Post by Nicholas Gray on Jun 23, 2015 20:30:55 GMT -6
Saturday, June 20th, 2015
It had been a wonderful day, all things considered.
Sure they had to spend it all in a hospital room, her confined to a bed because of her utterly destroyed knee, and every time he thought about that he felt a pang in his heart and his head throbbed worse.
But they were together, and that made it good.
They joked around, they watched telenovelas and tried to understand what was happening, they told each other stories. He tried his best to keep a smile on her face, to keep her mind away from the terrible thing that had happened for as long as he could manage. Whether by skill or just his presence, he thought he did a pretty good job at it.
As the middle of the day approached, he stood up from his chair and told her he was going to go and get some food for them both from outside the hospital. While the hospital wasn’t the worst thing, really, he still wanted to get her something that wasn’t what she had started to get used to confined to that bed. He gave her a kiss and a promise that he’d be back quick as he could, and he stepped out of the room.
And his headache came back in full force.
He winced, one hand coming up to uselessly rub at his temple. He was used to headaches, sure. He’d been plagued with them his entire life, harsh migraines coming and going at random. But this was different. The ones he was used to, the worst of it would last only minutes, rarely going beyond ten minutes. But this...this had been like this for a week. It wasn’t always strong, but it was constantly there. A throb in his head that he’d been feeling since the moment he found Jennifer laying on the cold locker room floor, screaming and sobbing. The memory made his head hurt more.
The only times it truly died down was when he was with Jennifer. She calmed his head, her presence making it so much easier to ignore the pain. It was at it’s worst when he’d have to leave. He stumbled down the hall and took a seat in one of the seats that littered the halls of hospitals, waiting for the worst of it to pass. And he made the mistake of thinking about all of it while he sat.
He thought about the headaches first, then that naturally led to thinking a week ago, which led to him thinking about what caused that. Which meant he would finally think of Yukiko and how this was his fault.
The headache flared up worse, a sharp stabbing pain in the front of his head that almost made him scream. He needed relief of some kind, but he couldn’t just go back to Jennifer’s room. No, no, not that. She was going through so much right now and he didn’t want to worry her with his head.
But there was an alternative, another person that made the worst of his headache pains fade to the back of his mind. One hand reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his cell phone, fingers desperately unlocking the screen and bringing up his contacts.
He scrolled down to the contact he was looking for and hit dial.
It was only a few seconds before the call was answered, and Anderson found himself in audience with his father, Grant.
Grant: Hello, son. It’s been a while.
Anderson Cobalt: I know, I’m sorry. We haven’t spoken since I came home for Thanksgiving and that’s…
Grant: Anderson, please. It’s fine. We don’t need to speak every single day, you’re an adult. And it’s not like I haven’t seen you this whole time, I see you on TV every other week.
Anderson sighed in relief, glad to be released of one worry he had held in him.
Grant: Now then, what do I owe getting to hear my son’s voice?
Anderson Cobalt: ...my head.
From his phone he heard a long, drawn-out sigh now. For as long as he could remember his headaches had frustrated his father. At times it seemed they bothered him more than it did Cobalt.
Grant: You’d been doing so good, too. Alright, when did this one start?
Anderson Cobalt: Ah, well…
Only silence on the other side, Grant realizing that his son not immediately to a question he’d been asked so many times before pointed to something very off.
Grant: Child. When did this headache start?
Anderson Cobalt: ...you saw when it started, dad, it was on TV. When I found her.
The silence on the other end lasts a few moments, and Anderson winces in preparation. When his father speaks, his tone is very nearly outright angry, which shocks Cobalt.
Grant: You’re telling me...that you’ve had this headache...for almost a WEEK?!
Anderson Cobalt: I...I…
He started to try and brush it off, to lie, to try and downplay it, but all those attempts die in his throat. They’d be pointless to do, he knew. His father would know if he lied. He always did.
Anderson Cobalt: ...yes…
The silence lasts a while. The only thing he hears from the other end is the sound of skin rubbing on skin, bringing to his mind an image of his father rubbing his hands on his eyes in frustration. He’d seen it enough when the topic of his headaches came up to know the sound by heart now. When his father speaks next, it’s calm. More than that it’s calmING, his voice smooth and soothing, sliding into his ears and caressing his brain, relieving his pain.
