[[ continued from here ]]
Nox didn't care how long he's been here, or if he was well enough to go. The euphoria of the power that once exhilarated him was painful and agonizing but still, the power called him. The sludge was disgusting and even more painful now than just his imagination had been after the Ijiraq had pulled so much power from him. The memories made him shudder, but Nox focused on the warmth in his hand. The other man's hand that anchored him to this world and not in those memories. The plant he balanced precariously on the bandaged stump sloshing against unseen walls Nox forged with the hidden power.
The power pulled sights and sounds to his ears and eyes that otherwise wouldn't reach. The scent of the hospital plagued his nose with the too clean smell. But it was the warmth of the man next to him Nox focused on. The scent of the flower he'd given him, or the man himself.
Nox heard his name at the edges of his hearing in the lobby they were now exiting through. There was a shiver of the female power in the distance that was too quick to make out any direction.
And then a small child smashed into his body and the flower sloshed against the invisible wall. The only thing Nox saw was red hair. The girl looked up about to apologize he was sure but he knew that face. "Sterling?" Seeing the face in person was like a stab in the gut, she shouldn't be here. "What are you doing here?"
Nox didn't care how long he's been here, or if he was well enough to go. The euphoria of the power that once exhilarated him was painful and agonizing but still, the power called him. The sludge was disgusting and even more painful now than just his imagination had been after the Ijiraq had pulled so much power from him. The memories made him shudder, but Nox focused on the warmth in his hand. The other man's hand that anchored him to this world and not in those memories. The plant he balanced precariously on the bandaged stump sloshing against unseen walls Nox forged with the hidden power.
The power pulled sights and sounds to his ears and eyes that otherwise wouldn't reach. The scent of the hospital plagued his nose with the too clean smell. But it was the warmth of the man next to him Nox focused on. The scent of the flower he'd given him, or the man himself.
Nox heard his name at the edges of his hearing in the lobby they were now exiting through. There was a shiver of the female power in the distance that was too quick to make out any direction.
And then a small child smashed into his body and the flower sloshed against the invisible wall. The only thing Nox saw was red hair. The girl looked up about to apologize he was sure but he knew that face. "Sterling?" Seeing the face in person was like a stab in the gut, she shouldn't be here. "What are you doing here?"
![[Image: nox_sig.gif]](http://thefirstage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/nox_sig.gif)