Day 43: Intercom, Evening

[damned_intercom]

Hello! I.R.I.S. here once more to announce to you, our honored guests, that you have officially made it through a day of our typical Landel's treatment. Of course, it isn't quite over: we will now have you retire to our designated patient quarters with one of your agency partners to inspect their sleeping area and the tools that we provide them

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[notachick]

The door opened and Okita tried to erase any trace of worry on his face, silently chiding himself for ever allowing it to break through in the first place. Glancing up, he lowered his hand and smiled at Guy as he entered the room - only to have the expression fade when he realized something was bothering Guy as well. Today seemed like it hadn't been a good day for anyone. Regardless, Okita returned the greeting as he always did, "Good evening, Guy-san."

But tonight was going to be difficult, that much was certain. Neither of them were feeling up to par, but Okita was possibly better at hiding that. He could listen to Guy and support him if he needed it. After all, the things Okita was worried about were things he could do nothing to change right now. Ayumu was far away, so were Hijikata and Homura, but Guy was here in front of him - and so he deserved Okita's full attention.

And come to think of it, Okita hadn't heard how well Guy had survived the previous night. Okita had managed to get healed and avoid any serious injuries beyond a few scratches on his arms, and today his ribs were feeling much better as they no longer ached when he breathed. But Guy? "How are you today? Is everything alright?"

[razing_phoenix]

This was starting to feel like routine. He came in, Okita was already waiting for him, they greeted each other, and then Okita immediately turned the conversation onto Guy. He hadn't missed how little his roommate liked to talk about himself over the weeks they had spent sharing this space, after all. Yet for once, he realized that he did need to explain what was going on with him before he could start worrying about his roommate. It was for Okita's safety as well.

"Not exactly," he admitted. Tonight's dinner was steak. Why did it have to be that of all things? Still, if he got full then maybe the cravings wouldn't be so bad when they returned. He grabbed a few fries and ate them one-by-one before gathering up the courage to speak again.

"I'm guessing you were there last night, and... I don't know if you heard about the infections, but..." What good way was there to say this? Guy frowned for a moment before he decided that in this case it might be better to show and not tell. He let out a sigh and then started to yank his shirt up and over his head, revealing the bandages that wrapped all the way around his chest.

[notachick]

As he suspected. While Okita was rather good at hiding when things were bothering him, Guy was honest. It was a good thing to be honest and Okita wished he could be that way, but there were times when it made things inconvenient; such as now. The moment an honest person was upset, they usually showed it in some manner - on their faces or in their body language. Okita found it rather endearing, actually.

But now was not the time to be thinking of such things. Guy was upset and he had little to no appetite. Seeing his roommate not eating was unusual and Okita scooted his chair back, setting his hands in his lap as he waited. When Guy did not speak, Okita moved to stand, but was stopped as he rose from his chair by Guy finally breaking the silence. He fell back into the chair lightly and then froze.

I don't know if you heard about the infections...

Of course he'd heard about them. He'd made sure to check the people in his care for them, especially when he'd heard what they did - the hunger, the rot, the horror of the realization that one might...become those things. But he'd made a mistake, he'd forgotten to check one person - someone very important. And as Guy lifted his shirt and Okita caught a glimpse of the bandages around his chest, he felt a chill dread run through him.

Guy was always there for him. He was always in the room, always safe, always waiting. He was a constant companion. They had gone through some rough times, each had broken arms and gotten hurt, but Guy had always shown up again. Rising from his seat, Okita moved over and grabbed Guy's arm gently, stopping him from pulling the shirt up any further. He didn't know how to deal with this, but he knew that if he saw anymore, he'd start thinking of his roommate - someone he was beginning to consider a friend - as the enemy. Pushing Guy's arm down a little, he tried to smile and shook his head. "...I understand." Okita could feel his smile fading slightly, but he didn't try to bring it back. "I understand, Guy-san. If there is anything I can do, let me know."

[razing_phoenix]

While Guy was more than aware of the way Okita could lose control sometimes, it wasn't something that happened very often, at least around him. There had been that first night they'd spent together, when Okita had gone after Kenshin, but after that Guy had mainly seen Okita composed. He was usually in varying levels of distress, but he could generally hold himself together.

