When Heinz woke up, the sun had not risen yet.
Every bone in his body ached, and he let out a groan. Why had he woken up at this hour?
He checked the time. It was almost 3 a.m.
He had only gone to sleep after 2:30. Why had he woken up again?
He got up. He needed water. Maybe he would drink some and go back to bed if he could fall asleep again. He ran a hand through his hair and muttered something in German under his breath.
He left his room and sleepily dragged his feet toward the kitchen, but when he saw what was there, he froze. His sleepiness disappeared completely.
"Perry?" he said in surprise.
His former rival was standing in his living room. It was obvious that he was injured.
"For God's sake," Heinz muttered. "Wait, wait. Just five seconds."
He quickly went to the bathroom and washed his face to wake himself up completely, then came back.
"Where and how did you get hurt?" he asked.
Perry started signing, "I'm fi—"
Perry signed, "My shoulder and back. I was shot in the shoulder, and I have a knife wound in my back."
Heinz muttered something under his breath, then said, "Come on. Let's take care of your injuries."
Perry nodded and silently followed him.
They went to the infirmary.
"Is the bullet still inside?" Heinz asked.
"You should take better care of yourself, Perry," Heinz said while taking out supplies.
Heinz returned with the supplies. He helped him take off his clothes.
"I'm going to numb the wound and then take care of it. Okay?" he said.
Heinz numbed the wound and started treating it.
When Heinz finished treating the wound, he said, "There we go. You'll need to be careful with it for about a week."
Perry signed, "So the wound isn't as bad as I thought?"
"Oh no, it's as bad as you thought," Heinz said. "I'm just working on a new invention. It increases healing speed. The internal damage isn't that severe, so the medicine affects the injury more slowly."
"I already tested it on myself, don't worry," Heinz said.
Perry signed, I'm not talking about that. I trust you, moron.
Heinz secured the bandages around his body while muttering something under his breath.
Then he said, "All done."
He took off his gloves and threw them away. Then he washed his hands.
"Wait a bit. I'll get you some clean clothes. Have you eaten? I went into stress-cooking mode today, so there's plenty of food."
He went to get clean clothes.
Perry signed, Thank you. Is everything okay?
"Yeah, yeah. I'm just a little stressed. I got a job offer, but I'm not sure if it'll really work out," Heinz muttered.
Bu noktadan sonrası da oldukça uzun; devamını aynı şekilde çevirmemi istersen kalan kısmı da gönderebilirim.
"I'm overthinking a physics teacher position at a high school. You know, all the usual stuff. Can I really do it? Am I really capable of it? And so on and so forth," Heinz muttered.
Perry signed, You can definitely do it.
They moved into the kitchen.
Perry was moving carefully.
Heinz took some food out of the refrigerator and started heating it up.
While they waited, Perry signed, Didn't you sleep again?
"I went to bed at 2:37," Heinz said.
Perry pointed at the clock.
"I woke up because of you. I'm the kind of person who wakes up at every little sound of someone entering the house," Heinz grumbled.
Perry signed, Why were you awake until that hour?
"Overthinking, stress, overtime. Pick whichever one you like," Heinz muttered.
"I'm working on a new invention."
Perry gave him a questioning look.
"It's complicated, but it's not anything bad."
Perry continued staring at him with the same expression.
Heinz sighed. He poured himself a cup of coffee and said, "If I succeed, I'm planning to try turning Norm into a human."
Perry blinked several times.
"In theory. And if I can do it, he'll be 99% human."
"I don't want him to get hurt or sick. After all, a parent's greatest fear is something happening to their child, or dying before them."
Perry signed, Makes sense.
He didn't have children of his own, but he had three nieces and nephews, and Vanessa and Norm had been around him for months. He would rather something happen to him than to them.
Heinz placed the food on the table.
"No problem," Heinz said.
He sat down across from him.
Perry muttered, "You know this is why you can't sleep, right? The coffee."
Heinz blinked. Even though it was the first time he had heard his former rival's voice, he didn't react much.
"I need coffee right now. My brain is barely functioning."
"It's supposedly not functioning, yet you treated my wound without your hands shaking even a little," Perry muttered.
"I've treated my own injuries half asleep plenty of times," Heinz muttered.
"Oh, come on. I get injured often, and sometimes my body doesn't move as fast as my brain. We both know that. It's nothing new."
"The room you used before is still there. You can sleep in it," Heinz said.
Perry quietly murmured his thanks.
"You don't want your family worrying, do you?" Heinz asked.
Perry silently shook his head.
"I can understand that," Heinz muttered.
Vanessa didn't even know how badly Heinz had been hurt.
She didn't fully know what his family had done to him.
Even Perry himself didn't know everything.
Perry signed, The food is really good. Nice work.
"Glad you like it," Heinz said.
Perry smiled, then signed, You should exercise.
You keep saying your body can't keep up with your brain. To help balance that out.
For example, I think you could gain a little weight. If I didn't know you, I'd probably think you were anorexic. Actually, I suspected it when we first met. Even Peter asked if you were eating properly.
Heinz scratched the back of his neck.
"I had developmental issues growing up—"
"WAIT. ARE YOU GOSSIPING ABOUT ME BEHIND MY BACK?"
Perry signed, He just asked a question, and I answered it. That's not gossip.
"How is Peter, anyway? I haven't seen him in a while."
He's doing well. Busy with work right now, you know how it is. But if he comes to the Tri-State Area, he's planning to visit both of us.
"That's good. That's good. It'll be nice to see him."
It'll also be good for you to socialize.
With someone other than me.
"Hey, rude. I have a life outside of you too."
The corner of Perry's mouth twitched.
Good. Anyway, like I said, you should gain a little weight and start exercising.
"I'll try," Heinz muttered.
Heinz scratched the back of his neck, but he smiled too.
Perry had finished eating.
Heinz got up and started cleaning up.
"Oh no. You're injured, and you're going to rest."
Heinz started clearing the table.
Perry went into the other room. There was an inator there. Quietly, he began looking over the plans, studying the documents thoughtfully.
After a while, Heinz came in.
"Oh, right. I meant to tell you."
Perry signed, I'll help with the construction. I have plenty of free time lately because of my leave.
"You should be focusing on recovering."
P- *Don't worry. I won't strain my injury.*
H-"That would help. Thank you."
H-"Come on. Get some rest."
Hi! Here's a new series. I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Dialogue is written with ""