[ open ]

[finethanks]

Who: Eichi & Anyone!
Where: Various places around the temple or outside!
When: 9/29 and on!
Rating PG?
What: Eichi gets restless and gets up to things.

A. Miscommunication

[Eichi has been spending a lot of time inside the temple. It's not as if he can get out much. Everyone else was wandering off, exploring, getting sick and dealing with it— but Eichi was just left with his own usual illness, and the sad feeling of being left alone.

So, he's seen the servants around, doing helpful things like cooking and cleaning, and he's even asked them favors. But today? Today, it seems he's not being heard. He's been speaking in the hall with this mist man for some time now, and the poor thing is just sort of... facelessly staring back, making gestures with its hands to try and communicate that Eichi's requests just aren't possible, or make no sense.]

Is it that you don't understand? Ah, it's difficult to know if you can really all hear me, when I can't see your faces at all... But you see, this is a special type of tea that I've been missing. Is there nothing similar? There must be a variety of some sort, yet every time I request "tea" it's always the same thing...

[Who knows what he's asking for in specifics, but now he's going on to ask for elaborate tea cups too, and someone should just help free this mist servant.]

B. He shouldn't be here

[So. What to do when you're a sickly boy bored out of his mind, lonely, without a roommate and with no Proper variety of tea to enjoy? It's probably not the right answer to just wander out into the woods or by the lake, but that's exactly what Eichi is doing. He looks like someone who shouldn't be out here at all, wandering in his school uniform, pale and frail as he is, but he holds himself tall and proud, like he belongs.

There are a handful of things you can run into Eichi getting up to:

i. Surrounded by a small handful of nymphs, he has his softly glowing hand held up to a tree that's suffered a little from the growth spurt of those trees surrounding it. Competition for food is hard! The nymphs seem pleased with Eichi doing whatever it is he's doing, even if Eichi does look considerably more pale after a few seconds, sighing out as his glow fades.

ii. Facing off a single wyvern, Eichi is holding out his hand with great interest, trying to approach it. Eichi doesn't have a single shiny thing visible right now, so the thing doesn't look interested at all, and maybe even a little threatened. As he reaches further just as someone is approaching, the wyvern swipes out at him, clawing the back of his hand and taking off. Eichi is left rejected and with a sad little bleeding scratch on the back of his left hand.

iii. By the lake, Eichi is soaking wet and crouched near the water. There are at least two mermaids in the water, looking at him with pleased expressions as he sings them a soft little song. So, they certainly didn't yank him in. Maybe you saw what happened just moments earlier— how he slipped and fell right in and they helped him out. Or maybe his voice caused you to come over? Maybe these mermaids weren't ever as nice to you and you're jealous. Whatever it is, he's here, he's soaking wet, and if he doesn't get some help with that soon, he'll probably die or something. He's weak.

On the other hand, towards the tail end of all of these adventures, he's starting to look even worse for wear. A figure wobbling, stopping to support himself against a tree, muttering little pep talks to himself. He doesn't want to stop here. He's tired of this body of his. How long can he expect to be held back while everyone else looks around?]

C. It's like Goldilocks

[It turns out that wandering around in your boredom and loneliness can lead a sickly body to exhaustion. The same exhaustion that had kept him in his own room for so long. But now, he's been in the middle of exploring the temple, and he's not anywhere near his own room. What's the harm in entering a random room and crawling into the bed? It looked so nice and cozy, and if he had tried to take another step, he would have certainly passed out.

So, welcome back to your room! Eichi Tenshouin is in your bed, whether you know who he is or not. He kind of looks like a sleeping angel, even if how pale he is might be a little alarming. It's normal for him, really. He just needs to sleep it off, probably. He even helped himself under the covers... He looks terribly comfortable, like this. So, what are you going to do, now that you've found a stranger in your bed?]

Comments

[fairysong]

[Okay, on the one hand, he does look exhausted, and Sheryl's not without sympathy.

On the other, this is her bed. She needs to sleep in it.

So she doesn't spill an entire mug of water on his face. She does, however, dip her fingertips in it and flick some droplets on his face.] Hey. Hey! Wake up!

[p_mortem]

[ What if Minato were an ax murderer?? Eichi???

