thenearshore | [ CLOSED ]

Well, all the statues of pigs can hardly be called pleasant, but a quick polish should make them look at least somewhat presentable if anyone is insane enough to drop in for a visit. You never know when some weirdo wants to drop in here for whatever reason.

He’s just about finished dusting the furniture, in fact, before he looks up at the sound of his master’s voice. So much for a pleasant morning.

“What was that?” He takes a look at the box with a frown. Did Add go shopping today? Those chocolates don’t look altogether too appetizing from his practiced eye; he wishes Add would simply ask him to bake or pick out appropriate desserts if he truly insists on them.

But then again…

“And didn’t you just take your breakfast? If I had come up short, all you had to do was ask for seconds.”

"I can have a snack after breakfast if I want, you don't have to take it so personally," he scoffs, feeling around for another chocolate. It took him a few minutes to find Jakob, so he's already through half the box by now. Just because they're mediocre chocolates doesn't mean he's not going to eat them all in one sitting given the chance.

... although, he's having a bit of trouble picking the chocolate up this time. Is it just because he's tired...? He frowns a bit more heavily, starting to feel something might be wrong.

"You won a raffle. These came in the mail." But isn't it weird that both of their names are on the package? He knows for sure that he didn't enter any raffles, so it had to have been Jakob, right? Jakob would do something weird like putting both his and his god's name on a raffle entry. Maybe it was a promotion from within the Heavens...?

He gives up on the chocolate for a second to dig around for the letter, fumbling to pick it up with his numb hand. "See? It has both of our names, so I'm entitled to half."

That gives him pause.

“I have done no such thing.” It’s one thing if he gets presents from his friends—because he has those, apparently—but quite another to receive something because of some contest he’s never heard about. It’s probably just some kind of misunderstanding or even a weird prank of some sort.

“And give me that.” He sets his feather duster aside and takes that letter in one hand, only bothering to glance at it before he reaches for the chocolates with his other hand.

“You aren’t supposed to eat so much of it in one sitting!” He keeps telling you, Add—“You are going to make yourself ill.”

Edited 2017-08-23 13:56 (UTC)

Strangely, Add doesn't resist at all when Jakob takes the box from him—even Add is surprised by it. His hand loosely grips at the air, feeling no physical difference at all from the box being there or not. He tries to flex his hand, finding it stiff and unresponsive.

"... Something isn't right," he mutters, a heavy dizziness starting to settle over him. He's barely listening to what Jakob is saying, but this isn't just sickness from eating too many sweets—he knows what that feels like, and this is something far beyond anything he's experienced, even from Eve's cooking attempts. He tries to take a deep breath, steadying himself with his dynamos pressed to his sides.

If Jakob didn't win anything, then where did the chocolates come from? He rubs his face with the back of his hand, quivering slightly. This isn't something like food poisoning, it has to be...

Ah. That Chikusa, didn't Urashima say something before about him using poisons?

"Don't touch the chocolates," he forces out between shortened breaths, leaning forward as he lets Dynamo take on more of his weight. "P-poisoned. That bastard."

He's going to kill Chikusa after this wears off.

Even before Add makes his reply Jakob has already sensed something off about all this. He barely even feels any resistance when he yanks the box away, and while he knows that his master can be a bit of a weakling, Add is hardly that pathetic, nor would he give something up to him without a fight.

“Add! Are you all right?” He quickly sets that box aside and tries to prop his master up by his shoulders. He can feel that cold dread settling at the pit of his stomach at the sight of his god wilting right in front of him, and this is…not a blighting, and the signs here point quite blatantly to Add’s own conclusions.

He’ll set aside the fact that Add seems to know who the poisoner is for the time being. It’s hard enough swallowing down his panic to order him to “Spit the rest out right now!”

It's a bit late to be spitting anything out. Add groans uncomfortably, shaking his head. He's already starting to feel the nausea kick in, so at least if he vomits that should remove some of it... but he'll resist the urge to do that while Jakob is standing directly in front of him.

"Twenty seven minutes," he spits out instead, swallowing back bile with a great deal of difficulty. "Numbness, dizziness, nausea... might be paralysis. Hard to breathe."

