[color=FFFF00]B e l l e  D ' V o i r e[/color] [sup][color=orangered]cameo by Tyler as Aiden[/color][/sup]
[hr]
Belle idly batted at a wandering fly as she uncrossed-and-crossed her legs for the third time in two minutes. She was anxious, and growing impatient, and fairly certain her looming fidgeting was starting to irritate the other people sat around her in the reception area. A nurse passed by and gave a polite smile - it was not that nurse's first time around - and Belle opened her mouth to flag her down, but she was swiftly out of the room. Clearly, she had no interest in being caught in [i]that[/i] trap again. The fly came back and landed on Belle's arm, and again she shoo'd it away, but this time it only flew to the arm of her chair; she turned her head to look at it, stood stock-still on the pale wood, seemingly staring back at her.
[color=FFFF00][i]Buzz off.[/i][/color] She thought. 
The fly took off, flying away and landing on the wall on the other side of the room. She thought nothing of it. Belle tapped her foot, and stopped when an older gentlemen opposite her issued a sharp look. She returned an apologetic look, and stood up, walking over to the reception desk.

[color=FFFF00]"Excuse me, do you happen to know which room Aiden McKenna is in? I know he's on this floor..."[/color] She asked the nurse, who carefully put her pen down and affected her best polite smile. [color=FFFF00]"I just...I have to be somewhere in an hour and I've been waiting since twe-"[/color]
"That hallway-" the nurse answered, pointing past Belle's shoulder - "and then the fourth door on the right. But he's seeing someone right now." She finished, and went back to her paperwork. Belle thanked her, and turned around down the corridor. The fly watched her from the wall, and another landed unnoticed on her elbow.

[hr]

Belle approached the door quickly, carefully attempting to peek through the reinforced glass window to check if the room was clear - but failed to see anything before the door burst open toward her, a suited man pocketing a notepad brushing past her in a decidedly brusque manner.
[color=FFFF00]"Excuse me, sir, is it okay to go in?"[/color] She asked, surprising the man who clearly hadn't seen her before exiting. She noticed the CHPD badge on his hip, glinting in the harsh fluorescent light. A cop, then - Detective, judging by the plainclothes and notes.
"Oh, yeah, sure kid. He's all yours. Visiting hours end at-"
[color=FFFF00]"Four, yeah, I know. Thanks!"[/color] Belle smiled, and slipped into the room, shutting the door behind her as the detective walked off down the hall towards the elevators.

She lingered against the wood paneling for a second, waiting for Aiden to notice her presence, before taking a few steps towards the bed and pulling up the chair that the detective had been sat in, parking her ass in it before leaning forwards, her chin resting in both hands. 
[color=FFFF00]"Hey, Aiden. You feeling okay?"[/color]

Aiden blinked, curious as to why his classmate had turned up. He wanted with every ounce of his being to be frustrated, to fend off Belle and anyone else who wanted to bother him today with hostile glances and a specific roll of the eye. And yet, as she sat there, politely awaiting response, Aiden could do nothing but resign himself to her charm. He and Abelle had never been best friends, but the girl was always so... [i]Nice[/i]. And unlike the majority of the student body at Mather Memorial High, Belle had a sense of integrity and conviction that emphasized the genuine nature of her demeanor. He sighed, leaning back into the uncomfortable bed. 

[color=orangered]"Hey, Abelle. I wasn't expecting you."[/color] he said earnestly. There was a pause before he mustered a weak smile: [color=orangered]"Thanks for coming. I appreciate it."[/color] He was only half-lying. It was true that he had neither anticipated nor wished for any visitation from his peers... But on some small level, the gesture had touched him. [color=orangered]"I'm doing okay. Should be out soon, they're just keeping an eye on me to make sure everything's good."[/color] He paused again, looking away from the girl as he wondered whether Belle had a more complete memory of last nights events. Well, it would certainly explain why she had turned up out of the blue... [color=orangered]"So,"[/color] he said, sheepishly as he tried to shatter the awkward silence. [color=orangered]"Crazy night, huh?"[/color]

[color=FFFF00]"Yeah, I know. [i]Someone[/i] ought to check on you though, right?"[/color] She replied, chuckling slightly. She wasn't great at 'joking around' - Alex often did the socializing for her. [color=FFFF00]"That's good to hear, though! Glad you're on the mend. You look really great..."[/color] she trailed off, her gaze drifting to a blackened hockey mask that had been left on the bedside table. 
[color=FFFF00]"Yeah, it really was, huh? I mean, what I can remember of it...I was just paralyzed with terror at that [i]fire[/i], you know? It was all such a rush."[/color] She half-smiled, not wanting to betray the true uncertainties she had regarding her memories of the night previous. She had always been sure of her mind, even with intoxication taken into account, and the fog that clouded her memories now disturbed her. She gestured to the mask. [color=FFFF00]"Your costume, I'm guessing? Jason, right? Always liked a cheesy slasher...shame we never got to see it."[/color] She regretted her choice of words near-immediately - she knew the basic minimum around Aiden's previous hiatus, and she had heard the rumors that were already spreading like wildfire - but she never meant to pay them any attention. She didn't want to believe Aiden had it in him. He'd always seemed...gentle.

