[OPEN] Earthquake Event - Clinic

[soul_mods]

Characters: OPEN
Location: Death City - Clinic
Rating: Varied
Time: January 22 onward
Description: Any disaster naturally will have its set of injured. OOC post here.



The barn that was the clinic had thankfully been spared any major damage, and apart from its furniture and supplies in disarray, it seemed to function without much difficulty. There was the pervading stench of chemical in the air due to broken bottles of medicine, but the open windows would soon deal with that. More importantly, the clinic was ready for its slew of patients, and bustled with its business more than ever.


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Comments

[topgun_textiles]

"I dunno why, but every time I saw her, she was always wearin' an apron," he replied, scratching his head. Kanji wasn't too keen on his mythology, or he probably would have had a better answer for that.

"Friendly, though. This is gonna sound weird, but I think she keeps watch over it." He himself didn't go to the shrine much, save for feeding the fox and her family every now and again. There wasn't much to wish or pray for, he felt, that one couldn't work to accomplish on one's own power.

Hmm. Ling was okay with the paintings, right? Maybe some drawings would be okay to show off, too. Kanji went to get his sketchbook off the coffee table and flip through it: A sketch of Amaterasu snoozing under a tree in the park, some people he'd met and others from home including a boy in a cabbie hat, Death City's moon and sun...

"I ain't a pro, but puttin' up stuff like this helped the room look less like 'a dingy box' as you put it."

[forhispeople]

"Aha, a guardian spirit, it sounds like," Ling breathed, impressed. "We have tales of such things in Xing, though I've never witnessed it. This looks like a rural area-- it wouldn't have been acceptable for me to go there."

He studied the panting once more. "I really admire the way the light hits the shrine from this angle, here," he commented, gesturing politely with his hand as he had before, not pointing. "The shadows are falling so nicely on the other side. I feel that it captures the atmosphere of time of day quite well."

"So... you did these, didn't you?" Ling realized, looking back at Kanji with newfound respect. "These drawings in this book are yours as well?"

[topgun_textiles]

Kanji only watched as Ling gestured to the painting. He remembered lingering on how the light fell on the structure, how it cast shadows... but really, he went by the picture in his mind's eye. He would always pass it by on his way to and from school, but it was after school that he usually stopped to observe the shrine before heading on home.

He nodded, then. He did the paintings, the drawings, and he wasn't the least bit ashamed.

"It's somethin' I like to do," he answered, and lifted his head when he heard a whistling from the kitchen. He handed Ling the sketchbook and went to attend to the tea.

"You take it straight or d'you put anything in it?"

[forhispeople]

"Straight and quite strong," Ling answered. "I'm Xingese," he added, as if that was supposed to tell Kanji something.

"You're very talented," he said, perusing the drawings with a careful eye. "Oho? These are people and creatures I've seen here in this city. I can recognize them. You've captured them well."

Ling looked up and grinned. "If you'd lived in Xing, you could've studied the art of painting," he commented. "Court painters are extremely well off, especially if you can draw dragons or peonies, in the proper style. If you can do those, you can get all the way up to the top."

[topgun_textiles]

Whatever you say, Ling.

When Kanji got to pouring and steeping their drinks, he made sure Ling's tea would have the proper punch. There was a sketch of you in there too, Ling, brandishing your own weapon form.

"I can do dragons n' peonies," he noted, looking through his cupboard for honey. Tonight called for a little sweetened tea, at least for him. He'd put a little dollop in his own mug.

"I could even put a dragon weavin' around on your wall, make it big as hell." He'd seen Kohryu, one of Senpai's Persona before, and always thought it looked badass... and when was an eastern-style dragon NOT badass!?

[forhispeople]

Ling smiled a rather tight smile. "Ah, I didn't mean for me. I meant... the Emperor of Xing. He favors dragons and peonies, as that's the symbol of his particular family line. So... all of the warring clans, as they try to curry his favor, will pay great sums to commission art to give to him as gifts."

"Basically... bribes," he explained, his voice dry in his throat. "If they want seats in government, they send many beautifu maidens and painted screens which are to be placed around their beds for the... Emperor's pleasure." Ling looked away, at the riverbank painting, feeling shame gripping him, as well as anger. "If they want a certain law to be passed to allow them to commandeer land or food to fuel their war effort? Some fine carriages or pleasure boats, painted with millions of dragons and peonies."

