Claustrophobic | Skephalo

Ice Cold

Clay

Clay was startled by the abrupt opening of the stairwell door. He steadied the shaking glass bottles and looked up to see a disheveled Zak barge in with Darryl leaning heavily on his shoulder.

"Clay," Zak places a hand on a wall to balance himself. "Darryl twisted his ankle, can you help?"

"He twisted his ankle? How?" Clay asks, standing and walking over to the duo.

"I got tripped," Darryl responds.

"What? You told me you fell." Zak frowns.

"I got tripped and fell. But seriously, I'm fine, Clay. I just need something cold to put on it. Do you have anything?"

"Uh... Let me look.." Clay bends down and rummages through his case in search of ice. "No, I don't have anything cold. You would probably have better luck sweeping some snow off the ground outside. Do you want me to check it out? Make sure nothing is broken?"

"No!" Darryl answers quickly, making Zak jump. "I said it was fine."

Zak clears his throat, breaking the awkward silence that had filled the room. "So, how is the cure coming along, Clay?"

"I know you're skeptical about the whole idea, but I think it's coming along okay. Nothing has blown up in my face, which is a good sign. It's just a little difficult because it's so different now that it was when I first fixed something up for Dave."

"Do you think it works?" Darryl asks, sliding down the wall to a sitting position.

"Right now? No. But if I keep working—"

"—Well keep working!" Darryl exclaims, before lowering his voice. "Sorry, I'm just excited."

"Zak, I still need that water," Clay raises an eyebrow while ignoring Darryl, returning to his setup. "And grab something cold for Darryl's ankle, too. It'll help the swelling go down." He points to Darryl, who's left ankle was considerably larger than the right.

Zak nods, grabbing a small cup and leaving the building. Clay could just barely see him from outside the window, struggling to break an icicle off a ledge. He chuckled to himself, shifting his focus onto Darryl, who was seated against the wall with his chin resting on his knees.

A twisted ankle wouldn't hurt him that badly, especially when he's not standing. Something is wrong here, but how am I supposed to see if he won't show me?

Clay resumes his experiment, throwing a few more drops of Dave's blood sample into the mix. He could feel Darryl watching him out of the corner of his eye, and it made him uncomfortable and nervous at the same time. Clay could tell that Darryl wanted to speak based on the way his breath kept hitching, but he was holding back. Outside, Zak stomps on a puddle that had frozen over and scoops up some of the water. It would only be a minute or so until he would return.

Whatever Darryl wants to tell me, he doesn't want Zak to hear. I should warm him up to revealing secrets. Let's start with something easy.

"Why are you acting so weird, Darryl?" Clay decides to take his chance and ask. "Is it Zak? Because... Having feelings towards him is completely normal. Both of you clearly want to be with each other, you don't need to feel so awkward about it."

"I don't feel awk—"

"—I mean, I've never had a conversation with Zak about you, but sometimes I can just tell, you know? The way that when he tells a joke he looks towards you first to see if you thought it was funny? The dorky smile he always has when you decide to sit next to him out of everyone else? I mean come on, Darryl, he practically begs to hold your hand."