In The Shadow Of His Crown - Chapter 2
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“Up.”
There’s something solid yet soft underneath him, and he feels heavier than he feels like he should. Slowly things are dripping back to him but apparently not fast enough.
-POOMF-
Grace groans as something large and soft hits him in the face.
“Stop.” he half-grumbles
“Then get up.”
He blinks against the harsh light blaring overhead. Everything’s a blur, only able to make out a vague blob standing over him. Why is there a blob? What does it want with him? He blindly reaches for his glasses beside the bed, haphazardly sliding them on his face and blinking again.
The blob shifts, becoming a figure looming over him, which in turn morphs into Colt. He’s wearing a white shirt and a black jacket with red on the shoulders. His hands are grasping a pillow and he’s frowning in disapproval.
“What are you doing?” Grace manages to croak out.
“I’ve let you rot in bed for three days. You need exercise and we don’t have a gym so we’re taking a walk.”
Colt raises the pillow above his head ready to bring it down again and Grace panics. Shifting his weight he snatches the pillow under his head and swings it with as much force as he can at Colt’s side.
Colt half-dodges but still gets whacked, laughing as he backs away.
“Okay, okay. Geez.” he tosses the pillow onto the end of the bed. “By the way you stink so maybe shower first.”
He leaves.
What the-?
Standing up takes a moment. Every movement feels like trying to shift lead. Thinking about it, Grace has spent the last few years with minimal gravity and has probably adjusted to having a bit more bounce to his step.
The bedroom he’s been assigned is kind of sparse. There’s an exposed clothing rail, some shelving, a bed with a bedside table and a small set of drawers. They’re pretty bare since Grace doesn’t really have a lot to display on them. It makes the room feel kind of empty, like staying in a hotel.
One of the two doors leads to the en-suite. Pretty basic; a toilet, a sink, and a shower unit big enough for one person. There’s some miniature toiletries and Grace gives himself a pretty basic scrub down. He doesn’t have the energy to go hard but when he steps out the bathroom after twenty minutes, the three-day-funk has dissipated.
Colt’s waiting in the lounge, laid across the u-shaped couch in front of what may be the largest TV Colt’s ever seen. It stretches almost the entire width of the room opposite the doorway. Turned off it’s almost a mirror and Grace catches sight of himself; the white shirt with stripes he brought with him, the glasses, the scruffy hair. It’s…odd.
Propping himself up, Colt peers at him over the couch back.
“Finally.”
It hadn’t occurred to Grace that there was more to this universe than the Clubhouse. So much time confined to a small space with no hopes of surviving outside without careful pre-planning and a red space suit; he’d kind of forgotten outside was a thing. Thinking about it he hasn’t seen any windows in the Clubhouse. That’s not normal for an Earth-based living area. Still he hadn’t questioned it yet so maybe it’s not that big a deal.
It’s sunny outside; almost painfully bright as Grace scans the world around them. It looks normal. Houses, roads, grass, people; nothing unusual but still so alien. Grace softly crosses his arms. He feels weirdly exposed right now.
“So is this your world?”
Colt seems completely disinterested in everything around them. Striding beside Grace, hands in his pockets as he stares at nothing while they walk.
“No. Well...yes. It’s complicated.” he gently shakes his head, “I live here, but I’m not from here.”
“Where are you from?”
“Nowhere special.” He shrugs off the question without a care, pointing to a crossing a short way ahead. “This way, come on.”
Colt speeds up and barely pauses, halfway across the crossing before Grace even gets to it. Still feeling awfully heavy, he kind of awkwardly hobbles across while Colt waits for him on the other side.
“There’s a park up here. Simple paths, a couple benches. Perfect for someone who looks as shit as you do.” Colt grins, seemingly pleased with the mild insult.
“Thanks?”
On the other side of the road they easily fall into step again, Grace setting the pace while Colt matches.
“What about you?” Colt asks, “What’s your world like?”
“Pretty normal, I guess. Honestly I left Earth some time ago. It could be all different now.”
The grin drops and Colt glances at him. “Why would you do that?”
“To save the world, I guess.”
“Typical,” Colt scoffs as he looks away. Is Colt judging him?