[topgun_textiles]

"...Sorry," he managed upon listening, bringing out their tea and handing him his mug. Between the two of theirs, the contents of Ling's mug was a bit darker as he'd brewed the black double-strength. Dragons and peonies, symbols of wisdom and masculine power. He wasn't surprised an Emperor like that enjoyed them.

"The offer's for you, though. It ain't a bribe or nothin', but a friend offering to do somethin' for another friend."

[forhispeople]

Ling huffed and shook his head as if it didn't bother him one bit, shrugging a shoulder in an attempt to appear flippant. "It's the Divine Emperor, and my father, but, he's just another man, with many faults. It doesn't matter to me. Not at all."

His eyes were crinkled a bit as he accepted the tea, hoping to smooth things over. "Ah. Thank you. It looks just right." He gazed into his cup for a moment, appreciating the familiar, comforting brown color of the liquid. "You'd.... do that for me?" he asked, more to his cup than to the other boy, his usual outer shell discarded for the moment. He repeated it, a bit of disbelief coloring his syllables. This certainly wasn't a thing Ling had heard often. "As... a friend."

[topgun_textiles]

"Well, I haven't known ya long, but... I think you're pretty damn cool," he replied with an awkward smile, despite everything that had been happening around him lately. It faltered when he turned his eyes away, focusing on drinking a bit of his tea, using that as an excuse to try and hide that stupid blush. He never really had friends until about a year back, so this was all still so new to him in a way.

"Uh, so... I'll leave the offer on the table. You tell me whatcha want when it pops into your head n' I'll see what I can do, yeah?"

[forhispeople]

Ling put his tea down and launched himself suddenly at Kanji, knocking the other boy over with reckless abandon. He grabbed him in a big hug, rubbing his bleach-blond hair vigorously with his knuckles. Kanji's tea was probably going to spill everywhere but Ling didn't give a care.

"Awwww!" he exclaimed, his grin huge and wide and shining brilliantly. "You're my friend! Even though you know all of that stuff I said about the Emperor? That's my father-- you don't care? You still wanna be my friend?"

[topgun_textiles]

Kanji watched as the tea was set down, and for a moment he wondered if Ling didn't like it. Well, if it wasn't Xingese enough for him, he could make his own damn--

"Sh-SHIT--" The teen hadn't any time to react, stumbling backward a few steps before losing his footing, his ass hitting the floor with a thump. The mug fell away from his hand and spilled tea, the dark liquid spreading across the carpet as Iza ignored the fish to trot over and have a taste. Troublesome kitty.

Okay, try to peel the prince off of him. He'll try to unglue himself from the other as he spoke.

"Ngh-- I meant what I said, damn it! Besides, you n' your dad are two different people."

[forhispeople]

Attached to Kanji like some kind of silk-dressed octopus, Ling let out a squeal of excitement, as if Kanji was a cute bunny that had just cleaned its ittybitty face. The larger boy's struggling only served to make him hold on tighter and noogie harder, supporting arm tight around his back and slippered feet locked behind him.

"Oh my god, you're thinking of people according to the philosophy of individualism, kyaaaa!" he exclaimed, clearly finding the idea exotic and appealing. "How modern you are, my poor little heart just can't take it! Eek!"

[topgun_textiles]

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Ugh, what he being mocked now? Why won't he get off!? Kanji struggled some more, trying to peel off any of Ling's limbs in an attempt to free himself. The tea was going to leave a stain at this rate!

"Get off!" Good lord, this guy was good at holding on tight, but Kanji was getting so flustered at this point his options were quickly beginning to change from 'struggle' to 'start punching until conditions improve', but he wouldn't resort to that just yet. Not when he just called the guy his friend...

[forhispeople]

"It means I think you're a really, really great guy!" Ling exclaimed, snuggling his cheek vigorously to Kanji's and then letting go to crawl off of him. His smile was ear to ear. "You'd never be able to see my that way if you were Xingese-- we're much too collectivist. Yay for individualism! I wanna be more than what's simply in my blood or in my name."