That's as much as he can force out before he has to focus on just breathing, weakly leaning into Jakob—even his dynamos are starting to waver and drift out of position now as his strength rapidly drains. Having died by suffocation at least twice before, the feeling of pressure against his chest as his lungs gasp for air is disturbingly familiar. An awful way to go. Chikusa wouldn't outright murder him over a harmless bluff, would he?

He really doesn't want to find out the hard way, so hopefully that's enough information for Jakob to do something. If all else fails... he can save his energy for a Seal of Time and yell at Chikusa instead.

“No…” he mutters, despairing, as Add rattles off his symptoms. He knows well enough that this is not something he can so easily cure, especially given how limited his powers are as a shinki, and he’s trembling, trembling so much that it’s a wonder he can still keep them both upright at all.

He decides that his knees might be about to give way from the horror regardless, and takes a deep breath to calm himself down and let out a shaky, “Lie down here.”

He nudges Add toward the couch he’d just dusted, settling his head among the freshly fluffed cushions before an idea strikes him—

He has friends, after all.

—and so he’s quick to whip out his phone and scroll through his contact list, eventually managing to find Sakura’s number and hitting the call button, although what she’ll hear on the other end is just about as coherent as Add is:

“Please, come at once! My master, he’s…he’s…”

His dynamos try to help a little as he's moved to the couch, though eventually he gives up and allows them to fall in an uneven pile on the floor by his head. His breathing is shallow and laboured, his chest barely moving, but the fact that he is still breathing is a good sign. For now.

Seeing Jakob so distraught like this, though, and feeling hints of it through their connection as god and shinki... that's the part that feels worst of all. He's confident that Chikusa, even if he may be a total ass, wouldn't go so far as to murder a god over their previous exchanges. It just doesn't add up. So whatever he used probably won't be enough to kill Add, even if it's still extremely unpleasant and worthy of at least an equally terrible reply (perhaps it's finally time for him to test out his Seal of Time's revival capabilities proper).

But Jakob doesn't know any of this, and after falling for such an idiotic prank Add can barely speak to explain himself. It's far from unreasonable for Jakob to assume Add is in a deadly situation...

And it'll only be worse after Add recovers, because then he'll have to give a stupid explanation for how he traumatized his shinki.

"Worse than it looks." Forcing out words is becoming more and more difficult as the paralysis spreads, but he refuses to let Jakob panic over this needlessly. He causes enough trouble for him already... "Not your fault. I'll..."

I'll be okay is what he wants to say, but the words won't come out anymore. He wheezes painfully, mentally kicking himself over his stupid mistake.

Sakura isn't one for technology, really. She rarely checks the network and hardly uses her phone beyond checking time and the occasional message. When it suddenly rings, she jumps (she can't help it!) and relaxes when she sees the caller is... Jakob? How pleasant, she thinks, but before she can even greet him, he's rambling on about something loudly and quickly and this isn't like Jakob at all.

"Jakob?! S-slow down, please--!" She's trying to stay calm but the panic is clear in her voice as she tries to grab her things and hold onto the phone at the same time. Master? Her first thought is Corrin and all of the color drains from her face. Her big sister! Ah, but she isn't his master here, is she? So he must mean... his god? "W-where are you? I'm coming j-just give me a moment...!"

Everything is happening quickly and she has no idea what's wrong. In her room, she's grabbed her Bloom Festal, some vials of holy water, and-- ah, how can she forget? He must still be here...

"Tsu-Tsuzuki!" She dashes for where she last saw him and reaches to grab his hand, "I-I think..." No, she knows, "Something's wrong." She's holding onto Tsuzuki tightly, nervously. She hates doing this. She hasn't gotten the hang of this at all but it's the fastest way to get to Jakob, isn't it? "I-I'll take us there." If she just thinks of seeing Jakob right now then... that should be it, right? Please work, please work.

Tsuzuki's eyes widen as she grabs his hand, and he clasps hers back, reflexively. Something's wrong --

Who? What and where? He's still bewildered as the familiar landscape of Sakura's temple disappears around them, and he clutches tighter at her hand.

