[ ... 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! ]
[ Seriously, how can he be flustered when she says such sweet one-liners like this? Gebura finally releases his face so the muscles can be free to relax a little and whirls on her heel, stalking off to procure actual food.
Fair food is not that helpful.
But she returns eventually, bringing with her some kind of nachos, fries, pizza and a wrapped sandwich from what looks like one of the closer convenient stores just so he has one Non-Greasy option. They're a little awkwardly balanced but she seats herself on the bench to arrange them. ]
Whatever looks doable, I'll try it first. Sound good?
[ Good thing she said that, otherwise he would have crawled away. In the fifteen minute window in which she was foraging for food, he put his now free face in his own hands and took several deep calming breaths. Most of his thoughts could be best described as question marks with varying levels of emphasis and sizes. The other few are very basic, grade school level inquiries, like so: What's going on? How did I get here? Is this a date? Does she like me?
(Hey, when I said that the best way to bully Midnight is to be nice to him, I really meant it.)
Which is to say that she definitely hasn't been gone long enough for Midnight to come back to ground level: rational thought, so when he scoots over to make room for her, he does so with the very timid conviction of a man who has at least figured out that running kind of makes him a wussy.
... It takes him a second to figure out that she's implying that he should actually choose first. Hold it together, man. (He's not holding it together.) ]
... Let's try those.
[ He points at the fries. They, along with the nachos, seem more conducive to sharing, at least. ]
[ Please never say any of this to her face or she's going to be So Exasperated. The idea that being nice in order to get him to clam up would wear her out. ]
Here.
[ She picks up a fry, pops it into her mouth. Chews quietly. And then picks up another once enough time has passed that she isn't keeling over, nodding to Midnight that it's fine. ]
[ He reaches over after her little taste test, takes a fry, and eats a bit mechanically. Waits. Nothing happens because it is a perfectly normal pile of fries and the problems are literally in his head. (Which is, of course, the whole problem, but like, y'know.)
He doesn't dig in or anything, because hungry or no, he still has a physical problem with eating quickly, but as he helps finish the fries and motions that he'd like to try the nachos next, he does begin to eat with more enthusiasm. This is a lot for him, both the amount of food and the situation, and he stays uncharacteristically quiet through the whole nacho boat, but it is working. ]
I can't finish the rest. Would you like it?
[ Said rather thoughtfully over a bit of nacho. It's all good, and now that he's eating, the idea of the pizza and the sandwich sound almost appetizing, but they're physically too much for his stomach to digest all at one time. ]
Anything that doesn't sound good or that you can't take back with you, I'll just give to the other Librarians anyway. At least one of 'em will eat it.
[ Angela is surely living her best life trying all of this, as it is. But he's eating and she isn't the type to watch someone like a hawk, but she does note that he seems a little less... well. Disastrous. ]
[ He accepts the sandwich back in silence, begins wrapping it up extremely neatly in a napkin. ]
I'm having trouble finding appropriate responses. [ ... Yes, that seems right. ] I'm... accustomed to finding solutions to problems on my own. Things like this...
[ ... are difficult because he doesn't have very many stock answers for it. If he hasn't ran this scenario in his head a couple hundred times, never planned to ever be in a position to be jumpscared with help, what is he supposed to do? Tell the truth? That works when he's talking about other people, not himself. ]
[ She shrugs with a drawn-out sigh, tipping her head backwards to let her ponytail spill over the back of the bench. ]
Look, I get it. But from what I can tell about you, you shove yourself into people's problems. If that just happened to backfire on you this time, you've got no one to blame but yourself. There's no way to get used to something faster than letting it happen more often.
[ Well, he sure hates that idea, too. But what is he supposed to do? Argue the point? It makes perfect sense. He just doesn't want to do it. That is not at all Miss Gebura's fault.
He picks up his more or less finished water and turns it into a finished water. He does, in fact, feel much better. Better than he has in a month, approximately. ]
... I'm trying to find a more long term solution than getting others to taste test things for me, I assure you. This... shouldn't happen again.
[ It's just a matter of being careful, and eating enough times in controlled situations to reassure his brain that nothing will actually happen. It'll take work, but he always works hard.
... He... also probably needs to stop drinking Welt's blood as often. Too easy to use it as a crutch. Gebura doesn't need to know about that part, though. ]
[ Sir, please. He'd hardly be the first blood-drinker she's encountered. Maybe the first she hasn't outright fought, but it's fine. He doesn't speak of it, so she doesn't know. ]
What, you dragging me out on supposedly romantic adventures or you passing out?
[ Said with the hint of dryness that implies he doesn't actually have to answer that. It might even be a joke, for as much as she'd like to believe he'll commit to taking care of himself if just so he doesn't have to deal with Gebura scowling him into submission in some manner of concern. She doesn't like other people worrying about her, so she tends to take care of the things others might worry about. That wasn't always the case, but she gets it. ]
[ Honestly, he'd feel very reassured to know that Miss Gebura's accustomed to fighting his kind, not befriending him... But that's a conversation that can be saved for another time.
