Ars Moriendi

Chapter 5

We Need to Talk

AN: Oh, goodness, I'm sleepy. I apologize for any errors, I'm falling asleep, but I'd resolved to post early Saturday morning. I think I've already missed my goal.

Please review if you can~

X

It had been three days since "the incident" as they were calling it. No one was calling it what it was, "the day X potentially got his face blown off, but no one knows for sure if he did because the Lifesavers aren't talking and no one with clearance has the guts to visit him". That list of people with clearance but no guts included Axl, much to his shame. But he didn't want to go alone—hey, he wasn't good with injured people!-and Zero wouldn't move his butt off the couch. And when he did move his butt off the couch all he did was try to demolish the sims until someone kicked him out.

He likely had a temp ban at this point from terrifying rookies and possibly damaging sims, because that's what usually happened when Zero's frustration got the better of him. No one wanted to deal with a frustrated Zero, not even Axl; he was like a grumpy bear and Axl knew better than to poke him—at least, not to poke him too much at once. He'd wait a bit.

With Zero no longer an option—it wasn't like he needed the stupid giant anyway—he'd taken to trying to convince Alia to go with him…. except she wasn't home every time he tried to visit and ask her to accompany him, and she was at work whenever he actually saw her. He knew better than to talk to a Nav while they were working: Signas would smack the back of his head. Axl had hoped that she would be in her apartment today, but it looked like he was out of luck again.

Alia's quarters were neat, colored in dark, vibrant shades of maroon and pale pink. Too girly for him—but not X, apparently, because he often remarked on her good taste. Axl knew she was out; her shoes weren't by the door, so she probably wasn't here. Unless she'd gone out somewhere nice and worn better shoes, but he didn't think so because Alia only went out with her fellow Navigators, and Layer and Pallette were on duty. Unless she was on a date….. Nah.

Alia intimidated most men, pretty or not. And she was one of the older units in HQ, though that shouldn't really have much to do with dating when you were a Reploid, but still, it seemed to deter most units (probably because when most people thought of older units, Signas, Zero, and Sigma came to mind). That and she didn't usually seem all that interested in dating? He could have been wrong, though, and Zero always said he was bad at reading women.

Axl checked her quarters—very, very carefully—before deciding she definitely was not here. Well, now what did he do? Axl sighed as Alia's door closed behind him. Maybe he could take on a mission.

*-A-*

Alia was not on a date—not that she didn't go on dates, she just had very high standards—she was, in fact, doing what Axl and Zero refused to do: Visiting X.

It had been her decision to check on the older unit after Axl had stormed off to confront Zero, fearful as she'd been that he was in worse shape than even her imagination thought. When she'd first visited, she'd regretted it immediately and thought maybe the boys had had the right idea. The first day he was anything but lucid, struggling between drugs and head injury, he could barely remember who she was. It had been an effort to sit with him, try to distract him from his discomfort as her eyes roamed over the faded mint walls, the bland, white ceiling, anywhere but X's scarred face. The next day she'd been greeted by an extremely alert X, worried that, because Zero wasn't coming to see him, his friend had been badly injured or killed. She'd had a much easier time keeping him company that day.

She assured him Zero and Axl were both fine:

"They're just being silly," Alia whispered to him.

He snorted as best he could. "Endearingly so, but I wish they'd at least come here and see me."

"Are you sure? You were saying some really funny things earlier," she teased.

He blushed, though his bandages hid most of it. "Oh, hush. I was drugged."

Today she brought contraband. Today X was sitting up, his one visible eye focusing on her the moment she walked in, sharp and green as ever. He looked relieved to see her, but also disappointed that she wasn't someone else. So the boys hadn't visited still? Then his gaze went to what was in her hand as she moved it out from behind her satchel. X looked like he might kiss her.

"How did you get that in here?" Well, it hadn't been easy. She swore at least one Lifesaver almost saw her.

She smiled as she handed the milkshake over to him. "Be careful. If you get sick over this I'm going to be in so much trouble." She doubted he would, it wasn't like he was a human capable of overeating.

"I'll save you," he promised, sipping fervently. It was vanilla, his favorite; he loved the delicate sweetness of it. "Milkshakes never killed anyone."

"Oh, I'm sure a Lifesaver could tell us otherwise," she pulled up a plastic chair and sat down beside his bed. She really should bring a pillow to sit down on next time.

