BOP 3: Despair

Silvanus sat rigidly beside the gurney, brow furrowed and shoulders tense. A hand clasping his shoulderbag, the other on his arm as his fingers found their way to the sleeve.

doot doot doot do-

The monotonous drone of the EKG monitor filled the sterile room.

His knuckles were white from how hard he was gripping his arm, The floor was white. The sheets were white. The walls were white. Even the curtains were white. Everything was too white.

Everything except the dressings. Those were red. Too red.

He averted his eyes quickly and immediately regretted doing so.

Above the sink where his gaze fell was a mirror, and there in its reflection he saw hair and eyes that were red. Too red. Yet the short statured boy to which the face belonged was pallid. Too pale. Too white.

Silvanus shifted uncomfortably and looked away, unable to meet even his own eyes and their accusing stare.

"Hey." came a tired voice. The redhead turned to see Igneus pull the curtain back, stepping through as he did so, "Here, give your hands a rest."

A can of soda was nudged against his arm and he took the cold beverage gratefully. Silvanus felt a wave of relief at the distraction, though not without the slight pang of discomfort.

Igneus pulled up a second chair and collapsed into it with a weary sigh.

The day had barely started and he was already exhausted. Granted, they had hardly slept with all the commotion from the night before.

Igneus cracked open his can, waiting for the hiss to subside before he drew a swig.

He blinked blearily as his eyes wandered over the sleeping form of his twin. Just the sight of the rise and fall of his chest was enough a reassurance. Now that all the excitement was over, he felt both emotionally and physically drained.

Igneus took another gulp of the carbonated drink before he noticed that beside him Silvanus had scarcely touched his.

It seemed there was yet another matter to attend to.

A fond smile tugged at his mouth despite himself and he threw an arm around the redhead's shoulders, clasping the smaller man against his side.

The Elemental had to stifle a laugh when he jumped, "Seb will be fine." Iggy reassured, chancing a glance back at his twin, "He's pulled through worse than this."

Igneus returned Sil's questioning stare with a humorless smile, "We're no strangers to conflict. It's not our first time tangling with those who oppose Enhancement."

The Elemental intentionally left out confrontations of a darker sort. Time would tell that tale.

Perhaps it was best that Sil had been homeschooled and his ability dormant. Times had been tough and discrimination for the Enhanced had risen as of late."

"Y-yeah."

Something about the response seemed lacking, and it didn't seem relative to fatigue. He glanced down at the redhead who seemed to want nothing more than to huddle into himself.

Oh no. They wouldn't be having any of this.

"Sil, look at me." said Igneus, doing his best to keep his voice mellow and the fatigue from seeping in.

When the redhead finally looked up, it was hardly even a fraction of a second before Sil faltered and broke the stare. But he had seen all he needed to see. Igneus tried again, "Sil."

The other remained silent.

Iggy sighed when he failed to prompt more than a vigorous shake of the head and lip biting, voice growing a hint of exasperation and becoming a tad more forceful, "Silvanus."

He flinched in response to his name and raised his eyes, "S-sebbie he-"

"He'll be alright." Igneus supplied. voice calm but forceful, "What happened last night was not your fault, and no one thinks that it is."

Silvanus seemed unconvinced, eyes scrunched with worry and tense.

Iggy let out a low sigh and pulled his flatmate close, "It'll be alright. We've seen worse." and this time there was a distant look in his eyes, fond yet bittersweet.

The redhead nodded and at last gave in to his fatigue. No sooner had his eyes shut was he out and far from the waking world.

Igneus felt the weight on his shoulder grow and spared a glance at the messy red hair. He grinned and gave a halfhearted attempt to resist the urge to mess it up further before surrendering and mussing it up more. A muffled bark of a laugh escaped him as Sil scrunched up his face and shifted, muttering incoherently in his sleep.

He left his arm around the Animator's shoulder, keeping the other wrapped in a loose hug.

When he had first met his flatmate, his first impression was of a small creature fresh to the world and helpless in its entirety. It hadn't been too far from the truth.

From his twin, it only served to incite his ire. Forswua did not look kindly upon what he considered to be weakness.

Being the more empathetic of two, it was Igneus who had reached out and warmed their new companion to them.

Despite their sharp differences in personality in addition to coming from very different backgrounds, the two were much more alike than one would think. Both strove for independence in their own way and were extremely stubborn in trying to keep to themselves.

Another amused chuckle escaped him