Midnight laughs. It sounds more like himself than he has for the past half hour or so. ]
I aim to be less hungry the next time I drag you out on a supposedly romantic adventure, unless a meal's the point.
[ ... No word on passing out again. He's got a ways to go on that front, and he doesn't want to make a promise he can't keep. ]
... I'm not sure if I've thanked you yet. [ Now that he's fuller and at the tail end of a very long, awkward process, his faculties are coming back, along with his etiquette. The crowd goes wild! ]
Don't bother. [ She flaps a hand, almost lackadaisically. ]
All I did was what I felt like doing. You thanking me for doing what I wanted is just kind of pointless.
[ Well, he sounds more like himself. A shame. She was enjoying the lack of flirtatious comments. ]
If you want to do me a favor, don't ask me to go somewhere if you're not at your full strength. Pass out again and I might just leave you on the ground.
[ Midnight laughs, but it's more like a familiar huff. Spot says the same thing, for the same reason.
(It's now been 3 months since he's last seen his team. If he's here for another 6, he will officially have been here longer than he's known his Team A6. In less than that time, he knows that it'll be impossible for him to choose between them and his friends here. His affections grow far, far too quickly for someone his age. That will probably never get better.) ]
The fixers from your city... If you lot had a problem with apathy, I've yet to see it.
[ Not in a way that matters, anyway. Or at the very least, whatever apathy they have in them is very easy to understand. ]
Don's her own type of enthusiastic, Vergilius and I are both the type to do what we want... Roland's got different levels to his apathy.
[ She shrugs. The last thing she needs is a vampire becoming incredibly fond of her, so please never tell her that to her face. Please curb your affections, Midnight. ]
I'm not that apathetic, I'm just easily irritated.
You know, I sometimes think that irritation is the opposite of complacency... Or maybe I like to think you care for my company, just a little.
[ He leans back on his hands and grins, finally. It's a tiny little poke. Not 100% back to normal, but his tone is very light and casual. Back to saying things without thinking through the consequences! ]
[ Romance is alive and kicking!! Or at least Midnight grabs his heart like it is, wincing in theatrical pain. ]
Oh, how the bitter must come with the sweet! If only I'd recorded that... ah, but how would a mere recording compare to the sweet memory of your blessed tolerance to my charms?
[ ... Okay, back to full silly, apparently? He's like a superball: you can't keep him down, even though after about two seconds you probably really want to. ]
Ah — Miss Gebura, at least bring your food with you...
[ Midnight will get up, stick his now fully wrapped sandwich in his pocket, then pick up the pizza and begin boxing it up as best as he can while also trying to keep up with wherever Miss Gebura's going. Because he's stupid. He's... stupid... ]
[ HE WILL. Later! For now, I will forcibly fade this scene to black so Midnight can have an excellent time pestering his beloved Miss Gebura tomorrow with whatever the TDM holds. For this evening, though, he'll be at her heels like a lovesick puppy. En... enjoy?? ]
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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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[ Seriously, how can he be flustered when she says such sweet one-liners like this? Gebura finally releases his face so the muscles can be free to relax a little and whirls on her heel, stalking off to procure actual food.
Fair food is not that helpful.
But she returns eventually, bringing with her some kind of nachos, fries, pizza and a wrapped sandwich from what looks like one of the closer convenient stores just so he has one Non-Greasy option. They're a little awkwardly balanced but she seats herself on the bench to arrange them. ]
Whatever looks doable, I'll try it first. Sound good?
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(Hey, when I said that the best way to bully Midnight is to be nice to him, I really meant it.)
Which is to say that she definitely hasn't been gone long enough for Midnight to come back to ground level: rational thought, so when he scoots over to make room for her, he does so with the very timid conviction of a man who has at least figured out that running kind of makes him a wussy.
... It takes him a second to figure out that she's implying that he should actually choose first. Hold it together, man. (He's not holding it together.) ]
... Let's try those.
[ He points at the fries. They, along with the nachos, seem more conducive to sharing, at least. ]
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Here.
[ She picks up a fry, pops it into her mouth. Chews quietly. And then picks up another once enough time has passed that she isn't keeling over, nodding to Midnight that it's fine. ]
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He doesn't dig in or anything, because hungry or no, he still has a physical problem with eating quickly, but as he helps finish the fries and motions that he'd like to try the nachos next, he does begin to eat with more enthusiasm. This is a lot for him, both the amount of food and the situation, and he stays uncharacteristically quiet through the whole nacho boat, but it is working. ]
I can't finish the rest. Would you like it?
[ Said rather thoughtfully over a bit of nacho. It's all good, and now that he's eating, the idea of the pizza and the sandwich sound almost appetizing, but they're physically too much for his stomach to digest all at one time. ]
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Anything that doesn't sound good or that you can't take back with you, I'll just give to the other Librarians anyway. At least one of 'em will eat it.
