#matt-from-peip-hr

[agent-carvour]

[Matt heads down to Owens room once it's night ready to hand off the strange folder and meet his pet]

@matt-from-peip-hr

Come in!

[Owen sits on his bed, his laptop in front of him displaying what looks like a paused documentary about frogs?]

[injectioninfection]

I was wondrin' if you knew about this lil' liquid passing around. Real potent drug, ya know. John was hit with it last week!

Hello, is this HR?

[He snickers.]

...'Course it is.

@injectioninfection (don't have to reply if you don't wanna!)

Hello it is, how may I help you?

[agent-mega-man]

[There's a knock on Curts door. Outside Matt stands with a small gift basket.]

@matt-from-peip-hr

[Curt opens it. He's not as dead as before, but he still doesn't feel great.]

Hey...

[john-macnamara]

[Matt knocks and then opens the door without any permission, which is already strange for him. He looks flushed like he may have ran here. He looks around for anyone else and seeing no one speaks]

John we have a situation.

@matt-from-peip-hr

[John quickly turns his phone off]

What is it?

[harbinger-of-bad-news]

[Matt was aware of Omen's existence. It was impossible not to know about them. As soon as a Humanoid with tentacles existed it was brought immediately to Matt's attention. But Matt had one thing going for him...at least Omen despised PEIP. It shouldn't be an issue because Omen will stay as far away from the Crazy fucks in PEIP as possible. There was no reason to have concern. Omen was just another file carefully organized in Matt's brain.

And then... Tragedy struck. Because on Matt's desk was a new employee form sent from Macnamara's office. Omen's picture sat staring back up at Matt as he felt any semblance of peace immediately leave his body...Matt was unequivocally fucked]

@matt-from-hr

[Speaking of which, said man knocks on the door to Matt's office]

[calaverage]

His name's Dr. Alton. Nice guy.

Almost like some level of surveillance is warranted after something drastic like that?

[Cal heads over to the flower shop to speak with Ernest. They know he got infected, but not how. Which is what they are going to find out.]

@calaverage

Ernest was within the flower store, tending to some flowers by the counter. It has been a few days since the incident so the shop has been relatively cleaned out and all of his flowers all new to make up for those contaminated and then destroyed.

[agent-carvour]

Hey would you have time to talk today?

@matt-from-peip-hr

[Owen is still on his way home from John's when he gets the message, his head pounding and the rest of his body aching with every step. The fact that he hadn't drunk any normal blood in over a day is also beginning to make itself noticable.

He had hoped that the talk could wait another night, so he could at least prepare a bit and just be in a better state mentally. And generally.]

Later this night, maybe. I've got a few things to get done first.

[Getting some blood from the Last Drop, convincing Curt that he isn't hungover, ... should he hide it from Matt, too?]

[agent-carvour]

Hey, I heard you got shot during the recent intrusion. Are you alright?

@matt-from-peip-hr

I'm fine.

[agent-carvour]

[There is a knock at the door early in the morning after the full moon]

@matt-from-peip-hr

Ooc take ur time if ur not finished with the moon day post

[Owen opens the door for him. Something looks wrong about him. Like there's a certain spark missing from his eyes. Maybe it's just exhaustion?

He smiles when he sees Matt, but it doesn't bring the missing spark back.]

Hey.

[calglitchedout]

It's a group of people with similar experiences that talk and support one another.

@matt-from-peip-hr

[Omen drops down as they go back home, sobbing]

@harbinger-of-bad-news

[Glitch continues to grip him tight, running a hand through his hair.]

[agent-carvour]

[It doesn't take long untill Matt is there knocking at the door]

@matt-from-peip-hr

[He has to wait a bit until the door is opened. Owen has wrapped a blanket around himself and pulled it up over his head as well like a cloak, so really, only his face is visible. His pale skin, accentuated by the dark rings under his eyes and the glassy eyes make him look like a walking corpse, and he leans against the wall for support.

Despite all this, the smile he gives Matt still looks just as charming as always.]

Hey, sweetie.

[agent-carvour]

[The time was nearing closer to lunch and Matt was getting more and more anxious, what if they backed out? What if they were lying? What if they actually liked him? Matt shook his head and focused on his paperwork. It's all he could do right now.

@matt-from-peip-hr

[Owen has been watching Matt for a while now. This is actually his very first time using the P.E.I.P. cafeteria and on his day off of all days.

Eventually, he takes a deep breath and walks up to Matt, putting his tablet down in front of him and sitting down without a word.]

[agent-carvour]

Hey, curt and I met. He's really nice!

@matt-from-peip-hr

That sounds good. Did Curt seem comfortable, too?

[agent-carvour]

[Like Matt had said it wasn't much longer before he was being guided down to the Owens holding cell by the warden. The tell tale sounds of the door opening was Owens only signal before Matt was in there hugging him]

How are you feeling?

@matt-from-peip-hr

[Owen takes a momwnt to just enjoy the touch.]

Honestly, not great...

[Owen is twitchy, fidgeting with his hands and tapping his leg, and his heart is racing, skipping a beat every once in a while.]

[agent-carvour]

[Finally he had gotten back permission from the warden to visit. Even with the permission though Matt stands further down the hall not quite there yet. What should he say? What can he say? Does Owen even want to see him? Maybe this was a mistake.

But even with the flurry of anxious thoughts one main thought trumped them all. I need to know if he's okay. Matt feels his feet move beneath him and the warden opens the door for him letting him into Owen holding room. ]

Owen?

@matt-from-peip-hr

[Owen still hasn't really moved aside from putting one arm over his already closed eyes to further protect them from the general brightness of the room. He hasn't been able to sleep, but he doesn't feel like moving either, so he had spent the last hours just lying there, occasionally sending out his spider.

His skin is still somewhat pale, but it's closer to a healthy tone than the corpse-like almost grey, that it had been for nost of the time that Matt had known him.

When he suddenly hears Matt's voice - not expecting it without being announced by his heartbeat first - Owen sits up immediately, despite his aching body. He just stares at him, eyes wide open, for at least ten seconds. This, he had not expected. Not now. He had been preparing to talk to John, and of course, he had thought about what he'd say to Matt, but not now. Part of him is just happy to see him. It's been so long, and he had missed talking to him, his reactions when Owen teased or flirted with him, just listening to Matt ramble... But he's also immediately filled with fear. Based on what Owen had heard, Matt had not exactly taken all this well, and Owen is not prepared to deal with it. What if the whole reason Matt showed up here is to tell him that this is it?

When he eventually manages to get something out of his mouth, it's barely more than a whisper.]

M-matt...

[agent-carvour]

Happy birthday!

@matt-from-peip-hr

Thanks!

I wish you could be here.

But I'm also glad you're not.