He's about had it with being stuck here in the medical wing of the Comodeen. It's been days and he's still here. He's not healing like he should be and if Cid comes in here with those nasty little drops he keeps putting in his ears one more time he might snap at the man. He's fed up. He's sick of this bed. He's sick of this room. He's read everything that he's been given from cover to cover and the prince of white has to finally admit he's bored out of his mind.
No amount of sleeping will make the days go faster and it's hard to even do so when his ears throbbed the way they do. A Misterican with an ear infection. What's the world coming to? Everything felt off. Everything was lopsided and he's been stuck in this bed for days.
Eversti has been busy - having a long conversation with Luutnantti and neither of them have been by in a while. Black Wind is busy being... Black Wind. Miss Lyssa keeps slipping off to hide. The only face he's seen in recent days has been that of one blond doctor / inventor who has been adamant about keeping him stuck in this bed until his ears heal and the rest of his body's aliments clear up.
If he has to get reminded one more time that he died recently, he might just yell at the man. He doesn't need to be told that he died. He knows, he was there. This death will remain fresh in his mind for some time with the amount of damage it caused. He doesn't expect to forget this one for a while.
He just wants out of this bed and Cid hasn't been back in a while. No one's been around to check on him. He could just as easily slip out even if for only a moment. Just long enough to walk around the compound a little if just to stretch his legs. If only to just float a little and get this restless feeling out of his legs.
He could slip out and even if he only walked up and down the hall a few times - none of them would be none the wiser.... Cid can't yell at him for what he doesn't know. Other than the constant throbbing in his ears and the fevers, he feels fine. He's fine. Cid is just overreacting as he usually did.
If only he would return his mask already...
So the white prince is shifting to push the raised tray that sets at the side of his bed away from it. He's flipping the covers off and shifting to set barefeet against the cold metal floor of the compound before he finally lets himself slide out of bed where he's forced to support his own weight.
And he wobbles.
The world shifts slightly from one side and then to the other, so the swordsman stands there - still for a moment while he lets the horizon level itself back out. He's fine.
He just wants to walk up and down the hall for a few paces, just to get the aching cramps out of his legs from laying in bed all day and all night for nearly a week now. This is ridiculous. It never used to take him this long to heal before. Not since their last seal against Chaos...
He's taking a step forward slowly, one and then another. He's fine. He's walking slowly towards the door to peer out of it from one side and then to another to make sure there truly is no one around before the Younger Unlimited slips himself into the hall only to disappear from the room in the medical bay that become his temporary home.
He's fine.
His stomach is upset, and the hall feels like it shifts up and down with every step but he just needs to move around a little. Something. Anything but being stuck in that bed doing nothing but sleeping and reading all day.
(Says the one who ranks those two activities as his two most favorite hobbies.)
Anything but - the world spins on him and his head screams. The lights are suddenly too bright and everything is even louder than it was before. His hands are at his ears in seconds as the world continues to spin while his whole head threatens to split in two.
Maybe he's not fine.
He's hot. He feels like he's burning and his horns feel insufferable. He's wobbling in place again, only taking a few more steps before the prince finds the world flipping over as he's crashing to the ground. His hand reaches out hoping to grab onto something but the only thing he accomplishes is crashing his body and his arm against the wall in a loud thud with his collapse.
Now what?
His face is flushed and he feels too dizzy to stand. He just wanted to walk around a little - that's all. He just needs to take a moment to gather himself and he'll get himself back to his room somehow.
Rory wasn’t sure how this could have happened. WELL, of course she knew how this could have happened. But the timing had been so off. They weren’t together anymore and hearing that from Violet... YOU’RE PREGNANT. It made her head spin and it made her more nauseous then this apparent pregnancy had made her feel. And of course, she believed her friend, she wouldn’t LIE about it. And the handful of tests she had taken when she got home, hadn’t HELPED in convincing her it wasn’t real. So, Rory was trying to do everything she could to keep her mind off it. Staying out of the house, going back into the office, EVERYTHING. She had been walking home from work, down the street THAT SHE HAD ALWAYS TRAVELLED when a smell hit her nose from the food truck she had just passed and it made her stomach TURN, and send her sprinting to the nearest trashcan shoving someone out of the way. “I am so sorry.” She choked out, standing fully up and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “It just... It just came out of nowhere.” She supposed that was something she had to get used to.
I had an attack again. I got into it with Papa about calling his doctor and it stripped the air from my lungs. I couldn’t breathe for several minutes. It took a lot of effort to calm me down. I started crying and we passed out shortly after. I got so dizzy. It felt like my chest was seizing up .
