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31_days2008-01-16 09:54 pm
sophiap.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2008-01-16 09:54 pm
[Jan. 16] [D.Gray-Man] End of Days, Part 15
Title: End of Days pt. 15
Day/Theme: Jan. 16/It’s sane enough what I’m asking.
Series: D.Gray-Man
Character/Pairing: Ensemble, with a few OCs.
Rating: PG-13
Part 14
Back when he first started university, Reever thought he might return to Australia and teach. That seemed a respectable enough goal; his home country was lagging far behind the British Empire in terms of schools, colleges, and the like.
A year into things, and finding out that he wasn't just talented in comparison to other students back home, but to damn near everyone at Cambridge, he thought he might well stick with research and make a name for himself on a global scale.
But then, partway through his second year, his best mate finally got drunk enough to tell him a few deeply disturbing stories about what happened to his family when he was a boy. Reever had heard of Akuma, of course, and wasn't quite sure that what little he'd heard was in any way true. That was the first of many, many unsettling conversations they had over the years. He wasn't entirely sure how it happened (and being a teetotaler, he couldn't blame it on being drunk) but by the time he was ready to bid farewell to the Cavendish Laboratory, he found he had bought into this crazy scheme to infiltrate a quasi-secret organization, finagle and maneuver their ways to the top of their science division, and rescue his friend's little sister.
This meant that there were times when Reever would stop, sometimes mid-sentence, stunned by the realization that yes, he was now effectively running the main operational branch of a secret organization dedicated to fighting unimaginable evil.
He occasionally wondered if, knowing what he knew now, he would have responded to Komui's original suggestion with a "go on, pull the other one, it's got bells on."
He occasionally wondered when something like watching a girl walk on air, or talking to a being that looked like a cross between an angel and a sea serpent began to seem like just another day at the office.
But when he stood by the door to Lenalee and Miranda's hospital room, wondering if he should wake Lenalee and tell her what was going on, the simple idea of what might have happened if he'd refused Komui's insane (or so it seemed at the time) request was enough to make him squirm.
He'd almost said no.
"Brother?" The sleepy whisper and rustle of bedclothes made him feel... he wasn't quite sure. Out of place? Intruding?
He knocked on the door frame, as if he hadn't been standing halfway in the room for the past five minutes. "Sorry, Lenalee. It's just me. Komui's with Lavi." He stepped further into the room. "Miranda? You awake?"
No answer. The doctors had told Komui that with the kind of exhaustion Miranda had suffered, this sleep was only borderline unusual, and anything beyond the norm could well be thanks to the effects of her innocence. She would wake up if they forced her to, so for now, they would wait and continue to monitor her.
"She woke up for a few minutes around dinner time. Hold on a moment..." Another rustle of blankets, and a soft grunt, and gentle light filled Lenalee's side of the room. She rolled back into a sitting position, drawing her arm back from the lamp. The short, ragged hair was still a shock, no less than the first time he saw it.
"You didn't have to do that--and I'm sorry if I woke you."
Lenalee smiled, but the bandage on the right side of her face squinched her cheek down, creating a dimple where none had been before. "It's okay. I've been waking up off and on--Miranda talks in her sleep."
"Anything interesting?" It was meant to be a joke, but Lenalee took it seriously. She paused just a little too long, thinking it over, then shook her head. It was enough to make Reever wonder, but not enough to make him question--yet.
"Is... um, is everything okay?" It seemed to strike her that her brother's friend had stopped by at one in the morning, and that sort of thing simply did not happen without reason. "You said brother was with Lavi. Is Lavi all right? What's going on?"
Damn. There was that note of near-panic, and the last thing he wanted was for Komui to hear that. Any scrap of calm and competence could go straight out the window at if he thought his sister was in any kind of distress.
Best to be straightforward, at least up to a point. "He's come down with some sort of bug. Respiratory infection, or possibly influenza. He spiked a high fever, and they're doing what they can to bring it down. It just scared a couple of people at first, is all."
Lenalee sat quietly, pulling at the hem of her covers, clearly unconvinced. If that's all it was, it seemed she wanted to say, why were he and Komui both down here in the infirmary?