[topgun_textiles]

Kanji looked and felt positively grumpy when Ling finally let go and got off of him, the teen managing to get back to his feet. The impact smacked his tailbone real good and would smart for a while, but Kanji could deal.

"You do that," he said gruffly, moving quickly to get the paper towels and clean up the spilled tea, gently nudging the kitten out of the way before sinking to his knees and getting to work.

Hmm, may as well clean up the mackerel bits, too.

"This Xing place seems pretty damn stuffy," he remarked. Most of what he described sounded like things Kanji had heard in the history classes he only occasionally paid attention to.

[forhispeople]

"Oh, it kind of is," Ling agreed, using his own silken sleeve to sop up the mess he'd made despite Kanji's paper towels-- which Ling had never seen the like of. "But in other ways it's a lot less stuffy! You have to get away from the nobility. I used to sneak out of the palace in disguise," he admitted, with a crooked, rogueish smile. "In the people's markets there's shouting, clanging, fish flopping in your face, dogs wandering around trying to get a bite to eat, and more people than you'd ever see in that shopping building they have here." Ling didn't like the mall, and that was no secret. He'd nearly been arrested there not once, but three times!

"You have to push your way through and yell loud if you want some service. And the vegetables are way more fresh. And when you walk by the noodle stands or the steam trays-- the aroma you can smell! The chubby-cheeked babies with mangoes on a stick... the beautiful wrinkly smiles on the old grannies making dumplings....." Ling sighed deeply, his eyes getting misty as he remembered people he'd seen on his secret jaunts. His people.

"Do you have that in your country, Kanji?" he asked, straightening and placing his chin in his hands. "That kind of feeling? The kind of place where you feel like everything is so much more real."

[topgun_textiles]

Let the paper towels soak, gather them up, put them aside, lay fresh ones down. Kanji's eyes were focused on the task before him, working as quick as he could to keep a stain out of the carpet despite the eventual futility.

His attention was caught at the mention of sneaking out in disguise, and he thought of faerie tales he'd been read as a kid, of princes and princesses that tired of their life of luxury albeit at a short leash for something simpler yet grander. The way Ling described the sights painted pictures in Kanji's mind: He could imagine the smell wafting from the noodle carts, saw a child with the mango on a stick, saw the smiles...

And when Ling addressed him, Kanji was back, pressing paper towels into the carpet to absorb as much of the liquid they could hold.

"I'm from a pretty small town. Ask somebody in a big city like Tokyo about Inaba and they'll probably ask you what the hell you're talkin' about. Y'know, that small." He shrugged, but did not look up.

"'s quiet... ain't loud at all... bores the tourists, what few we get, but I like it. ...Though I guess if you want noisy, fish-flopping clanging, there's Okina or Tokyo. Haven't been to the latter, though."

[forhispeople]

"Iinaba," Ling tries to pronounce, likewise mopping up tea with both sleeves. "A small town, and quiet.... that sounds wonderful. Especially since you like it, it meant it suited you well."

Ling smiled, imagining Kanji in this quiet, small little town, but he found he could not quite place what the town should look like, in his mind. "What sort of things did you do there, what could you see? What sort of countryside was it in-- was it a farming village, perhaps? Or a mining town in the mountains?"

[topgun_textiles]

"It started out as a mining town," he replied, checking over the floor. Well, that's the best they could do with it. Just needed to air dry. He stood and went to dispose of the paper towels.

"Ask a tourist n' they'd tell you there ain't shit to do there. Ask a local, some say 'same thing'." He stepped to the painting of the river, gesturing to it.

"You got the Samegawa River runnin' right through the center. Some people like to fish or take a walk... I sometimes liked lyin' in the grass with nothin' to do until it got dark. Had to run home before... nevermind." He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.

"There's the school, the shopping district... or what's left of it... the thing to do around there was hang out at the park next to the river, chill in the shopping district, school club shit, or hit up Junes." He spoke the name as if Ling should know about it.

"...Sounds boring, maybe, but I was born there. I always found somethin' to do." What things he did, however, he didn't seem to wish to talk about. Perhaps he wasn't quite comfortable just yet, but on the other hand, how do you tell a guy you jumped into TVs and battled monsters after school?