Somber Reunions

i sit down and put the coke and the pills on the table "because if i did posion you the other you would die too".

She groaned and rolled over again back towards him. "Fine. If I take those, will you go away?"

i shrug "no but it will make you feel better hence making me more tolerable".

She glared at him tiredly before taking the pills and drinking them down. "If I die, I will come back as a spirit to haunt you forever." That said she let out a sigh and tried to will her headache away.

i laugh and say "well at least i would have company".

"i would make sure you lived in misery." She sighed again. "i swear it."

i smile a sad smile and say "maybe i know more about misery than you think".

She didn't reply this time as she tried to just sleep her headache away.

i pull my cap down and let myself sink down into the chair into a land of stolen cookiejars and burning nazis.

It does not take we two old friends to tire of Strangefellows, and turn for home. Odd how the Nightside is. So familiar, and yet so changed. Even the home we share is not what it was. The feel of it has changed.
Stepping inside, I no longer feel the immediate wash of safety I once did. If anything, this home feels...whistful. Perhaps I am not the only one to mourn. Then I give myself a mental shake.I'm being maudlin.
There's no one in the kitchen, but the door to Kiou's bedroom stands ajar. Inside, Sori and Kiou are sleeping. I smile slightly.
Then something about Kiou catches my attention, and my brow furrows.
That doesn't look like proper sleep. She's too stiff, too unnatural.
Quickly, I step inside, kneeling. Her breathing comes in arythmic gasps, and her pulse, when I feel it, is bounding, all out of time with itself.
This is bad.
"Kiou!" I bark, and pour attention and wakefulness into the word. No good.
Instead, I raise my voice, and sing of harmony. The best memory I can find to match Kiou's body rythms is a bamboo forest in which I conferred with the tengu clans, and I hold that memory, sing of perfect balance, of simple calm.
Her pulse slows, her breath beginning to come even. But even so, she's not all well and good yet. I sit back on my haunches, glancing back at Liam over my shoulder where he stands in the doorway. "How long has that been happening for?"

i mumble "lena why do you have me tied to this chair naked?" and twitch in the middle of liv's bark in one motion i bring the handgun out and fire i hit the doorframe i pull my cap up and seeing who it is i holster the gun and say "sorry reflexes".

I ignore the gunfire, which does take a bit of work. "How long has she been having such serious seizures?" I repeat as Sori comes back to herself. "And why hasn't anyone done aught for it?"

i scratch my head "hmm not that long but she was awake not too long ago i just gave her a couple aspirin and some coke and she went to sleep".

"I mean how long overall? A week? A month?" I smooth her hair back. Her breathing is now in the rhythms of true sleep, a relief indeed.

i yawn and say "a month maybe not much longer than that" i look at liv "whats wrong?".

I glance up at her in disbelief. "You haven't noticed?"

i shrug "i used to have seizures and i did ask her to go see a doctor but she insisted it was something i was lying to her about to weaken her composure and try to get her to like me".

A growl rolls in my throat. "Idiot girl. Her breathing is erratic, as is her heart beat. Her body is all at odds with itself. I'm amazed she's started breathing again after one of those episodes, let alone nearly a month's worth of them. And the strain on her heart...." I sit back, crossing my arms. "It can't go on."

i pick up the bullet casing from the floor and put it in my pocket "well liv you are the expert in the field of healing not i so what do you suggest?"

I sigh. "That's the very problem, I am not an expert in healing. I may handle big, obvious wounds well, but a body that's gone against itself is beyond me. And I'd guess this is in the mind, not the body. That's even harder ground to tread." I study Kiou's face. "I can try...but I doubt I'll be of much good."

i shrug "im going to quote the voodopriest we had for a medic during world war one its worth a try".

Kiou groaned again as she awoke. Perhaps two sessions in one day was too much. She would have to wait a day or so before trying again. Especially since the last session had been forcibly stopped by something. Opening her eyes, she realized Liv was above her this time. "Now there are two of you... Why won't you just leave me alone?"

"Well that's a nice way to greet someone who just kept your heart a-beating." I remark dryly. "Lie still and rest. You're in no fit state."

"Wonderful... Sori has infected you with her nonsense." Kiou rolled her eyes and tried to sit up. She was shaky at first but the aspirin from earlier helped her to not feel pain. Her headache had gone away substantially as well. "Why must you all create some fake illness in order to appear as though you care. I know you do not. How does this help at all?"

not near drunk enough to leave a situation like that alone but more then wise enough to stay quiet from the door way "Three of us and it isn't nonsense Kiou, if we didn't care you would have died. This is serious, and i have a black feeling about it. how long have the headaches been going on? and don't blame the chip that one was done that same day and you know it." a glass of water in my hand as I lean against the door.