Alia settled back to observe X as he drank and enjoyed the treat she'd brought him, his eye sliding closed for a moment. The right side of his face was obscured by bandages, stark white against his dark brown hair. She had no idea how bad the damage was to that eye, or even if it was still in place; for all Alia knew there was nothing but an empty socket back there. Maybe X didn't really know either. Of course, it could be replaced if the delicate optic was too badly damaged to repair itself.

There were burns on his hands, swathed in clean white. She'd seen those, at least, but she couldn't stomach even trying to look at the others; she knew they were the most minor wounds he had. They didn't look terrible, no worse than the plasma burns she'd seen, but it still bothered her. He could barely open his left hand, but the right was perfectly fine. X said he had a few on his chest as well, where chemicals had slipped between the heavier plating of his armor and eaten through. But it wasn't too bad, he insisted. Alia didn't want to look to give her opinion on it, but she trusted him. The worst, Lifesaver had told her, was on his right, lower leg, eaten through to the frame beneath; it wouldn't be able to hold his weight for a while yet, X had admitted. She'd felt a little sick after hearing that and he'd known it, if the immediately apology was anything to judge by. He was usually sweet, tactful unless he felt the situation called for directness, but, given his current state, she couldn't blame him for slipping occasionally.

Once the older unit had sipped in silence for a few moments, he turned to her. "How was work?"

"The same." She remembered the last time X had been out of commission, and remarked, "No one's moved the furniture around while you weren't there, I promise."

"Or relocated the strategy room?"

"It's still there," she smiled. "No one's planning any elaborate welcome back pranks for you this time."

"Thank Light," he sighed, rolling his visible eye. "I'm too old for their jokes anyway."

"You're still young," she protested. "Old age is a state of mind."

He gave her a dazzling, slow smile, "I know, Alia, but I'm certainly not old in the physical sense." At least, not in the greying hair and creaky joints sense.

She supposed he had a point; after all, he did look like a young human. He'd been mistaken for a human as young as fourteen before, much to his amusement. She had been there when it happened. It was his face, and his shortness for the most part, X's eyes were usually what broke the illusion: They were vibrant, expressive, and piercing. Alia swore she could feel the weight of his eyes on her when he looked at her, but that was silly.

X went back to sipping at his milkshake, eye occasionally turning to look at her: Alia could sense an impending question.

"…Seen Axl or Zero today?" There it was.

She crossed her legs to give herself a moment to think up a good response. "Axl's been taking on minor missions, so he's kept himself busy. I can't say the same for Zero, I haven't even seen him around lately."

"Because he's taking missions?" X's tone made it sound like he knew that wasn't the case.

She shook her head. As far as she knew—from Axl—Zero hadn't left his quarters in a while. Zero tended to be aggressive when he was upset over something, so perhaps it was for the best.

"Ah…." X looked down at the cold Styrofoam cup in his hand.

That was when Alia resolved to kidnap two certain idiots and tie them up at X's bedside. It was true that they didn't know how bad—or well—off X was, but that was no excuse to abandon him as they had. Alia broke off her train of thought with a heavy breath. She shouldn't get mad around X; he'd sense it and it might stress him out. She sighed again and looked around the room.

"They could have given you a nicer room," she remarked, a note of disapproval in her voice. "Or at least one with a window."

"I don't mind," he smiled at her. "I won't be in here long." He sounded very sure of himself.

"But you're badly injured, X," she reminded him sternly.

"I know that, Alia, but I'll be fine to rest in my own quarters in a few days."

Alia gave him a look of mild disbelief. "I'll have to stay with you."

"Oh, what will the neighbors think?"

"X, really." His sudden outbursts of humor always caught her off-guard.

"I know; I don't mind, but I think it would be better if Zero or Axl did that."

Her look turned into one of disapproval. "I'd rather not have you dead because of their incompetence."

X smiled again, and then winced as the expression pulled tender flesh, "Alia, don't you trust them?"

"For killing Mavericks and completing missions," she didn't smile back. "Not for caring for injured units."

"You do have a point," his smile didn't fade. He was amused by her, she could tell. X was amused by the strangest things at times.

X finished his milkshake and stared sadly at the empty cup until she took it away from him, vanishing briefly to throw it in the trash. He still looked sad when she came back.

"I'll bring you another one later," she promised him.

"Thank you."

She stayed with him until he fell asleep and then left to find Axl. Her search for the redhead took her to his quarters—Light, everything was a mess—and then then Zero's quarters—where she was denied entrance—then the sims, then the cafeteria. She knew there was no way he was in the library, so that left him being either off-base (on a mission or for entertainment), or visiting a fellow Hunter. Alia was forced to return to her quarters and sit about sighing. Well, maybe not just sighing, she'd do other things; X had let her borrow one of his books.

