GOEMON ---> 11 [Action] Back from the Dead

[ishikawa_juusan]

Who: Goemon, Lilly, and anyone else who would like to join in!
Where: Somni city.
Style: Any you feel like.

By all appearances, a man has collapsed and died on an uncleared sidewalk in Somni city.

Comments

[gracefulmother]

Lilly usually stayed in, but the recent crisis has driven her outside more often. Even if she really wasn't capable of doing much, there were at least a handful of people who at least needed someone to talk to.

She heard some heavy breathing, and stopped in her tracks. There weren't any footsteps, which means it couldn't be a jogger. What was going on?

"Excuse me." She had no idea who this was, but she couldn't help but express her concern, regardless. "Are you quite alright?"

[ishikawa_juusan]

At the sound of a familiar female voice, he straightens to look up, seeming mildly surprised to find her as if he expected someone else. He can easily read the worry written across her features and feels a tinge of guiltiness knowing he is the cause of it; she had enough to be concerned about, he imagined, with the challenges inherent in suffering from a disability.

“Lily-san...” With his head still feeling full and thick, her name takes slightly longer to surface in his memory. His voice is much huskier than usual with disuse. “...I will be fine.”

As if to make a point, he sets his jaw decisively and struggles to his feet against the elephantine, aching heaviness in his body, his fist squeezing Zantetsuken as he uses it to help bear his weight. But just as soon as he is up, he totters into a nearby lamppost, left gasping and leaning against it for support.

[gracefulmother]

"Goemon?" His voice was rather hoarse. Did he just fall ill? She couldn't know for sure what he was going through, for all she knew, he could just be out with a cold. But even in that case, why is he outside? She hears him stumble, and approaches him.

"Please tell me you aren't hurting yourself in the meantime..." Her voice had very slight hint of scolding, but it was mostly genuine worrying. What if he was injured fighting that monster last week? What if he falls even more seriously ill wandering about?

[ishikawa_juusan]

Lilly’s gently reproaching words are met with a thoughtful pause, and his eyes, so often sharp, impassive, and even coldly impenetrable, soften in degrees. Even if it is difficult to plunge past the cloudiness of her own eyes to read the feelings they hold, he believes, in his heart, that her consideration for others stems from a genuine interest in their well-being rather than in some effort merely to distract herself by shifting focus away from her own burdens. He cannot forget when he had transformed into a child, anxious and longing for human contact in a way he had been unable to properly express, and how she had patiently tried her best to console him

[gracefulmother]

Lilly's concern was probably a result of being surrounded by problematic individuals for most of her adolescent life, but it was still genuine, nonetheless. She barely understood the nature of this world, which meant that it was particularly troubling to notice others fall victim to it.

"Here." She bent down and attempted to sling him around her shoulder. She was a bit slender, but her cane was at least sturdy enough to help support the extra weight.

"Your home is not far from here. From there, we can decide if we need to call an ambulance." If he couldn't even walk, it was a fair enough assumption that this was more then a cold.

[ishikawa_juusan]

Letting her pull his left arm across her shoulders, Goemon doesn’t argue with the course of action she proposes, nor does he attempt further conversation as they begin to move. Rubbery-legged weakness aside, the walk is made more challenging on account of their difference in height that creates a slightly jerking gait; he continues to rely heavily on his sheathed blade as a crutch in part to lessen the burden on her, focusing hard on placing one foot in front of the other. The hum of mingling voices - the cityscape ambience - fades as they approach the lake, leaving little more than the crunch of snow underfoot, the sound of his weary breathing

[gracefulmother]

Some of the passerby seemed to comment on the strange sight, and even that they didn't mind where they were going, but strangely enough, they continued to stay uninvolved. Lilly, on the other hand, was focused on both trying to walk Goemon over and remembering where she was headed.

"Please, do not let it worry you." With the recent disasters, it wasn't exactly unexpected for something like this to happen. She seemed to slow down in unfamiliar territory, but quickly tracked Goemon down.

"In the meantime, please tell me what's wrong. This seems far too severe to be a simple illness." This seemed to dire to stand around talking, but she really had no way of knowing for sure without asking.

[ishikawa_juusan]

Alas, he is not much of a host, very rarely having guests in his home - but this was a time in which he wishes he could have at least boiled and shared hot tea in an attempt at hospitality. Letting her words sink slowly into his mind, he debates how he is to reply to her, what he is to censor. But rather than to completely undermine his situation and reduce it all to an inexplicable tiredness - would she even accept that? -, he feels somewhat compelled to touch upon the surreal subject of his own death

[gracefulmother]

"You... Did not recover?" Did her really mean that he... no, that isn't even possible, is it?

And probably for a good reason, too. Lilly would have never stopped worrying then. Even still, she couldn't help but grow slightly horrified when he describes how he was brought back to life.

"Then you need to rest, at least for the time being." If he claimed to have no major injuries left, then there wasn't much a hospital could do for him.

[ishikawa_juusan]

“Mn.“ The ronin gives her a tired murmur of agreement before shutting his eyes, heaving an imperceptible sigh. “I have little choice in the matter, after all.” Usually, he could not easily resign himself to such a situation and settle down to rest when matters weighed heavily on his mind and soul, but the fact of the matter was that this bone-deep level of exhaustion was just not something that he could overcome by sheer willpower

[gracefulmother]

"Apparently so. But if it is just exhaustion, then it should pass quickly." She wasn't sure of the nature of this, but it may be one or two days until he recovers, at most. In the meantime, she would just have to offer what support she could.

Her run in with Wrath had ended peacefully, but between Fay and the man, there was a chance that she may one day be targeted. That chance, however, was low. The man obviously wanted a fight, and Lilly was much too peaceful to satisfy that. She was safe, at least for a while.

[ishikawa_juusan]

Contemplating her response, Goemon tries to guess at her intentions and blushes faintly, unsure as to whether she means to linger and watch over him.

"I appreciate your help, Lilly-san. Were it not for you, it is likely I would have still be in the streets." He reaffirms gently, pausing for a moment.

"...I will not be keeping you from your business."

[gracefulmother]

With her job, Lilly couldn't linger around the whole time, but she wouldn't exactly just leave him, either. She'd probably be checking in quite often.

"Please, do not worry." She nodded. Morality aside, it was the least she could do for his assistance when she arrived.

"I believe I have some more time, if there is anything more you need."

[ishikawa_juusan]

Although he is well aware at this point of her kindness by way of her actions and mild-mannered speech, it still comes as a slight surprise that she appears comfortable with the idea of spending what time she has to spare in his home. There is nothing keeping her here but her own volition.

He imagines she must trust him enough not to take advantage of her good intentions - which, given her blindness, likely involved taking a great leap of faith since she could not perceive the nuances of body language or read in his eyes what formal words and an often carefully neutral tone left out. Or, it may be more that her intense urge to be of help allows her to set aside the fact that he is still something of a stranger to her. Either way, it is not in his character to abuse her sweet nature; unfortunately, it seems a tragic inevitability that someday, someone will.

"...I appreciate it, but it will not be necessary. I intend to sleep for a while.”

[gracefulmother]

Lilly had spent her whole life around people she could trust, and she had a lot more ways of telling then people thought. She could hear a person's tone of voice, and sometimes, that was much harder to hide. When they could though, perhaps all it really took was a few minutes to gain her trust. She was naive and sheltered, but she wasn't foolish, at the very least.

"I understand. Please, just call me if you do need something. Farewell"

With that, she took her leave. It was worrying to let him stay there, but what else could she do at this point? At this point, the most helpful things for him would be rest and time.