[Open] Dr. Medic's Sleepaway Funtimes Camp

[mementomoritz]

I. So girl keep telling me [network post]

[About three hours after the whole post-Esmeeting kerfuffle, every phone included in the Executor group chat suddenly blares loudly with an incoming post that appears to have every possible alert and priority notice the person writing it could find attached to it.]

ANYONE WHO ATE ANYTHING AT ESME'S HOUSE REPORT TO MEDIC IMMEDIATELY YOU ARE POISONED


[Well, you can't accuse her of burying the lede.]

i'm in my lab in invidia [The exact address and coordinates of the lab are attached along with the message, including a helpful photo of a scribbled map just in case anyone is really bad with directions.] if you ate ANY of the food esme served or if you're feeling sick, come here so i can treat you
if you find someone unconscious or unable to move on their own, BRING THEM HERE
if you don't have anyone around and think you need help getting here, reply to this message immediately

i threw up, so i tested some of the leftovers i took home
and that food is very, very poisoned
(also, if you brought leftovers home, don't eat them)


II. pick me up whenever i'm feeling down [in-person log]

[True to her word, Medic is ready and waiting in her lab the second anyone arrives.]

[The living room of the apartment she commandeered has been turned into a makeshift hospital. She's dragged cushions and mattresses in, laying them out on the floor and covering them with clean sheets and blankets to make sickbeds. Next to every bed is a glass of water and a bowl for, uh. Any stomach issues you might have to deal with.]

[Anyone healthy who walks in the door will be cheerfully pressganged into nursing duty.]

[The beds are set up facing the living room's lone TV, but well... this is Invidia. Guess who's probably on every channel.]

[You might have better luck with putting on a movie, but no one actually saw this coming, which means your available selection consists exclusively of stuff Medic brought with her from the Limbo library when she came down to Invidia. By which we mean exactly one film.]

[Whether having to see Esme's face is better or worse than watching Brutal Instinct again is a choice you're going to have to make amongst yourselves.]

Comments

[phantasmagorial]

[ Rei, who had been dozing in her bed like a good patient, surges out from her covers the instant the door comes flying open and she's halfway lunged out of her bed before she actually registers who's here and just... freezes. ]

... K... Kingslayer...?

[ She sounds like she doesn't even believe it as she says it. ]

[pioailurophobia]

[Kingslayer stares at Rei, completely frozen. There were so many things they wanted to say, after the haze faded and they found themself in the back alleys of Invidia totally alone.

But ultimately, none of it really mattered.

They may not be a knight, not truly, and Rei may not be their lord (and that's a good thing), but Kingslayer takes a knee regardless.]

Rei, I'm...

[Two words that they never thought they'd say slip from their mouth.]

I'm sorry.

Please... do away with me as you wish.

I deserve it.

[phantasmagorial]

Do away with you?

[ Rei's voice is shaking, as she slowly lowers herself onto the floor. ]

Do away with you?!

[ Ah, now her hands are shaking too. She desperately wants to keep herself under control, if only to set an example, but with everything that's been happening, her nerves have already been frayed to pieces.

Now they snap.

All in a rush once again, Rei strides over to Kingslayer and she pounds her fist against their chest rather ineffectually – by the sounds of it, it has to have hurt Rei more than them. ]

You were gone all this time – [ Another smack to the chest. ] – all this time and anything could've happened to you – [ Smack. ] – all of us were worried sick and – [ Smack. ] – and now you want me to send you away again?!

[ No smack, this time. Just Rei panting for breath, flushed red with temper and nursing her now very sore hand. She hasn't been yelling exactly, but that was definitely not what we'd call an inside voice. ]

[pioailurophobia]

[It is, in that moment, Kingslayer realizes exactly how stupid they've been.

All of their past, everything they have and could've done, it doesn't matter to the girl standing before them now.

There's really only one thing to do.]

...I'm sorry.

[They wrap their arms around Rei in a hug.]

[phantasmagorial]

No– don't touch me.

[ Her response is sharp and angry, as is the way she steps back and out of Kingslayer's reach before they can embrace her. She doesn't even understand it herself, but she's so furious that she's shaking. She ends up gripping onto the front of her shirt with both hands, fists balled so tightly they ache, just to have something to anchor herself. ]

You just– disappeared. You ran away and none of us knew what'd happened to you! Lion looked everywhere for you! And the first thing you say to me when you get back is asking me to send you away again?!

[ Would they even have come back in the first place, if it hadn't been for Mercy's message? Does that even matter right now? She's not sure of the answer to either question. ]

Do you even understand what you're apologizing for?!

[pioailurophobia]

...for almost hurting you, Lady Rei?

[They cock their helmet to the side, confused.

They... don't understand at all, do they?]

[phantasmagorial]

[ Ooh, she wants to yell. She wants to yell so loud it makes her lungs burst, but she holds onto it, gritting her teeth until the urge subsides. To have them do this on purpose would be bad enough, but something about the thoughtlessness hurts even more. ]

You ran away. [ She spits it out like an accusation. ] You caused so much damage and– and you could've hurt Lion, you could've hurt me and you just ran away! Without saying a word! And you just hid out, even while Lion was looking everywhere for you and– and–

[ Anger renders her mute for a moment and she can't continue. ]

i'm so sorry,

[pioailurophobia]

So...

Why aren't you punishing me?

[phantasmagorial]

Because I don't want to punish you! I want you to understand what you did and never do it again! If you don't understand why it was wrong, then what's the point of putting you in time out or something ridiculous like that?

[ Her voice is growing shriller than she'd like and she forces it back to an acceptable pitch and volume. ]

If something like this happens again, how can we trust you not to just run away and leave us?

I'M SORRY FOR THE SHORT REPLIES IT FITS HOW THICK THEY'RE BEING

[pioailurophobia]

Because if I did something like that, it'd mean that I definitely couldn't be trusted to control myself and I'd trust you to execute me so I wouldn't be a danger to everyone else.

...right?

[phantasmagorial]

... you really don't get it, do you?

[ Her voice is horribly cold in a way that doesn't suit her. ]

No matter how much I explain, you won't get it.

[pioailurophobia]

...I really don't, Lady Rei.

I honestly don't even know why you still want me around.

[phantasmagorial]

Because we said we were all going to do this together, didn't we?! That was why you became an Executor! Because none of us could handle this alone, but if we were together then we could at least try!

Now I don't even know if you really meant it or not.

[pioailurophobia]

Of course I meant it.

And if I'm defective, that means I'm the weakest link, and if I break again I should be kicked out for the good of everyone else!

[phantasmagorial]

[ Rei takes in a deep breath and has to hold it, to steady herself. They're going in circles, and getting upset isn't going to help either of them. But she is upset, in a roiling pit all the way down in her stomach. The breath comes out again in a long sigh and when she speaks, it's in a frighteningly cold voice that doesn't suit her in the least. ]

Fine, then. Here's an order for you, Kingslayer.

Just do whatever you want. I can't keep going around in circles to make you understand.

[pioailurophobia]

Understood.

[Kingslayer nods, once. They don't think Rei understands, not really. Her soft nature was her weakness, especially in cases like these... but it was also her strength. And if all of this nonsense served some purpose, at least it gave Rei enough backbone to learn how to be hard.

So they could still be of service.

Kingslayer ducks out the door to take up a post as the room's guard. Not as if the others wanted them around, anyways.]