Day 122: Rough Awakenings

[windgod]

Who: Ippo and anyone who wants to visit
When: Day 122
Where: The Hospital
What: The Sleeper has awakened and needs a little help getting back up on his feet
Format: Any
Warnings: Hospital Things, a little blood, and maybe some sad talks

[The scene in his mind kept replaying over and over and over, as if some cruel tormentor had strapped him into a chair and was forcing him to rewatch one of the most painful experiences of his life while he was completely separated from it; only able to watch helplessly as he was impaled by Rin and had his face ground into the dirt repeatedly. Each time he felt himself slip a little further away, more and more until he was simply ready to close his eyes to escape his torment and never open them again; but it was then he heard a voice in the back of his head. It was small at first, but eventually he could make out Coach Kamogawa's stern voice, yelling at him to yell up and feeling the sting of his hand on his back. Then came Kimura, Aoki, Takamura, even Miyata joined in the rising chant for him to stand up.

Then his other friends from the Bastion joined in, Seimei, Night, Alucard...and Rin; the chorus of voices had reached a pitch in his mind where everything else was blocked out, and then his eyes opened now glowing a fierce green. His teeth and fists clenched in unison as his body sidestepped the oncoming sword that was to impale him again and his body coiled like an angry cobra as he prepared to strike the fake Rin; her smug look now contorting into something akin to fear.]

This isn't real...you're not real..NONE OF THIS REAL!!!

[He yelled at the top of his lungs as he swung his fist in a heavy arch, his gauntlet screaming towards Fake Rin's face with enough force to break down a brick wall and just as it made contact...he woke with a start. His eyes shot open and the first thing he noticed was the distinct sound of a fast paced beeping which was slowly starting to level out; or rather the first thing he noticed as that he had something shoved down his throat which he quickly pulled out as he began coughing violently. Once he pulled himself under control, he looked around slightly as his eyes adjusted to the light of the room as he tried to figure out just where on earth he was; he had been in Jawson Bog last he remembered...and now...was this the hospital? Had he somehow gotten back to the Bastion?

There were more questions than answers at the moment...but he was in a warm bed and there didn't seem to be anything around that was going to cause him harm; so he simply leaned back into his bed and continued to let his eyes adjust. Hopefully someone would be around to explain the situation to him soon...that or he'd have the strength to get out and move on his own; either way, it was just a waiting game for now.]

Comments

[hellpyre]

[Rin nodded with a faint smile, opening the door again.]

They're good people, from what I can tell. Really confused, though. They were... experiments, or somethin' like that. I'unno the full story but I'm sure you can ask at some point.

But uh... lemmie go get some food, okay?

[windgod]

Wow...I'm glad they made it here alright; I'll definitely say hello once I'm back on my feet.

[Ippo gave Rin a nod and a smile as she left to go fetch food. He'd been foolish to even consider her as anything less than a stalwart friend; that much was certain.]

[hellpyre]

[She wasn't gone long, and she returned with a tray piled high with food - much more than she had given the other hospital residents. She knew that he would need it more than they did, and that a guy like him ate a lot compared to others.]

Here.

[windgod]

Wow...that's a lot, thanks!

[Ippo dug in rather fast, enjoying all the flavors he'd missed in the time he'd been unconscious; even five days was enough to teach him the value of even simple tastes. That and the lack of real food in him was enough to drive him to such feverish eating; hopefully he wouldn't choke on it all.]

[hellpyre]

I know you wanna get your strength back as soon as you can.

[Rin dropped down in to the seat finally, snagging a bread roll off his tray to nibble at herself.]

[windgod]

[After swallowing a rather large mouthful, Ippo nodded and sighed contentedly.]

Yeah, we all have to play our part here; and if my strength serves good purpose out on the front lines, then that's where I'll be.

[hellpyre]

You still gotta be careful!

[The usual admonishment from her, the Bastion's biggest hypocrite.

But on a more seriousness note.]

... what... happened out there anyway?

[windgod]

Yeah...

[For once in their time knowing each other...Ippo looked genuinely uncomfortable; his eyes shifted ever so slightly away from Rin and focused more on the food he'd stopped eating.]

...All I remember was that we got hit with some gas and then...it was like being in another world. It felt so real...it just felt so real...

[He could feel the tears starting to well up in his eyes, but forced them back as best he could; though he still looked reasonably distraught.]

I'd rather...leave it at that for now.

[His voice wasn't very demanding on the subject, and if Rin pushed he would likely be honest with her; but right now it was still fresh and hurt to think about.]

