The area around him was difficult to see at first. In the dim light he could start making things out—like his eyes were adjusting. There was a sealing circle beneath him. That would do for explaining why he felt so heavy at least. Further out from the light of the circle he could make out the walls. Stone, sturdy looking at least. He would have described the door across the room as "somewhat medieval" but he wasn't really there to comment on this person's choice in interior.

Parts of his mind wandered deeper, for a darker depth on the verge of recalling something unpleasant. Vaguely he could remember that sensation—like this but a bit unlike it as well. He half-expected the door to be swung open in the same way and for demands to be slung at him just as well. Not that they had much of a choice then either.

The past could be set aside for the time being. Hazama needed to work out how he got here first—which while being entirely honest, he had no idea how. There was a foggy sense in the back of his head. Had he fallen asleep?

He tried to make a move, at least to get some feeling back in his limbs but didn't find much strength in his legs. It wasn't like he couldn't move at all. Plenty of effort and he could. But it seemed like a lot of work for a circle he couldn't walk out of anyway. He does raise his head however. As he did another figure in the room became more clear.

A light flickered—seeming to come from both overhead and either side—and shone over the man in the regal chair. He looked to be amused at least.

"Very funny. Really, a knee-slapper, Relius," he said with a voice that came out just a little hoarse at first. How long had they been here?

In the low light Hazama could see the slight smirk on the colonel's face. There was no answer however.

"If you wanted to have me to yourself you could have just asked you know."

Still Relius was silent. Hazama's patience twisted and turned trying to keep him sounding the same as usual.

"Pretty cold if you're going to pull me into this and then not even say anything."

At that Relius stood up and approached Hazama who was stuck sitting and waiting for him. He felt himself tense a little when Relius stopped just outside the glowing circle.

A grin settled on Relius' lips that made Hazama just a touch uneasy. Relius reached one hand out catching Hazama's chin not too gently. The colonel leaned in a little closer as he spoke. "There are plenty of experiments left to do. I am expecting your very best behavior, Hazama."

A chill ran down Hazama's spine. The man was smiling but that didn't exactly sound like a joke either.

"What...kind of experiments are we talking about?"

Relius kept his hold on Hazama's chin, still grinning away through his answer. "Nothing too outside the usual. However, I felt I owed you a few surprises getting there. It's the least I could do for all your trouble-making."

Hazama had no idea how to read that reply other than to assume he must have pissed him off somehow. Or amused him somewhat. The old man was hard as hell to read when he needed to the most. He grinned back; gaze fixed on where he knew Relius' was watching in return behind the mask.

"I suppose a regular reprimanding wouldn't do?"

Still a smirk at those words. "Not for you."

Relius leaned in just a little closer, dangerously close, before he let Hazama's chin go and straightened back up. "I will let you make one request before I begin."

"Wow, getting kind of pushy, aren't we? You think I'll really just play along?"

At that moment the feeling of heaviness lifted a little within the circle and Hazama sat up some in the chair; more confused than anything else. The lights in the room flickered and when they brightened back up the room was filled edge to edge with various gadgets for science—others for something else entirely. The sight pulsed into a feeling of both excitement and anxiety. This was a lot more forward than he could have ever anticipated.

Relius silently waited for Hazama's response—his likely change of tune surely. Or perhaps he was just reading the odd expression worming its way into Hazama's usual smile.

"Be gentle, Relius?"

It was at those very words that Hazama snapped away; sitting up in bed only half undressed. Carefully he ran his fingers through his hair and tried to put his head back together.

"More...tired than I realized, I suppose," he muttered mostly to himself.

"Moreso than I expected as well. Perhaps it's a sign you're getting yourself into too much trouble, Hazama."

The voice caught his attention and quickly yanked his gaze up to the man in his doorway. "Colonel Relius...helped yourself in I see. I'm...sure my sleeping face is tempting enough for you, but you could try knocking."

"I did. More than once. As well as calling. For a moment I considered that you'd expired." Relius stopped there and stared a bit more intensely Hazama's way. The feeling of his gaze brought a flicker of that room and his grasp on Hazama's chin to the captain's mind. He took a moment to try and start to dress himself again and not think further on it.

The odd, hurried behavior must have stood out. "Are you ill, Hazama? I wasn't aware you could be but..."

"No," he blurted at him much more suspiciously than he ever needed to. "I am just...not decent."

Relius did not appear so amused. "There is nothing I haven't seen already. You were not built dressed. And you've helped to yourself into my room undressed entirely at least once."

"I was saving you some time! I do you a favor and this is how I'm treated?"

"You're getting off topic from my question."

"I am not sick. I will not be sick. I am exactly as healthy and chipper as always." Despite his insisting, Relius didn't seem to buy it. The colonel reached out Hazama's way and caught his chin between his fingers. It was not a light hold.

The word tumbled out his mouth, half a question and half a request. "Gentle..!"

Relius's expression turned slowly to a grin.