Meralynn Harper lifted her gaze from the cadaver stew. Something had obviously gone wrong with the heating units in the Hospital, and the less time she stared at it, the better. A smile pricked her lips beneath that chestnut watch as she noted Shad's entrance into the cafeteria. "Evening ... I hope yours is going well?"
Shad walked with nothing less than his usual quiet grace, which had only recently returned. He smiled politely to the aide with a quiet chuckle. "Evening ... I'm resting well since that I've awakened from that coma I got Wednesday eve. No more pain."
Mera's eyes widened in surprise. She had not known of his condition, or subsequent rising from. Her voice was edged with her apparent shock and surprise. "You were in a coma? No one told me ... You are well?"
He simply nodded. "Yeah. The virus went it's course." He eased his way towards the brighter light of the cafeteria, his eyes dilated a solid black.
Her smile lingered, as did her restrained urge to rise and embrace him. "Shad ... that is wonderful."
The doors remained open by the figure who stood poised between them. Justice had returned and bore gifts. He retrieved a crate from the clawed hands of a Syrynykk and set it upon his shoulder. The reptile disappeared and the man of perpetual shadows entered the cafeteria. He answered Shad's dinner query without so much as an announcement of his arrival. "Corpse stew ... with blood sauce." He smirked, biting into an apple.
Mera snapped out of her daze with his words, her mind still focused diligently on the apple in Justice's hand. Almost before she could help herself, she rose from her chair and took hesitant steps towards the unknown man. The crate was set on the floor at his feet as he watched her approach. The look in her eye was not unlike that which he had seen in others. He smirked and pointed to the crate. "Take a look." He continued to speak, as she peered into crate. "The crate is yours, Mera. The hospital's I mean." What greeted Mera's eye when she tipped her gaze into the crate. There were fruits and vegetables of all measure; carrots, potatoes, apples, peaches, pears, and still more bounty buried beneath.
She pulled out a ripe, round peach and darted her eyes back up to his, a smile sliding across her mouth. "Why did you bring this to us?"
"Because it's needed here. I intend to bring more as the harvest continues, and there is more surplus."
"Where did they come from?" Never before had Mera seen such fruits. Sure, the hydroponics garden did have some flesh bearing trees, but they could never fully reproduce the taste of naturally grown food. And this crate was full of just that; naturally grown fruit that had come from the outside. Any further words were muffled as she bit down into the peach. Her teeth slid into the meat of the fruit easily as the juice trailed down her chin. The smile grew as she wiped the sticky juice away.
Shad too had become curious at the man and his parcel. He walked over to the crate and looked at it's contents.
"Have one ... ," offered Mera. "Might do you some good."
The quiet voice that was the only one Justice seemed to own spoke again. "Yes, Shad. Try one. Just reach in and take it." He looked again to Mera. "That is my secret, Mera."
Shad smiled warmly and nodded, reaching in to claim an apple. He wondered too where the man had come across the produce, but he did not voice his question.
"Thank you sir." Mera lowered her voice to a softer tone, her manners not quite escaping her.
"No thanks are needed. Besides, it is I who should thank you."
The aide glanced up at the stranger again. "Did we help you, sir? I don't recognize your face."
The oft present smirk made another appearance under the mirrored glasses. "You people have helped me more than you will ever know, Mera."
Strange, how he knew her name, when she was unaware of his. Meralynn paused in thought for a moment, before she passed it off. If he had been here before, it was entirely probable that he had learned it from others. Another bite of the peach was gone, her teeth scraping along the pit, a smile breaking anew on her lips. For a split second, she remembered what it was like to be a child. Free from the ravages and despair of war. For that brief moment, it all slipped away from her memory, leaving her standing in the light that only the young know.
Justice must have noted her expression, as his next question was addressed to her. "The peach is good?"
"It is wonderful! Thank you so much!"
A canteen was unlatched from his belt. He uncapped it and raised it to his lips, the spring water cascading down his throat. His sip finished, he handed the canteen out to Mera. "How would you like real water? Real natural spring water and not this recycled stuff you have here?"
Something occurred to Mera, as an afterthought, and her eyes widened. "How do you get this stuff? Is it safe?"
An exotic tone came from Justice as he chuckled. It was doubtful that any alive had ever heard that particular sound from him. "Very safe. You have the word of Justice. Would you like the water?"
Her eyes shone bright with her amazement, as they blinked a few times. "You ... were serious?" She had to puzzle over who this man was. She had no inkling as to who he was, to whom he was connected, his past or anything else about him. Yet, oddly enough, she felt comfortable around him, trusted him. "All right. I will have some, if you are sure it is all right."
A shrill whistle from between Justice's lips pierced her ears, followed by the entrance of a large Syrynykk, bearing two more crates. The reptilian creature set them upon a table and conferred the delivery in a revered tone. "Here is the water you requested, Son of Derell."
