[Thread] Apple a Day [Jyuushirou, Retsu]

[status_terminal]

The bad thing about living with one's physician, Jyuushirou quickly learned, was that it was damned hard to avoid check-ups now. Especially when all he had to do was walk out of his bedroom and find her there, in their living room, knitting what looked to be something fluffy

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[violenthealing]

"Good morning, Jyuushirou," the doctor in question greeted him pleasantly. "Did you sleep well?"

It was, as in most cases, a typical morning in the Unohana-Ukitake-Honshou apartment. The greeting was innocuous, in-and-of-itself, the sort of greeting that Retsu gave to an acquaintance or friend. That she merely happened to be Jyuushirou's physician was a minor inconvenience, most of the time. That she just happened to hear him coughing loudly the previous night was a little setback. Doctors did not like to take their work home with them, either.

Guilt was written all over his face, and Retsu wondered if perhaps he had eaten cookies in bed or something equally childish. Not that she would scold him for it. He was, after all, an adult these days.

[status_terminal]

The question was a double-edged sword in the worst of ways. On the one hand, he could lie, and tell her he slept very well; though that would only serve to have her distrust him from then on, and that wouldn't do, not at all. On the other hand, he could tell the truth, tell her he hasn't been feeling very well at all, really, but that would then only prompt her into those obligatory doctor-ly questions that neither of them really want to get into, especially so early in the morning.

What he needed, was a distraction. Oh where was good ol' Chizuru when he needed her the most?

"Not really," he admitted uneasily, shifting around a bit. It was a vague answer enough-- it left it entirely up to her if she wanted to take it further or not.

[violenthealing]

It wasn't so much a matter of whether she wanted to or not, but rather, of making sure that her roommate (and patient, though that was an incidental issue at the moment) was actually feeling well enough to carry on with his daily activities.

"And how are you feeling this morning?" She glanced down at her stitches to make sure she was, in fact, knitting twice and purling once, before pressing her calm gaze upon her hapless roommate.

[status_terminal]

He had to wonder if she was always this calm. It was a highly possible-- maybe it was a doctor thing. Somehow it always made him feel a little bit uneasier.

Especially when he was about to lie.

"Much better, actually, I--"

Funny how life worked. Because just as he began that lie he doubled over, hand pressed firmly to his mouth to try and hold in and muffle what he can. His entire body shook with the coughs, another hand had to be held out against the wall to keep him steady.

It was not nearly as bad as it was the other night, however, a tiny blessing he was thankful for. Though by the time he'd finished, little specks of blood littered his open palm, and he looked as bad as he was beginning to feel.

The smile he gave her was sheepish.

"Nevermind."