It's... a room? With two strangers in it, and as he lets go of Sakura, he looks back at her and around.

"What's.... uh. Where are we?"

He doesn’t manage to explain everything coherently before Sakura and Tsuzuki finally arrive on the spot, and Jakob flings his phone aside without another thought and hurries over to her, giving in to his fears at last and collapsing to his knees right in front of their visitors.

“It’s worse than it looks, I’m afraid,” says he, echoing Add’s words before hastily appending, “The poisoning, I mean. He”—motioning toward Add’s prone figure behind him—“He’s been poisoned! Save him, my lady! I beg of you!”

It's not until after Jakob repeats it that he realizes his mistake. Looks worse than it is, not worse than it looks. That's what he meant to say. He got his words tangled up in his confusion.

Add groans weakly in protest, but it's too late for him to correct it now... ugh, now he's just going to make Jakob even more needlessly worried, isn't he? This is turning more and more disatrous by the minute.

Well, at least help seems to have arrived in record time... as embarrassing as it is to be seen like this, considering the circumstances. Maybe one of them knows enough about poisons to tell Jakob everything is going to be fine...?

When they suddenly leave her temple and appear in a room she's never seen before, she stumbles and has to catch her bearings again. Tsuzuki speaks exactly what's on her mind and she tries to find the answer for that.

"We…" Should be where Jakob should be if she's done this correctly. She sees Add first— it's like she knows exactly where to look when someone is need. And next to him is— "Jakob! I-I brought Tsuzuki with me and--" She reaches down to try to pick Jakob up.

He's panicked. She's never really seen him like this before and it makes her heart hurt but this won't help. For someone normally so meek and flustered, she manages to speak calmly and with purpose right now, "P-Please, get up." She glances at Add. So this is Jakob's god and master? If he is then that means he must be feeling whatever Jakob is feeling right now, correct? She won't say as much out loud in case she's wrong but what she says next is good advice all the same, "We need to be calm."

And with that, she'll quickly rush to Add's side because he's the one who really needs her help. She's in his space, reaching for his forehead and studying his face to assess the symptoms. Fever? Clammy skin? And are... his eyes always like that? "Tell me how you're feeling." She moves her hands down to the center of his chest. The tips of her fingers begin to glow with a warm light and the air around them should feel cooler, like a spring breeze. Her powers can't cure poison but if there's any pain or discomfort, this should alleviate it considerably and if she focuses, she can at least slow the spread.

"I can't cure poison o-on my own but I can slow it for now. If I had the right staff this would be easy but maybe..." She glances back at her shinki, "Do you think you can make an antidote?"

"Me?" Him, a doctor? Sakura's the healer -- Tsuzuki just heals when he's hurt, and that's not any use when it's someone else who's been poisoned. Add's breathing seems labored, and if it's worse than it looks, who knows what else is going wrong that they can't see.

He swallows, and tries to think. Wards aren't going to do any good. Summons wouldn't do any good even if he hadn't knocked himself out the last time he'd tried one. And he can't give somebody else his body so that they can recover.

Or can he?

(I'm just a spoon, he'd said to Gojyo. Spoons are for serving, right? For eating from. Maybe there is a way that he can grant someone else a little of his own invulnerability. Maybe he can help Sakura's healing powers somehow.)

"... I don't know," he admits, "but maybe if you tried using me in my other form, I could give it a shot?"

Growing calm is easier said than done, though he does realize that his panicking really isn’t helping Add here. So he nods to Sakura and steps aside to allow her and her shinki access to his god, while he decides to move about the room and try to straighten things he’d upset in his panic.

And there’s the box, overturned where he’d placed it. He takes it in his hands, and had been just about to throw it away when he hears the exchange between Sakura and Tsuzuki.

“These are the likely source of poisons.” Though in his heart he knows that these are definitely the source of the poisons, but that’s something they haven’t really confirmed just yet—“And it’s already half empty…” Curse his gluttonous loser of a god.

“I’m not sure if they would be of any help now, but anything you need—anything at all—you only need to say the word, and I will take care of it.”

