Day 95, Evening

[loyallygiven]

Ken spent most of the day unconscious - sleeping. He'd been dead to the world until around noon, and then drifted in and out for a while longer. Then, for about an hour, he lay in bed, staring at the wall, thinking. Thinking about yesterday, and Julia and how she was never coming back, and wondering if Gunter made it out of that encounter okay.

Comments

[sardonic_beauty]

Gunter was tired, but tremendously hungry. His stomach had been rumbling for hours and it was to the point he couldn't even sleep through it, even though his body still yearned to rest.

He did notice that at some point Josak must have cleaned the room. He wasn't sure if the condition or the fact Josak cleaned it was the most surprising. Unless he had the maids come do it, though knowing some of what was in there, he doubted he'd let them.

The knock at the door was a bit of a surprise, though he could only hope it was someone bringing him food or drink. He wasn't in the best of appearances, but then again, he wasn't in a condition to be impressive. His shirt removed, he was constantly torn between pulling up the blankets and pushing them aside. His hair was matted, yet never seemed to knot. He looked obviously tired, but everything was worth it in the end, right?

He glanced down at the watch in his hand as he called out to the door in an obviously weakened voice. "Please, come in."

[loyallygiven]

Ken hesitated, then pushed the door open slowly, peeking into the room before actually making any move to enter. He didn't see any sign of the big redhead, which was good. The fewer people, the better. But Gunter didn't seem as though he were doing so well. (He looked a bit like how Ken felt, actually.)

"Um, sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you..." He fidgeted. "I can come back later...?"

[sardonic_beauty]

"No, it's fine. Please, stay." He gestured to Josak's made bed. "I've been finding this bedrest thing rather mundane. I don't plan on making this a steady thing. At least, not unless there's someone to join me in it." He smiled weakly, to try to let on that he was (mostly) kidding.

"So what brings you here today?"

[loyallygiven]

Ken moved stiffly to the bed and dropped onto it, glad for the opportunity to get off his feet. He looked confused by Gunter's comment for a brief moment. And then he got it, and glanced off to the side with a squirm and a blush.

"I, um... I thought I should come and thank you," he started. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there." What did happen was bad enough. "And I wanted to see if you were okay." It seemed not, and he felt guilty for that.

[loyallygiven]

Ken listened, and appeared thoughtful. Up until the maid and her crying made him uncomfortable and he looked away. He did grab his napkin and shove it in her general direction. He wasn’t without empathy, but he didn’t find the story upsetting. It had a happy-ish ending, didn’t it? Gunter spoke in past tense, so he made the assumption his “he” was no longer around

[sardonic_beauty]

He noticed the girl when she took Ken's napkin and ran off. He shook that off and started into his fish.

"I kept trying for a while. I can't count the times he pulled a knife out of my hands or refused to let me bathe alone. Eventually I was tired of arguing and fighting so I stopped little by little. I wasn't really any happier at first but for whatever reason, he kept trying to show me things worth living for. While some things were shorter termed and some not as important, I ultimately just wanted to live on to be with him." He chuckled briefly, "He was a fool to waste so much energy trying to give me a future."

[loyallygiven]

"Oh." Wolf hadn't let him bathe alone either. Though he thought that was more of a standard procedures thing in regards to prisoners, and not just Wolf being a bother. And, as he said back then, he wouldn't have drown himself, so the whole thing had been unnecessary. "Why do you think he was a fool? What about now? He's gone, isn't he? What do you live for now?"

He wasn't paying any mind to the food that had been left for him.

[sardonic_beauty]

"He was a fool because my entire world was him. I had no aspirations outside of whatever we decided together. Before he died, he made me promise to continue to be happy. To do things that let me smile, even for a little while. I wanted to fall back into despair, but I couldn't face him in the afterlife if I did that. So, what I live for now, is pleasure. To be able to smile and know that someday, when we meet again, I can say I kept my promise."

He poked around at the food on his plate. He was starving, but also feeling a but lovesick. His relations were more often good, but nothing has been able to feel like when they were together.