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Death
Aug 4, 2008 21:27:40 GMT -5
Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Aug 4, 2008 21:27:40 GMT -5
Zet unlatched the door and opened it, feeling a small twinge of surprise at Cecil there. He nodded approvingly. "You're healing." Cecil was enduring far better than he had expected, and with any luck he would be back to his old self in no time, with a cleared slate before him.
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Death
Aug 4, 2008 21:43:43 GMT -5
Post by Arual on Aug 4, 2008 21:43:43 GMT -5
His voice was much clearer then before, more so normal then that raspy one he had when he woke up the first day and he could say more now that his lungs didn't burn as much as they used to. "They say I have three more weeks at least and then I can get started in some of my classes again. I just wanted to come by and say thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you, Zet......" he said, and in a small but unnoticable hesitation (due to his crutch and his thoughts) he moved forward; slanting his crutch to the side and hugged his teacher. Cecil still kept an even weight with his crutch as support so it wasn't all on his teacher, and then shifted himself back onto the crutch.
The nurse behind him waited and was prepared if Cecil started to fall, but she only smiled and tried keep out of the way.
"I don't understand why you would care so much about a troublesome orphaned kid like me......" Cecil hung his head half way, feeling like a bother to everyone again. He felt like he could never win. "I'm just a student.....I'm nothing special."
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Death
Aug 4, 2008 22:02:53 GMT -5
Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Aug 4, 2008 22:02:53 GMT -5
"Thank you for coming, and for banishing some of my darkness," Zet replied, tense with shock while his voice didn't change a tone. Surprisingly even himself, he hugged Cecil back, and knew that he deserved it. After all that Cecil had been through, he deserved it. "Some things are beyond explanation. Perhaps it would be better just to accept." There was a small bit of humor behind those words, and a touch of a smile on his lips. For Zet, that was akin to open laughter, coming unforced.
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Death
Aug 4, 2008 22:11:50 GMT -5
Post by Arual on Aug 4, 2008 22:11:50 GMT -5
Cecil smiled as Zet hugged him and said what he did. It was probably his very first genuine smile he'd ever made for around twelve years. "I'll try." he said keeping the smile, "But I want to ask you something....It's been bugging me a while now....." Cecil readjusted himself on his crutch as he stood, his back facing the doorframe incase he caught himself unbalanced.
The nurse looked at the two of them, and smiled herself. "I can see I'm not needed at the moment....I'll come back in a few minutes...." she said.
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Death
Aug 5, 2008 23:02:45 GMT -5
Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Aug 5, 2008 23:02:45 GMT -5
Zet waited patiently for Cecil to find his words, and he always gestured the boy into the room. It was cold and impolite to have a conversation in a doorway, as if he were just some messenger.
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Death
Aug 5, 2008 23:14:07 GMT -5
Post by Arual on Aug 5, 2008 23:14:07 GMT -5
Cecil came inside and sat down, relieved to rest his legs from all the walking he's done. He rested the crutch on the side of his chair and took a breath. Walking in itself took a lot out of him still, but in time it will stop being so hard. "How do you pick your students right before the shipyard? I mean, Gerro said he was going to get me, and then you took me before he could. I thought it was just something you did, and some luck that you got me and my brother as students and all......" Really, he was asking, why did you pick me? I thought you hated my brother- and now you get his sibling? It seems a little odd. He was still the little boy. He woke up, never the same, a broken heart......but it slowly repaired as he searched for a reason to keep living.
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Death
Aug 6, 2008 0:37:15 GMT -5
Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Aug 6, 2008 0:37:15 GMT -5
"I'm afraid to say it was chance, Cecil. I don't pick my students; they are given to me by another. I used to think it was their idea of a twisted joke. That Zet knew how to deal with the depraved, the dark, the hopeless. But perhaps not. You were withdrawn, to be sure, shadowed by the taint of your apparent brother's deeds and threats, but you were a beacon, compared to... some others. You had a driving passion, a selfless one, and that has only intensified. I could not have asked for a better student. There were brighter ones, true, but that only would have blinded me." He touched his blindfold at his shade of dry humor.
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Death
Aug 6, 2008 1:01:00 GMT -5
Post by Arual on Aug 6, 2008 1:01:00 GMT -5
Cecil smiled, the little boy inside him- the one that was cold, and alone in the dark...he smiled too. The young man wanted to laugh, but never did, smiling enough already to make this conversation last its fullest. "A joke? Well, I know what you mean...but I won't go into that...." Cecil said, almost embarassed with the compliment. A long pause set in, and his crimson eyes looked distant a moment as he talked, trying to think back to old times of long years that only had pain in them. "Oh, I meant to tell you....I've been practicing with darts so I don't loose my shot for target practice." He chuckled some, but it wasn't what he really wanted to say.
The nurse knocked on the door and opened it. "Cecil, we should turn back now...it's getting late."
