But I grow old and I forget your name

Theta, all things considered, can occasionally be a very fast learner.

He learns very quickly that panicking when he realizes hat he isn't home only brings bad things. He learns that it brings needles and people he doesn't know who wear false faces and slip on soothing voices that don't ever fit quite right.

He learns that you can leave your room if you're good, though he's never quite sure what that is here. No one acts the same way and if they do, it's not acting at all, it's not living, at least not the way he remembers it.

He learns that smiling faces don't always mean good things and that you always know what to expect from a quiet person.

That's why he sits next to him, why he closes his eyes and enjoys the man's silence. There's something to him, something that's not-quite-familiar and it's in the way he says so little.

Theta likes it though and it's the firs thing he ever says to William.

( Everything burns when he walks and the lights are too bright but neither of these things matter. )

Word Count: 572
Verse: Hospitalverse