daybreakacademy | hollow plots and zombens

He had been sitting up, so now he's just kind of slumped over to one side, face down against the bed in the least attractive position possible. Like a champion really.

There's a closet in here somewhere, probably? But fortunately she doesn't have to get him anything. As soon as she starts moving around, he jolts a bit, blinking his eyes blearily. Someone in his room? He doesn't have a roommate, so why - oh. Orihime.

"What time is it?" he says, rubbing at his face. Thank goodness it's a Saturday or he could be in some trouble. "Are you okay?"

If he'd been conscious, she probably would have complimented him on his super cool sleep-dive position.

She twitched guiltily and froze in place when he woke up. Her foot hadn't even touched the floor, so it must have been the creak of the mattress springs, she figured.

"Anou...just a little before midnight," she replied, turning her wrist to look at the watch strapped on next to the web shooter.

...That didn't sound right. She shook her arm a little then lifted the watch to tap at its face.

"...I accidentally lied. I'm not sure! But I'm okay," she promised him. "What about you?"

He's got real sharp hearing, okay. And after last night he's a little bit twitchy even the slight noises of someone sitting up. Probably a good thing he doesn't have a roommate yet? Anyway.

"Midnight?" He ... turns towards the window, which currently has bright sunlight streaming through it. Yeah. Uh. No offense, Orihime, but your watch is probably wrong. It seems like noonish? Maybe a little earlier or later? Not dawn or sunset for sure, which is about all he can figure out just by looking at the light. Anyway.

Despite the horrors of last night, he's in surprisingly good shape, thanks to her healing. No injuries or ruined clothes. He could use a shower probably? But at least he's not covered in blood. "I'm - I'm okay," he says brightening as he remembers last night. "It worked. You saved him."

And he's going to keep seeing his uncle now, which is still sort of beyond belief.

That was the one thing she was most worried about. His uncle had seemed okay before she toppled over, but she didn't see the aftermath or hear what his uncle had to say. She relaxed, her smile gentle as she shook her head.

"You saved him too. I couldn't have done that on my own." She was sure he would have lost control and started thrashing before she could finish reverting the transformation, not to mention their teamwork to pull off the mask.

She eased herself back down, still weary, and turned onto her side so she could still face him as they spoke.

"I'm relieved, though. Thank you for looking after me."

He'll accept teamwork, sure. But he's also 100% sure he wouldn't have been able to bring his uncle back to this state without her actively healing him. Being an undead ghost is worlds better than - whatever that had been. Transformed. Taken over by ...

Well, he doesn't know. Something horrible behind all of this. He settles back on his own bed more comfortably this time, leaning his head back against the wall. "Course," he says. "I wasn't gonna leave you on the roof. Are you sure doing all that didn't hurt you?"

She sure did pass out last night, which is concerning.

"Mm," she moved her head, and smiled. "I'm just tired. I haven't used my powers like that in a long time." And she definitely hadn't known she could reverse something like that.

Speaking of, she should go downstairs to her own bed. Tatsumaki was going to worry if she woke up to find Orihime hadn't even slept there.

But his uncle had given that warning. You're the real target. Hadn't that been it? Maybe this wasn't really proper, but it was noon, and they weren't in the same bed, so... She could at least make sure he wasn't alone until he was better rested.

"...Sorry about your suit."

There's a lot of things he should probably talk about. Like what the hell is even going on here. If there's more of these monsters. If Ben might be turned again, or if there really is something after Peter specifically. Also, what the hell she can even do? He'd known about the shield and the healing obviously, but. These are some hidden depths.

But. First things first.

"Suit?" he asks, looking confused. "What suit?"

She's currently sitting on it, probably.

"I left it on the roof," she admitted. "I was going to show you the finished product, but you got attacked, and I pretty much lost track of the suit. I'll go get it later, I probably need to wash it first anyway."

And make repairs, if she could. It got stabbed pretty thoroughly with that one dagger-like leg, she might have to pick up more fabric and replace some parts entirely. There was still plenty of time before the ball, though. It would be okay.

