Lock and Key

Selflessness In Selfishness

After Simon had doled out the Void's punishment for it's attempted escape he'd gone back to bed. After all, the Void had almost escaped in the middle of the night, he'd been resting and he wanted to return to it. Simon didn't sleep much before he was woken again, this time not by the sounds of the Void's escape but by his own dreams. Simon had dreamed of the Void once again and he considered it worse than his first. At least that dream had been a bit obtuse, and he hadn't been forced to see the conclusion. This time his subconscious gave him no such mercy.

The dream had been odd for it lacked context for how it began. He and the Void sat next to each other on a stone bench in a garden. The Void was crying about something, he wasn't sure what. But he knew he'd been the cause. He'd held the Void and he'd spoken to it as he did. Simon wanted to vomit when remembering what this dream facsimile of himself had said. "Grace, Grace I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I'll never do it again." or something to that effect. He'd even used the Void's false name. His mind was not subtle and Simon had never felt more disgusted with himself. And yet when he'd woken from the dream he'd been crying. No matter how much he hated the Void, how much it disgusted him, he couldn't escape the fact that he longed for the connection he'd had with it before. Simon considered the question the Void had posed to him that he'd ignored.

"Are you happy?" it had asked him. Simon knew that the answer was no. He dragged himself out of bed frustrated at his conflicted feelings. Checking the time he could see it had only been less than an hour since he'd last interacted with the Void. Since he'd... Simon's thoughts trailed off as he reminded himself that the Void deserved it. He told himself that had the Void not attempted to escape it wouldn't have happened, that it had forced his hand. Still, Simon understood his mind. The last time he dreamed of the Void he was tormented until confronting those feelings. Simon knew that he'd have to once again see the Void. He wouldn't apologize, he'd done nothing wrong. But, he knew how to set a broken leg. Maybe if he did this one thing he could go back to being ambivalent about the Void as he should be.

He pulled himself out of his room and walked towards the infirmary doing his best to be quiet. If he could barely comprehend why he was helping the Void he had no clue as to how he'd explain it to the Apex children. It had been awhile since he'd made a splint but the memory of how to do it was still there. He grabbed a towel, gauze and medical tape before making his way to the Void's prison. He stood outside the door awkwardly. "Why am I doing this?" he asked himself. Simon couldn't find an answer. Inside he could hear the Void crying. It reminded him of his dream. Cautiously, he opened the door. What he said had been involuntary but he'd said it nonetheless.

"Grace, are you okay?" he hadn't meant to refer to the Void by it's false name but it had slipped out. The Void looked up at him, tears still in its eyes along with hatred. Right, Simon had forgotten that the Void had promised to end his life.

"You broke my fucking leg what the hell do you think?" it spit out at him. Simon wanted to be furious at the Void for being mad at him but whatever weakness that conjured images of it in his mind while he slept refused to allow him to. "Did you come to break the other one too?" it asked him. Simon walked into the room still holding the supplies he'd procured from the infirmary.

"I came to help you." he said honestly. The Void looked at him like it didn't trust him as far as it could throw him.

"I don't want any of your fucking help." The Void retorted. It did it's best to move away from him, something that wasn't really possible due to its circumstances. Simon shook his head and walked closer.

"Well, I'm helping you anyway." he said seriously as he sat in front of the Void. He rolled the towel and cushioned it with gauze and began to move it closer to the Void's broken leg.