[ They make it to the mouth of the tunnel, and the exit, because of course they do. They are a pair of adults with full ambulatory capabilities, good nerves, more than adequate teamwork. They even make it to the rest area beyond, the two rows of rickety aluminum benches where one might wait for friends to disembark from a journey.
Midnight lets go of Miss Gebura, walks over to sit on the bench. He blinks, somewhat dizzy.
When he opens his eyes, he is horizontal. Uh. He doesn't remember that happening, can barely get a sense of where he is or what's around him. He's seeing stars, and that ringing in his ears is sure loud...? ]
... And then watches him transition swiftly from sitting to horizontal and without a word, she strides over to join him, leaning over him with her arms folded over her chest. ]
I'm going to get you water. Do not move. Don't even think about protesting or my entire foot is going down your throat. Got it?
[ Midnight makes a very confused "Hnnnhhh?" noise, which at least means he's going to be too out of it for a second to argue. Whether that actually amounts to an answer is debateable... But at the very least, he doesn't actually make an attempt to move?
When he actually resurfaces from his fainting spell, Gebura's left. He doesn't move, because he's pretty sure that staying in place is how people find each other again, but he is a little worried that she won't come back. Not actually, but maybe a little. ]
[ He flinches, slaps his face a couple of times trying to grasp the water bottle, but grasp it firmly he does. He doesn't get up just yet, though, he has to... recalibrate. And not die of embarrassment. (... Yes. Yes, actually. He's embarrassed. Right now, he is mortified.) ]
I don't think there's much to be concerned about. I... didn't realize that would happen.
[ ... He's still playing it off. Ooh, he knows it too. Stupid. This time, he's actually being stupid. ]
[ ... Now there's a frightening tone. Does Midnight like it, necessarily? No. He likes Gebura, though. He likes her enough to wince a little instead of shrug it off. ]
I wouldn't... no.
[ Said in the voice of a man who understands that there is no winning in this kind of debate. He's bracing... ]
[ He's lucky he's a wilting flower right now, because the urge to grab him by the collar and shake him until his neck snaps is so incredibly strong, but if he passes out or dies, he can't take responsibility for his mistakes.
But she is still emanating "Try to be coy and I will kill you" vibes. ]
Then try again. What the hell's been going on with you?
[ Surprisingly enough, if he'd known this would happen back in the tunnel, he still would have said he likes being with Gebura. Or maybe it's not all that surprising.
He pushes upright, shakes his head. It... seems to have passed somewhat, so he risks going upright enough to open the bottle of water. What indeed. What the hell is going on, indeed. ]
... I admit that I don't know where to start.
[ But that isn't a new problem. Give him a moment to think. ]
In terms of what's changed since the first time we met until now... I suppose I've been eating and drinking a bit less. [ ... Coy answer. Midnight sighs. ] Much less. It's... something I was supposed to be seeing a medical professional for. Among other things.
[ "Among other things" is still coy, but it's more of an answer than he offered before so Gebura huffs a little under her breath and then crosses her arms over her chest.
He lives, for now. ]
It's got to be more than a lack of appetite if you were seeing a professional for it. Can you not keep food down?
[ ... Well, this is probably the least enthused Midnight's been to have a conversation with Gebura in the time they've known each other. So many nice topics to have, and they had to land on this one...? He's not stupid, he knows it had to happen at some point, but he rarely actually thinks or plans that far. ]
It's that, partially. The other part is.
[ Something that Gebura can't fix, really, but if he said that it was irrelevant, he'd be lying. Ah. ]
The young man in the mall. The one I was... following. [ Midnight tilts his head side to side, thinking about how to phrase this. ] He paid my agent to poison me. Slipped Originium in my food. It damaged my digestive system a bit.
[ This could have been avoided if he had chosen to leave Gebura alone. Like. Indefinitely. So this is just inevitable, probably.
... She has no idea what the hell Originium is, just that he's called it a poison. He's still alive, obviously, but permanent damage to the digestive system isn't exactly ideal. It's something having a lot of money in the City could handle, but this isn't back there and neither is his home. ]
Okay.
[ She's accepted the explanation, at least. But-- ]
[ ... Midnight laughs. Yes. How do you treat Oripathy? How, exactly? ]
Well, with regards to my ability to digest, the doctors have done what they could. I can drink more easily than I can eat, but I can eat too. It's just a rather tedious process. Small portions, you know, always toting around something with me. [ ... ] I tend to... not enjoy the tedium.
