I Wish I Could Help

[François Laffont]

Franck felt so useless. It became clear what happened to the missing students. The whole school was preparing for what would follow. Franck still could not believe what was happening. When he heard there was a squad forming up to go and rescue them, he wanted to join in. But he knew he wouldn’t be of much help. He was not a fighter, he knew no combat skills or anything. He was not a ninja with super stealth. And he sure knew his power would be of no use where they were going. But they were his friends so he still tried to join. They kindly told him he’d be better here. He knew they were right. There was no point in going there. He wouldn’t provide them with anything useful and he more risked to be capture or killed along the way.

They were not going, not yet. They were organizing. This whole idea sent a shiver down his spine. What did Frank and Erika and the others endured all that time? He never believed one second they ran away like some suggested. Erika was not enough of a drama queen to do that after the mess she had been in last time. And Frank... well he could imagine her going away and forget to warn anybody, but she would have answered Franck’s messages or something. He wished so much she would have at first. He pictured the scene, Frank being her super bubbly self and not understanding why people worried so much on her behalf. But that longed for call never happened.

Franck made his way to the south wing. He had been spending quite some time with Felix ever since the rumours of the students’ disappearance started. He knew of the boy’s feelings for Erika so if one would share his disarray that would be him. He reached his dorm room and entered, hoping to find him here since he already knew the boy was not at the radio station. He was pretty certain Felix also tried to join the rescue team. He wondered if he got in, unlike him.

[Felix Nicholas]

Felix had never been one to wallow in rage, never been one to spend much of this time focusing on being angry or holding grudges. But the sheer level of fear, and intense anger surging through him the past few hours was beyond any he'd ever felt before. Every tangled thread of emotion, every sleepless night focused on his own feelings felt so horribly pathetic now. It was almost an insult, that he dare focus on how HE felt when... When the girl he cared so much for was surely suffering unimaginable torture. He couldn't bare it. He was a selfish idiot and he knew it... Erika. He could never forgive himself if anything happened to her. One horrific thought kept coming across his mind time and time again... He should have known. He should have been able to tell...

His hands shook slightly as he franticly tightened the earpiece with steel pilers, biting his bottom lip. He was sat in the middle of his bedroom floor, a mass of electrical appliances, bits of metal and various pieces of equipment surrounding him; Most were in various stages of disassembly, bundles of wire tangled nearly beyond repair, a number of pairs of broken headphones and a colossal industrial speaker that now looked as though someone had taken a high powered saw to it. All the external lights of the room, which consisted of a number of table lamps, had been pulled to the floor and surrounded the man in a circle of light, the bulbs focused on the headphones in his hands. The curtains were drawn, so when his door was pushed open inviting in a wave of fresh brightness the radio host flinched back slightly, covering his eyes with his arm as they adjusted to the onslaught of light. "... Frank?" He spoke, a small grin eclipsing his lips as he quickly got to his feet, almost standing on a number of bits of metal as he ran a hand through his wild hair. "You... You startled me. What... What time is it?" His clothing was tussled, messy, looking obviously slept in, his shirt sporting what appeared to be burns, the hand he'd used to run through his now unkempt hair was roughly bandaged. "Ah... Ah it's late, isn't it?"

[François Laffont]

Franck knew if there was one person in that school who must be in as bad a state as he was, it must be Felix. He knew how the man felt about Erika. He wasn’t quite sure whether he ended up sharing his feelings for her before she disappeared but it didn’t change much to it. He loved her and no matter what she chose to do about it, even if she had no idea yet, his feelings were still there and so knowing she was kidnapped, held captive somewhere, with people doing God knows what to her must be torture to him also. Franck wanted as much empty his heart on a friend as he wanted to check up on the guy.

He was not prepared to what he saw as he entered the guy’s room. The mess in the middle of the room could be explained in some way. Franck did seem to recognize some headphones and that was a speaker. Since Felix was a radio host, he was not too surprised to see equipment lying around. But the state it was all in, now that would cause anyone coming in to stare wide-eyed and wonder what happened to the guy before them. Of course, the sight Felix gave him was also enough in itself to have Franck concerned. Disheveled would be the word. His clothes needed to be washed and possibly ironed, his hair was a mess and... was that a bandage on his hand? “Uh, no, not that late. What is this?” he asked, looking all around, trying to find at least one positive thing to focus on. He stared back at Felix and gave him a sheepish smile. “Erika?” He knew it sounded like a question, but he knew this was happening all because of Erika and because Felix found out, like most students around now had. Franck believed he was in that state because, like Franck, he was told it might be best he stayed here.“How are you?” he asked also, his voice softer now as he genuinely was concerned for his friend.

