Street-corner preacher in the cold

[warriorscribe]

Characters: Enoch and anyone!
Setting: Room 3-18; Dormitory levels 1-3; floors 1-9
Format: Either is fine!
Summary: Enoch's illness has made itself apparent as Jason's lab rat in the most annoying way possible.
Warnings: None yet! Aside from Enoch actually acting like a grouchy old man, I guess.

For the first day since the nagging thoughts had grown worse, to where he couldn't keep them all to himself anymore, Enoch had managed to mostly keep the scathing thoughts he had to a minimum. He had a better sense of propriety than that, and knew they would only aggravate people.

But since this isn't a grave matter like taking someone's life (and because Jason was obviously doing better than Ruana), his mind gave out after that day. When he woke up, the first thing he did was direct scolding at the dorm room ceiling he knew to house the administrators' eyes. "Why aren't you doing anything? You're captive too, aren't you? Are you all cowards!?"

For a moment, he paused, thinking on the jarring harshness of his words, at their lack of his normal softness and how inconsiderate they were, compared to what he'd said before. But between his sluggish, heavy body and the cold sinking into his bones, the full impact of the change failed to hit him. He summoned his armor and put his Arch in its rightful spot, then pulled his cloak tight around his shoulders, pulling the hood as far over his head as it would go. He couldn't just talk to the cameras and his roommates if they were there, after all.

He'd snap at people passing in the halls - "Why aren't you doing something!?" "Are you going to just go about life here when all our lives are gone?" "We need more than idleness and aimless riots!"

This would continue into the cafeteria, where he was only stopped from approaching others by virtue of his mouth being full of food, or when he'd double over in a coughing fit. If someone was really lucky, he'd be cut off by coughing or sneezing. When he was done eating, he continued up the stairs, slowly for his flu-worn body, giving out the same admonishments to anyone who happened to be near.

His body finally gave out on the stairs of the dark ninth floor. Those passing through will see a cloaked, hooded figure huddled on the lit stairs...still scolding people for their inaction. Or perhaps they'll catch him in the middle of a coughing fit, or taking a nap. Or, sometimes, one might find the staircase empty, a monster prowling around. When it moves on, that figure emerges from the shadows of the darkened floor and resumes his usual routine.

Comments

[warriorscribe]

Well, that collar would be under the cloak, but Naoya does get a handful of that. Enoch doesn't protest it, staring at Naoya with widened eyes, barely visible with his hood pulled all the way up like that.

Eventually, his upper body goes slack with a sigh, and he hangs there in Naoya's grip. "...I'm sorry, great-uncle. This weather and illness must be wearing on my nerves."

[crouching_sin]

"Tch. If you're ill, you should be resting. Come with me." He starts attempting to put an arm around Enoch's torso. "You need to be in bed."

[warriorscribe]

Enoch accepts it as much for the warmth of contact as he does for the support. "That room feels more like a prison than this entire tower..." He doesn't protest, though. He knows Naoya's right. Not like he isn't going to get restless and slip out again later anyway.

[crouching_sin]

"Prison it may be, but if you don't allow yourself to recover you'll only become sicker. Even in modern times, thousands of people die each year from flus, and who knows what the administrators here may have done to any illnesses floating about? So you need to rest, and you will rest." Granted, his own immune system isn't great, but that doesn't matter right now.

[warriorscribe]

At this point, he's just too tired to argue like he did with Lancer anyway.

"What about you?"

[crouching_sin]

"Me? I'm not the one who's ill. I plan on continuing to work on my own projects. I can only hope that you'll be intelligent enough to stay in bed so that I don't have to keep dragging you back there."

Stop being such an idiot, child. :|

[warriorscribe]

"You don't look like you eat well. Won't you fall ill, yourself?"

Naoya won't have to worry for a good portion of the day while he sleeps, at least.

[crouching_sin]

"I don't eat well in general, nor sleep well - but my body's adapted to it. Besides, I know how to deal with illness. You, apparently, do not."

Hopefully Enoch will stay put... he'll check in on him every so often to make sure he is.

[warriorscribe]

"But that means you're even more vulnerable than I am..."

He'll obey for now, at least, walking along with Naoya.

[crouching_sin]

"In theory, yes. But I keep myself healthy enough. Stop worrying about me and take care of yourself."

[warriorscribe]

He wasn't going to argue when the simple journey down to the elevator was so tiring.

"All right..."

[crouching_sin]

Right. It shouldn't take too long to get to the dormitories, hopefully.

"You're in 3-18, correct?"

[warriorscribe]

"I am..."

Which means two more flights of stairs to get down there from the elevator.

[crouching_sin]

He leads Enoch up the stairs towards the dormitories, careful to not pull him too fast. "Come on."

[warriorscribe]

Or, up, considering the first dormitory floor is actually the highest, but...all the same. Stairs. Enoch is shaking from fatigue by the time they step off onto the third dorm floor.