Grant: Son, I wouldn’t worry too much about this one. I think it’s more likely that this isn’t connected to your normal problems. I think this is just caused by all the stress you’ve been under since Monday. Do you understand?
Cobalt considers this and immediately finds it making sense to him.
Anderson Cobalt: I understand. You’re right, that makes perfect sense. This is just everything that’s happened just...fucking my head up.
An affirmative noise from the other end.
Grant: Good. Once the worst of this passes, you will be just fine son, don’t worry. Though…
The change in his tone, from calming to disappointed, made Cobalt wince. He knew what was about to happen, and it was something he’d been dreading ever since he started to drop his defenses around the others.
Grant: This wouldn’t be happening if you didn’t listen to me. What did I teach you, son.
Anderson sighed, and began to repeat the teachings he’d had pressed into his mind time after time.
Anderson Cobalt: An Ace must be an ideal. He must stand above the others. Unreachable, undistorted by influence from them. He must remain pure. Unchanging. To forge relationships with the people beneath him would be to weaken himself. He must stay alone.
He could practically hear the proud nod.
Grant: Very good recital, son. But why don’t you live up to it? Why go against everything I’ve tried to teach you for her?
Anderson sat for a moment, considering what to do. He hated speaking against his father. Not out of fear, but out of a feeling he was disrespecting the man who’d done everything for him by saying something. He thought about changing the subject, avoiding it, or just hanging up to avoid that perceived disrespect. But he thought about Jennifer, and he smiled instead, and spoke up.
Anderson Cobalt: I know, dad, that you advised me to keep everything strictly business. To keep myself kind of...apart from everyone, because that’s what an Ace should do but...she’s awakened something in me.
A moment of silence on the other end.
Grant: ...and what’s that?
Anderson Cobalt: It’s like a...a light switch being turned on inside of me. Like every part of me has been made stronger. I go out there to wrestle and I know that I’m putting in more than I ever have before, that I’m better than I was before, and it’s because I’m not just doing it for me. I have her watching me, cheering me on, and it just...empowers me. I was good before, when I alone, but now when I’m in that ring I have more than just me. It’s so different, the me of then and the me of now. I’m a better wrestler and a better man for having her in my life. Since meeting her I finally know what being the Ace feels like.
The silence on the other end lasts some time. Cobalt thinks he hears the sound of teeth grinding, but he ignores it and waits, dread building in him for what his father would say to this. And finally, he spoke.
Grant: I see. Well then I’m...I’m happy for you, son.
Those simple words brought so much relief to him, Cobalt relaxing back into his chair with a sigh.
Anderson Cobalt: Thank you, dad.
Grant: Mmhmm. Well, it makes it easier to understand why this has affected you so badly. Why the stress is so bad.
Anderson Cobalt: Yeah...this whole thing is starting to drive me up the wall. Having to see Jennifer confined to a hospital room is bad enough, but I guess HELL is trying to save face by doing an investigation and they don’t seem to be investigating anything. They just sit around saying nothing about what’s happened and they’re just...they just don’t seem to see what’s right in front of them. I found that psycho’s fucking PIPE at the scene and I haven’t heard one word about that. Just that they’re investigating. It’s so….grah!
Being reduced to shouting annoyed noises, he knows, leaves his father shaking his head. When he speaks again, his father’s voice is firm and comforting.
Grant: I know it seems difficult right now, and that things might seem against you. But just remember, you’re so much more than they know. You’re not just Anderson Cobalt.
He nodded, though it was a pointless thing to do since his father could not see him. It was strange to him in a way. For 8 straight months he had only thought of himself as Anderson Cobalt the Ace of (R)Evolution, that it took him a moment to remember himself as the heir to all that Grant Protivnik had built.
And somewhere in the back of his head some little pressure was relieved.
Anderson Cobalt: Oh!
Grant Protivnik: Hm? What is it?
Anderson Cobalt: Something’s been bothering me the last couple days, some little...bit in the back of my head. I just realized what it was.
Grant Protivnik: And that would be?
Anderson Cobalt: I haven’t told her my name yet.