[Felix Nicholas]

Felix wasn't quite sure how long he'd spent in his darkened room lit with artificial light, surrounded by an array of various pieces of equipment. He was sure it must have been at least half a day, at least since he'd been selected a part of the rescue squad. He couldn't care less about his own personal safety, that was the furthest worry from his mind. He'd already decided that he had no intention of leaving that facility without Erika, regardless of the consequences to himself. "... Sorry... Sorry about..." He gestured a little at the chaos of the room. "The mess." He smiled weakly, clutching at his hair as he placed his other arms on his hip. He must look as though he'd endured some sort of emotional breakdown. Which was not too far from the truth, he supposed.

He shrugged a little and dropped his hand from his head, before quickly bending down to the ground, pushing away from of the mess and snatching up the pair of headphones, holding them out to other male. "... I...I'm part of the rescue squad, so I was modifying these headphones. I've reinforced them with a material which vibrates with sound waves, it should provide a decent barrier of protection from my power powering my ears out..." He trailed off, realising that Franck likely knew little about sound equipment and so therefore wouldn't understand exactly what he'd done to the headphones. He chuckled a little, then gave a shaky sigh, lovering his hand and dropping the headphones carefully to the floor. "... You know, not too good overall," He replied with a small, uneasy laugh, before his smile dropped; He slowly stepped his way towards his bed, sitting down on it with a sigh as he put his head in his hands. "... May I be so bold, and ask for your company for a bit, Mr.Laffont?" Out of everyone, Franc was the one who would most understand how he was feeling, who could perhaps provide the radio host with at least a little comfort.

[François Laffont]

François was certain all of this had to do with Erika and Felix couldn’t say a damn thing to make him believe otherwise. He knew the guy’s feelings for her. And now that they knew where she was... Franck looked kind of not so good himself but he had been living in that state of crap for a couple of days already so he was getting over it. Of course, he was currently hitting the bottom again. He felt useless, being stuck here while his friends were captured and most probably tortured and others would go and try to get them out of there. He wished he could come. But he knew they were right. A guy like him would not be of much help.

He made a dismissive wave of his hand as Felix apologized for the mess around. “It’s fine but are you.... how are you?” he asked. It was more important than the state of his room. It was not like he went here often and besides, he could understand why Felix might want something to do to pass the time. Franck sure needed that too.

He froze however when he heard what Felix just told him. Part of the rescue squad. He could not believe it. He stood there, staring at his friend without a word able to escape his mouth. He was envious, that was sure. And scared too. He didn’t want to risk the life of another of his friends to save two that might even be... no, he didn’t want to think about that. He barely heard what he just said about those headphones he was now holding in his hand. It was as if he forgot why he came here in the first place. Part of him actually wanted to go past the mess and hug his friend as he was suddenly scared for him also. But no. He remained where he was.

He seemed to come back to reality as he heard Felix’s light chuckle before he sighed. “You... you’ll be in the rescue squad?” he couldn’t help but to let out. It wasn’t the most important, he knew that, but he couldn’t get past it just yet. His brain needed more time to process what it all meant. He walked next to Felix’s bed but did not sit down just yet. But when he asked him to stay, Franck forced a smile on his face and sat down next to him. “Is that how you hurt your hand, playing with all that electronic stuff?” he asked, first pointing at his hand then nodding towards the mess of cords and other sound equipment. But that was not really what he wanted to ask, right? Not now that he knew what he was up to. “You’ll try and get them out?”

[Felix Nicholas]

Felix was scared, that part was more then certain. His heart was quivering in his chest with worrying palpitations, and yet he felt he couldn't talk about it; How could be be scared when Erika and the others were surely suffering a million times worse? He almsot felt as though he didn't have the right to be scared... But he was, and he'd been pushing it as far as he could within himself the past few hours but as soon as he saw Franck it writhed it's way back to the surface, flaring up with almost overwhelming hopelessness. He knew this was going to be dangerous... He knew he was risking losing his life over this. He was trying not to think about the reaction of his family if they received the message that their eldest son took on SPECTRE and ended up riddled with bullet holes with nothing to show for it. Oh god... Bullet holes. He really could die in the next few hours.

