011

— a tale of two cities —

Day One, 6:47 am

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN NEARLY HALF A YEAR, IT WAS QUIET. With a longer nap than she needed, Hazel woke just before the sun rose, the slowly moving hum of early morning traffic making her smile. Hazel played music from her phone and simply read as the sun shone over the city. She sat on the balcony by the kitchen, slowly hearing the shift from the early birds to the ones that definitely do not want to be awake.

After enjoying the warmth of the sun for some time, the slight burn on her cheeks made her smile, she stretched her arms before standing to look over the city. Once the early traffic grew angry, shouts and car honks filled her ears Hazel wandered back inside, sitting atop the kitchen island, re-reading what she had that morning and started to annotate.

"Morning! How long have you been up?" Gar asked in a cheery voice, strolling into the kitchen.

Hazel set her book aside and slowly tipped to the right to reach for her phone. "Uh..." Hazel checked the time and sat straight. "If it's nine then... three hours."

"Jesus Haze," Gar chuckled, walking around the counter and turning the coffee machine on, the deep buzzing growing louder. Gar turned back to Hazel, leaning against the counter so he could drop his head back against her knee. "Weren't you the one that always complained about getting up early? Pretty sure you fought Dick about it like three hundred times."

Hazel smiled softly, her hands moving on their own to run through Gar's hair, straightening out the tussled ends. "Have you ever wanted to do something and then someone tells you to do it and then... you don't do it out of spite?" Hazel questioned, her fingers curling in his hair.

"Or you're a petty person," Gar suggested with a teasing smile as his eyes closed, content with the attention. "If you keep doing that, I'm gonna fall asleep again," Gar mumbled, his morning voice still present. Hazel laughed at him, pushing the front of his hair back into place before taking her hand back. Gar pushed himself up and walked back to the coffee machine, "Want a coffee?"

Hazel groaned, hanging her head back watching Gar for a moment longer before kicking herself off the counter, landing just behind Gar. She dropped her head onto his shoulder and nodded. "Please tiger boy, a coffee sounds amazing. I'm just gonna go put all this away." Hazel pushed herself off Gar's shoulder and grabbed the rest of her stuff, putting all away properly before running back out to Gar.

Once she stepped into the kitchen, Gar held up her cup, pretending to read something on the side of her very cute duck mug. "Hazelnut coffee for Hazel," Gar called out, imitating a fake retail voice. Gar laughed at himself and slid the cup across the counter. Hazel smiled, tanking Gar before sipping the bittersweet coffee.

"So, I was thinking," Gar started, taking his own mug, a cute tiger painted on the side. "Cook breakfast, a team effort, I did make you dinner last night. Then we can train, check on Conner, then we can watch a movie or play a game."

"I guess I can help you make breakfast," Hazel hummed, moving around the counter to stand next to him. "Sounds good, but no game. You're mean to me when we play... literally everything, especially Cuphead." She poked his side softly and Gar slapped her hand. "It's a two-player game, Garfield."

Gar laughed, the steam from the coffee hitting his face. "Well, we can play something different," Gar suggested between sips of coffee.

Hazel hummed and raised her eyebrow, "If you're mean, I never play again."

Gar smiled, hiding his face behind his mug. "I promise, I won't be as mean as usual."

Hazel set her mug down, glaring up at him. "Gar..."

"Fine! I'll be nice!" Gar groaned, tossing his head back.

"Thank you, Garfield," Hazel said, smiling victoriously. She set her coffee cup down and dropped her head onto his shoulder. "What should we make for breakfast?"

Gar turned, walking to the fridge and skimming through it. "Can you make cinnamon?" Gar asked, standing straight to look at Hazel.

"I can, yeah."

"Cool," Gar closed the fridge and moved to the cupboard, "you feel like buckwheat crepes?"

Hazel furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before nodding slowly, "I'm sure you could convince me."

After enjoying the vegan, gluten free crepes more than should be possible, and cleaning the kitchen, Gar and Hazel wandered to the training room. Gar unzipped his jacket and tossed it somewhere. Hazel followed the action, pulling her thick jumper and shirt off and fixing the singlet she wore under it.

Hazel grabbed the white bandages, tossing a pair at Gar. He wrapped them tightly around his hands and Hazel did the same, but she wrapped more of the bandage around her forearms. Hazel tested the tightness and nodded to herself. "How'd you want to do this?" Hazel asked moving to stand in the centre of the mat.

Gar looked over Hazel, letting his eyes glow bright green as he moved to stand in front of her. Hazel laughed and matched his eyes. Gar cracked his neck to the side and growled softly, he threw the first punch. Hazel quickly ducked under his arm, steadying herself on her feet.

She chuckled softly, smiling as they slowly circled each other. "I thought you were meant to be fast," Hazel teased.

"You really wanna go up against a Tiger?" Gar questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Hazel tilted her head, "I bet I could take you."

Gar laughed and squared up Hazel again, both raising their hands. Gar threw another punch and Hazel blocked it with her left arm, hitting it away quickly. Gar threw a punch with his other arm and Hazel blocked that as well, spinning under and around him. "Almost," Hazel snarked.

Gar lunged forward again, Hazel side stepped him quickly, deflecting his initial strikes. Yet, in a blink, Gar spun under Hazel's arm, and he closed the distance between them, his arm snaking around Hazel's head, securing her in a lock. Simultaneously, his other arm encircled her waist, effectively immobilising her, her back trapped against his chest.

