At Least Someone's Feeling Better Who: Dhaval and Tayne Where: Dhaval's room, then outside the hotel, then the bar When: Morning
Dhaval had moved himself to the sunnier part of his room. With the high, frosted window his only source of light, that wasn't saying much. It was less shadowed. He had a notebook balanced on his lap, the odd angle making his writing even more unintelligible. Hardly mattered. His fever had gone down, so he was able to make sense again (and was a little confused and horrified by what had come spilling out of his pen while he was at his worst), but he didn't have the energy to come up with much. The dragons that ate elephants might have been the product of a rather deranged mind, but at least they'd flowed easily. He had nothing right now. His hand didn't even want to move.
He gave up for the moment and poured himself another glass of water. He was still going through it quickly. Something about his new metabolism just seemed to need a lot. The glass made him feel better for the few moments it lasted before he went back to leaning his head against the handle of his chair, feeling sorry for himself and wishing his head would behave. It was still heavy and achy, if less hot. That just made him colder.
Oh, this was ridiculous. Could he possibly be any more useless?
Tayne didn't feel one hundred percent. But he no longer felt at ten percent, either, and he was counting that as a definite win. He hadn't tried to throw up-- or dry heave, or bring up water and bile, which was what'd happened more often than actually having anything to bring up-- since late the previous evening, and he wasn't feeling nearly so feverish and chilled. He'd slept through most of the night, only waking up a couple times, and compared to the day before, he felt worlds better.
He'd even munched down a few crackers, tentatively, and they hadn't come back up again in the past hour since he'd eaten them. It was awesome.
Since Dhaval had gotten sick the same time he had, of course he immediately decided, once he was showered and dressed and had taken a few minutes to just sit, window open, and rest up for the trip down, he had to check in with his friend-- or more than friend-- to see how he was doing. He slipped on some sandals and made his way downstairs, to Dhaval's door, and knocked lightly. If Dhaval was asleep, he didn't want to wake him.
Dhaval had been starting to zone out again, but at the knock, he immediately turned to the door. He hoped for Tayne, Dhaval, or Taylor, but really, it could be the snake guy for all he cared. He needed someone to talk to, or at least share space with, before he went entirely stir-crazy. He was feeling twice as trapped as usual in his wreck of a body. "Come in!" His voice cracked a bit from disuse. Then he remembered that Tayne had convinced him to keep the door locked. "Oh, uh, wait..." He wheeled over slowly and got the door open, smiling weakly as soon as he saw Tayne.
"Heeey," Tayne said, looking down at him with a lazy sort of grin. "You remembered to lock it." He even reached down to run a hand across his cheek and brush back a lock of black hair. "Thought I'd drop by and take you out for a bit of sunlight, and see how yer feelin'." Since he was feeling so much better, surely so would Dhaval, right? Not all the way better, of course, even if he was kind of pretending a little that he was. It was all about that tough male bravado, right then, after several days of utter misery.
Dhaval pressed his cheek into Tayne's hand. The contact was very welcome, both because of the warmth and because he hadn't had a thing to make him smile since Tayne had last dropped by. A little cheering was a lot better than none at all. "You look better." He wasn't as absolutely useless as yesterday, but he didn't feel up to grinning and getting right back into things. "I'd love some sun. I, um, I just can't get warm, you know?" Well, considering the last night they'd shared a bed and the way he'd refused to let go of Tayne for a moment, he probably did know.
"Aw, hell." The bravado turned into chagrin, and Tayne immediately moved behind the chair to wheel him out, leaning down low over his shoulder to briefly rub his own cheek to Dhaval's. "I'm sorry, man. I should've come back down an' helped with that, but I just kinda passed out once the whole throwing up thing started. Got your key an' everything?" He was totally locking the door behind them, after all.
Dhaval turned and kissed his cheek gently. "You don't have to sleep with me, you know. ...Though I kind of prefer it if you do." He hoped Tayne felt the same way. He might not want to share a bed now that he didn't need someone to commiserate with over being ill. "I mean... Uh..." He'd just realized what he'd said. "You're really very warm. Um, especially when you're a tiger." He should just go ahead and be quiet now. "Key's right here." He held it up and then shoved it into his pocket.
Chuckling, Tayne rolled him out, locking the door behind them as he'd planned to. "Stop stammering. It's okay. I mean, we are kind of... you know." He shrugged a bit, straightening again, and trying not to blush furiously. Blushing, however, wasn't a function that really lent itself to much control. "Sharing space, anyhow. Besides, I like it. So does the tiger, actually." He freed one hand to ruffle Dhaval's hair, more comfortable with that little bit of teasing.
