Dislaimer: Uhh...if I own this video game, then I should have less debt...right?
A/N: Excuse time! I have a really good one. Well...several. The first is that I took summer classes and both of them involved a lot of writing. They were really fun and I had to take a nice long look at nonfiction (both my own and those written by other people). My second is my current location. I am currently in Québec City in the Province of Quebec, Canada. It's a little far from my midwest US home. I don't have wifi where I live right now so mooch of the Université I'm currently attending. I have more classes here. It's a full five-week French immersion program and I'm speaking, writing, and even thinking a lot of French. I have a lot of stuff to do so I might be awhile before I continue. I give you this little cutesie snippet as a peace offering and an apology. I'm sorry, but I'm going to go out and do fun shit in Québec and speak a lot of French. A Beintôt!
"Tell me one more time," Cass said, "How long were you hanging there?"
Sephiroth released his nose and more blood dribbled out, he recovered it. "A few hours," he muffled out.
"Don't tip your head back, you'll choke on it," Cass said, pushing his head back forward, "Take a guess at the time." Sephiroth thought about it.
"Four?" he tried. Cass sighed and shook her head.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Not...bad?" Sephiroth said. The question was not how he was feeling, but of the words he had chosen to express it in. Cass nodded in encouragement. "My head hurts and my nose is bleeding, but...I'm okay." Cass picked up another tissue and started wiping away dried blood on his temple.
"Are your legs okay?" Cass asked, "they look red and sore."
"I get strapped up...all the time?" Sephiroth asked. Cass nodded again at his words, but frowned at their meaning. "It does not hurt that much anymore."
"Can I check you out?" Cass asked. Sephiroth nodded. Cass took out a pen that was actually a light and started flashing it in his face. He blinked, but sat still. Instead of getting one of the hearing things Cass just had him bend over and cough really hard. Then she took his wrist and held it. This was new.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Taking your pulse," Cass said, "the old fashioned way."
"That works?" Sephiroth asked.
"Do you want me to explain it the easy way or the science-y way?" Cass asked.
"Easy," Sephiroth said.
"I can feel your heartbeat in your arm," Cass said.
"...Science-y," Sephiroth said. Cass snickered a little.
"Your blood moves through your body in little vessels," Cass said, "the bigger ones are veins and arteries. Veins are the blue looking lines under your skin. They're blue because your blood has less oxygen when in them. They flow back to your heart, that's why we use veins when we want to get blood. Arteries are thicker. They come from your lungs and have lots of oxygen, they bring it to the rest of you, keep you moving. It's more important for the blood in your arteries to move so they have thicker walls. When your heart beats they expand and contract, making your blood move through them. I can feel it through your skin. That's how I take your pulse." Sephiroth looked awed by this new information. Hojo made Sephiroth wary of the subject, but Cass was determined to make him see it wasn't all bad. Especially with the right people doing the deeds.
"Really?" he asked.
"Sure," Cass said, "give me two fingers." Sephiroth closed his fist, sticking out his middle and index finger. Cass took his wrist and guided it to her arm. "Put it on the thumb side of my arm." He shifted around a little until he felt something moving. Cass smiled at his little triumphant look.
"How do I take a pulse," Sephiroth asked. Cass felt proud. He didn' even need her to prompt him. He had decided to try the evil wicked science all on his own.
"Start counting," Cass said. She watched his lips move silently as he kept count. She did the same, having lost count when she started to explain.
"Stop," Cass said.
"Twenty-eight," Sephiroth said.
"What's twenty-eight times two?" Cass asked. Sephiroth shrugged.
"What's twenty-eight plus twenty-eight?" Cass tried again. Six-years-old, not old enough for multiplication apparently.
"Fifty-six?" he asked. Cass nodded. That sounded right for a resting heart beat.
"What's mine?" Sephiroth asked.
"What's twenty-three plus twenty-three?" Cass asked.
"Forty-six," Sephiroth said, "Why is mine lower?"
"You're more active than me," Cass said, "It's a good thing, means your heart doesn't have to work as hard as mine."
"So I can do more things with my heart?" Sephiroth asked.
"No," Cass said with a laugh, "that's called figurative language. The only thing your heart does it pump blood through your body. Your brain makes the feeling that your heart has emotions." Sephiroth nodded.
"You're okay," Cass said, "Do you know why they were hanging you upside down for four hours?"
"No," Sephiroth said. Cass nodded a little huffily. "Can we go home now? I want to read some more," Sephiroth said. Cass smiled and nodded again more softly.
"Okay," she said.
Sephiroth laid on his stomach and looked at the glowing blue above him. Actually it was light shining behind the blanket, but it looked like it was glowing.
"I like this," Sephiroth said quietly.
"Me too," Cass said, "I like pillow forts."
"Can I sleep here tonight?" Sephiroth asked.
"No," Cass said. Sephiroth sat up. Cass bent her head backwards to look back. "I'm messing with you, you can," she said. He laid back down contentedly.
"Cass?" Sephiroth asked.
"Hmm?" she replied.
"What are we supposed to do in here?" he asked.
"Whatever you want," Cass said, "this is literally a fortification of pillows. It won't protect us from much."
"Oh," Sephiroth said, "okay."
"Wanna watch a movie?" Cass said. Sephiroth shrugged. He didn't like movies as much as books. He felt the movies got it all wrong and that his brain made better images. It wasn't a bad idea though. I made more lights in their homemade sanctuary. Cass tossed a couple of pillows in Sephiroth's face and he laughed. He laid down on one instead of retaliating. The idea of throwing back felt wrong. Cass insisted that they would have to have a pillow right at some point in the future, but settled down next to him.
He didn't really pay attention to what was happening in the movie and just kept looking at the ceiling of their fort. At some point, Cass's breathing slowed to something that was no longer awake. He didn't move at first. She had been tired lately, probably because he kept waking her up at night.
Then he pulled up the courage to come a little closer. She didn't stir.
"I know it's my brain," he said quietly, "but I think I have that feeling in my heart." Cass didn't move. He was glad, it was probably one of the more stupid things he had ever said. But it was out and felt a little stronger than the "I love you" he usually went with. He gave a nod and decided that his eyes were tired and sleepy too. He hugged his pillow again and ignored the movie some more, feeling safe and cozy in his fort of pillows, as if he could never be found while inside of it.
His breathing slowed until it was no longer awake. Then Cass moved. She brushed his hair out of his eyes and kissed his forehead.
"I love you too," she said.