2010-02-23 - Rebound

GENERAL HOSPITAL, GRYPS COLONY DOWNTOWN GREEN NOA, 15:00 HOURS

While Gryps has otherwise lost its military influence thanks to the dismantling of Titans, it still has purpose. Among them, it has a hospital, and people use hospitals to /get well/. Being that the closest hospital to dump Lieutenant Commander Zabiarov was in Gryps...well. The rest is fairly obvious.

And so, since the Side 4 GENESIS incident, Sarah has been spending most of her time recuperating in the care of skill surgeons and doctors. It's a slow recovery for the young Newtype, but she's doing her best to try and get better as soon as possible. Still, the incident at Side 4 has had some negative effects on the young woman, and this coupled with HEAVY MEDICATION makes her less-than engaging. But the doctors and nurses try, anyway.

In the late afternoon, Sarah remains rather tight-lipped as a young blonde nurse tends to her bandages, getting a check-up on her status and medication levels. It's an almost awkward air, but the young Newtype girl just seems to try and pretend that the woman doesn't exist. She has her reason for it, none of which she seems ready and willing to /tell/ the nurse about it.

"I sure hope that Admiral Scirocco comes to visit you again," the nurse small talks. "He's a handsome guy!"

The air around Sarah grows a bit darker.

Leo Stenbuck has been intending to visit Sarah since the whole GENESIS ordeal, but things kept... coming up. In fact, he was planning to visit her on Sunday when he got called out for some last-minute menial horseshit at Heaven's Base, and then... well.

But he's here now. As luck would have it, all the stupid administrative bullshit dried up the minute Leo most wanted it to lose himself in, and he's been zombieing his way through the hours since then, his heart hollow and heavy, and probably by now some other 'h' words, too.

Some small relief, at least, came this morning... and it is that that drives him here, to finally visit Sarah.

Someone knocks a few times on the door of Sarah's hospital room, and it opens slightly a split second later. Leo sticks his head through the gap a moment later; he looks... different, somehow. The fact that he's wearing a strip of cloth tied around his head is an obvious cause, but does not seem to be the only one.

"Sarah?" the Major begins quietly, as he leans into the room. "Are you awa-" He pauses when he sees that she is, in fact, awake... and then, a heartbeat later, notices the nurse. "- uh," he continues, after a second. "Hi."

The moment a set of knocks breaks the room's silence is the moment when the nurse on hand feels just a bit less-uncomfortable with her designated patient. "Oh, is it--!" she wonders, glancing over her shoulder toward the door.

It isn't.

"Oh," is the blonde's lackluster response, eyes rolling away, back toward the clipboard in her hand. A few notes are jotted as she replies, "You can come in, sir. She is currently seeing patients."

Sarah, on the other hand, looks past the woman (as she had been all along) toward the door, where she offers a tired smile and a nod. Gesturing faintly with her hand, she encourages Leo to come into the room, regardless of whether or not the nurse is ready.

"Just give me a minute," the nurse says in a tone lacking bedside manners. "I'm nearly done here, then I will leave you two kids be."

The bedridden Sarah makes a sour face but remains quiet otherwise, save:

"H-hi Leo."

Leo hesitates for a moment even after Sarah gestures him in, a reluctance spurred by a sudden spike of irrational worry that the presence of the nurse, brief as it is likely to be, will somehow ruin everything. He's been waiting for this for so long... if a little thing like this were to ruin it, he'd-

Leo grits his teeth, steels himself, and pushes fully into the room. His face isn't the only thing that's changed; even though it was only ten days ago since Sarah's seen him last, in that time he appears to have had some sort of mega growth spurt. He's several inches taller, and his chest and shoulders are actually broader than his waist, now. Or maybe it's just that he's carrying himself differently... who can say?

Leo snags a chair on his way across the room and drags it with him, setting it at Sarah's bedside and lowering himself into it. "How're you doing?" he asks softly, as he sits. He opens his mouth to continue speaking, but suddenly hesitates, shooting an uncertain glance at the nurse.

There is a noticeable bit of surprise on her otherwise blank expression when Leo bites down and enters without hesitation. She watches as he moves, carrying himself with an air that seems anything but the Leo she'd seen all this time before. Is he taller? Is that even possible?!

She wonders even as he grabs a chair and takes a seat at her bedside. Offering a tiny smile, the young Newtype shifts her gaze to her hands, fingers absently fumbling about. "I've been better," she notes, followed by a distant, vaguely-detached sort of laugh. "I really kind of miss..."

When Leo glances toward the nurse, so too does Sarah. The nurse, on the other hand, scoffs lightly before snapping the clipboard shut. "Yeah, I get it, I'm done," the woman grumbles, turning on her orthopedic shoes and marching toward the door. A minute later she's gone.

