"I will." Hannibal says, and he finds he's getting up despite himself, practiced routine getting him up as soon as he's settled on a task - no matter how much more appealing it sounds to lay down with Neph and not move, not let go of his grip on her.
He's off the bed by the time Neph mentions a shower. He turns back to her, mouth open but silent for a moment while his brain processes what she's just said. "Your cast isn't waterproof." Is what he settles on, as the least-rude possibility. "I could find you a trash bag for it, but I would recommend just using the bath." And bathing one-handed. Which doesn't sound terribly feasible. Hannibal turns that thought over as he approaches the nightstand, picks up his phone.
When he dials, he hears a ringing tone...doubled? Not just in his ear? Hannibal pulls the phone away from his head just in time to confirm that, yes, he's hearing a phone near the door--
"Yeah?" That's Will's voice, also doubled. There's the sound of a key turning in the lock.
Oh. "...You're back early."
"Not really." Will says, and now it's his voice in the room that's loudest, Will swinging the door open, Will dragging against the door handle a bit more than he usually would. He's always more sore after a walk. Hannibal thinks that's part of the reason he insists on going out three or four times a day to stretch out his newly-knit muscle. "I told you I'd probably be back by the time you were done with your shower."
Hannibal just brings the phone down away from his ear, hanging it up as he goes. There's not quite any point in trying to salvage this, now, because any second Will's going to look up and see that Neph's--
Will drops his phone. He also swears, a surprisingly soft thing, swallowed against an intake of breath as he freezes in place. Will's eyes don't look over for Hannibal's accusingly, he doesn't ask why Hannibal didn't call him immediately, the way they'd discussed on the third evening, both of them wondering how long this would go on for.
"Y-- You're awake." Will says, staring at Neph. He's got his glasses on from his walk still, and his curls are flatter to his forehead than usual from the sweat that gathered on it. "You woke up." He repeats, and in that is the unspoken 'we weren't sure you really would'. His breathing is suddenly loud and harsh and he stays rooted to the spot.
Across the room, Hannibal just watches, clearly ignored by at least one of them.
As soon as Hannibal stands and the mattress rights itself, Neph reaches for the headboard to pull herself all the way upright. On her inhale, she notes the soreness in her core, the sleepy complaints in her legs. Her body's gotten rusty in the five days she's been out, and now it'll need a couple more days of easy work before it responds the way she's used to.
"The bath?" she repeats, nose crinkling in dismay. She's never met a motel bath she was totally comfortable standing in barefoot, let alone lying down in naked. She's done it but always felt kinda gross later.
Then again, this is a shower Hannibal's been using. If it hasn't been bleached right down to its atomic structure she'll be shocked right back into her coma. "You're prob'ly right," Neph sighs as she shoves the blankets down and swings her legs off the edge of the bed. "I shouldn't be standing on slippery stuff anyway. Or, like, at all." Not at first. Not until her knees come back online.
Her toes brush the carpet, damp where Hannibal stood dripping in his towel, and she carefully eases her weight to the floor. She's just about to go full vertical when the lock clicks and Will shoulders through, one hand on the doorknob and the other holding his phone to his ear. Neph freezes and takes him in, enjoying the rare opportunity to study him while he's totally unaware of her.
Will looks...better than she'd've thought. Better than she remembers, for sure. He's sweaty and clearly tired, but there's color in his face and the dragging exhaustion in his voice is more satisfied than frustrated. He's recovering, she thinks, which is more than she could've hoped for when they were both bleeding all over that stolen car.
What happened to that car, anyway?
Will's phone slips from his hand and clatters to the garish carpet. Neph flinches on instinct, but if it cracked then at least it didn't shatter all over the place. She can't check to see, not with the way Will stares at her in desblief, eyes huge and wondering behind his bent frames.
His glasses survived the warehouse. For a second, she's so hung up on that tiny miracle she hardly hears him. It's not until the second you woke up that she refocuses on his face, on the fear and relief and confusion there. And she smiles in disbelief of her own, because someone was worried about her.
"Just now, yeah," she has to reach for the water Hannibal set aside and take another sip, briefly turning away from Will to do so. When she looks back, he's still staring, like if he blinks she might vanish. "I'm...I've never seen Burnout from the outside, I'm sorry, It must'a been...freaky."