[ ... Not the truth. He shakes his head. He has not looked Gebura in the eye once. ]
I think... I still think there's something in my food. Or I don't want to risk it.
[ Well. He has about ten seconds to look at her or she's going to have to Proactively Encourage Engagement and it's absolutely not going to be because she asked him to meet her eyes. ]
So you're more or less starving because of digestive issues and your brain telling you that you can't trust the stuff here. Is that right?
[ Nnnnnnnnope this is way too vulnerable. It is easier to pretend that he's talking to himself if he just doesn't look up.
This laugh is rather squeezed out. ]
At first, you know... It was all right. Better than usual, actually. Food here just arrives, you know, no one has to hand it to me. But, uh... I had some of the ice cream from that parlor a while back. Didn't realize, you know.
[ Oh. The ice cream. The ice cream Sylvain had offered to be a guinea pig for. The ice cream with side effects.
The sigh Gebura releases is a gusty one, and. Well.
He had his chance. One foot is going up on the bench to bracket one side of him and she reaches out to seize his face in her callused palms. Anyone walking by is going to think this woman is terrorizing some poor man for his money. ]
You are an idiot, Midnight. Why the hell did you even have me come out here if you felt like crap in the first place??
And the mall, was that part of it? All this time and you could have just--!!
[ She's so angry. And it's not like he's obligated to tell her things. She's rebuffed his playful advances so many times. He'd been poisoned, of course he'd instinctively dread eating, that was just how minds worked, but the idea of him lightly laughing his way through it, pretending like he was fine, even up until the point where he collapsed?
[ I am not a very good writer so please imagine Midnight is making this face while Gebura lays into him. Thank you.
Anyway, he stays quiet about why he's here, at the fair, with Miss Gebura, because he thinks the answer to that is kind of obvious, but at the mention of the mall, Midnight makes an attempt to... sort of... not interject, but he knows it'll be worse if he lies, so. ]
That wasn't just the eating. The fever. That was... my fault.
[ ... Sort of. He's not actually clear on the details, but he's pretty sure eating and hydrating were only a part of that specific problem. ]
[ ... Midnight is very used to not fearing people, like, on an instinctual level. Vampires are apex predators. So his instincts? Not scared. However, Midnight is also, on a certain level, a very normal human being. Midnight, as a normal human being? Terrified.
Still. Terror has never kept him from sorting through his thoughts. He just thinks less about them. ]
I wasn't eating or sleeping in there. I... was just trying to find him. Or letting him find me. The Oripathy gives me fevers already, and I was sick when he tried to kill me, so jumping back and forth between reality and being there on top of everything else was making it worse.
And Gebura lets him speak, stays silent even though from the way her eyes are narrowed, this is not making her any less infuriated.
Good of him to admit this was his own damn fault, really, points there. But still. ]
So you had a fever and that made it even more difficult to come to terms with reality and those memories and you were also obsessing over hunting him down.
[ Which explains the single-minded way he'd gone after the guy when Gebura had come across him.
[ He sighs through very squished cheeks. He sounds very muffled. This is very undignified and Midnight feels very attacked. He deserves it, but he certainly feels very put upon! ]
Miss Gebura... please understand that what you're asking for is a very long list. Would you believe me when I say I don't talk about these things very much because I find it very boring to talk about?
[ ... And! That's! True!!!!!!!! Midnight only talks about the interesting, fun parts of life, his own included. Who wants to talk about any of this?
(but also being the center of this kind of attention is very humiliating. that's obvious, though.) ]
[ Too bad, he could have looked at her from the start!! ]
There was a time when you should have explained certain things and it was well before you pretty much passed out on a bench. So I'll cut this list shorter for you.
Is there anything you don't want to tell me that I should probably know? Because now that you've made this my problem, I'm not letting you laugh this off and go on your way.
[ ... Well, if it comes down to things she should know, that's something he feels marginally less bad confessing, actually? ]
My blood is toxic. It's the Originium. [ You know, the stuff he got poisoned with? ] If you ever see me bleed — profusely, small cuts are fine — don't touch me, don't touch my blood, try cover your mouth and nose. Call Dr. Daan, he knows how to treat me.