"You can sleep some more if you're tired," she offered. "I won't leave until you wake up."

He's very tired, it's true, but since he's awake now it seems a shame to just go straight back to sleep. Also, given his sleeping problems? He's pretty sure if he sleeps through the day he's going to just end up nocturnal.

"I'm all right," he says. "Not, like, great, but." Good enough for now. His gaze drifts to the bed she's on and ... oh, wait. She said she left it on the roof? And he did pick something up and bring it down. "Was it in a package? Like ... uh, that?"

He points to the one that's been serving as an impromptu pillow for her.

Orihime shifted up onto her elbow to look down at where he pointed, and blinked. Cufflinks with little spider imprints on them that she'd found in the post-Halloween discount bin, torn shreds of white lining poking through the inner silk lining... That was the suit all right. At least the cuff links were okay, that was the part she'd been most excited about.

"...That's the one." She smiled sheepishly and made herself sit up since it felt weird to drop off to sleep on him while he was awake. "I'll just make some adjustments."

Or maybe see if her power really could restore torn clothing like she suspected. Why she'd been able to do that, she didn't really know, but it was good to know that she could. Just what kind of limitations did she have?

She rubbed at her eye and blinked at the window again. "Well...if you're awake you probably need some time to process everything, right? I can go back to my room." She dragged the package onto her lap and hugged it in her arms.

It looks really cool from what he can see of it? He's not sure if he should ask to, given it's obviously a bit ruined and she's going to fix it. He'd probably be pretty interested to see if she can fix it with magic too, given the kind of crazy stuff she can do already.

He blinks a little at her offering to go back to her room. He's not going to stop her, really; it's probably weird to be in his room right now. If he'd known which one was hers he'd have tried to put her back in her own bed. But ... "I really don't mind you being here," he says after a moment. "I dunno if I want to be alone right now?"

Which doesn't mean she has to stay. The common room will surely have people in it at this hour, so Peter can just head out there and sleep if that's what he wants to do. But. He'd kind of like her to stay too.

"My uncle said there was something else out there. The thing that did it to him. Do you have any idea what that is?"

Something that was after him specifically, for some reason.

"..." Her heart was a little touched. It made her feel like he needed her, and that brought a warm rush of happiness that put more color in her cheeks. She smiled, almost shyly, and inclined her head. "Okay. I don't mind either." She realized she wanted to stay with him a while longer, too.

But she couldn't answer his question. She shook her head. "I didn't know something like that could even happen to ghosts. The living aren't even supposed to be able to see them." Her head turned to look out the window. Somewhere out there, Sora was lingering on the campus too, wasn't he? She didn't know how Hector was able to see him when she couldn't, but she believed what he'd told her. Was he in danger too?

"I'm worried, though. That's a really cruel way to try to get to you. It might try again, too."

That - makes him draw in a horrified breath. The thought that whatever this is might use Ben again, make them repeat all this pain and suffering - god, he can't even handle thinking about it right now. At least it probably can't act during the daytime? Undead can't really cope with sunlight, so ...

Deep breaths. Real deep breaths. "I saw him just fine," he says. "And - he said he'd come back." So that implies that Peter can see him then too? He's not sure how he got the ability to see dead people okay. Just another weird thing on top of everything else. "I gotta protect him. Find whatever it is that's doing all of this."

That has to be the answer here.

"You will."

There was no uncertainty in her voice when she responded to his statement. "We all will. It caught us off guard because we'd never seen anything like that before. But now that we know about its tactics, we can keep a sharper lookout."

She put a hand to her chest, a couple of inches above her heart. "I remember how its spirit felt, too. If it appears, I might be able to detect it and give warning. There are teachers with lots of experience fighting creatures in the Outland, we can rely on them too."

Orihime rose from the bed and crossed the short space between them, still holding the mangled package against her.

"So don't be afraid. I'll use everything I have to help you protect him."

Her confidence is bolstering. After Ben nearly killing him multiple times last night, he kind of needed that. The thought that they can out think this monster and win... That's something he knows how to do in theory, right? He's a superhero. Maybe not a very good one, but still a superhero.

