exsiliumlogs | Let's be war buddies...

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Let's be war buddies...

Date & Time: 18th, beginning at 2100 hours, through to the 20th.
Location: All around Exsilium.
Characters: Everyone!
Summary: The United Earth decides Exsilium had obviously not learned its lesson back in October, and does another round of humble-making bombing for those impertinent exiles. OOC info can be found here.
Warnings: Violence, death, general gloom and doom.

The warning had gone out approximately two hours before the bombing began, broadcast to any available receptor on the island: UE aggressions incoming, bombs expected; please proceed to Catacombs immediately. It repeats over and over, right up until the first bomb, aimed at the Hold itself, silences the signal.

The air is thick with smoke and worse. Every one to two hours another bomb shakes the island. Buildings crumble and shatter, but the focus is on the Hold and the native hospital. Initiative employees, some sick as anyone else, are steadfast in their escorting natives and transports alike into the underground catacombs. For two days the bombs continue ceaselessly, dropped by their cloaked and invisible carriers overhead.

The United Earth is nothing if not thorough.

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( cants his head slightly and answers carefully. )

I think Lenalee's taking care of him - but you're right, they'd probably startle a small cat like him!

( he hasn't seen li jun since his abrupt hospitalization, but he doesn't doubt lenalee, really )

I'm glad to hear he's being taken care of too. Did the virus going around affect you badly? I have some of the antidote on me if you need it. [ because hey, it is still her mission to pass it out, right? and if she could help a friend out at the same time, then the mission is being accomplished and one step closer to complete, bombs be damned! ]

( hesitates slightly; his first instinct is to say she should save it for some of the sicker people, but he can already hear the lecture he'd get about that, and anyway it doesn't do anyone any good for him to stay sick. )

You do? That'd be really helpful, thanks.

[ there would indeed be an incoming lecture from saying no, and she is not going to take "no" as an answer. :) kaburagis and their stubbornness... ]

Yep! [ she sorts through her bag and pulls out a bottle that shakes with pills inside, and a water bottle as well. ] It takes several hours for it to start kicking in, but you should feel considerably better by tomorrow.

( he can hear the particular sound coming from a container holding a lot of small pieces, and considers the next complication. it's probably a pill like the antibiotic course he's been on the last few days, and if he's going to take that and probably water as well from her...

there's a gold pocketwatch he'd been holding in his hands that glints as he carefully sets it down in front of him to free them. the next pause is just to get up the courage to say what he's going to need to, since she'll more than like work it out anyway at this point; being upfront isn't one of his strong points and never has been. )

I'm going to need your help, though. I can't see.

[ that...definitely makes her pause. her mind starts racing — is it the virus that caused that? maybe one of the bombs? how did he lose his sight!?

she shakes her head and moves to sit in front of him, nodding at herself as she puffs her cheeks momentarily. she then takes one of his hands, dropping the required amount of antidote pills into his palm. ]

Okay, so go ahead and take those, and I have a water bottle with me that you can keep and use to help them go down. [ and oz will hear the sound of a seal being broken as she removes the top of the water bottle and press it into his other hand. she's trying to keep herself calm and collected, her hands steady, but on the inside she is freaking the fuck out. but, now is not the time to break down and cry and express how much she hates the Initiative and United Earth even more. her friends came before her expression of how she feels about this entire situation. ]

( he swallows hard on a still-sore throat in the silence as she absorbs that, dreading her inevitable response. but she's all business, and while he knows that can't be all there is too it, he relaxes a little for the time being, reminded of sharon.

he nods at her instructions, instinctively cupping his hand holding the pills so as to keep them from rolling away. lifting them to his mouth and swallowing only takes a moment, especially after starting to get used to the large pills he'd started off with; and then he drinks from the bottle she's given him, more than really needed for the medicine. it's easy to get thirsty down here, and harder to get supplies when he can't on his own - gil's been taking care of course, but there's only so much he can ask gil to do.

says brightly as he returns the bottle: ) It's really great that you've got the extra medicine with you. You've been taking care of yourself too, right?

[ there's definitely more to it, but she won't unload it all on him, or anyone, if she can help it. if anything, she'll write it out or type it out angrily and then trash it.

she smiles as he takes the medicine and takes the bottle back, capping it and putting it back in his hands. she nods, more so to herself than to him, even though he can't even see it... ]

I have. I found out I was immune to the virus, so I figured the least I could do was go on the mission and help with making and passing out the cure. I took extra for friends who weren't in the clinic, and even more just so I could pass them out to people who hadn't received it yet, such as yourself.

[ she bites her lip as she pauses, debating whether or not to go ahead with what she wants to say next, but it is just...freaky, to say the least, seeing oz in this condition and wondering how long it will be for. ]

If you don't mind my asking, is this temporary, you not being able to see?

That's wonderful.

