The First Night

The darkness of the room is only disturbed by the feeble red glow emitting from the scientist’s organic eye that remains open, looking at the ceiling. The doctor swifts under the covers but no position seems to be comfortable enough, he turns again but no more than five seconds later he feels an itch on his organic arm, which makes him swift again, a moment later a piece of the mattress makes itself known to be stuck under his organic leg and he pulls it back. 

His restlessness shows no signs of subduing any time soon, as one never-ceasing thought fills his mind ever-growing: “When I wake up will he still be there?”

Tired of this uncomfortable uneasiness flooding his mind Screks raises himself from the bed. Now sat on the modest feeling mattress he looks towards the study-desk on the opposite wall from where he sits. 

Even in total darkness, and with some help of his darkvision, he can make out the shapes and volumes of the things around him, he can see the mess that is the table. Wires, gear, tools, fabric, screws, metallic plates, there's a bit of everything mechanic-related in that desk, but one thing stands out, almost like an imposter amid so many disorganized trinkets. A framed photo.

In it, there could be seen three people, a pale white man with long grey hair pulled back, bandages covering the left side of his face, as his scarlet eye peers at his left, a peaceful smile tracing his face. 

Around his neck the arm of a smaller woman pulls him close, as a brunette with a wide gentle smile and warm light-brown skin stands in the middle of the two others, the flower crown on her head matching the daisy earrings she has, her braid falling over her chest. 

The girl's left arm isn’t left unattended as she drags a taller black man with long orange hair along her embrace, his expression filled with soft playfulness even as it seems that is he about to lose balance from the smaller’s pull, his bright red eyes fixed on the woman, their light seems to almost mirror the brunette's gentle aura as if appearing to shine with her sight.

“We looked so happy back then.” - is the first thing that comes to the doctor's mind as he stares at the picture, which even in shadows seems to glow slightly in his eyes.

His organic fist clenches as the doctor's body seems to stiffen, he looks away bitting at his own lip, he closes his eyes. The only thing that fills the room now is Screks’ slow breathing as he focuses on maintaining himself in the present.

The cyborgish man finally decides to get out of the bed, standing up and slowly making his way towards his room’s door, knowing he won’t be able to sleep like this as an idea pops into his restless mind.

“I should go see him just… to check.” - he whispers to himself as he presses his organic hand onto a scanner by the door, making it so it opens with a mechanical click followed by a technological drag.

He walks in the empty hallways of the laboratories, leaving the scientist's dorm area and into the guest rooms, his steps echo as his uncovered metallic prosthetic leg hits the cold stone floor. He thinks to himself that they sound louder than usual.

The man stands in front of a metal door with a display that reads “Guest Room #14 - Occupied” right above it. He reaches for a scanner-looking device with his left hand, hesitating at first but then slowly placing it down making so a message that reads “Admin Permission Granted” appears on the screen, before the door unlocks with a mechanical click, opening right after and closing behind him as he enters.

A distinct faint orange glow comes from a very long braid that snakes its way all around the room, said braid belongs to a black man who is lying stretched out on the modest bed, sound asleep.

Screks just stands there, near the door, which after a few minutes makes a metallic click, as it locks. The doctor's eyes fixed on the man's peaceful sleeping expression. A tangle of nebulous emotions fills his mind which makes his jaw clench and his organic eye squint. After a few seconds he lets out a hushed sigh, trying to shake these incomprehensible feelings away.

He approaches the sleeping man, slowly and carefully sitting on the bedsheets by his feet, still looking at Katsu who seems deeply asleep. “Well he was always a deep-sleeper I guess,” the scientist thinks to himself as he watches his old friend’s peaceful slumber, the mage's gentle breathing fills the orangish-lighted room as Screks’ expression starts slowly shifting from its usual neutral state to a certain type of restless sadness.

That sadness, or at least that was the easiest way for his troubled mind to describe it, wasn’t the grief kind of sadness, the one you would feel after losing something or someone dear, well it’s not exactly that it wasn’t, but it certainly wasn’t the melancholic kind either, which is often associated with the long-lasting kind of sadness, tied to a certain nostalgia, I mean maybe it was that too but... even though he was deeply affected emotionally he couldn't quite call it heartache nor despair, even if it felt so deep and distressful. 

Loneliness, disappointment, yearning, regret none of these words felt quite right, they never did, emotions were still something so complex for him, yet everyone around him could easily put them in these one-worded boxes and call it a day, but it didn’t felt accurate, nothing ever did, it was more than that, or maybe it was less, he couldn’t tell. This burning, crushing, tearing, drowning sensation it… not even those words feel right, words seemed too plain for anything even close to describing what the sight of the man sleeping by his side would ignite in him.

His gaze shifts to the farthest tip of the braid that softly hovers over the floor, moving around faintly, just like a tail would do, a very long tail. 

