Forty-Sixth Theory [Voice/Action]

[i_speak_softly]

((Action part backdated to the wee hours of this morning.))

[The horror ends at midnight.]

[Sort of.]

[Don doesn't know how long it takes him to realize that he's lying on cobblestone instead of mud, and that the water pooling around him is only the rain running off his own skin.]

[It's still raining now, but so lightly he can't even feel it through the numbness.]

[He gets up. People are running in every direction. Someone had organized a clinic and healers, and everywhere he looks the injured are being tended to.]

[There are no provisions for the dead. There are never any bodies.]

[Don turns away from the confusion, points his steps towards home. The walk seems to take a long time. When he gets there, the house is quiet. Don finds Mike asleep at the kitchen table, gives him what may be a startlingly cold hug, inhales the plate of spaghetti at his elbow, and moves on.]

[He closes the door of his room, drops his gear to the ground. Climbs into Leo's bed and finds his brother not yet asleep.]

We lost.

[That's all the words he has energy for.]

[He sleeps for the next thirty-six hours. He wakes intermittently to whisper half-intelligible accounts of the battle into Leo's ear. He runs a low fever.]

[On Wednesday afternoon he manages to get out of bed - or at least sit up, if his family won't allow any more than that - speak to his brothers and father, listen to his messages on the journal. In the evening he'll put out some short, poorly-filtered messages to obvious people.]

*

Ms. Daisy... I lost the samples.

*

Frederic, I'm so sorry. Do you want me to come over?

*

Mr. Mulder. Did you make it back safely?

*

Kay, ah... What are you doing Saturday?

*

((Feel free to leave Voice messages, but assume Don's replies are forward-dated to tomorrow. You may also get a more-timely response from one of his journal-stealing housemates.))

Comments

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

(OOC: Figuring that, by now, Robert would have known what happened with Helios... Of course, when he leaves this message, he didn't, but he does by the time Don answers it.)

[Robert spent the last week being terrified that his friends - and his lover - weren't going to come back alive. And so the very first thing he does is leave a single, distressed little message for Don.

Of course, the other Hamatos are free to pick it up as well, if they want.]

D-Don...

...

Are you... [Healthy? Sane? Safe?] alright?

...

I-I... I missed you...

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

He's exhausted, but he's fine. Just minor injuries.

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

[It's not Don, but Leo, who responds this time. Still, the rational turtle's voice is a comfort, and Robert murmurs gratefully.]

Oh thank gods...

I, I h-had been worried... wh-when he did not return transmissions...

[It was unlike Don, but if Don was really exhausted then that might be why.]

... Thank you, Leonardo. I... a-appreciate it...

... Is there a-anything I can do...?

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

[Leo himself sounds tired, with an undertone of anger at what his brother and the other draftees were put through.]

He's been in and out of it since this morning, mostly sleeping.

[He considers for a moment if he should tell Robert about thee fever.]

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

[Please do. Robert clearly needs more to panic and cry over.]

Are the rest of his vital signs normal, if you can tell...?

[He's opening the inquiry for it, anyway. And Leo may notice the unusual... urgency in Robert's tone.

By this point, he probably knows Helios is dead. And he really doesn't want to see that number increase to two, especially not of his own partner.]

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

[Robert, have some faith in Don's family, they won't let him be a statistic without a fight. One death is one too many.]

They're fine. [Oh fine, he'll find out sooner or later anyway.] He's running a low fever though.

[Beat, cause he knows he would be doing it too.]

Don't come over. We've got this covered.

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

[He knows this, which is why he trusts them.]

... A low fever... [Robert's voice isn't... panicky, per se, but it's definitely terse.] D-Do you suppose he could have p-picked up some pathogen in the r-rainforest, or might it just be exhaustion...?

...

A-Alright. I... I j-just... I worry.

B-But I know you w-will... d-do your utmost to assist him...

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

Either is possible. Hoping it's just the exhaustion though.

