[Room 372]

[mr_gaeta]

[After this.]

"Okay," says Gaeta -- out of breath, as always, from the climb up the stairs -- as he shoulders open the door. The bird immediately weaves around him and darts in, plocking happily at its return to its new nest.

Once it became obvious that Gaeta would be a permanent resident, Bar kindly supplied a few additions and expansions to his room: a kitchenette, a couch and TV, a small bookshelf, a wooden partition to separate his bed from everything else. It looks more like a studio apartment now than the hotel atmosphere of most Milliways rooms.

Stepping aside as best he's able, he holds the door so Louis can come in.

Comments

[mr_gaeta]

He subsides, briefly. One hand tightens and releases on the pillow.

And then the ragged noises of pain pick up again as Gaeta curls inward, his breathing harsh and rapid.

[faithful_lt]

He mutters something else, but it's more reflex than anything else.

Exhaustion has dulled Louis Hoshi's edge, awake or asleep.

[mr_gaeta]

It's too cold. It's too godsdamn cold in here --

Only dimly roused out of the nightmare, Gaeta rolls over, feeling something warmer not too far away. Desperately, he pushes toward it.

(Toward Louis.)

[faithful_lt]

He makes another indistinct sound and puts his arm around Felix, drawing him near in slumber.

[mr_gaeta]

(In his dream, he feels strong arms cradling him, lifting him away from the Raptor's floor. They are the most solid thing he's ever felt; when they pull him closer, the blood and the cold vanishes as if a heavy blanket's dropped over the scene.

I've got you, baby, memory whispers. It's okay.)

Gaeta's still breathing a little too rapidly, but he wraps his arm around his rescuer and tucks his head close, letting the warmth seep into him.

At the foot of the bed, there's a scratchy, creaky noise as the bird -- hearing Gaeta's distress from the other side of the room -- uses beak and talons to haul itself up the side of the bedframe. Once it hits the mattress, it ruffles its feathers and eyes the two men.

Everything okay? Good, everything's okay! Satisfied, it plonks itself down at Gaeta's foot in case any new emergencies arise.

[faithful_lt]

Awareness returns slowly.




It takes him a few minutes to realize that he's not dreaming, that he's not alone; that his unconscious mind has betrayed him as surely as the man he loves did -- and that he's holding on, and being held in turn.

He studies Felix's sleeping figure in silence, carefully memorizing his features, feeling his heart crack in pieces within him yet again.

(It looks like things won't be getting easier any time soon.)




It's five full minutes before he starts trying to ease himself out of their tangled embrace without waking Felix.

[mr_gaeta]

The Fleet trained him to sleep light and rouse quickly: only a few seconds after Louis starts to move, Gaeta's eyes blink open. He squints, muzzily unsure.

And then -- "Oh, frak." -- he realizes what happened sometime during the night, and hurriedly pushes away in kind. "Frak, I'm sorry -- "

[faithful_lt]

"Nothing to be sorry for," he cuts in, and could kick himself the instant he hears the words he's inadvertently chosen.

"I mean - don't worry about it."

[mr_gaeta]

The correction makes him swallow back anything more he'd been intending to say. Gaeta nods, breathes out, looks away as he finishes putting the last couple inches of space between them.

At the foot of the bed, the bird untucks its head from beneath the too-small cover of one wing, blinking up at the two of them.

[faithful_lt]

He sits up in bed, scooting back against the headboard, knees slightly bent and feet braced flat against the mattress.

Hoshi scrubs a hand over his face, then lets it drop, and looks down at the bird.

"Looks like we've got company."

[mr_gaeta]

He musters up a wan smile, still not quite looking Louis' way. "Yeah," he says. "It's got a habit of climbing up here in the middle of the night."

With a small plock, the bird pushes itself up and waddles closer.

[faithful_lt]

"So I see." He raises his voice, just a little. "Hi, bird -- "

Hoshi turns to look at Felix.

"-- have you thought about a name for it?"

[mr_gaeta]

Gaeta shakes his head. Rueful, "Not yet."

The bird pushes its beak against Gaeta's shoulder, eliciting a firmer smile. He scratches its neck in return.

"I'm, ah. I'm sure I'll think of something, eventually."

[faithful_lt]

Rueful amusement tinges his voice.

"Looks like you'll need to, because from where I'm sitting, your new feathered friend isn't going anywhere."

[mr_gaeta]

He laughs a little. "Lucky me."

There's nothing sardonic about the way he says it: after that first night when it woke him up mid-nightmare, he does count himself lucky to have the company.

[faithful_lt]

He shoots Felix a quick sideways look just to be sure, but on seeing his expression the tension that had raced through him vanishes as quickly as it had come.

"Not the kind of bird I was thinking you'd take to, but still."

[mr_gaeta]

"Yeah?"

Finally, he manages to look over at Louis. The bird snuggles closer, making a serious effort to wedge itself in the gap between the two men.

[faithful_lt]

"Mm-hmm."

He gives the bird a skeptical look as it nudges closer, then shifts to allow it to get closer to Felix, as it's clearly determined to do.

"I was thinking something smaller, for one."

[mr_gaeta]

His smile grows a hair, fragile as it may be. "Something less like a dog and more like an actual bird, you mean?"

The bird finishes claiming its spot on the bed, gives Gaeta another bump with its head, then turns to deliver a similar gentle headbutt to Louis. Hello, friend-of-nestmate. Maybe nestmate number two?

[faithful_lt]

"Something like," Hoshi agrees.

He gives the bird another skeptical look, then holds out his fingers as he would for a dog to sniff.

[mr_gaeta]

The bird eyes Louis' fingers. Swivels another glance up to his face.

Then it ducks its head just enough to get underneath Louis' hand in the universal signal of pet me.

(Gaeta's doing his best not to start laughing.)

[faithful_lt]

"Persistent, aren't you?"

He ruffles its feathers gently, scratching the back of its neck.

[mr_gaeta]

"Maybe that's what I should name it," he says; the laughter he's been holding back colors his voice. "Persistence. Or Stubborn Bird."

It certainly seems to be the animal's defining trait so far.

[faithful_lt]

Despite everything, it's good to hear Felix laugh.

"You could try," he offers. "I'm sure if he doesn't like it, he'll let you know."

[mr_gaeta]

"Undoubtedly."

He reaches to give the bird a pat -- making sure his hand is at least six inches away from Louis'.

"Do you, ah...want anything to eat? Toast, or...?"

(Offering to cook Louis some eggs while there's a giant bird sitting right there seems kind of rude.)