He remained silent, his mind barely registering Franck's question, although he already was taking some small comfort in his presence. He nodded a little, confirming that he was indeed a member of the rescue squad; He then raised his head from his hands, a weak smile on his lips as he showed his friend the bandage. "I was using a small smouldering tool and burnt myself," He replied softly. "As you can tell, I'm not much of a first aider..." He chuckled faintly, referring to the poor manner in which he'd bandaged his hand. He trailed off into silence, averting his eyeline to the floor again as he bowed his head. "Franck... Franck, I'm..." He spoke, trying to word something coherent out fo the tangle of fear and worry he was feeling writhing in his stomach. He chuckled again, although there was no joy in it, only nervous anxiety. He was supposed to be tough... He'd been trying desperately to muster up every ounce of courage he had and yet now, in front of his friend, he could feel it all falling away. He tossed his dear friend a smile as he lifted his head to look at him. "I'm scared, Franck. I'm so god damn scared."

[François Laffont]

Franck had no idea what would happen in the next few days, or even in the next hours, as surely, if they were recruiting for a rescue team, they would only take the time to set up a plan of action for everyone before actually go there. How long will that take? They probably planned most of it beforehand and asked who was up for it. Franck was, but he knew it would be stupid. What good would empathy be to them there? His only right to fight was the fact that two of his best of friends were amongst the captives. He knew it must be the case to many other people and they were not there, preparing for battle or something. Still, he thought Felix would be with him on this one. He had the foolish idea they’d be sitting there, able to almost die out of the fear of what might happened, of the people who could die, waiting until they returned to hug their friends and give them all the care they would need in their condition, even rest by their side if necessary.

But apparently, Franck could not have that. Felix will be going in the line of fire, he will risk his life. And it made François feel like a coward for accepting the fact he would not go. He tried to get a grip. Felix didn’t need that right now. And to prove it, as he looked at him in the eyes, Felix told him how scared he was. His friend needed him. If he had no grip over his future and the future of others, at least he could be of use right now. He grabbed Felix’s hand and took the bandage off to look what he did. “It doesn’t look so bad. But you can’t go saving them all like that. Look at you, you’re almost a zombie,” he stated. He did feel almost like a mom taking care of her moping teenage boy or something. But it was all he could do right now without losing it so he would do that. He went to the curtains and opened them up to let what remained of sunlight inside the room. “Don’t you have any fresh clothes? And you better shower because that hair doesn’t need any gel to stay up in the air right now. Then we’ll put some clean bandage on that burn,” he said. That was his own personal battle plan. If his friend was to get killed back there, well at least Franck wanted to help him the best he could first. Well no. He shouldn’t think that way. His friend will come back, like the others. They couldn’t die. He knew things didn’t work that way, that wishing it was not enough for it to happen, but it was all he had and so François was clinging onto to it with all of his might.

[Felix Nicholas]

A thought occurred to him as he looked to his friend, a realisation settling upon him. Franck hadn't been selected as part of the rescue squad... He was going to be forced to remain within the safety of the Academy, while he and a number of the other students strode out onto the frontline, into the midst of a battle. For all they knew SPECTRE were ready and waiting, using Erika and the others as bait to lure them into a fight... A likely excuse to get the go ahead to take on the entire school. And all the while, Franck would have to remain here and just hope. Hope that at least some of them would make it, just hope and be a tangled mess of emotions, fear and worry, until the desperately hoped return.

Felix met Franck's eyeline, a warmer smile sweeping across his lips; He wasn't sure if it was the resolve in his friend's eyes, which he likely had imagined out of desperation, or him simply being there, but he was willing to grasp onto any comfort he could take. He flinched slightly when his friend grabbed his hand, biting his bottom lip as Franck examined the wound. "Not too bad? At least that's good," He commented, flinching again from the sting the other male touching it brought, before chuckling. "A zombie?! Well... I guess I'm not looking at quite my best..." He trailed off again, fighting back valiantly against that fearful anxiety that threatened to overcome him. It felt good to hear Franck reel off a plan, something set that he could follow. He blinked and looked upward towards his flicked up hair, grimacing slightly. He really must look a mess. "Right, so, shower, clean clothes and clean hand bandage, got it," He smiled. "... Franck. Thanks... Just. Thank you. Will you stay with me for a bit longer? Just... I kinda feel like I need someone here right now."

