The Edge

Matteo: Part Three

Sent: You're sure she didn't take any on the books jobs?

From: Helen: Nothing that anyone will admit to

Sent: Damn that's annoying. Maybe she wanted to keep her head down after what happened with Solo. Do they have any offices here or anything?

Matteo had been worried about that since they left New Frontier. They knew Solo was up to some shady shit, and businesses that were up to shady shit weren't usually content to stick to legal avenues in the face of theft. Cassandra might be permanently barred from visiting several planets after that stunt.

From: Helen: Not that we can find. We're trying to figure out where we might have offloaded the ship, so we'll have to be dealing with some shady types

Sent: At least Arian will feel useful

From: Helen: Honestly I'd forgotten he was a part of a stolen car ring until today

Sent: Lmao yeah I know what you mean

Sent: "How does our rapscallion of a brother know about such highly illegal activities? Oh, wait..."

Usually, a comment like that would get at least a couple of cry laugh emojis or something, even if she didn't find it that funny. Today, all he got was...

From: Helen: Yea basically

Matteo didn't like this newer, sterner version of his sister. Even in her position as the responsible eldest, Helen wasn't usually so dour. Then again, he guessed serious times made for serious dispositions.

From: Helen: We'll stop by if we can. You guys stay put and don't let Tola pick up any more strays

Sent: I appreciate you think I'm capable of that but I'm definitely not. I'll try though.

Speaking of.

Matteo glanced at Tola. She had fallen asleep in a chair near Roland's bed. She wouldn't get the most restful sleep, but Matteo was still glad to see her resting. She needed it, and it kept her from running off on him.

...actually, as long as she's not going anywhere... Matteo could really use a snack.

Edward was the only one awake besides him, but that was fine. He wouldn't be gone long. "Excuse me?" Matteo said. "I'm going to run to the vending machine down the hall. Do you want anything?"

Edward shook his head. Matteo appreciated that he hadn't tried for verbal communication. He still had some hearing left, and a transcriber on top of that, but people jumping right into yelling at him got exhausting.

The blind guy and the people he was with were gone when Matteo stepped out into the hallway, so he wouldn't be getting any answers there. Matteo was quickly distracted from that fact by the harsh reminder that he hated hospitals. Yes, it was personal; he'd spent far too much time in waiting rooms for various specialists, be it for his hearing loss or his parents' respective illnesses, reading the same boring magazines, watching the same news channels, and having to cope with systemic abelism and the loss of both parents. Both perfectly good reasons to have bad associations with places like this.

On top of that, he was on high alert, which made the flaws of the place more prominent. It smelled strongly of disinfectant and something herbal, the lights were at a slightly off-putting brightness, and even his footsteps felt off. That last one was probably a combination of weird hospital acoustics and his diminished hearing. It somehow felt both completely alien and exactly like every single hospital he'd ever been to simultaneously.