Chapter Text
"I will never know silence again." She huffed. "Never again. Only noise." She glanced at Ian. "It's insufferable." Seth leaned against Ians makeshift desk.
Ian spared her a glance, sighing softly. "You just need to get used to it, kid." He felt for her, growing pains of her mutations. Couldn't be fun.
"I feel like I could crack my head open. Let the sound ooze out."
"That's a stupid idea." He said, almost amused. "Have you tried taking a nap? When's the last time youve slept?"
She groaned and fell down beside his legs.
He watched her. "Dama queen."
She mumbled one thing or another. "A night or so ago."
He hummed, tapping his pen against the map. "Drug induced doesn't count."
"Then-"
"Neither does passing out from too much to drink, Scythe." He chided.
She huffed. "Well then I don't know how long." She crossed her arms, stretching her legs and crossing them at the ankle.
"Stupid girl." He sighed. Ruffling her hair from his seated position. "What you need is rest." He paused. "Actual, normal, *natural* rest."
She shook her head. "I'm fine."
"It might make the sounds stop."
"For a blink."
"More than you have now."
Seth leaned her head against his knee. "I don't want to leave you."
For a moment Ian couldn't help but be confused and marveled at how vulnerable she could so quickly become with anyone she deemed worthy. Which, just consisted of being responsible with her.
"You don't want to find Alex, Sara?" He spoke softly, smug. He derived no greater pleasure than the fact that she needed him more than her on again off again fling.
He couldn't necessarily help it, he knew what was best for her and in his eyes, Alex was just as bad as the drugs she took.
"She doesn't care like you do." It felt forbidden to say it out loud. "No one does."
It wasn't necessarily true, Ian supposed. He knew teenagers enough to know Alex was just immature emotionally and didn't have the capacity to fulfil the part of Seth that needed to be nurtured. Wasn't her fault. Broken children can't comfort broken children.
"Close your eyes." Ian sighed.
"But-"
"You can stay awake if you want. Just rest your eyes." Ian instructed.
She obeyed, huffing. "This isn't going to work. I'm not a child."
Ian chuckled. "I know you're not. At any rate, the doctors in sanctuary always bitched about not straining your eyes too much." He scratched her head.
She melted. "Sanctuary sucked."
"Tell me about it." Ian breathed going back to working.
Just as he suspected it didn't take long for her to fall asleep. He smiled and let her lay there for some time before shifting and pulling her into his lap, standing with her and carrying him to his bed, laying her down and tucking her in.
"Get some sleep." He whispered, before returning to the desk nearby.