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You know, Stoic, that sequence was lifted entirely from Chainsaw Man.
Abe perceived that he was still on his side. He did not dare open his eyes for risk of a single ray of light attacking the back of his skull.
The episode where Denji almost has his first sexual encounter with the drunk girl, you know.
Abe scowled, and murmured aloud, “That wasn’t at all like Chainsaw Man.”
It was absolutely like Chainsaw Man. Himeno was the instigator, the aggressor, and in every way driving the series of events. Alayna behaved pretty much exactly the same as Himeno.
With his eyes still closed, Abe said, “There was a lot more vomit involved.”
And Denji was possessed, which is a lot like whatever it is that you are, and he was under a great deal of suspicion, just like you are.
Abe sighed heavily, with his eyes still squeezed tightly shut, and he murmured sleepily, “Yeah, I don’t think the nanobots know about the Great Elm.”
“Abe?”
Abe wasn’t entirely sure, given his condition, whether he was hearing the voice of a female or remembered dialog from The Morose Alpaca. He felt his brow furrow over his closed eyes. A scent came into his nostrils, a familiar scent, a recent scent, of sweetness and amber. The furrows in his brow relaxed, and he almost smiled. She’s real, Stoic. After all that, she’s real.
A whisper came into his ear. “Abe, you’ve been talking. Can you hear me? Are you awake?”
Abe nodded his head. He was still lying on his side, and his head was still aching.
“It’s okay to open your eyes if you want. I have it quite dark in here, for my sake.”
“Alayna?” Abe said, quite softly.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I’m here, Abe. Your breathing was quite shallow for a while, and you began to talk about…vomit…”
Abe smiled. He tried opening his eyes. It was dark, as the night before.
“Good,” she said. “You can open your eyes.” Abe thought he heard a catch in her voice, even in her whispering. Otherwise, the hut was silent, except for the familiar hiss of the propane heater.
Abe drew a breath so that he could speak clearly, and he said, “I don’t feel very good. No more nausea. So far away. Everything.”
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“Stay awake, now, Abe.”
He heaved another deep sigh, and said, “Okay.” He concentrated on breathing, deep in, slow out. It became a rhythm: deeply the air came in; slowly the air went out. Without failing to miss a breath except to swallow, he continued breathing, and then he was asleep again.
Slowly he woke up, this time to graying darkness. Morning was just beginning to creep into the hut, and light was very gradually giving him opportunity to see without pain. He saw her: Alayna was seated directly in front of him, upright in a chair, holding his hand in her lap with her hand. She was asleep.
As the light eroded a bit more of the pitch of darkness, his eyes determined that she had clothed herself: she had on fatigues; her figure was entirely obscured by utility clothing, many-pocketed dungarees and jacket, but her feet were bare. He watched her breathe, slouched in the chair. More light crept into the hut. He saw a pile of heavy clothing heaped up beside the chair.
“I have to use the bathroom,” he whispered.
She awoke with a start. “What?”
“I’m sorry,” Abe said, trying to swallow, trying to moisten his lips and tongue. “I need to use the bathroom.”
“I’ll find a bottle,” she said. “Don’t move. Please don’t move.” He saw her figure move to the kitchenette.
“No, don’t let me be a bother,” Abe said. He tried to rouse himself enough to crawl out of the futon onto the floor. As soon as he did so, his head began to spin, and he tried to hold himself up with his hands. The room began to spin.
Oh, Stoic, you silly boy!
“Oh, Abe!” Alayna said in an exasperated whisper. She padded over in her bare feet to catch him as he dangled, pulling him by his shoulders to get him back into shape on the futon. “Here,” she said, handing him an empty water bottle. “Use this.”
He reached for it, but his fingers seemed nerveless, and he couldn’t actually hold onto the bottle.
“I can do it for you, if you need.”
“No,” said Abe, feigning confidence. That’s right, Stoic. That particular moment should be reserved for a more romantic setting. Abe took a deep breath. The room settled. His head settled. “Try again,” he said.
She held out the bottle to his hand. He grasped it and held it tight.
“At least help me roll away from you,” he said. “Besides, it works better for me that way.”
She did help him; he saw that she was smiling through her concern.
He fiddled around with the angles, and after some struggle, he managed to make water into the empty water bottle. “Recycling,” he said. He balanced the bottle so that it did not spill, but he had no strength remaining to hand it to her. He waited, and she took it, pouring its warm contents into the toilet.
When she returned, he said to her, “You left me?”
“I had to go on patrol,” she said. “They made me.” She had a new bottle of water and a straw. She gave him drink from it. He took enough to swallow once and moisten his lips and tongue.
“Do they know you have me?”
She hesitated. He heard her breathe in, then she said, “Yes, sort of.”
“You can’t really answer, can you?”
“No, not really.”
“My head hurts.” Abe heard Alayna stifle a sob.
The hut grew still again.
“And I’m cold.”
I’m very tired, Stoic.
The stillness of the hut was broken by the sound of soft rustling. Abe perceived that she was removing her clothing. She crawled into bed and lay close to him, pulling a sheet over them.
“Is that better?”
Abe felt very warm, indeed, but it wasn’t warming. Something was terribly wrong. “Yes,” he said.
A few minutes passed. She lay very still, breathing over him. She said, “Abe, I have to tell you something.”
“You’re pregnant?”
Alayna giggled. “Oh, you silly boy,” she said. “Don’t be silly. I did a scan. You’re slowing down.”
“Okay.”
“The nanobots are slowing down, I mean. They need your metabolism for their own operations. Your metabolism is slowing down. I think that means you’re dying.”
“Okay.”
Abe listened to the stillness. He moved his attention to the hiss of the propane heater. He felt her body pressed against his. He moistened his lips with his tongue, and he said, “Then why did the Great Elm bother awakening me?”
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He tried to turn his attention to the hiss of the propane heater, but it faded. He tried to turn his attention to her body against his, but it melted away. He listened to the stillness, and it began to chime a beckoning call.
Suddenly he was cold, and Alayna was gone. She was next to the door. It burst open. A tremendous fight occurred, but Abe was only slightly aware of it.
“Thanks, Ume,” he said. And Umezawa smiled, taking his hands away from Abe’s body. He sat down in Alayna’s chair.
James Thurgerson said quite loudly, with great cheer, “Oh, we see how it is, Abe!” The noise hurt Abe enough, so he ventured to peek through his eyelashes. Lars was there, shushing James Thurgerson, with Meredith Donaldson, who had Alayna, restraining her in the bedsheet. Her amber eyes were glowing angrily.
The room began to spin, very gently, but enough to cause Abe to close his eyes again. “Don’t be angry with me,” he said, with tremendous weariness and relief. “I wonder what I shall dream.” He fell asleep again.
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