The first thing that Arfa felt after regaining consciousness was the familiar crinkle of hospital beds.
The smell of disinfectant and sterile gloves probing her injuries.
And... tea?
Her eyes fluttered open, brows scrunching under the tightness of the bandages wound around her head.
Her entire body felt like lead, which wasn't really new, but it was a whole other level of low, even for her.
There was also the annoying sound of a clicking pen.
"Oh good, you're awake." A deep, tired voice drawled out, and Arfa cringed, sensing the decades of exhaustion underneath the words spoken.
She turned her head and just to her right, a man clad in a doctor's coat stood next to her bed, hair slightly greasy and dark circles underneath his eyes with a twitch in his jaw.
Good. He felt as annoyed as she did.
"Wah... I thought I'd be dead." She muttered dramatically, though her eyes darted around carefully, taking in the surroundings.
It seems the man noticed her actions because he sighed. "You're safe here, so don't worry."
She blinked at him and grinned, eyes half-lidded mostly in exhaustion. "You don't really waste words, do you?" The man sighed again, turning away from her.
His pen clicked once, then twice as he scribbled something down on paper. Arfa's smile remained as she watched him, though the cautious glint in her eye remained.
The man set down his clipboard and turned to her after picking up a tray of tea, setting it on the drawer desk beside her bed. "You should drink this," he adjusted his glasses. "Helps clear the mind when the body is in pain."
Arfa chuckled, wincing as she sat up. The man made no effort to help. "You think I'll drink tea offered by someone who hasn't even introduced himself yet?"
"Ah. My apologies. I don't know your name either, for the record." He sat down on a chair opposite her bed, taking off his glasses and running a hand through his hair.
"I'm Dr. Nikhil Devraj. And this is the Bangalore Metropolitan Drive Technical Academy." He set his glasses aside, leaning his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together under his chin.
"I don't mean to dump every piece of information on you, so we'll be waiting for Arun to arrive."
"Arun?" She asked, eyes perfectly set in the image of curiosity when she really couldn't care less. Unless the man was hot.
Was it the man from last night?
"Yes, Arun Madhav. The man who brought you here last night after your little scuffle with a Hollow, as he informed me." He sighed, as if even talking about that man was annoying.
Arfa quickly registered that this man was all too easily annoyed by theatrics the moment she'd spoken. And, annoyed by Arun, apparently.
Which, fair. If he was anything truly like he acted like last night, this was going to be a different hell.
Footsteps resounded beyond the room she was in. The doctor's eyes drifted to the door. "There he is."
"HELLO AND GOOD MORNING MY LOVELY PEOPLE~!!"
And lo and behold, the devil himself appeared.
The doctor sighed, a hand against his ear and Arfa blinked, slightly wide-eyed at the man who she now knew could out-do her in sheer theatrics.
Arun, with his exceptionally done hair, sunglasses on his face and that same soft grin she practically heard in his voice last night, entered with a brown paper bag and two coffee cups in one hand held effortlessly.
He dropped them onto the table and turned to them.
"Ah, so the eye-eater is awake? I thought you said she'd be out for a little while longer, Nikhil." Arun spoke while dragging a chair, metal screeching at the tiles, and sat backwards on it, arms on the headrest.
He took off his sunglasses, tossing it into her lap. She looked down then back at him, and scowled. " Care to explain what fresh hell I'm in?" She pointed to the doctor, "He wasn't much help."
Nikhil opened his mouth then closed it, considering his reply. "I gave just enough information so that you wouldn't be overwhelmed."
"I'm always overwhelmed. Kind of my charm lately." Her face is almost comical in its confusion, which she was probably doing on purpose.
'First the creature... and then this energy called 'Drive'... and now these two men and this strange academy which also coincidentally has the word 'Drive' in it?
I can't deny that this is supernatural. Though depsite facing that creature, it still feels illogical to think so.'
'Moreover...' Her eyes subtly raked Arun's face. 'This man seems like he knows something more.'
"I see you've reached a conclusion!" He clapped his hands once, grin still blinding and somehow mocking at the same time.
'Is this what people feel when I act so dramatic?' Arfa thought, her lips in a grimace.
"Now, now! Don't give me that look, kid. I'm the one who got you here to safety, y'know~?" He pouted.