"...miss being able to, you know, walk around." Sarah concludes with a coy smile.

"Thank you for coming. It's been really boring here. Umm...a-are you doing okay?"

Leo swivels his head to watch the nurse leave. Once the door shuts behind her, he turns back to Sarah, visibly more relaxed. There's still a certain tension about him - for various reasons - but he's obviously much more comfortable with just the two of them present.

"I've been better, too," he says honestly, when Sarah asks. Despite himself, he still smiles slightly when Sarah does... though there is a certain sadness to it. He pauses, and asks, "Did you hear about... what happened?"

A grimace suddenly flashes across Leo's face, and he shifts uncomfortably in his seat. "No," he continues, with only a split second of pause. "I don't want to..." He pauses again, and then sighs. "Sarah, I didn't just come here to check on you," he admits.

He shifts forwards in his chair, leaning slightly closer to Sarah, his growing excitement obvious. "I came because I need to show you something."

Fortunately, the feeling is mutual for the young Lieutenant Commander, who actually breathes a faint sigh of relief once the blonde has made her exit. A lopsided, apologetic smile follows shortly after, though it is followed by mild confusion at his question.

"U-uh, well, n-no, not really," Sarah replies uneasily. "I've been sort of kept out of the loop of things here, since this is a civilian hospital. Is something wrong..?"

But he grimaces and quickly casts his question off with confusion words. Bemused, the young woman tilts her head, pink locks bobbing about her shoulders before she frowns. "Leo, are you sure you're all right? You seem..."

Well, she won't push him. That isn't fair, especially if he doesn't want to talk about it. Instead, her words are mended over with a tiny smile. "Well, if you want to talk sometime, I will listen. Okay?

"You didn't? E-er, well, that's okay. Did you need something..?" He does, apparently. He wants to show her something. No, according to Leo, he /needs/ to. The girl blinks again in confusion. What could it possibly be..?

"What is it?" Sarah wonders.

Leo doesn't respond... or, at least, he doesn't say anything. He just leans a little farther forward, sets his hands on the edge of Sarah's bed, and closes his eyes. A few heartbeats later, he opens them again.

When he does, his eyes have changed color. Except the color they changed to is not, in fact, a color; it is more like a lightshow, a mixture of purple and yellow, beams of light constantly lancing outwards in all directions from his pupils. It's like somebody turned on some sort of MP3 player visualizer in his eyeballs.

The special effects are accompanied by the psychic equivalent of a dialup modem trying and failing to contact something. It's an extremely weak 'signal', but it's there... and it feels... strange, somehow, almost unnatural. It's definitely not Newtype, or even Psychodriver, in origin.

Leo still doesn't speak; he just meets Sarah's gaze and... stares, as if expecting something.

Things get a little awkward for young Zabiarov when Leo leans forward.

Blinking, the young woman just watches as he shuts his eyes for that brief moment. Then, just when she expects something normal he goes and opens his eyes. Things are anything but in that moment.

Taken a little aback, Sarah recoils only slightly, green eyes wide as she just stares at the light show bouncing around in his gaze. Lost for words at the display, the young woman remains quiet for a time, just watching. Only when the odd signal begins to try and weakly filter its way from the young man into her Newtype mind does she seem just a little unnerved by the display.

"What's g-going on??" the girl wonders in hushed but startled tones. "I don't get it...it doesn't make sense to me. I th-thought you were nor--" She catches herself briefly. "Leo, what'd you do?"

Leo isn't sure what exactly he was expecting - although he will admit, if only to himself, that he had fantasized that she'd just throw herself at him - but he knows he wasn't expecting... that. She's... what, uncomfortable? Scared?

His brow furrows in confusion. This isn't supposed to be what happens, that much he's sure of after an instant of contemplation. This... this isn't what Ribbons promised him. As the reality of the situation sets in, as opposed to his childish imagined vision of it, Leo does the only sensible thing.

He sort of panics.

"I'm like you, now," he blurts, speaking quickly. "I was going to become a Cyber-Newtype, but- a man... visited me, after the... the incident with Wing Zero, and he told me..." He cuts off the rest of the hurried explanation as his confusion spirals ever deeper into agitation and panic.

Leo takes a deep breath, holds up his hand to stem any questions from Sarah, and tries again. "I made a mistake, with Rei," he says, still speaking in hurried tones. "Before she... I never told her how I felt. I never told her-- and I don't... I can't make the same mistake again."

He's basically just babbling by now. God dammit, he curses mentally, why do words have to be so... hard? This is why he took the pills, this is why he wanted to be-

"Sarah," Leo blurts suddenly, "I love you."