Cecil looked at Zet, his smile fading a bit to a half a smirk. He took his crutch and made his way to the door. Before he left, though, he stopped before the opening of the door. "Hey Zet," Cecil said seriously, though still in a good way, "....I don't know what a real Dad is like, since- you know....but I think he'd be like you.....if I did. I mean, I hope he would. You- you're like a Dad, well- to me at least." He took another step, but waited to see if Zet would even reply to something as sudden as that. It was hard for Cecil to say openly, but he did. He knew he had to. If he didn't know- when would he ever get to?
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Death
Aug 6, 2008 22:24:09 GMT -5
Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Aug 6, 2008 22:24:09 GMT -5
It almost surprised him, but he found that he even expected it, subconsciously. The connection he felt to Cecil was just as close, but he would never describe it as famalial. The years underground had darkened his already dulled perception of family connections, where sisters fought mothers and each other for power while the brothers and fathers tore at each other for the scraps. But he struggled to see it the way Cecil did, the way a family was meant to be.
"You are like blood-kin to me as well," he said finally, the words awkward but warm, sincere. Blood-kin as they should be, as one saw on the street but never experienced.
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Death
Aug 6, 2008 23:02:18 GMT -5
Post by Arual on Aug 6, 2008 23:02:18 GMT -5
"I'll see you soon, Zet. Well, hopefully I will....." he said to his teacher, slowly feeling his soul patch in a mental sense, though the real thing never would. He hobbled with the help of the nurse outside, who caught him when one of his headaches got to him right outside Zet's door. "You shouldn't do too much, Cecil, or they'll never stop. You should take it easy...." she said to him, making him sit on a bench not far out across the hall. Cecil couldn't reply because of the intenseness of the headache, one hand digging into the side of his head beneath the black spikes. His eyes were at a wince and the crutch was resting on his lap. Once it was over, the nurse assisted him in walking with the crutch and back to the room.
A month later......
With his headaches mostly under control, Cecil could walk just fine. He would have a slight limp now, but it was nothing seeable unless you looked for it. Cecil said goodbye and his thanks to the people who helped him in the infirmary for all they did, and told them he wouldn't be seeing them any time soon if he could help it. On the down side, there were times where his muscles weren't very good to him in his leg and it caused terrible pain. Still, the healing process was still underway, but it would now be independent.
He took a look inside his room and looked at the letter on the bed for him. "What's this?" he mumbled to himself, feeling so empty with Gerro not popping out and stealing his letter which he took upon himself to read before Cecil had. The young man sighed and ripped the seal.
Cecil,
I know I haven't seen you since the day you went to the infirmary, but I was scared to face you at first- and now I've been called away on a mission for an unknown amount of time; so I don't know the next time I'll see you again. Hopefully soon, but until then- I have some news I think you should know about......
The town wants to see you. The elders, actually. They want to apologize for the past....but I told them it might not be a good thing to ask of you right now, and I explained what happened. They didn't say more to me. Your friend Jen's body was found inside the desert sands of the 'Dry Ocean' as you call it there. I thought it was murder, but they announced it suicide. I'm real sorry, kiddo...... Manami, your other aunt, as also been found dead- but undecided C.O.D. I'm personally looking into it for you since it is impossible for you to right now. They say it was murder, and it was nothing like Jen's.
Well that's all on news. Everyone down here was looking for you, and hope you're doing well. I think Lily said she was coming down with 'Rez to see how you were about a couple months back. I hope you're getting a quick fix down there, Cecil, I do. I hope you can forgive me for all this. I put a lot on your plate, but I have no more time to write now. I'll catch up with you as soon as I can.
-Crea
Cecil's eyes were wide, stunned but not long. His cold bodied, expressionless look returned to his face as he set the letter inside his pocket. "Yeah, I wish you wouldn't of, Crae." he thought to himself with a tinge of anger as he locked his room up and went down to class for the day. He only gets around with a cane, which is more progress then they had planned; even if it was slower then they hoped it all to be. Today he decided to go for a day of a real class period, and thank God it's Master class. Cecil did his little knock and went into the large room. "Zoned out?" he asked after a good ten or twelve minutes of no reply to his opening the door, just incase Zet was on the window ledge where he usually found his teacher and he was just out of it since he wasn't in class and Zet had a free period of time until Cecil came back. An hour passed, and he decided to turn around and head back to his room and take a rest for a while. He still wasn't in his classes yet due to some more 'minor' injuries, like his headaches; but he knew it would not be much longer. He'd start soon.....
When he came to his room, he went onto its soft comforter, trying to sleep. He couldn't though, for not having a certain sprite to drive him nuts made his stomach feel sick. He missed his friend, and hoped that maybe today would be a bad dream. Cecil slowly drifted off into a deep sleep that he rightfully deserved despite all he's tried to accomplish in this hour.
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