[François Laffont]

To think Franck came in here in order to change his mind. In a way, he was served, but this was not exactly how he planned it. He should have learned by now, as nothing ever went as he planned it. As if fate was having some sort of perverted fun at finding out how he wished things to go and make it happened in the exact opposite. He should have expected that some people he knew of would go straight into battle. It was their fight, to all of them. And some did have useful powers. Still, why Felix? He meant no offense but he didn’t picture the boy as a fighter and surely there were other people with more useful powers, right? Franck knew however that while thinking that he could also see how this could be useful.

He chased that out of his mind however. Now was more the time to give Felix all the energy and courage to do what he will have to do, not to make it worse on him. He already admitted being afraid and Franck had to admit that he was as well. He knew he had been exaggerating and quite frankly, he didn’t see how cleaning up would help him. But the only other thing Franck could see himself do other than that was to hold Felix in a bear hug and he feared that might just shatter them further. God knows they were already near the breaking point at this moment.

Alright, maybe not zombie, but still, Felix could definitely use a shower and possibly some rest to be ready when he’d have to go. And since they didn’t want of him around, well he was ready to be of use to his friend, even if that meant being almost as enthusiastic about it as was frank at the idea of food lying around. He felt slightly awkward as Felix thanked him. He didn’t want to crash and he knew he had to do something about it. The fact that Felix himself was near that point too didn’t help him. So he forced a playful smirk on his lips. “Am I dreaming or did you just ask me to join you in the shower?” he joked, staring at Felix for a moment before starting to laugh. He knew this all came out of anxiety but better break into laughter than tears. “I’ll stay here and... clean up a bit,” he assured her, more serious this time.

[Felix Nicholas]

Felix realised now that he’d needed someone to interrupt his musings, someone to break the downward spiral he’d been on… And Franck bursting in had been the emergency stop he’d needed. But he couldn’t help but think on how the guy was going to be forced to stay… As terrible and low as Felix felt, his friend must feel a million times worse; At least Felix had this rescue mission to drive him, something to channel his anger and fear into. Franck was going to be left alone at the Academy, left to feel hopeless, unable to do anything to aid their efforts except hold on to positive thoughts and to hope that all of them were going to return safely. As bad as Felix felt… He knew Franck must feel beyond worse. Felix knew he couldn't exactly be helping how the guy felt, and yet here he was, attempting to cheer HIM up and providing him with support, despite how being around the radio host currently would only make him feel terrible. That was Franck... He, like himself, always seemed to choose others over himself. Felix had such respect for the guy... Such admiration.

At his friend's joke Felix felt a small uplift to his heart; It was something so small but the radio host was willing to latch onto any amount of comfort he could. "I wouldn't advise it, it wouldn't be the best experience... I have a habit of singing in the shower, I can barely hold a tune," He chuckled weakly, giving the guy a wink. He then sighed a little, returning his gaze to the floor as he looked over the amount of mess on the floor. "... You don't have to. My room's in a pretty sorry state right now." He fell silent again, slowly reaching out his hand to gently take hold of Franck's, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He was becoming more aware of how much he'd needed someone with him, that just having Franck here was giving him enough of an uplift to push the radio host to press on, and not give in to the downward spiral of anxiety that threatened to drag him down. "... Well, I... I'd best get a shower then." He let go of his friend's hand, getting to his feet and dodging the minefield of metal and bits of speaker to his wardrobe and chest of drawers. He began to gather fresh clothing, taking a pile into the bathroom. He went to close the door behind him before pausing, giving the man a smile. "Hey... I apologise in advance if I start singing. It won't be pretty," He joked with a weak smile, before closing the door fully.
Singing of course was the last thing he wanted to do, but making a joke, however small, gave some glimmer of brightness in an otherwise hopeless situation.

[François Laffont]

Right now, Franck felt as though his frustration for not being selected in the rescue team as well as the fear he had over everything going on was trivial compared to the challenges Felix would go through. Sure, Franck had wished to help out. But the truth was he wasn’t entirely sad not to put himself in harm’s way. Felix however will be doing just that. Will he see his friend again? He didn’t want to think about it but now that he was put in front of the evidence more people he knew and loved would be fighting against men that were better trained and most certainly heavily armed, he couldn’t quite chase it away. It sent a cold shiver down his spine, grabbed his heart and threatened to stop it from beating entirely. He knew why Felix had to do that. The same reason why Franck wished to do it also. The two were too much alike, sometimes. It was made Franck scared something might happen to him, for he easily could imagine Felix throwing himself in the line of fire to protect others. He didn’t want that to happen, he didn’t even want to think about it possibly happening.