"Tap out," Gar advised calmly, his voice carrying slightly breathless against her neck. Hazel tried to pull his hands off but that simply made Gar laugh. Hazel shook her head, jamming her elbow into his side, his arms snapping back to his sides. Hazel hooked her foot around his and pulled his footing out. His foot slipped and Gar fell back against the mat with a thud.

Hazel laughed at Gar who stared up at the ceiling, his eyes blown wide. "If you want, we can go again," Hazel suggested, standing over Gar. "Even though you'll just embarrass yourself." Gar scoffed at her but nodded and took Hazel's hand, letting her pull him to his feet.

They stood across from each other again, Gar taking a heavy breath. He threw a sharp jab, aiming for Hazel's torso, but she quickly dodged, her reflexes sharp and honed. She was thankful for the few years she had taken gymnastics. Quickly, she retaliated with a fast kick to the back of his leg, catching Gar off guard. He stumbled backward but regained his footing, his eyes flashing green as he used the extra strength to steady himself.

The continued to strike at each other, a mess of kicks, punches, and dodging manoeuvres that spun them around each over. Hazel was agile, her movements fluid and unpredictable, but slightly scrappy due to her mainly being trained by Jason. Gar, however, relied on his strength drawing from the animal inside him, absorbing blows and responding with powerful strikes like Dick had taught him.

Once Gar was far back enough, kicked him back to the edge of the mat, making him stumble. Just as she seemed to gain the upper hand, Gar's eye light up green, fuelled with a surge of power. With a sudden burst of strength, he grappled Hazel around the waist, spinning her around and pinning her to the cold mat.

Gar pinned Hazel's legs against the floor with his thighs, his hands rushing to pin her wrists against the mat. Hazel moved to get her legs out, but Gar simply moved up, pressing his weight into her hips. Hazel tried to tug her wrists free but with his extra strength he overpowered her easily. His gaze locked with Hazel's, his eyes burning as he stared at her.

"What are you gonna do to get out of this one?" Gar teased, his voice carrying a hint of challenge and something else.

Hazel froze for a moment as she stared up at Gar before taking a long breath, "Apologies in advance." Hazel flicked her fingers and vines sprouted from behind Gar and pulled him back against the ground. He yelped in surprise as her vines wrapped around his arms, holding him in place.

"Told you you'd embarrass yourself," Hazel hummed, pressing her hands beside her head and kicking herself up.

Gar lifted his head to look at her before it dropped again, making a thump sound against the mat. "Ha, ha, very funny sunshine, let me up," Gar ordered, tugging at the vines.

Hazel chuckled and wandered to stand over Gar, staring down at him with a proud smile, "I thought you were super strong?"

"Hazel..."

Hazel laughed and waved her hands, the vines disappearing, and Gar pushed himself up. He sucked in a deep breath, checking over his arms. "Go again?" Hazel asked, stepping back slightly.

"Why do you wanna kick my ass so badly?"

"Why do you always lose?" Hazel countered, crossing her arms.

Once the score was settled to seven to ten in Hazel's favour they washed up before making their way to Conner's room. Gar picked up Charles Dickens' novel, A Tale of Two Cities before chasing after Hazel. His wounds had healed, and nearly all of the toxins had been drained from his body, but the faintest trail was left behind keeping the boy trapped in his unconscious state.

She sat on the side of the bed, her hand pressed to his chest as she searched his body from the remaining traces and absorbed it back into herself. Krypto lay across Conner, his head on Conner's chest slightly below Hazel's hand. Gar paced beside the bed, reading aloud from the book.

"Chapter One: The Period," Gar started, and Krypto whined softly. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom; it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity." Gar looked up at Hazel, his eyes scanning her face. "Anything?" Gar asked hopefully.

"He's steady, but no changes," Hazel nodded. She cut the ties she had with Conner and moved to pat Krypto's head. "He'll be alright, boy." Hazel stretched her arms out and pushed herself up. "Keep reading. I'm gonna take a shower, then we'll set up something to play."

Hazel stood and Gar watched her closely, "Cuphead?"

"Do you like being friends with me?" Hazel asked, leaning against the doorframe. Gar pulled his lips tight and turned back to Conner, flipping the book back open. "Monster Hunter World or Sea Of Thieves? Whatever we don't play tonight we'll play tomorrow."

"Monster Hunter!" Gar yelled, his voice echoing down the hall after Hazel.

Hazel laughed to herself as she walked down the hall. Hazel turned for her room, but she noticed Rachel's door was ajar. Hazel sighed and ran to shut it but stopped when she noticed Raechel's coloured lights were left on. Hazel slipped in and wandered to Rachel's desk, trifling through the stuff on top.

She knocked a few books off, pens and pencil, cursing as she did. Hazel grabbed the controller, and quickly tried to stuff the things inside Rachel's drawer but noticed it was already full, the space taken up by a bronze box. She pulled it out, a sticky note lazily stuck to the front. Screamed across it was Throw out. No? Yes. I should throw it out. Two weeks later, it's still here.

Hazel opened the box, a mess of silver rings. A small blue stone was twisted through the metal, melded into the silver colour. Hazel took one, spinning it between her fingers. Hazel had gifted these to Rachel just months before their lives went to shit.

Hazel dropped the ring back in the box, putting it away carefully before turning the lights off. "Hazel! Are we still friends?" Gar called, his voice booming off the halls. "Haze?"

"Yes Gar! We're still friends!" Hazel yelled back. 

— pain —