Now that he was there it felt weird that he wasn’t earlier, like he was meant to be there, to exist where that man dwelled, even though they had been apart for a century, being there in the quiet of the room, just the both of them seemed… right. Like something had been wrong all these nights and this one was the first that started to resemble normalcy again, so he just sat there.

The hours pass and the man keeps his gaze fixed on the farther end of the magic floating braid, the oranges and reds and yellows shifting around as small dots that look like tiny stars move around, some glowing more than others, but it wasn't a stagnated glow, they looked alive, every single one of them, just like he was looking at the universe itself, just like it was there, in front of him, the never-ending cycle of life and death coming together in a physical form.

The soft glow that engulfed the room fluctuated in these tones as well, creating what could be described as comforting, it was, almost beautiful, if not tainted by the lingering meaning of it all. The why Katsu’s hair had become like this, the image of the almost enchanting colors stained by the deep red of blood inundated his thoughts, not letting him enjoy what could have been a soothing moment.

He takes his hands to his face, grasping at it softly, but, between his fingers, his organic eye still seeks the sight of harvest gold. He wouldn't let it escape his gaze, not again, not after being reunited with it after so long.

The shuffling of the sleeping man sends a jolt through his spine, for a moment, a mere moment, the thought of seeing that man stand up and leave with the doctor being paralyzed by some kind of incomprehensible force crossed his mind, but the mage remained in a deep slumber, stationary and unchanging, yet Screks’ restlessness doesn't subdue, not completely at least.

The hours pass and the doctor doesn’t sleep, in the few times he lets his eyes close even for a moment he is immediately made alert again by the slightest movement coming from Katsu, the vision of the mage leaving filling his mind each time.

Until, he hears an unusual shifting in the bed, a pull, this makes his body freeze, just like in all those images where he felt his old friend start to leave but he couldn't move, and alas the inquietude continues right behind him. The doctor feels his throat close, his tangled fingers became frozen, his feet stuck, and his body didn't respond, no matter what. 

“Is Katsu really going to leave? Will I be alone…again? For how long? And why? Why now? Is it my fault? Is it something I did? Was it my fault back then? If I had never appeared in their life would the two of them have lived a happy life together? If-”

“Ca-… uhm… I mean… Doctor?” - his unsettled thoughts were interrupted by a raspy murmur, and suddenly his mind was silent.

“… yes?” - Screks whispers in response.

Stillness fills the room for a few seconds, followed by more shifting of bedsheets. - “What… what are you doing in my room?” - the sleep-laden voice of Katsu speaks, slightly louder than before.

The room grows quiet once again.

“I couldn’t sleep.” - the doctor murmurs under his breath, not looking at the mage who eyes him closely, the silhouette of the man that he once knew so well that now had shifted strangely stood by his feet, unmoving, its sight was almost unsettling, if it were anyone else.

“Uhm…” - Katsu tries to rub the sleepiness off his face as his mind struggles to understand the situation. - “Why?”

The doctor's body grows stiff and he clenches his organic fist and jaw, not answering.

The black man uses this chance to straighten himself up, first sitting against the cold stone wall behind him but then moving so he is by his old friend's side. His hand reaches in the doctor's direction.

“Why do you think, mage.” - a stern tone floods the space around them.

“I…” - he rubs his face once again, his mind more awake than before but still dawning consciousness. - “I don’t know.”

“Oh, you don’t know uh?” - the doctor finally looks at him, and as he does so Katsu’s eyes widen, as a tear, falling from Screks’ cheek shimmers with the orange lighting from the room. - “You really don’t fucking know?”

The mage’s throat dries up, he gulps but the moisture doesn't come back fully.

“I…” - as the doctor begins talking his gaze shuffles away from his old friend and into the nothingness of the wall. - “I was… s-scared” - his voice cracks with a sob. - “I couldn’t rest with the thought of you.” - a sniff. - “leaving me again during my sleep.” - a gulp.

Katsu’s breathing starts becoming heavier as the peculiar yet familiar sight of his friends cracking in front of him starts to become clear.

“What guarantee did I have that you wouldn’t just,” - an unsteady breath leaves Screks’ mouth - “leave… again” - his body trembles as tears fall unstopping from the doctor’s organic eye - “I…” - he wanted to say more, so much more but his words are interrupted by the various sobs and gulps as he quietly begins whimpering.

Katsu stands unmoving for a second, the sight of Screks crying was something that before the previous day he couldn't even imagine but now he was stuck with witnessing it over, and over, and over again, and it… hurt.

Now without hesitation, the mage pulls his friend close from a tight embrace, one arm wrapped around the smaller man’s torso while the other tenderly holds his head close.

“L-let m…me-” - he doesn’t even have the strength to refuse, being abruptly stopped by his own crying that slowly turns into sobbing, all his strength leaves his body as he lets himself sink into the embrace of the bigger man, feeling the mage’s silent tears staining his shirt as both sob.