Sage had barely been aware of when Blitz left for breakfast. He just closed his eyes tighter, desperately trying to sleep still.

It didn't work.

By the time he felt Blitz nudge his way under his arm again, he'd given up trying on sleep. But he couldn't really do anything, so he just sort of lay there, eyes not fully open but not closed either. Almost trance like.

That was sort of what he felt like....if not for the headache.

He heard Alessandro enter the room soon after, voice seemingly too loud and echoey all at once. The only thing he had energy for was a slight twitch in the furrows his brows had already formed. Barely noticable. Barely there.

Even his footsteps echoed around the room, each sound they made ringing in sages head like they were happening inside his head.

Drawing the curtains did help a bit, though not enough to make much of a difference. Fissling with the thermostat might help in the long run, but nothing changed immediately there.

He offered no resistance when his wrist was pulled away from his body by the other man, gaze flickering towards him slightly but making nj other effort to move at all. His vision was blurry though, so his gaze didn't stay focused on him for more than a second or two. His hand stayed limp in his grasp.

It was a cycle....seizure, exhaustion, try to rest. Eat. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. When it didn't, and things got bad as this, it normally led into another seizure at some point of the day when his body was so over exhausted it shut down. Short circuited, if you will. Then it repeated.

That seemed like the option his body had chosen for today.

Alessandro was there, lingering, doing what he could ...and sage did feel a bit relieved to have him there. He was grateful for the wolf that had helped get him through the night, even if he still felt this bad. It would have been worse if he was alone.

But....he wasn't sure there was actually anything either of them could do to help aside from being there. Supporting him.

Alessandro didn’t like patterns like this.

He stood at the side of the bed, eyes trained on Sage with the same focus he gave a volatile negotiation—quiet, intent, cataloging every detail. The unfocused stare. The shallow rise and fall of his chest. The way Blitz pressed in close again the moment Alessandro stopped touching him, as if anchoring him to the mattress.

This wasn’t rest. It was waiting for something to break.

Alessandro straightened and turned away, already dialing.

The doctor arrived quickly. He always did. Discretion had been bought and reinforced years ago, and the man knew better than to ask unnecessary questions. Alessandro met him at the door, speaking in a low voice as they walked back down the hall.

“No sleep,” Alessandro said. “Post-seizure. Headache hasn’t broken. Pulse fast. He’s fading.”

The doctor nodded once, already pulling on gloves. “Likely heading toward another episode.”

“That’s my concern,” Alessandro replied flatly.

They entered the room together. The doctor moved closer without hesitation, kneeling beside the bed, his movements careful but efficient. He checked Sage’s pupils with a small light, then his vitals, murmuring observations under his breath. Sage barely reacted—just a faint tightening around the eyes, a slight hitch in his breathing.

Alessandro stayed where he was, arms crossed loosely, body angled so he could see both Sage and the door. Blitz watched the doctor warily but didn’t interfere. Stryker remained outside the room, exactly where Alessandro had left him—guarding, listening.

“He’s exhausted,” the doctor said quietly. “Dangerously so. Stress, lack of sleep, neurological history—it’s a bad combination.”

“I know,” Alessandro said.

“We need to interrupt the cycle,” the doctor continued. “Rest. Real rest. I can give him something mild—enough to let his body shut down without pushing him too far.”

Alessandro considered it for half a second. Then nodded. “Do it.”

The doctor prepared the medication, explaining what he was doing even though Sage didn’t seem fully present. Alessandro watched closely as it was administered, his jaw tightening just slightly as Sage’s breathing stuttered, then slowly began to even out.

“There,” the doctor said after a moment. “This should help him sleep. I’ll stay for a bit, make sure it takes.”

Alessandro stepped closer to the bed then, reaching down to adjust the blanket around Sage’s shoulders—careful, controlled, almost precise. Blitz shifted but didn’t object, pressing closer once Alessandro’s hand moved away.

Alessandro didn’t answer.

He remained there as Sage’s body finally began to yield—muscles loosening, breathing deepening, the tension in his face easing by slow degrees. It wasn’t peace, exactly, but it was closer than he’d been all night.

