( open ) came back to the city with an open heart

[digestive]

Who: Mikuni & open!
Where: Around the Temple
When: September 9 - 20, so throughout the second half of the sickness event. Any prompt can be set during any stage of sickness.
Rating PG unless otherwise noted?
What: Mikuni explores the Temple, worries, tries to keep people hydrated, and volunteers as a quadrupedal walking stick.
Note: If anybody ends up being in great distress during this log (due to illness or any other factors), Mikuni may unconsciously use his emotion-dampening powers, since he isn't yet aware of them. I will check in via PM if I feel like this is likely in a given thread, but if you definitely would like to trigger those in a thread, feel free to PM me beforehand! I'm open to anything.


i. with all its boyish charm ( kitchens )

[Without question, Mikuni feels fully out of his element here. He has since the moment he was pulled bodily sideways to this place, with its stone buildings and vast forest full of unfamiliar plants. The fairies aren't particularly comforting, either.]

[All the same, it's his instinct to make himself at home wherever he finds himself, more or less out of necessity. That's made a little bit easier by how obvious it is that everything's falling apart right now. At least he's used to being surrounded by people running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Every single person here is sick? Fine. It could be worse.]

[Which is how he finds himself in the kitchen, leaning over and attending to not one, but several pots. The biggest one holds a truly ridiculous amount of soup; he's not exactly happy with it, since the ingredients aren't what he's used to, but it will be hearty enough to keep the sick on a path to healing. The rest are assorted similarly simple, hearty items.]

Here--excuse me.

[Were you sticking your nose into what's on the stove, or simply trying to navigate your way around Mikuni's horse half? Delirious with illness? The particulars don't matter. Regardless, he's holding out a spoonful of soup expectantly.]

I'm sure it could be better. But is it tolerable?

ii. but the charm won't last ( health brigade )

[There are more than a few people in the Temple of Beginnings right now who are feeling too miserable to get up and come down to the kitchens to eat, especially now that fevers have struck. It's . . . well. It's not ideal. Mikuni knows hardly anyone here, yet, nor does he particularly want to make all of his introductions in one evening to a collection of delusionally-ill mostly-humans.]

[But needs must, and pretty much anything is better than sitting around waiting for something to happen and feeling wrong-footed. Besides, he's getting a bit bored.]

[This is why there are hoofbeats on the stone of your room as Mikuni does his level best to enter quietly with a tray. His smile is soft and gentle, entirely inoffensive.]

Good afternoon. We haven't met, but I've brought you something from the kitchens to keep your strength up.

[And I'm Not Leaving Until You Eat It :^)]

iii. past the strike of the night ( outdoors )

[Looking at the trees has started to become genuinely upsetting. Mikuni is used to being surrounded by wilderness. Even at its most tamed, the world that is home to him defines itself by vast expanses of forest and mountain. To see the plant life here deteriorating so quickly before his eyes . . . he's only been here a few days and it's already gotten visibly worse. It simply doesn't look right. He doesn't have to have a modern sense of disease vectors to know how unlikely it is for plants and animals to share diseases between each other, either.]

[He glances behind him as he hears footsteps, hand falling to his side from where it was brushing worriedly against the trunk beside him. Who is that?]

Hello? . . . Do you need a hand? I'm not doing anything in particular-- [With a faint smile, he tucks his long hair behind his ears.] Just fussing. Are you well enough to be walking on your own?

[Please don't fall on your face in the dirt. Although if you do, he will catch.]

iv. wildcard

[Hit me with anything else, or contact me to plot via PM or at passiones!]

Comments

[digestive]

[Her grip is weak, which surprises him for half a moment before he remembers--of course. No matter how strong she is ordinarily, she's sick now. He's never seen her sick before. She's always seemed the picture of health and vitality. When is the last time she was sick? Has she ever been sick and on her own?]

[It doesn't seem likely. There's an odd pang of sympathy and jealousy entwined that shoots through Mikuni at the thought. He pushes both down and away. She shouldn't have to be alone now, that's all. Nothing else matters.]

