bump

fourteen

Lucky listens to her breathing, completely exhausted, she is asleep in minutes.

He can just make out the shimmery forms of Jin and Corkle who are still standing near the door.

Now that Rika's asleep, Lucky's back at the control panel and turns on the small reading lamp over the bed.

"What are you doing?" Jin asks.

"Turning on a light."

"I got that. I meant, why?"

"Because your eyes aren't as good as mine."

"What!?"

"Sorry, I just meant they don't have the same low-light functionality that mine did. I can't see in the dark."

"What do you need to see? Aren't you going to sleep? And what are you doing?!" Jin asks.

Lucky's only half attending Jin as he shifts things around on the bed. Pillows, extra blanket, top sheet are all migrating to the left side of the bed and into a jumbled heap. Satisfied with his rearranging, he begins repositioning himself in a similar fashion, as much as his immobilized leg will allow at any rate, all curled toward the left side of the bed.

"Just what are you doing?!" Jin fumes again. Ire rising steeply at being ignored.

Lucky glances over at him before resting his chin on overlapped arms atop the mound of bed linens. Facing Rika, he sighs contentedly.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Jin repeats for the third time.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Lucky replies with the barest glance at Jin. "I'm watching Rika sleep."

"You're WHAT?!"

"I'm watching Rika sleep. I always watch her sleep." He sighs again. No longer even deeming Jin worth of a momentary glance that would take his eyes from Rika. He smiles happily. "Isn't she amazing?"

"I don't believe I'm having this conversation." Jin says shaking his head. "What do you mean you're watching her sleep? What are you some kind of creepy cat stalker?"

"Nooo, but look at how awesome she is; the way her eyelids flutter, the way her chest rises and falls as she breathes..." He sighs. "She's just amazing..."

"I hate to tell you cat-boy but gawking at the way a woman's chest moves while she's sleeping is definitely considered stalker behavior in the human world."

"What do you mean?" Lucky asks. "I watch Rika all the time, when she's sleeping, when she's eating, when she's in that rainy-thing..."

"Rainy thing? Rain... You mean a shower?"

"Yeah, that's it! That's what Rika always calls it anyway. I never knew why - it's really a rainy-thing."

"I guess it does sort of - Wait! You mean you watch her when she's in the shower?!"

"Uh-huh. Why not? That's how she grooms herself; she watches me when I groom."

"THAT IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!"

"I don't see how, except for maybe the water -"

"You're a cat, and you're naked! It's no big deal for her to look at you -"

"Well, when Rika gets in that rainy-thing she does it without her clothes, so she's naked too. There's no difference."

"YES THERE IS!! IT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!!"

"You already said that. I still don't see how." Lucky says, sparing him the most minor of disdainful glances.

"It just is, trust me." Jin says with a sigh of his own that is anything but contented. "Now I know how Corkle must feel." He says under his breath.

"Anyway," Lucky continues, "she's simply amazing and I can't believe how different she looks from this perspective. I mean, looking at her through human eyes, it's like I'm getting to see her again for the first time." He sighs blissfully. "It's a shame humans don't have the proper mechanics to be able to purr." He sighs again, staring dreamily at Rika who is sound asleep and oblivious to the bizarre conversation taking place about her.

"Yes, isn't it though," Jin intones drily, "then they could lay around all day doing nothing but purring and watching women shower and admiring how their chests move when they breathe. It'd be a swell world...

Look here, cat-boy, there are just some things you are not going to be able to do in a human body; MY human body especially. Going around oogling women is one of them -"

"You might as well save your breath." Corkle interupts.

"Look, he's not going to be turning me into some freakin' pervert while he's prancing around in my body. There are some things -"

Corkle raises his hand, cutting him off again. "That is not what I am referring to at the moment. Look." He gestures toward Lucky splayed akwardly across the hospital bed. Face turned toward Rika, smiling. Eyes now closed and breathing gently, Lucky is fast asleep.

"He also has undergone a rather trying day, and the damaged human body that he is inhabiting at the moment requires rest."

"Well that's just great, because my day's just been loads of fun..."

"I might remind you," Corkle begins, "that a good portion of today's events, which I believe you are referrencing, were ultimately initiated by your actions."

Jin turns toward him, glaring. His mouth already open to respond. He closes it again before looking away. "What ever."

"Yes, indeed." Corkle continues. "At anyrate, I believe it would be wise for you to attempt to re-enter your body while it is under the effects of the anesthesia."

"Okay, why?" Jin asks.

"His energy should be sufficiently weakened to allow your entry without incident."

"Then will that force him out?"

"I do not believe so. He will not be completely incapacitated, just weakened, and although his soul has imprinted on your body, he did not explicitly bar you from re-entering it. It also is of vital importance for your energy signature to maintain contact with your physical form, even briefly. If they are separated for too long they will lose resonance and become incompatible."

"By lose resonance and become incompatible, are you saying I won't be able to go back into my body at all?"

"That is precisely what I am saying."

"So then, what will happen to Lucky when I re-enter my body? If me going back in doesn't force him out -"

"He will be there as well."

"What? Like we'll be sharing it?"

"Yes, that would be an appropriate way of looking at it."

"I don't want to look at it that way, appropriate or not, and I certainly don't want to do it that way."

"I am afraid at the moment you lack viable alternatives. Until the karma that was set in motion is resolved, or until Lucky voluntarily chooses to vacate your body on his own, this will be the best solution."

"Okay, so if this is the best solution, what are some of the ones that didn't make the cut?"

"I beg your pardon?" Corkle asks, head tilting slightly as he looks at Jin.

"What else is there?" He asks.

"You could voluntarily leave your body and let Lucky continue on in your stead."

"I guess you were right when you said that was the best solution."