Kotetsu T. Kaburagi ○ Wild Tiger (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wildkotetsu) wrote2012-05-08 06:24 pm
wildkotetsu) wrote2012-05-08 06:24 pm
9 • Heroes • [Action]
[Kotetsu's been unconscious, comatose, for three days now.
He tries to wake up on the last day, a few times. Feels himself rising up to the red-orange light under his eyelids - but it's a struggle, one that leaves him spent. And then, without a moment's notice, his eyes open wide to stare at the ceiling. Awake.
He remembers. He remembers exactly what happened. Bunny had been stabbed — and he was dying, had died. He'd died, with a blade through his chest... and Pao-Lin had done it. He rips the catheter out, all the wires, the device pumping oxygen into his nose, and drags himself up on quivering legs. Thank god they at least put pants on him, though they'd prefer that: he's burnt and he's been stabbed, near fatally. Even now with healing put in place, he's bound up tight.
How long has he been out? It couldn't have been that long. If he had enough sense, he'd feel the short stubble on his face and recognize it's been far more than 24 hours. But right now, common sense - what little he enjoyed using - was thrown right out the window. He staggers, knocks over a chair (had someone been around?), and all he can picture is the look of disdain on Pao-Lin's face and the look of shock on Bunny's.
He has to go.
He's gotta get outta here. He has to find them. If he stays, the people here will keep him still and not let him go, and he doesn't want that. So gathering up all of his strength in the pit of his stomach, ignoring the low ache in his shoulders and ribs, he instantly glows blue before fleeing from the clinic through an open window. He's a flash of neon color through the forest and village as he returns to the apartments.
He looks in Bunny's room first, slams it open with his shoulder, and the wind is knocked out of him on sight.
Everything's gone.
Everything's gone.
He doesn't realize he spends the next twenty minutes sitting in the middle of the empty room. When he finally does, he swallows hoarsely and uses his NEXT power to keep himself moving.
Pao-lin, he has to find her.
Somehow, he already assumes she's dead. After jumping through the window to the seventh story of her complex, he easily forces the door to her apartment open. The stillness of her room, untouched, tells him nothing's right. He wants to assume it's just her hiding, after all that's happened. But she's gone away. He tries to leave her messages on the journal and there are no replies back. No sign of her. Nothing. He'll be looking around CH7, asking if anyone knows where Pao-lin is.
The bandages and New-Feather-esque hospital clothes may raise some confusion. And the glowing, too, maybe.
Walking through the forest, his powers clocked in, he gives up and quietly curls up under a tree, burying his face in his knees, exhausted. He's sick and hot and in pain, and more than likely he's reopened his injury, but he's hardly aware of any of it. None of that matters, because he's failed. Barnaby's gone, and it's his fault he was killed like that. It's his fault he wasn't strong enough for him or Pao-Lin. His partner went home, and the last thing he saw in Luceti was Kotetsu as he bled out.
Dammit.
A few sharp, strangled yells are muffled by his hands but echo, regardless, into the treetops, scaring off stray birds. Eventually, they break down into sobs that shake his whole body. At this point, he's not budging, even as it starts to trickle rain through the canopy.
Eventually as the sun starts setting, he'll be directed back to the clinic without much struggle, staying at last to heal and get fixes for the burns and injuries he has. Honestly, he just wants to leave. He's not hungry - most of his food's not touched, he's not much for conversation, and he'd rather vanish into the covers than anything else right now.
But he'll try to be himself. Attempt to smile and talk, if spoken to.
He just wishes he could leave and find a way to get his mind off it all. Frankly, this is all a countdown so that he can hide in his own apartment like he intended.]
((ooc: feel free to run into him out in the woods after he's given up his search, or talk to him as he's looking for pao-lin. also, at the clinic after he agrees to finally go back. if you got any other places you'd wanna pop up, lemme know. he's pretty out of it, pre-clinic return.
most of this takes place on may 8th, but the last little bit can happen any time in the next 7 days or so. :|b
also timeline breaking is a-ok, just be subtle about it later or something))
He tries to wake up on the last day, a few times. Feels himself rising up to the red-orange light under his eyelids - but it's a struggle, one that leaves him spent. And then, without a moment's notice, his eyes open wide to stare at the ceiling. Awake.
He remembers. He remembers exactly what happened. Bunny had been stabbed — and he was dying, had died. He'd died, with a blade through his chest... and Pao-Lin had done it. He rips the catheter out, all the wires, the device pumping oxygen into his nose, and drags himself up on quivering legs. Thank god they at least put pants on him, though they'd prefer that: he's burnt and he's been stabbed, near fatally. Even now with healing put in place, he's bound up tight.