He's a bit clammy, but not feverish. As for the eyes, well... that's just an unrelated symptom. At least he's too drained to be shocking Sakura with static right now. He barely has the energy to keep his eyes open. The healing energy helps, though, and Add breathes a thin sigh as some of the pain is ebbed away.

Unfortunately, it's not enough to ease his chest enough to speak, so the only answer he can give to Sakura's question is to faintly wheeze at her. It was good that he had the foresight to tell Jakob most of his symptoms, even if he still can't correct his idiotic mistake. He's not going to be contributing much to the discussion for awhile.

He should probably be watching these two strangers so they don't try to do anything weird to him, but his gaze eventually wanders back to Jakob, watching his shinki tidy up and pace restlessly around the room. He should be more worried for himself, but he's pretty sure he'll be okay, probably. Jakob, though... he really does make him worry too much...

Thanks for not shocking her, Add.

He's in pain. She can tell the moment he lets out his sigh. It isn't enough though and she frowns for a moment, eyes flitting to the side as she tries to think. There's definitely something going on inside of her mind but a troubled look on her face gives away some doubts that she has.

"Maybe... I can use my power to make an antidote." She's thinking out loud, "I know I can do it i-if I have the right vessel to channel magic into. It's just that... the staff I have isn't the right one." That's the problem. If she had a moon festal, this would be over in an instant.

If she had a different vessel... Her hand is still on Add's chest, focusing as much of her magic as she can to hopefully slow the spread while still trying to turn ideas in her head. She isn't an expert in magecraft but she's studied some and she understands how healing magic works. New books and staves are created all of the time, she understands the theory enough, and...

She looks at Tsuzuki.

"If I can have a vessel that will accept my magic... Maybe... " She tries to explain quickly, "I-I named you and you... s-serve me so maybe-- it's possible-- I can make it work."

Eyes shift from Tsuzuki to Jakob and Add and warns, "It's only a theory but without knowing the exact poison, making an antidote won't be easy." It might not work. Will they trust her? Can she trust in Tsuzuki? Shes' asking for a lot of trust right now.

Tsuzuki smiles reassuringly at her, straightening up to his full height.

"I'll do my best," he says, "just call me! I trust you."

Her magic is already focused on healing, and surely he can be of some use. He can't just be good for bashing ayakashi over the head -- and Add needs their help. He'd seen how many candies were already gone from that box that Jakob thought had been poisoned.

He isn’t liking the look on her face as she attends to Add. A part of him wonders if he should be pestering her with the obvious—will he make it?—but coherence is difficult, and his mind is in a jumble as he tries to reconcile the symptoms with what he knows of poisons and healing magic. A more potent staff than his would be able to cure him, but Jakob is even less of an expert in that regard.

He almost wants to faint right then and there, but Sakura’s musings bring him back to reality—even for just a moment.

“Anything!” he blurts out. “That is…” He turns from Sakura to Tsuzuki with a deep bow. “If there is the smallest chance that he can be pulled back from the brink…I would owe you everything! He’s…” His voice cracks, just a little, as he glances back at Add. “He is the very sum of my afterlife, and more.”

He is the very sum of my afterlife and more. There's almost this kneejerk reaction to ask what about Corrin but of course she doesn't say it. Still, it hits her when she realizes how important this is to him all over again. This isn't just his god. It's his master.

"R-right," She stammers, thinking of everything she needs to do to prepare. Call Tsuzuki, focus her magic... could she use him like a staff? Wave a ladle in the air and hope her magic would work that way? Or something more traditional, like an elixir of vulnerary? She would do both to be safe. "Water... I'll need water, Jakob. And Tsuzuki... come to me, Touki."

"We'll help him," Tsuzuki assures Jakob.

The sum of my afterlife -- it's intense, all right, but Tsuzuki understands. There's a lot shinki can do besides devote themselves to their god, but none of that means their god's not the most important part.

He'd feel the same way if Sakura'd been hurt.

She calls him, and he becomes light for a moment before re-forming in her hand as a humble ladle.

The tragedy of it all is that he still has yet to realize that his original master is within reach. It’s very difficult not to feel like a man who is quickly losing everything, when there is so much around him yet worth living for.