It takes only a microsecond for Leo, even in his rapidly decaying emotional state, a mixture of agitation and confusion and fear and frustration, to realize that that was probably an awkward way to say what he wanted to say. His thoughts go immediately to damage control; the first thing that pops into his mind is some 'advice' given to him by Excellen Browning, during the last holiday season.

Leo, confused and scared as he is, decides that it would be an /excellent/ idea to follow it.

And so, a mere heartbeat after his confession, he leans even further forwards, lifting off of his chair to lean fully over Sarah's bed and try to kiss her.

It doesn't take much to realize poor Leo is suddenly second-guessing and doubting his efforts, evident by the nervousness of his demeanor and the general air about it. Almost instantly the young woman blinks and second-guesses HER reactions, looking mildly nervous about how she handled the situation. "E-er, I didn't mean..." she lightly stammers, beginning to try and explain herself. She stops short when he elaborates.

"Like. ..me..?" she wonders, her eyes fixed on the young man. But before she can go to try and ask for elaboration, the young Jovian cuts her off with a raise of his hand. The young woman obliges, mouth snapping shut with a distant 'pop.'

Then things begin to take a really strange turn.

"Wait...Leo, what's going on," Sarah wonders as he speaks in past-tones of Rei. "What do you mean by mistakes?" Shifting in her place, the young Newtype seems rather concerned all of a sudden. "Is she hurt? Is she--" Wait. Wait.

/What?/

He /loves her?/

It's like she's been hit by a truck. A big, fast-moving, six-ton truck out of /nowhere/. It's evident on her face, the way her skin goes pale, the way Sarah's green eyes widen and her posture suddenly goes rigid. She can feel the sudden plummet of her body temperature from head to toe and the way her heart suddenly seizes up in her chest. Her throat feels so tight...

"W-wait a second..." the girl states, attempting to be a voice of reason. Then he suddenly moves.

To /kiss her/.

Almost instantly the young Newtype responds possibly in the way poor Leo didn't want. Sarah leans back slightly...and a hand reaches up and slaps him lightly across the face. While it is far from a stinging gesture, it's hopefully enough to startle him AND snap some sense into him.

IMMEDIATELY after the girl blinks, looks to her hand, then gasps.

"L-leo, I-I'm s-sorry! I didn't...but you shouldn't...you d-don't mean...!"

Being a teenager is /awkwaaaard/.

For the first time since his arrival in the Earth Sphere, Leo Stenbuck is the victim of a slap that does not knock one of his teeth out or shatter his jaw. There is still an audible *crack*, and Leo's jaw gives slightly more than he should when the blow strikes and his head snaps to the side, but at least there isn't a spray of blood or something.

Even better, the blow achieves its intended effect of making him instantly freeze in place where he leans over Sarah. And he just... sits there, for several seconds, not even turning his head back towards Sarah. Throughout it all, his eyes maintain their lightshow status.

It didn't work. He waited so long... and it didn't work. Did he try too early? No, that can't be it... his eyes changed, and he can /feel/ it, feel his new power. So why didn't it work?

Is there something wrong with the pills? Is there something wrong with /him/? Did Ribbons lie to him? Was Ribbons just... wrong? What the fuck was the point? If he can't do this, what other things will he fail that Ribbons promised he could do?

This... this was a mistake. The pills, coming here, all of it.

Very slowly, Leo straightens back into a standing position, sliding off the bed to stand next to it. He reaches up to rub gingerly at where he was struck. Judging from the set of his shoulders, the new tangle of his emotions, and his track record, this will be where he starts crying.

But he doesn't. He closes his eyes again, pauses a beat, and opens them; when he does, his eyes are normal. He's silent for several more seconds, staring solemnly down at Sarah... and then, finally, he speaks. "Yes, I do."

And then, without hesitation, he turns sharply and starts for the door. "I'm sorry. I'll leave."

Startled by his reaction, and likely unaware at his frail SPACE bones, Sarah looks distantly horrified. Only distant, because she seems surprised and confused most of all. Slowly but surely, though, it all begins to give way to one, obvious look: regret. She shouldn't have hit him. But..!

The young Lieutenant Commander remains quiet as she stares up at her colleague, wide-eyed and startled as he just /stands/ there. Then, slowly but surely, Leo turns his attention back onto her. There is something certainly different about it. Part of her had expected him to cry about now, but he didn't.

In that moment, Sarah feels small. She feels even smaller when he argues against her.

Before she knows it, Leo turns around and makes his way toward the door. In that moment she feels incredibly confused and perplexed, her heart suddenly throbbing in her chest. Again, her throat feels sharp, a heavy knot curled in its depths. She just doesn't know what to do. She cares for him, but...but...

