It had been good to confirm that Claire was all right, but Peter couldn't help but feel like things were always at least a little tense between them these days. It probably wasn't that shocking when the institute was giving them all sorts of things to worry over or argue about, and yet he wished that they could get to a point where they were at least comfortable with each other, even if not with the rest of the situation
( ... )
Max woke up here again. Again. As hazy and indistinct as his thoughts were, he could think back and remember that this wasn't the first time he'd been lucid. He'd broken through his delusions before, remembered who he really was... but then he'd gone right back into them, it seems. Relapsed.
And now, he was back again. He was himself, again. This was not as much of a comfort to him as he might have thought. Max Vyer was far less capable of dealing with any of this than Admiral ZEX, and he was told that that was why he'd come up with the whole delusional persona in the first place, but right now he didn't like the alternative. He was still in this horrible hospital, the guards were jerks, he didn't like all these new rules or any rules in general, his head hurt and now he had to take a shower with a bunch of other guys and he didn't want to do that either. ZEX would have enjoyed it, but it just made Max feel... uncomfortable. Way too uncomfortable
( ... )
Suddenly being addressed like he was in the cafeteria sitting down to a meal rather than washing off his naked body was, to say the least, still a startling thing to go through for Peter. He'd always tried to avoid this kind of stuff back during gym activities back in high school, after all
( ... )
Oh god, why did he even say that? Now this guy probably thought he was a weirdo or something. He'd have to try and play it cool, like there wasn't anything going on here. Since there wasn't anything going on, as Max made a very determined effort to not look at his shower buddy for more than a few seconds at a time
( ... )
For a moment, Peter felt kind of bad. Was it just him, or was this guy extremely skittish? For a second he felt guilty for starting a conversation in the first place, until he realized that -- wait, he hadn't even started it. That just made things even more confusing, since why would the stranger have spoken up if he didn't want to talk
( ... )
God, this guy probably thought he was crazy now. Not that he hadn't been the past couple weeks, and actually, this guy was probably crazy himself considering where they all were, but Max still felt self-conscious about it. This was a lot harder to do without ZEX's confidence behind him.
"Oh, you know..." Max tried to sound nonchalant, glancing at him every now and then for a brief second. Just to see what he was doing. "Just, uh, these... I don't know." This was sort of hard to explain, now that he thought about it. "It's like these 'creatures from another dimension' or something." He laughed nervously, to show how ridiculous he thought he sounded and to hopefully reassure this guy that he wasn't totally insane. "I can't see them or anything, but at night I get convinced they're attacking me, and..." He gestured vaguely at himself. "This sort of thing happens, you know. Hopefully it'll stop soon."
Nothing to worry about here. Max wasn't crazy, after all.
Peter was having a pretty tough time reading this situation, which was rare for him. It was hard to tell where this other patient was coming from. He was so nervous, so uncertain about everything he said, like he was reevaluating each word that came out of his mouth. Peter did his best to focus on his shower while still carrying on the conversation, though he had to admit he was more concerned with this other patient than his own hygiene at the moment.
Invisible monsters. That didn't really fit into anything that he'd seen and the wounds didn't match up with the snarling claws and teeth that were the norm here. Peter also hadn't seen anyone else with scratches quite like that, and he almost had to wonder if self-harm was involved.
"This sort of thing happens, you know." But did it, really
( ... )
God, he hoped this guy didn't think he was totally insane. Who would have thought that being in a mental hospital for this long would make holding a conversation this hard? If anything else, it reminded him that he needed to get out of here. Maybe if he told some of the doctors that he was feeling better...
"Help?" Max was a little surprised at the offer at first. He hadn't been expecting much except a roll of the eyes, but this guy was offering to help him! Even though from what he remembered of the past days, there was nothing that could be done to stop... whatever it was that was happening, he wasn't about to turn the offer down. He'd feel so much better if he had someone to lean on! "Oh, I'd love some help! That'd be great, thanks a lot." A moment. "Oh, uh, my name is Max. What's yours?" If they were going to be friends from now on he should probably know the other guy's name after all.
For some reason, Peter hadn't expected the answer to be yes. A lot of patients here seemed to feel like they had to handle all of their problems on their own instead of reaching out to their fellow prisoners. That hardly meant that he had made an empty offer, though. If anything, he was glad to have the chance to actually make a difference in someone else's life.
Max was the name. That was normal enough. With how many other strange titles that he'd heard here, it almost stood out more for being so ordinary. "I'm Peter," he replied with a small smile as he started to rinse the shampoo out. This conversation had gotten a little less awkward, at least. "So, what can I do to help? Is there some way to make these things leave you alone?" Chances were that Max didn't know or he would have done something about it already, but Peter was determined to get to the bottom of this if he could.
Fantastic. Max already felt better having someone to lean on. Not take care of him exactly per se, but he always felt better when he wasn't alone
( ... )
Monsters that were bothering Max and get violent at night -- it all sounded like it had to do with the mutated creatures that wandered the halls, and yet it didn't quite make sense at the same time. Especially since they weren't supposed to be around at all during the day and Max was talking about being "lucid."
