immortals in moderation | [torian/mackenzie]

"You did everything right."

Torian still slept peacefully in his bed before Mackenzie, the mask covering his face clouding with condensation every time he exhaled. The doctors said he'd be out a little longer, that his injuries were a bit more serious than they'd anticipated on take-in. Practically the kid's entire head was wrapped in bandages- the cut from Larissa's knife, the one from Krueger's glaive, and then two on the temples where the horns were. And that was jut the bits not covered by the blanket. By the time he woke up, they said, all of the injuries would be healed. Mackenzie laughed at them and said, maybe the physical ones.

"Everything." It'd always seemed like Mackenzie's job was to present the best possible lies he could for the Capitol until his tributes eventually outed themselves as anti-Capitol, or cultists, or just flat out insane. Hesperos seemed to get the picture quickly, opting to turn on her alliance and ultimately get herself killed, which was pretty par for the course in terms of how Mackenzie's mentoring experience usually went. But at every possible step, Torian said what needed to be said, and did what needed to be done. He'd sacrificed none of his dignity in the process.

That wasn't to say that Torian hadn't sacrificed plenty- look at him, he had- but only what was necessary to get him through it. To get him to the end. To get him... here. In this bed. He squeezed the boy's hand and then shuffled to the edge of the room to wait out the last few hours of Torian's blissful ignorance before he would have to wake up to the rest of his life.

He tried to busy himself- he called Marley and checked up on Violet. She told him about her day and said she was excited to see him. He didn't mention that it might be a little longer since Torian lived. The sterile, quiet walls began to blur not long after, though. By the time the boy began to stir, Mackenzie found that he'd started to nod off as well.

"Hey, Buddy!" He was sure to keep his voice quiet, despite his excitement. Something about seeing his eyes flutter open again in person made it more real.

"Try not to move too much. They haven't taken off the bandages, but they said you'd be healed when you woke up. Are you in pain? I'll, uh- I'll call a nurse." He realized that he'd done this before and even been on both sides of it, but something about this was different. It was a small win, and an impossible victory. It was more cruel than the alternative, really. This would give him enough hope to keep trying in the future. He pressed the red button in Torian's bed and cleared his throat.

"I'm very, very happy to see you, man. Everything has been fine out here. I talked to your Mom, they're all waiting for you when we get back."