Alessandro stayed.

Because some cycles you didn’t wait out.

You broke them.

Sage, admittedly, wasn't very aware of what was happening next. He could hear echos of people moving... Probably Alessandro, for the most part, though he did recognize the echo of the doctors voice when he arrived. It didn't change much.

There was a flicker of light in his eyes. The feeling of the doctor checking vitals. A quick glimpse of his face, though it was pretty blurry. His voice, mixing together with Alessandros as they spoke, the waves of them blending together until he really couldn't tell what they were saying.

Then there was the prick of a needle in his arm.

He didn't react.

At least not right away.

He felt the tension start to leave his muscles as whatever medicine they'd given him took hold of his body. Good.... If they could control it, his body wouldn't take over. It would be quite so dangerous.

It didn't take long for him to pass out completely, tension draining from his body as he finally slipped into unconscious. Sweet, sweet relief. Finally.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed there, but when he woke next he did feel much better. The headache still lingered, but it wasn't the awful i-want-anything-but-this kind of headache. This was more.... Normal.

Blitz was there right away, sniffing his face nervously, washing his tail when sage managed to wrap his fingers in his fur. It was weak, but it was there.

The medicine was wearing off, but he was definitely still groggy as he glanced to the other side, where alessandro was watching him with concern written on his face.

The doctor was still there too, writing something down on a pad of paper. He wasn't sure what it was.... Possibly a prescription, possibly notes for himself. He didn't really care. He wasn't with ready to think yet. Or... So much at all, really.

Sage had focused on Alessandro quickly, a little disoriented at first. He didn't remember passing out....he didn't think he'd had another seizure, but he honestly wasn't sure.

His expression must have been clear, since Alessandro was quick to tell him he'd just slept.

Good.

He could hear the doctor in the corner, and while it was taking too much mental effort to pay attention to what the older man was saying, he'd figured out enough. They'd given him something to knock him out. Force him into getting some rest.

That was definitely a good thing. It pulled a soft breath from his nose. Relief. Gratitude. A mix of those things.

He ignored the rest of what was being said around him, and instead turned around to bury his face into Blitz's fur again with a soft sigh. There was just something about it. Grounding. A nice texture. Something he could trust. Curl into and regulate his breathing with the animals', in a way.

Eventually though, he didn't feel quite so groggy and shifted again, so he could peer over at Alessandro, who was still there watching him, owrry written on his face even now.

"You drugged me," he huffed, not upset about it in the least. Trying to make a joke out of it. He was still kind of tired so he wasn't sure how well his still very sleepy voice conveyed that.

Oh well. Alessandro would figure it out.

The doctor’s voice carried from the corner of the room, clinical and low, and Alessandro allowed it to fade into the background. Sage didn’t need more noise than necessary. When Sage turned into Blitz’s fur instead, exhaling like the weight of the night had finally loosened its grip, something in Alessandro’s chest shifted—tightened, maybe. He ignored it. Watched instead. Counted Sage’s breathing without realizing he was doing so.

Blitz settled immediately, solid and warm beneath him. Good. That was good.

When Sage shifted again and looked back at Alessandro, there it was—concern reflected in his eyes, mirrored by whatever he must have seen on Alessandro’s face. Alessandro didn’t bother correcting his expression. There was no point pretending he hadn’t been worried.

“You drugged me.”

A huff. A joke. Poorly disguised, but present.

One corner of Alessandro’s mouth lifted despite himself. Barely. “I authorized medication,” he corrected evenly. “The doctor handled the rest.”

He leaned back slightly in the chair, posture controlled, voice calm. “You weren’t resting. Your body was headed somewhere dangerous. I don’t apologize for stopping that.”

There was a brief pause. Then, quieter—not softer, but deliberate:

“You needed sleep. You got it.”

His gaze flicked to Blitz for half a second, then returned to Sage. “If you’re going to accuse me of crimes,” Alessandro added dryly, “pick one I’m actually guilty of.”

