Even the Reaper can get sick...

[fusedstars]

 Characters: Hei and you
Setting: Cafeteria
Format: Prose, but taggers choice afterwards
Summary: Hei starts being stubborn and tries to fix himself up.....and fails.
Warnings: sick Hei

Being sick and useless never sat well with Hei. After a few days battling this illness and rest, there was no improvement, his condition growing worse. And with constant fatigue and a running fever, of course he was bound to make both logical and illogical actions. He couldn't rely on anyone taking care of him. No one ever did that. There was help, sure, but actually taking care of him? Aside from memories of his sister, Amber, and even Yin helping him, there was no one he could fully trust. Kirika maybe, but he also didn't desire to be a burden either.

So there he was in the kitchen, fixing up a lot of things he gathered from hunting. Surprisingly, he was not dizzy from it all...yet. Naturally, there had been the meat he had hunted from the deer, and he wore his mask. It was the only thing he could use to make the food without sneezing on it. As for meat, well, it was important to get in some protein. And without things like peppers and other vegetables, options were more limited. Chicken soup would have been the best thing. Even orange juice would be good.

He holds his head as he flips the meat. It was clear the guy was getting dizzy after moving around so much. He sighs heavily, hand wanting to massage his temples, and couldn't thanks to the damn mask. He made a mental note to make a mouth and noseguard mask for this situation. So much for being in shape to prevent more illnesses.

Then again, it was obvious the scientists were at fault. 

Comments

[neverbeamemory]

Just how much hotter could it get in here?

Sephiroth was getting more than a little concerned now of the detrimental affects this dangerously high temperature was having on his health. It was more important than ever to keep cool and to drink lots of water, at least there were plenty of cups of that available in the Cafeteria. The pool and the cooling lakes on some of the floors of the Tower had been helping at least for a little while but he would swear it was getting way too hot for that water to stay cool enough for long. He'd stopped trying to figure how why and how he'd gotten sick in the first place and was now focused on surviving it. He was even suffering wearing his long leather trench coat in the name of trying to sweat the fever out.

In reality however it was becoming dreadfully obvious that the opposite was starting to break the once-called perfect SOLDIER. He was ice-white, nearly blue in places. Walking around barefoot couldn't be suggestible for anyone considering the below-freezing temperatures in the Tower - but it wasn't like Sephiroth's swollen, frostbitten feet could really fit into his boots anymore. When he stumbled from the near-solidness of his toes making walking difficult, he put it aside as nausea from the heatstroke. When he believed he was sweating, it was more like his shivering was starting to thaw at the frozen parts of his flesh which in places looked close to splitting.

In this fragile state though, Sephiroth still forced himself to get around - he couldn't bear lying in his own puddles of sweat in bed. Empty cup in hand, Sephiroth sluggishly helped himself across the Cafeteria by gripping onto the backs of chairs and into the kitchen. It took an immense amount of energy just to not swoon from the heatwave which came from the cooking being done across the room, he gripped harder onto the side, sniffed dryly and slowly headed towards the sink.

Stiff, unresponsive fingers fumbled two or three times to turn the tap on before succeeding. Despite how tight wet his skin felt under all the leather, Sephiroth forced himself to stand upright - filling his cup and control-sipping from it even though his throat screamed for him to gulp it down.

[fusedstars]

Hei glanced at Sephiroth. It seemed everyone was doing worse. He had lighter symptoms, which helped explain why he wasn't flailing around thanks to fatigue. He was definitely in no condition to be walking around, especially in what seemed like a very heavy coat. Hei could at least move around and fight effectively. This man could hardly stand!

Keeping the meat on the pan, he stopped what he was doing, walking towards Sephiroth. "Do you need any help?"

[neverbeamemory]

After some effort Sephiroth put the cup down on the side to make sure he didn't drink too much water in one go and was staring at his hands when Hei approached, how they had begun to curl up at the ends of his fingers and how it was painful and tight to flex them to any extent. He knew from the look of it that it was frost bite, but couldn't make the connection how.

