acatalepsy_logs | [open] you can lead a sick horse to water

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[open] you can lead a sick horse to water

Who: Konoha and YOU
Where: around the Temple
When: 8/28 - 9/20
Rating PG???
What: catch all log for hanging with a centaur before or after the sick sets in

01 | GARDENING | 8/28

[What Konoha really wanted to do was to go home. But she knows... She has to make the most of her situation. Has to try and stay positive the best she can. So, like she'd talked about with Nier... a garden seemed like a good idea. With the plants withering like they were planting didn't actually seem like it would work, but at least she could get the field ready? It seemed like something to do, at least, and hard labor is what Konoha did best.

So she gets to work. In the first few days she can be found out near the woods, sleeves tied back and a cloth wrapped around her forehead to keep sweat out of her eyes as she starts prepping the dirt. Digging out stones, ripping up dead roots, cutting away weeds, dragging a makeshift plow behind her to till the soil...

At the sight of anyone from the Circle, however, she takes a moment to give a friendly wave.]

02 | BATHHOUSE | 8/30

[All the plowing she's been doing works up a sweat, and it wasn't often she had the luxury of a bath big enough for jinba that wasn't... wading into the river. Not that there's anything wrong with rivers, but. The bathhouse at the temple is more luxurious than she's ever really tried before, and it's so comfortably hot???

She could be mistaken for a human woman at first glance, with all the steam, but the dark shadow in the water reveals her more equine half. That and the long black tail floating towards the top of the water. Sighing happily and resisting the urge to try and roll, Konoha lets her hair down from it's usual bun and sets about running her fingers through it to try and untangle it as she sinks a bit deeper into the water.]

Ah... This is nice.

03 | HELPING THE SICK | 9/5

[Konoha has never gotten sick when her parents or the other humans in the village had. She didn't really hear a lot about jinba getting sick at all, really... So she thinks it will be fine. She doesn't have enough education to know that this might be because, as similar as her upper body looks, a jinba and a human are different species, and not all sickness can cross those differences... She just knows that she's probably fine.

So she tries to help.]

Morning... I brought breakfast.

[She pokes her head in the door of one of the bedrooms in the Temple, smiling through the concern on her features and a steaming bowl of what looks like porridge in her hands.]

Feeling up to eating?

04 | KITCHEN STUMBLE | 9/12

[Fun fact for anyone studying this outbreak... Species doesn't matter. Jinba get sick, too.

She's been feeling tired, but... She's also been working hard as more and more people got sick. Hasn't really been sleeping well. The low fever, that... had been more concerning, but what could she do about it? She did tell someone, she wasn't trying to hide anything-

But she also didn't expect it to take a turn so fast. To be so clumsy as to catch a hoof on a stone, to send the basket of apples she'd been carrying rolling across the floor and her sprawling right after with a crash as her attempt to catch herself failed and only managed to knock cutlery off the counter.

She'll get up... She will. In a minute. Meanwhile, a lone apple rolls out the kitchen door.]

05 | HUMPTY DUMPTY | 9/17

[It's so hot. She knows it has to be because of the fever, knows she's supposed to sweat it out... but she still can't help the urge, anxiously twisting where she lies on the ground in her temple room to try and undo the bear hide wrap she wears tied about her waist, try and loosen the fit of her shirt as sweat beads on her dark skin.

Sometime in the last night... She's lost the strength to stand. Had gradually collapsed to her knees, then to her belly, and then to her side. She forgets how long ago. Long enough for the pillow she'd taken with her to soak with sweat, for her throat to parch and her stomachs to twist in protest, both starving for food and roiling to reject it.

The sound of a visitor... doesn't even really register.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Right... It was a silly idea.

[Her hand stays where she'd put it though, the other continuing to move slowly between holding it under the water until it cools and then pressing it to her neck, her forehead, her cheek, gradually soaking her clothing and not seeming to care.]

Oh, just- You know. Not wanting to acknowledge that we could be the same like that.

[It wasn't fair to pin it all on humans, though, she knows.]