Sage noted the twitch of Alessandro's lips in response to his smile, and he had to admit he found himself staring for longer than necessary. "Fine, fine," he mused, slight tone of amusement still lacing his voice.

He moved to roll onto his back, dragging his hands down his face in an attempt to wake up a bit more, taking a deep breath and then letting it out after a moment, flopping one hand back over to lace his fingers in Blitz's fur.

Alessandro didn't seem to mind the wolf on the bed ....at least, he hadn't commented on it. That was good. It made him feel less guilty about breaking the rules now that he wasn't actively dying or whatever.

"It's a cycle," he admitted. "Sometimes it's that bad, sometimes it's not and I sleep for fourteen hours straight." He shrugged. "Stress usually beers it towards the negative side." Having been attacked and kidnapped probably counted, though he wasn't blaming him for that.

He wouldn't have known, of course. And he did appreciate it.

Though, at his comment about accusing him of things, he felt his eyebrows raise slightly. "Like what? Being all stoic and heroic and handsome in the corner at all times," he snorted, still rather amused.

Alessandro noticed it—the way Sage lingered a fraction too long, the way his gaze didn’t dart away like it usually did when he realized he was staring. He didn’t call it out. He just let the moment exist, the corner of his mouth twitching again despite his best efforts to remain composed.

“Careful,” he said dryly, shifting in the chair and folding his arms. “If you keep looking at me like that, I might start thinking you’re trying to profile me.”

His eyes flicked briefly to Blitz sprawled on the bed, Sage’s fingers tangled comfortably in the wolf’s fur. He didn’t comment, just accepted it as a given. Blitz had chosen his spot, and arguing with him was a losing battle anyway. Stryker was probably somewhere nearby pretending not to listen while absolutely listening.

When Sage talked about the cycle, Alessandro’s humor softened. He leaned back slightly, posture easing, gaze steady on Sage rather than sharp.

Then came the accusation, half-joking and half-testing, and Alessandro actually snorted before he could stop himself. He shook his head, glancing away for a moment like he needed to reset.

“Stoic, heroic, handsome?” he repeated, incredulous. “That’s what you think I’m hiding in the corner?”

He looked back at Sage, one brow lifting. “I was thinking more along the lines of controlling, overprotective, and incapable of minding my own business.”

A beat. Then, more softly, “But I’ll take heroic if you’re offering.”

He stood then, stretching slightly. “You rest. Dinner’s almost ready. And if that cycle starts tipping the wrong way again—” his eyes met Sage’s, firm but calm, “—you tell me. No negotiating.”

Blitz’s tail thumped once, as if seconding the order.

Sage couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up in response to Alessandros tease, shaking his head in slight amusement. "Profile you, huh," he mused, tilting his head as he considered his options there. "Can't say I would mind," he mused lightly after a moment or so.

It wasn't a complete lie. He wouldn't mind courting him.

Then he chided himself for the thought. They barely knew each other, and the guy probably did not see him as anything that would ever be romantic. He was helping him out, with life or death situations....they were friends, but not more that.

Though, when he seemed surprised that he'd called him heroic and such, he couldn't help but chuckle again. "Well....what other guy is going to get on the floor with me and let me bleed all over him and still look worried when I wake up," he mused. "Besides, anyone can tell that you're good looking," he pointed out, raising an eyebrow slightly.

He nodded with a small smile when he was told to rest until dinner, waving Alessandro off. "I will. Don't worry," he noted. "Last night wasn't super normal. Or...happen super often I guess."

A small shrug, turning back towards the wolf with a soft sigh. "Come get me when dinners ready?" He assumed he would, but it never hurt to ask.

He heard Alessandro agree and slip out of the room, though he was already dozing off again.

It wasn't long after that when he was woken by him, and he sort of blinked up at him groggily before recognizing that dinner was probably ready, so he sort of groaned and moved to sit up.

He'd grabbed Alessandro's arm to help himself up without even thinking about it, using the taller man to balance as he waddled over towards the kitchen, keeping a hold on him as he moved.