Dhaval almost asked what they were before Tayne managed sharing space, and the brief chance for clarification was gone. He knew it didn't matter. Shouldn't. He and Tayne were enjoying each other's company at the end of the world. It didn't matter what they were, exactly, as long as they were both happy with it. Still, he had to wonder what it would be like to call Tayne his boyfriend. He liked the idea. "Um, I noticed the tiger likes it. Not that you're different, exactly... but tiger-you does respond a little differently... I try not to act like you're a pet like that." Just furry and cuddly and easy to talk to without worrying about saying something awkward. Right. Not a pet at all.
"Consid'ring I mostly remember what you say," Tayne reminded him jokingly, "probably that's a good idea. Though I don't really mind. I am a lot stupider, like that." Joking was easier than trying to face labels or names for what they were. He'd get there, he was sure, before too long... but right now, he was just still ill-feeling, tired, and generally nervous about it all. Maybe he should ask Terry what he thought about it... he could trust Terry, right? Or maybe Joyce.
Think about it later. He just added, heading out into the lobby which was already lit with more sunlight than Dhaval's room or that dingy hall, "So I wouldn't be surprised if it only was natural to treat me like an animal. I am one."
"Oh, you make a very smart tiger." He was about to start lecturing about how most tigers in North America were incredibly dumb thanks to inbreeding, but there didn't seem to be any way he could make that complimentary. Dhaval looked up and smiled, looking a bit less exhausted as they moved into the lobby, the sun already setting his skin to tingle a little. He definitely needed more of this. Maybe when Tayne was better he could take the frosted glass out? His window was so high up. It didn't seem like anything would be able to get in. Maybe a pane of glass could replace it? But that was a big job for his comfort. Maybe he'd better not ask.
"Have you met many of them?" Tayne asked, sounding a bit amused, as they headed across the lobby. "To compare? Though I guess being able to understand English makes me smarter than most... I doubt a lot of tigers know what we're saying." Even dogs and horses, back on the farm, only understood words they'd been trained to understand, or that they heard repetitively. He doubted a tiger was any smarter than a horse, after all.
"Would you rather I said you were dumb?" Dhaval shrugged. "Maybe all tigers understand English, and you're just the only one who's nice enough to admit it and put up with us." Shouldn't tigers be more likely to understand Hindi or Chinese? Well, maybe they'd just gone along with the times and adopted the usual universal language. And he really should stop thinking things like that, because it probably meant his fever wasn't completely gone. "In which case you're just a very polite tiger."
That made Tayne actually laugh. "I doubt that one. I'd probably make a pretty rude tiger, actually-- demanding people do things, not thinking about whether they could or couldn't, or would want to or wouldn't. Didn't I demand you get up on the bed with me? I remember that pretty clearly." They'd reached the door now, and he let Dhaval push it open for them, nudging a piece of wood into place to keep it open lest it lock behind them. The sunglasses went back down over his eyes, too.
"Well, I definitely wanted to. It was just... a logistic issue." That had been a little frustrating, yes. But he'd never had a tiger beside him in such a moment of irritation, and that had made a lot of difference. "And it was a pretty reasonable thing to want me to do." He would have kept talking, but when he got the door open, he forgot what he'd meant to say. The sudden touch of direct, bright sunlight and daytime heat on his skin made for a euphoric rush. Dhaval closed his eyes and just basked for the first few moments, smiling.
Wheeling him all the way out into the direct light, Tayne smiled, closing the door gently behind him. "Like that, huh?" he said after a moment, rolling the chair and Dhaval further from the shadow of the building. His tone was fond, and pleased, though it turned serious when he continued: "We really gotta get you outa that room more often, Dhav... it just ain't good for you, bein' locked up in the dark all the time."
Dhaval collected himself begrudgingly enough to answer. "No... No, it's not. I suddenly feel like I've had my first meal in a week. I guess being hungry doesn't work quite the same way..." He'd been thinking that sunlight made him feel better, but apparently a lack of it made him a lot worse. "Besides, it's... A little cramped, I guess." Did he want to say he was lonely? It wasn't like he could demand constant company. "It gets really quiet cooped up like that. I guess I just don't notice things..."
For the moment, Tayne just stood behind him, leaning a little on the handles to the chair, rather than making the trek over to his truck just yet. He could stand a little standing still and basking, too; it wasn't like he was completely recovered, himself, after all. "There ain't any other rooms we could make up for you, down there, not without puttin' out the fitness center or game room or whatever... but we could prob'ly rig up some way to make it easier for you to move yourself around... some kinda, like, pad or glove for your hand so it won't muss with your finger, so at least you could get 'round easier by yourself. There's a whole floor down there, lobby an' kitchen an' fitness center an' shit... then you wouldn't hafta feel so cramped." He grinned a bit, and added, "And gettin' over this damn sickness'll help, I think, too."