How long has he been out? It couldn't have been that long. If he had enough sense, he'd feel the short stubble on his face and recognize it's been far more than 24 hours. But right now, common sense - what little he enjoyed using - was thrown right out the window. He staggers, knocks over a chair (had someone been around?), and all he can picture is the look of disdain on Pao-Lin's face and the look of shock on Bunny's.
He has to go.
He's gotta get outta here. He has to find them. If he stays, the people here will keep him still and not let him go, and he doesn't want that. So gathering up all of his strength in the pit of his stomach, ignoring the low ache in his shoulders and ribs, he instantly glows blue before fleeing from the clinic through an open window. He's a flash of neon color through the forest and village as he returns to the apartments.
He looks in Bunny's room first, slams it open with his shoulder, and the wind is knocked out of him on sight.
Everything's gone.
Everything's gone.
He doesn't realize he spends the next twenty minutes sitting in the middle of the empty room. When he finally does, he swallows hoarsely and uses his NEXT power to keep himself moving.
Pao-lin, he has to find her.
Somehow, he already assumes she's dead. After jumping through the window to the seventh story of her complex, he easily forces the door to her apartment open. The stillness of her room, untouched, tells him nothing's right. He wants to assume it's just her hiding, after all that's happened. But she's gone away. He tries to leave her messages on the journal and there are no replies back. No sign of her. Nothing. He'll be looking around CH7, asking if anyone knows where Pao-lin is.
The bandages and New-Feather-esque hospital clothes may raise some confusion. And the glowing, too, maybe.
Walking through the forest, his powers clocked in, he gives up and quietly curls up under a tree, burying his face in his knees, exhausted. He's sick and hot and in pain, and more than likely he's reopened his injury, but he's hardly aware of any of it. None of that matters, because he's failed. Barnaby's gone, and it's his fault he was killed like that. It's his fault he wasn't strong enough for him or Pao-Lin. His partner went home, and the last thing he saw in Luceti was Kotetsu as he bled out.
Dammit.
A few sharp, strangled yells are muffled by his hands but echo, regardless, into the treetops, scaring off stray birds. Eventually, they break down into sobs that shake his whole body. At this point, he's not budging, even as it starts to trickle rain through the canopy.
Eventually as the sun starts setting, he'll be directed back to the clinic without much struggle, staying at last to heal and get fixes for the burns and injuries he has. Honestly, he just wants to leave. He's not hungry - most of his food's not touched, he's not much for conversation, and he'd rather vanish into the covers than anything else right now.
But he'll try to be himself. Attempt to smile and talk, if spoken to.
He just wishes he could leave and find a way to get his mind off it all. Frankly, this is all a countdown so that he can hide in his own apartment like he intended.]
((ooc: feel free to run into him out in the woods after he's given up his search, or talk to him as he's looking for pao-lin. also, at the clinic after he agrees to finally go back. if you got any other places you'd wanna pop up, lemme know. he's pretty out of it, pre-clinic return.
most of this takes place on may 8th, but the last little bit can happen any time in the next 7 days or so. :|b
also timeline breaking is a-ok, just be subtle about it later or something))
[Action]
This sucks.
Everything sucks.]
Alright. Soup doesn't sound... too bad.
[Action]
But this is a matter of nutrition, and Sanji is nothing if not strident when it comes to such matters.] Y'know if the clinic's got a kitchen? [Since he's still on his feet, the man sets himself a lazy pace, considering his options]
Otherwise I'll have to head back to the restaurant for a bit and make it there.
[Action]
Don't know... Haven't really been awake much here...
[A sad admittance. He's really not enjoying how asleep he is most of the time. His mind tells him no, but his body tells him 'dammit I am out'. It's frustrating, especially when his head is so full of thoughts. The dreams that accompany sleeping aren't appreciated either.]
I just... [a pause, and he seems to sink more into the pillow, if it's even possible] don't wanna waste anything you make. I know you hate it when people do.
[Action]
I don't really care for any shit throwing my food up because their body can't handle it, either. [He cants his head until he's glancing down his nose at Kotetsu]
I'll eat what you can't, so don't worry about it. Just concentrate on keeping some of it down.
[Action]
[He glances from Sanji to the IV needle pressed beneath the tape.]
Thanks a lot.
[He'll try to eat it, if you're willing to make it. He tries on a smile while he's at it, for the sake of not looking so damn dreary to the other.]
[Action]
Take it easy until I get back. [The restaurant isn't far, so he'll make something fresh there.]
[Action] sprinkles dream angst on you whatever I DO WHAT I WANT
A stuttered noise.
Shit. Barnaby, wait a sec, won't you? You can't just. Go off like that.]