July 18th -
I’m still fucking dizzy. My chest hurts. It feels heavy and it hurts to breathe. I haven’t been sleeping upstairs. Part of me is scared too. I don’t want to be away from Papa if I have an attack again. No one else knows how to take care of me. No one else knows my medication. He’s still sick and I think I’m catching it. Not that I cared about getting sick in the first place. I’m off active duty where am I gunna go?
I’ve been nauseous all day and my throat feels tight. It’s hard to tell him. Sometimes it’s easier just to hand him the book. I feel completely drained today. My whole body is too heavy for my frame. I’m tired. I just wanna sleep.
He doesn’t know how to do anything else but mourn his freedom. He’s mourning so much now and he hasn’t tried to leave since it happened. He hasn’t tried to leave since the deal. Not without strict permission and accompanied by someone else. If he’s in the presence of one of that vile little monster’s Lords then he’s safe. No one else has to die. If he just keeps his head down and does the work then he can spare the lives of innocents by simply keeping his mouth shut and obeying the lessons that were taught to him.
But not everything is that simple, and not everything is black and white.
A hand hasn’t been raised to him since it all happened. A hand hasn’t been laid on him either - not unless you count that disgusting woman putting her hands on his person whenever she so pleased. Not unless that. He’s stuck with her again, because she got sent out on an errand for their “ever beloved” Tyrant and he was told he better go with her if he wanted to get out of the castle for a while. There’s been little half smirked comments like that floating his way ever since.
Ever since that monster dropped his own name on him like a ton of bricks and disclosed that this beast does in fact know it’s prey better than said prey could have ever dreamed. It’s like the most Intimate parts of his life have been exposed for this serpent to slither in close to coil and strangle him from the inside out. It’s a whole new choke hold on him now and his sielun värit has never felt tighter.
So now he gets sent out on missions like this. He gets sent out with Fungus or Oscha or Herba - whomever has been sent out to patrol the area and make sure there aren’t any uprisings. As long as he’s in the presence of one of that monster’s underlings he’s safe, but something about this time made his skin crawl.
He hardly wanted to go along with her and and he hardly wanted to be in her presence but he didn’t have a choice. He was stopped before they left, letting Herba go along ahead of him when Earl Tyrant simply raised a hand and beckoned him backwards.
“Makenshi, a word.”
He froze in place and turned upon command. It wasn’t even a command really but the prince of Misterica knew far better than that. Anything that came out of this little devil’s mouth that came in his direction was a command and he was painfully aware of that. Tone meant nothing. It was all wording that was important. Just as important as to what name he was being addressed by. They all held purposes and the prince was just as painfully aware of that too.
“When you leave you are to stay in Herba’s presence at all times. Understand me? If you venture out of her sight I’ll start the clock and you’ll start racking up a debt and you don’t want that now do you?”
The prince could only drop his head with down cast eyes that were more focused on the floor than the beast that was looking him over.
“Do you?” The demon chimed again, disappointed almost that the white clad swordsman had failed to answer him the first time.
“No.”
“No, what....”
“No, Your Excellency.”
It was a tone of defeat. It was a tone of a broken dog that was sick of taking a beating from the being that dubbed itself his master. It was the tone of resignation, knowing that no matter what he did - he was trapped here now. Twenty lives for every hour he’s missing and he couldn’t risk the lives of the innocent being sacrificed just so he could have some space to finally be able to breathe again.
“You are to do everything she tells you. Her word is as good as my word, and if you disobey her, I will find out about it. So don’t try to get smart. Disobey her, and you’ll be racking up a debt. Do you understand me, Makenshi?
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Jade can only fall to the floor, even if he knows this tiny demon hates it when he does so. It is his one defiance left. His one act of free will. He’ll withhold his gaze for as long as he’s able. He, quite frankly, never wishes to look into those pale blue eyes ever again - but it seems the fates have other plans for him. If only he could be so fortunate.
He’s always riding hated riding in her airship if only because flying was far more efficient, but then he’d get stuck carrying her in his arms and he could hardly say he ever wanted her that close to him. She’d be forced to touch him and she already does quite enough of that. She doesn’t need an excuse to put her hands on him and he wasn’t about to give her one, so here he sets in this airship that is always absolutely saturated with the scent of the most disgusting perfume he has ever smelt in his life.
It’s always nauseatingly overpowered. Sometimes he wonders if he’ll get sick on the smell, but today it is a much different scent but just as disgusting as the other one is. Today it’s a smell that makes him dizzy and he is quick to make sure that his mask is properly placed on his face but even taking in a few breaths of that awful smell leaves a horrid taste in his mouth and has his lungs tingling with an uncomfortable burn.