It's really me. I came back.

[He doesn't understand what she means by that, exactly, but the end result is that he's here. He'll say whatever needs to be said to comfort her.]

Konoha, I want to help you. I'm worried about you. How long have you been lying here?

[lumberlady]

[Never.

Konoha had always been a healthy filly, and the few times she'd gotten sick had largely been confined to sniffles, light fevers, or an upset stomach. And even then... her parents had always been there. Always.

Even if Mikuni was just a fever dream... she's glad to see him. She doesn't even have the strength to cry anymore, not really, though her expression twists as if she might before she hangs her head, unwashed lanks of hair from her half-undone bun falling into her face.]

A long time...

[She can't remember.]

It hurts, Mikuni...

[digestive]

[Not good. But that's all right, he tells himself firmly, schooling his expression into something calm and serene, something easy and unworried. That's all right. It will all be fine.]

I know it hurts. I know.

[Reaching out, he rests his hands on her shoulders. Her skin is so clammy with sweat, her breathing so labored--is there no one here who knows to care for her properly? Just because everyone is sick doesn't mean she shouldn't be prioritized. After all, she's Konoha.]

[Anger will accomplish nothing. He brushes her hair out of her face and behind her ear, tender and soft.]

No matter how much it hurts, you have to move. Otherwise it will get worse. Can you stand?

[lumberlady]

[No one here seemed to really know... and Konoha can't blame them, but. Most didn't know how to take care of a horse, let alone a jinba. They didn't know that laying down for so long was potentially damaging, that it slowly crushed the main set of lungs, the intestines, the heart. So she'd been given water, food that hadn't stayed in her two stomachs long... but she was still on the ground.]

I don't think I can.

[Wanting comfort, she unconsciously nuzzles into the touch as much as she can in her weakness, legs trembling with a brief effort that ends only with her curling them closer to her belly.]

I'm sorry...

[If Gonta were here... he had picked her up so easily, just slung her over his back like it was nothing...]

[digestive]

I see.

[He smiles down at her, gentle and unworried. If he's guessed at her worries, it doesn't show. Frankly, he doesn't share them. Gonta might be more impressive to look at, physically speaking, but if push came to shove--well.]

[Mikuni is not the type of person to say "I could kick his ass," but that's how he feels about the situation.]

[Anyway, ass-kicking is not the point in question here. The point in question is how to get Konoha off of her stomach. With one more brush of fingers against her cheek, he gets to his feet, then leans back down and--scoops her up. Into his arms, where he cradles her bridal style.]

[No big deal. He can't do it forever, but let this put to rest the question of whether or not he's stronger than he looks.]

The ceilings are so low here . . . [he mutters, squinting up at them, before glancing at Konoha.] Is that all right?

[lumberlady]

[Konoha thought maybe he was going to help her, haul her up from under her arms or front legs or something and she starts to try and shift to make it easier, maybe straighten her forelegs at least, or roll over a bit more, but then... she's in the air and she accidentally kicks out a bit in surprise, weakly throwing her arms around- well, with how that maneuver works out they end up more around his head, legs quivering with unsureness and surprise, hooves hanging limp in the air as she struggles to reorient herself.

Oh.

Mikuni always looked so slender in comparison to Gonta, and he wore more to cover himself but... wow.

She should have known, but. Wow. She's not so sick that how impressive this is doesn't register, even if her reactions are a bit slow, a bit weak, anxiously clinging still to his head and sort of... pulling it into her bosom. Sorry,]

A- ah... it's... it's fine...

[Oh my gods-]

Can we... can we go to the river...

[She's not been able to bathe properly in days... and the fever has her running hot. Cool water sounds so good...]

[digestive]

[Ah. Boobs, suddenly. A dignified individual Mikuni might be, but there's really no way to have your face shoved into sweaty girlboobs and come out of it dignified. He splits the difference by clearing his throat and readjusting his hold on her.]

The river?

[He knows where that is, fortunately. It was instinct to find water first and foremost. Hopefully he'll still be able to find it with Konoha grabbing onto his head.]