"That's a step." He supposed Tayne was right. There was no reason to stay in his room. He should really just take his work or his book out to the lobby and get a little sun there. He'd probably be less isolated, too. People had to pass by going in and out of the hotel, at the very least. "I don't think anything has to be rigged... I just have to stop being such a hermit. It's habit. I used to prefer being on my own all I could..." The end of civilization definitely had made him appreciate the humans left a lot more. "But I do feel better. There's that."
"Well, better break that habit, else I'll come break it for you and drag you out into the lobby every morning," Tayne warned with a lazy grin, shutting his eyes to the bright sunlight, even behind his habitual sunglasses. "You still gotta be careful with that finger, though. Don't want it to heal all wrong. Or not heal, at all. If there was somethin' we could do, throw a mitten on it maybe to keep all yer fingers together, would that help?" He'd address the feeling better in a moment, though it was a relief to him to hear, too. They were going to get better. He could stop being so damn useless, and get to work for the hotel again.
"It's already all tied up to the one next to it." Dhaval was just trying not to think about the injury. He was used to feeling helpless, but that made it a lot worse, not being able to at least depend on his arms. He hated to think how flimsy the right arm would be even once the finger was healed, as careful as he'd been with it lately. He hadn't been able to find a way to work out weights. The gym didn't have the kind that went around his wrist, and even that would hurt more than a bit. "I'm... I'm being careful with it. I just wish I had use of my damn hand." Just a little bit bitter, maybe?
"Yeah," Tayne sighed a bit, dropping his head down to nuzzle briefly into Dhaval's hair. "It's gotta be a pain. I'd ask Zane how long it oughta be splinted up, how long it'll take to heal, but I couldn't find the bastard last night. Suppose he might be back today, though...." He straightened up again and turned Dhaval's chair back towards his truck. There was a space heater to turn off-- he'd been keeping it in there at night, the past couple days-- and eggs to turn, after all, and it wouldn't do to linger outside too much.
"Probably at least six weeks... Broken bones can't be that different. Though I broke much bigger ones last time." And he'd only had one clean break in the lot. Most of that had involved crushing and splintering and other nasty complications. "Not anytime soon, anyway. So don't bother the poor man." Dhaval turned his attention on the truck. He was looking forward to the hatching of the eggs more than he'd realized. There wasn't a lot to really pin his hopes on, and the little monsters represented a strange but solid hope.
"Ugh. And it's only been-- what, one week?" Tayne made a face at the brief time since the breakage. Had it even been that long? He thought it might even be a day short. "Ain't fair, dammit." Of all of them, for Dhaval to get hurt and lose the use of one of the few limbs he had left.... Just plain wasn't fair. He fished his car keys out of his pocket and moved around Dhaval, so he could get to the camper.
Dhaval moved back a little. It was almost depressing that his basic mobility had barely changed. One more injury on top of the pile just wasn't worth worrying about anymore. Not true in practice, of course. "At least it's past the point where it hurts all the time. I can even move my arm pretty freely." That stabbing, wincing pain that came with quick movement was the worst of it. "It could be worse. Fortunately, someone saved me from the snake monster." He sent Tayne a quick, crooked smile.
Chuckling a bit, Tayne glanced back at him with a wry smile of his own. "I'm just glad we got back when we did." He didn't want to think about what might've happened if they hadn't. Two deaths instead of one, and no more Dhaval.... "Though now the snake-monster is apparently being weird and messed up and difficult to figure out." He opened up the camper and flicked off the space heater, conserving the car battery it was attached to. He figured he probably ought to recharge it soon, but not right now. Once he was really better. "Apparently," he continued, pulling the blanket nest closer to the door so he could move the eggs without actually climbing inside, "turns out he doesn't remember a thing from before I landed on 'im."
"He was acting kind of confused, I remember," Dhaval agreed. "Not that I was all there myself, really... Something weird happens when something is smashed like that. Different than a cut or other injury... You go all shaky. ...Well, that and having just been sure I was going to die." He wished he had a better recollection, that he could actually do something to help. Now he wanted to talk to... Alright, he really couldn't go on calling the the "the snake monster." That'd be like calling Tayne "the tiger monster," and that was just unsavory, somehow. But he didn't know how he'd get a chance to chat. He couldn't even get upstairs. Dhaval wheeled up as close as he could to peer at the eggs, pushing the incident from his mind. "Hi, babies. Did you miss us?" he asked in a rather soft, almost singsong voice, the one he'd generally used for his mother's cats or his cousins' children. Dhaval doubted that the chicks could hear him, but if they could, no harm in making their voices familiar.