Some jinba are like that, too.

[(Definitely will have to get her towels later, he thinks.)

But that last bit? It incites a pause.]

Wanting to focus on the differences rather than the similarities, even if it's a misconception. It seems to be a common trait of humans, no matter the world.

Are there tensions between humans and jinba?

... That's sad, if that's true.

[She'd certainly never thought about it. If humans were the same in other worlds. Never thought about other worlds, but. She stares at her hand, her calloused fingers, her rough palm.]

A while ago there was a lot of wars... and some humans used jinba to fight in them... or used them like horses... I've heard a lot of stories, but. I was too small, I don't really remember it.

[She nuzzles her cheek against the rock she leans on, nibbling on her bottom lip.]

The humans who adopted me... their real children all died in the fighting. My parents, too. But even though the fighting's over now, some people can't forget.

[Mmm... that's not the right word.]

I mean... they shouldn't have to forget but. ... Forgive.

It’s probably difficult to. If a war is so fresh in their memories.

[Tension between two different species still existing between them, like threads pulled taut and ready to snap.

Connor shifts a little where he sits.]

But your parents obviously aren’t like that. If they were kind enough to adopt you.

I know it's difficult, but...

[But. She hasn't really lived through it, so as much as she knew it must be difficult... she didn't know. Her thoughts turn briefly to Gonta, the way he'd sometimes gone pale with fear at the sight and touch of humans even though he was brave and strong enough to fight bears and wolves.]

Mmm. My parents are the best in the whole village. Maybe the whole province.

[And they might think she was dead in the mountains somewhere...]

What about you, Connor? Do... do androids have parents?

[Surely they had... something... like it... ?]

I'm glad to hear it. It sounds like a real family.

[Family that wasn't necessarily bound by blood. When it came to the structure of one, all it really took was a willingness to care and to provide. Connor knows that much.

However, the question almost catches him off-guard, even though logically it shouldn't.]

I have creators. People who worked together to build me. Where I come from, there is a-

[Designer and manufacturer of androids, he wants to say. But he parses his explanation down into something simpler.]

-business that sells androids. They're called CyberLife. They were the ones who made me.

[They are, as far as Konoha is concerned. A real family.

And she's trying to understand Connor's. Androids in general, really, she's met a lot more since she met him... Simon, A2, 2B, 9S... some of them had numbers and some had more regular sounding names... and some of them looked related and some didn't...

Brow furrowed in concentration despite the fever, Konoha shifts beneath the water, shivering slightly.]

How long did your creators take care of you? Isn't three months too young to be on your own?

[Its definitely still had to believe that, of all the other unbelievable things...]

When I "woke up", I had already been installed with the programs I needed to function and integrate with human society. Three months is a relatively short period of time, yes, but I was made to be relatively independent.

[Though he was also made to be adaptable, always learning, always observing. Even with his core programming, there were opportunities to become more knowledgable about the world around him.]

Androids don't need to be raised, not like humans or other sentient life. We wake up knowing what our tasks are, or are informed of it soon after.

Oh...

[So is that why he kept calling himself a tool, and other weird things like that? Philosophy and such thinking is ever something she's spent a lot of time contemplating, and maybe deep thought didn't come easy, but...]

It might be kind of nice to not have to worry about what kind of job you're going to do... I had to find a jinba in town who could get me one...

[Didnt some people have issues with that? She'd had Sha-go to recommend work for her, to introduce her to the business owner and vouch for her skills, but some people struggled. She isn't familiar so much with indecision of the more modern age borne from too many options and freedom to choose work, but she understands an inability to find work one is suited for. Still-]

You like it, though? Your job?

[A second too long passes, with Connor not responding immediately. They've had this conversation before, though the last time he had lacked providing details -- he supposes he can do so this time, to get around the crux of the actual answer. The doubt that still plagues him, that threatens to send errors compiling in his system.]

I am suited for it. I find satisfaction in the work, in knowing that I've completed a task that I was literally made to do. Working crime scenes, solving cases. The RK800 model is specially tailored for these jobs.

