Nairobi rested her hand on her chin and looked out the window at the setting sun. She glanced over at Etienne and watched as he shifted slightly in his sleep. She stared at his pained expression for a while before turning away from him.
Gabe entered the room with a bowl of fruit and sat it on the dresser next to Nairobi.
"Ms. Nairobi," he stated calmly, "Thank you for being here. You don't have to stay into the night if you don't want to. According to the doctor, his condition has stabilized. His body has already flushed the poison out of his system, now he is just regaining strength."
Nairobi's eyes widened a bit, "Sorry, I don't mean to impose on you. I just feel like…if I were a little faster, I could have prevented this from even happening to him."
Gabe shook his head, "Nonsense, Ms. Nairobi. Etienne won't blame you, and neither do I. You defended him after they poisoned him. If you hadn't held off that 'Floren' individual, who knows where Etienne would be right now."
Gabe sat on the opposite side of Etienne's bed.
"Now, me on the other hand…if I hadn't been so scared…if I hadn't pushed my responsibility onto someone else. I could've been in his ear, telling him what plants he needs to avoid. I could've helped him avoid this."
Nairobi chuckled softly and looked at Gabe, "I guess we're both beating ourselves up, huh?"
Gabe nodded silently as he brushed hair from Etienne's face.
They sat in silence for a long time, taking turns glancing at Etienne's restless sleeping.
After a few minutes, Nairobi finally broke the silence, "You know, one of the metahumans said something interesting right before the fighting ended. He said The King and Queen of Esoterica have their eye on Etienne."
Gabe turned to her, his eyes wide with shock, "They said that?"
Nairobi nodded her head slowly, "They called each other 'Floren' and 'Cupid'. I've never heard of Floren, but I know I've seen Cupid on TV. He's a part of Esoterica's royal family."
Gabe chuckled and rubbed Etienne's hair, "This guy doesn't even have a clue how significant or dangerous that is. His knowledge on the world of metahumans is shockingly bad."
Nairobi went to say something, but closed her mouth as she saw Etienne stirring.
Gabe sat up and leaned over him, "Etienne? Are you awake?"
Etienne rubbed his eyes lazily, "I…feel like I got hit by a truck. What happened? Did we capture Floren?"
Nairobi shook her head, "Nope. Not even close. Cupid came in and stopped him before he went all-out. On the bright side, it looked like both of them got summoned back to Esoterica, so at the very least they're out of our hair for a while."
Etienne sat up in the bed and scratched his head, "That's good, right? Sorry, my head is still a little jumbled."
Gabe and Nairobi exchanged a look.
Gabe stated calmly, "You should rest some more. I had the private doctor come by; he said the poison is already out of your system, but your body is beyond exhausted."
Etienne took in a deep breath, "How long have I been sleeping so far?
Gabe shook his head, "It's been a day and a half, but—"
Etienne slid out of bed, "I'm fine, Gabe. Just a little disoriented from laying down for so long. I feel better than I have in days, I just need to stretch my legs."
Gabe put his hand on Etienne's chest, "You always do this, Etienne. Just calm down, eat some of that fruit with Ms. Nairobi and see how you feel in ten minutes. I'll be back, I'm going to make you a proper meal."
Gabe stood up and scurried out of the room.
Etienne and Nairobi glanced at each other, and both turned away awkwardly.
Etienne spoke up, "Thanks for saving me Nairo. Sorry you had to see me looking so pathetic, I couldn't even move after he touched me with whatever poison that was."
A smile spread across Nairobi's face, "You're welcome Ninjaman. I didn't see your whole fight, but I think that poison was from an Angel's Trumpet. You must be really resistant to poison, those plants cause severe hallucinations and delirium. But you seem perfectly fine."
Etienne thought back to the vivid dream he had just experienced and closed his eyes, "Mostly fine."
Nairobi grabbed the TV remote on the dresser and turned on Etienne's small TV.
She flipped through the channels, "Since you have to sit here anyway, we might as well watch the mayoral address. I don't care much about local politics, but some of this stuff might pertain to us as heroes."
Nairobi flipped through for a while longer until she landed on a local news station. A red chiron on the lower half read "Breaking News" and a news reporter frantically spoke.
Nairobi looked at Etienne before turning the volume up.
The news reporter stood in the middle of a rainstorm, their clothes flapping in the intense wind.
"If you are just tuning in, there is an ongoing attack at the capitol building! Several prominent members of our state government, including the mayor, are currently unaccounted for. The assailants are unknown, but we do know they are dangerous and aggressive."
Lightning struck a few feet from the news reporter, and he flinched.
"The only hero currently on the scene is Mechaboy. We don't know how many assailants there are in total, but from what we could assess, there are at least seven. Wait, what is…"
The news reporter looked up into the sky as all the light disappeared and everything went dark. The news feed cut immediately and cut to two reporters in a studio, looking on in horror.
Nairobi stood up, "No rest for the heroes, I guess. I'll be back in a little bit, I'm just going to back up Mechaboy.
Etienne slid his legs off of the bed and grabbed Nairobi's wrist.
"I wasn't lying when I said I was feeling better. I'm a little groggy, but I've rested enough. I'm going with you."
Nairobi smiled at him and looked at the door to his room, "Do you think Gabe will be okay with that?"
Etienne laughed, "He knows how I am. I don't think he actually expected me to lay in bed for another day."
Etienne stood up and opened the drawer next to his bed. He pulled out a pair of ornate car keys.
"Besides, I think we should take one of my cars. It'll be faster."