Tayne didn't want to even think about the snake-guy. Erin, or whatever his name was. Turning his thoughts and attentions on the eggs was much more satisfying, and less likely to wind up with him annoyed. Not to mention Dhaval's little question was kinda cute. "The shells are starting to get a little harder," he commented, leaning in to feel one of them, before getting it turned. The shell was firmer to the touch, less leathery, and probably more brittle. "I'm guessing that means they're getting closer to hatching... but I can only guess, really." Any kind of change had to signal something like that, really, he figured.
"Closer. Bird eggs are supposed to be hard all the way through, so it's hard to guess what's different. I don't know how it works for monsters, but I just remember those diagrams from grade school science books with the twenty-one days of a chick developing, or whatever it was." He certainly hoped monsters were faster. The usual rules had clearly been abandoned, so why shouldn't they be? Dhaval turned the next egg, very gently. The space heater had left them beautifully warm and the surface had a lovely, smooth texture. He fussed a bit with their blanket nest, bunching it up a little against the side of one egg to hold it nice and steady.
It was a bit crowded with both of them leaning in there, but Tayne didn't really mind. He leaned against the side of the narrow camper door, watching Dhaval for a moment, first, while he just rested. "Well, you r'member more than I do, I don't remember those diagrams at all. But I had the real thing, so I guess that's good enough. Chicken eggs're always hard, even when they're duds and just for eating. Makes me wonder if these guys are even all bird." He had no idea what monster genetics would produce, or even what the "father" of these eggs had been.
"Could be they'll come out half dog and half horse. I mean, who knows?" Dhaval had to wonder what any future human children would look like, but that would probably be a long time in the future. The kids he'd briefly glimpsed at that dinner had looked... Well, no stranger than anyone else, really, even the one with the extra limbs. It seemed like a somewhat grim topic, and he didn't voice his musings. "They're almost like snake eggs. Maybe we'll get dragons." He couldn't pretend he didn't find that idea very appealing. He'd read once that dragons were a composite ancestral memory of the main predators of the little tree shrew-ish ancestors of all primates, snakes, birds, and cats. These might be two-thirds of the way there. Dhaval's mood had obviously lightened a lot, and he seemed almost to have forgotten how weak and icky he felt.
"Dragons?" Tayne repeated, amused, and glad Dhaval seemed to be feeling better, out in the sun. "Well, as long as they don't breathe fire, and they don't think we taste good with ketchup." That was about the extent he really knew about dragons, not having been much a fantasy or sci fi buff at all. When he read at all, it was adventure or mystery, but he didn't really read much anyhow. "We'll just have to make sure we're the first person to feed 'em when they hatch, that's all. We might be lucky and they'll be like ducklings." He could hope, right? He really didn't want them deciding Dhaval looked tasty. There wasn't much Dhaval could do to defend himself against hungry little dragon-monster-things.
"...This is either the best or the worst idea anyone's ever had." The idea of Tayne followed around by three baby dragons (now very clear in his mind) like Mama Duck was pretty much just incredible. He smiled brightly at Tayne, a more open, cheery look than he usually wore when he was at his best, and leaned his head for a moment against the other man's shoulder. "You realize we're insane, right? Trying to raise baby mutants? Pioneers in the field of monster husbandry?" He knew it wasn't really that funny, but he'd been so miserable for days that the chance to smile was especially welcome.
"We've gotta start livin' with the new animals sometime," Tayne shrugged, putting a hand to Dhaval's hair gently. "Else we're never gonna make it." Even Indians-- er, native Americans, he supposed, faced with an actual Indian right against him there-- had dogs they'd tamed, after all. Tayne didn't want to wind up worse off than the most primitive people he knew about. He just wished he knew of some kind of herbivore monster they could start corralling and raising for meat and milk, so they didn't have to active hunt. Having some kind of dairy in their diet would be nice, after all.... "And hell, I'm the farm boy 'roudn here, I guess I'm best suited for it, right?"
"You're a man of many talents," Dhaval agreed. Being a farm boy (adorable), soldier (admirable), and lumberjack (just plain endearing) seemed to make for the perfect end-of-all-civilization survival skill set. Being an office monkey and not especially successful author had clearly produced exactly the opposite. Dhaval reached up and covered Tayne's fingers with his own. "It's not that I think for a second you can't do it." Evidence thus far didn't point to Tayne being unable to fulfill a single goal he set himself. "It's just incredibly strange. I'd have thought this was too silly for a story. Though maybe I'll write it now." Hmm, maybe he should try and make himself a sort of historian? He probably couldn't write fast enough to keep up.
That was where Tayne's mind was going, too. "Might as well set yourself up as writing non-fiction, since that's what this is, now... at least maybe someone in the future could find it useful. Some kind of written record, list of what works, what didn't, what we tried.... Doubt my journals'd make much sense, they're all choppy and don't have much details, yours'd be much better written. Easier to read, too." That'd certainly be a job for someone like Dhaval, with a good eye for detail and a mind for putting things down. And it was something they'd need, before too long: written records, keeping them grounded in time and event.