Arfa's jaw dropped. 'No way. A grown man pouting. Hot people can really do anything and get away with it.'
He was also annoyingly tall, because he stood up, his form looming over her as he leaned in close. She stared back at him with the most neutral expression she could muster.
"Why are you in my face, old man?"
Nikhil sighed, standing up and walking to them, pulling Arun aside. "Arun, when will you start explaining the situation to her? She's swallowed a Hollow eye. The Drive of that thing has probably already took over."
"Mmmm, yeah." Arun held his face, thinking.
"So, kid!" He turned to her in a whiplash.
Nikhil sighed, walking away to get his coffee cup.
Arfa watched in slight jealousy.
Arun's eyes tracked her with a smirk. "If you want one next time, just say so."
"I think more than coffee, I need information. Is this Drive something like spiritual energy?" She turned fully toward him.
"Ha.. you catch on quickly, no?" He tilted his head at her and turned to Nikhil. "Doesn't she~?"
Nikhil sighed. "Don't drag me into this. Just tell the girl what's happening or else I'll be the one wrapping this up and walking out of here. Peacefully. Without you around."
"Awe~ you wound me, Nikhil."
"I could do more but I'm holding back. I chose peace when I woke up."
Arun had a grin on his lips. "Good choice."
Arfa blinked, eyebrow twitching, her body in pain, stomach burning, and heart still a beat unsteady. The bandages on her arms itched, the same white cloth wound around her neck starting to feel like a noose.
"So, is your old-men-flirting saga over?"
"Old men— what? Excuse you, this man is very hard to flirt with!" Arun points at Nikhil, incredulous.
Nikhil pinches the bridge of his nose. "You want to information, kid?"
Arfa nodded once.
"That thing you fought yesterday was no mere hallucination."
"Yeah, I gathered." Arfa mutters, face flat.
Arun laughed.
Nikhil sighed again like a man regularly practicing the art of patience with imbeciles surrounding him. "It was a Hollow. A creature formed by Drive, which is energy created by internal dissonance from the emotions of human beings."
"So.... you're telling me that if I'm depressed, I leak this Drive and it causes these Hollows to basically manifest?"
Arun groaned dramatically, throwing himself on her bed, her feet touching his torso. His arms dangled off the edge of the bed and Nikhil pulled him back by the legs, his brows twitching.
"That's a patient you're on, Arun!"
"But she made a better analogy then I did when I was teaching those students last year!!"
"That is not an excuse to go around jumping on patients' beds!"
'I'm killing myself after this. I don't understand what they're doing here. But it's sort of entertaining?'
Arfa sighed theatrically, plopping back down, head hitting the soft pillow. "Are you guys done being drama queens? I think you still have a lot to tell me."
'Most of which I could guess, but it doesn't hurt to confirm facts.' Arfa thought to herself, eyes lowering as they raked over the two figures in front of her, still bantering.
"Alright~! I've decided, Nikhil. Yaar, I'm thinking we should just take her straight to Mahendra, no?" Arun beamed, picking up the glasses he'd thrown a while ago, setting them on his face as if nothing happened.
"Arun. This girl is swathed in bandages. She probably can't even stand." Nikhil sighed, walking over to her and setting the blanket properly over her. "She needs her rest."
"Fine. I'll file her report and see what Mahendra says. It's not everyday you get an eye-eater~!" Arun wiggled his fingers, already halfway out the door.
Arfa's brow twitched, a sarcastic smile creeping up her face. "You should really stop talking if you aren't going to explain my situation."
"No can do, kid! Have fun with Dr. grumpy there!" Arun vanished behind the door, laugh echoing through the halls.
"That man," Nikhil muttered and Arfa swore she saw a vein pop on his forehead. He turned to her just then, resting a hand over her eyes.
She blinked, her lashes brushing the soft calluses of his hand. "Woah. You do know—"
"Yes, I know. This is just how I channel my Drive. And no, I won't be answering anything right now."
His dark eyes narrowed in what anyone might mistake for annoyance but would later understand that it was actually resigned fondness.
"We'll deal with all of this later. Go to sleep, eye-eater."
Arfa sighed, letting the doctor's warm hand against her forehead feel like a safety net she'd never really had.