The Way We Were

Who: Ivan and Lucius
Where: Hospital, Room 302
When: 3 PM

Ivan was twisted about on his bed, blankets strewn about restlessly about him and the sheets. His infection had gone down but they were still giving him antibiotics--though not quite as strong as the stuff they gave him when he was first brought in. His stitched up injuries were sore without morphine, which they were weaning him off of, much to his dismay, to keep him from developing an addiction. Because of his earlier escapades, Ivan's room was locked from the outside and a guard stood outside, bored and with keys to Ivan's room in his pants pockets. Now, Ivan could only go out for a short time and escorted by the guard if he had to leave his room. He was going to be released today, which quelled Ivan's various attempts at escapes and allowed him to relax. However, his boredom made him restless and fidgety.

After leaving Nevermore, Lucius continued walking around town. After a while he made a stop at his room with some takeout Chinese food, but it didn't take very long for him to grow tired of being in small enclosed space. He figured checking in on Ivan would at least calm his thoughts for a while so he headed down to the hospital only to find a guard at the door. He raised his eyebrow as the guard explained what had been going on throughout the morning and he shook his head as the man unlocked the door and let him inside Ivan's room. "You tried to escape the hospital?" he questioned. "Seriously? And more than once no less. Do you really hate it that much?" he smirked and plopped down in the chair beside Ivan's bed.

Ivan smiled at seeing Lucius and sat up in his bed, his body curved a bit with his lower half hidden under the blankets. His gown was undone in the back, which allowed the front of it to slightly slide over his shoulders, revealing the smooth, stitched up skin. "Hey," he said, "Yeah... I'm not a big fan of hospitals. But they're releasing me today... tonight.. so.. meh..." Ivan propped up the pillows behind him before resting back against them, "So, what brings you to my little wing of the hospital? No Marlowe? Is this a good sign for me?" He said, grinning.

Lucius sighed and sank lower in the chair, running his fingers through his hair. "I'd rather not talk about it actually..." he replied. "Our little trip didn't exactly go over all that well. It was... a little bumpy." It was far beyond bumpy, so far in fact it wasn't even in the same vicinity as bumpy, but he wasn't really in the mood to get into the whole story now, or at all if he could help it. "So yeah, uh... besides trying to escape what have you been doing? Watching sleazy soap operas and talk shows?" he questioned pointing to the TV in the corner.

"I'm...sorry to hear that.." More than the actual relationship going downhill, Ivan was more upset that Lucius was upset. Going along with the quick subject change, Ivan curved his back against the pillows, relishing the soft fabric against his inked skin, "Better. The talk shows like Jerry Springer. Get's a little boring after a while... I wanna get up and walk around but they won't let me out because of earlier..."

"Well if you hadn't put the staff on red alert for the guy running away with tons of stitches." he replied with a smirk. "Besides, if you're getting out tonight you'll have the rest of your life to walk around. If you really want to though, I can see if the guard trusts me enough not to be an accomplice to your daring escapes." he chuckled, standing again from the chair and walking towards the door.

Ivan jumped up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed, smiling brightly at Lucius, "That would be wonderful. I don't think he'll mind.. He might follow though, if that's okay." Standing up, Ivan's legs wobbled a little, his gown tied up in the small of his back and further down.

Lucius shook his head and headed out the door, talking the guard into letting Ivan out with supervision. The large man did follow, but not very closely, just keeping the two men in sight as they walked around the hospital. "When are you supposed to get out?" he queried turning his head towards Ivan.

Ivan shrunk under the guard's eyes as they passed through the door. He stayed close to Lucius, enjoying this time alone with him, even if the feelings weren't mutual, "Tonight.. I'm hoping one of my friends is coming... to pick me up... I don't know what I'm going to do about my house... For all I know it's probably been ransacked... with the door in pieces and stuff... And everything is probably stained in blood... I'll have to replace a lot of things and I don't think I can afford it... I'll have to improvise..." He sighed softly, staring down at his bare feet.

"Well it's kinda my fault that the door is broken..." he said, feeling slightly guilty about that fact. "If you want after I leave here I can make a trip to your house and like... switch it for the kitchen door. At least you won't have an open space where a door should be." he offered.

"You can if you want... I'd appreciate it but I'm not going to make you," Ivan said shyly. "So.. Um... Other than.. girlfriend troubles... What's been going on? Seen anymore ..sh...shadows..?" Ivan shivered a little, "I.. think I have a phobia of shadows..."

He shook his head. "It's not a problem really, gives me something to do to get my mind off of everything." he said. He shrugged. "Nothing much is really going on, honestly. I saw Harper this afternoon at Nevermore... had to talk to her about some stuff. And no, no more shadows. They just up and disappeared. I haven't seen a single one since the last one in the bathroom here..." he told Ivan.

"I see.... they just... up and left? That's a little weird... I suffered--and so many others suffered--for no reason? I would at least like a reason for being even more screwed up than I already am... It's not like I don't have enough problems already..." Ivan sighed softly and stopped at the window at the end of the hall, looking out over the landscape.

Lucius sighed and leaned against the wall. He nodded at Ivan's statement. "Believe me, man, I know exactly what you mean. It'd be nice to have some explanation as to why the bastards just flew around town for a few days terrorizing everyone just to up and disappear like they were never here in the first place."

