She's not kidding,' Henry added.
"But she is," Aries smiled. "I'm very able to tell your true anger from your defensive one at this point, Denise."
Defensive anger? Mew asked, perplexed.
"Yes, defensive anger. She acts angry as to avoid displaying the affection I know she has for me—" She suddenly squeezed his hand so hard it made him feel lightheaded. "Oof."
Yes, I can very well see that affection, Theo said dryly.
"Love hurts, especially from Denise," Aries laughed through the pain. She released his hand and stood up.
"I'm going to get some coffee," she said, leaving and slamming the door. Aries stared after her in confusion; finally, Henry sighed and moved over to occupy her chair.
'I didn't want to say anything because making jokes seems to be your way of coping,' he said, giving Aries a level look, 'but I don't want you to crack so many, especially now; she really was very worried about you even if she can't show it well, and I've told you already that she blames herself. Also, this—' he gestured to Aries' lack of hand, '—doesn't help, so keep it hidden, a'ight?'
"Alright; I understand, Henry."
'Good.' He nodded once.
What are you, the girl's father? Theo snorted.
"Oh, Theophilus, don't be jealous that Denise has family that loves her very much."
I do have that, he muttered. Or used to…I don't know…
'Shouldn't that be unambiguous?' Henry asked. 'I mean, you either have a family or you don't.'
Guess I'm a damn ambiguity. Aries looked between them and sighed.
"Henry, Mew, can you leave for a moment?"
Oh, don't tell me we're going to have a heart-to-heart, Theophilus complained.
"Yes, that's exactly what we're going to have. Henry, Mew?"
Henry shrugged and turned to Mew, who transformed into a Hoothoot and followed him out of the door. It shut softly behind them, and he felt their energy dwindle as they moved farther out of psychic reach. "Tell me, Theophilus," Aries urged softly.
Just dig in my mind and find out for yourself, he grumbled, rolling to his side.
"Theophilus, you understand as well as I do how this works: I can only see your immediate thoughts; as a Dark-type, your body prevents me from looking beyond what you give me."
Maybe I don't want to give it to you; maybe I want to keep my story to myself. Aries might have believed him—if his voice hadn't started cracking at the end of that sentence.
"Theo, please; we may not be BFFs, but trust me when I tell you that I am one of the few people in this world that genuinely care about you."
Why would you care about me? He sounded alarmingly despondent and broken; even though his back was to Aries, Aries imagined that he was crying a little.
"Because you're my friend, Theophilus."
Friend… He sniffled a little before blowing his nose into his shoulder; Aries made a mental note not to touch him for a while. (They were buddies, yes, but not germ-buddies.) Damn, I shouldn't be crying. Men don't cry.
"Oh, feel free to do so; I'm not here to judge."
Theo was quiet for a few seconds, apparently getting his thoughts in order. I haven't had a friend since Valentine years ago, he finally said. You see, we aren't really brothers…well, blood brothers… I was a stray that the pack picked up, and it was Valentine's family that took me in. I was…happy; my old Trainer, she would always force me to battle, battle, battle… I was finally free, and not only that but with a pack of my own Pokémon.
That explains his hang-up with humans, at least, Aries thought. "And you were happy?"
Well, duh! he snapped, bristling, then he calmed down again. Sorry, just… Yeah, I was happy; I had food, home, and a real family—a lot of them, the entire pack—and I was just…happy. Then when I got older, my illusionary powers came, and in my old pack that was like puberty for you guys; I was officially an adult.
"And something went wrong?" Aries guessed. Theo nodded.
Something went very wrong. The thing about illusions is that they're dangerous, not only to others but to the user as well; you have to be in control constantly or else they'll eat you up, and I'm only slightly exaggerating. I was cocky, alright? and I thought I had everything under control…I didn't, he said morosely. Arceus, I really didn't.
"What happened?"
I'm…not sure. No, no, that's a lie, he grumbled. It's all a big haze, alright? I remember I did some bad stuff, like attacking Valentine to become leader of the pack, except I wasn't a cool leader like him, I was…what's the word…
"Crazy," Aries supplied.
Crazy, he agreed. I don't know how long things went like that, but one day Valentine just…snapped…and I woke up in the PokéCenter with you all.