He's glad, though, that Eichi is amenable to following- Koromaru, more than Minato, as the dog barks his confirmation that he'll be able to track the dragon down and takes off into the bramble, with occasional looks over his shoulder to see whether the other two are following. ]

Seems like he's confident in it. [ And Minato runs too, fully expecting Eichi to keep the pace since he looks fine. He's fine. ]

[finethanks]

...Ah?

[Thankfully, the droplets are gentle enough. He blinks blearily at the ceiling a few times before he brings a hand to his face, wiping at the wet drops in confusion. Tears? No, that can't be right...

And then he realizes that someone is standing over him. He looks a little dazed, but he's coming to now.]

My, I fell into quite the deep sleep, didn't I? My apologies. My body was so exhausted that it was about to give out, you see, and so I stopped in the closest room.

[finethanks]

Ah—

[Wait, running? They have to run? Eichi takes a few steps into the jog, stretching his hand out after them.]

Hold on, please—! [It's maybe ten seconds before he completely hunches over and starts coughing up a lung, though his feet continue moving slowly to try and catch up. Dear god, his lungs, his heart, it's too much...]

[p_mortem]

[ TEN SECONDS...... it turns out, Minato really is a murderer, but he murders through neglect. ]

Uh. [ He doesn't want to comment about it being just TEN SECONDS, but he skids to a stop and calls for Koromaru to come back too. ]

Sorry, I forgot you've been out here for so long already...

[ Running, presumably, having used up all of his energy hiking everywhere and is on his last reserves of stamina. How thoughtless of Minato to not consider this. ]

Actually, it might be easier if Koromaru finds it first, and then comes back for us. Instead of leading us all around.

[crystallomancy]

You don't have any friends to visit YOU? [ ...maybe,

just maybe,

that's a low blow, but Natsume's not taking it back, slightly peeved at being called kind. By Eichi, anyway; he doesn't need this commented on, thanks. ] Besides, it wasn't for you that I did THAT. I'm still practicing my own maGIC, and I know someone who would ask me to do something if I'm able TO. And as I've said beFORE, you're not allowed to die YET.

[ Excuses upon excuses, but they're his, and they're his reasons he'll stick by. ]

...Anyway, good luck, I GUESS. Mine doesn't exhaust ME, so I'm not sure how that applies to IT.

[finethanks]

N-no, it's not that.

[He sounds extremely out of breath for a boy who just ran for ten seconds. He places a hand over his chest, because it hurts to breathe now, and his heart feels like it might stutter and fail if he doesn't hold onto it. Ahh.]

I have a rather weak body, so things like physical activity can be difficult for me to keep up with. [He coughs.] I suppose being out here... for so long didn't help my stamina, either, but it's just that my lungs won't cooperate.

[finethanks]

[An extremely low blow, when Eichi is in a lonely spot like this. But he doesn't blink at it at all. He expects it, and smiles thinly on, as if it doesn't bother him at all, even when it's a knife through the heart.]

Not here, I'm afraid.

[He'll admit that.] You can use yours limitlessly, then? That's fitting of an Oddball, isn't it? To have an incredible ability without kickback...

[He steps away from the tree, though the nymphs are lingering nearby for now, reaching out to him almost as if to support him. They're thankful.]

What are you doing out in the forest like this, though?

[crystallomancy]

ExploRING.

[ And... he needs some place less full of people to think, to spend time in. There's only so much he can take; there's a reason he had a secret room to hang out in at school. ]

I don't need to explain myself to YOU, but I like studying the wildlife HERE. [ The fairies, he means. The animals too, but mostly it's these blatantly magical creatures... ] It's better than the lake TOO. A lot of people have been flocking there, as of LATE.

b

[bestaround]

[ Naturally, 9S is one out of many who are out and about, so it's only a matter of time before he passes by another—someone who looks awful. Not the strangest sight, given how the past several weeks were going, but it does leave him slipping out a quiet groan to himself before hurrying over to the other weary boy leaning against a tree. Honestly, could anyone just stay put when they're not feeling well? ]

Hey— [ At least 9S' voice is free of any irritability when he approaches. ] You look like you could use some help getting back inside.

[fairysong]

[Dammit, he's being polite and apologetic about it, like she's just woken up an abused puppy.] You're still feeling sick, then?

I have a chair, you know. You could've sat down instead of jumping into someone else's bed. Not everyone's as nice as I am.