[ This seems like the most important, immediately life-threatening information to Midnight! ]
[ Sometimes you just have to figure out how to word it. Or you have to threaten them into submission but it's fine. That is important and in response, Gebura nods in consideration. ]
That's some kind of poison, to not only do irreversible damage but continue to be a problem. [ What a cutthroat kind of coward, to want to do this to someone else. Then again, the guy who'd arranged this for Midnight would have fit right in with the City as it was. ]
I'll keep that in mind. And right now, the way to help you is to... what, grab you some food and test it first, so you know it's not going to poison you? Just water isn't going to help entirely, not at this point.
[ It is excruciating for Midnight to face the equivalent of a firehose of Gebura-style concern without being able to turn away. He is fidgeting just a tiny bit. The understanding is kind of nice, in that it's always nice for one's circumstances to be understood, but even the most business-like of problemsolving is, for once in Midnight's life, waaaay too much attention.
... It's much better that it's Gebura, though. Someone getting very emotional about him would probably activate his fight or flight instinct. Even now... uh... There is a very small part of him that is still a mildly socially anxious teen that is processing all this attention. ]
... I... wouldn't dream of imposing. But that would do.
[ ... He is way too nervous to blush right now. Actually, he has no idea what his body is doing. Congrats(?), Gebura, you're making him so flustered that he is regressing! ]
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Midnight lets go of Miss Gebura, walks over to sit on the bench. He blinks, somewhat dizzy.
When he opens his eyes, he is horizontal. Uh. He doesn't remember that happening, can barely get a sense of where he is or what's around him. He's seeing stars, and that ringing in his ears is sure loud...? ]
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... And then watches him transition swiftly from sitting to horizontal and without a word, she strides over to join him, leaning over him with her arms folded over her chest. ]
I'm going to get you water. Do not move. Don't even think about protesting or my entire foot is going down your throat. Got it?
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When he actually resurfaces from his fainting spell, Gebura's left. He doesn't move, because he's pretty sure that staying in place is how people find each other again, but he is a little worried that she won't come back. Not actually, but maybe a little. ]
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With bottles of water. Colder ones this time, one of which she is unceremoniously plunking the bottom of right against his forehead. ]
You know, it's actually more of a pain for me if you try to play it off instead of just saying something.
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I don't think there's much to be concerned about. I... didn't realize that would happen.
[ ... He's still playing it off. Ooh, he knows it too. Stupid. This time, he's actually being stupid. ]
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Do you think I'm an idiot, Midnight?
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I wouldn't... no.
[ Said in the voice of a man who understands that there is no winning in this kind of debate. He's bracing... ]
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But she is still emanating "Try to be coy and I will kill you" vibes. ]
Then try again. What the hell's been going on with you?
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He pushes upright, shakes his head. It... seems to have passed somewhat, so he risks going upright enough to open the bottle of water. What indeed. What the hell is going on, indeed. ]
... I admit that I don't know where to start.
[ But that isn't a new problem. Give him a moment to think. ]
In terms of what's changed since the first time we met until now... I suppose I've been eating and drinking a bit less. [ ... Coy answer. Midnight sighs. ] Much less. It's... something I was supposed to be seeing a medical professional for. Among other things.
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He lives, for now. ]
It's got to be more than a lack of appetite if you were seeing a professional for it. Can you not keep food down?
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It's that, partially. The other part is.
[ Something that Gebura can't fix, really, but if he said that it was irrelevant, he'd be lying. Ah. ]
The young man in the mall. The one I was... following. [ Midnight tilts his head side to side, thinking about how to phrase this. ] He paid my agent to poison me. Slipped Originium in my food. It damaged my digestive system a bit.
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... She has no idea what the hell Originium is, just that he's called it a poison. He's still alive, obviously, but permanent damage to the digestive system isn't exactly ideal. It's something having a lot of money in the City could handle, but this isn't back there and neither is his home. ]
Okay.
[ She's accepted the explanation, at least. But-- ]
And how do you treat any of this?
cw: disordered eating
Well, with regards to my ability to digest, the doctors have done what they could. I can drink more easily than I can eat, but I can eat too. It's just a rather tedious process. Small portions, you know, always toting around something with me. [ ... ] I tend to... not enjoy the tedium.
[ ... Not the truth. He shakes his head. He has not looked Gebura in the eye once. ]
I think... I still think there's something in my food. Or I don't want to risk it.
