"You're finally awake. How was the rest?"
He looks at the stranger who's image is still quite fuzzy but he assumes it's the same person who he had last seen before losing consciousness at the pier and took him to wherever they are at the moment.
There were no ropes nor other means of restraints that binds him but he feels immobile, and despite the searing pain from all the cuts and bruises he's had he can only thrash around wildly in his head. No bandages covered his wounds; no cloth has cleaned his body. And the weight of dried blood on his skin felt heavier with the thoughts of what he had done to live.
The stranger was not there to help, that has become much more obvious.
"Lily? Violet? Hyacinth? Hmmm…. What should I call you? Hm?"
All that were said were names of flowers, and now that he felt more clear-headed what welcomed his sight was such a youthful face, yet fear starts taking over.
"You can't choose too, right? Well that friend over there is named Juniper, she's quite friendly, I assure you, though she can't be bothered right now."
He felt warm hands force his head to face a blank wall, and his mind wandered to the possibility of the person behind him being a crazed one, or if there really is something in front of them that's just camouflaged itself. Either one is not an answer he prefers to hear.
"You can't see, can you? Do you still remember how it started?"
He felt eyes staring into him before returning its attention to the wall. They were both in place and he's not moving in any way to escape yet he still felt hunted, being toyed before getting captured without a fight.
"Some keep on living though they don't want to… others who deserve to live gets cut off short. Shouldn't we, somehow, mess it around for a bit?"
The smile that graced the stranger's face looked too bright for the choice of words he made, yet for some reason it calmed him down. And he knows he should be panicking right now, the logical side of his mind telling his flight instinct to flare up yet he's slowly starting to feel at ease.
"…how does it feel? Better, isn't it? I need to go for now. You might get bitten by some rats or something else, but it won't kill you anyways. Don't worry. After all, Juniper will keep you company. I'll be greeting some old friends first then come back. Alright?"
As he was facing the other side of the room, he can only know that the other person had finally left after hearing the sound of door creaking and closing once again, then he's left in total darkness.
And he could only hear the sound of breathing.
But it's not his alone.
--
"You're awake! I found this comics here and I didn't expect it'll just be stuck and used as a door stopper when it's an edition that- I'm being loud again, aren't I?"
He purses his lips and turns his eyes away from her who was looking at him sharply. She did felt kind of irritated with how he greeted someone who just woke up but it's not the reason for her stare. Night has taken over and it only meant they were left defenseless in a house that could easily be intruded in the middle of the night without any prior preparation whatsoever.
She was never the careless type and she wanted to beat herself for being unconsciously relaxed enough to lose sight of possible imminent danger.
But things had already happened and if he's nothing but part of her imagination, as what she's forcing herself to believe in, isn't it just her own fault at this point?
"…Are you…angry?"
She blinked once. Twice and proceed to move around instead to check on the locks of the doors and windows, before proceeding to the upper floor once again to check upon other possible paths one can take.
He sighed in place upon receiving no reaction, as how she usually reacts, and decided to follow her around.
"Hey, I just remembered something."
She turns around quickly that it looked like she almost lost balance but the only thing she can think of is what he was about to say. It might be something she wanted to hear, but decides not to. He notices her eager reaction and he almost laughed but decided to say sorry in advance as he was about to disappoint her.
"Sorry, it's kind of, it's not about how things started. It's just, it's night now and I just thought of the time about me being on this plane, it was a night flight so the lights were dimmed down upon taking off. I kept on staring outside as I got a window seat, all the city lights fading like fairy lights, and no one was beside me. The place I left looked alive, and you know what I thought at the very moment?"
He laughed gently before continuing.
"I thought, wouldn't it be good to just fall right there and then? It's not like I had a dramatic life. Or a tragic one. There were hard times, which we all do experience at some point in time anyways, yet all I could think of was, what it would feel like to fall from that height. I was crazy, aren't I?"
To meld into nothingness. It does sound bleak, yet, wouldn't disappearing like a wisp of smoke much more comforting than ending up being torn apart by life itself?
"But then I also thought, it'll still happen anyways sooner or later, might as well not take the effort away from the grim reaper."
His tone was still the usual sunny one, but his eyes looked emptier. And she tries to ignore it, which she successfully does because why would she be attached to something that popped out like a bubble blown into existence which can burst out at any moment?
"This doesn't sound like me, isn't it? Maybe I'm still feeling sentimental by that radio earlier, I wonder if we'll ever hear that voice in whichever place we go to next. If we do meet them, wouldn't that be funny?"
She looks out the nearest window and feels comfort with seeing the same scenario of an empty street.
"And maybe, you know, just maybe, we can chat about all the bullshit we went through… what the hell am I saying. I'm starting to lose my marbles too, aren't I?"
She sits back on the couch where sleep had taken over her earlier and looks back at him who now looks more tense, hands clenching, unclenching and now shaking, before scratching his arms as if he's bitten by bugs yet there's no bumps and she remembers his words about not being able to drink for a while now.
Her eyes caught sight of a blob of orange fur and remembers of the cat which, for some reason, is still staying there alive and well. It hasn't purred or made other sound aside from its little steps on the floor. She walks near it and leads it towards him, who got surprised upon feeling a weight taking over his lap and realizes it's the cat from earlier.
It doesn't make him forget about the withdrawal, but it helps enough to not just cause a mess around.
Temporary comfort.
And she sits back with her eyes looking outside the window to return to her own temporary comfort.
Just a temporary, short-lived comfort.