"Have you seen how I write with my left hand?" Dhaval rolled his eyes, his tone self-deprecating as usual. "Your journal, huh?" He wouldn't have taken Tayne for the journal-keeping sort. Dhaval wasn't himself, really. He'd tried a few times, but his life had always been too dull to bother. Or too depressing. One of the group therapy leaders had insisted he write down his feelings for a while. Terrible experiment. "I've never tried writing down anything that's really happened. It'd be an experiment." At least he could try and take notes about, say, what to feed baby monsters or whether rooftop gardens or hydroponics worked out for them, and in what ways.
"I saw it," Tayne said with a little grin. "Looks a lot like mine, with my good hand." He had pretty sloppy handwriting. "Besides, we'd prob'ly find someone to recopy it, or a typewriter or somethin'. Wouldn't that be awesome, going back to typewriters." He'd love to find one for Dhaval, that'd probably free his mind up a lot, but it'd be hard to find, much less bring back. Probably not for a long time. He pushed the nest back further into the camper, and pushed up from the side so they could close up. "I think you should try it. Give an idea of what a day's like after the apoc-- ap-- after th'world goes to hell. Maybe not just for you, for anybody. Like, talk to Terry and Joyce... Andre and me about what it's like out. I think it'd be pretty damn useful, actually."
What were the chances of anyone finding a mechanical typewriter? He'd always wanted one, just enjoying the picture of the serious author at work, unhindered by silly computer stuff, but he'd never managed to acquire one. His mother had had one when he was a kid, but it had broken years ago. "At least I'd want to get the pragmatic things down," he agreed. Dhaval didn't feel especially qualified for that. He'd drafted a few memos, though, on days the secretary was out or too busy. A procedure was a procedure, whether it was replacing copier paper or fending off monsters. "And if I got into the swing of it, um, I guess I could start taking down interviews or just... whatever people wanted to tell me." Dhaval reluctantly pulled away from the door, waving to the eggs. He was aware it was useless. Still fun.
"Even just watching what we do'd be better than nothing," Tayne agreed. "Just writing down... anything and everything. The eggs and what comes out of 'em, what monsters you see out of windows, what sounds you hear at night, how plants are growing-- how sick we got." He laughed a little, locking the camper door. "Anything and everything, right? Written record of life after th'end, and shit. Anybody might wind up finding it useful. Y'never know. And if you can draw, you're a hell of a lot better off than I would be. You could, like, sketch monsters for some kind of, like, ency-- en-- some kind of listing of 'em."
"I can't even draw with my right hand. My stick people look diseased." Dhaval couldn't help a crooked smile. Why Tayne would think he could draw he didn't really know. He also found that stutter oddly charming, but he didn't think he should say so. He wasn't sure how sensitive Tayne was on that point, and it might come across like someone saying he looked good in a wheelchair. "But, um, I guess that'd be a good use of the night. Since I sleep so little." He usually worked hard to ignore the cries of monsters, but cataloging might be a better way to convince himself to be less afraid. "Maybe I could pick up an illustrator... Taylor likes comics. Maybe she'd be good at drawing monsters." He leaned his head back for a moment. They'd have to go back inside in a moment, and he wanted to soak up the last sunlight.
To Tayne's mind, creative gifts usually came together-- it was a usual thought of the universally ungifted, as he considered himself. The arts, in any form, weren't something he had any skill with, unless you counted martial arts or riding a horse or something. "Another good idea. I bet Taylor'd love to help out. Or maybe I an find a Polaroid camera and film... take pictures when I go out." Because he would be going out, as soon as he felt reasonably up to it. Not today... maybe tomorrow. He came behind Dhaval's chair again, taking the handles, but didn't start pushing yet, shutting his own eyes to take in a little sunlight. "Feels good even when you aren't photo-whatever. Plant-man."
"Worst superhero ever, you mean?" Dhaval reached back to run his thumb over the back of Tayne's hand. "Wish I could get to the roof. Doubt I'd ever leave." He wondered how much traffic there was up there... A completely academic question, of course. He wasn't inconveniencing anyone by even thinking of asking for help up twelve flights of stairs or whatever it was. "I used to hate the sun, too." Much as he'd hated people. Was it completely, unforgivably wrong that the end of the world had almost left him better off?
"Oh, I bet, on a good day, I could piggy-back ya up there," Tayne commented lightly, still standing there with his eyes shut, trying hard not to zone out. He needed to stay alert. There were still monsters, even this close to the hotel-- though the tiger in him wanted to hunt them all down and chase them all out. "Or the t-teleporter kid could get you up there. Maybe once we're ready to get a roof garden started up there, I'll drag you with me t'help...."