He heard repeated tsk’ings on the other side of the call.
Grant Protivnik: Really, son. You woo a woman and yet can’t be bothered to tell her your name? For shame.
Anderson Cobalt: I know, I know, it’s ridiculous. I guess...maybe I was still trying to keep some little bit apart from it all. I feel like an idiot.
Grant Protivnik: Son, it’s fine, she won’t be mad you overlooked this. Just tell her.
Cobalt nodded.
Anderson Cobalt: I will. First chance I get. Maybe it’ll make her forget about...all of this for a bit.
Grant Protivnik: Mm, yes...this girl with the pipe...she’s quite the problem for us all, isn’t she?
He paused, and next his tone has something else in it that Cobalt can’t quite place, but it resonates with his mind.
Grant Protivnik: This might not be something that could be handled by Anderson Cobalt.
Cobalt nodded, free hand balling into a fist.
Anderson Cobalt: I know. If the authorities, if HELL, if Stearns..if they don’t take care of this...I will.
A small pause, as Cobalt thinks again of seeing the woman he cared most about writhing on the floor, sobbing in agony. His face twists into a snarl.
Jason Anderson Protivnik: And I won’t leave anything of that bitch for anyone to bury.
He could hear the grin on his father’s face as he spoke.
Grant Protivnik: Now there’s my boy. You handle this as you were taught, son. Do it with righteousness in your heart, with all you feel for her coursing through your veins. I’ll be watching.
Anderson nodded, and was ready to let the conversation end before realizing something.
Anderson Cobalt: Ah, dad...I know it’s early, but I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to say it on the day with everything going on so...happy Father’s Day. Thank you for everything.
Grant Protivnik: Thank you, son, I do my best. Now, get back to your girl. And take care.
Anderson Cobalt: I will. Goodbye.
They hung up, and Cobalt pocketed his phone. He sat back in the chair he had taken, and he smiled. The headache he had was now in the back of his mind, a dull throb that wasn’t stabbing his mind. He had made a good choice calling his father, as talking to him always was. Now he felt even more confident about his choices. That the Path that he was on was the best one for him.
He stood up from his chair and set off down the hall, ready to get into a hurry to get food and get back to her.
It had been a wonderful day, all things considered.
Sure they had to spend it all in a hospital room, her confined to a bed because of her utterly destroyed knee, and every time he thought about that he felt a pang in his heart and his head throbbed worse.
But they were together, and that made it good.
They joked around, they watched telenovelas and tried to understand what was happening, they told each other stories. He tried his best to keep a smile on her face, to keep her mind away from the terrible thing that had happened for as long as he could manage. Whether by skill or just his presence, he thought he did a pretty good job at it.
As the middle of the day approached, he stood up from his chair and told her he was going to go and get some food for them both from outside the hospital. While the hospital wasn’t the worst thing, really, he still wanted to get her something that wasn’t what she had started to get used to confined to that bed. He gave her a kiss and a promise that he’d be back quick as he could, and he stepped out of the room.
And his headache came back in full force.
He winced, one hand coming up to uselessly rub at his temple. He was used to headaches, sure. He’d been plagued with them his entire life, harsh migraines coming and going at random. But this was different. The ones he was used to, the worst of it would last only minutes, rarely going beyond ten minutes. But this...this had been like this for a week. It wasn’t always strong, but it was constantly there. A throb in his head that he’d been feeling since the moment he found Jennifer laying on the cold locker room floor, screaming and sobbing. The memory made his head hurt more.
The only times it truly died down was when he was with Jennifer. She calmed his head, her presence making it so much easier to ignore the pain. It was at it’s worst when he’d have to leave. He stumbled down the hall and took a seat in one of the seats that littered the halls of hospitals, waiting for the worst of it to pass. And he made the mistake of thinking about all of it while he sat.
He thought about the headaches first, then that naturally led to thinking a week ago, which led to him thinking about what caused that. Which meant he would finally think of Yukiko and how this was his fault.
The headache flared up worse, a sharp stabbing pain in the front of his head that almost made him scream. He needed relief of some kind, but he couldn’t just go back to Jennifer’s room. No, no, not that. She was going through so much right now and he didn’t want to worry her with his head.