For that reason, he hadn't expected the man to come over and physically stop him. Guy didn't resist, letting the shirt fall back down into place as he slowly lowered his arm to his side. Okita didn't want to see, and Guy couldn't blame him for that. He knew that his roommate wasn't squeamish by any means, and yet he realized there was probably much more to it than that.

He couldn't help running a hand through his hair. All he had spent the day doing was talking and worrying about this bite, and it bothered him that he still didn't even know if that concern was warranted. It killed him that he had to drag his roommate into this mess when Okita obviously had other problems that he needed to deal with, but he really had no other choice.

"I'm sorry, Okita," he said, and it was the most genuine he'd probably been in their time together, "but I think I do need your help. I... I don't know if it'll come back, but it might. If it does, all I ask you to do is restrain me somehow. To the bed, to the chair -- I don't care so long as I'm sure I won't be able to get out and do anything I'd regret." His eyes were full of a sadness that he couldn't properly define, that he could also feel in his chest, where the wound was stinging at him. He hated that he had to make his roommate do this, and for some reason it was far harder to ask for than he'd expected.

[notachick]

Maybe this was what they all felt when they saw him coughing. Maybe they felt the fear that their comrade was going to perish and disappear. In his case, it was a certainty, especially considering the era he lived in and the thing in his lungs. But Guy... He'd always seemed safe. What if he became like those shambling mindless hordes? What if he--

Okita's hand was still on Guy's arm and he squeezed it gently before letting go. He'd devised a similar plan for keeping Adelheid in his room, although that boy had special powers, ones that were dangerous and thus required heavier measures. Guy...perhaps would be easier to restrain. "Of course."

He'd tied men up for capture before. He knew the knots and how to trap someone. All he needed were the ropes. He supposed he could take the bedsheets apart and use those, possibly tie Guy to the bed or something. Straightening, he smiled reassuringly at Guy and nodded. "Of course," he repeated, gaining a little more confidence for his roommate's sake. He could tell how much this hurt him to ask; to reveal such weakness. "I'll take care of everything. You don't need to worry."

With that he stepped back and then put his hands behind his back, tilting his head to the side. With all this worry being flung about, it wasn't good for either of them. "I'm particularly good at it, so why don't you try eating a bit more of your dinner? It's no good if you wear yourself out like this."

[razing_phoenix]

It was good to have Okita there, both physically and emotionally. The fact that his roommate could find the courage to touch him even when he knew that Guy was possibly infected with an incurable illness was comforting. Guy didn't know if Okita had only read about what happened or if he had seen the transformation in one of his own friends, but he hoped that the man would be able to handle it.

Even if Okita was putting on an act, it was still convincing, and so Guy forced himself to believe it. His roommate was more or less telling him that everything would be okay, and right now Guy was willing to let himself be fooled by that reassurance. The more realistic part of him was more than aware of what the dangers were and how this could all go very, very wrong, but he was going to bury that for now.

"Thank you," he said with a ghost of a smile. For some reason it wasn't surprising to hear that Okita was good at tying people up. "I really appreciate it, and I'll do my best to hold still so you can take care of it quickly and then get to wherever you need to go." As if it wasn't bad enough that he was asking Okita to do something so taxing, he was also going to be sucking up some of his time -- time that was precious during the nighttime hours.

Okita had a point about the food, though. Even though it wasn't looking particularly appetizing to Guy at the moment, he still forced a few more fries into his mouth and then started to cut up the steak. It wasn't human meat, it was animal meat. It was perfectly normal to want to eat something like this, and he was going to make himself remember the taste so that he could focus on it later.

[notachick]

"You'll be the first person to ever hold still while I tied them up, Guy-san. But thank you." That ghost of a smile was enough to buoy Okita's spirits and he smiled back, a little more genuinely this time. It was a comfort to see Guy believing in him, trusting in him again. The past few days had been rough and the following days, only worse, but for now they were just going to believe that maybe it wouldn't be. Okita recognized this feeling. He remembered feeling it as he sat on the rooftop, watching the fireworks with Hijikata and Kondou like they had in days of old.