Peter hadn't really thought about it before, but it almost made sense. Most of them were perfectly sane, but when there was such a large variety of patients, it only stood to reason that a few here or there were really crazy. Which was a sad fact to realize, but at least he was trying to help now.
"Maybe I could drop by and see you tonight, then? They might not bother you as much if someone else is around. And I could clean your wounds up a little too." The scratches weren't all that bad, but there was nothing wrong with giving them a little extra care to prevent infection.
Max was trying to figure out any other way he could have explained what was going on, perhaps a way that wouldn't have made him sound like a lunatic (although to be fair, he did believe he was an alien from outer space only yesterday), but then Peter cut him off midthought
( ... )
More genuine excitement. It was the sort of thing that Peter could never get sick of. There was nothing quite like being appreciated, and he hadn't even done anything yet except for offer his help. It wasn't that others hadn't been grateful to him before, but most of the time they weren't this exuberant about it. It was a nice change
( ... )
Peter didn't seem too weirded out yet, thank god. Max was beyond relieved. He thought he'd been screwing up this conversation the whole time, but apparently not quite enough to drive him away! Maybe his luck was changing, a little
( ... )
Max wasn't alone in not knowing how things worked in this place. It seemed like mystery after mystery piled up here, to the point that Peter had just decided to give up on puzzling through most of it. He'd never been the best at that analytical kind of stuff, anyway. For now, it was best to stick to the basics, which for the moment meant helping Max
( ... )
"Great! I can't wait to see you." Max hoped he didn't sound too excited at the idea. He just really didn't want to deal with the night alone, particularly when he was like this... whatever it was that happened when it got dark, he'd do better with someone else around. Ideally it'd be someone he knew a little better, but he'd take what he could get.
"See you later..." A little late, and probably unnecessary, but oh well. Peter probably wouldn't mind. Max went to get dry himself, which was going to be a frustrating process if the tenderness of his many scratches was any indication. At least the night was one thing he didn't have to worry about now!
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And now, he was back again. He was himself, again. This was not as much of a comfort to him as he might have thought. Max Vyer was far less capable of dealing with any of this than Admiral ZEX, and he was told that that was why he'd come up with the whole delusional persona in the first place, but right now he didn't like the alternative. He was still in this horrible hospital, the guards were jerks, he didn't like all these new rules or any rules in general, his head hurt and now he had to take a shower with a bunch of other guys and he didn't want to do that either. ZEX would have enjoyed it, but it just made Max feel... uncomfortable. Way too uncomfortable ( ... )
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"Oh, you know..." Max tried to sound nonchalant, glancing at him every now and then for a brief second. Just to see what he was doing. "Just, uh, these... I don't know." This was sort of hard to explain, now that he thought about it. "It's like these 'creatures from another dimension' or something." He laughed nervously, to show how ridiculous he thought he sounded and to hopefully reassure this guy that he wasn't totally insane. "I can't see them or anything, but at night I get convinced they're attacking me, and..." He gestured vaguely at himself. "This sort of thing happens, you know. Hopefully it'll stop soon."
Nothing to worry about here. Max wasn't crazy, after all.
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Invisible monsters. That didn't really fit into anything that he'd seen and the wounds didn't match up with the snarling claws and teeth that were the norm here. Peter also hadn't seen anyone else with scratches quite like that, and he almost had to wonder if self-harm was involved.
"This sort of thing happens, you know." But did it, really ( ... )
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"Help?" Max was a little surprised at the offer at first. He hadn't been expecting much except a roll of the eyes, but this guy was offering to help him! Even though from what he remembered of the past days, there was nothing that could be done to stop... whatever it was that was happening, he wasn't about to turn the offer down. He'd feel so much better if he had someone to lean on! "Oh, I'd love some help! That'd be great, thanks a lot." A moment. "Oh, uh, my name is Max. What's yours?" If they were going to be friends from now on he should probably know the other guy's name after all.
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Max was the name. That was normal enough. With how many other strange titles that he'd heard here, it almost stood out more for being so ordinary. "I'm Peter," he replied with a small smile as he started to rinse the shampoo out. This conversation had gotten a little less awkward, at least. "So, what can I do to help? Is there some way to make these things leave you alone?" Chances were that Max didn't know or he would have done something about it already, but Peter was determined to get to the bottom of this if he could.
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Peter hadn't really thought about it before, but it almost made sense. Most of them were perfectly sane, but when there was such a large variety of patients, it only stood to reason that a few here or there were really crazy. Which was a sad fact to realize, but at least he was trying to help now.
"Maybe I could drop by and see you tonight, then? They might not bother you as much if someone else is around. And I could clean your wounds up a little too." The scratches weren't all that bad, but there was nothing wrong with giving them a little extra care to prevent infection.
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"See you later..." A little late, and probably unnecessary, but oh well. Peter probably wouldn't mind. Max went to get dry himself, which was going to be a frustrating process if the tenderness of his many scratches was any indication. At least the night was one thing he didn't have to worry about now!
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