OPEN

[soul_mods]

Characters: Open
Location: Death City, Clinic
Rating: PG
Time: Jan 17 onward
Description: Missions 151 and 152, crossposted to LJ



The clinic is a buzz of activity from beginning to end, with the doctors and their staff preparing everything that could be needed by their agents in Europe, and clearing away the unnecessaries. Food is cooked large-scale because no one will have time to do it later, and hospital supplies are moved around to make more space for beds.

Shibusen's scouts and supportive agents are in charge of dragging the wounded back to Death City, and they come and go for random errands. The atmosphere is understandably tense, and things don't get better when the first of the injured are brought in.

[ ooc: Just pop up with your thread(s) in the post. Please follow this format in the subject header: [Characters][Date and Time][OPEN/CLOSE] ]

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[socialbutterfly]

Minato came in from the next room, where he had been treated for his own injuries. A sling cradling his right arm--reopened and aggravated wound from another mission--was the most visible, but he had other bandages and wraps for the more recent minor scrapes and bruises. Even with his worry for his partner, he didn't forget to smile when he saw her.

"Hey." He gave the simple greeting as he pulled up the visitor's folding chair and gently nudged away a mechanical arm on the floor. Once seated, the back of his palm rested on her forehead. He wasn't testing for fever, though, but for wavelength. The last time he'd seen her... well, it was out of his or her control.

[pishirogane]

At first, she didn't say anything to him, eyes going over his injuries, but then she nodded her greeting. When his hand pressed against her head, she didn't bother attempting to remove it. Her wavelength had calmed down considerably; perhaps a visit from someone with Calming Wavelength, who knows?

"... Sorry, Arisato-san. I let my focus slip." Neither of them had to be here and yet, they were.

[socialbutterfly]

He shook his head and turned his hand over to stroke her hair. Briefly, just briefly, he wondered about where they were keeping her hat. It, and her normal clothes, seemed to be elsewhere. Laundry, perhaps.

He leaned over her with a smile that was soft and understanding. "It's not your fault... If Madness could be defeated by attention span, it wouldn't be so scary."

[pishirogane]

Naoto frowned a bit. With him stroking her hair, it felt like he was treating her like a kid instead of his partner. Hopefully, they would return her hat soon.

"... I suppose." But that one slip put them both in danger.

[socialbutterfly]

"It's my fault too..." As her partner, Minato's focus was just as important as her own. They were each other's safeguards--that one of them faltered meant, really, that both of them faltered. What had he been thinking about at the time?

Lili. All that European architecture. All those European people... A few even looked like her, from a distance. He'd been watching one when Naoto pulled away.

It wasn't something he was here to talk about, though. "... How did it feel?"

[pishirogane]

Naoto blinked slowly, staring at him, but didn't comment. She had noticed him eyeing a few of the Austrians as they chased down Kishin, but just ignored it. They were just a few of those that required assistance; the sooner they attempted to complete their mission... She sighed, frustrated.

"... The Madness?" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Horrid. It felt like I was losing control of myself."

[socialbutterfly]

His eyes focused down as he recalled his own experience. "It was different in Vienna. It was stronger..." Was it because he had felt Madness first in Death City, behind the shield that once protected it? That, even diluted, it could make him believe the Communal was Tartarus and that he had Orpheus Telos back was... disquieting.

He returned to his partner's experience. "What exactly happened, Naoto-san..?"

[pishirogane]

"Of course it was stronger..." But still, one of them cracked.

Naoto paused, uncertain how exactly to answer, but then looked away. "... I thought I saw a familiar figure and pursued it, assuming you were following. The moment I stepped into the shadows though... it became the interior of the Laboratory."

The laughter was still there, ringing in her head... and remembering the darkness encroaching her vision and feeling of it strangling her... Naoto grimaced.

[socialbutterfly]

"... Laboratory?" He reached over and took her hand, covering it with both of his.

[pishirogane]

"... Right. When we confronted our Shadows, they had constructed their own dungeons. Mine created a 'Secret Laboratory' so to speak..."

She let her eyes fall upon his hand.

[socialbutterfly]

"Ah..." The personalized Shadows. It made sense that Madness would manifest that way for her, even if those Shadows, those fears, were 'conquered' as Souji-san had told him.

"... You saw yourself?"

[pishirogane]

"... It was out of place so I had to pursue it. There's absolutely no reason for it to be turning up like this..."

She clenched her hand, muscles tightening, but flinched. Immediately, she relaxed herself to lessen the pain.

[socialbutterfly]

"What then?"

[pishirogane]

"I was going to handle it as necessary. Persona or not, I would need to confront it to make it completely disappear. Still, I can't say if it was really my shadow or Madness playing tricks on me."

[socialbutterfly]

"Madness." Minato decided for her. "Rash decisions aren't you, Naoto-san."

[socialbutterfly]

"... But that's not what I'm asking. What happened?"

[pishirogane]

"Well, it was gone and I was left in the laboratory, trying to get away from the darkness. I'm not sure how I snapped out of it, but by the time I did, the Kishin had already attacked."

[socialbutterfly]

He considered that scenario, trying to put himself in her shoes. There was still too much he didn't understand, though. About her, about the Madness, about what the Laboratory meant.

"The plans you were going to make... If we fell into Madness... Do you have one for yourself?"

[pishirogane]

Naoto paused, thinking of what sort of memories the Madness would tamper with and draw forward again. The laboratory was one thing, but she was certain that could be fought back and dispelled with help. Still...

"... Yes." There were several options if she succumbed to Madness again, one of them simply being him making her once more aware he was present... Still, he always had the final ultimatum if it got that bad.

[socialbutterfly]

"... What if we're both affected?"

[pishirogane]

"That's where the plan will most likely fall apart. I would have to examine the possibility of both of us being affected as well as the chances breaking free or being saved. There's always the chance we're killed in action should it happen of course..."

Unfortunately, she can't formulate anything without her notebook and pen. "... Why are you inquiring, Arisato-san? Are you questioning your own susceptibility after this?"

[socialbutterfly]

He'd give it to her, but she should be resting.

And no, not his own. "Next time, I might not find you in time. I don't want that to happen."

[pishirogane]

You're making her life Hell right now.

"I see... Well, we'll certainly try to avoid that occurring, correct? Still, I'll try to come up with a solution." Though, she'll have to inquire as to why he let her run off alone in the first place.

[socialbutterfly]

You can notepad later.

And why he ran off? Because not all Madness is obvious, of course. That's why he wants solutions. "A team could help."

[pishirogane]

Boo...

"Yes, a team could, but they need to stick together."