( he's still tired in some bone-deep way, but there's real gratitude for her luck in his tone and expression. he likes kaede, and it's especially nice she's been relatively safe since she's so young. without any need for pretenses anymore, he keeps his eyes shut as they talk now, relieving some of the pain from making himself keep them open much more than he really should.

he stills at her question, though, feeling a cold shiver of dread down his spine. is it temporary? it's been around a day now with no changes. of course, it could be the sort of thing that takes some time to heal, like his body with the rest of the disease, but...

the gases that caused it were most definitely dropped on purpose, and there's no question of if the ue is capable of doing something like that to people.

swallows again, and keeps his tone light. )

I'm sure it is. If the people here were able to take care of the disease, I'm sure they'll find a way to cure something like this.

It will take several hours to really notice improvement, just so you know.

[ this is...definitely a weird thing for her — talking and interacting with someone whose eyes are closed, but yet the person is awake and aware??? she is so used to making eye contact with people and this time she can't, even though it is not her fault nor oz's that this is the case.

she beats herself up silently for the question about a minute later after she lets it sink in. silly kaede, of course he won't know if this is temporary or not! and knowing that the United Scum caused it in the first place makes her doubtful.

god, if she knew swear words, she would call them by every name in the book and then some. ]

That is true. If they could cure that virus, they should be able to reverse this, too.

Mm, that's alright.

( a few hours isn't much of a wait after weeks, and at least it's a guaranteed improvement. unlike, of course, their other topic of conversation. he continues to keep things light, unsure of what he'd be if he isn't positive. )

Exactly! It should be a small thing after something like that.

And honestly, the Initiative owes it to us to keep us in top shape since they want us to fight their battles for them. [ she rolls her eyes with a huff, fingers tapping against the stone ground they sit on. ]

Anyway, someone has been staying with you with your vision temporarily gone, right? Do you need anything — more water, some snacks? I can always come back and bring some to you in-between bomb drops...

( he reaches in front of him for the pocketwatch he'd set down earlier, walking his fingers on the cold hard ground a few centimeters before finding it again. normally it's affixed to his clothes as a pocketwatch properly should be, but that hadn't been the case in the hospital. it'd been lucky that he'd thought to scoop it into his pocket before having to evacuate; he would've been sad to lose it after everything. the chain jangles slightly as he pulls it towards him and nods at her question. )

He's just gone to get supplies. ( and check on people, oz's sure; he's been just as worried as anyone else but still spent a lot of time with oz. ) But I'll be alright. You don't need to worry, Kaede.

That's good to hear, otherwise I would drag you back with me to my spot.

[ Her mind wanders off as she falls quiet for a moment, thoughts of conversation snippets she's heard during her walks that start to actually chip away at her. Most of those snippets focus on how similar this bombing is to a bombing from a few months ago.

Her dad's face appears in her mind, grinning like the big doofus he is. She thinks of his time here in Exsilium, and, estimating what "a few months ago" would be, concludes that the possibility of him being present for it is high. He had probably been in the catacombs as well, walking through, checking on people, taking a break to breathe.

She lets out a short laugh as she shakes her head, but there really isn't any humor or lightheartedness in it. ] I'm not laughing at you, Oz, I promise. I just had a thought that makes this entire situation so ridiculously frustrating.

( he just laughs in response to that threat, a little bemused. and so - doesn't feel any irritation when she laughs herself. just concern at the tone of it. )

I know you weren't. What happened?

[ Her short fingernails tap against the stone ground they sit on, her eyes drifting up to the ceiling above them as she talks. ]

I was just thinking of how my dad must have felt during the first bombing when he was here. He probably felt like us — frustrated, tired, stuff like that. And now here I am going through the same thing, probably sitting in the same spot he sat. He would hate this entire thing.

( ah. that'd explain it.

more subdued: ) He's not here anymore?

No. He left practically right after I showed up. He is definitely more equipped for this sort of thing than I am right now.

( he can imagine how that might feel - not with his own father, but perhaps uncle oscar. )

Even if that's the case, ( he says bracingly, sits up a little ) you were able to come and find me, and helped me get medicine I need. And I'm sure you're doing it for other people too. So, to me, it seems like you've been doing really well with the situation, Kaede.

[ she looks back at him and smiles a bit, even if he can't see it. ]

Thanks. I'm trying my best to handle it all the best I can. [ because otherwise the mental dam she has holding back everything will break, and everything will come rushing out. ]

( he grins, at least sort of at her if not with. )

You're doing really well.

Thanks, and the same goes for you. You're pretty cool and collected for having lost your sight temporarily.

It doesn't help to panic, right? ( said with a light laugh ) Or to assume the worst. Once my uncle told me, "What's important is that you stay calm at a time like this!" when it comes to difficult situations.

[ She laughs lightly as well. ] Your uncle sounds like a seasoned man!

He is, he is! He's very wise - and always has good advice.

( well, not always. )

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copia - 2013-06-28 04:41 (UTC) - Expand

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