trans_9 | Awkward Turtle [closed]

Just as he suspected. There really wasn't much to do, even on a giant crazy spaceship like this one. There was a media library, but you could only watch movies for so long before you remembered that you were on a giant crazy spaceship and it was stupid to be watching movies.

That's what made Steve go check out the sensoriums, if only so he could work off a little steam on some kind of training course. That seemed like a popular option. Thinking on it too much had made him ask if it could create the images of people, too, and since then he'd been trying to decide how creepy it would be to go see virtual versions of his parents. Whether it would be more therapeutic than necessitating therapy afterwards was still up in the air.

He wandered the halls glumly, trying to get his mind off of it and forlornly thinking how nice it would be if somebody he knew was somehow aboard too.

He did not expect to get his wish thirty seconds later, when somebody walked by and he immediately recognized her.

"Wait... Claire?"

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There was a lot he could've said to that, but he'll argue with her later. He had business to take care of.

"Lead the way."

Irritated into silence, Claire didn't say anything further, and just led Leon back the way she had come. Once they arrived at the conference room she'd left Steve in she forced herself to wipe the frown off her face and knocked on the door to announce them, before slowly opening it.

"Steve? I'm back. How're you doing?"

Since Claire left, Steve had been determined to make himself seem like he wasn't the emotional mess he felt like he was. He kept letting her promise run through his mind. She wouldn't let anything happen to him. More than ever, he was glad she was around.

When he heard the door open he turned around, looking his usual sullen self but otherwise mostly calm. "I'm fine," he said, glancing over at Leon. "What's up?"

Leon managed to shift from a grim expression to something more neutral. The goal was to get him down to medical peacefully, so he was willing to let Claire take the lead.

For the moment, anyway.

Claire took long enough to throw a look at Leon to make sure he wasn't going to upset Steve before she smiled, opening the door a little wider.

"Steve, this is Leon. Leon, Steve." She gestured back and forth between the two, before shrugging her shoulders slightly. "We're going to head to medical now, if you're ready." Claire was going to take great pains to make sure Steve didn't feel like he was being forced into an unpleasant situation.

Steve glanced uneasily at Leon again and managed to give the very slightest of motions that might suggest he was saying hello.

"Medical?" he echoed her, folding his arms over his chest. "What are they gonna do to me?"

She probably managed to catch him rolling his eyes a little in response. Even in SERIOUS BUSINESS mode, he was still more expressive around Claire.

He managed shift his face back into neutral by the time Steve could see him. He gave the kid a nod, but didn't attempt to enter the room.

Your show, Redfield.

"Just run a couple tests." Don't think Leon wasn't going to hear about the eye-rolling later. Right now though, Claire was trying to keep focused on getting Steve where he needed to go without force. "We need to make sure you're okay."

Steve nodded, then slowly pushed away from the table and stood up, still looking very uneasy.

"What happens if I'm not?" he asked nervously.

"Then we'll see what can be done to help you." And keep the rocket launchers on standby.

"It'll be fine," Claire added, a little flatly, although there was an inflection at the end that was intended as a slight warning to Leon. She'd promised Steve no one would hurt him, and she was going to keep that promise so long as she could. And if he was infected and that meant only keeping it until he was no longer Steve, well.

Steve eyed Leon warily, then stepped out from the chair rather moodily. He had quite an understandable desire not to be strapped to a table again anytime soon. But it was better he find out the truth than spend any more time sitting around, paranoid and waiting for any symptoms to show.

"Okay," he said finally. "If you're sure they're not gonna do anything to me."

"They're not going to hurt you." If necessary, that would be Leon's job.

"This way."

Claire sighed and backed up from the door, letting Leon take the lead. She patted Steve's shoulder reassuringly when he reached the door, before she took up the rear.

There was a long and awkward silence as Steve followed Leon on their way.

"So, um," he finally said after a moment. "You're Claire's friend. The one who helped us get off the island, right? That's... that's cool."

"Yeah..." Leon wasn't sure what to really say to that, considering how things turned out for Steve.

Claire winced a little at the awkwardness of the forced conversation, but decided to keep her mouth shut. She didn't have all that much to add, and she wasn't going to encourage the awkward any by adding to it.

Awkward Turtle [closed]

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