But there was an alternative, another person that made the worst of his headache pains fade to the back of his mind. One hand reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his cell phone, fingers desperately unlocking the screen and bringing up his contacts.
He scrolled down to the contact he was looking for and hit dial.
It was only a few seconds before the call was answered, and Anderson found himself in audience with his father, Grant.
Grant: Hello, son. It’s been a while.
Anderson Cobalt: I know, I’m sorry. We haven’t spoken since I came home for Thanksgiving and that’s…
Grant: Anderson, please. It’s fine. We don’t need to speak every single day, you’re an adult. And it’s not like I haven’t seen you this whole time, I see you on TV every other week.
Anderson sighed in relief, glad to be released of one worry he had held in him.
Grant: Now then, what do I owe getting to hear my son’s voice?
Anderson Cobalt: ...my head.
From his phone he heard a long, drawn-out sigh now. For as long as he could remember his headaches had frustrated his father. At times it seemed they bothered him more than it did Cobalt.
Grant: You’d been doing so good, too. Alright, when did this one start?
Anderson Cobalt: Ah, well…
Only silence on the other side, Grant realizing that his son not immediately to a question he’d been asked so many times before pointed to something very off.
Grant: Child. When did this headache start?
Anderson Cobalt: ...you saw when it started, dad, it was on TV. When I found her.
The silence on the other end lasts a few moments, and Anderson winces in preparation. When his father speaks, his tone is very nearly outright angry, which shocks Cobalt.
Grant: You’re telling me...that you’ve had this headache...for almost a WEEK?!
Anderson Cobalt: I...I…
He started to try and brush it off, to lie, to try and downplay it, but all those attempts die in his throat. They’d be pointless to do, he knew. His father would know if he lied. He always did.
Anderson Cobalt: ...yes…
The silence lasts a while. The only thing he hears from the other end is the sound of skin rubbing on skin, bringing to his mind an image of his father rubbing his hands on his eyes in frustration. He’d seen it enough when the topic of his headaches came up to know the sound by heart now. When his father speaks next, it’s calm. More than that it’s calmING, his voice smooth and soothing, sliding into his ears and caressing his brain, relieving his pain.
Grant: Son, I wouldn’t worry too much about this one. I think it’s more likely that this isn’t connected to your normal problems. I think this is just caused by all the stress you’ve been under since Monday. Do you understand?
Cobalt considers this and immediately finds it making sense to him.
Anderson Cobalt: I understand. You’re right, that makes perfect sense. This is just everything that’s happened just...fucking my head up.
An affirmative noise from the other end.
Grant: Good. Once the worst of this passes, you will be just fine son, don’t worry. Though…
The change in his tone, from calming to disappointed, made Cobalt wince. He knew what was about to happen, and it was something he’d been dreading ever since he started to drop his defenses around the others.
Grant: This wouldn’t be happening if you didn’t listen to me. What did I teach you, son.
Anderson sighed, and began to repeat the teachings he’d had pressed into his mind time after time.
Anderson Cobalt: An Ace must be an ideal. He must stand above the others. Unreachable, undistorted by influence from them. He must remain pure. Unchanging. To forge relationships with the people beneath him would be to weaken himself. He must stay alone.
He could practically hear the proud nod.
Grant: Very good recital, son. But why don’t you live up to it? Why go against everything I’ve tried to teach you for her?
Anderson sat for a moment, considering what to do. He hated speaking against his father. Not out of fear, but out of a feeling he was disrespecting the man who’d done everything for him by saying something. He thought about changing the subject, avoiding it, or just hanging up to avoid that perceived disrespect. But he thought about Jennifer, and he smiled instead, and spoke up.
Anderson Cobalt: I know, dad, that you advised me to keep everything strictly business. To keep myself kind of...apart from everyone, because that’s what an Ace should do but...she’s awakened something in me.
A moment of silence on the other end.
Grant: ...and what’s that?
Anderson Cobalt: It’s like a...a light switch being turned on inside of me. Like every part of me has been made stronger. I go out there to wrestle and I know that I’m putting in more than I ever have before, that I’m better than I was before, and it’s because I’m not just doing it for me. I have her watching me, cheering me on, and it just...empowers me. I was good before, when I alone, but now when I’m in that ring I have more than just me. It’s so different, the me of then and the me of now. I’m a better wrestler and a better man for having her in my life. Since meeting her I finally know what being the Ace feels like.