"Interesting concept; physical pain can break one out of an illusion, even self-induced," Aries mused. Theo exhaled slowly, scratching his ear.
It feels…good to tell. I think.
"Hey." Suddenly the door slammed open and Theo, being in its path, was slammed against the wall. Denise stepped forward, allowing it to shut, and he slid to the ground in a heap of limbs. "That's gonna leave a mark, yeah," she said, sitting down with her paper cup filled with hot coffee. Aries sighed.
"Theophilus are you alright?"
Oof. Jeez, give me a minute. Ack, yeah, good thing we're in a hospital. He shuffled to his feet and left groaning and with his bones creaking.
"I don't mind you verbally and physically abusing me, but please don't do so with the Pokémon, okay?"
"I do what I want," she muttered petulantly, taking a long drink of coffee. He smirked and held her free hand, causing her to do an amazing spit-take on his face. "Arceus!" she exclaimed, her face turning as red as his. (Although the difference was hers was red out of embarrassment; Aries' was red from burns.)
"You are an amazing woman, truly," he said, using the blanket to wipe his face clean. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Who's paying for my hospital stay?"
"I am," she said, calming down. "Me and Henry and Theo did a bunch of odd jobs to pay for all of this."
"You all did…?"
"Of course; you're a jerk sometimes, but you're our friend, Aries."
"T…Thank you, Denise…"
"Oh, don't tell me you're gonna get all teary-eyed," she groaned, backing the chair away. "I hate tears."
"But you were crying when I was injured, were you not?" he challenged. Her cheeks turned red in embarrassment and indignation. She punched his shoulder—his injured one, at that—and he doubled over clenching it.
"Oh, crap! Did I hurt you?" she said, instantly mollified. "Sorry, I just—"
"I'd feel better if I had a Castelia Cone," he said, grinning up at her. He expected her to be angry at his little trick, but instead she seemed relieved he wasn't actually hurt. That finally allowed him to comprehend how truly concerned she was for his health and well-being. "Oh, Denise," he muttered, lowering himself until he could draw the covers over his face.
"What… What are you doing?"
"I'm just…I don't know…it's strange having people other than Mew care about me as much as you all do," Aries admitted. "I don't know how it makes me feel."
"Just be happy, Aristotle," she said, and he heard the door open and close again.
'Do you guys know what happened to Theophilus?' Henry asked. 'His nose looked broken when I saw him.'
"Gee, no idea," Denise said, and she was a pretty damn good liar. "Hey, Aries, can I ask a question?"
"Depends," he said, sitting up. "How personal is it?"
"Not all that personal," she replied. "Before Mew, what did you want to do with your life?"
Aries opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again, but no words came out. He just hadn't thought about that in so long… "I wanted to be a Pokémon Professor, Denise," he finally answered. She raised her eyebrows. "What, did you not expect that?"
"No, I very much expected that."
'You never wanted to be a Trainer?'
"Well, yes, but not for the Pokémon League; I just found it too competitive and too much a show of who's the best fighter and not who has the best relationship with their Pokémon."
'You must've been a real a-hole as a kid,' Henry commented. 'I mean, no offense.'
"None taken, I know I was. Guess I've made up for that now though," he added, gesturing to the hospital room.
"Aries…" Mew interrupted, returning to the room with a blue-iced cupcake featuring a 17-shaped candle.
I almost forgot, it said, smiling apologetically as it rested the cupcake in his good hand. Happy birthday, Aristotle.
"It's your birthday?" Denise asked, confused. He nodded.
"It's really nothing to celebrate," he sighed. "It just puts me closer to death."
'You're one of those guys, huh? C'mon, it's your birthday,' Henry said. 'You gotta be happy about that.' He only sighed again, blowing out the candle's flame before handing the cupcake to Denise.
"I'm tired; I'm going back to sleep." She grimaced a little, but it was no excuse; he wasn't completely healed and he'd been talking for a while. Henry touched Denise's shoulder; she sighed and got up, leaving with him. Aries dropped to the pillow and closed his eyes. Sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if he hadn't gotten Denise and Henry and Theo involved in his bullcrap.
