Chapter 17: Shocking Recovery Isis had just wiped the last trace of the broth she had fed Finn off his lips. Thankfully, besides the fact he couldn’t personally feel anything, his body still functioned normally. This had at least allowed food to be forced down his throat carefully for his sustenance. This had been one of his regular ’feeding sessions’ and Isis had just made to lay him down carefully from his upright seated position when she caught the briefest of movement from the side of her eyes. A slight twitch of his fingers that made her pause immediately in shock, doubting whether she had seen correctly. But her doubt was quickly put to rest when, after watching for a couple of seconds, she noticed another twitch, this time more obvious and evident. His whole finger moved, and just after, his body spasmed. For a short moment, Isis blanked, perhaps from the suddenness of it. She’d naturally hoped and looked forward to when Finn would awaken, if only to rid her of her current ’job’, but now that it happened out of the blue, she forgot what to do for a moment. But just a couple of seconds later, her brain spurred into action. She immediately dashed out of the room and fetched Micah in a blitz. "I swear, if you’re simply messing with me, I’ll—" "Shut up and see for yourself!" Isis charged into the room with Micah in tow. He subconsciously prepared himself to give Isis a scolding just in case it was a prank. While Isis wasn’t the kind to joke around with things like this, there was always a first time for everything. But that subconscious thought was put to bed immediately he entered the room and took in the sight of Finn obviously twitching where he lay. "Sheesh... This kid keeps on surpassing my expectations..." He grinned. "His eyes aren’t responding to light just yet, though..." Isis said after making quick checks of Finn’s vitals for more signs of consciousness. "It won’t for a while. I reckon his senses will keep coming one after the other. What we should check for now is—" Micah’s eyes suddenly widened as he noticed a subtle detail. Finn’s hands, tapping rhythmically against the bed in a pattern. Micah went silent immediately, walking up slowly to the bed with disbelief on his face. Micah had known Finn would awaken at some point, and that his awakening would be accompanied with confusion, and very likely hysteria. The terror of being trapped in one’s own mind could not be underestimated. And that was why he’d reiterated to Isis that her first course of action in the event of Finn’s awakening should be to come find him. But now, here was Finn, calmly tapping his fingers away without the slightest trace of frantic or hysteria. His actions were so steady, it showed a clear understanding of the current situation. Finn was not just conscious... He was fully aware and calmly trying to pass across a message. "He can hear." The realization dawned on Micah immediately. "Finn can hear us..." He walked up to the bed very quickly. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖 "What? Since when?!" Isis balked in shock. "Don’t tell me—" Micah sharply held up a finger for silence, grasping Finn’s right hand in his. "Squeeze my hand if you can hear us, Finn." The next second was tense, as both he and Isis watched with bated breaths, until... With strength unlike what a person just regaining any kind of mobility should have, Finn squeezed Micah’s hands so hard, the man gritted his teeth, before bursting out into laughter. "Hahaha! I think I have to recalculate your recovery time now! How long have you been awake for? A week? A month?" Micah and Isis launched into a flurry of questions trying to understand Finn’s current conditions, with as much understanding as could be passed across with hand squeezes, tapping of fingers, and Finn tracing words over the bed slowly. It continued into the later parts of the day, only briefly paused when it was time for lunch, and by evening time, both Finn, and the two Ossuarists — Micah and Isis, had exchanged enough information both ways, they now had a very clear picture of each’s current situation. Micah let out a soft sigh after digesting all he’d been able to glean from the broken communication with Finn about his state of soul debt. "Never did I think you’d fully regain one sense before the others." Micah played with a cigarette between his fingers. "The results should have been more spread-out across all your senses since you were fighting subconsciously, but you somehow went ahead and..." Micah stopped, shaking his head with a huge grin. "I had feared for the stability of your mind in that state and hoped that as you slowly came to, we’d help guide you from the outside. Looks like I feared for nothing..." "Isis." Micah called, standing up. "You’ll have to take care of Finn on your own for a while—" "...like I haven’t been doing that on my own already." Isis muttered loudly enough that Micah surely heard, but the man continued like he hadn’t. "—I need to make some moves and speed up a few things." "...thick-skinned bastard, acting like he doesn’t hear me." "—It’s just for a few days, but I trust you can handle it, my student." He raised a hand, intending to pat her shoulder in encouragement, but decided against it, transitioning smoothly to a thumbs-up after seeing the ’I-dare-you-to’ look in her eyes. "Well, don’t miss me too much—" "Drop dead." "Tsk. So violent..." He muttered and quickly left the room in time to have the last say. Isis sighed afterwards, rubbing a palm across her face. "Finn. No matter how weird you become as an Ossuarist, I hope you will never turn out like that guy..." she advised with a very righteous air, as though she had just given the greatest piece of advice a senior could ever give to a junior like him. But for Finn, who had heard her rant and ramble for more than a whole month, it was as though she was a pot calling the kettle black. You’re both equal levels of weird. No—In fact, you are the weirder one! Finn’s body slightly shivered, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Isis. "I know, repulsive, right? It also makes me shiver just thinking about it!" It’s you I’m shivering about, yandere woman—!