"I'd like that," he said softly. He appreciated the sentiment, but he had a feeling there'd always be much higher priorities. Food and safety for everyone came well before trying to deal with the cripple's need for sunlight. Though he did find the appeal of Tayne carrying him awfully sweet. He knew they should be heading inside, but the sun was so perfectly warm and the world seemed so peaceful, for all he knew that was a flimsy facade. "Though you realize I don't weigh that much less than you do, right?" He smiled teasingly back at Tayne.
"Naaaaw," Tayne said disbelievingly, straightening again to look down at him. "We're-- what, the same height? Five-seven, five-eight at most. I've got more muscle than you do, unless you build some on your legs." He sized Dhaval up and guessed, "I bet I got fifty pounds on you." Not that it mattered. A carry across the back was easier, with the weight spread more evenly that way. And if he got desperate, firemen carried people even heavier than they were by slinging them over a shoulder. "I think I could manage fine. You know, once I'm all the way healthy again."
"Lower body you do." Dhaval was a little picky about that. He'd had no choice but to build very solid core strength, especially around his arms and shoulders. He thought Tayne was probably heavier than he was, but not by that much. But... No, wasn't worth the argument. What did he care, after all? "It's not going to come up for a while." If ever. Dhaval tipped his head directly back to smile straight up at Tayne. This was a really weird angle to see someone. His head was a little discomfited by the strange position, but he didn't mind for just a moment.
"And upper body I'd say we're a good match, so...." Tayne shrugged and grinned. "Whatever. It's no big deal. If I say I can get you up those stairs, than goddamn I am gonna get you up those stairs. Even if we gotta take a lot of breaks and shit. Maybe I can have you, like, strapped onto the tiger, or something. He's stronger than I am." He wasn't really being serious with any of this, really, just taking the topic farther than he probably should for the sake of a joke. "You feelin' good enough recharged to head inside?" He was considering trying for a few more crackers, himself, and seeing if they held down. Maybe make another survey of the building, now that he wasn't feverish, and see just what sense he could make of his notes... he wanted to stop lazing around, dammit.
"I get to ride a tiger onto the roof? My life just gets better by the day since I started hanging around you." Dhaval meant it quite sincerely, but the sentiment was perhaps a little... Sappy? He wasn't completely comfortable with just how drawn he was to Tayne. How much he'd already come to depend, not just on the man's kindness, but his company. It was a lot to feel at once. No doubt his feelings were mostly fueled by ongoing disaster energy, but knowing that didn't exactly help. "I guess we'd better get inside," he admitted reluctantly. Yuck, back to the cold and dimness and not being able to ignore his nausea and headache.
Tayne just assumed he was joking, himself, and just chuckled in response. He turned the chair around. "Yeah, I know. Back inside where it's stuffy and boring." That was his own thought about the place, anyhow. He wanted the fresh air and fresh scents and open streets to run in.... But he couldn't. Not yet. "But we can set you up in the fitness room, or somethin'. Or maybe the bar. There's some pretty good light in there, and you could write or read or somethin'."
"Once I'm feeling... back at a functional level, anyway." Dhaval nodded. "The fitness center is actually pretty nice. I don't know what to do about my injured hand, but at least the left arm can go through my usual reps." The rather generic hotel gym wasn't exactly equipped for the kind of physical therapy stuff he was wont to do, but he could improvise. "But the bar might be better... just during the day. Less crowded." He was learning to like people a little more, but he wasn't sure he could cope with them in a constant stream.
"Maybe something cold be rigged there, too," Tayne said thoughtfully. "There oughta be a way to use wire and weights and stuff to get you exercise on both sides, that won't need you to mess with that finger at all." He shook his head, pausing at the front door to let Dhaval open it. "I dunno. I'm sure we can figure somethin' out. Or V can, that genius kid. He already got that space heater rigged up, so we can bring the eggs inside soon. Would've done it 'fore now, if not for the whole throwing up every other hour thing."
"...Yeah, that's an impediment to getting things done." He didn't really know what Tayne was on about and sensed his brain wandering again a little. He directed his attention at the door. He really didn't want to go inside yet. Dhaval turned quickly, took Tayne's hand from the handle of his chair, and kissed his palm. He just wanted to try it out in the light and air, where his illness wasn't so pressing and he actually felt well enough to smile. There. He felt fortified now. With a sigh, he reached forward to get the stupid door open and go back inside to be cold. Feh.
