Unrested

Gian-Luca planted his bare palm on the Angel's forehead, clenching it in the process. He absorbed as much as he could. All the memories, flooding through his hand. Finally lifting his hand off, his palm twitched in success. The Angel seemed to be in a delirious state.

Gian-Luca then asked the Angel the same questions he'd asked just a few minutes earlier. At the time, he had provided the answers to the questions, now he wouldn't. It was a test of memorization for the Angel.

"What is my name?" Gian-Luca asked.

The Angel didn't answer. He stared at Gian-Luca's face, as if trying to recognize him.

Reporter John in the back corner of the room checked off a success mark for that question.

"What's my height?" The new question was asked. Once again the Angel stared forward blankly, unknowing of the answer.

A second success mark was checked off by John.

"Okay, what did I tell you was my favorite food?" Gian-Luca finally asked.

The Angel opened his mouth as if to answer, but nothing came out. That was a success mark for question three.

"All good," John said from the back. "You passed successfully today," he told Gian-Luca.

Gian-Luca gave him a nod, and looked over at Ian who was finishing up his own trials.

"Overseer Jophiel said you two could return to the containment hall once you succeeded today's experiments. Go on ahead," and preceding John's words, two Seraphim walked in to escort the experimentees back.

Making their way to the containment hall, Gian-Luca's heart rate picked up again. He took a deep breath while closing his eyes to try and regulate his thoughts.

"It's okay, it's okay…"

Arriving back at the containment hall, previously-said words echoed through Gian-Luca's mind:

"Gula! We finished our experiments early today, make sure to come visit my room when you guys are done!"

Remembering that, he immediately went to his room.

Inside, Gian-Luca took a faint seat on his bed, fidgeting his fingers with unease. On the other side of the room, Ian laid down in bed. He pulled the covers over, and within a minute, snoring was heard.

"I wish I could fall asleep that easily…" Gian-Luca thought to himself.

Suddenly, the door to the room barged open.

"Gula?"

Gian-Luca's heart sank.

"Didn't I tell you to come see me after experiments? I saw you head straight to your room. Why?"

It was Vidia.

"I-I…" Gian-Luca stuttered his words.

Vidia watched him with unblinking eyes. "As my brother you should understand how important you are to me. You're the only family I have around here, the only one I care about. Everyone else here is filthy," she glared at the sleeping Ian.

"I just… I felt tired after the trials today. I needed some rest so I came straight to my room to sl-"

"I'M TIRED TOO GULA," Vidia yelled. "I'VE BEEN WORKING SO HARD TO GET MY ABILITY TO WORK AND IT FINALLY DID TODAY. YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WORKING HARD."

Gian-Luca's ears rung. "She took offense to that," Gian-Luca thought. He instantly regretted even speaking.

"Be quiet." A muffled voice spoke from across the room. The two turned their heads in its direction.

"You talk way too loud." It was Ian, trying to sleep.

Vidia's eyes widened with a sudden disgust. "Listen here…" She walked up to Ian's bed.

"Don't you dare take advantage of sharing a room with my brother," she moved her face closer. "He's mine, and you won't hurt him again. If you do, I'll fucking KILL YOU!"

"That's enough Vidia." Ariel was at the door.

She turned around in shock to see the Overseer.

"Are you gonna cause a commotion again? You've already disappointed me enough."

Vidia said no words. Her mouth simply hung open.

"You understand how valuable your peers are right? Every other experimentee here, including you, is worth a lot. But if you start to become a burden, and your presence threatens those around you, we will have no mercy in disposing of you." Ariel held her stance.

"D-Dispose?" Vidia muttered.

"We can induct you into Michael's Angel Unit Infantry just as easily as we inducted your ability."

Vidia froze up. Ariel watched her. The threatening eyes pressured her to follow the Overseer out of the room, the door closing behind them. That left Gian-Luca some room to sigh of relief. Ian groaned from his bed.

"Your sister's fucking crazy," he said. "The way she acts around you—completely different to anyone else. Even around Ariel she's completely different, dwindling down to a small fry. Or maybe…" he paused. "Maybe she's just different around me. That girl hates my guts, look," he pointed at his nose. It was scarred. "All because you took a beating for my absence at that experiment three months ago. Look, I never did that with intent to get you hurt, I just didn't wanna get out of bed."

Gian-Luca nodded. He recalled the zapping pain he'd received at the time. "It's okay."

Ian eyed him, then pulled his covers back over. "I better not be woken up again," and with that, he was back to snoring.

Gian-Luca unexpectedly felt himself sway. The bed was calling to him. He realized his words of tiredness he'd told Vidia were not at all false. The ability-usage had drained his energy for the day.

Like Ian, he laid down. Pulling the covers over, his body warmed up. Though oddly, his hands remained cold. Just as cold as when he'd touched Abel's.

He slowly closed his eyes, allowing the drowsy sensations to overtake his body.

Now being brought to an undetermined present.