“I didn’t want to.” Grace snaps at him, “I wanted to live. Apparently I was the best choice because I ‘had no one’. I still had a life and they-”
He stops himself. Even after everything, after the wonders he’s seen, the things he’s done; after meeting Rocky and proving everybody right about him being the best choice, all he can think about is himself. Stratt was right. He is a coward.
“I didn’t want to,” he mutters.
“So why did you?”
Grace looks away from Colt. He’s not actually said it aloud yet. He’s thought about it, typically when Rocky’s asleep and there’s been nothing to do except wait and watch.
“They ran me down. Drugged me. Told me it was for the best. That I’d figure it out.” Simply thinking about it makes his chest hurt, tightening as his heart rate spikes. “I guess I’m not that brave.”
“It’s not brave. It’s stupid.” Colt’s firm as he speaks. “Flying off in a ship to play hero.”
Grace turns. Colt is very pointedly not looking at him. Chin set, mouth a firm line. He’s not just saying that. Colt’s stating it as fact.
“It was the right thing to do.”
“Being right and being stupid aren’t mutually exclusive.”
The rest of the walk is silent, even as they enter the park. It’s nothing too big, mostly green space with some pathways going around and criss-crossing with occasional benches. Colt doesn’t pause, continuing to walk and Grace simply follows his lead.
His legs start to ache a little after ten minutes. It’s probably the most exercise he’s had in years. Moving around is so much easier when you don’t have to move your legs to do it. A little push here, a grab there and you’re across the room in seconds. Even with centrifuge mode, there’s really not a large amount of space to be moving around in.
Grace doesn’t even realise how much he’s struggling until Colt’s hand on his back startles him out of his thoughts, firmly pushing to guide him to a bench they’re passing by.
“C’mon wheezy.”
Grace drops rather gracelessly onto the bench, suddenly aware of how much he’s struggling to breathe. He’s not out of breath, but he’s clearly struggling to get enough air in his lungs. Colt drops onto the bench beside him and reaches across to push Grace to lean back.
“I-” Grace starts.
“It opens your lungs up. Trust me.” Colt takes a few exaggerated breaths to show him and Grace tries to match it. It’s slow, painful, and awkward but after a few minutes it’s getting easier.
“Thanks.” he eventually manges to say.
“No problem.”
They’re not alone in the park, various strangers scattered around taking full advantage of the beautiful weather. It’s warm, barely any clouds blocking the sun, but there’s a soft breeze that keeps making Grace jump. You forget when you’re in a highly controlled environment; air moves.
Someone’s jogging, a few people are out on a walk, someone else is exercising their dog, and towards the other side there’s a couple sat on a blanket while their children run literal circles around them burning off some energy. It seems like a really nice place.
“Why did you move?” Maybe there’s a nicer way to word it but there’s no energy to put into figuring it out. They’ve still got to get back to the Clubhouse after this.
“I wasn’t safe.” Colt slowly lets out a sigh. “That’s what the red numbers mean. Unsafe.”
Noted.
In truth, Grace had meant to sit and go through the catalogue and get a feel for the thousands of universes but apparently his brain had had other ideas, effectively shutting down for the last few days.
“So you can’t go home either?”
Colt shrugs. “No big whoop.”
“So a small whoop?”
“...What?”
“Nothing. Just something my students used to say.”
That gets his attention; Colt raises his eyebrows in surprise.
“You’re a teacher?”
“I was.”
“So why did they send you into space?”
“Very good question, very complicated answer. Let’s just say I learned never to be too good at my job again.” Grace jokes and Colt snorts.
They both grin, Colt struggling to hold back giggles but ultimately deciding ‘fuck it’ and just bursting into full blown laughter. Grace follows soon after, quietly chuckling to himself.
It’s strange. There’s something in this moment. It’s comfortable. It’s familiar. Despite everything they’ve both been through, for the first time in a very long while they feel...at home. Like they’ve found something they didn’t even know was missing. Enjoy this moment. It won’t last.
“Come on then.” After the laughter finally dies out, Colt pushes himself to his feet brushing himself down out of habit and holding out a hand to Grace. On his face is the first genuine smile Grace has seen since they met. “That’s probably enough exercise for today.”
Grace takes the hand, pulling himself up and with silent gratitude starts to head back towards the Clubhouse with Colt still keeping pace beside him.