-X-

The clock ticked by slowly once X woke up, and hours passed, extremely boring, draining hours, without Alia or any other guest. It was three, four, five in the afternoon, he was hungry, he was bored. All he had to entertain himself was the ceiling, which was hardly worth looking at. Axl hadn't chosen to visit him, for mysterious reasons; Alia had said Axl wanted to visit him last she'd seen him, but he hadn't peeked in once. There was a chance he'd visited him on his "bad day" and been frightened away, but he had no way of knowing for certain. He couldn't send a message to him either: Lifesavers didn't allow that, or anything else they might find disruptive to their patients' recovery, despite his insistences that it would help him relax. X felt like a misbehaving teenaged human every time he was in their care, with his only means for outside communication taken from him—for some reason that always amused Zero.

Ah, Zero, poor Zero. Surely he was blaming himself over this, wasn't he? X thought he could read his friend's behavior by now, and this certainly reeked of guilt. Usually, he could help Zero out of it, but he was the cause of it this time, and interaction was entirely dependent on the stubborn blond—

There was a knock at the door. X peered at it intently, core fluttering. Could it be…?

A massive unit in full regalia ducked under the doorframe, sweeping his helmet off his head as he stepped into the room. X smiled, pleasantly surprised, but still surprised nonetheless. "Signas." To think the supreme commander had dropped by to check on him.

A dark brow arched over a teal optic, "You sound disappointed, X."

"I was hoping you'd be Alia, with goodies, sir." That was true.

"Has she been spoiling you? The lifesavers will ban her for life if they catch her," there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Just alleviating my boredom, sir," he answered truthfully.

The massive unit nodded slowly, "I see. She brought you nothing to read?"

"I'm afraid I get headaches if I attempt to read or watch anything," he said slowly. They'd tried a lot that third day, but the resulting throb deep in the injured part of his processor had left him sleeping the rest of the day away trying to escape it.

"Hmm," he sounded displeased. "You have been resting sufficiently? Instead of worrying over paperwork and rookie training?"

"Yes, sir." He fell asleep often. "I try."

Signas' sharp eyes roved over the small room critically. It was built for humanoids, obviously, given Signas and the Lifesavers barely fit, so a bestial Reploid probably wouldn't. Not comfortably at least. X suspected the commander was about to leave. He felt a bit disappointed again, though he knew the commander was a busy man who couldn't waste time here with one unfortunate soldier.

"Very well then," he nodded, as if pleased with something, and got up to leave, just as he'd expected. "It is a pity that you'll be off-duty for a while, X, but I suspect a break will do you good."

"….." Had Signas now joined the ranks of scolding nannies telling him he needed more rest and less stress? Of course he had, he'd been one of the first, and X had to smile faintly. "Understood, sir."

Signas left, Alia didn't return, and neither Axl nor Zero came to visit him that day. He was worried that they were anxious, but also incredibly frustrated.

X was starting to get annoyed with them.

_0_

Zero managed to get one more day alone in his quarters before Axl weaseled his way inside. He'd just finished breakfast and was taking his plate back to the kitchenette when Axl appeared, apparently out of thin air, and nearly made him lose his grip on his plate. Blue eyes glared down accusingly into unrepentant turquoise optics.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" He demanded, voice low and threatening.

Axl blinked innocently at him, "I wanted to check on you and make sure you were alright."

"You hacked my door, didn't you." Zero didn't even question it, this little pest was famous for getting into places where he wasn't wanted, whether they were locked or not.

"Yep."

"Your lack of understanding for others' need of personal space is going to get you beheaded one day." Likely by Zero himself.

"Aw, come on, Zero, relax. You're starting to sound like X!" He grinned mischievously, but it faded almost as quickly as it came. Zero felt dread bubble in his core. "Speaking of…."

Zero knew why he was here; maybe he'd been stupid to hide away—no, he knew he had. X could have died while he was in here, wallowing in self-pity and guilt, and then he'd have even more unforgiveable sins to his name. Alia was going to kill him.

"So, uh… how is he?" Zero asked, before Axl could speak further. He crossed his arms, noting Axl's surprised but hopeful expression.

And then the redhead looked sheepish.

"Eh…. I haven't been to see him yet?" Oh, really now?

"….You've been giving me this holier-than-thou treatment and you haven't seen him either?" A foreboding scowl appeared on Zero's face, prompting Axl to hold up his hands to ward him off.

"Hey! Hey, I want to go see him. I just need a shield against Lifesavers." Zero could tell that wasn't entirely true.