"You've been through a lot. If he'd been coming down with something, it's a perfect opportunity for it to knock him flat." He shrugged, dragged a hand through his hair. "Only room for two extras in there right now, and I wasn't about to kick Bookman out. So, I thought I'd check on you two."
There'd be time enough to warn her about Leverrier tomorrow. Or, come up with some other way to make sure she didn't even have to know he'd even been there.
"You'll tell me, won't you, if something happens?" she asked, and he almost told her everything.
"Yeah. No worries."
Lenalee's mouth pursed and she continued to pluck at the covers. There was something else she wanted to ask him, and he wasn't sure what kept her mouth shut. Was it because he was the wrong person to ask? Or was it because she'd rather not know the answer?
"Something woke me earlier--it may have been a dream. I think. I thought I heard someone in here, someone with a scratchy voice, saying something like 'you're no good.'"
"Don't be stupid," Reever snapped. Lenalee's sat up bolt straight, blinking at him in shock as he crossed over to her bedside. "How can you be no good--you took down a Level Three akuma all by yourself."
Lenalee started to protest, pulling the covers higher up towards her shoulders, but Reever startled her into silence when he laughed and ruffled her too-short hair. He'd expected it to feel soft and silky, and had to force himself not to freeze or flinch when he felt how rough and frizzled the ends were. He swallowed hard, remembering exactly how she'd lost her hair, according to Bookman's report.
He gave the hair a final, rough tousle, the kind of thing a big brother might do to a little sister for the sole purpose of annoying her, then jammed both hands back into his pockets.
"Do me a favor, and try not to worry, at least for tonight. I told you I'd let you know if something happened, right?"
She regarded him dubiously, as if knowing that his definition of 'something happened' might be significantly less inclusive than hers.
"Trust me?"
She glowered at him, but the mock-plaintive question startled a flicker of a smile out of her. "Okay. But remember. You promised."
"G'night, Lenalee." He turned off her light, sparing her the reach, then reached out, ruffling the rough-tipped hair one last time before heading back out to the waiting room.
Part 16 (goes to my fic journal, since I missed posting on the actual day, but the breadcrumbs will take you from there to the next part)
Day/Theme: Jan. 16/It’s sane enough what I’m asking.
Series: D.Gray-Man
Character/Pairing: Ensemble, with a few OCs.
Rating: PG-13
Part 14
Back when he first started university, Reever thought he might return to Australia and teach. That seemed a respectable enough goal; his home country was lagging far behind the British Empire in terms of schools, colleges, and the like.
A year into things, and finding out that he wasn't just talented in comparison to other students back home, but to damn near everyone at Cambridge, he thought he might well stick with research and make a name for himself on a global scale.
But then, partway through his second year, his best mate finally got drunk enough to tell him a few deeply disturbing stories about what happened to his family when he was a boy. Reever had heard of Akuma, of course, and wasn't quite sure that what little he'd heard was in any way true. That was the first of many, many unsettling conversations they had over the years. He wasn't entirely sure how it happened (and being a teetotaler, he couldn't blame it on being drunk) but by the time he was ready to bid farewell to the Cavendish Laboratory, he found he had bought into this crazy scheme to infiltrate a quasi-secret organization, finagle and maneuver their ways to the top of their science division, and rescue his friend's little sister.
This meant that there were times when Reever would stop, sometimes mid-sentence, stunned by the realization that yes, he was now effectively running the main operational branch of a secret organization dedicated to fighting unimaginable evil.
He occasionally wondered if, knowing what he knew now, he would have responded to Komui's original suggestion with a "go on, pull the other one, it's got bells on."
He occasionally wondered when something like watching a girl walk on air, or talking to a being that looked like a cross between an angel and a sea serpent began to seem like just another day at the office.
But when he stood by the door to Lenalee and Miranda's hospital room, wondering if he should wake Lenalee and tell her what was going on, the simple idea of what might have happened if he'd refused Komui's insane (or so it seemed at the time) request was enough to make him squirm.
He'd almost said no.
"Brother?" The sleepy whisper and rustle of bedclothes made him feel... he wasn't quite sure. Out of place? Intruding?
