trans_9 | There's got to be a morning after [VERY OPEN]

It took a few moments for any thoughts to register for Steve when he opened his eyes. He recognized the inside of a quarantine bubble, that was for sure, but it took him longer to recognize the medical equipment hooked up to him, an IV in his arm and bandages wrapped around his bare shoulder and in a few other spots.

It didn't take long to recognize the feeling of having been run over by a truck, either. Every bone in his body ached, and even the slightest movement made him want to groan. It felt like he'd been asleep for a month-- a dreamless sleep, preceded by blurry, disconnected memories of what felt like a dream.

Memories of something he desperately, desperately hoped was just a dream. He had a sinking feeling it wasn't and part of him knew it to be the truth. But desperately hoping was the only way he could keep himself from screaming, which would hurt, so he'd keep on with that desperate hope anyway.

Steve lay awake and stared at the ceiling. Maybe if he stayed quiet they'd think he was still asleep, and he could put the truth and all the fear and sorrow that came with it off a while longer.

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"I hope you'll like it," she smiled. Oh look, twelve muscles that didn't hurt when she breathed.

Miku settled in beside Steve, grateful for the warmth he provided. "Do you think they'll mind me being in here? I don't want to cut into your visiting time."

"No," he said. "I'll complain until they let you stay."

A beat. "And have you ever made anything I didn't like?"

"Tofu." Miku replied.

"I didn't not like it. I just wasn't used to it."

"I will make you learn to love it," Miku promised. "You'll see."

"If anybody could, you could." He sighed again and inched her a little closer, after making certain he wasn't going to tangle or tug on his IV.

"I'm glad you're confident in me," she pressed her lips to his, briefly. "I'll do my best to not disappoint you."

He smiled faintly, pressing his forehead against hers. "That's another thing you've never done."

Miku smiled back. She'd have to thank Nanoha a lot. "You're going to give me a giant ego," she warned gently.

"You're always putting yourself down anyway. It couldn't hurt," he teased.

"It's impolite to be haughty." She made a face at him, and rubbed the tip of her nose against his. "I'm happy just making sure other people are taken care of."

"But it's not impolite to be confident," he reminded her. There was always that Japan/America dispute between them...

"So you keep telling me," Miku replied with a little smile. She let her eyelids slide down halfway. There was a goodness and a comfortableness to just lying there Miku didn't quite know how to put into words. As if that feeling was taking over the space where that awful, nasty feeling had been. "Maybe someday it will sink in, hmm? Until then, just keep reminding me."

Steve could relate to her there. The despair was starting to grow a little hope spot in it, though it was one that should have been there all along, he thought.

He sighed and closed his eyes. "I don't know what everybody else is going to do to me now," he murmured. "But if you'll be with me... I don't care so much."

"You'd be surprised," Miku replied softly. "No one seems very angry or upset. But we'll see what happens. You're right; you have me, and I'll stay with you." Exhaustion was setting in, tugging down on her eyelids with each short second. "Don't worry," she murmured. "I'll..."

"Probably because they don't know I'm still alive yet."

He paused, then opened his eyes. "You'll what?"

Miku replied with a soft, sleepy sigh, and a mumbled sentence that made absolutely no sense at all.

Steve smiled a little bit awkwardly and clasped his hands around her, tugging her a little closer. She always felt so delicate in his arms-- it really was a miracle he hadn't smashed her to bits.

Shoving that thought out of his head, he closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep too.

There's got to be a morning after [VERY OPEN]

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