The heck just happened...?

[headfons]

Who: Luke fon Fabre and you
Where: Hospital, and then various areas of the city.
When: Backdated to yesterday (9/2), and then today.
Summary: Luke wakes up and it's a month later.
Warnings: TBD?

{closed}

At first, he didn't even open his eyes.

Then, after several seconds, they blinked open. His initial thought was a question of whether, or not, he'd wound up on a new world. Had he been dreaming that? Wait...where was he, though? A powerful sensation of confusion was pressing down on him, for a few minutes. The last thing he thoroughly remembered, was that he'd suddenly felt...weak. No, more like unbearably sleepy. If asked, he wouldn't be able to so much as recall his last thought, prior to everything going black. And, upon his waking, he didn't feel much better than he had.

Strangely enough...there were some vague memories. He could remember hearing the sound of familiar voices. One telling him stories (although, he couldn't begin to remember what they'd been about), one simply talking to him about various things, and...another telling him he was slacking off on training...

After sorting through his thoughts, his body shifted. Man, he felt...stiff.

{open}

The next day, he was taking a walk to clear his mind -- as well as to get his body back into the routine of moving around. He could be found in pretty much any of the districts...at some point throughout the day. Of course, he wasn't doing a ton of walking. Ugh, it was kind of annoying what a month of lying in bed could undo. Also, he was trying not to think about how worried the coma thing made him. Worrying wouldn't do anything, damn it. Still...since he'd fallen unconscious even with the whole...keeping up with the touch requirement...thing, that meant it could happen to anyone, right? Even if they, too, were being adamant on meeting the requirement.

Gaara...Diarmuid...his brother, Cu Chulainn...Kit...hell, everyone he'd come to know...

The replica let out a sigh as he cut that thought off, his expression tensing as he scrubbed a hand through his hair. Of course, he did try to take comfort in the fact that the place wasn't anything like the last world he'd been in. Expression softening, he folded his arms behind his head and began heading back home. It wasn't even dark outside, but he was already...tired.

Comments

[headfons]

Well, if Luke were to ever hear about the fact that he'd worried the other redhead, he'd certainly feel guilty about it. Then again, guilt was one of his more prominent emotions...

Perhaps it was because he'd become used to the feel of that hand on his, during his comatose state, but he hadn't felt that hand...initially. By the time he did notice, however, he heard that voice. One of the familiar voices that his mind connected to a person he cared about -- not only that, however. He could almost swear it was one he'd been hearing during his...whatever that was. Turning his head, green eyes landed on Gaara's face, and then he was giving the ninja a groggy, but sheepish smile.

"Hey..." Then he was immediately moving into a sitting position -- or...or not...

So, that was clearly not a good idea. At least, the sudden rush of blood to the head was strongly suggesting as much. Why...did he feel so damn tired? Letting out a slightly frustrated sound, and then following it with a sigh, he gave the other teen a curious look. It shouldn't be a surprise was he was going to ask, "What happened?"

[no_dreams_for_you]

“…!”

Rapid movement was a very stupid idea. Frowning, Gaara immediately stood up and pressed his other hand to Luke’s chest, firmly pushing him back down onto the bed. What the hell was he thinking, behaving so rashly like that? (Then again, to be perfectly frank, he had come to expect this type of action from Luke, given their prior amount of interaction.)

“Don’t be foolish,” he chided, all the while keeping his hand on that same area, to ensure that the idiot didn’t move again. In the meantime, his sand was off retrieving a glass of water to bring over to Luke. Surely his body was dehydrated, by this point. “Some of your muscles may have atrophied, during your comatose state.”

…Actually, did Luke even know what a coma was?

“You have been unconscious for approximately one month,” Gaara informed him in a cool and controlled tone. He paused briefly, and then followed up with, “Did you fall ill from contact withdrawal?”

Normally, he and Luke relied on each other to meet that requirement. Or at least, the ninja did, because he scarcely interacted with any individual, in general. Since Luke mentioned a couple of names before, Gaara presumed he had other sources to draw physical contact from, if he needed it.

[headfons]

It was an instinctual thing, his attempt to sit up. In his mind, he hadn't been asleep all that long, anyway. The firm press from the ninja's hand had his frown growing, a bit. Regardless, he didn't fight it. Even if he'd wanted to, though...it seemed that wasn't in the cards.

After giving that sigh, he reached up and scrubbed a hand through his hair. That was, until he heard those next words. The confused look grew. Without skipping a beat, he asked, "Huh? What's...'atrophied'?"

It didn't sound like it was a good thing. Luke did know what 'comatose' meant, however. The mention of it having been a month instantaneously had a specific number coming to mind: fifty-eight. His eyes widened, his voice coming out in a somewhat low tone, "An entire month...?"