Belle flicked her arm as she felt a tickle, and looked to the ground where she had flung a small brown beetle that had been clinging to her wrist, its six legs flailing in the air as it tried to right itself. She felt sorry for it for a moment, and then it was back on its legs - and again, stood stock-still, pointed decidedly towards her. 

Aiden shot her a stern glance, faster than a throwing knife and just as sharp. What was she hinting at? Was this some kind of mind game? [i]No[/i], he scolded himself. It was easy to expect the worst from people, but he couldn't shut everyone down without reason. Even if it did come so naturally...

[color=orangered]"I was late,"[/color] he said bluntly. [color=orangered]"Had some stuff to attend to. I hadn't been there long before shit hit the fan."[/color] He clearly did not want to discuss the matter any further, breaking his gaze away to inspect the ground in search of anything interesting to distract him. That was when Belle seemed to flinch, and threw a beetle from her sleeve. Aiden watched as it squirmed, eventually righting itself and then... Standing still. It made no effort to flee, no beat of its wings. Perhaps it was stunned. 

But no, for in the next moment the insect [i]did[/i] move, crawling at a comfortable pace back towards Abelle and beginning to scale her nearest leg. Aiden scoffed, bemused by the tenacity of the bug. 
[color=orangered]"I think he likes you."[/color] he joked, watching the beetle move further up his visitors body. 

Belle watched the beetle crawl back towards her, her head snapping up as Aiden cracked a joke. She broke an uneasy smile and nodded. [color=FFFF00]"Yeah, I guess. Poor thing's probably just scared..."[/color] She stood from her chair and bent over, laying her hand flat on the ground to scoop up the bug. It obliged, and rested in the middle of her palm as she brought her hand up to eye-level. Just a regular beetle, antenna twitching slightly. From her elbow, the fly took off, and buzzed around near her wrist, flying in a concentric pattern but never landing. [color=FFFF00]"Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhuh..."[/color] she said, letting out a long breath as she watched both insects in their equally peculiar behavior.

Belle looked at Aiden, who responded with a bemused gaze that likely matched her own. She cleared her throat, and carefully closed her fist around the beetle.
[color=FFFF00]"Well, I guess I should take him outside...don't want any staff freaking out about contamination."[/color] She walked towards the door, watching the fly out of her peripheral vision as it dutifully followed her. [color=FFFF00]"See you in class on Monday, hopefully?"[/color] She asked, Aiden giving a parting nod and nothing else before Belle made her way down the corridor, into the elevator, and out of the hospital.

[hr]
[center][i]Two Hours Later[/i][/center]

[color=9932CC]"So he's okay then?"[/color] Alex asked through a mouthful of fries, the hum of the mall behind them forcing her to raise her voice above the buzz. Belle was idly playing with the straw of her shake, carefully watching a small wasp that was standing next to the cup. She had hidden it behind the wrapper of her burger, so she could observe it safely without anyone trying to kill it or shoo it away - just to watch it's behavior, see if it did anything peculiar. So far, it had done nothing. Belle wasn't sure if that was the [i]most[/i] peculiar thing it could be doing. She looked up.

[color=FFFF00]"Yeah, I think so. Just shaky. I think he already knows what people are saying, you know?"[/color]
[color=9932CC]"Mmm..."[/color] Alex nodded slowly, finishing her mouthful before replying. [color=9932CC]"You don't think it's suspicious, though? After all the talk around his last disappearance?"[/color]
Belle issued a stern look that she saved for special occasions. [color=FFFF00]"I think no one [i]knows[/i] anything and it's all just talk. Sometimes people forget how powerful a rumor can get."[/color]

[color=9932CC]"You're so wise, Belle."[/color] Alex said, chuckling, forcing Belle to break her stare. She took a sip from her shake and looked at the wasp again. Still motionless. She had walked through the park on her way to the mall to meet Alex, and had had a few more close encounters with some six-legged fellows: the few bees left in the late season leaving their flowers to hover near her, before returning to their work as she walked away; butterflies fluttering through the long grass, circling her legs for a few paces and then moving on; even ants, so determined in their mission, breaking from their ranks to deposit tiny leaf fragments and twigs at her feet before rejoining their march. After the beetle at the hospital - only leaving her hand onto the bush outside when she had firmly (and [i]out loud[/i], she was embarrassed to admit) asked it to, she couldn't [i]help[/i] but notice; and now, she was carefully watching every insect she saw. Alex finished her fries, and Belle cleared her throat, standing up and shooing the wasp away as Alex bent down to pick up her bags.

[color=FFFF00]"Docks?"[/color] Belle asked as they started to move towards the escalators down to the ground floor of the mall. Alex side-eyed her, but in truth she had been expecting it.
[color=9932CC]"Sure. But let me drop my bags off first. I'd hate to get that sea-salt smell all over my new clothes."[/color]