7th Recipe - Spoiled Goods

[starofpleiades]

Characters: Kazumi and You
Setting: Various parts of the tower
Format: Will match
Summary: Kazumi has caught the eventfluenza. Prompts for various stages of sickness on different days.
Warning: Panic, hallucinations

[December 10th, Around the tower]

[Not one to let a little sniffle keep her down, Kazumi is still out and about at this point, around the dorms, the lounge, the cafeteria and some of the safer floors, such as the meadow. Whenever she starts moving though she has to take it slowly and sometimes she stops, holding her head. Going up or down the stairs, she keeps her eyes firmly glued to the wall, one hand trialing along as she walks. Pester?]

[December 11th, Room 02-03]

[Sniffling a bit more, that isn't the real reason Kazumi's holed up in her room. She looks pretty miserable curled up in the corner with the blankets wrapped around her. Sometimes though, she jumps up and looks around, then immediately groans and regrets the quick movement.]

Ugh....

[December 12th, Dorm Area]

[There's a yell, then Kazumi comes bursting out of her room, stumbling down the hall carrying the blanket still wrapped around her. With her free arm, she's waving it about swatting at the air, though there's nothing there.]

Get away! Oogh... no...

[She looks sick and dizzy and miserable and keeps stumbling into the walls but every time she looks around she forces herself back up and keeps running away. This is probably not very safe around stairs.]

Comments

[starofpleiades]

[Kazumi looks over, having barely noticed his approach with how she'd been concentrating on just getting up the stairs and not succumbing to her vertigo. Even just turning towards him proves too much and she has to stop and shut her eyes a moment so the dizziness goes away.]

Y, yeah... and so many people have caught it too...

[silentsacrifice]

Careful.

[The word of warning slips out before Itachi can stop himself. He comes to a stop as well, staying a step or two below her.]

If nothing else, an elevator that services all of the floors would be a great aid...

[He eyes the stairs pointedly. It would be nice, but he doubts any of the administrators would be that kind. Why should they bother, when they can watch their test subjects suffer like this?]

[starofpleiades]

Right? I should... probably stick to the ones it does go to... [But even just walking among the dorms required a little stair work]

I'm sorry, am I in your way...?

[silentsacrifice]

[Itachi just stares at her for a few moments, as if deciding what he wants to say. Eventually, he decides to explain himself in a roundabout way, hinting that he intends to catch the girl if she falls.]

...If you fall, you'll break your neck. [Before that can be interpreted as anything too caring, he tacks on:] Then that administrator will have to patch you up, and I'm sure he doesn't want to do any more unnecessary work. I'd say it's his own fault, but I'd rather not find out what he'll do if he gets any more irritated with us.

[From the angry mob a while ago to what Dax told him, that Jason would use his love for his brother as a reason to harm him, Itachi really does feel like messing with him would be a bad thing for all of them. Even if they "mess with him" by doing something as out of their own hands as dying and needing to be brought back. If nothing else, he won't chance it for Sasuke's sake.]

[starofpleiades]

Oh, um! I didn't mean to make you worry... I'll keep going then...

[She starts back up the stairs, but turning like that and starting moving suddenly induced another bout of vertigo and suddenly she was tilting too far back...]

[silentsacrifice]

[Itachi perks up immediately, holding his arms out to catch Kazumi as she falls. The slight jolt makes his head throb and causes his balance to waver momentarily, but he gathers chakra to his feet to ensure that he'll stick to the stairs. Thankfully, such a technique is still easy as ever for him to perform.

He has one arm under her back and the other hooked under her legs, and he stares at her with a look just short of being called a glare.]

[starofpleiades]

Oof, ooh... s-sorry about that...

[She smiles sheepishly and shrinks back a little under his glare]

...really sorry.

[silentsacrifice]

[Itachi doesn't reply to that. Instead, he shifts his weight so that he has a better grip, and straightens his back.]

Where were you headed? [The unspoken implication is that he'll carry her there.]

[starofpleiades]

Um... [She was going to stop by one of the more peaceful floors, but given this, she doesn't want to trouble or worry him any further]

I was just going to go back to my room, 2-03. You don't really have to...

[silentsacrifice]

Don't be ridiculous. [His tone is sharp, but there's a small hint of gentleness to it that's easy to miss if you're not listening closely.] You're clearly in no state to walk up all these stairs. I'll take you.

[And, without waiting for further argument, he begins to ascend.]

[starofpleiades]

[She misses it. Well, at least he's helping?]

Th, thank you... I'm Kazumi, by the way...

[silentsacrifice]

[He hears her, of course, but he doesn't acknowledge it. When he gives his own name, there's no trace of warmth in his voice.]

Itachi.

[starofpleiades]

Ah... well, thank you, Itachi.

[Awk ward... she's too busy feeling under the weather to worry about it much though]

[silentsacrifice]

Don't mention it. [Really, Kazumi. Don't.

And then he begins his trek up the stairs, sure-footed and swift in spite of his own throbbing headache.]