To the question, he shook his head. Expression softening, in thought, he turned his head to look out the window, "In fact...the day before I suddenly felt...tired, I'd just met with Kit for her reading lesson," he said, looking back to Gaara with a wry smile, "I'd thought I was doing pretty well with keeping up the contact requirement, actually. There's you, of course...and Diarmuid and Kit. Not to mention...my neighbor, Pilouette. Passing out was the last thing I'd expected to happen, Gaara..."

Accepting the water, he gratefully gave a thanks, and then began drinking. His throat was super dry, apparently, though. After one sip, he was left coughing, for a moment. Shaking his head, he paused before going back to drinking. After finishing it off, he stared downward, a moment...and then looked back to the other redhead, "Thanks...for being here when I woke up, by the way."

Suddenly, there was a feeling of awkwardness. The faint flush of color to his face said as much. Looking back over to that window, he scratched at the side of his face.

[no_dreams_for_you]

“It means your muscles have weakened, due to lack of usage,” he explained in simpler terms. How fortunate that it hadn’t been even longer, or Luke might have required physical therapy. Nevertheless, a month was a considerable amount of time for the human body to remain inactive. Had the energy requirement been fulfilled, at the bare minimum?

“Yes,” he reaffirmed, expression still remaining stoic, in spite of the relief that he felt, “Your friends were concerned.”

…Hmm. So Luke hadn’t needed contact from him, after all. Calmly, Gaara began to withdraw his hand, feeling just mildly foolish for being so presumptuous. He didn’t personally know the identities of Luke’s visitors, and it wasn’t his main concern in the first place. He only cared to see Luke wake up and recover from his coma. There had been brief instances when he wondered if the other redhead would be taken away without warning, like the victims at the facility.

“Then it could have been caused by… other reasons, I suppose.” Not that they could make such an abstract determination on their own. When Luke started coughing, he leaned forward, light turquoise eyes watching him intently.

“…?”

Gaara was surprised to hear that expression of gratitude. He hadn’t done anything extraordinary to deserve it. That redness on his cheeks was likely derived from heat accumulating in his body, during the comatose period. Blinking, he glanced at Luke with some confusion on his face. “Were you… expecting your other friends, perhaps?”

[headfons]

He listens to the explanation, and it certainly wasn't something that made him...happy, upon hearing it. It was going to take some serious training to repair undone hard work. Fortunately, his knowledge hadn't depleted. It would really only be a matter of getting his body back to where he had it.

They were...? Luke blinked at that mentioning, and then gave a soft smile. Diarmuid and Kit had both made it clear that they enjoy him helping them, but he'd never assume how much they care about him. While he cared a lot about their well-beings, he still had his confidence issues in regards to how much he meant to others. Even if he'd never admit it--or even realize it, he needed reassurance, from time to time. Since he didn't know the reason behind it, he didn't stop the hand from moving away. He did, however, give an openly curious look. Then, hearing the mention that it could have been caused by other reasons, he nodded.

At Gaara's confused look, he gave a soft chuckle. Well, he certainly hadn't changed in a month's time. Did he not think he was someone Luke cared about, even after...everything they'd done? Shaking his head in response to the question, he spoke with a smile, "What makes you think that? It's not about who I was expecting or not expecting. It's not like I planned to wake up in a hospital, anyway. I'm glad you were the first person I got to see, Gaara."

[no_dreams_for_you]

Gaara had no intention of clarifying how he knew about his other friends being concerned. Most civilians didn’t agree with the concept of spying, in general. And… he hadn’t exactly told Luke about this particular ability before.

In some ways, he was equally ignorant. Just… he didn’t have Luke’s justifiable reason. He hadn’t been confined inside a manor for years, after all. He had watched people interacting, tried to pick up visual and intellectual cues on how to respond in social situations. But it was… difficult. He couldn’t always predict people’s reactions. Books served as a decent guideline; still, reality wasn’t exactly the same.

“I don’t understand why you would express gratitude, for that reason,” he explained in a serious tone. He hadn’t done anything special, or out of the ordinary. Was it not common for… people that shared this type of bond… to express concern toward one another? Luke was his ally, at the very least. Their ties were… possibly deeper. He couldn’t be completely certain.

“…I am glad you have awakened.” Even if his expression didn’t explicitly display it. Gaara couldn’t eliminate that inherit distrust of comatose conditions, after his experiences at the facility. “Do not apply additional stress to your body.”

[headfons]

Luke was under the assumption that Gaara had simply been here when the others visited (silly him), so he wasn't going to ask for an elaboration. Of course, if anything were to pique his curiosity, regarding it...maybe he would flat-out ask. He wasn't, exactly, shy about asking the ninja questions, after all.