[hellpyre]

Gas... ?

[That almost got her to press for more. If it was something that needed to be avoided the next time they went out on the Skyway, she would want to know more about it and what it did.

But his expression, and his words after made her stop, snapping her mouth shut. Her jaw worked a bit, but soon enough she nodded and offered a sympathetic smile.]

That's fine. You need to rest and get better anyway.

[windgod]

[The gas itself he could talk about, in fact it was pretty important for people to know about it...what he saw was something he wouldn't wish on anyone.]

Thanks...but remember the gas, definitely. The plants...they look kind of like Pincushions but they shoot out gas instead; avoid it at all costs, okay?

[hellpyre]

Great... I already hate those damn things enough as it is...

[But then, she hated most everything out on the Skyway that was out to get them.]

I'll remember that though.

[windgod]

Good...but on to better things, yeah?

[Ippo's expression lightened a bit as he took a small drink of water; the cool liquid soothing his parched throat and making it much easier to speak without feeling like he was dragging his vocal cords through sandpaper.]

So...besides the new arrivals, did I miss anything else interesting?

[hellpyre]

No, not really. Nathaniel was pretty pissed about what happened but I think he's over it now.

[Rin shrugged a little, finishing off the roll she had snagged.]

I'm sure we're gonna have to go back out there again soon.

[windgod]

[Oh yeah...Nathaniel had told them pretty clearly to avoid the swamp. No wonder he was mad, especially after he'd been dragged back unconscious.]

I should probably go say sorry personally once I'm better...he did warn us after all. As for the Skyway; I'm sure there'll always be one reason or another to go back out...hopefully I'll be more prepared for it next time.

[hellpyre]

[It couldn't be helped, and apparently Colin gave him a pretty good verbal beat down over the fact.

But it was over with now, so there wasn't much that could be done anyway.]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I'unno what he was expectin' given that the Core wasn't anywhere that could be easily found anyway.

[Another shrug, but talking about it reminded her:]

OH! We have electricity now!

[Rin may or may not have hugged her new kitchen refrigerator.]

[windgod]

I noticed! Its...actually kinda nice; the more cores we get, the more this place feels like home.

[It was still a little hard to say that this was home...but wasn't that the truth of the matter? It wasn't like they could turn back the clock on things; this was home, and if getting more cores could make it homey-er, then it was a good thing in his book.]

[hellpyre]

Well... I-I'unno if it'll ever be home but... its easier to live like this, I think.

[Rin had spent her entire life in one place, and even though that eventually led to her moving to a dormitory, it was still in True Cross. And it was still with her sister.

That part in particular made it all the harder to accept that this place might ever be home, no matter how much having Bon made it easier to handle as a whole.]

[windgod]

Oh...yeah, sorry.

[He really had to get better with the whole learning to think about what he said before he said it thing; hopefully he hadn't upset Rin too much with that.]

B-but yeah! It should make sailing a lot smoother around here; did the electricity come with any appliances or such we can use with it?

[hellpyre]

[She's always going to be upset about her sister, man.]

Oh, uh. Y-yeah. Lotsa stuff, actually!

[Wow Rin why are you blushing]

[windgod]

[The sudden change in mood caught Ippo off guard slightly, what was Rin getting so flustered about?]

R-really? Like...what do we have now exactly?

[hellpyre]

[Here it comes]

Everything in the kitchen changed! Electric ovens, fridge and freezer, proper lighting everywhere!

[Yup. She's gushing.]

I don't have to dry the meat anymore! We can keep things longer, and there's even a proper kitchen and bathroom in our apartments!

[windgod]

[Well now, the good news seemed to be piling on! Ippo couldn't help but crack a smile at Rin's exuberance; not to mention it was just plain nice to hear they had such modern conveniences again.]

I'm really glad to hear it, that all sounds wonderful honestly. It should make things even more easy around here...goodness only knows we could use a breath of fresh air around here.

[hellpyre]

[You have no idea Ippo.]

I wanna cook so many things now!

[windgod]

Really? Do you have any ideas on what you'd like to make first now that you can?

[Oh Ippo has at least a vague understanding, and maybe if he was lucky he would get to be a taste tester.]

[hellpyre]

I'm not sure yet. I need to see what I have for ingredients and figure it out from there, but it's all gonna be awesome no matter what I make!

[And considering Rin had been making bare essentials with non-electric appliances taste passable for months now, that was no exaggeration.]