Of course. Can you . . . let go of my head first, perhaps? I can't see. [--anything but titty.]

[lumberlady]

O- oh...

[She isn't even well enough to react to that as much as she probably would normally. Her cheeks are already flushed with fever so it's hard to tell if she even blushes, but she does try to... not cling to his head so tightly, moving her bosom more to... resting against his ear instead of in his face, fingers weakly clutching at his kimono, hocks trembling in a combination of surprise and a touch of fear that she might prove too heavy.]

Sorry, Mikuni... is that better... ?

[Thankfully the river isn't too far from the Temple itself...]

[digestive]

. . . Yes, much.

[He can breathe and see now. A great improvement. With a slight huff of laughter, he ducks under the doorframe and out towards the river. If he'd been thinking, he'd have grabbed a change of clothes for her before picking her up, but it's fine. The priority has to be getting her off of her stomach.]

[As he walks, it's clear he's slightly out of breath, but he's really not that worried about making it all the way there. If anything, he seems relieved. He really was worried.]

The fresh air is an improvement, isn't it?

[lumberlady]

[She hadn't quite noticed, since she'd been cooped up in her room for days, now, but... it really was an improvement. She tries to breathe a bit deeper, tries to force herself to relax, to be as easy to carry as she can... even though that's not really possible and they definitely garner some crazy looks on the way out.]

The breeze feels good...

[On her skin, on the flush and sweat and trembling flanks. She thinks she can see the river water sparkling in the distance, and it looks so cool...]

I'm sorry, I'm heavy aren't I... not as heavy as Gonta, but... no one can carry gonta, right... ?

[digestive]

Mm, it's not so bad. . . . You're not a burden on me, Konoha.

[He's quiet for a moment, craning his neck to see around her. What he sees makes her smile. It's not far at all. Another minute or two, and she can stand in the water.]

Probably not. He's enormous. I could have carried Gonta when he was little, though. Once upon a time, he was smaller than me. Can you imagine that?

[lumberlady]

No... ?

[That might be an answer to both things, it's not quite clear, but.]

How small was he... that's cute...

[digestive]

It's very cute.

[He huffs out a sound that's half-laughter and half-exhale. Honestly, the thought of Gonta as a child seems like just his imagination now, even though it's his memory and he knows it happened. Gonta has always seemed like such a large presence. But once upon a time, even Matsukaze must have been small.]

Well, he wasn't too much smaller than me then. But he was younger, so he was a little shorter . . . I suppose he came up to about my nose. And he had terrible posture. He was always running everywhere and kicking up dust. And yelling. [So that hasn't changed.]

[lumberlady]

Haha, I wish I could have seen that... he doesn't smile much, but his laugh is so nice...

[So she might be a bit too feverish to realize what she's talking about, one hundred percent, since normally she'd be blushing during a conversation like this, being a bit evasive as to her motives in saying such things, but-]

I'm so glad Gonta has you, at least, Mikuni... When he goes back to the mountain...

[digestive]

[Oh, no. He really should change the subject so she doesn't say any more. It would embarrass her so badly if she knew. It might still embarrass her later, if she remembers.]

[. . . But that's sort of his role, isn't it? To embarrass her enough that she blurts out the truth, sometimes. That's what brothers do, he's pretty sure.]

When Gonta laughs, it's as though he's been storing up laughter for days and lets it all out at once. Right? It shakes the trees.

. . . You think he wants to leave?

[lumberlady]

It's so big and warm... I love it...

[Him. Maybe him.

She doesn't know, okay, it's so complicated and there's so much to consider... he's older, and she has her parents to think of, and he doesn't even trust humans like she did, maybe didn't even think of her that way at all... What if he just thought of her as a friend, or just a work senpai, or a sister, that would be awful, but what would be even more awful was-]

Isn't he going to... ?

[She curls weakly, feverishly, around Mikuni's hold, sniffling in what she hopes was sickness.]

I want to ask him to stay... but I don't want to make him stay... I'd be happy but he won't be happy...