when will you make a grave? for i will be home then

[pursuitofcappiness]

who Steve, you!
what Homecoming
when Early morning, day 48
where Edge of the forest

He wakes up in the forest and he doesn't know where he is. But he knows his best bet's to walk east. He doesn't remember these trees, but he knows what time it is, looks for the sun creeping up over the horizon, knows where he's going.

He doesn't feel drugged like he assumes he'd be, and he doesn't feel injured. He just feels confused, like he doesn't know where he just was or what day it is. How did he fall asleep out here?

If he looks at his reflection, he might not recognize it. His hair is unkempt, his eyes are slightly sunken, and he has the light beginnings of a beard. The only thing familiar would be the sharpness of his stare.

As soon as he sees the end of the trees, he knows where he is. This place felt like a dream, and not a particularly good one. Now he's back in it.

Comments

[greenisnteasy]

There are a variety of reasons Bruce is fairly calm. People disappear frequently is one; that people reappear occasionally is another, and he's been witness to a few of those, as well as to his own reappearance after having gone missing. What's the point in getting worked up over something that's neither a positive nor a negative? Showing back up in this town after Bruce has learned it's possible to go home is hardly a positive. It's merely less horrible than staying a test subject.

"About ten days." He's casual about it. It's just the state of affairs. He approaches Steve, holding his hand out. "C'mon, I'll help you back home. Do you remember anything about the time you were gone?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

He shakes his head, rather dumbly. "Ten days?" he asks, not sure whether to be impressed he's only been gone that long or to feel really bad that he doesn't remember the last ten days at all. He's sure he hasn't been out of it. "I... what if they did something to me?"

There's no way they just let him lay around sleeping for that long. He can't remember a thing, not one single thing. It's unnerving, and he catches himself looking off, distracted, trying so hard to remember something he'd probably rather forget. "If they gave me something to forget, it's probably still in my system. Think you could find it?"

[greenisnteasy]

Oh, Steve. Bruce doesn't say anything verbally, but his expression might let it show. He firmly believes Steve was off being a lab rat for these people for the past ten days, unless he's been home like Galen was, but the dazedness is making him lean toward science experiment.

"Sure. Come on, let's go to the clinic. I can check you out and you can take it easy." He gestures and then waits for Steve to start moving first. He'll help guide him if he needs it.

"I'm guessing you don't remember anything?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Not a thing," he replies. But he heads off towards the clinic, trying to look strong like there is absolutely nothing wrong. That's not working out so well for him. He remembers what Bruce said, that Steve's medical inventory wasn't necessary because if something happened to him, they were all screwed. Well, shit.

He's not a stranger to being trapped in his own body, but that doesn't mean he's any more used to this than he should be. He is lucky; this isn't unit 731 and this isn't Mengele or anything. The weirdest experiment that ever happened to him? The US Government was in charge of that. It doesn't stop him from feeling like his body's been invaded, violated, by faceless and nameless strangers he can't remember.

"Last thing I remember's wanting to go hunting, and then I thought I saw my mother." He looks down, at the ground, as he walks.

[greenisnteasy]

Bruce slides his hands into his pockets, though he's ready to grab Steve to support him if he needs help, though just feeling that way is unsettling. If something's rattling around in Steve's blood and throwing him off base, then Bruce is pretty worried, yeah, though it wouldn't surprise him anymore, not after some of the things he's seen.

"Hunting? Where were you, though? Were you here?" The last time Steve disappeared, he came back without any of his memories, though he'd turned up like other new arrivals did. He's suspecting that this Steve is the last Steve, but who knows?

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Yes," he responds decidedly. "I was here. I was having some bad hallucinations, and then that morning I decided we should go hunting to stock up some meat. I wanted to organize a trip, but I had to delay it because of the hallucinating... I went to sleep last night-- that night-- ten days ago-- and I woke up in there."

He racks through his brain again, trying to find even a smidgen of a clue of where he's been. "Can memory even be erased like that?" he asks. It's like they cut him open and excised the last ten days straight out of his head.

[greenisnteasy]

Bruce looks over at him and tries not to look as if he's pitying him, but he is.

"Yeah, Steve. Especially if they were keeping you under some kind of a sedation, which they probably were -- that's just a guess of mine -- then you wouldn't be able to remember being anywhere at all." Plus he's seen what these people can do; something far worse could've happened to Steve, which is another reason why it's a good idea to get a look at what might be floating around in his system.

"Don't worry about it too much. It's over now; you're back. Thinking about what might've happened's only going to drive you nuts."

[pursuitofcappiness]

He doesn't say it already is. "I know. It's the shock," he replies. "It'll wear off." He opens the door to the clinic for Bruce, wishing he could erase from his mind having to see the look Bruce just gave him. This is basically a common occurrence now, especially to Steve. Doesn't mean he should just take it, but there's nothing much he can do.

He's keenly aware that he's never had to be in here before, and he doesn't know what to do. It smells a little like a hospital, and that leaves a kind of uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. He hasn't had to be in one of these for awhile. It's bringing up a lot of mixed memories. "How long did this all take you to put together?"

[greenisnteasy]

"What, the clinic?" He steps inside and smiles at Steve for holding the door for him before he goes to fix Steve a glass of water. He needs to do tests and things, it's true, but he'd like for Steve to sit and be in the world for like twenty seconds before he starts poking at him with needles. Plus he's not entirely sure what he does and doesn't remember from being there.

"I've been putting it together slowly since I've been here. There was a supply pile recently and I grabbed some medical supplies, and luckily avoided having my head eaten by a spider. Sit down." He hands Steve the glass of water.

"Are you hungry? I can make you a bowl of soup."

[pursuitofcappiness]

He shakes his head no. "Not hungry," he confirms, although now that he's conscious of it, there's a sort of strange gnawing like he's on the verge of hunger, like he'd been fed recently. They must have fed him, these last ten days. He wonders what it was, but he doesn't want to ask because he doesn't think Bruce is going to want to pump his stomach and look through the contents. They're not that desperate for information, right? Anyway, he'd rather get this over with, so they can go back to being friends instead of doctor and patient.

"The spiders came back?" he asks instead, because of course they'd send those along with supply packages. Seriously, they should at least tell them what kind of experiment they all didn't sign up for.

[greenisnteasy]

"Along with a few other surprise guests. I got out okay, but some others didn't. Nothing major, just some bumps and burns." Because that's normal. It's also not the only piece of bad news he can give about Steve's time away.

He hesitates before he drops his casual demeanor. "Phil's... He passed away."

[pursuitofcappiness]

He hangs his head. They were supposed to get to know each other better, but of course he got caught up in a lot of things. He thought they had time. He keeps doing that; it trips him up. "He came back? And he died?" he asks, kind of like he doesn't believe it. They already lost him once; that was unfair. That was just unfair, to have to die twice.