"And so she walked with him, and the deer's milk kept them alive just as each other's company kept them going," he finished with a heavy sigh.<br/><br/>Phoneix's mother had fallen asleep five minutes ago, before he had finished the story. Just like every other time, however, he had kept going on till the end. He liked to believe that his words cast an aura over her that soothed her deeper into her sleep, and gave her pleasant dreams. He reached out a gloved hand to brush the green-tinged skin of her cheek.<br/><br/>"I'll see you soon," he whispered to her. He stood up slowly, feeling the usual heft to his limbs every time he left his mother's hospital rooms. Hospitals always had an oppressive feel to them, and though they were meant to cure the sick, he could never shake the feeling that they were incredibly stifled of real life. Perhaps its more permanent residents were not truly living. He could not say for sure that his mother was, and that edged him towards despair sometimes. But the cure was out there. Somewhere in the wasteland was an oasis of lush landscape, untouched by the radiation and poison that clouded the rest of the world. He was sure of it. He had to be, if he wanted to keep going.<br/><br/>As Phoenix made his ways through the hallways of the hospital, he saw people muttering to themselves, casting sideways glancing at them. No one seemed to be quite able to face him directly in the hospital, and it made him despise the place all the more. At least outside of it, people had the decency to say what a disgusting creature they thought his mother was to his face. At least then, it gave him an excuse to punch them in the face. Here, it was only an ever present wave of discomfort, as much for him as for the people that whispered behind his back.<br/><br/>A rumbling sound came from below him, a rumble Phoenix no longer felt so much but whose noise he recognized. He had plenty of work to do in the evening, and decided that it'd be best to operate on fuller stomach. He'd have a snack before bed if he felt too hungry afterwards. It wasn't like his hunger ever truly went away.<br/><br/>As he made his way to the canteen, a lanky man about his age strode in his way. "How's monster momma doing?" he asked with fake bravado. Phoenix looked over at a group of other soldiers who were laughing softly among themselves, looking at what they clearly assumed was about to be a scene.<br/><br/>"Find better friends, please," Phoenix said, pushing his way roughly past the man. Clearly he was being goaded into making fun of him, and this time, he wasn't going to take the bait. He could tell the poor guy didn't even want to be there, and Phoenix could sense when someone truly meant their jibes. Those were the only moments when he really let loose.<br/><br/>He opened the door to the canteen and let the smell of food wash over him. It often helped uplift his mood on the rare occasions it was soured. He got into the line, grabbed some potatoes and bread with broccoli, then went to sit on a random table. He noticed the scavenger leader sitting at the other end of the table.<br/><br/>He had only managed to get a few mouthfuls of food in when the same group of soldiers that had been laughing set their plates roughly across from him.<br/><br/>"So what's it like," the one at the center of the group said, "to know that you're wasting base resources by bringing a monster and trying to revive it?" he asked. He had blonde hair, a well-set jaw, and striking blue eyes. A complete tool, by the looks of it.<br/><br/>"She's not a monster," Phoenix responded shortly. He took a bite of the broccoli and ignored the blonde.<br/><br/>"Oh-ho," he said, extending the word with a long chuckle, "I'd beg to differ. Unless you dyed your skin brown and are hiding some green underneath you, and you have some tentacles floating around under that armor."<br/><br/>Phoenix didn't look up until he felt a splatter of ketchup slap his cheek. He wiped it off slowly before looking up at the culprit, who laughed.<br/><br/>"Look lads, he has a penchant for drama!" he said dramatically. Phoenix would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't already so angry. Instead, he started to stand up, and the other man mirrored him. "Look, pull the plug and you won't have anyone bothering you. Your hopes of finding a non-existent cure for this woman are foolish and a burden to us all." His voice had suddenly stopped its mocking tone and turned angry.<br/><br/>The table was separating them, and Phoenix didn't want to cause a scene, but his temper was flaring.<br/><br/>"I'm not giving up on my mother," he said leaning close to the other man. "But I'll gladly pull the plug on you."<br/><br/>The man's companions hooted, and it was all the invitation the blonde one needed to grasp Phoenix by his shirt's collar and pull him across the table and throw him across. "Try it," he hissed, before crashing down to the ground himself.<br/><br/>Phoenix had hooked his legs around one of the blonde one's when he hit the ground, making him fall a mere spli-second after he had finished talking. Phoenix quickly rolled over and started to pummel at the man's face with his fist, getting in three hard punches before people started pulling him away. He spat at the blonde man's face, seeing with satisfaction that his punches had left him a bleeding, broken nose.