Shad looked at Justice, one question being asked at least. "Son of Derell?"
A sound of groaning wood was heard as Justice pried the crates open to reveal stacked jars of the same water that was contained in the canteen. He reached in and handed one to Mera. "Krr'rkk ... I told you about that," he said to the Syrynykk.
The lizard man ignored the statement. "Is that all you require, Son of Derell?"
"Yes, Krr'rkk."
The lizard nodded and exited the cafeteria. He brushed past the entering Bliss, a light hiss given as her greeting. She nodded back as she made her way to the counter, an inspection of the food being due.
Justice turned his attention to Bliss, the others utterly forgotten. As Mera brought the bottle of water to her lips, he knew that they had enough there to keep them occupied and that he was no longer needed. "Bliss?"
Bliss Lovejoy turned her sight away from the food, as she fully planned on leaving it untouched. "Yes?"
"We have things to discuss later." He looked back over his shoulder at Mera and Shad. "Enjoy it ... the water I can always provide more of. The fruits and vegetables however, will stop coming after so long. The people there must eat too."
"It was most kind of you to give us this much, Mr. ...?", asked Meralynn.
"Justice. Only Justice. Please don't call me Son of Derell or Hand of Derell. That grows annoying after so long."
Mera smiled and took another sip of water. "Justice."
"Odd ...," said Shad. "Who'd think such would exist anymore ... a pleasant surprise." He nodded at the latter half of Justice's statement. "Just as much as if everyone started calling me Son of Lurudd or Venexx."
As Bliss found a seat and sipped her newly acquired cup of coffee, Justice glanced over at her with the mention of 'Venexx.' "It's not easy to take, trust me." He observed the derisive snort Bliss gave, as she had heard the same mention. Justice nodded to the crates and began to turn away. "Treasure these well, Mera, for they are rare gifts indeed. Now ... if you will excuse me." The trench coat swirled as he turned away fully and made his way to Bliss' table to join her. He sat across from her and regarded her as always. "Where's Grendel?"
She took a sip of her coffee, her eyes trained on her boots. "Don't know. I haven't seen him since ... well, in a while."
"The two of you are becoming good friends it appears."
"It appears so." Her words were more curt with him than usual. He suspected the reason and delved into his suspicions.
"I know you're angry, Bliss."
Mera watched Justice approach Bliss, and lifted her gaze towards Shad. "Do you feel any different? Since the coma, that is?"
He shrugged slightly. "Yeah."
She recapped the water and set it upon a table. "Oh? How so?"
Black eyes were cast awkwardly about as his fingers curled around the small, dark crystal that adorned his neck. "It's hard to explain. Less crowded I guess. I can 'see' more clearly."
A once level tawny brow was arched at his comment. "Less crowded? How?"
Shad tapped the suspended crystal. "Less crowded. Those voices."
It had already been noted, that crystal. Mera's eyes were drawn to it and she reached for it.
Bliss glanced up from her boots into his mirrored glasses. "Nope," she said softly. "Already past angry."
He nodded. "I don't blame you." His already quiet voice dropped yet lower, to a more intimate tone that was privy only to himself and Bliss. "Do you know where I was last night?"
She shook her head. "No, I didn't go back to the cabin."
"I was here ... all night. I spoke with Terra ... and I said some things to her ... things I'm damn sure not proud of."
"That was not smart." The words came softly, as Bliss turned down her mouth into a frown.
"No, it wasn't," he confirmed, "but she understood. Bliss ... I'm getting out of control ... and I didn't see it until last night. Bliss ... I'm losing sight of myself. Falling too deep into this Justice identity ... and my 'destiny' as the Son of Derell."
She took a sip of coffee, and managed to keep a neutral tone to her voice. "I know."
The crystal slid lightly against Mera's fingers as she inspected it carefully. "Where did you get this?", she asked Shad. "It is beautiful." Light cast off of it's surface in a fantastic display of refraction and reflection. The colors within seemed to swirl from black to the intermediate shades of gray, to the total absence thereof, rendering it clear.
"It was my father's. I found it on his body in a research facility."
The subject was quickly shifted to another unpleasant thought, at least for Mera. She had been unable to stop thinking about it, though she wished she would. "So ... I guess you will be leaving us soon ..."
Shad sighed quietly and nodded, another uncomfortable glance. "Yeah ..." He could not find any other words to say, as they fled from his mind and escaped.
Her lower lip was captured softly between her teeth and she nodded, a glance given to her hands as they played absently with each other. She knew not what the answer to her question may be, but she raised a hopeful look into his eyes. "You ... will come back and visit ... won't you?"
The load off of his shoulders was almost visibly lifted. "Yeah, I promise." He did not see the feeling of relief that washed over Mera as he continued. "I have a connection with this place. And a debt to fulfill."
