Hair Trigger [Yuugao, Nejiko]

[anbu_moon]

[Set two days after this.]

It had been three days of hell - or at least that was what Yuugao thought of it as. First tracking down Rumi (Hawk, she used to be Hawk) with the help of Kaori (Fox, always Fox in reference) only to find Chidori (poor little Horse) doing her best to restrain... He blinked away the awful images and tried to calm himself.

Comments

Definitely. Om nom NOM!

[anbu_moon]

Calm down. He had to calm down. He continued the mantra, but the excess of adrenaline kept pumping through his system. And while he had been able to loosen to a normal grip on his katana (compared to the death grip he had started with) Yuugao felt his body starting to tremble. He heard Nejiko's approach and was again amazed when her simple actions made him drowsy again. He had, of course, jerked at her touch, but he was still in enough control to keep his body from retaliating to what it could have considered a threat.

Nejiko was a friend, a comrade, a hopeful but doomed possibility for a lover...and the entire reason he was here instead of at home, collapsed on his bed.

"Sorry," he whispered, dropping his gaze and slowly lowering his sword, his exhausted muscles once again relaxing. Unfortunately, the rush of adrenaline had gotten his breathing and heart rates soaring again, but at least he knew he wasn't about to lash out with his katana. Not unless someone screamed or rushed at him.

...or at least, he hoped those would be the only things to set him off. And that no one would do them.

~<3

[weighted_wings]

"It's all right, taichou," Nejiko responded soothingly, keeping her hand on his arm as he lowered his sword. The nurse, older and clearly frightened, wisely remained still to avoid Yuugao's attention. Clearly she had worked with shinobi before, but the wide eyes and the shallow breathing indicated how this sort of situation wasn't one commonly handled. Nejiko nodded once to her. "Nurse-san, would you be so kind to have a cot brought in here?"

What Yuugao needed more than anything was sleep. If he passed out here at the hospital for a few hours, so be it.

Merrr?

[anbu_moon]

The nurse nodded and moved slowly out of the doorway. Yuugao, thankfully, was having success calming himself down. Unfortunately, his motor skills and balance went with his anxiety. He looked as dead on his feet as he had in her windowsill and he was quickly getting worse.

"Cot?" he asked, turning to look at Nejiko and wavering on his feet for a moment, correcting his balance before he fell - but not before his head jerked back and then snapped forward again. "What'sit for?"

He would've insisted that he could've made it home - and probably would have started to do that - but it was taking all of his mental capacity to focus on Nejiko and the situation around them. The rest of his mind was very intent on sleep.

Chocolate is good. :3 So is fudge. Mmm.... Hot fudge~ Hot fudge SUNDAES.

[weighted_wings]

"For you to sleep on," Nejiko lied. Her body language declared she spoke truth, had he been in a state to scrutinize it. She moved her hand to try and ease his sword from his hand so she could put it away, but he just grew confused and clung to it tighter so she relented with a murmured Forgive me, taichou followed by, "but you can put the sword away. There's no threat here."

Dang. Now you're making me want ice cream....

[anbu_moon]

Threat or no, letting go of his sword had been something incomprehensible. It was his katana and at the moment, it somehow seemed more like a real, physical extension of his arm. At Nejiko's gentle words, though, he dropped his gaze to his hand and blinked.

"Oh. Right."

He started to lift his hand again, but as his hand trembled he took a step back and carefully sheathed the blade. As it was, he frowned to himself at how difficult it had been to do such a simple task. Sheathing a katana should not have been a threat to Nejiko's safety and yet, he had convinced himself that it would be better to step back to do it.

With his blade comfortably on his back again, Yuugao scanned over the room, despite his head bobbing up and down faintly every few seconds. "Did...did I wake you up when I came?" He didn't want to admit it, but the memory of his arrival here was dim now.

McDonald's has awesome hot fudge sundaes for only $1. ...and I want one now.

[weighted_wings]

She shook her head, emphasizing the motion with a spoken "No." Another expertly-concealed lie more from habit than actual need. She wouldn't stand up to another Hyuuga's scrutiny but while Yuugao had good eyes, they were still outclan eyes.

She had allowed him the space to sheathe the sword, and hadn't commented on how he scanned the room. "It's time to rest," she told him, using both hands now to gently pull and push him to the hospital bed. He would sleep there. When the cot came (hopefully with extra pillows and blankets), she would claim it for herself and hope her feet would thaw. They ached miserably from cold.

There is ice cream in my freezer....but no room in the tummy. Woe!

[anbu_moon]

He had focused for a moment on the windowsill and remembered that when he had gotten to his feet, he had pushed her. He apologized, she politely brushed aside his concerns. Tired as he was, Yuugao allowed himself to be tugged and pushed towards the bed. Just before they reached it, he blinked twice at the upset sheets and then looked back at her with wide eyes.

"But...I was getting the cot, wasn't I?"

Yuugao remembered that bit of conversation. He was sure of that one.

...I have ice cream too. Chocolate. And chocolate syrup. >>

[weighted_wings]

...He had to remember that, didn't he.

"It's temporary," she explained, still prodding him to the bed. "It could take them a bit of time to procure a cot, so while we wait for it you can 'catnap' here." She could pull the chair next to the bed to watch him until the cot came.

Mint chocolate chip for me. And chocolate syrup. *grin*

[anbu_moon]

His gaze slowly shifted from her to the bed and then he nodded. "Right."

With her prodding, he took the final steps to the bed and while he normally thought hospital beds could learn a thing or two about comfort - not that he was ever rude enough to voice such things - sitting on the mattress felt like heaven. His eyes rolled back into his head and his entire body slumped, nearly falling back onto the mattress.

"Mmm, s'comfy," he murmured, the wave of exhaustion now so strong that he could hardly find the will power to keep his eyes open.

But Nejiko was still there. In just hospital pajamas. He blinked quickly and nodded. "Just...just a catnap, though."

*cackles most evilly~~~~*

[weighted_wings]

"A catnap," she agreed. Mentioning how she would use the alternate definition of 'catnap' to mean a very long nap, seeing as felines slept for most of the day, would only bother him. She wasn't lying this time, just stretching the truth.

She helped ease him down so he finally lay horizontal on the bed, though it also took some gentle verbal coaxing until he finally lay on his side, facing her. He hadn't put up a fight, had swung his feet up on the bed, and almost looked relieved when his head touched the pillow. He certainly liked the pillow, if the way he snuggled against it was any indication.

*griiiiiins*

[anbu_moon]

Yuugao's consciousness was filled with wonderful, Nejiko-scented thoughts. This was heaven. Though...part of him thought that perhaps he wouldn't be wearing his uniform. But at least this was a huge step up from ten minutes previous. Despite how he really did want to be his usual considerate self and take the cot, his body and the exhaustion that he had been ignoring time after time had caught up to him. Once his head had found a comfortable position on the pillow Yuugao was out cold.

Close on the tail of Yuugao's unconsciousness, were the quiet steps - but still audible to trained shinobi - of what would best be described as a pack of nurses. Their whispers echoed down the hall and just before appearing in the doorway, one nurse hissed for them to be quiet and be gone.

By the way the steps continued after the previous nurse appeared in the doorway it was apparent they hadn't listened.

She smiled gently, looked over at Yuugao with a wary expression and still held the pillow and blankets tightly in her arms, but now she was followed by two other nurses handling a folded cot on wheels. "Is he...asleep?" she asked, shuffling in and then glaring back at the rest of the faces that peeked in the doorway after the cot came through. "Will he need any medical assistance?"