⬣//A BRIEF REPRIEVE

[cccorp]

>>Look at me.

⬣//BREATHE. EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY.

This is your Official™ catch-all log for the month of November. While the boss battles rage on, those of you who are looking to disengage from combat and kick your feet up for a spell can do so here.

Post your open prompts in this post. Closed starters may also be posted here or on @Altimit, but all open posts belong here in this log. Lawbreakers will be bent over the modly knee and paddled into compliance. Thank you.

>>Navigation

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[dissimulative]

[ Oriade eventually awakens. It's still a little difficult to breathe, but he gets through his bearings. He is without his glasses though and sees a yellow blob float next to him... ]

Emil...?

[insinning]

Hey. I'm here.

[Sinclair looks up from his writing, and sets down his journal to give Oria his glasses. The tension in him eases a little when he sees Oria alert again]

You scared me.

[dissimulative]

You were...?

[ Ugh. He feels so weak. It reminds him of something so hollow, sickening...

He tries to bury that thought. ]

What happened?

[insinning]

You passed out. Your body took a beating and you weren't exactly taking it easy. They had to get the water out of your lungs. They took you away for a bit to deal with that.

[Sinclair's brow furrows further. He had been worried before but it had felt hypocritical to stop Oria considering the circumstances he showed up to the battle against Macha and Tarvos, but...]

You know, it hasn't even been a day yet.

[dissimulative]

[ Oriade has a little inhaler mask that helps him breathe, but he willingly takes it off and sits up on the bed. ]

That's exactly why—

[insinning]

That's exactly why you need to rest. No one is going anywhere, no one is ready to handle things right now.

[Sinclair says, his voice mildly sharper than he normally would be]

You've just collapsed. What could you do when you get out of here if you collapse in another root town? [Softer] Oria...everyone is tired. We're all burned out. We cant do anything today. But tomorrow, we can try again.

[dissimulative]

I can.

[ His fist balls up the sheets under him. He notices the change in tone, but he really, really doesn't want to. It feels like he's throwing a fit. Was he ever allowed to have one? Maybe not in a serious way. ]

Everyone being tired is the reason why I have to go. No one can, so I have to. I can't just lie down here and think about what's happened in the past few days. I need to do something. I...

[ Oriade curls up on the bed, clawing at the sheets now. ]

I don't want to think about... how I had to burden Punisher with the order to kill Uta and how charred her body was.

[insinning]

...I know. [Sinclair frowns and moves to sit on the edge of Oriade's bed, reaching over to comb his fingers through Oriade's hair. He doesn't mind if Oriade needs to yell or vent or anything. He thinks...or rather, he knows, Oriade never has had a chance to do that before] You've been trying to carry everything for everyone...

[If Oriade gives him some room, Sinclair will lay down with him. If not, he'll stay seated, still petting Oriade's head]

...you know, it's okay to have regrets. And look back. You don't need to be running forward all the time. Uta deserves that much too.

[dissimulative]

[ Sinclair has always been one of the few exception for headpats, so Oriade lets him. Though he doesn't say anything to what Sinclair does, and merely tilts himself to the side. There's no room for Sinclair to lie down on the bed, but he finally faces his boyfriend's direction. He can't even get mad as another coughing fit overtakes him and just looks at Sinclair, sulking. He has no energy to get angry or cry if he even wanted to. The reflex in suppressing his wildly "negative" emotions acts before Oriade can even think about it.

So all Sinclair gets is Oriade sulking a little while staring at his eyes. ]

[insinning]

[Sinclair pointedly holds up the mask for Oriade to put back on. Oriade can sulk at him all he likes. Sinclair can outstubborn him on this]

Come on. The harder you push yourself, the less likely you'll get out of here in less than a week. Now that the nurse knows you're injured, she wont let you leave easily until you've recovered.

[Oriade might notice the beds have straps]

[dissimulative]

[ Oriade is Upset, but he eventually listen to Sinclair, slowly sitting up so that he can lie down properly on the bed. He puts the breathing mask back over his face and continues to sulk a little... this is the most "venting" he'll ever do right now. That moment in the Arena was a Special Exception. ]

[insinning]

[Is Oria giving Sinclair the silent treatment? That's a little funny if so. But Sinclair does get out of bed briefly and disappears around the corner, returning with books and manga he had loaded up the corner area with. If there's any helper AIs around, he's probably being followed, isn't he?

He puts the manga on the table between them, along with some tea and whatever hospitals give that are easy to eat. He pushes it over to Oria pointedly and sits back in bed to finish reading his book. Nevermind he's read this three times before, it's good!]

[dissimulative]

[ Yup, there are helper AIs following Sinclair like little ducklings. They leave when they finish their task though. Oriade looks at the stack of books and then looks at Sinclair reading that book again.

:T ...

He takes a book, scans the front and book, the inner excerpt, skims the first few pages, and puts it off to the side. He does this with several books, even the manga too. The to-read pile has eventually turned into the "not interested" pile.

The good thing that comes out of this is that Oriade has gotten gradually sleepy, especially with the breathing mask. ]

[insinning]

[Just as planned? Sinclair isn't as into the book as usual, and keeps an eye on Oria at the corner of his eye. When he looks sleepy, Sinclair will continue to read himself, moving through the pages slowly and carefully]

[dissimulative]

[ After all the book skimming, Oriade looks over at Sinclair despite feeling tired. His emotions have winded down a little by now. ]

... Even now, you're still reading that book.

[ Why does he feel a sense of loss.............. ]

[insinning]

[Sinclair looks up at Oria's voice]

...because you're supposed to be resting.

[does it help Sinclair responded automatically to Oria's voice this time?]</small.

[dissimulative]

[ It does help, actually, since he didn't expect Sinclair to respond to his complaint. ]

I'm bored...

[insinning]

[Sinclair puts his book down and returns to the chair next to Oria's bed]

Maybe you should sleep then. Or do you want to play some games?

[dissimulative]

What games? I'm not playing chess.

[ Chess is for nerds................ ]

[insinning]

Let me see what I was able to craft from memory...and that's fine, I'll play chess with Winter or Tylor.

[Sinclair gets back up, picks up all the books to put them back where they belong. He returns with some non-nerdy games (jiiiii): connect four, battle ship, jenga...please leave him alone helper ais, he'll be good he swears]

If you have any other ideas, we can craft them now.

[There's also a set of lincoln logs and legos?? but he needs to roll the latter over because it's a big box]

[dissimulative]

[ The helper AIs stare... but eventually leave again.

Oriade looks and picks out connect four. ]

Easy enough. Let's play.

[ He takes a black chip and tosses it in his hand as if he's flipping a coin. ]

[insinning]

[Sinclair picks up a red one and goes for the far right slot.]

I wonder why people don't craft these things more...

[dissimulative]

[ My brain too small tonight so let's flip a coin at the end to see who wins-- ]

Maybe because we usually have better things to do... fighting for our lives, preparing for those fights, profession stuff... probably too busy making out as some couples do.

[insinning]

[H for Oria, T for sinclair?]

I don't think the last part takes up that much time...and you're one of the few people to have max profession levels in everything.

[dissimulative]

[ sounds good!

Oriade looks thoughtful as he slots in another chip. ]

You have to get in the right mood and everything. Probably wouldn't want to do anything after that.

[ He just states it frankly. It's fine. ]

The lack of resources is finally hurting my material storage...