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He should be fine. He needs to be fine. He can’t be doing this right now; he has work to do and people to avoid and the one person he fears the most is sure to check the bathroom, which is currently where he’s hiding.
But he’s not.
He’s on the floor, and
oh god he can’t breathe
the room is spinning like a top around him, or maybe it’s just all in his head. He can still feel phantom touches. He can’t focus, can’t ground himself,
oh god please no I don’t want to go through this again-
“Hey, look at me. Breathe.” The sudden new voice surprises him. He doesn’t recognize the new person, nor does he really respond to them, instead just curling in on himself tighter. “Come on, now. It’s gonna be okay. Look at me.”
A gentle touch. It’s enough to bring him back a little. Not much, and it doesn’t help much, but it’s real and physical and not his memories. Whoever it is keeps speaking. “Calm down a bit. Breathe.” He tries to focus on the voice and not the fact that it still feels like he’s trapped in an endless spinning void of nothingness.
Eventually, after what feels like an eternity, he pulls himself out of it enough to look up at the new person. They’re crouched next to him, their hand still on him. He still feels like he can’t breathe correctly, but he feels safer, somehow, next to this person. He doesn’t quite know why, but he’s grateful nonetheless.
He says nothing for the next few minutes, still recovering, before he asks, “Who are you?”
“Could ask the same of you. I’m Kondraki. Who’re you and why are you having a panic attack on the floor?”
He pauses for a second, questioning whether he should really trust this person he’s known for maybe ten minutes and seven of them were while he was on the floor, but finally decides
fuck it, why not, not like things can get any worse for me anyway
and says “My name’s Heiden. Uh, Frederick Heiden.”
“Nice to meet you. Even if not in the best circumstances.” Kondraki stands up and he realizes just how tall this person is. “Now, you wanna get off the floor, or?...”
“Y-yeah, sure.” He pushes himself up to his feet, using the wall as a crutch of a sort. He wobbles a bit before stabilizing himself. “What’re you doing here?...”
“Heard some noises. Came to investigate. You never answered my second question, by the way.”
“I…” He pauses. “I was hiding.”
“From who?”
“None of your business,” he snaps, before softening a bit. “Sorry. I just-” He cuts himself off. “No, I’ll leave. Sorry.”
He’s almost out the door before Kondraki grabs his shoulder. “Wait.”
“What?”
“Just wanted to say something real quick.” Kondraki says.
“You just did.”
“Fair point. Who’d’ya work with here?”
He frowns a bit. “I work with Bright. Why?”
“Just wanted to know.” Kondraki grins at him. “I’ll see you around, kid.”
And with that, the tall man is gone, and Heiden is left very confused, still standing by the door to the exit of the bathroom.
“Well, that was eventful,” he says to himself, before he, too, leaves, and there is nothing but an empty bathroom.