For all his melodramatics, however, that simple instruction is quick to help him focus. “Water?” he repeats, dumbly, before straightening up into someone halfway competent. “Of course, my lady. As much as you need.”

They have a stockpile of holy water in the temple, just in case, though Jakob has been very careful not to let their use become necessary. But well, this is an emergency, after all, and as Tsuzuki transforms Jakob scrambles away to search for a portal to the refrigerator.

This might take a while.

Sometimes it can be a good thing that the temple seems to have a mind of its own. Of course the temple would want to ensure its master's good health, so Jakob's trip to the fridge won't take nearly as long as he's expecting... although, he may have to wade through a couple swamps, hotsprings or ponds in the temple's eagerness to provide what's needed. Too bad none of that water is real.

Hearing Jakob refer to him with such high esteem, though... Add has no idea how to feel about that, aside from the growing guilt from making everyone so worried and dramatic over what is surely just a harmless poisoning (Chikusa would've expected him to eat that many, right? he wouldn't do something as dangerous as actually giving him a deadly amount of poison, would he...?). With Jakob exiting the scene for now, though, he has no choice but to focus more on the other god and shinki pair in the room. He's barely known them for more than a couple minutes, but already he feels like they're a good team. They seem to get along and really trust eachother... nothing like Add and Jakob who are constantly bickering.

He sighs again, unable to do much more than that anyway, before staring straight up at the ceiling so he doesn't have to look at Sakura. Ugh, she's already so much better at this godhood thing than him. Why couldn't he just get a shinki more like himself...?

While she's waiting for Jakob to bring some water-- anything, really-- she's trying to quickly figure out the best way to make this work. She just... has to channel her magic into this, right? It's easier when she knows what staff she's using and the exact effect she can get out of it but now isn't the time to give up.

"O-okay. Let's try..." And she waves the ladle lightly in the air, focusing her magic into curing any poison-- purified water, clean air, of something unclean and dirty inside the body being expelled. Of course, Tsuzuki doesn't work that way. "We'll need to wait for Jakob..."

Are you doing anything?

He can't feel anything -- or, at least, he can't feel anything that he's doing, although the scent of magic is heavy on the air. If he were to do something, focus his magic somehow....

He has the sense that he needs water to try this out with. Or anything, really. Anything spoonable.

I think we do, yeah.

As much as he appreciates the temple’s efforts—sort of—trudging through the swamp does take him a bit of time, and considering the enormity of the situation he can’t help but make a beeline for their stash of holy water. Lady Sakura needs all the best possible tools in order to do her work, after all.

He does return some fifteen minutes later, looking considerably more haggard than when he’d left it, whilst carrying an armful of bottled holy water, still cold from the fridge.

“Would these suffice, milady? I’ll find some more, if necessary.”

"Nothing..."

She's quiet, not wanting Add or Jakob to hear her. They're worried enough already and the last thing she wants to do is make things worse. The sooner Jakob arrives, the sooner they can take care of everything. For now, she can only manage what she can. Time goes by so incredibly slow and she knows it's no fault of Jakobs. Surely, he's hurrying to retrieve some water or something they can use and he'll be here any moment--

"Ah." She's clearly relieved when he arrives and she wastes no time taking the bottle, undoing the cap, "Let's hope."

Pouring the water onto the spoon, some spills in her own rush to administer treatment. This is it. It's now or never. "This is it..." She believes in Tsuzuki and she believes in herself. She focuses her magic again-- clean air, fresh water, pure healing magic-- and raises the ladle to Add's mouth.

"Here, drink this."

Add looks bad, Tsuzuki thinks, as Sakura rushes to pour water into the bowl of his ladle form. Some spills over, leaving wet blots on the floor, and he focuses that odd potential he can feel into the water.

Is it doing anything? He doesn't know, but he can feel Sakura's magic pressing against him like a warm hand. It feels like it should be doing something.

If he had lungs, he'd hold his breath as she raises him to Add's lips, trying to administer the water like medicine.

Jakob stands off to the side, watching the proceedings with increasing trepidation as well as a pang of something like nostalgia. His previous master had used him in a similar way, when Jakob had been used to heal rather than fight.