It sounds hard... There must be a lot of crime where you're from... ?

[To think, some people actually... investigated such incidents? Maybe it was just her world, but... she'd heard of criminals being caught for murder or stealing, but not of people whose whole job was finding out that kind of thing...]

But you at least have coworkers, right? And-

["Friends" dies out before she says it, suddenly pausing as a dizzy spell makes her press more of her face against the rock before she tries to laugh it off, slapping her cheeks lightly with river-cold hands.]

No, we talked about that before, sorry- Hank. I remember-

It’s a large city; the crime rate reflects that. The cases I’ve been delegated to specially deal with androids that have gone rogue.

[He looks at her closely, concern making his brow furrow, but her words distract him.]

That’s right. Hank, he—

[His LED flickers again, erratically, then Connor shakes his head. He discards whatever he was going to say, deciding against it.

Instead:]

Konoha, are you feeling any better?

Big like Edo? Or Osaka?

[Places she's only heard of, and no real thought that she'd ever actually go to or see with her own eyes. Vast, bustling port towns and trade hubs that to her were just the settings of tales and the destination or origin for goods.

She shivers again without quite realizing it, looking up to hear something about Hank, but-]

Ah... a little? Maybe?

[She doesn't sound too sure.]

Yes. Large like those cities.

[He won’t correct the part about Edo as he knows it now. No point in dredging up anachronisms when it’s unnecessary.]

Do you want out of the river now? I can grab you a towel or two.

[Well... that made sense, then. Big cities... more people... more crime, right?

At the question, though... Oh, yeah. Towels. She'd totally forgotten about that logistic detail... and a lot of other details, really.]

Sorry... could you?

[A bit belatedly, she looks down and realizes that she's slipped gradually in to the point that she's up to her chest in water. Her upper one, not the lower one, which means her clothing is... pretty soaked.

Oops.]

I'll get out when you get back.

[As a response, Connor stands up, straightening his tie out of habit.]

I won't be long.

[A little nod, then he turns to disappear back into the temple. The towels are easily located, big and dry and fluffy, and he's true to his word; he isn't long, maybe two minutes at the most, before he returns to the riverside.

He has a stack of towels held in his arms.]

This should be enough, I think?

[When he leaves her sight, Konoha sinks into the water a bit deeper. Her shirt was already wet... so it was fine, right? She slips in until she's up to her neck, kicking her back legs a bit. Water was nice... it was cool, and she was so much less heavy in it...

As Connor comes back in to view Konoha tries to refresh herself, putting her face into the water and scrubbing at it quickly, pinching between her brows and pushing on her cheek bones in order to try and relieve the growing haze and pressure she feels in the back of her skull before she comes back up.

It's a lot of towels... Not more than she needed, but more than she usually had on hand, so. She does look a bit impressed.]

I think? Hold on-

[She takes her time, not wanting to mess up and slip on a rock or twist an ankle despite how weak she's feeling, dragging herself out with a clumsier-than-normal heave until she stands back on the riverbank, dripping forlornly.]

Sorry, I didn't mean to get so wet...

[She holds out her hands for a towel, sleeves sopping. At least he said he was waterproof... ?]

[He comes prepared, maybe overly prepared, but Connor assumed that she would need more towels than the average human, considering her size. Still, he eyes her exit from the river with some scrutiny, ready to drop what he’s brought for the sake of attempting to offer her an arm if she stumbles. Thankfully, that doesn’t happen, and Connor’s shoulders relax ever so slightly.

He steps forward, offering her the stack, expecting her to take the one on top.]

It’s fine. [He is indeed waterproof! He doesn’t mind. This android has a propensity to stand in the rain without much thought, occasionally.]

Just make sure you dry yourself well before we return to your room. I don’t want your fever getting worse because we neglected this part.

[She does take the top one, starting off with just burying her face in it, muttering a bit sullenly.]

I was always a really healthy filly...