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[ Well. He has about ten seconds to look at her or she's going to have to Proactively Encourage Engagement and it's absolutely not going to be because she asked him to meet her eyes. ]
So you're more or less starving because of digestive issues and your brain telling you that you can't trust the stuff here. Is that right?
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This laugh is rather squeezed out. ]
At first, you know... It was all right. Better than usual, actually. Food here just arrives, you know, no one has to hand it to me. But, uh... I had some of the ice cream from that parlor a while back. Didn't realize, you know.
[ He waves a hand. ]
So. Yes. Right. That.
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The sigh Gebura releases is a gusty one, and. Well.
He had his chance. One foot is going up on the bench to bracket one side of him and she reaches out to seize his face in her callused palms. Anyone walking by is going to think this woman is terrorizing some poor man for his money. ]
You are an idiot, Midnight. Why the hell did you even have me come out here if you felt like crap in the first place??
And the mall, was that part of it? All this time and you could have just--!!
[ She's so angry. And it's not like he's obligated to tell her things. She's rebuffed his playful advances so many times. He'd been poisoned, of course he'd instinctively dread eating, that was just how minds worked, but the idea of him lightly laughing his way through it, pretending like he was fine, even up until the point where he collapsed?
She's furious. ]
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Anyway, he stays quiet about why he's here, at the fair, with Miss Gebura, because he thinks the answer to that is kind of obvious, but at the mention of the mall, Midnight makes an attempt to... sort of... not interject, but he knows it'll be worse if he lies, so. ]
That wasn't just the eating. The fever. That was... my fault.
[ ... Sort of. He's not actually clear on the details, but he's pretty sure eating and hydrating were only a part of that specific problem. ]
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The noise she makes is almost like a growl. I'm very sorry. It's been a while since she's been this mad. ]
What do you mean it was your fault?
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Still. Terror has never kept him from sorting through his thoughts. He just thinks less about them. ]
I wasn't eating or sleeping in there. I... was just trying to find him. Or letting him find me. The Oripathy gives me fevers already, and I was sick when he tried to kill me, so jumping back and forth between reality and being there on top of everything else was making it worse.
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And Gebura lets him speak, stays silent even though from the way her eyes are narrowed, this is not making her any less infuriated.
Good of him to admit this was his own damn fault, really, points there. But still. ]
So you had a fever and that made it even more difficult to come to terms with reality and those memories and you were also obsessing over hunting him down.
[ Which explains the single-minded way he'd gone after the guy when Gebura had come across him.
She's getting a headache. ]
Anything else you don't want to say to me?
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Miss Gebura... please understand that what you're asking for is a very long list. Would you believe me when I say I don't talk about these things very much because I find it very boring to talk about?
[ ... And! That's! True!!!!!!!! Midnight only talks about the interesting, fun parts of life, his own included. Who wants to talk about any of this?
(but also being the center of this kind of attention is very humiliating. that's obvious, though.) ]
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There was a time when you should have explained certain things and it was well before you pretty much passed out on a bench. So I'll cut this list shorter for you.
Is there anything you don't want to tell me that I should probably know? Because now that you've made this my problem, I'm not letting you laugh this off and go on your way.
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My blood is toxic. It's the Originium. [ You know, the stuff he got poisoned with? ] If you ever see me bleed — profusely, small cuts are fine — don't touch me, don't touch my blood, try cover your mouth and nose. Call Dr. Daan, he knows how to treat me.
[ This seems like the most important, immediately life-threatening information to Midnight! ]
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That's some kind of poison, to not only do irreversible damage but continue to be a problem. [ What a cutthroat kind of coward, to want to do this to someone else. Then again, the guy who'd arranged this for Midnight would have fit right in with the City as it was. ]
I'll keep that in mind. And right now, the way to help you is to... what, grab you some food and test it first, so you know it's not going to poison you? Just water isn't going to help entirely, not at this point.
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... It's much better that it's Gebura, though. Someone getting very emotional about him would probably activate his fight or flight instinct. Even now... uh... There is a very small part of him that is still a mildly socially anxious teen that is processing all this attention. ]
... I... wouldn't dream of imposing. But that would do.
[ ... He is way too nervous to blush right now. Actually, he has no idea what his body is doing. Congrats(?), Gebura, you're making him so flustered that he is regressing! ]
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