"I think it set off my spider senses too." He doesn't get Orihime's clarity for sure, but he gets something? Enough to do something, maybe, if it got close. Especially if Orihime knows where it is ... Yeah. Yeah, he can do this.

"Thank you," he says, looking up at her from his bed. He's a little overwhelmed, honestly - she's already done so much for him, and now she's offering to do even more. "I owe you. Like, everything."

Bringing his uncle back from the brink, making it so that Peter can talk to him again ... There's nothing he could possibly give her that could pay her back properly.

She was a little surprised at his gratitude, that was clear. But when he said he owed her, she laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"We're friends! Friends don't really keep track of who owes who. Besides," Orihime noted, tucking her hands behind her back and leaning against the wall next to his bedpost, "you've helped me a lot too. I know how busy you are, so I'm grateful when we get to train. And the web shooters aren't just cool toys, they're really useful! They might even save my life or someone else's someday."

She drew out her right hand, looking at her palm, and smiled. "I'm getting more confident, too. Every day, just a little bit more. All of those things add up." Orihime's countenance warmed as she looked back at him. "I owe you as much as you owe me. Thank you, for all of it."

Well. That may indeed be true. But they're definitely friends, and if he thinks about it like that ... He'll just have to do everything he can the next time she needs him. That's all he can do. And if she feels like he's helping her confidence, then he'll be darn glad about that too.

"All right," he says, with a bit of a shy smile. "But at least let me buy the next pizza, okay?"

Friends can do that too.

"Ha ha ha...!" Her shoulders shook, and she could easily feel the stress of last night ebbing away at the sight of such a nice smile. Maybe now he could start to shed some of that guilt, and smile and laugh more often.

She nodded. "That sounds really good! It's a deal." She even offered her hand so they could shake on it.

"You did really good tonight...Spider-Monsieur!"

He'll take her hand gladly, giving it a good firm shake. This won't be the end of his stress - nowhere near it - but just having Ben in his life again is an incredible weight off him. That's. That's a hell of a thing all right.

She even makes him laugh again. "Spider-Monsieur, huh," he says. "Got a good ring to it."

"Doesn't it?" she beamed, trying not to choke as a mental image popped into her head. "Y...you could fight crime...and have a curly moustache!"

Too late. She choked. It was just too funny to think of him swing-kicking into a mugger's face with a rich, hearty, "Hohn hohn hohn~!" French-accented laugh.

"Pffffthahahahaha!"

See, this is why he likes you, Orihime. Some days you're just kind of ridiculous.

"But if I have a mustache, how are you gonna recognize my evil clone when he turns up?" Since clearly facial hair is something all evil clones have.

"Evil clone Spider-Monsieur will have a goatee! And either eyeliner or a monocle," she said matter-of-factly, wagging a finger as if she knew this to be an undeniable fact.

Then she paused.

"...Maybe both. But definitely a sleek goatee! And his costume will be all black with a cape."

She was, at least, half right about the costume.

Okay, okay, he laughs again. Because that's just kind of ridiculous.

"I think we both need more sleep," he says. "Because that actually makes sense to me."

Yeah, they definitely suffered from sleep-deprived giggle fits. It was hard to stop! She thumbed the corner of her eye with a happy sigh. "We probably do. It was a very late night!"

She turned her head to look at the bulky television set, thinking. He was probably wrestling with a turmoil of emotions and thoughts right now. It might be a while before he would be able to sort everything out, or want to talk about it. It might do them both good to shut their noisy brains off for a while and watch something hilariously stupid.

"Anou...you said there was a sequel, right? Kickpuncher 2?" Her smile twitched wider. "Want to watch it?"

Shutting his brain down sounds amazing. It's usually too loud anyway, but after last night? Yeah. Dumb action movies sound great. He lights up instantly when she suggests it, in fact.

"Of course I wanna watch it," he says. Getting up from his bed, moving to go find the DVD. "Grab some pillows off your bed and we can sit on the floor."

hollow plots and zombens

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)