//------------------------------// // Chapter Seventy Four: Awake? // Story: We don't go to Sub-Level Five // by RadBunny //------------------------------// “Astral?” she asked, the stallion looking in her general direction. “Whose there?” he asked, trying to lift his head before flopping it back onto the ground. “Whoa. Heavy.” “It’s Sassi.” “Sassi?” Astral asked, a goofy grin then sliding onto his face. “Naaaaaaaaaaaaaah. You’re not Sassi.” Oh dear. It was clear that Astral was not himself- and that was when Sassi recalled his reactions to painkillers and other drugs. This could get interesting. “Why can’t I be Sassi?” the mare asked, simply happy to hear her stallion’s voice again. MY stallion? Wait, when did that- The thought vanished on the winds of consciousness, Sassi making a point to address that later. “Because she’s safe!” Astral crowed, a little too loudly. His voice dropped down after Sassi shushed him, however. “This is like… a really plain metal room. Or at least, I was. Sassi was there. But this is different. Nice view of the clouds above us though.” Any thoughts about Astral being grounded in reality flew out the figurative window at that statement. “Well, Sassi or not, I still need you to stay still. You’re hurt,” Sassi tried to explain. Astral shook his head slowly, the grin on his face still childishly goofy. “I feel fiiiiiiiiiiiiine,” he said, raising a hoof and flopping it back down. “Heavy and tired. But not that ba-” he burped up some black tar, thankfully landing in one of the multiple small trash cans Sassi had set up next to the bed. “Ew. Ok, maybe not too good.” He then frowned; lips pursed in thought. “If you’re not Sassi. What should your name be…?” he mused. Sassi was torn between finding the exchange highly amusing and rather worrying. But if he was talking, that was an improvement. “Sassifrass!” There was a soft *clop* as Sassi’s hoof met her face. Thankfully, Astral wasn’t lucid to see the bright blush on her cheeks. She shouldn’t like a name like that. And yet…it felt like Astral was giving her a nickname. A nice one. His nickname for me. That thought alone described why the blush refused to leave her cheeks. “Not Sassi, but your voice is like hers. Sooooo a kind-of-Sassi-name!” he proclaimed. “Well, Sassifrass it is,” Sassi sighed. “Do you need anything, Astral?” He grinned, head lolling back and forth on the table. “Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah,” he replied, growing silent. Sassi waited patiently. This was, after all, the first time she had spoken with Astral in days, loopy or not. She eventually busied herself with organizing supplies, as Astral remained quiet. Any requests for what he needed went unanswered as if the stallion couldn’t hear her. But he didn’t seem to be in pain, simply lost somewhere outside their current location. Sassi couldn’t help but be a tad jealous of that; an escape to anywhere else would be a lovely break. After a time, an odd awareness flickered in the mare’s mind, as if a single string on a violin had been plucked. Looking over, she saw Astral watching, a simple, almost tender smile on his face. “Astral?” His still-cloudy eyes blinked, the stallion letting out a mumble. “Mmm?” “Do you need anything?” A simple shake of his head made Sassi’s ears flick. “Just watching me then?” The smile on the Thestral’s face was different but still held an odd familiarity. “Yeah.” “Any reason why?” He let out a soft chuckle at that. “Not really. I guess…” Astral’s brow furrowed. “Huh.” “Huh?” The smile returned. Even though clouded, a spark of familiar affection broke through Astral’s gaze. “I don’t know why,” he said as if thinking out loud. “Seeing you just makes me happy.” The most coherent sentence Astral had said since waking up, and it as that. It was all Sassi could do to not cry. She walked over and squeezed his hoof. “Well. I t-think that’s really sweet,” the mare managed to say. He grinned again, letting out a sigh. “I’d totally ask you on a date. I like your voice. You’re nice,” he mused. “Well, why can’t you?” she countered. “Because I’m already going on a date with Sassi!” Astral proclaimed. “Not sure when. Well, we already did. But eventually more! Lots and lots of dates. As soon as we…” his brow furrowed. “Get safe. She’s already safe. But where am I?” “You’re safe too, Astral.” His green eyes cleared for a split second, the stallion curling up slightly. “Am I?” he muttered, “feel rather cold. Really tired. Maybe will take a nap.” Sassi checked his vitals on the medical bed, and that reassured the mare that he was, in fact, just sleepy. Not the ‘forever sleepy’ type of tired. “Well, if you need to sleep, take a nap. See if you can roll over first though. You’ve been on that one side for a while,” she instructed, noting a reminder on the medical bed’s display that was flashing softly. With a rather unceremonious heave and more becoming of a sack of potatoes, Astral flopped himself over onto his other side. The reactor and medical system followed, thankfully still connected under Sassi’s watchful gaze. “Tada!” Astral proclaimed with a cheesy grin. “Flipped!” “Good job,” Sassi snickered, snagging one of their emergency blankets. The thin foil wasn’t as weighty as wool or a typical fabric blanket, but it’d keep Astral warmer than nothing. “Let me drape this over you.” “I’m gonna be cooked!” the stallion mumbled, “tin foil me up and then inside an oven.” “Well, you’re a cute foil meal if anything,” the words simply flowed out of Sassi’s mouth before she could even think. She blushed brightly, especially as Astral grinned. “I’m cute?” She finally managed to glare at the smiling stallion, lips pursed in an embarrassed pout. “Among a lot of other things, yes. So go to sleep.” Astral was still grinning as his eyes closed, the Thestral yawning after spitting up a blob of black tar. “She thinks I’m cuuuuuuuuuute.” Then he was out, Sassi shaking her head in amused disbelief as she sat down next to the medical bed. “Well, at least you’re somewhat back. Loopy, but not in pain,” she muttered to herself. “Maybe we’ll be able to talk more when you wake up again.” ‘Well, at least I can start off this journal with good news. Astral is awake. Sort of. He’s loopy from all the painkillers and drugs but at least talking. The creatures sent a scout. After I killed it and made a bit of a mess of things, they haven’t sent any more. That was a few hours ago. I’ve watched Astral’s combat footage. Looks like the modifications took, at least initially. He’s… I just hope he wakes up soon. This Silo is wrong in so many ways. Too quiet. The power has flickered on and off. If it fails, I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I scouted out near the offices and let the RASP armor systems scan. No power grids other than this one, not within scanning range. But this place is old, and we could be in a dead zone of equipment that wasn’t maintained. Or got destroyed by the creatures here. I never even heard of this section during my jobs in this Silo. Going to try and sleep again. Not sure if that’s a good idea or not. Maybe these journals will keep me sane, assuming anyone is receiving them. Sassi signing off.’