The joke sounded almost out of context but Franck wanted to delay the moment where they would be talking about this so much that he couldn’t care less. He laughed again as Felix played along. “You are such a tease,” he replied, looking down as he tried to control his laughter. He knew it was mostly due to the anxiety trying to find a way out of him. He waved at his friend to dismiss what he just said about the mess. “It’ll keep me busy,” he replied to end any more comment from him on that part. He didn’t want to sit idle otherwise he would start thinking and this was precisely what he tried to avoid.

He looked up at Felix however when the man grabbed his hand. He gave the man a brief smile. He could see what he was trying to do. Franck being able to pick up emotions, he knew when his friends were trying to send waves of comfort at him. It worked of course, perhaps even better than it would on people unable to show as much empathy. And he was thankful his friend took the time to reassure him like this, when he was the one staying behind, in the safety of the school, while Felix would put himself in harm’s way.

Since Felix would clean up a bit, Franck decided to do the same with the mess in the middle of the room. He had no idea whether Felix meant to keep all of this or not, or what some of those parts were used for, but he tried to separate all this in categories. He looked up again at what his friend said. Another joke. He smiled. “I’ll scream at you if I can’t survive it,” he told him. Maybe they shouldn’t joke but choosing between letting his fear take the best of him and just laugh it off, he chose his side. Now, time to try and untangle all those chords.

[Felix Nicholas]

Felix was scared. Terribly, and horribly, soul shaking scared. He had no real idea what he was up against... Some massive government force with highly trained professionals, and here he was, just some guy... Willingly going to confront them. He was walking right into the fire... He knew that. But he couldn't see any other opinion, any other way; This was it. If he wallowed in it or thought on it too much, he feared breaking down, descending into that dark spiral he worried he'd never get up from. No... Others needed him, and if he needed to be a pillar of emotional strength it was now. His own breakdown could come later, when he was home and everyone was safe... If he even made it back.

He dropped the pile of clothes, starting up the shower, placing his hands on either side of the sink as he gazed into the mirror above it. He really did look terrible... His hair was sticking up in odd angles, his skin looked pale and sickly from lack of sleep, heavy bags under his eyes. He sighed after staring a moment at his embarrassing reflection, bowing his head. How he wished he could go back, go back to a time before all of this... He felt too young. He'd never wanted to be back home so much before, in the midst of his family; Safe. Loved. Comforted. He was beyond thankful for Franck's presence... He'd needed him.
As the shower heated up, the radio host removed his clothes, stepping in to the rush of water and closing he glass door behind him. The warm, cascading water which normally gave Felix such comfort felt like a drop in an ocean of hopelessness. All of this... He couldn't shake the feeling that there was no good way for it to end, for anyone. He cleaned himself up, washing his hair and turning off the water when he was done. Stepping out, he supposed he felt the slightest fraction better then when he entered the shower; Drying off and getting dressed in the fresh clothing, the radio host emerged, finishing towelling off his hair as he blinked at the amount of work Franck had done. He let out an impressed whistle, smiling a little. "I should employ you as my personal assistant," He chuckled. "You've organised everything perfectly."

[François Laffont]

Franck was torn about all of this. Part of him didn’t want Felix to go. He didn’t want to risk losing a friend. François experimented rejection, abandonment and mockery, but he never saw death straight in the face. He didn’t want Felix to be the first person he knew and held dear to die. Then again, it might as well be Erika, or Frank. And he knew he could not force Felix into not going, not when he would gladly do so himself if he could. It made him slightly angry at his power. Why couldn’t he throw fireballs, or create illusions or have a bulletproof body armor? Oh, he wished he could wake up and find out this was all a dream, a very bad one.

Those were the thoughts coming to his mind as he did the only thing he could do right now so he would not go crazy: clean up. There were several tangled chords making a mess around so he tried to get through them all, placing them neatly. To him, it was mostly junk and there was a chance Felix would simply throw all of this in the nearest garbage. But Franck needed to occupy his brain. Oh, what will he do when the boy will go? He thought perhaps sticking around with him the whole time through. He couldn’t really anymore. He might call his dad, tell him not to worry too much, that he was fine and all. And after? Well, he supposed he will have to think about it, find someone else.

