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[ Ordinarily, if she was being hugged by her boyfriend, Rion would have wanted to have her hair in some semblance of order and not just spilling haphazardly down her back in messy waves. And she wouldn't have been exhausted or congested or sweaty or any of those other lovely things that came with being sick-- not to mention the emotionally vulnerable aspect of it.

But there's still some form of comfort she draws from this, and as he pulls her in, Rion slips her hands down and moves her arms around him to trace light circles on his back. Her head, as guided, plunks down on his shoulder.

If he's seen her like this, and still wants to be here, then maybe that's a good thing in the end. ]

... I thought you came here to sneak another nap in with me.

[ A tiny bit of sass, more like the typical Rion, but the softness of her voice betrays her. ]

[. . . and he laughs again, although this one unfortunately turns into a cough, deep and gross and extremely unpleasant. being sick sucks, but crouched here, with Rion tugged into his arms and resting against his shoulder, her hand drawing patterns against his back in a soothing manner, he feels pretty damn okay]

Would you say no if I asked?

Maybe.

[ He's really had terrible luck with his cough, hasn't he? Rion's quiet for a few more seconds, still lightly rubbing his back. ]

At this point... we're probably not contagious to each other, but I'm not sure I want to sleep anytime soon.

[ As drained as she is, the nightmares are so much worse. ]

Mmm. . . that's fine. We'll think of something else to do.

[and he doesn't mean that in a flirty way, either]

. . . I can't tell how feverish you are right now but I bet you could use a cold washcloth.

I can't even tell how feverish I am right now, but that sounds nice.

[ She says. Into his shoulder.

(Yeah, she's stupidly feverish.) ]

There are cups on the stand, too. You should drink some water.

[he's about to refuse her offer, but. . . actually, now that she mentions water, he thinks a little bit of it might help his sore throat. and so Akira nudges against her lightly, reluctantly trying to incite her to lie down again]

All right. . . I'll do that.

[but then he's getting her a cold washcloth and if she scolds him for pushing himself he'll give her the stink eye!1]

[ His shoulder is actually way more preferable to the bed right now.

But then again, Rion doesn't really have the strength or the energy to whine about it, and as soon as she realizes he's trying to move her, she'll carefully shift herself back into a lying position.

Buuut also she's straining to watch him, just to make sure he isn't pushing himself too much. ]

[once she's lying down, he reaches out to smooth her bangs against her forehead, one last brief moment of contact (punctuated with a tired, yet endeared, smile) before he pulls away. she'll absolutely notice him wobbling on his feet on his feet as he stands, pressing his face into the crook of his elbow to cough again, deep and wet and unpleasant. he turns away from her to inhale sharply when he's done, shoulders hunched. and, with a shake of his head, he he heads to the nightstand to get a cup of water]

[which he takes with him as he slips into the bathroom next to prepare her a nice, cold washcloth]

[ The wobbling is concerning, and now she's wondering just what he'd gone through to make it here in the first place. She's pretty sure if she asked, Akira would just give some vague, reassuring response until she frowned at him enough, but it's more worrying when he leaves her sight.

It's no longer a fear that the nightmare will become a reality, really. But she's not entirely certain that Akira's not going to cough himself into a crumpled heap or collapse in there, and that's why Rion diligently and doggedly shifts herself up on her elbows to listen for any other alarming sounds.

Besides his coughing, of course. ]

[FORTUNATELY, all she hears are the dulcet noises of running and dripping water, accompanied by a few more coughs. . . and maybe a frustrated, grumpy noise here and there. but eventually, Akira emerges from the bathroom, with two (2) cold washcloths in tow!!]

[. . .]

What's with that worried look?

[and now he meanders over to the bed to drop a washcloth on her face]

[ Rion releases a soft, graceless noise that sounds a lot like "oof", reaching up and--

Ultimately just leaving the cloth where it landed, okay Rion. Her elbows give out finally, making her flop back entirely ]

I was worried. You weren't even moving straight.

My equilibrium is off.

[there's a WHUMP and then the mattress bounces as Akira flops onto the bed next to her. he lies on his back and drapes the second washcloth over his forehead, eyes slipping shut. his glasses find themselves folded and deposited neatly on the nearby nightstand]

You're a mess.

[ But she says it fondly (and still hoarsely), finally pushing the washcloth a little further up her face to settle over her forehead.

Ah, romance. ]

Not as much of a mess as you.

[he huffs in return, before he sobers up again and asks, voice soft]

And you're sure you're okay?

As... okay as I can be.

[ Which may not be saying much, but she's better than she was when he woke her up. That much is obvious. ]

You saw a pretty uncool side of me, though.

[he shifts to lie on his side, resting his cheek in his palm. he has to adjust the cool cloth on his forehead to keep it there, but it works]

. . . I didn't think it was uncool.

[ On her end, Rion doesn't move from her current position of flat on her back. One arm rests by her side, while her other hand curls over her chest, gripping at the fabric tightly. ]

You know... you don't have to try to make me feel better about it. It wasn't what you expected, right?

I didn't not expect it.

[Akira gives a small, one-shouldered shrug]

We talked about it before, and you told me you were afraid of hurting people again. [. . .] That sort of fear doesn't just disappear overnight.

[even with his attempts at assuaging it by promising her that the people who cared about her would never let it happen again]

I wish it did. It wasn't like I didn't believe you, but...

... I guess it's not so easy to get over this fear.

[ At all. It's almost kind of frustrating. ]

It takes time. Don't be afraid to give yourself that time.

[he flops back onto the bed, now curled up close to her side]

[. . .]

. . . hey. Did you know I'm afraid of needles?

[non-sequitur??]

[ ... Well, okay then. ]

I'm pretty sure that never came up.

Yeah. It wouldn't.

[and here, he pauses, trying to seek out the proper words for what he wants to say next. there's so much background information that's almost required for her to understand the story he wants to tell, but getting into Akechi here and now. . . that's not what he wants to do. there's another point to this, something related to her own fears, that he wants to empathize with. so]

I was arrested three times, actually. Once when I was falsely accused of assault, once when I voluntarily turned myself in to protect my team, and in the middle--

[he hesitates]

In the middle, there was the time I was arrested at the end of a heist.

[ Rion turns her head on the pillow(s) to look at him now, eyebrows knitting together with a mixture of perplexity and concern. Falsely accused, she'd heard of. Turning himself in to protect his team doesn't surprise her. But-- ]

They caught you as a phantom thief?

[ ... rather, how did they even know to catch him? Didn't they do their thing in the Metaverse, or whatever it was? ]

[and that's where the long story comes in]

Yeah. I'll tell you exactly how another time, all right?

[that can't be the focus of this conversation, or they'll digress too much. languidly, he drapes an arm over his eyes, and keeps talking]

They took me back to the police station and locked me in an underground interrogation room. I don't know how long I was down there. Time kind of. . . ran together, after a while.

[it's hard to focus on the passage of time when you can't see the sun, and your system is chock full of drugs]

[ She'll commit it to memory for now-- because he's clearly got another aim here. So for the time being, Rion only makes a soft noise of acknowledgment to let him know she's still listening.

Maybe a part of her is still wondering what this has to do with needles, but another part of her already harbors a sneaking suspicion. ]

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