Thursday
Takeshi is asleep in the infirmary room as Eclipse quietly walks in with breakfast in her hands.
"Hey?" She walks over to the bed and puts the tray of food on the side table before sitting on the side of Takeshi's bed. She runs a hand through his hair with a long sigh.
"Takeshi… I brought you breakfast," Eclipse lightly shakes him in hopes of waking him up. He rolls over and sleepily opens his eyes, a small smile crossing his face when he sees her.
"Hey," his voice is slightly raspy as he had just woken up.
"Hey handsome," Eclipse smiles and carefully puts a hand on his cheek.
"I'm hungry," he lets out a small laugh.
"I brought you breakfast, here," she grabs the tray of food and puts it on her lap as he slowly sits up.
"This looks good. Did you make it?" He picks up a freshly baked biscuit and takes a bite.
"Yeah. It's my mom's old recipe. Does it taste good?" She lightly bites her lip in anticipation of his response.
"It's really good!" Takeshi nods as he finishes eating the biscuit.
"I'm glad," Eclipse lets out a sigh of relief. A few minutes of silence pass as Takeshi eats the rest of the breakfast.
"Hey Eclipse? I have a question," Takeshi looks at her after putting the food tray on the side table.
"Mhm? What is it?" Eclipse looks back at him, their eyes locking.
"Do you… do you like me?" He asks awkwardly, looking down at the bedsheets.
"I… uh… wh… um…" she practically stutters, unsure of how to respond.
"Like, more than just coworkers," he continues to look at the sheets.
"Takeshi…" she glances at the ground.
"You can tell me Eclipse. You can be honest, please," he glances up at her.
"I… yeah. I do," Eclipse nods with a sigh.
"Since when?" Takeshi looks at her as she sits there.
"Well, when we first met I thought you were cute. And at first, our assignment and our roles were just that, an assignment and some roles. But, these past few weeks, since you and Ren fought, we've been getting closer and, I really like the idea of us, actually dating," Eclipse stares at the floor.
"Really?" He looks at her in disbelief as she nods.
"Yeah," she sighs.
"I… I don't know what to say. I mean, even though our roles are boyfriend and girlfriend, I… I don't think Ember would approve of it being real," Takeshi sighs as he moves his eyes to look at the bedsheets.
"Maybe I can talk to her?" Eclipse glances up at him.
"Eclipse. I really don't know. It's one thing for this to be an assignment but, if we actually started dating… we haven't even actually kissed," he lets out a long sigh.
"Yeah but…" Eclipse starts.
"How're you feeling?" Ember walks into the room.
"Better. Both mentally and physically," Takeshi looks up at Ember, his heart slightly racing from the conversation he and Eclipse had just had.
"That's good to hear. I see you two have gotten closer," Ember studies Eclipse and Takeshi as they sit there.
"Just as co-workers, maybe even friends," Takeshi replies before Eclipse can.
"Good. Takeshi, have you tried doing any exercises yet? Like, standing up?" Ember changes her focus back to Takeshi.
"No, not yet. I've just been sleeping," he shakes his head.
"You should try at the very least," she responds.
"Well… the problem is…" Takeshi starts but gets quiet when he remembers that Eclipse is in the room.
"You're still too weak?" Ember finishes his sentence with a small sigh.
"Yeah…" Takeshi nods.
"I'll see what I can do. Eclipse, come with me. I need you to help me with something," Ember looks at Eclipse who nods and stands up. After they leave the room, Takeshi lays back down and stares out of the window.
"What am I going to do?" Takeshi lets out a long sigh as he watches the clouds in the sky.