Mera smiled at him, the connection between the both obvious to anyone who cared to take a moment to notice. "Well, ... you better not stay away too long. I would start worrying."
Her smile was returned with one of warmth, though the hint of mischief played about it. "I may get in trouble easily, but I survive ... "
Justice sat back in his chair, a quiet sigh issued from his lips. "And you tried to show me that. Instead of understanding, I grew angry. I apologize, bliss. You women are always right, damn you." He smirked both at his statement and the faint smattering of the other conversation in the room.
"Not always," responded Bliss. "But as I am on the outside, observing, I do tend to notice things that you miss."
"I tend to miss a lot of things ... I need someone to point things like that out to me." Dammit, he hated to think that he needed anyone. And he refused to admit that he needed her in particular. If the truth were to be told, he had grown to like her and would hate to see her leave ... be without her. Especially, and more painfully, if it were on his account, and what he had done. Maybe she knew this. Maybe she didn't. Either way, he was going to do whatever was necessary to ensure that she stayed right where she was.
A small smirk crawled it's way across her face. "You sure do. Maybe Krr- whatever, will serve you in that job. No ... wait ... he thinks you are indeed the son of a god."
His smirk matched her own line for line in the sarcasm. "I don't need a yes-Syrynykk."
"Nah," she continued to bait him, "you just need to be reminded, when everything is said and done, that you are still 'only' human."
Justice nodded. "It's everything that has been happening lately ... so much ... so fast."
"Ever notice things happening slow?" she retorted. "Life changes in an instant. You have to adapt."
"I don't want to," came the stubborn reply. "Look at what I had before ..." The statement remained unfinished as his voice trailed off.
She grinned as though she knew she had won. This round at least, anyway. "If you can't adapt yourself, adapt the situation to your liking."
"Wouldn't I like to? Can't take her out of the hospital though." He sighed lightly, a habit that had only recently surfaced. It was obvious that he was thinking one-sided, with his own slant, but that was something else that escaped his attention; something else he had missed. He knew she would point that out to him, even if it was later. After all, that was what she was there for.
After a brief absence while attending a patient, Mera again returned to Shad. Her attempt at sneaking up on him was averted by his improving sight. He glanced back to her with a smile. "I'm alert ... most of the time."
A light pout affected Mera's countenance as she sank back into her chair. "That new 'sight' of yours ruins my fun."
He only smirked lightly and shrugged. He smiled in polite greeting to Dr. Terra Skye, who had just entered the cafeteria. As per her custom, she sought a cup of tea prior to the start of her shift.
The doctor returned his smile and nodded. "Hello." She walked to the counter and made herself a small cup of tea before she rested in a chair. "How are you tonight?", she smiled to Mera.
"I am all right. And you?"
"I am all right. Been busy this evening?" She glanced at Shad, his previous state well known to her.
"Not really," came Mera's almost dry reply, as though giving a report. "The ER has been dead, but Mr. ... Uh ... Justice, he brought in a crate of fruit and some water. Real water. Not the hospital stuff." She smiled at the memory of the intoxicating effects of the proffered provisions.
"Ahh a piece of fruit." The doctor smiled in thought. "Now that I would like." Her attentions turned away from the soon to be departing aide and rested on Shad. "How are you feeling?"
"Better. The pain is completely gone. The virus has completely reworked my systems. And, I'm alive."
Terra nodded. "Your blood work is most ... curious. But then you know that I am sure."
"Yeah. That stuff is still in me."
"Yes, You say a virus. How ... or do you have any idea how you caught it?"
Mera stood quietly to listen to the ensuing conversation. It became obvious that no clear route of transmission could be discerned. True, Shad had touched the last victim of it, his father, but that did not give a means of the virus', or symbiot, whatever it was, transmission from patient to patient. It was always harder to fight something when you did not even know how to stop others from getting it. It was also unknown how Shad's father had contracted the ... systemic disorder. He had been a genetic experiment, which lent Shad some minor enhanced abilities, but not much more. With all of the engineered chemistry that had to have been floating within his father, it was any one's guess as to what exactly comprised the antigen. Stranger still, was that the thing which wreaked so much havoc on the younger, was not what killed the elder. His life was taken in far more a mechanical means; the usual methods that Death troopers employed to snuff the life spark from someone.
Mera drifted in and out of the conversation between the doctor and patient. She stifled a yawn and rested her head against the table. She had to study, but perhaps a nap before she did so. Yes, a nap. That would do her a world of good. It was not long before she gave into the impulse and her eyes slowly closed. The sounds of the cafeteria ... the soft murmur of the voices, the occasional clang of metal on metal as someone served themselves dinner, the scrape of chairs as people sat at tables and stood back up ... lulled her to sleep and finally faded from her senses as the night's torpor claimed her.
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