But that was a memory he could not linger on. As Guy started eating again, Okita turned away and went to his bed, pulling the bedsheets off it and leaving them in a heap on the mattress. Leaning down, he pulled his sword out from its usual hiding place in the bed frame and then sat on the bed. Looking at the blade now, he remembered how a few nights ago this had been through his shoulder. There were nicks in the blade and as he ran his fingers over it, eyes closed, he could feel the imperfections. At a glance, it still seemed fine, but his fingertips could pick up the dips and scars from battle and Okita smiled slightly. A samurai's sword was indeed their soul.

He opened his eyes and started cutting nicks into the bedsheet, spacing the cuts out to give each piece of makeshift rope enough strength to hold a man. He glanced up to make sure Guy was eating and then went back to his work as he marveled at Guy's honesty. Okita could never just come right out and say that. He could never just say that he was dying, that he was carrying a disease that had the potential to kill everyone here. As he set down his sword and ripped the first strip off, Okita called out, "You truly are an amazing person, you know that?"

[razing_phoenix]

The oddness of someone willingly being tied up hadn't escaped Guy either, but how often did someone end up with an infection that urged them to attack other people? He knew that Claude wouldn't have bitten him if he'd had any choice in the matter, which meant that he couldn't expect himself to be able to resist either. This seemed like the safest option; if he thought that he could keep a hold of himself by the time Claude got here, then he would ask his friend to untie him.

The fact that the meat tasted so good made it much easier to eat, but Guy still made sure to take his time. If he started to force it down out of necessity, he would just end up feeling sick. He switched between the steak and the fries, also to make it easier, and watched as Okita started getting to work on ripping up the sheets. His roommate was definitely taking this seriously, which Guy was also grateful for.

Still, he was preparing to suggest that Okita make sure he was done with his own dinner before he worried about doing that, only to be interrupted by a comment that took him by complete surprise. He stared over his desk at where Okita was standing, trying to even find the context for that comment. Then again, this wasn't the first time his roommate had said something out of the blue like that.

In the end, he couldn't help laughing self-deprecatingly. It just sounded so ridiculous to him. "What do you mean?"

[notachick]

Guy certainly seemed to be enjoying the steak. Perhaps Okita should try some sometime...eventually. He was still unaccustomed to Western meals, even after all this time and eating red meat especially tended to make him ill afterward. The fries, however, he could probably manage, and the salad that his nurse typically brought for him would be enough. He'd prefer fish, but he knew that today was not the day for it.

Okita ripped another piece of the bedsheet off and laid it on the bed before smiling and shaking his head. "I admire your courage," he responded, ripping a third piece off. He wasn't used to talking so seriously to people, and really, the only times he tried it usually ended poorly. Either Tetsu fell asleep or Hijikata got depressed and left, or something else interfered. So it was Okita's general policy to keep away from such things - at least, it had been until he came here. Laughing a bit as he sat down on the bed, continuing to strip the bedsheet apart, Okita shrugged and continued. "Or maybe I should say honesty? Either way, it's more than most would do."

[razing_phoenix]

With some explanation it was easy enough to see what Okita meant, though Guy didn't really think what he'd done necessarily counted as courage. Honesty, maybe, but was that really so admirable? What other choice had he had besides telling Okita about it? It wasn't like his roommate wouldn't have figured it out when the time came, anyway, so it only made sense to warn him beforehand.

"You really think so? I mean, wouldn't anyone tell their roommate that they might change into some kind of monster once night comes?" It was actually kind of hard to phrase it so bluntly, but the words got out of his mouth before he could think twice about it. He needed to be more careful.

It was silly to be arguing about this, though, and so Guy tried to return to what he'd originally been intending to say. "Anyway, you should make sure to finish eating before you get too caught up in that..." While he knew they were on a time limit, he didn't want Okita to brush aside something as important as dinner for him.

[notachick]

Okita stopped midway through ripping a new strip of cloth off and let his hands rest in his lap. Would most people tell their roommates such things? Okita was certain some people were keeping it a secret, if only for fear that their roommates might kill them before the night came. The terror of the night before was enough to drive people to do dangerous things, inhuman things; and just because there was a twelve hour buffer did not help people's reactions.

He knew he was still keeping a deadly secret, but thankfully, his could only affect him.

A smile ghosted across his lips and he nodded. "I think many people would be afraid to tell others, in case they became targets. People do many things they regret when motivated by fear." Such as not saying anything at all. It was a delicate line to tread between spreading awareness and spreading fear, and Okita himself wasn't sure of what to do about it. Shaking his head, he went back to work, pulling the strips off the bed sheet. "And I'll be fine. The food here doesn't suit me very well."