Tayne blushed a bit at the kiss, grinning a little shyly at Dhaval, then kicked the length of wood out of the way so the door would shut firmly behind them. "Maybe I'll come back down tonight, after I've actually, like, gotten some stuff done... I'll stay with you again tonight." He might as well see if he liked it, when he didn't feel too ill and exhausted to move... because if he did, well. He probably ought to get the situation more permanent and open, if it was going to be something he wanted to keep. Hiding it in this sort of situation would take a lot of doing.
Dhaval hoped he would. Tayne made for a great space-heater. A space heater that cuddled back and had very handsome, inviting eyes. "Good, I'll wait up for you." Hopefully. He hadn't really been falling asleep by accident lately. Exhausted as he was, actual sleep didn't seem to change it all that much. Something else strange about his contradictory mess of a metabolism. Dhaval debated offering to read with Tayne a bit, since he'd sort of half-jokingly expressed interest, but that felt demanding. What he was really hoping on was a good, long hug before Tayne wandered off to save everybody again. His friend might be feeling better, but he wasn't all that much, and he might just want to curl up like a kitten for a while and be petted.
Half of Tayne's feeling better was a mixture of restlessness and bravado, but at least he wasn't falling over himself or throwing up anymore. That was how Tayne was thinking of it. "Won't need to wait up too long, I 'magine," he said, wheeling them into the lobby and towards Dhaval's room again. "I doubt I'll last at all past dusk." He paused halfway through the lobby, looking around. "Should I putcha someplace else? Not your room-- out here, or somethin'? I could bring you a book or your writing paper... your water pitcher. It's gotta be better out here or in the bar or somethin' than in that cramped little room."
"Oh, um, probably." It was a sensible suggestion. It just probably precluded that hug he'd been hoping for. Neither of them would try that where anyone might walk in, he was pretty sure. "At least I'll get a little light. Um... If you could just get a book or something? The bar would be good. I guess I might soak up a little bit more of the daylight that way. But I might kind of... I haven't been prone to sleeping. But I do sometimes just wind up kind of woozy and have to collapse. I usually just stay in my chair, but, well, I'd be kind of weirded out if I walked in on someone looking passed out on the table." He didn't want to alarm anyone.
"It's up to you, Dhav," Tayne shrugged. "I'll putcha wherever you want me to, and bring you whatever you want me to." He, probably unfortunately from Dhaval's perspective, wasn't thinking about hugs or affection, but rather getting Dhaval out and about rather than holed up being his apparently hermit-like self-- and about getting himself around the building with his notebook, looking for good lookout points and good places to stick potted and tubbed plants for growing things, for the places where the least light could be used the most effectively. His brain and body were working again, and he wanted to use them at least a little.
Dhaval nodded. "Bar, then." He could accede to that. Maybe if Tayne did come back to sleep with him, then he could get a long, tight hug and bury his face in Tayne's shoulder to breathe in his warm, wild scent. That'd just be a comfort. He was honestly annoyed with himself for dwelling on it so much. He felt so needy and... irritating. Being sick apparently not only left him cold and listless but wanting far more attention than he could possibly reasonably ask. "Thanks, Tayne." He smiled a bit. "Just park me by a table."
"Sure thing," Tayne answered lightly, smiling. "Which book you want me to bring ya? Or should I bring a stack and let you pick?" He'd probably bring him his writing stuff, too, just in case he got tired of reading, since moving around would probably be tricky, with the hand. He altered their course towards the bar, instead. "I can even bring ya a beer, if there's some left. We did leave some, didn't we?" It was a while ago, and with several days of illness since then, he really didn't remember. Though there was probably plenty, in another fridge or cupboard back there. This was a bar, after all.
"Just the one on my pillow." He wasn't sure why they weren't just stopping by his room. Tayne seemed to really like planning things. Dhaval was a bit tempted to ask him to stop pushing the chair everywhere. The wheel was a little harder to use with his finger, but he didn't really need to be driven around constantly. It was only a small complaint, though, and generally he appreciated Tayne's initiative and boldness. "And as excellent as a good beer would be, I don't think I want to court throwing up. Which is a pity." Though drinking alone and sick seemed depressing anyway.
"Oh." Tayne blinked, then winced, remembering that oh, yeah, they'd both been throwing up the day before. Throwing beer into that mix, even with either of them feeling better, was probably not so great a plan. "Yeah, that's... probably true, isn't it. I didn't even think of that. Sorry. Guess my mouth is running away with me, again." And, quite honestly, stopping by the room with Dhaval simply hadn't crossed his mind. After all, he still wasn't exactly in top form, and never exactly brilliant, besides.
"Eh, honestly, it's a good idea. If I thought my stomach could take it, getting wasted again might be pretty nice." He could use a break from his day. "Led to pretty good things before," he said with a bit of a smile, teasing. "Um, can we maybe just duck into my room? Since it's on the way." It was clear that Tayne wanted him to stop sitting around in his room, and he supposed in theory he agreed. But he'd rather pick up his book and one of his last vitamin waters beforehand.
