Room 209, Sunday morning

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Aeryn did not sleep. Pretty much at all. One moment she was letting John go on about kids because it seemed to be keeping him calm, and the next they were finding out that in that other reality, he killed her.

John's reaction is what concerns her. They don't even know for a fact that there is anything in his head, but it doesn't seem to matter. In the early morning when he at least seems to be sleeping, Aeryn spends some time hiding anything potentially dangerous in the room. She's not worried about him trying to hurt her. Not that she's big on leaving him alone right now. Then she comes to bed, drapes an arm across John, and continues to not sleep.

Comments

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

He shrugs again. "Don't know. If...if there's something in there, they'd have to do surgery or something to take it out."

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"Possibly," she says, "and if it comes to that, we'll figure out what to do. But we aren't that far yet. We don't even know if this chip actually exists."

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

"If it's not," he says, "then I'm going insane. I don't know what's worse."

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"There are solutions. First step is to find out if there's something there. Which probably means we need to go to the clinic," she says.

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

He squirms again and tries to roll away.

"No clinic."

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"Okay, no clinic," she says quickly. "Can you explain to me why, though? I need to understand."

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

"Because people will know," he says quietly.

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"John," she says, just as quietly, "they're already figuring out something is wrong."

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

This time, he does sit up, running his fingers through his hair. That only serves to mess it up more.

"I just...I can't go to the clinic yet. It's too public."

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Aeryn nods. "Okay. No clinic for now. But we need to find some way to check this out."

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

He laughs a little.

"Suggestions?"

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"None yet," she admits. "I can check into it, though."

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

He nods slowly. "Okay. If I have to go to the clinic, I will. Just not yet."

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She sits up and nods. "As a last resort. I can agree to that," she says. Because she's going to spend some time on the phone about this, definitely.

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

"I don't feel very socialable right now," he tells her, rubbing at his temple. "Can I stay here for a while?"

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"As long as you need or want to," she says. "I'm not kicking you out."

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

He leans closer and kisses her softly.

"For someone who heard what she did yesterday, you're remarkably calm."

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"She ended up being all right. Me, this one, right now... I'm fine," she tells him. "We aren't them. Not exactly."

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

"Still happened," he says, looking away. "If there's something in my head, we need to think about what I might do."

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She can protest all she wants, but he still needs to deal with this. "All right," she says. "Let's think about it."

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

"If there's something there, should I be around you? I mean, if it can take me over..."

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"If Scorpius chipped that John, it meant he had a plan. Killing her was probably part of that plan somehow," Aeryn says, and yes, she has put a lot of thought into this. "If that's what he did to you, he's doing it because he's an evil bastard, and there's no reason to go after me."

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

"You've thought about this," he says quietly. "I just don't want you to be caught off guard."

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"I won't be. I don't know if you've noticed," she says, a little lightly, "but I've been checking in on you."

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

"No, you've been keeping me sane," he says seriously. "Only reason why I probably haven't gone off the deep end."