Or at all. It was probably why he hadn't been eating lately. Everyone was scolding him about that lately. Perhaps it was because he was losing weight? But then...he knew that was not the only reason he was thinning. "But once I finish this, I'll eat something. You make sure to eat first though. I still have time."

[razing_phoenix]

It did make sense that people might be worried that their roommates would turn on them, seeing them as inhuman the moment the rot showed. In fact, maybe that would have been the smartest way to handle it, as Guy wouldn't have minded taking a hard hit to the head if it stopped him from biting anyone else. Still, he had known that if he was upfront with Okita about it, there wouldn't be anything to worry over at least when it came to that. It just hadn't even occurred to him that Okita would judge him, though he realized that some roommates might not be nearly as close.

Meaning he might not have been as honest if he'd been sharing this room with someone else.

Guy wasn't too happy about the fact that Okita was refusing to eat, but he knew by now that his roommate was extremely stubborn. At least the man had promised that he would eat, and Guy was going to hold him to that. He forced down a few more bites of his own steak before deciding that he couldn't stomach any more. He let the plastic fork clatter onto the paper plate and then pushed the tray back slightly.

"I... guess I just knew that you wouldn't let fear cloud your judgment," he responded, slightly delayed. "Rest assured that I might not have been so open if the two of us were enemies." He was so relieved and grateful that he and Okita got along well.

[notachick]

Ooh, that was an unhappy face. Was Okita going to get it from all sides now about his eating habits? Ayumu, Homura and now Guy, too? He supposed he should be thankful that so many people were concerned about his health, but really...it was a bit of a bother sometimes. He knew he was doing a silly thing and that he should eat, but if he did? He felt ill and the last thing he wanted was to get sick in the middle of a battle tonight. Still, he laughed when he noticed Guy's unhappiness and set his work down. He could finish later, he supposed. Going over to his desk, he picked up his salad and sat, starting on it just as Guy finished his food. He hadn't eaten a lot, but then, Okita didn't really expect him to have much of an appetite.

"Then thank you, for that trust," he said between bites, laughing a little. If they were enemies, Guy would have been lucky to be able to eat at all. Okita couldn't imagine what it would be like to room with Himura, for instance. The tension any time Okita picked up his fork would be...unbearable to say the least. He made quick work of the salad, surprisingly quick, considering how his appetite had been that day, and then set his fork down. "I'm lucky indeed to have you as a friend, not an enemy, hm?"

[razing_phoenix]

Though Guy hadn't pushed the issue, apparently Okita had sensed his disapproval, seeing how he did end up abandoning the sheets to go back to his meal. He was only eating the salad, which wasn't going to provide him with very much energy, but it was better than nothing and Guy knew that. He realized that it must have been hard for Okita to adapt to some of this food, but his personal opinion was that he should get over it before it started to compromise his usefulness to his club. Eventually malnutrition would wear down on a person (and Okita was pretty frail already).

"I think we're both lucky," Guy said with a brief laugh. "I don't think I'd want to be on your bad side, Okita." He'd seen what his roommate was capable of up close and personal. While Guy could be almost as fierce when he had a reason for it, he didn't like resorting to that, and he wasn't able to match someone else's anger and killing intent unless he had an extremely good reason for it.

He felt like he should be gathering his things for the coming night, but then he had to remind himself that he wasn't going anywhere.

[notachick]

Okita laughed at that, moving on to his fries, but slowing down considerably. He didn't want to finish these and have to go to the steak. He honestly thought he got enough protein through other methods, and sometimes by asking the nurse to slip him something during the day. He ate, just not where many people saw him. "Yes, but I don't think it's possible for you to get on my bad side, Guy-san."

And he really didn't want to test if it was possible. People on Okita's bad side tended not to live very long. Those who were foolish enough to get on it and then antagonize him? Shorter still.　　After hesitating a moment, he tried the steak and managed not to make a face, even if the meat felt heavy on his tongue. At least it wasn't pork. He ate it politely and then stood up to go back to his work. "I'm lucky I'm not on yours though, considering how badly I teased you the first night we met."

[razing_phoenix]

[To nightshift.]