If she says I'm sorry I scared you, she'll spend all day having to sort through all the recent apology-worthy scares, of which there are, uh, at least a dozen. There's a conversation looming on the horizon that Neph's not sure she's really ready to have, but right now Will's standing on his own to feet, no longer bloodlessly white, here in this room with her and Hannibal. With the monsters. Unafraid.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2017-09-29 07:49 pm (UTC)He's off the bed by the time Neph mentions a shower. He turns back to her, mouth open but silent for a moment while his brain processes what she's just said. "Your cast isn't waterproof." Is what he settles on, as the least-rude possibility. "I could find you a trash bag for it, but I would recommend just using the bath." And bathing one-handed. Which doesn't sound terribly feasible. Hannibal turns that thought over as he approaches the nightstand, picks up his phone.
When he dials, he hears a ringing tone...doubled? Not just in his ear? Hannibal pulls the phone away from his head just in time to confirm that, yes, he's hearing a phone near the door--
"Yeah?" That's Will's voice, also doubled. There's the sound of a key turning in the lock.
Oh. "...You're back early."
"Not really." Will says, and now it's his voice in the room that's loudest, Will swinging the door open, Will dragging against the door handle a bit more than he usually would. He's always more sore after a walk. Hannibal thinks that's part of the reason he insists on going out three or four times a day to stretch out his newly-knit muscle. "I told you I'd probably be back by the time you were done with your shower."
Hannibal just brings the phone down away from his ear, hanging it up as he goes. There's not quite any point in trying to salvage this, now, because any second Will's going to look up and see that Neph's--
Will drops his phone. He also swears, a surprisingly soft thing, swallowed against an intake of breath as he freezes in place. Will's eyes don't look over for Hannibal's accusingly, he doesn't ask why Hannibal didn't call him immediately, the way they'd discussed on the third evening, both of them wondering how long this would go on for.
"Y-- You're awake." Will says, staring at Neph. He's got his glasses on from his walk still, and his curls are flatter to his forehead than usual from the sweat that gathered on it. "You woke up." He repeats, and in that is the unspoken 'we weren't sure you really would'. His breathing is suddenly loud and harsh and he stays rooted to the spot.
Across the room, Hannibal just watches, clearly ignored by at least one of them.
no subject
Date: 2017-10-01 11:01 pm (UTC)"The bath?" she repeats, nose crinkling in dismay. She's never met a motel bath she was totally comfortable standing in barefoot, let alone lying down in naked. She's done it but always felt kinda gross later.
Then again, this is a shower Hannibal's been using. If it hasn't been bleached right down to its atomic structure she'll be shocked right back into her coma. "You're prob'ly right," Neph sighs as she shoves the blankets down and swings her legs off the edge of the bed. "I shouldn't be standing on slippery stuff anyway. Or, like, at all." Not at first. Not until her knees come back online.
Her toes brush the carpet, damp where Hannibal stood dripping in his towel, and she carefully eases her weight to the floor. She's just about to go full vertical when the lock clicks and Will shoulders through, one hand on the doorknob and the other holding his phone to his ear. Neph freezes and takes him in, enjoying the rare opportunity to study him while he's totally unaware of her.
Will looks...better than she'd've thought. Better than she remembers, for sure. He's sweaty and clearly tired, but there's color in his face and the dragging exhaustion in his voice is more satisfied than frustrated. He's recovering, she thinks, which is more than she could've hoped for when they were both bleeding all over that stolen car.
What happened to that car, anyway?
Will's phone slips from his hand and clatters to the garish carpet. Neph flinches on instinct, but if it cracked then at least it didn't shatter all over the place. She can't check to see, not with the way Will stares at her in desblief, eyes huge and wondering behind his bent frames.
His glasses survived the warehouse. For a second, she's so hung up on that tiny miracle she hardly hears him. It's not until the second you woke up that she refocuses on his face, on the fear and relief and confusion there. And she smiles in disbelief of her own, because someone was worried about her.
"Just now, yeah," she has to reach for the water Hannibal set aside and take another sip, briefly turning away from Will to do so. When she looks back, he's still staring, like if he blinks she might vanish. "I'm...I've never seen Burnout from the outside, I'm sorry, It must'a been...freaky."
If she says I'm sorry I scared you, she'll spend all day having to sort through all the recent apology-worthy scares, of which there are, uh, at least a dozen. There's a conversation looming on the horizon that Neph's not sure she's really ready to have, but right now Will's standing on his own to feet, no longer bloodlessly white, here in this room with her and Hannibal. With the monsters. Unafraid.