"Oh, I was gonna just-- go back--" And about then Tayne figured out that he might as well take Dhaval with him to get the stuff for him. "Okay," he said, looking a bit abashed, and changed direction again, this time towards the make-shift bedroom.
Oh, Tayne. Dhaval smiled at him again. He was already feeling more grim and flat out of the sunlight, the weakness that had gone along with his illness flaring again. He blinked a bit too often, trying to gather his head back together. "So, um, I had a thought. Since you'll talk to more people. ...Um, I wonder if what we have is a case of germs? Whether it's a regular communicable disease, I mean. What if those rashes are... Spores or bites or something? The whole world doesn't really make sense anymore, and I just wonder if we might have been, well, poisoned more than anything else." He suspected mainly because of timing. He and Tayne had gotten sick at exactly the same time.
"I got no idea, really," Tayne admitted. "S'not often I get sick anyhow, and I never really thought about it. I suppose I oughta ask around an' see if anyone I've been interacting with got sick... Joyce didn't, I know, but then, she's invul-- in-- she can't be hurt, so maybe she can't get sick, either." It was a thought, though, that was for sure. "Who would poison us, though? And how? Hell, and why?"
"I don't mean on purpose. I mean, what if it's some small version of a monster? I mean, there are totally new animals... Maybe the plants or the fungus or whatever are different, too? There are plenty of bites like that that have always made people sick. And I just wonder. It might be... kind of feverish wondering. I don't know. Maybe it doesn't make sense." He'd had a lot of time lately and nothing at all to do with it but let his restless mind wander. "The rashes are kind of specific... I don't know."
"I wish I could've found Zane last night," Tayne frowned. "I bet he'd have a better idea of it... splinting a broken finger's as far as I go, medical-wise. Brand new kinds of germs or spores or whatever... god, I don't even wanna think of it. If that's th'case, we're all gonna be gettin' sick until we're all used to the new ones, aren't we?" He stopped at Dhaval's door to let the guy unlock and open it. "That sounds pretty awful, to me."
"Yeah, I guess I hope I'm wrong. That's kind of a grim idea, isn't it?" Dhaval sighed. He shouldn't have brought it up. "Sorry, did I just make it worse?" He sighed and looked sheepishly up at Tayne as he unlocked his door and opened the door. "Sorry, I have, well, too active an imagination." Though he didn't care for his room too much, at least it was his space, smelling like paper and sandalwood cologne and, well, himself, something he certainly wasn't conscious of but which was comforting nonetheless.
"It's a'ight. Every idea's worth thinkin' about." Tayne was conscious of the smell inside Dhaval's room as the door came open, but then, he couldn't help but be. He didn't mind it, though-- well, except for the lingering scent he could pick up of bile and vomit. Ugh. "You want me to open that window, while I'm here? Get some fresh air in here, at least?" There was a screen behind that frosted glass, of that he was sure. He rolled Dhaval up to the bed and the desk, eying the window thoughtfully. Maybe there was a way to get things moved around so he could use that light better... but he didn't think he was up to figuring it out just then. Damn.
"Um, yes, thanks..." He hoped it wouldn't get cold as a result, or let anything fly in, but at least there'd be some sun and movement. "That'd be great." He leaned his head a bit against the handle of his chair. "Um, and... thanks in general. For making this... a lot less terrible." He wasn't quite sure what he meant to convey, just that he should thank Tayne for being such excellent support. He couldn't even think how miserable he'd be had he been left to his own devices.
"What, for sharing the misery?" Tayne flashed him a quick smile, climbing up onto the bed so he could reach the window up by the ceiling. "Hey, only glad to. You kept me warm-- and I figure vice versa, too." Besides, having someone to curl up with when you felt like shit was pretty nice. Tayne'd never had that before, unless you counted the farm dog he'd adopted back when he was just a kid.
"Well, I guess. You're my favorite electric blanket ever." Dhaval smiled back, watching a bit nervously. He knew the bed was a lot more solid than the cot, but it was still not the most stable thing to use as a step ladder. "After all, you're fluffy." He was a little cold already. Damn it, why couldn't his body hold onto sunlight for even a moment? But at least the window opened up his room a little. "I wish I could blame being such a wimp lately on being from a hot place, but I've, um, been away from India for twenty years and I hated heat until last week."
"Blame being the human plant," Tayne suggested, sliding the window open and then hopping down. He had to steady himself on the desk, blinking away a moment of light-headedness. "Not quite better yet. Nope. Gettin' there, though...." Then he shook his head, and bent down, hands braced on the arms of the chair, to kiss Dhaval square on the mouth. Since he could use chair for support, it seemed like a good idea at the time.