The silence on the other end lasts some time. Cobalt thinks he hears the sound of teeth grinding, but he ignores it and waits, dread building in him for what his father would say to this. And finally, he spoke.
Grant: I see. Well then I’m...I’m happy for you, son.
Those simple words brought so much relief to him, Cobalt relaxing back into his chair with a sigh.
Anderson Cobalt: Thank you, dad.
Grant: Mmhmm. Well, it makes it easier to understand why this has affected you so badly. Why the stress is so bad.
Anderson Cobalt: Yeah...this whole thing is starting to drive me up the wall. Having to see Jennifer confined to a hospital room is bad enough, but I guess HELL is trying to save face by doing an investigation and they don’t seem to be investigating anything. They just sit around saying nothing about what’s happened and they’re just...they just don’t seem to see what’s right in front of them. I found that psycho’s fucking PIPE at the scene and I haven’t heard one word about that. Just that they’re investigating. It’s so….grah!
Being reduced to shouting annoyed noises, he knows, leaves his father shaking his head. When he speaks again, his father’s voice is firm and comforting.
Grant: I know it seems difficult right now, and that things might seem against you. But just remember, you’re so much more than they know. You’re not just Anderson Cobalt.
He nodded, though it was a pointless thing to do since his father could not see him. It was strange to him in a way. For 8 straight months he had only thought of himself as Anderson Cobalt the Ace of (R)Evolution, that it took him a moment to remember himself as the heir to all that Grant Protivnik had built.
And somewhere in the back of his head some little pressure was relieved.
Anderson Cobalt: Oh!
Grant Protivnik: Hm? What is it?
Anderson Cobalt: Something’s been bothering me the last couple days, some little...bit in the back of my head. I just realized what it was.
Grant Protivnik: And that would be?
Anderson Cobalt: I haven’t told her my name yet.
He heard repeated tsk’ings on the other side of the call.
Grant Protivnik: Really, son. You woo a woman and yet can’t be bothered to tell her your name? For shame.
Anderson Cobalt: I know, I know, it’s ridiculous. I guess...maybe I was still trying to keep some little bit apart from it all. I feel like an idiot.
Grant Protivnik: Son, it’s fine, she won’t be mad you overlooked this. Just tell her.
Cobalt nodded.
Anderson Cobalt: I will. First chance I get. Maybe it’ll make her forget about...all of this for a bit.
Grant Protivnik: Mm, yes...this girl with the pipe...she’s quite the problem for us all, isn’t she?
He paused, and next his tone has something else in it that Cobalt can’t quite place, but it resonates with his mind.
Grant Protivnik: This might not be something that could be handled by Anderson Cobalt.
Cobalt nodded, free hand balling into a fist.
Anderson Cobalt: I know. If the authorities, if HELL, if Stearns..if they don’t take care of this...I will.
A small pause, as Cobalt thinks again of seeing the woman he cared most about writhing on the floor, sobbing in agony. His face twists into a snarl.
Jason Anderson Protivnik: And I won’t leave anything of that bitch for anyone to bury.
He could hear the grin on his father’s face as he spoke.
Grant Protivnik: Now there’s my boy. You handle this as you were taught, son. Do it with righteousness in your heart, with all you feel for her coursing through your veins. I’ll be watching.
Anderson nodded, and was ready to let the conversation end before realizing something.
Anderson Cobalt: Ah, dad...I know it’s early, but I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to say it on the day with everything going on so...happy Father’s Day. Thank you for everything.
Grant Protivnik: Thank you, son, I do my best. Now, get back to your girl. And take care.
Anderson Cobalt: I will. Goodbye.
They hung up, and Cobalt pocketed his phone. He sat back in the chair he had taken, and he smiled. The headache he had was now in the back of his mind, a dull throb that wasn’t stabbing his mind. He had made a good choice calling his father, as talking to him always was. Now he felt even more confident about his choices. That the Path that he was on was the best one for him.
He stood up from his chair and set off down the hall, ready to get into a hurry to get food and get back to her.