He swears the whole space rocks to the side for a moment as he raises his hands to wipe at his eyes and attempt to find his balance. He really does hate flying in these damnable contraption, and for a moment he ponders over the name of such a thing and how it is perfectly fitting because that is exactly what they are - a trap for all poor souls that are stuck inside of it should something in it’s machinery fail and bring about it’s untimely downfall. He does not trust these things, and he probably never would.
But he can’t just leave because as he pondered before - then he would be carrying her with him. He can’t just leave because that little devil was clear in his words that the cloud prince must remain in her presence at all times and that was the current price on his freedom. He could leave if only when there was someone else firmly holding the leash to the collar fixed around his throat.
The vertigo that is quickly infecting his system forces the prince to take an unwilling seat. He doesn’t even know where she’s going, and he can only assume he wasn’t told on purpose. It’s not often that he’s allowed outside of the castle and when he is, it’s for some nefarious plot. He has no doubt this time will be no different and if the burning sensation in his chest tells him, he’s sure she drugged him with something again.
“Oh? ‘kenshi-baby, you don’t look so good. Close your eyes and take a nap if you need to. I’ll wake you when we get there. Are you going to be alright? You’re not motion sick are you?”
He doesn’t even know what that means. Motion sick? Is she referring how he can feel every motion in this damnable ship as it moves through the air? Is she referring to how it’s making his stomach twist and the vibrations of this metal beast’s engines were absolute murder on his ears even with his mask drawn? If she’s talking about that, then yes, he is absolutely motion sick. How does one cure such a thing? She’s suggesting that he sleep but he hardly trusts her not to pull something on him while he does so.
But even as he forces himself to stay awake out of his sheer distrust of her, his body disagrees and that smell continues to somehow force itself through the filtering system on his mask. So jade eyes find themselves fluttering closed only to jerk back open again - once and then twice. He can’t let ... himself.. fall... aslee -
There’s a hand on his shoulder and it’s lightly shaking him.
“Wake up.” The voice above him says and the prince groans. “Hey, wake up.” It sounds again and the prince groans again lifting a hand to try to shush the offender away while jade eyes refuse to open.
“Usva lemme alone. Lemme sleep.” He sounds in a half tired daze, as yet another groan leaves the warrior adorned in white.
“Usva?” The voice above him chimes and his mind hears it decidedly more feminine. “Who’s that? ‘kenshi-baby it’s me. Wake up, darling. We’re here.”
There’s yet another groan as hands raise to rub at closed eyes and when the prince opens his eyes he’s met with the blurry image of too much green and pink where red and pale should have been. As his sight clears, he’s met with those deep red eyes and painted lips curled up into a disgusting smile. Lady Tiamat blessed in heaven, he hates her.
Forgive me Celestial Mother, for I wish not to take your name in vain.
He feels groggy and he doesn’t want to get up. His body feels heavy and he doesn’t like it. Part of him wants to simply keep sleeping, while the rest of him is screaming at the part that does that he’s not safe, and he shouldn’t have been doing so in the first place, but at the very least he can say that this damnable ship has finally stopped moving. Thank Tiamat. He did not think he could bear the sound of the engine chugging along any longer. It was making his head feel as though it would split in two.
But stepped off that ship is a nightmare all over again.
A familiar sight of a small village tucked away in seemingly nowhere, and he can already feel himself dig his heels into the ground because he knows what’s coming and that she did something while he was sleeping. She did something to alter his senses and to force his body to act against him. She did something. It’s a nightmare all over again because he knows she’s about to ask him to kill.
He can’t panic. He can’t panic and it’s in his attempt not to do so that he notes that those same heels that were digging in as soon as his vision laid on this remote little village, were actually doing as he asked. His body was responding to his commands. He wasn’t just a screaming voice in the back of his own mind, begging his body to cease it’s assault on the innocent and undeserving.
She’s shifted closer to him and taken his hand into her own as she leads him forward with a wicked grin curved up on those poison painted lips all the while. He wants to wrench his hand from her grip but he can hear a voice in the back of his mind reminding him that he needed to do whatever she asked of him, so for now he’ll just deal with this small inconvenience. Even if the feeling her skin against his makes him want to wash his hands in scalding hot water if only to burn away the sensation of her ever touching him.
They walk and they walk to a place at the back side of town where they enter a building and soon he’s met with a room that looks like its filled with what could be the entire town. There’s fifty maybe no at least eighty or ninety people here. Other lives, even if their race is different from his own and they are hardly humanoid. A race of animal like people all gathered together and looking back at them.
That’s when she speaks and he feels his heart stop.