Fortunately, for Luke, he had been in the company of many people. None of them had been afraid to tell him when and how he should respond to certain things. Everything had, in some ways, all been spelled out, for him. The thing was...the more comfortable the replica got with Gaara, the more he'd been willing to point things out, for him. He wouldn't have any problem with helping the guy out. Really, he just needed to know it was okay.

"Because it's not something you had to do," he said, rather easily, "I mean...I would have done the same thing, if the situation was reversed. Still, though...it's been an entire month. There are a ton of other things you could be doing, right now," he said in a somewhat softer tone, "So, I...really appreciate that you're here."

To the last two sentences, Luke was giving a fond smile. Even if those words didn't expressly match the speaker's face, he...could still appreciate the sentiment. While the replica wasn't the most keen at understanding the way Gaara thought and felt, he knew one thing for certain. That the guy didn't just say things for the sake of making someone feel better. He was to-the-point. When he said that he was glad that Luke had awakened, it meant just that: glad he was finally awake.

"I'll be careful," Luke said with that smile still intact.

The redhead glanced to the side, a moment. After that short pause, he was reaching up and pulling the other teen into a hug. Why? Because he could, of course -- on a serious note, however, Luke didn't have an active reason for doing so. When it came to things, like this, it wasn't as though he took the time to think it through.

[no_dreams_for_you]

…Silly Luke indeed, thinking Gaara was the social type. Or that he would actually admit he was spying on his friends, while they were visiting him in this room.

“I wanted… to ensure that you were all right,” he admitted in a soft tone, turning away for a moment. Luke was right; he could have spent his time doing other more constructive activities. But… he had felt worried about his… companion. Luke was the only person in this new city that he remotely cared for, even if he didn’t know the extent of those feelings. He shook his head, though, at one verbalized part. “You shouldn’t waste your time, Luke.”

Gaara paused briefly, wondering when he should mention resuming their training regimen. That would help restore his body at a faster pace, but his muscles weren’t strong enough yet, most likely. He wasn’t expecting that hug, and his eyes widened with mild shock. His body froze, on instinct, arms remaining stiff by his sides. Why was Luke embracing him? Out of relief? An emotional response, derived from relief or spontaneity?

As tension slowly eased out, he finally responded, lifting his limbs to hesitantly wrap them around Luke. He had experienced hugs before, at the facility, but they still surprised him, to present day. He exhaled evenly, eyelids drifting down, as his brain attempted to rationalize this simple gesture. His chest tightened with an inexplicable emotion, heart pounding slightly faster at their close proximity.

[headfons]

The admittance had Luke blinking, a hint of color appearing on his cheeks, soon after. While the replica had other people he cared about, there were certain...reasons he considered Gaara to be someone he felt closer to. Smiling with an air of gratitude within it, the look on his face quickly turned sheepish. Reaching to scratch at the back of his head, he started to saying something, only to wind up tensing his brow, "Waste my time with what?"

It wasn't until after he felt the hug get returned that he let the smile return. There was no need to rationalize the hug, in spite of Gaara's efforts to do so -- if asked, he would make it pretty clear he'd simply done it...because he'd wanted to. After about a minute, he pulled away. His hands lingered in their soft grip on the ninja's upper arms. Green eyes shifted across the other teen's face, a moment.

Suddenly, there was an awkward feeling. Looking to the side, he released the other redhead. With that, he gave a sort of awkward smile and attempted to distract from the fact that he was blushing, "So, uh...When do you think would be a good time to start training, together, again?"

[no_dreams_for_you]

“Because you have other responsibilities to tend to,” he answered in a reasonable tone. He knew Luke had a job, a number of friends, and training, on top of everything else. His time was far too precious to waste on something that he couldn’t actively affect. “Don’t be foolish.”

Feeling Luke’s intense stare on him, he turned his face away. It was uncomfortable, almost as though he had been exposed, and from a simple gaze alone. He didn’t want Luke to know how strong of an impact he had on him… what kind of attachment he was starting to form. Nothing could ever happen between them, regardless of their personal desires. Even if… he could feel happiness, it would not last. It was elusive and fleeting, like every other positive emotion he had experienced before.

“......”

Luke’s face was still red. Lingering aftereffects of his condition, most likely. Gaara ordered his sand to refill the glass of water, then stepped back from the bed. “After you have recovered, we can resume training. For the time being, you must rest. Your other friends will be visiting soon.”

He turned to leave, but paused at the doorway, briefly. “Contact me if you need anything.”

The sand that had carried the glass of water over to Luke, suddenly unraveled to wrap around his wrist, bearing the appearance of a bracelet. It was warm, humming lightly with the chakra of the sand wielder. In the next instance, Gaara walked out of the room and vanished into the shadows.