[Leo knows you want to see him Robert. But considering what you two did before he left, he doesn't want to possibly add more stress on top of this.]

I'll have him contact you when he's up for it.

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

[Robert (probably) still isn't aware that the other Hamatos know about what transpired then, but of course, he doesn't think to ask.]

Th-thank you...

...

Wh-what about yourself, L-Leonardo? You must be e-exhausted... [And Robert probably sounds tired too, though not nearly as much. Staring at the journals and crying intermittently isn't good for most peoples' health.]

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

I'm fine. I'll be fine now that Don's back. [And once he's well again, which hopefully won't be long.]

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

I... I h-hope so.

... P-Please take c-care of yourself too, Leonardo. [This is spoken with genuine... tenderness. Robert does care about Don's brothers - even the ones that don't like him - and he definitely likes Leo.]

... A-And the rest of your family...? A-Are, are they alright too? H-Having Don back must be... r-reassuring.

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

I will. We'll let you know when you can come over.


All a little tired, but fine. Raph's strength has been improving.

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

I appreciate th-this immensely...

... And th-that is... also good to hear.

...

It is... n-nice to hear some good news, e-especially after the... d-draft.

[... And Helios' death. But he doesn't know if he should bring that up.]

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[i_speak_softly]

[The transmission picks up again on Wednesday afternoon - just Voice, no Video. Don sounds hoarse and exhausted.]

Robert... ?

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

[By then, of course, Robert knows one of the most painful things he's ever heard.

But hearing Don's voice - sick and exhausted as it sounds - gives him a little bit of hope.]

...

D-Don...

[Softly:] A-Are you... f-feeling a little b-better...?

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[i_speak_softly]

Nnnmm. [Noncommittal. He isn't feeling great, but you shouldn't worry or anything.]

Have you - heard the news?

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

[That didn't answer his question, but considering Don can actually talk now, Robert will take that as a "somewhat".

The next part, however, gives him pause.

There's only one "news" Robert can think of right now, and it hurts even to say it, but...]

... A-About... H-Helios'... d-death?

... G-Giles t-told the v-village e-earlier.

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[i_speak_softly]

[A pause, then:] I'm sorry. I wasn't there. [It's more an apology than an excuse.]

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

[With an almost fierce pain:] N-Not your fault... n-not anybody's f-fault, save those Shift Hunters and their c-cruel m-masters...

... W-Why did it have to be Helios, though...?

[He sounds painfully... empty. Though talking to Don is an improvement.]

...

B-but... p-people truly do r-return, c-correct...? G-Giles said to look for him on the t-twelfth or t-thirteenth...

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[i_speak_softly]

[Having already lost Derek in a draft, and gotten him back (sort of, at least), Don isn't taking this quite as hard as Robert. He's more concerned about what state Helios will be in when he returns.]

Everyone comes back...

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

They... t-take something from them. The p-process is never perfect.

[Robert is worried about this too, now that the initial horrifying pain of his loss - even for just a week - has faded into the omnipresent ache of wanting him near and alive and happy again.]

...

W-what will h-happen...? Is, i-is there any way to tell? A-Any pattern...? Or... or is it random like all the other bloody o-occurrences of anything here...?

[He hates how he can't understand, can never follow these patterns...]

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don is quiet a while, thinking, but he doesn't have enough data.]

Don’t know...

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

It... i-is understandable. Everything in L-Luceti is so difficult to... t-to get to any sort of c-consensus on.

...

S-Sometimes I hate this place, e-even if I... l-love those within it... [This last part is clearly directed at Don, and Helios.]

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[i_speak_softly]

[He really wishes he could be with you now, as more than just a voice on the journals.]

Where are you?

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

[The same place he always is when he's depressed:]

I-in my apartment.

...

I-It has... b-been difficult to... t-to go outside, but... H-Helios w-wouldn't have allowed me t-to... t-to be t-totally alone...