(Untitled)

[mommaslilangeal]

After talking to the nurses and calling home to inform Sephiroth of the schedule, Angeal was finally ready to take the younger Sephiroth home. He wheeled a wheelchair into the teen's room, stopping beside the bed and offering an arm for Sephiroth to lean on. "They'll let you out of here, now. We can go home."

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[atinyremnant]

Home. Hah. I'll never have a real home. Seph didn't say what he was thinking out loud, but his sour expression seemed to be saying it for him as he turned his head to look at Angeal, tapping his fingertips almost agitatedly on the mattress next to him. He'd improved quite a bit in the time since he'd been checked into the hospital, losing nearly all of the deathly pallor that had haunted his skin and growing almost visibly stronger day by day, but there were still problems - little things (or so he considered them), but things that he'd dimly heard the various doctors and nurses who had tended him discussing in recent days, talking about how keeping him there might be the best option after all, and he now found himself besieged by a grudging curiosity as to why he wasn't going to be kept there after all. Not that he wanted to stay, but he had been certain he was going to be kept 'locked up' (in his opinion) for a lot longer and couldn't quite comprehend why he'd be allowed to leave

[mommaslilangeal]

"Because I told them I'd care for you. I told them you didn't deserve to have to be in this place for any longer than you had to be." He didn't move, still holding his arm out for Seph.

"If you don't want to think of my home as yours, that's all right," he added lovingly.

[atinyremnant]

"They listened?" He says it pretty much to himself, but still audible, giving a derisive little snort and pointedly ignoring the arm. "Quit treating me like a child, I don't need your help."

He doesn't really mean to be so angry with Angeal, and it shows in the pain that laces his voice at his own sharp tone; he's just so tired of being weak and helpless, wanting to be back to normal already, unwilling to accept the fact that 'normal' may be a long time in coming - or may never come again, if he continues on for too long in this mindset of being useless and unable to do much of anything on his own. He is at least struggling against that mindset, however, trying to push himself to hurry up and fully heal already at every opportunity; that includes now, as he gingerly shifts his legs over the edge of the bed opposite from Angeal and lowers his bare feet to the tile floor, wincing at the abrupt shock of cold to his skin and attempting to stand, to take even one step

[mommaslilangeal]

Wordlessly, Angeal catches Sephiroth, almost embracing him in his attempts to keep him from hitting the floor. He tries to guide him into the wheelchair.

He won't respond to either of Seph's statements, knowing that the first was a show of a complaint, and that the second could be found, with time.

[mommaslilangeal]

Angeal caresses Seph's back, tilting Sephiroth away from his chest, to allow the teenager to breathe better. "It's all right. You're here, now." He tries to smile and look comforting, but Angeal always had been terrible at hiding his emotions.

The older Sephiroth shuts his alternate's door, moving to the wheel, again.

[atinyremnant]

"Don't...touch me." He says it tiredly, his voice a rasp, and tries to pull away. "Your hands...are so cold."

[mommaslilangeal]

Strange. They didn't feel cold, to him. But he pulled back, anyway, as the older Sephiroth began driving, once again.

[atinyremnant]

Seph curls up when the hands leave him and leans his heavy-feeling head against the window, though he flinches at the feel of the cool glass on his hot skin.

[atinyremnant]

"Nothing." But he still won't look at Angeal, and sounds almost like he wants to cry.

[mommaslilangeal]

"Seph..." The tone is warm, concerned. Again, he wraps his arms around him and caresses the long silver hair. "What's wrong." It's not a question, so much as a statement; an acknowledgment that he knew Sephiroth was fibbing.

[atinyremnant]

"Since you're so convinced I'm lying, you tell me!" He goes rigid in the embrace, but doesn't pull away from it.

[mommaslilangeal]

He tries to hum soothingly, still holding Seph to him and stroking at his hair. "You went tense, when I was tickling them. Now you're upset. Why?"

[mommaslilangeal]

He opens his mouth to say something, thinks better of it and pushes the plate towards Sephiroth.

[atinyremnant]

Seph bites his lip hard and turns pale, but he isn't recoiling - yet, anyway.

[mommaslilangeal]

Putting his face in his hand, Angeal murmurs, "Would it help if I ate it, too?"

[atinyremnant]

"I...I'm not hungry." He finally turns his face away, knowing it's stupid to be so suspicious of the food but completely unable to help it. "I'm sorry."

[mommaslilangeal]

He notes the tone, wondering why he was so curious about Cloud, then wondering what to tell him. "He is... determined, stronger than he thinks. He is still recovering from many wounds, as we all are." He gives Sephiroth a sad little smile.

[atinyremnant]

Seph frowns slightly, finishes the last of the biscuit and sets the glass aside, flopping down onto his back. "...Tell me about what he's like," he insists, not knowing how else to say it, hoping Angeal will be able to figure out what he means.

[mommaslilangeal]

He blinks. "He... allows his friends a lot more slack than most people would. He gives his enemies none. He is kind, but wary, and he expects too much of himself. But his fearlessness and determination make him a fine leader, at times."

[atinyremnant]

Seph's lips twist slightly in a frustrated frown, but he doesn't say anything else, gesturing for Angeal to go on. Maybe he'll figure out what he wants to hear if Angeal just keeps describing.