"..I don't like being alone.. I'm afraid... I know the shadows are gone... But... I just... I'm scared... When the sun goes down... I get so anxious... I can't sleep... I'm afraid of waking up from a ..wonderful dream... and being sliced up..." Ivan said softly, staring out the window, "I'm scared Lucius..."

Lucius shook his head. "You don't have any reason to be scared, not anymore." he said although he didn't know how true the statement was. "Besides, you know I'm like a phone call away if anything happens, right?" he offered. He would have offered to crash on Ivan's couch if he was all that afraid, but he didn't want the man to get the wrong idea so he kept the thought to himself.

"I know nothing's going to happen, Lucius... I'm just... terrified..." He stepped back away from the window and turned to Lucius, "..I have what's called post-traumatic stress disorder... I relive things... It went down a little bit ever since I met you and Marlowe and others and such..... but now it's back again..."

He sighed, he knew all about reliving traumatic situations. "Look, if you're really all that bad off, I could crash on your couch for a few days. Help you get back to normal. Or you could crash at my room, thought it's not... quite as spacious." He shrugged. "Up to you, man. I just don't want you flippin' out and havin' nobody around to make sure you don't like I dunno, have a nervous break down or something."

Ivan turned back towards the window, "...It's your decision. I just wanted you to listen..." Ivan shivered a little, wrapping his arms around himself, "..I haven't talked about the shooting in seven years... ever since it happened... You're the first that I've told... Ever."

"Well I'm listening." he told him, letting his gaze drift over to the guy. "And it's your house so it's up to you. Didn't you say you had a friend probably picking you up?" he questioned. "You staying there or going back to your house tonight?"

"Yes... I don't know... it's his decision... I hope I could stay with him for a while.. But, you know..." Ivan sighed softly, becoming shy, "..I would like it if you did stay until I feel comfortable enough being by myself... But if you don't want to, you don't have to.."

"Well then I'll fix your door sometime today and just crash at your place. If you come home, you come home, if not... I'll know you're hanging with your friend and I'll have the house to myself for the night." he smirked. "I'll write my cell number down just in case you need it." he told him.

Ivan blushed a bit, "..Okay.. Th-thank you..." Ivan looked up at Lucius, moving forward slightly to hug the man but quickly stopping himself and looking down, keeping his arms to his sides.

"Dude, you can hug me, I won't flip out on you. Unless of course you cop a feel, then I might have to pop you one." he teased. He gave the man a quick man-hug, patting his back and withdrawing. "And it's not a problem really, I kinda owe you one for the door anyways." he laughed.

If there was anything Ivan didn't like, it was man-hugs. They were quick and meaningless. He supposed, sadly, he truly was different from other guys in a bigger sense than just sexuality. Maybe he was a girl and something in the womb just went horribly wrong... "It's not your fault... you did it to help me..." Ivan said softly, smiling a little at the other man.

He shrugged. "Well I'm still going to fix it so there's not much you can say to make me change my mind. It'll be a cheap job at first but I start work Monday, well tomorrow, so I'm gonna replace it with a real door as soon as I get paid." he offered.

"...I owe you a lot..." Ivan said sadly, feeling so undeserving. Whimpering softly, he hugged Lucius--a real hug, not some stupid man-hug--and closed his eyes tightly, "..I don't deserve you even as a friend..."

The hug was unexpected, but Lucius tapped the mans back and did his best to ignore the stares from a few people passing down the hall. He shot one man a 'what the fuck are you staring at?' glare. After a moment he pulled away. "Really dude, it's not that big a deal. I wasn't just gonna let you bleed all over the couch, seriously."

Ivan looked up at him, eyes a little red, "..Some people at home would have, Lucius..."

"Well good thing you changed homes then huh?" he questioned, offering the man a grin. "Chin up dude, your really killing my tries at killing my crappy mood." he teased.

"Sorry..." Ivan said quietly, trying out a small smile. He looked back out the window before looking back at the other, "Do I... look like.. I donno... a zombie? With.. all my stitches? Or like a doll or something...? I feel so... artificial..."

He shrugged. "You kinda look like something out of a video game." he replied. "And I mean that in the nicest possible way. It's kinda cool. You can go around flaunting your battle scars dude."

Ivan felt then incredibly self-conscious, "...But I don't want people staring at me.... 'Look at that weirdo, holy-crap. It's not Halloween yet, dipshit,'" He said, grinning a little in a deep voice.

Lucius rolled his eyes. "Tell everyone to fuck off. Besides I doubt anyone's going to stare at you, you're not the only one that ended up with stitches. There are probably people out there who look way worse than you."

Ivan looked down quietly before turning back down the hallway and starting to walk, looking back at Lucius, "So, what kind of music do you listen to?"

"Random question?" he teased, leaning back against the wall. He shrugged. "I listen to everything man. Any kind of music that has a message. I like for my songs to speak to me. The melody the lyrics the way the words roll of your tongue when you sing a long." he smiled. "The best songs are the ones that your fingers just know how to play..." he said, moving his hands as if he were holding his guitar. "Sorry... musician talk." he laughed.

"Didn't know getting to know your friends was such a crime," Ivan joked, "..I'm not much of a musician... but I kinda know what you mean... Instead of playing music, I paint to music... I'm inspired by a lot... especially classical and instrumental..." He smiled at Lucius, happy to be with the other despite the circumstances.