"….You're due for a checkup, aren't you?" Axl was always due for one, it seemed.

"….Shush."

Zero shook his head and ordered Axl to sit down and not make a nuisance of himself as he dressed. He couldn't go to the medical ward in his sleepwear. That would be one way to damage his image as a fearsome Hunter: Shuffling out of his quarters unbrushed, in rumpled clothing, and only half-charged.

"Come on, Zero! It's been four days! I tried to find Alia to ask her how he was doing, but I couldn't find her anywhere!" Zero sighed heavily and stormed out of his bathroom.

"Keep talking and you're going to find your mouth on the side of your head instead of the front."

Axl suddenly looked sly. "Well, that shouldn't bother me too much, you always said I talk out of my—"

"Axl!" He barked, his fragile patience snapping. "Are we going or not?"

The short gunner gave him a mock salute and they started out toward the medical bay. They got several curious stares, some pauses, as they walked. Zero ignored them, keeping a dignified pace a few steps behind Axl. They couldn't get to Med-bay quickly enough for the blond, who kept responding to Axl's—mostly one-sided—conversation with grunts.

Axl knew what room he was being kept in, so they bypassed the reception desks completely. Zero steeled his nerves as Axl entered the code to open the door, shifting his weight from foot to foot. What if his worries hadn't been incorrect? What if X was blind, or missing limbs, or horribly, irreparably scarred? If X had been a human the incident would definitely have killed him. Thank Asimov X wasn't a human.

"Eh?!" Zero blinked himself out of his unhappy reverie; Axl had wandered inside while he'd been musing. "He isn't here! It's empty… the bed's all made up."

Zero's core fluttered in panic. Did that mean X was…? "Dead?" He whispered, startling himself with his own voice. Axl looked stricken.

"No! They probably just moved him to another room."

They went back to the nearest reception desk then, and inquired about the whereabouts of their small, injured friend. They were shocked to learn that he'd been released to rest at home. Why? Hadn't he been horribly injured?! But the receptionist could tell them no more, so, after shuffling around awkwardly and muttering about what they should do, they went back toward Zero's living quarters. And X's.

Axl seemed to gather some courage and charged inside immediately upon reaching their destination, only to be set upon by a hissing Alia. So that meant X was here if Alia was present, correct? Her next words confirmed it.

"What do you think you're doing?! He's sleeping! You avoid him during all his time in the medical ward and then you show up just to wake him the minute he gets settled in at home?"

Axl became sheepish, "Aw, come on… it's not like we knew he was asleep—Hey! I wanted to go see him—I just couldn't find anyone to go with me!"

Alia put her hands on her hips, glancing briefly at Zero. "Oh really? I looked everywhere for you and couldn't find you."

Axl rubbed the back of his head. "Oh… sorry. Bad coincidence?"

The Navigator just sighed and motioned them back toward the bedroom. Axl followed closely on Alia's heels, nearly tripping her once, much to her annoyance. Zero had to wonder just what they'd done to tick the normally good-natured woman off. Other than being foolish, of course.

She opened the door a crack, then leaned back so they could see. Zero had plenty of space to see above Axl's head, even as the gunner crowded the door. He felt his throat clench at the sight of the bandages around X's eyes. So he'd been somewhat correct in his assumption that X had been blinded. Axl twitched anxiously below him. Zero wanted to ask her what the hell he was doing out of Med-bay, but he didn't trust his voice to be quiet right now.

"He's okay?" Axl asked Alia in an urgent whisper. Zero could tell the kid was uncomfortable, and he couldn't blame him. X looked pretty bad. Not as bad as he'd feared, but not well enough to be reassuring.

Alia nodded, much to their relief. "He's in bad shape, but his Lifesaver thought he could rest more comfortably at home. A nurse will be coming by a few times a day to check on him."

Axl was still for a second—a miracle, really—then ducked out from under Zero, brushing past Alia. "Er, I uh, didn't get much sleep last night, so I think I'm going to go home and nap for a bit. Later!"

Alia exhaled, but didn't seem overly upset with him. Zero slowly began moving away from the door as well, and then: "Zero…"

The voice was so quiet he almost didn't pick it up. He turned to find a single green eye watching him. "Come talk to me."

AN: Yay for regular updates? I'm going to try my hardest to update once a week, but it might not always be on the weekend. Things like essays and writer's block may slow it down, but I will not be going on hiatuses like before. Next chapter may get out a bit slower as I'm still working on revision, and plotting everything out.

Remember, reviews are great motivators and they make me incredibly happy!