Day 82, morning

[amazing_am_i]

This was definitely NOT the interior of the stadium. In fact, it wasn't Earth any more at all. He did, however, recognize this place. It was the baths in Gisela's world. He was a step behind her, and part of him was relieved she made it back home and part of him was glad he came with her, but why was he brought back too? He had a game to play! He

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[gis_s_christ]

He was here. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was supposed to stay in his own world, where he belonged. She wasn't upset; she wasn't ready to be away from him. But he wasn't supposed to come back with her. She was sad for him, for only getting a little time back in his world.

"Yeah. This is the castle." She held on to him, curling her shaky fingers into his shirt. "I'm so sorry. Maybe... if you hadn't been walking so close behind me...?" He wouldn't have followed her through whatever thing pulled her back to this world? Maybe? "I'm sorry."

[amazing_am_i]

He sighed. "Don't apologize. It was a good day to have you in my world. I'm kinda glad I'm back here. And look at the bright side, I have all your books!" He smiled and let her hug him as long as she wanted. "When you're ready, we can go drop this stuff off in the rooms. You should rest to get rid of the jitters anyway."

[gis_s_christ]

"Glad?" She shook her head against him. "But didn't you want to go home?" Though she was pleased that the books had come through. That was one of her worries, that she would come home without them, and lose all of that knowledge.

She held him for a little longer, because even if he said he was kinda glad, she didn't believe he was okay with being back in Shin Makoku. But he was right. She probably did need to rest. So she stepped back. "Okay. I'm ready."

[amazing_am_i]

"I do want to be home, but I'd be pretty bummed out if you went back without me."

He wasn't sure if she wanted him to hold her on the way back or if she wanted him to keep his distance in case there were people about. Rumors were notorious in this place and as far as he knew, she was still supposed to be seeing Yuuri here. But since she wasn't feeling well, and he generally doesn't care about rumors and things of the sort, he put his arm back around her and led her from the bathroom.

Bert's room would be the first room passed while hers was a few rooms after. "If I stop at my room to drop stuff off, can you make it to yours or do you want to just come to my room?"

[gis_s_christ]

"That was how it was supposed to happen..." But she said it quietly, because she didn't like the idea either.

She had gotten used to him putting his arm around her, and she was still relying on his support, so she didn't say anything when that now familiar weight fell over her shoulders. If anyone asked, she would simply tell them she was unwell. Or that it was none of their business.

"I... I'll see how I feel when we get there."

[amazing_am_i]

Bert nodded and walked slowly so she wouldn't be too unsettled. There didn't seem to be too many people milling about, so it might still be really early. He had no idea what time it was here at all. All he could tell was that it was probably somehow after dawn because of the amount of light that usually woke him up in the morning here was shining in the windows on that side of the hall. One of the maids that passed by stopped for a second made a weird gesture as if to say something, but said nothing and scurried off. "Well, I think it's safe to say there will be some fun stories going around. How you doin'?" He took the last few steps towards his door and let her go to open it.

[gis_s_christ]

Great. A maid. "What else is new?" she sighed. It took a moment to grasp she was wearing Earth clothes, and Bert's jacket was still draped over her shoulders. "I'm feeling a little queasy again."

So it was good that they were at his room. Maybe he wouldn't mind if she sat down for a bit.

[amazing_am_i]

Bert led her in and kicked the door shut. He dropped his baggage next to the door and got her to the bed so she could lie down for a bit. He took the coat from over her shoulders and tossed it to the end of the bed. He sat beside her and kept stroking her hair. "I'm sorry I didn't think of the caffeine. Too much of it has some weird reactions and it tends to keep people awake. It's good if you're sleepy and need to be a bit more awake, but if ya ain't used to it, then it's not so good."

He took the book that she had been holding and flipped through it. "You want me to read you some of this? At least the beginning that's all boring and not really all that useful?" And usually with fewer hard words.

[gis_s_christ]

She wasn't expecting the bed, but it was welcome. It would have been more proper to go to her own, and if she were feeling well enough to make the short trek to her room, she might have insisted. She wasn't, so she didn't. She curled up on Bert's and let his hand comfort her.

"It's okay, Bert. I'll be fine. I don't blame you. I don't mind, actually. You've been very sweet." She smiled up at him.

He wanted to read to her? "Sure. Go ahead. I would like that."

[amazing_am_i]

Bert's reading skills weren't the best. If she wasn't feeling so bad, he'd not have even suggested it either. But for as much of a jerk he could be, he did tend to treat girls a bit better

[gis_s_christ]

This was as good as storytime for her, and she didn't mind that his reading was choppy. She pieced it together in her head, and understood what was meant. As he read, she moved her hand to lightly stroke his knee. She knew this wasn't his thing, but she was grateful he was putting effort into helping her, and making her feel better.

[amazing_am_i]

"..Finally, the ap-preciation of structures on or immediately underlying the surface of the body is frequently made the subject of special study-surface anatomy. Systematic Anatomy.-The various systems of which the human body is composed are grouped under the following headings:
1. O-ste-o-logy-the bony system or skeleton.
2. Sy-nd-es-mo-logy-the articulations or joints.
3. My-ology-the muscles..." Bert paused a brief second when he felt her hand on his knee. He hadn't expected that at all, and it was appreciated, but he kept trudging through. He hoped he wouldn't have to re-read this later when she was taking notes. Even after their shower, it was still a little hard for him to behave himself, but he was doing his best, and though her touches were distracting, the book material was enough to keep him disinterested in much else.

[gis_s_christ]

Those words... She was going to need them repeated later, when she was taking notes. There was no way she would ever remember them, especially not as she was right now. She sighed deeply, and closed her eyes, just listening, her hand still moving slowly against his knee. "Big words," she muttered.

[amazing_am_i]

"Y-yeah. Sorry. I wish I was better at this." He frowned but kept going.

"For descriptive purposes the body is supposed to be in the erect posture, with the arms hanging by the sides and the palms of the hands directed forward. - Oh, so like that skeleton picture!" Finally something he understood. Though he had to fight back a chuckle with the word 'erect.' Even he knew how juvenile he could be, but sometimes he just couldn't help it.

[gis_s_christ]

"You're doing fine," she said, peeking at him with one eye.

She murmured agreement with his realization. Though her eyes were closed, she didn't feel tired at all. She wished she did. She wished she could just fall asleep and wake up feeling better. Everything felt shaky and spinny and light. Her stomach was rebelling, and her head was starting to hurt. "You don't have to keep going, if you don't want to. If you have other things you want to do, I don't mind. I can just rest. ...If you don't mind." She didn't want to move, so she hoped he let her stay here a while longer, at least.

[amazing_am_i]

Bert all but snapped the book shut and put it aside. "Thank god," he murmured. He wasn't really sleepy either, since he had a few cups of coffee, but he didn't really have much else he wanted to do. All he wanted to do in this place now was be with her. "Nah, I ain't got any big plans." He shuffled to lie down and held her close to him. "You can rest here all you want. We can just chill." He rubbed his hand on her back, as had been done for him during many hang overs. He didn't have a bad reaction to caffeine like this, but was suspecting some similar feelings.