He knocked on the door frame, as if he hadn't been standing halfway in the room for the past five minutes. "Sorry, Lenalee. It's just me. Komui's with Lavi." He stepped further into the room. "Miranda? You awake?"
No answer. The doctors had told Komui that with the kind of exhaustion Miranda had suffered, this sleep was only borderline unusual, and anything beyond the norm could well be thanks to the effects of her innocence. She would wake up if they forced her to, so for now, they would wait and continue to monitor her.
"She woke up for a few minutes around dinner time. Hold on a moment..." Another rustle of blankets, and a soft grunt, and gentle light filled Lenalee's side of the room. She rolled back into a sitting position, drawing her arm back from the lamp. The short, ragged hair was still a shock, no less than the first time he saw it.
"You didn't have to do that--and I'm sorry if I woke you."
Lenalee smiled, but the bandage on the right side of her face squinched her cheek down, creating a dimple where none had been before. "It's okay. I've been waking up off and on--Miranda talks in her sleep."
"Anything interesting?" It was meant to be a joke, but Lenalee took it seriously. She paused just a little too long, thinking it over, then shook her head. It was enough to make Reever wonder, but not enough to make him question--yet.
"Is... um, is everything okay?" It seemed to strike her that her brother's friend had stopped by at one in the morning, and that sort of thing simply did not happen without reason. "You said brother was with Lavi. Is Lavi all right? What's going on?"
Damn. There was that note of near-panic, and the last thing he wanted was for Komui to hear that. Any scrap of calm and competence could go straight out the window at if he thought his sister was in any kind of distress.
Best to be straightforward, at least up to a point. "He's come down with some sort of bug. Respiratory infection, or possibly influenza. He spiked a high fever, and they're doing what they can to bring it down. It just scared a couple of people at first, is all."
Lenalee sat quietly, pulling at the hem of her covers, clearly unconvinced. If that's all it was, it seemed she wanted to say, why were he and Komui both down here in the infirmary?
"You've been through a lot. If he'd been coming down with something, it's a perfect opportunity for it to knock him flat." He shrugged, dragged a hand through his hair. "Only room for two extras in there right now, and I wasn't about to kick Bookman out. So, I thought I'd check on you two."
There'd be time enough to warn her about Leverrier tomorrow. Or, come up with some other way to make sure she didn't even have to know he'd even been there.
"You'll tell me, won't you, if something happens?" she asked, and he almost told her everything.
"Yeah. No worries."
Lenalee's mouth pursed and she continued to pluck at the covers. There was something else she wanted to ask him, and he wasn't sure what kept her mouth shut. Was it because he was the wrong person to ask? Or was it because she'd rather not know the answer?
"Something woke me earlier--it may have been a dream. I think. I thought I heard someone in here, someone with a scratchy voice, saying something like 'you're no good.'"
"Don't be stupid," Reever snapped. Lenalee's sat up bolt straight, blinking at him in shock as he crossed over to her bedside. "How can you be no good--you took down a Level Three akuma all by yourself."
Lenalee started to protest, pulling the covers higher up towards her shoulders, but Reever startled her into silence when he laughed and ruffled her too-short hair. He'd expected it to feel soft and silky, and had to force himself not to freeze or flinch when he felt how rough and frizzled the ends were. He swallowed hard, remembering exactly how she'd lost her hair, according to Bookman's report.
He gave the hair a final, rough tousle, the kind of thing a big brother might do to a little sister for the sole purpose of annoying her, then jammed both hands back into his pockets.
"Do me a favor, and try not to worry, at least for tonight. I told you I'd let you know if something happened, right?"
She regarded him dubiously, as if knowing that his definition of 'something happened' might be significantly less inclusive than hers.
"Trust me?"
She glowered at him, but the mock-plaintive question startled a flicker of a smile out of her. "Okay. But remember. You promised."
"G'night, Lenalee." He turned off her light, sparing her the reach, then reached out, ruffling the rough-tipped hair one last time before heading back out to the waiting room.
Part 16 (goes to my fic journal, since I missed posting on the actual day, but the breadcrumbs will take you from there to the next part)