“I believe the other day when you ran off, you were gone for - how long would you say? Six hours? Six hours sounds right. It did take us a minute to find you. You’re getting better at hiding, even with all that white. Six hours is one hundred and twenty according to the agreement you now have with His Excellency. Isn’t that right?”
All he can hear is his heart thudding between his ears because this cannot be happening. No. No this isn’t right! That rule wasn’t put into effect until after she drug him back to that little monster. That rules wasn’t in effect yet. He hasn’t left since. He’s been good. He’s behaved. He’s clung as close as he could to that damn prison while still finding a way to retain some sense of prison. He’s stayed on castle ground. He hasn’t left. The last time he left was before that rule went into effect.
“His Excellency wants you to clean up this unsightly place and in turn pay back your debts. You’re the one who left unannounced, Makensh- Baby, so really you chose this for yourself.”
“I won’t.” His voice hasn’t been stripped from him this time and his words crack like a whip snapping back at its master. “I won’t kill them. That rule wasn’t even in effect yet.”
Painted lips push out into a pout as red eyes look at him with a glint of disapproval.
“So you’re saying I should tell His Excellency that you refused me?” She sounds and the tyrant himself is echoing in his mind.
Her word is as good as my word, and if you disobey her, I will find out about it.
No. He doesn’t care. Let that little monster break him half. Let that little beast snap his neck and rip the mist from his lungs. He doesn’t care what that monster does to him. He just doesn’t care.
“I’m going to be honest with you for a moment Makenshi. If I were you, I’d do what I was told because he’s giving you a pretty nice show of mercy right now. Why? Because if you don’t do it, I will and I will make sure every last one of these ingrates suffers in the longest more excruciating possible. I know you knightly types, don’t think I haven’t noticed. We’ve all noticed. You’re honor bound. So either you give these people a quick and near painless death or you leave it to me and I’ll make them suffer. Like the dogs they are. You wanted something you could control didn’t you? This is it. You get to control how much suffering these people experience, because they’re going to die whether you like it or not.”
He swears he can’t breathe while she’s speaking and he hates that while she does so, he’s mentally calling the Maken up to his grip.
A audible click and she’s smiling wider. Red eyes all a sparkle as the blade floats away from the belt that keeps it and the white clad warrior is raising his hand to retrieve it from the air. His mask flows back to reveal the youthful features hidden beneath and his lips part to release a thick white misty cloud that has been releasing deep within his lungs.
From this day forward he would be nothing but a devil in their eyes, but so be it if it spares them from the torture and suffering they would otherwise endure.
“Hand over the fries. Baby’s hungry.” (angie and christine)
“I’m pretty sure that I’m the one who gets to say that.” Christine teased pulling the basket of fries that they had been sharing closer to herself as she stole another one. Salty food had been her life saver, especially with the nausea she had in the beginning of her pregnancy. And it was never a day without her texting Will to bring home fries from the diner on his way home. And god, Will had been so amazing and doting and the fact that they were so close to the end almost made her thrilled. “Unless, there’s something you need to tell me.” She said slowly pushing the fries towards her best friend. “Is there something you have to tell me?” She asked growing excited with each passing moment, as she waited for her friends response.
Here’s the update. I might not be here today until later. I’m super fucking dizzy today. Like that falling forward feeling dizzy. The longer this goes on the worse I feel. I’m really nauseous today. I took a personal day from work to have one more day to recover and my supervisor texted me and said I can’t come back to work until I have a doctor’s okay / note.
So I made an appointment for 3pm tomorrow. So no work again tomorrow. (I work 5am - 1pm) I picked my rental car up yesterday because i pay for that in my insurance, and driving instantly made my back scream out in pain and gave me a 9/10 migraine from having to focus that hard (I think, I dunno my head just hurt,)
So be patient with me please. Also if anyone would like an icon for Mental Health Awareness Month please remember I will make one for you, so sweat ASAP.
Armored eyes are watching him, haft dazed with that look on his face again. Nothing is said, but still red eyes watch as the other body in the room sways from one side to the other, golden tresses swaying right along with him make their way through the darkness. There’s only a small light on in the corner of the room, just enough to read by when the other should be sleeping but alas the familiar sound of flesh and automail hitting against the wooden floor he sets on fills the space. He can’t walk quiet under normal circumstances, he doesn’t expect his brother to be able to do so when he feels so miserable.