[p_mortem]

[ Lungs get stronger the more you use them, is what Minato learned after hour-long sessions of climbing stairs and being chased by Death night after night, but that's not something he needs to tell Eichi. ]

How unfair of your lungs... Let's walk, then? We're in no rush, after all, so we can spend as much time.

[ Until nightfall? And even then, he supposes, as the nights aren't extremely cold, and the most dangerous thing (that he knows of) that can come across them is a deer-bird, which Eichi might find cool anyways if he likes small dragons. ]

a.

[parttimes]

Hey...

[Look, the mist servants are pretty useless and Kou should know it by now, but still... this is kind of a sad display, and he has to come closer, one hand on his hip.]

I don't really think repeating it again is going to help it understand any better, honestly. They're not that creative.

A

[besieging]

Must there be, though?

[ Don't mind this guy, just passing through, but he has no problems inserting his commentary on things he's walking by in the hall, apparently. ]

It doesn't seem so inconceivable to me that our options may be limited.

[brodakota]

I couldn't quite tell from where I was. I just saw it snap...

Maybe it's a territory thing? I can't say I know too much about those creatures.

[He looks a little more relaxed though. If it's just a cut, he can handle that.]

We should probably get it bandaged though.

we meet again, a

[runwaying]

[ ... is it really a coincidence that she's run into eichi tenshouin again, of all people?

but anyway, she absolutely does walk in on eichi and the poor mist servant, and of course arashi is going to do her regular chivalrous duty as a knight and sweep in and rescue said poor mist servant from this tyrannical emperor.

... okay, maybe not quite, but she does tap eichi on the shoulder from behind. ]

I don't think they're going to have what you ask for, Emperor-sama. It's very back-to-basics here. ♪ Or is a plain white teacup unacceptable for you?

[twitter]

Ah! Hold on.

[ and she immediately runs out of the room.







to return shortly after with more blankets. ]

[finethanks]

So, you prefer to avoid company from your fellow humans, and would like instead to be surrounded by wildlife?

[Eichi chuckles. How like a monster. But he won't say that at all— it's just that he finds it interesting.]

Is the lake where everyone is, then? I couldn't tell from my room.

[finethanks]

Do I?

[He does. Out of breath, a little flushed from it, weak and a bit shaky. He hates that. And he hates that a meeting with someone beautiful and interesting could be ruined by this stupid illness. Everyone else is healed, almost completely, and he's here... like this.]

I couldn't refuse the company, I suppose... but "inside" is the last place I'd like to go right now. It's incredibly dull in there.

[finethanks]

To be honest, I hadn't noticed the chair at all.

[He had quite literally stumbled in and slowly, through sleep, arranged himself beneath the covers.]

Don't be alarmed. It's not the illness that everyone else seems to have caught here. I was born like this, so it's not contagious.

[finethanks]

I'd appreciate that. There may be some days that I can jog, in small amounts, but this doesn't seem to be one of them.

[He's embarrassed. He's out here trying to make friends and it's already ruined. But... he hasn't left? There's not the overwhelming feeling of being stared at with pity? He'll take this.]

Please, let's keep moving. I'm fine.

[finethanks]

Is that so...

[Eichi frowns at the news, and as soon as he turns to look at the stranger, the mist servant takes off. Freedom.]

Then, what shall I do, I wonder? If I'd like a tea to assist me with sleep or relaxation, or to aid my respiratory tract, am I meant to deal with regular black tea? [He looks so confused by this.]

[finethanks]

Hm?

[But commentary means that Eichi turns to him, the mist servant takes that as a chance to leave quickly, and so now this stranger is the center of his attention.]

But options like teas... If you have one, why shouldn't you have them all?

[finethanks]

I see... that's true, isn't it? Wild animals can become territorial. They're unpredictable in general, so I suppose there's a number of reasons.

[Thank goodness it's just a cut, because any more, and Eichi could probably literally die. He's that weak.]

Do you have a bandage on you, North-san? I don't intend to go back, just yet. I grew so tired of staying indoors, and there were no guards keeping me in, so I came out here to take a look around, you see.

[finethanks]

Rather than calling it "unacceptable," I'd say that it's strange?

[He says it with a smile, turning to face her as the mist servant sees its chance and leaves. Goodness.]

The way that tea is brewed, prepared, served... all of it changes the flavor, you know? Is the kettle so dull, as well? Are there really no options? I don't see what I'm meant to do with my time here, if that's the case.