Collapsing [Taiki, Eridan and open]

[isnotagiraffe.livejournal.com]

Characters: Taiki, Eridan anyone who wants to come visit Eridan or sick Taiki. (Willow, Sollux, Dualscars since you all said you wanted to meet the two of them together!)
Setting: Room 2-18, after Eridan is released from the infirmary
Format: You pick!
Summary: All this blood finally gets to Taiki, he gets sick.
Warnings: mentions of blood

Taiki was relieved when Eridan could leave the infirmary, the place smelt of blood and pain even worse than the rest of the tower. They went down to get the lift up to the dormitory floors, Taiki managed to last long enough to arrive in the coridoor before he collapsed.

It was all too much, all the blood, he had gotten blood on him, blood had been all around them. He had continued going because he had to save Eridan, because he didn't want to leave Eridan but his body couldn't cope any longer and he fell to the ground trembling, his eyes rolling back as he lost conciousness.

If Eridan touched him up he would be burning to the touch.

[A day or two later] Taiki finally started to recover, though he had no strength at all he was able to stay awake for a few hours at a time, and was well enough to recieve visitors, if anyone cared to come and see him.

Comments

[notagiraffe]

Oh [Taiki looks down, feeling bad that he had confused them, he is still totally oblivious to the two of them flirting] Sorry... I was lost because my Ranka... that is uh... the fruit that people from the Twelve Kingdoms are born from... got blown to earth so I ended up being born there...

and uh... a Kirin is... a creature of the gods... there's one of us for every kingdom and we have to find our King, or Queen... and then serve them... and uh I'm a Kirin... so that's why I'm ill...

[wwaterboy]

You're so wweird. [Eridan is continually amazed by Taiki, seriously.] You're born from a fruit? You mean an egg, don't you?

[guiltapalooza]

Sounds like a creation story. [Willow just takes in this information sanguinely, and okay, it's maybe a little strange but it's not the strangest she's ever heard. If she can accept the sea-dwelling alien insect next to her, this is cake.]

And also like you're probably pretty important, aren't you?

[notagiraffe]

Sorry... [Taiki studied the floor] It is an egg... and also a fruit... it grows on a tree... I guess I am a bit weird...

[He looked at Willow a bit confused, he had never thought of himself as important as well] I guess... Kirin are important... for the world... and to keep their kings kind...

[wwaterboy]

[Taiki, why are you so cute? Now Eridan feels a little bad for mocking your weird egg fruit thing.]

Wwish wwe had things like you on Alternia, evven if you'd all probably get culled for bein' so wweak. If it actually wworked, I mean, to keep leaders kind.

[guiltapalooza]

That does seem like a good idea, [she agrees.] Even if you've had some problems with it, you're fulfilling an important function. It's not really that weird; I've heard of spirits doing similar things before.

[notagiraffe]

If... if they didn't cull us we... we would all die of Shitsedou... I don't think your leaders would care enough... for us to be useful...

[He looks up at Willow's words] Really? There are other creatures like Kirin?

[wwaterboy]

Oh, you mean they havve to cooperate? Wwell, yeah, that wwouldn't go so wwell, probably.

[guiltapalooza]

I don't know if they're exactly like Kirin, but I've heard about all sorts of things. I used to-- I mean, back home, I'm big into the supernatural research. We had a different thing attacking us every week and we needed to stay on top of it.

So at least the Earth I'm from, yeah, we do get spirits hanging around helping kings and queens sometimes.

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki nodded] When our kings our cruel or unjust the Kirin gets sick, it's meant to be a warning but if they continue being unjust then the Kirin dies, the king dies sometime after so... er... it would mean they would have to care... er... about a kirin dying... for it to work...

[He looks to Willow interested] I erm... sorry I think you must be from a different earth than the one I know but that sounds similar to kirin erm... [He realised how much he was talking and fell silent with a blush] Sorry...

[wwaterboy]

[Eridan is just listening now. He doesn't know much about kings and queens, and he feels like he's already contributed what he can to this conversation, at least so far.]

[guiltapalooza]

Oh, yeah, we probably are from different Earths, [she says agreeably, trying to reassure him with a smile.] I haven't met anyone from mine yet, so I don't really expect it.

[And didn't that hurt. But moving right along, seriously.] You don't have to apologize-- I think it's interesting to hear about.

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki gave a small smile, reassured] What is your earth like... if it has spirits in it...

[wwaterboy]

Seems like wwe spend half our livves here talkin about our wworlds. [Eridan's not complaining, though, and sounds agreeable] I wwouldn't mind hearin more, Wwill.

[guiltapalooza]

--Oh, um, okay. I guess I could describe it. [Suddenly her turn for story time. But she doesn't mind, really.] It is neat to hear about everyone else's.

So let's see... There's kinda two layers to my world. There's the surface, human-y layer, and the deeper demon-y layer. There's something like seven billion people, all divided up into different countries, and depending on where you live, things are really different. I'm from America, which means I mostly live a pretty cushy life in terms of food, shelter, technology, and the ability to participate in how the country is governed.

Most people, make that almost everyone, have no idea that beneath everything is a whole society of demons that prey off of us. I don't mean demons as in religious demons, like they're evil and opposing humanity-- I just mean they're non-humans from different planes of reality. Some of them aren't hostile, but I tend not to hear about the ones that aren't, because I grew up on a Hellmouth. Which... is a portal to a hell dimension.

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki agreed, having grew up believing there was only one world, and then finding out their was two and he belonged somewhere else entirely, to them find out there were many more than two was fascinating.

So Willow had grew up somewhere with a portal to somewhere like the yellow sea. The idea of such portals wasn't strange, after all sometimes worlds touched, like the Earth Taiki knew and the Twelve Kingdoms, with Hourai, or Japan being the area most who were thrown through the storms ended up.]

So did you have to stop them? From hurting people I mean?

[wwaterboy]

[Wow, Willow's life sounds exciting] Sounds like things'd be pretty dangerous livvin so close to a portal right to wwhere the demons come from.

[guiltapalooza]

Yes and yes, to both. Me and my friends have been fighting the monster of the week since I was fifteen. --Um, like seven sweeps, I think? And I'm twenty-two now, so it's been a while.

Some times are more dangerous than others, but for the most part it just seems... normal to me. I can't leave them to deal with it on their own, so it's not like I have a choice.

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki nodded, monster fighting sounded scary but letting people be hurt was even worse.]

You and your friends must be really brave...

[wwaterboy]

Wwilloww is also real powwerful. [Oops, might be a bit of adoration there]

[guiltapalooza]

Oh, um, that's more of a recent thing, [she protests, as if embarrassed.] I definitely didn't start out that way. Actually, the first time I met a vampire, I thought he was taking me out for ice cream.

Buffy had to slay him.

[notagiraffe]

Really? [He smiles at her again, he was sure she was really powerful and just being modest. In fact, for Eridan to compliment here she must be incredibly powerful, because Eridan usually insulted his friends.]

Vampires eat ice cream? Who is Buffy... is she your friend? [He didn't like the idea of slaying anyone but he stayed quiet about it]

[wwaterboy]

Doesn't matter if you started out that wway or not.

...Wwhat's a vvampire?

[guiltapalooza]

Vampires don't really eat ice cream; he was lying because he wanted to lure me into a trap and sacrifice me to the Master, [she says, entirely as if that were an everyday occurrence.] And yeah, Buffy is my best friend! One of two.

As for vampires... I think Aradia called them rainbow drinkers?

[notagiraffe]

Oh... so he was a bad vampire... [He smiled again and stayed quiet, trolls had lots of strange words for things]