He must feel horrendous if he had to venture a guess because no lights are coming on as he watching the blond boy reach for his trench coat and pull it on. That’s it - nothing else. Not his pants. Not his boots. Not the rest of his usual ensemble. Just that deep red trench coat. It’s fast when he had to stifle a chuckle, because now those golden eyes he loves so much are glaring at him. Dark rings paint ivory skin and a streak of red had flushed the patch just below. Yup, he’s miserable. Apparently so much that the heat is frying his brain. He really can’t let him go on like this... even if it’s funnier to watch, letting it continue would just be a little too cruel.
“Brother what are you doing?” He chimes in the elder’s direction only to receive a very tired huh? in response, while Alphonse can only set there for a moment to literally watch the gears in his brother’s brain turn in slow motion. Those gold eyes may be glaring at him but there are doing so half awake and not completely with the world of the living.
“Goin’ ta work.” Comes a groan and red eyes are quick to shift and glance at the clock for a moment. 3.42 a.m. He’d be on time for once that’s for sure. Leave it to Brother to get up on time the day he’s sick as a dog. There’s gunna be a fight about it but there always is, so let it be what it’s gunna be he supposes.
“Brother come here.” It’s not a demand, more of a request the way he says and it’s in this moment he wishes he still possessed tactile sensation so he could feel the heat that looks like it’s obviously pooling in his brother’s skin. Its the loving tone in his voice that draws in him, and he knows it. He knows how to operate his sibling when he feels like this and it can either be a fight or a peace treaty and he would much prefer the peace treaty right now. The sound of flesh and automail come dragging his direction until he’s standing in front of him looking him dead in the eyes - a feat that is only possible when he’s setting down on the ground like this.
“Hold still. It’s dark, so just let me get a better look at you.” A gentle glove raising to brush long blond bangs from his sibling’s face and sure enough there’s sweat beading down in accompany to the red tone that’s so close in color to the trench that’s donning his shoulders. This is yet another moment he damns this body he’s been stuck in, because how he earns to show his brother the same soft affection their mother showed them for all the years they were still blessed with her.
“Brother what do you have to do at work today? Do you have any reports due or meetings with the Colonel?”
“I got a coupla late reports done n’ a meetin’ with Mustang at like....7 I think? ‘Er was that t’morrow?”
“Brother go back to bed. I’ll call Mustang and get it all worked out. You look exhausted and you’re running a fever.”
The look his brother’s face twists into signals the war. Things are about to get ugly quickly even as the blond wobbles in place and gentle gloves come up to brace both his sibling’s shoulder and keep him in one place.
Thunder cracks over head as if on cue, shaking the building and the windows alike. This has always been such a flimsy feeling hotel. It has the armored boy looking towards the windows and back to his sibling who’s face is finally awake and paling excluding the red streak that has overtaken it.
“Al - I -” There’s the odd mix of green working into his skin tone and Alphonse knows it won’t lead to anything good.
“Back to bed. Please don’t fight with me, Brother. We both know you can’t go out in a storm. I’ll call in the morning once I know they’re there. I promise I won’t tell them too much.” Another ran reaching up to smooth down his sibling’s hair as he looks at him with such a sympathy and love that he can only display with facial expressions.
There’s no fight, as the thunder downs any soldiers Edward had managed to collect and the roars of his war cries die in his throat. He’s both paling and glowing at the same time and that’s never good. It’s going to be another long day it seems. Hopefully Mustang understands.
That’s the bad thing about the East, is all the storms and they always destroy Brother like this. If he can just get him back to bed; back to sleep this should be a little more bearable for him. Hopefully the storm clears up quickly.
“Hello, Yes Lieutenant Hawkeye? Can I speak to the Colonel....Hello, Colonel Mustang? Yes, sorry It’s Alphonse - yeah that’s right, Brother’s sick again. He won’t be in today.....”
blindfolded and listening :
Is it strange to you how Herba knew a Misterican system so intricately, how everything she gave you in those teacups seemed to work quite well even though they were unfamiliar to you at the time?
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ His breath is hitching in his throat as the wind blows and he listens. The sound of a voice within asking him a question that sets his mind ablaze. Bringing up parts of his past that no one outside of that damnable castle should know. Those teacups.
Those damnable tea cups and how he hates the taste of anything even remotely floral now. How the smell of perfume makes him nauseous and it sets his mind to alarm. How did she - how did she know?
WHY?
Why DID it work?!
It shouldn't of. She didn't know anything about his people and she had only ever encountered ....
He wants to throw up. He never saw his body fade. He never actually saw him die... what if he just passed out? He's passed out plenty of times when His Excellency did such a thing. Oh he feels sick.
Was he... was he still alive?
Did she?
Did she ?
The ENTIRE TIME?!
She better start praying to whatever god she hails to because when he's through with her not even Lord Bahamut will except her Soil back into the Spiral. She stole his family, so he'll steal her life.