He heard the water running in the bathroom as he worked. Then he heard it stop. He didn’t really bother with it. Usually, he wouldn’t have put so much effort on something so not important. He even looked around the room for anything that might be messy, replacing the lamps where he assumed they would go, making the bed and everything. He stopped only when he heard Felix as he was done with his shower, drying up his hair with a towel. He looked around and saw how he organised his junk. Franck was surprised himself to see what a little house fairy he was like under pressure. He gave a smile to Felix, scratching the back of his head at the sight of it. “I didn't even realize it,” he admitted.

Now that his friend was in front of him however, all his worries came back. He stood there, not that far from him and the only thing he could think of was that he wanted to hug the guy. Really? He tried to chase that thought away. It was how he remembered his hand, nice little distraction. “Right, your hand now. Do you guys have some sort of first aid kit around or something?” he asked. He couldn’t know after all, since he was living with his father. He knew his dad had one but it wasn’t like he could go out and fetch it.

[Felix Nicholas]

Felix did understand the desperation Franck must be going through, to want to help but due to his ability being less then offensive,
he was being forced to stay. At least he would be safe here... And as much as the radio host would have adored to simply stay within the confides of the Academy with his friend, supporting and comforting each other, he knew where his drive lay and that he couldn't fight the necessity of the task that lay ahead of him. He couldn't turn it down, even if he wanted to; The other students needed him, and right now they were more important then his own wellbeing. Who knew what god awful torture they were being put through... It wreaked Felix's heart just thinking about it.

he tossed the towel to a nearby clothing basket, here it landed draped over the basket rather then in it, and took another moment to admire Franck's work. He'd organised everything in type and seemingly colour, quite an effective method which gave some small lift to the man. "That's it, you're becoming my personal assistant," He grinned, before pausing, furrowing his brow as he glanced down at his palm; The burns were still red raw, still stinging with nasty intent. If he didn't have it patched up cleanly, it would no doubt become infected. Felix sighed, and moved over to another pile of items on the floor in the corner of the room, shuffling bits of metal and wire and various books until he pulled out a small red and white case. "Here, it's just a small first aid kit, I always keep one around since I spend so much time messing with and modifying equipment," He explained, bringing it over towards his friend. "My hands are actually scarred up in places... I try to hide it." He chuckled a little out of slight embarrassment, before seating himself on the bed, the first aid kit beside him. At least this gave him something to concentrate on... He didn't want to risk thinking about what was to happen in the next few hours.

[François Laffont]

Franck hoped his friend would not take him for a coward for not going to rescue them. Surely they would not. But you never know, right. He supposed he was a bit of a coward. He knew he was jumpy, that very little could make him startle. He was still afraid of thunderstorms for crying out loud! And he meant to go in a scary, unknown place that would probably be dark and tensed, with people ready to shoot at him at any time? Yes, he would have, for his friend’s sake. He was like Ron Weasley, he might be in the background most of the time, but he would face all danger for his friends. It would appear however, that this time, Ron Weasley was not required for the plot to move on. So Franck would stay here. And try to keep the fort while waiting for them to come back. And they better come back. He wouldn’t go as far as saying the lame joke of if you die there, I’ll kill you but he sure was thinking something similar.

Franck chuckled at his new job of Felix’s personal assistant. “You couldn’t afford me,” he replied. Not that helping him out on occasion would ever bother Franck. But he doubted the offer was genuine. Both their minds needed an excuse, anything, not to think of what was ahead of them. Franck nodded as Felix pulled out a first aid kit. Well, that would be perfect. He did notice some bruises on Felix’s hands on occasion but never thought much about it. He never thought the boy was in pain or anything. Truthfully, he never stopped to ask himself where they came from. He noticed a bruise and shook it off, like you would with a paper cut or something. Not important.

Franck sat on the bed next to Felix and worked on applying some cream on the burn before bandaging his hand. The whole time, he dared not talk. But he could tell he might not have the opportunity to do so and it only made things worse for him. What if he died? Franck knew he was being supportive to a lot of people but he too needed some support and he got it from people like Felix. He didn’t want to lose his friend. “Felix... just, just come back alright?” he told him once the bandage was done. At that point he was still holding his hand but he let go of it afterward, looking away. He wouldn’t hide the light crush he had on the boy, but he knew it was one that would never be returned. He accepted it. It was why he didn’t want it to sound like some teary-eyed goodbye between two lovers like you see in movies. He clearly did not have the breasts for being the woman staying behind while her love was fighting a war. He looked back at his friend, giving him a tiny smile. “I’m letting you go without a hug but I better be able to give you one when you return,” he added, trying to put some humour in his voice. It was another not so disguised way of saying he better not die.