With a deep frown, Sarah tries to peel herself out of the bed she'd been confined to, sheets tossed aside as she tries to stand on her feet. It's a chore and a half, her efforts marked by labored breaths as she clutches in grief to the adjacent bedside table. "W-wait..." she protests, trying to hold her weight up, despite the sharp pain running through her body.

"I-I'm.../I'm/ the one who s-should apologize, Leo..."

Leo's hand is on the doorknob by the time Sarah speaks up... but, sure enough, he hesitates. "No. And don't get up," he says firmly, without turning to look back. "You'll only hurt yourself more."

Or me more, he adds mentally, in a bit of melodramatic self-pity. It was stupid of him, he realizes with increasing certainty, to ever try to tell her, even in so honest a fashion. It wasn't long after he met Sarah that he realized the feelings she had... he shouldn't have thought he could change those. He had just hoped that... that if he told her how /he/ felt, maybe she'd come to her senses. She couldn't ever... not with /him/...

As soon as he thinks it, he's mentally scolding himself for it. Why couldn't she? Because he thinks it would be... what, unfair to him? Life has never been fair to him; even if he's right, why should he expect it to start now? And he's always liked her more; he took her with him to the Department of Peace. Why couldn't they be together?

"Just tell me why," he requests, still facing the door. "Him and I... we're not... that different." Except that one of us is more successful, and a better pilot, and smarter, and more handsome, and taller, and- Leo's grip on the doorknob tightens, as within his chest, a sensation begins that feels very much like his stomach attempting to choke his heart to death.

It's too late; by the time he speaks Sarah has already begun prying her body off the bed, forcing it to move as it shouldn't. She should be resting, but right now that's the last thing on her mind. Right now, all she wants to do is get up and chase after him. She feels incredibly awful. She knows she shouldn't, but...

Propped up against the small cart, Sarah just frowns through the pain. "Leo, p-please," she weakly beseeches of the young pilot--the young commander, one of her commanders, even. "I...I am very s-sorry, I didn't mean t-to hit you..." Her words are sincere, as is the look of embarrassment and anguish on her face. "Just--"

He cuts her off with a request, his back still to the door. Widening her eyes slightly, the young Newtype just listens. When he elaborates, however, she immediately knows what he's talking about. He's speaking of their Admiral--of Paptimus Scirocco. Immediately Sarah's thin lips pull into a deep frown.

Yet, she says nothing. Not immediately. She frowns even deeper...and then tries to move from the table and bed, toward the door. It's a slow effort, but she seems determined.

"It isn't a-about that, who is d-different, Leo," the young woman insists as she shuffles. "It's...i-it's just that..." Pausing to lean against the wall, an incredibly sad look crosses her face, green eyes filling with tears as she just stares at the floor. She knows her infatuation with the Man from Jupiter is silly, and her feelings aren't entirely reciprocated. After all, she's a /kid/! But the things he says...the things he does... There has to be hope for her, right? If she holds out...maybe...

"Leo," she replies, her words quivering as she struggles to speak. Lifting her arms, she grips gingerly at her wounded side. It hurts a lot, but she has to keep strong.

"I care...for you both. I do...but. .."

Sinking a little against the wall, she sounds incredibly defeated and pained as she confesses:

"I met...him first..."

That... what?

Leo doesn't know whether to be relieved, or insulted, or angry, or... what. It just seems like such a silly reason. Definitely unfair. Arbitrary, even. But... what's he supposed to do about it? It's not like he can argue the point, not without being... well, an enormous asshole. And she says she cares about him, but...

Does that really matter, if things have to be this way? What good is it if he's kept at arm's length? Everyone who he thought cared about him is being taken from him, or pushing him away. Do they really care about him, or are they just... pitying him, trying to spare his feelings?

He doesn't need their pity. He doesn't need them. They never cared, not really, they can't have. Not Sarah, not Rei, none of them, all the way back to his own parents. No one except... her...

... and he's abandoned her. How long has it been, since he even thought about her? Months, at least. She's the only one who ever cared, who ever helped him. She was always there for him, when he needed her... and then he couldn't protect her, he left her in the hands of that, that son of a bitch...

He has to get her back. Has to protect her. She's the only one who cares. He doesn't want to lose that.

He doesn't want to be alone.

"I'm going," is his only response to Sarah's statement. It comes out a little more coldly than he intended, thanks to the weight of the collapse of the house of cards that is his psyche, fallen again without even being anything close to fully rebuilt after Rei's death. "Goodbye."

Leo wrenches the door open, steps out of the room, and closes the door behind him.