how r u :)

Gammon has never blacked out this hard before.

The last thing that he even vaguely remembered was Nemesis staring at the track marks on his arm, needle in hand, before she jabbed it into a blood vessel. They were in the cellars where they kept the captured members of the rebellion. Gammon let someone out every now and again, but he probably can't do that anymore.

The first thing he saw was Ben's concerned face.

He felt fine. Fresh. He brushed his hand against his arm, expecting a splash of blood somewhere, but it was...clean. He was on his bed... Was he in his pyjamas?

"Hey. You okay?" Ben ruffled his hair. His hand felt nice. Warm. More welcome than the coldness of that cellar. "Nemesis told me that you collapsed after two hours. Said that you murdered everyone in the room. Turned them into mush, apparently."

He doesn't remember who was in the cell. Did he kill anybody important? Hopefully not. "I feel fine. Maybe a bit tired. Thanks for the concern, though." He sat up and rubbed his neck. Yeah, definitely his room, and definitely his bed.

"Are you sure? Nemesis said she needed you to do some stuff, but I can fill in for you if you aren't up to it." Gammon's eyes lingered onto the dressing on Ben's neck and he grimaced. At the time, Ben went along with his story, but he still felt bad about it. "...Hey, didn't I already say that it was fine? Stop staring at me."

"Sorry." He awkwardly looked away. "I'm, uh... Just a bit out of it. If you don't mind..."

"Of course I don't mind, you idiot. You better rest."

"Right."

He heard the door slam shut.

.

Then he heard the door open.

"Gammon."

Oh. This was unexpected.

Gammon looked up into sapphire eyes.

"Nemesis."

"I see you're back to normal." She looked impressed. Oh no. "That was truly something. I never expected something so... ferocious to exist inside of you."

"It's not me, though."

"Of course not. Other than the mild physical discomfort– How are you?" She sat at the edge of his bed and stared at him. Stared straight into his eyes.

"I feel a headache coming on. A bit off... Like I can't focus. But everything else is alright."

"Good. It's a bit worse than I expected, but I guess I should have accounted for that. I'll give you a week's rest... That should be good enough, right?" She sighed and stood up. "I've heard about your escapades from Nyoze before, though. Don't think I don't know how troublesome you can get."

"That was when I was younger!" He retorted and then hissed. The headache was really starting to hone in.

"Yeah, no. We've been friends for a long time. I think I know how you'll act. I'll get someone to come over and watch over you. Maybe Gallerian." She stood by the doorframe and looked back at him. "You like him, right?"

He stared back at her, dumbfounded.
She blinked.

"...I mean, I don't think you'll like being taken care of by Gigaty. We're running short of staff here, Gammon."

Oh.
OH.
That's what she meant.

"I, uh, don't mind."

"Great. I'll be taking my leave, then. I'll get someone to come down in a bit. Don't do anything stupid."

"No promises."