He physically shivered and coughed dryly before parting chapped lips to speak. Over the last few days, help that he would refuse normally out of his own pride, he'd at least listen to now in case they had any idea in keeping cool that he hasn't tried yet.

"How can you stand it? Stood over a hot pan like that in this heat?" Speaking over a dry sore throat sounded not only hoarse and tired, but as if that in itself might be splitting skin.

[fusedstars]

"Your symptoms of the flu are greater than mine. You sickness is the reason for your perception in temperature, weakening you."

Most logical thing he could think of.

[neverbeamemory]

Sephiroth's perception about the temperature was so convincing that as far as he was concerned it had to be real. Nevermind that he wasn't really sweating all that much, and the cold damage he could see on his fingertips and toes. He wasn't so accepting though, this illness had gone on for so long already that he'd had to accept that something wrong was going on with him.

"Could be, this whole illness is not right for sure." Sephiroth stiffly shrugged a little, then cleared a sticky throat. "This heat is unbearable."

But even knowing how wrong this all is, it doesn't help how he feels; the constant need to drink water and the un-ignorable desire to get and keep cool just even for a few moments. He treasured the cooling effect the water had on his insides but too quickly, to him at least, the benefit would wear off. Sephiroth's eyes drifted to the tap again, though iron-willed self control was forced into play; he could last a few more minutes without having another drink of water, surely.

[warriorscribe]

"So that's how we're fighting now? Making our own food? ...I suppose it's better than the unorganized mess of a riot."

Enoch sighed after speaking, one that ended on several dry coughs as he made his way to the nutrition bars.

"Something must be done," he added, forcing out another cough to clear his congestion. "...If only I knew what."

[fusedstars]

"For now, we can only sustain our bodies," countered Hei, flipping the meat again. "We have nothing else to use until those skilled in science can develop a cure."

[warriorscribe]

"True...this sickness has hampered most of us." Enoch sat heavily in the nearest chair, slumping over the table rather than eating just yet.

[fusedstars]

"I take it your symptoms are growing even worse?"

[warriorscribe]

Enoch nodded, not picking his head up. He only lifted it just enough to avoid muffling his voice against the table.

"As illnesses tend to act. They often get worse before...anything else." Either they get better or they don't. Enoch couldn't imagine an illness killing him anymore, given how hard it seemed for him to even catch one...

[tempus_scorpius]

[It's you. The guy who gave him food before. Rolo is coughing a bit himself but he's just got an ordinary flu. He studies Hei for a moment from a distance before coming over.]

... do you need help? You don't look so well.

[fusedstars]

Depends...you know how to cook, right?

[Sick or not, he was stubborn and reluctant to allow others who did not know how to cook to handle his food.]

[tempus_scorpius]

I can cook a little.

[fusedstars]

Close enough. You have flipped meat over, right?

[tempus_scorpius]

I can. [he coughs] Though... I should probably get a mask first.

[fusedstars]

You can use this. Found it in medbay. [He hands him a medical mouth guard.]

[tempus_scorpius]

[nods and puts it on] You just want me to flip the meat then?

[fusedstars]

Yes, till both sides are equally cooked.

[rewindingly]

Will you be all right?

[ Homura is standing at the entrance to the kitchen, watching Hei from behind. With so many others sick, she is quick to assume he is as well. ]

[fusedstars]

I just...need to finish this.

[Not exactly an answer. He wasn't nearly as bad as anyone else at least. Strain on his body though wasn't gonna help.]

[rewindingly]

Mm. You do.

[ She tales a step into the kitchen, approaching him slowly. ]

But if you are unwell then you may do it incorrectly.

[fusedstars]

And if don't do this, I can't feed myself the protein my body requires.

[If someone volunteered and was competent in this, that was another matter.]

[rewindingly]

[ She sighs. ]

Tell me what to do, then.

[fusedstars]

If you insist.

All you have to do is flip it until both sides grow darker, yet the meat is kept soft. It will sizzle if there is still much to cook, and the less noise means less to cook.

[Basic stuff really.]

[rewindingly]

Very well. Take a seat and rest. I will finish this for you.

[ She steps up to replace him and watch the meat. ]