[She hates the idea of getting sick, not only because she won't be able to help anyone, but also because... she's been tending to the sick humans, and she's seen how sick some of them have gotten.

And she's never been that sick before.

Her worry plain on her face despite her intent to hide it, she wraps the towel around her neck in order to reach down and begin weakly wringing out her sleeves and the bottom of her top.]

Do you think it's really what all the humans have? Maybe it's something different...

[Something less serious.]

[She would have to do a particularly good job of hiding her concern from an android like Connor, and as it stands, Konoha really does seem to wear her heart on her sleeve. He watches as she dries herself, processing some mode of comfort in his mind. Wanting to remain realistic while not frightening her; it’s a delicate balance, but he thinks he can manage it.

In the interim, he extends a hand to take back a soggy towel so that she can take another dry one.]

It’s hard to say. Even if it is the same sickness that’s ailing the humans, your biology is different. If you’ve been healthy in the past, it’s possible your immune system might be more resistant to what’s going around.

[Of course, the opposite could also be said, but Connor chooses not to say that much.]

Regardless of what happens, I’ll watch over you. It doesn’t seem to affect anyone who’s inorganic.

That would be good...

[Both things.

Konoha exchanges her towel but only clutches it at first, splaying her legs out slightly and sort of leaning forward, lengthening her spine and lowering her head... before she suddenly gives a full body shake, excess water flying off her sides, back, and belly... before she straightens back up again and only then twists in order to begin rubbing the towel over her brown hide, drying her coat as best she could. Thankfully it was at least still her shorter summer coat, but! As flexible as jinba were, there were still places she couldn't quite reach without laying down, like her back legs and rear, covered in sopping skirt.

So maybe in her fever haze she hadn't really thought this through beyond "cool please". As she towels off, though,]

You said you didn't know much about jinba or... horses, right?

[If she was going to get sick... as sick as the others...]

Not much in terms of caring for them if they're sick.

[No point in lying about that. The wonders of the internet doesn't seem to exist here, either, so it's not like he can do his research on the matter -- with the exception of asking other people, or her.]

But assuming that someone else wouldn't know -- or that we wouldn't be able to figure it out together -- isn't something that I'm quick to do. We'll find a way if it comes to that.

[For now, though, it's hard to not watch the way she dries herself off (he hadn't even so much as flinched when she shook), and ever the helpful android, he offers-]

Do you need an extra pair of hands to help you dry off?

[She's never had to explain things like this, because... everyone had just always known more of less. She was raised in a farming village, people had cows and horses... or knew a jinba. But if she was going to get sick...]

Oh, um-

[At the question she sees confused a moment, pausing in her process. A horse certainly wouldn't mind, maybe even a mountain jinba wouldn't, but... she'd grown up with human sensibilities more than her own kind's, and so to her it's the equivalent of a man toweling off her... well, her waist and butt.

Gonta said though, that... that real mountain mares didn't even wear anything on their nethers, that they didn't get embarrassed about things like humans did, so... so...]

Sure. Thanks.

[She lost her train of thought for a moment, until she finds it again mid-toweling.]

Can I ask you to do something for me, then? If I get sick.

[Connor isn’t so oblivious that he might have considered the gesture would’ve been awkward — it was the very reason why he asked. But she grants him permission (after what seems to be a moment of passing thought), and that’s enough for him to nod succinctly, setting down the wet towels on the flat stone nearby, and gripping the dry, fluffy ones in his hands.

Connor then reaches out to dry where she’s been unable to reach, systematic but not thoughtless in his movements. Her question incites him to reply without much hesitation at all.]

Of course. What is it?

[Konoha definitely seems a bit more tense, blushing clearly even as she tries to just towel herself off more aggressively to cover the embarrassment. That, and cover the unease she feels, discussing this kind of thing. Thinking she might need it.]

If I get too sick to stand... I need someone to help me. Jinba shouldn't lie down for more than a little while... but I don't know anyone who can lift me here.

[Gonta wasn't here. Mikuni was gone. And no human could lift a half ton centaur.]

Are metal people strong?

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