But Lord Roxas is gone now, and it’s all he can do to make sure Add doesn’t share his fate.

“Is…Is it working?” he inquires after a few moments, unable to contain his impatience for much longer. At the end of the day, faith is something he doesn’t have much of, after everything he’s been through.

Add has been rather patient through all of this, but then again, he hasn't had much choice. Lacking the ability to move or even speak, all he can do is wait for everyone else to move things along. It's easier to calm down now that his condition seems to have stabilized with Sakura's help, but it's a huge relief when the water is finally brought to his lips.

The refreshing effect can be felt almost immediately—whatever kind of magic they were trying to use, obviously it's working. His body still feels numb and useless, but the nausea is starting to ebb away and his face is starting to regain a bit of sensation as it comes in contact with the liquid. He tries to inhale more deeply—

And erupts into a pained coughing fit, made worse by how restricted his chest still is by the paralysis. Also the fact that he just tried to inhale a mouthful of water. He maybe didn't think that through very well. Progress, though??

She's focused, trusting in Tsuzuki right now to make use of her magic. If this doesn't work, there's nothing else she can do but try to slow the spread of poison and treat the symptoms the best she can while Jakob finds more suitable help. This wouldn't happen back home. Back home, she'd be able to fix this right now-- call for someone to bring her Moon Festal and cure even the worst of poisons. But she's so much more limited here. The magic and medicine in this world are different. She couldn't break whatever curse was afflicting Lavi and now she's at the mercy of fate to save Add. Healing was the only thing she was good at and here, some of that has been taken from her...

Is it working? She doesnt know, Jakob, and she doesn't answer, focusing her magic and watching Add for any sign of change. He begins to cough and she starts, unable to hide her surprise. It worked? It's working? With her free hand, she places a hand on his chest gently and tries to get him to rest, "C-careful, you need to give it a little more time to work." She's relieved-- absolutely relieved.

Some of the water's spilled and she'll pour some more. She isn't sure how much to administer but thinking of the elixers and concoctions back home, the same amount should be a good starting place. "Just a little more, Tsuzuki, please." A polite request but she's clearly proud, "It looks like it's working." The last part is mentioned more towards Jakob than anyone else in hopes it'll alleviate his concerns some.

I think it is! Excitement carries loud and clear through the tone of Tsuzuki's thought as he focuses on the new water. Add's coughing, yes, but at least he's making a sound now -- he must be a little better.

(And he really is useful, he can't help but think: he's got a power that can work with Sakura's magic. He's not just a spoon.)

“Add!” Jakob narrowly stops himself from charging forward and interrupting the healing process. At another time he might wonder if the synergy between god and shinki was what had brought about such a miracle, but right now he’s far too wound up to think of such things. He can only allow himself the smallest bit of hope before Sakura’s reassurance pretty much shatters his convictions to hold back, and Jakob slumps to his knees with a sigh.

“Thank the gods.” He quickly drags his knuckles over his eyes, trying to conceal the moisture welling up therein.

He eventually manages to stop coughing, accepting more water in hopes of ending this embarrassment sooner. The healing effects start so slow after a few more drinks, though, apparently reaching the limits of how much this poison can be cured. Not that he has much to complain about, since he finds he can actually breathe and even wiggle his fingers a little bit. A full recovery might take longer, but it's certainly going to be much shorter than it would've been without Sakura and Tsuzuki's help.

"Enough," Add answers in a weak voice, hoping to interrupt before Sakura can fill up another ladle. "I'm fine. That's enough." If he drinks any more, he's going to start feeling sick again...

He feels a wash of relief from Jakob as well, reminded of their empathic link that probably wasn't doing much good for his condition either. But the physical effects its had on him are the last thing on his mind right now, compared to the sight of his shinki on his knees with his hand across his face. Even if he can't be sure, it's far from unreasonable to guess he'd be crying right now. There's a pang of uncertain emotion as he's reminded of the last time he made his shinki worry like this. He's put Jakob through so much, it's a wonder he still chooses to stay at Add's side.

It's quiet, but he mutters a sheepish "Sorry" before looking away again. What he wouldn't give to be able to disappear from this room right now.

[ CLOSED ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject