[OPEN Mingle] - Sorry Ethlyn

[murderingjustice]

Who: Everyone involved in recent player plot
Where: Ethlyn's clinic
What: SO! Silly little Organ Hunt didn't go as well as everyone thought, huh? This is Hospital Mingle where people who were injured one way or another during Gogol's shenanigans and their CR can go over it all.
Warnings: Mentions of death, injuries (both physical and mental), talk about medical procedures, drugs, hallucinations etc.

and maybe even snuggling happening on Shinji's bed, ew.

Comments

closed to Shinjiro, gross snuggle times

[cursegod]

Mmngh...

[The noise is Dara's unintended announcement that she's awake. It's been a process of going in and out of consciousness, vaguely registering that she's somehow made it into Shinjiro's bed, and generally recouping from the loss of control. Even if she's been aware enough that he's alive and safe, the god has been clinging to him as much as possible. Which is where she finds herself now, head laid against his chest, finally cognizant of the smoothing motions through her hair.

Dara cracks open an eye. The curtained area is dim, and Shinjiro's face is highlighted by the screen of his phone. She lays there in silence a few seconds longer, taking it all in before mumbling to him:]

You're awake...Me too. It feels like it's been awhile...since we got to talk.

["I missed you." Thought but left unsaid.]

Disgusting

[drugsnotclubs]

[The gentle movement alerts him with the noise, and for a brief moment his hand pauses from where he'd been absently running it through her hair-- only to resume once she shifts and tilt sher head back.

It really had been a while. He hadn't seen her for a few days during the electrical blackout, having been staying in the farmhouse for the warmth. And then Ragna had exploded a building, and they'd had a surreal not!life written onto them. And then.... She'd just been gone.

Hard to believe it had been over a month since he's last truly seen her. Maybe that's why something in his chest goes slack as her groggy words- a knot of tension that had been ever present and indistinguishable from the rest of him, hit with the sudden relief of knowing someone is actually alright and safe. Despite that curse-god she keeps in check doing it's best to crawl back to whatever half-life it could approximate without her. The mad clown cutting her open and hiding the miasma-seeping organs around town for reasons Shinjiro doesn't know and doesn't think he could begin to understand.

But emotions and feelings are hard to identify, let alone be honest about, and so he simply sets down the small tablet he'd been scrolling through one-handed, and nods.]

...I think it has been a while.

[He let's out a slow breath, fingers sinking a bit deeper to her scalp and the roots oh her hair to keep carding his hand through it slowly.]

Welcome back.*



[*This is absolutely okaeri.]

[cursegod]

[Oh, she shivers under that touch. It's an unfamiliar sensation despite how much the kids have played with her hair. It may also have to do with the fact that it's Shinjiro's fingers; she wouldn't dare to admit it outloud, but it's really kicking in how long she's been deprived of him. (Never mind the fact that she's still unsure how long she's been sleeping before and after having her internals scooped out.) Damn him for coupling the massaging sensation with his okaeri! When they're practically surrounded beyond the curtains with the other sick beds.]

You're going to put me back to sleep if you keep that up.

[Dara reaches up to snatch his wrist, following up with threading their fingers together in a thoughtless manner. Too tired to compare to the night of their fake date...and too content to second guess herself.]

I haven't been squeezing you too hard, have I?

[STILL NOT UNWRAPPING HER OTHER ARMS THOUGH. Nevertheless, such a casual line is the only thing she come up with knowing there may be listening ears. There's so much she wants to say and ask him. But this isn't the right place, and it would be better to wait until they're both in better conditions. The burden of being awake means holding so many thoughts inside. Dara's thighs shift against his while her fingers fiddle with their shared blanket, embodying her sudden restlessness, but the god lets out a defeated sigh. It's probably better to just go back to sleep.]

[drugsnotclubs]

If you wanna sleep, than sleep. You've been through enough to deserve it.

[All that to say: no, he's not going to stop. Dara being a god means she hasn't gotten weird crusty oily hair from being without a shower like he has, so it's still nice and soft and Shinjiro is going to absolutely take advantage of it. He was worried about her for-- weeks? A concern, then a worry, then a bitter acceptance that she was simply gone.... And then the emergence of her little snake familiar and the chaos that unfolded from then. Let the woman sleep. Let him get to watch her and know she's safe.

But he won't argue against her waking and catching his hand, either, just shaking his head at the question.]

...Nah. I'm not the one who probably broke some ribs. I'm not that easy to break, either.

[He does shift as she does, the rousing making it a bit easier to change the position of his more elevated leg, or alleviate the pressure on a shoulder or something. The adjustment keeps the interlocked fingers in mind, leaving their hands loosely coupled and entwined.]

How are you feeling? I know you heal fast from the physical stuff, but-- he had you under a pretty tight seal.

[Also Madara took over and starting ripping you apart but you know. Details.]

You.... Remember anything of it?

[cursegod]

[Those are a lot of hard questions right from the get-go. Dara looks to him with a frown, eyes darting off to the space beyond the clinic curtain. It's uncomfortable to share the truth when she's surrounded by strangers. If Shinjiro were anyone else, she'd brush off his concern and suffer silently, content to not have attention on her. So after a moment of internal debate, Dara shifts again so she can get closer to cup his ear for whispering purposes:]

It's hard to recover energy in this sort of place. I'm better but not completely. I'll probably need to go to the woods once you're better.

[It's awkward to be sharing secrets this way, but she doesn't want Shinjiro to feel out of the loop. Hopefully the information won't have him worried too much either. She's mostly got it under control!

As for remembering...well, it's pretty obvious that she actively avoids the conversation. Besides him and Seimei, she doesn't want to risk any sort news leaking about Yamatagi Madara.

For now, she leans back just enough to read his expression. Dara also tries her best to ignore the impulse to kiss his stupid greasy face and chapped lips. Not that she'd mind, but the setting is so unfortunate.]

[drugsnotclubs]

[One question is answered in a whisper, voicelessly breathed between them, and the other is ignored, which is answer enough. This isn't a topic for discussion. Not here, not now. It could be the people around, it could be how fresh the wound was, it could be that she doesn't have or want the words-- any possibility is understandable. His head tips slightly, clearly recognizing her choices on what and how to respond, but finally he nods. He won't press for any more of an answer than what he'd been given.

When he responds, it's returned as a quiet murmur- just for the space between them.]

Guess I should say thanks that you've been staying, then.

[She's been hindering her own recovery... For what? Watching over him? Or perhaps because the closeness gives her a sense of security that isolation in the woods wouldn't. Or both and neither all at the same time. Someone willingly staying this close to him is still a completely foreign concept, so all he can do is trust that she has her reasons.]

You don't have to wait, though. Or just let me know if you wanna sneak out of town and get some air. I'm pretty sick of this place already.

[cursegod]

[There are a lot of different factors that play into her reasoning, but the most important thing in her mind is him. Aside from making sure no resurrected clown sneaks in for revenge for the final blow, she wants to make sure he heals well too. There's also a particular conversation that's been on her mind. Again, terrible time and place, yet his wording makes the memory more poignant:]

Even if it was fake, you still said you wanted me to stay with you.

[Dara gives him a wavering, self-conscious smile. As if wanting to present the statement as playful, nothing to delve deep...except she still flounders with the weighty truth of it. At least she provides the space for any plausible deniability on his end.]

...Besides, I'm feeling kind of rusty with creating legs. [Creating an opening for avoidance.] But I'll let you know when I'm up for sneaking out.

[drugsnotclubs]

[It's the first time they've brought it up outside of the masquerade, and her words catch him for a moment- cheeks heating at the embarassing ordeal of being seen or known, as well as his ridiculously blase behavior when he'd been effected by whatever had been in the water (or the food) during February's festivities. But he doesn't tuck his head or look away-- instead expression eases into an awkward sort of sheepishness.]

I-- yeah. But don't feel like you gotta make up for being gone.

[after all-- nothing is forever. And he's left people enough in his life to never take it personally. But it is hugely relieving to have her back. To realize that this particular eventuality has been postponed.

He's terrible with words and feelings, so instead just curls his fingers around the one hand of her six that he has. Between his lack of denial and the tightening grip, that's hopefully enough. After all, neither of them want to make a scene like Akira and Akechi.]

...Thanks.

[For staying. For awkwardly maneuvering through whatever the hell this is between them with him. For both of them able to communicate so clearly without words sometimes.]

Once I'm allowed up, I'll bring you outside to at least catch a breeze.