Tomoe-
[Kaede is yelling at him and shaking and asking him why he killed Mr. Barnaby and mom, and he swears he didn't, he just--he just sat by them, helpless and confused, while they faded away. Not there for either of them. And then there's Pao-Lin, somewhere distant, glaring at him with hateful eyes. You tried to kill me, you put me in a coma--. No, he didn't, he was just trying to help her--
He clenches his teeth, hands flying to his eyes as he tries to snap back into reality, yelling and probably scaring half the people in the clinic away thanks to fever dreams that he can differentiate from life.
Because some of them were actually real life, dammit all.]
[Action] HIDEOUS. HI. DE. OUS.
Both of which are nearly dropped in a rush when he hears the yelling. He twists back at the first strangled shout on a reflex, cursing under his breath before he even computes the scene before him. Shit. Nightmare? His eyes snap to the figure struggling to awaken, briefly frozen by the second yell, the way Kotetsu's twists and claws at his eyes.
And then Sanji moves. Quickly. Food is carefully placed on the floor, to the side, and the bag thrown into the forgotten abyss over his shoulder.] Kotetsu!
[Unlike with the soup, Sanji doesn't waste his time on a light touch. His hands find their way to the man's wrists, tugging them down, the name on his lips encompassing a command to wake up now, that is not a nightmare to stray in.]
[Action] 1/2 yeah i can be that way sometimes
Something close to a sob slips out before his amber eyes snap back toward Sanji, looking to the left at the hands keeping him from clawing his face, looking around the room as if he's forgotten where he is--he had forgotten. He just sits in a daze, breathing heavy, ashamed to speak for a moment while he tries to figure out how long it's been again. Days? No, no, it can't be that long, because he just saw Sanji--in that outfit, too--and...
[Action]
... Soup?
[because it's all he can think to say right now, flushed and embarrassed and a little busy being heartbroken]
[Action]
... [Movements slow, breath heavy, Sanji releases him and pulls back, puts a respectable amount of distance between them and climbs to his feet. One hand wipes the sweat off his neck.]
Yeah. Soup.
[Soup. Soup on the floor. Right. He rips his stare away for privacy's sake and drags it across the tiles until it comes upon the cup.] It's vegetable. [Voice nice and calm. Easy. From his tone, you'd think he hadn't just caught Kotetsu in the middle of a nightmare and now probably trying not to sob.] ... It'll go down easy.
[It's mentioned like a promise to a dying man. Sanji picks up the cup and turns - slowly again, for Kotetsu's sake rather than his] Here.
[Action]
Aa.
[He doesn't really eat, not yet. He'll think about trying to, to appease the work Sanji did. But for right now, he just stares hollowly at the cup and fails to stop himself from rewinding through bits and pieces of his dreams. If anyone pauses by the door to see what the commotion was, they leave quickly enough. He doesn't even notice them.]
I didn't hit you, did I?
[He just. Needs to make sure. Hell, he's not even sure if he was glowing blue--he was in his dream. God, he hoped he wasn't that dangerous under the watch of friends. The last thing he wanted was smashing someone's ribs with his fist.]
[Action]
Thus the following silence is... blatant at worst, a slight nudge at best. He's trying his damnedest not to say it, even with his stare drilling subtle holes into the cup Kotetsu's handling. The chef can give him a moment.]
[Action]
Feed me, goddammit.
Distractions. He wishes he could think of any. Instead he gives in and takes just a little at a time on his spoon--not even really enough to be a bite, but he's at least making some sort of progress. Under Sanji's stare, he can't really bring himself not to.
Just like he can't let himself fall apart in front of Sanji. It's a difficult effort to not roll over and hide under a pillow or two.]
[Action]
... And talking.] Don't worry about work. I'll have someone cover for you. [That part is muttered after the continued silence escalates to oppressing levels for different reasons. Eventually Sanji casts his glance higher up, taking in the expression on Kotetsu's face before honing in on his eyes] Concentrate on resting up.
[Action]
He eats about a sixth of the cup and hits a roadblock, instead just churning it with his soup.]
Shouldn't take too long for these to heal... I'm pretty good at that.
[Action]
Then I'm sure once your shitty appetite returns all the way, we'll welcome you back with open arms.
[Smooth as ice]
[Action]
I don't wanna sit around and just do nothing.
[It'd be the worst thing, even.]
[Action]
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...
Five more bites.
[Action]
Oi, I'm not a kid! You don't gotta count my bites!
[A flicker of normalcy, in some sad way; he's at least squabbling, right?]
[Action]
Five full bites. None of those shitty half-spoonfuls you've been getting by on.
[Action]
[He holds up two fingers.]
Two full bites.
[Because this is clearly a negotiation.]
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