[ Angela is surely living her best life trying all of this, as it is. But he's eating and she isn't the type to watch someone like a hawk, but she does note that he seems a little less... well. Disastrous. ]
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They can have the pizza, then. If... I may trouble you to. Try the sandwich.
[ ... Nope, cannot ask with eye contact. MIDNIGHT YOU ARE BEING SO ANNOYING. ]
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I'm not sure why you're suddenly talking to me like I'll bite your head off.
[ As she picks up the sandwich to break off a piece and try that too. As expected, she continues to live.
(Maybe because you were glaring at him like you were going to bite his head off, Gebura.) ]
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I'm having trouble finding appropriate responses. [ ... Yes, that seems right. ] I'm... accustomed to finding solutions to problems on my own. Things like this...
[ ... are difficult because he doesn't have very many stock answers for it. If he hasn't ran this scenario in his head a couple hundred times, never planned to ever be in a position to be jumpscared with help, what is he supposed to do? Tell the truth? That works when he's talking about other people, not himself. ]
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[ She shrugs with a drawn-out sigh, tipping her head backwards to let her ponytail spill over the back of the bench. ]
Look, I get it. But from what I can tell about you, you shove yourself into people's problems. If that just happened to backfire on you this time, you've got no one to blame but yourself. There's no way to get used to something faster than letting it happen more often.
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He picks up his more or less finished water and turns it into a finished water. He does, in fact, feel much better. Better than he has in a month, approximately. ]
... I'm trying to find a more long term solution than getting others to taste test things for me, I assure you. This... shouldn't happen again.
[ It's just a matter of being careful, and eating enough times in controlled situations to reassure his brain that nothing will actually happen. It'll take work, but he always works hard.
... He... also probably needs to stop drinking Welt's blood as often. Too easy to use it as a crutch. Gebura doesn't need to know about that part, though. ]
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What, you dragging me out on supposedly romantic adventures or you passing out?
[ Said with the hint of dryness that implies he doesn't actually have to answer that. It might even be a joke, for as much as she'd like to believe he'll commit to taking care of himself if just so he doesn't have to deal with Gebura scowling him into submission in some manner of concern. She doesn't like other people worrying about her, so she tends to take care of the things others might worry about. That wasn't always the case, but she gets it. ]
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Midnight laughs. It sounds more like himself than he has for the past half hour or so. ]
I aim to be less hungry the next time I drag you out on a supposedly romantic adventure, unless a meal's the point.
[ ... No word on passing out again. He's got a ways to go on that front, and he doesn't want to make a promise he can't keep. ]
... I'm not sure if I've thanked you yet. [ Now that he's fuller and at the tail end of a very long, awkward process, his faculties are coming back, along with his etiquette. The crowd goes wild! ]
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All I did was what I felt like doing. You thanking me for doing what I wanted is just kind of pointless.
[ Well, he sounds more like himself. A shame. She was enjoying the lack of flirtatious comments. ]
If you want to do me a favor, don't ask me to go somewhere if you're not at your full strength. Pass out again and I might just leave you on the ground.
[ She won't. But she has to say it. ]
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[ Midnight laughs, but it's more like a familiar huff. Spot says the same thing, for the same reason.
(It's now been 3 months since he's last seen his team. If he's here for another 6, he will officially have been here longer than he's known his Team A6. In less than that time, he knows that it'll be impossible for him to choose between them and his friends here. His affections grow far, far too quickly for someone his age. That will probably never get better.) ]
The fixers from your city... If you lot had a problem with apathy, I've yet to see it.
[ Not in a way that matters, anyway. Or at the very least, whatever apathy they have in them is very easy to understand. ]
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[ She shrugs. The last thing she needs is a vampire becoming incredibly fond of her, so please never tell her that to her face. Please curb your affections, Midnight. ]
I'm not that apathetic, I'm just easily irritated.
[ WHICH SHE CAN ADMIT. ]
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[ He leans back on his hands and grins, finally. It's a tiny little poke. Not 100% back to normal, but his tone is very light and casual. Back to saying things without thinking through the consequences! ]
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Before she rolls her eyes. ]
I don't hate you.
[ Wow. ]
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Oh, how the bitter must come with the sweet! If only I'd recorded that... ah, but how would a mere recording compare to the sweet memory of your blessed tolerance to my charms?
[ ... Okay, back to full silly, apparently? He's like a superball: you can't keep him down, even though after about two seconds you probably really want to. ]
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[ Gebura continues to be So Sweet. ]
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[ Midnight will get up, stick his now fully wrapped sandwich in his pocket, then pick up the pizza and begin boxing it up as best as he can while also trying to keep up with wherever Miss Gebura's going. Because he's stupid. He's... stupid... ]
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