estoria | [OPEN] Infinite in distance and unbound by death

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[OPEN] Infinite in distance and unbound by death

Who: Jaune Arc & You
When: IC: 7/18 - 19
Where: Various
What: Jaune can't even die properly and now he's out and about - strangely better than ever.
Rating/Warning: None!

ʜᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ.

[ The last thing Jaune remembers is coughing up blood, his insides slowly rotting away while his weird immune system (read: Aura) tried fighting against it. Whatever Clarke gave him to drink also seemed to change him slightly, but that effect seems to have worn off by now.

Now, three days after apparently dying in one of the most painful ways, Jaune can be seen walking around the hospital. A strange sense of deja vu hits him as he recalls being bound to a hospital after his previous interlude experience, too. That time, he didn't die, though, and recovery was a little slower, which... makes this all the more strange. How does recovering from death make him feel better than ever?

In fact, should anyone decide to visit him, expecting to find him bedridden or hooked up on some IV, then they're in for a surprise. Jaune is walking around in his hospital garbs, greeting some of the staff members he recognizes and helping patients who are worse off than him.

You may find him doing various things as he waits to be discharged, from doing wheelies in a wheelchair that wasn't meant for him, cursing at the vending machine because it doesn't serve patients for free, or telling jokes to a group of patients who are probably high on painkillers. ]

...I looked at his burger, and then I said-- I said, man, you're gonna need a bigger mouth!

[ The audience laughs. ] I love these guys...

[ Alternatively, if your character is also hospital-bound, they could be sharing a room! ]

ᴠɪᴠɪᴅ.

[ Hospital shenanigans outside, Jaune isn't left unaffected as he appears on the surface. He's always been okay with the concept of dying-- or rather, he always knew what he signed up for. If there ever comes a day in which he needs to give up his life for the people he wants to protect, then that's just what a Huntsman is supposed to do. Which is why it bothers him so much that he got killed the way he did. It felt pointless. Why did his Aura, which is supposed to be a manifestation of his own soul, not fight back hard enough?

Could it be that he just didn't train hard enough? He's aware that he skipped more Aura lessons with Pyrrha than he should have, focusing on improving his swordplay instead. Now that she's gone, he needs to practice every department more than ever. Skill, Aura, leadership, teamwork... and what better place to do all that than in a game of ViViD?

So if your character is up for some gaming, they'll find themselves randomly paired with Jaune, who seems more focused and determined than usual. ]

Hey.

[ (If you choose this prompt, I'll try and write a unique scenario for every thread!) ]

ᴀᴄᴀᴅᴇᴍʏ.

[ Look, training isn't just about getting stronger physically! Education is important, too, which is why Jaune is quick to return to school so soon after his recovery. LEARNING IS IMPORTANT.

Haha, just kidding. It's only half a day later and he's involved in a food fight inside the cafeteria. Even though he normally doesn't do well in these, it's nice to be reminded of home a little.

Jaune flips one of the tables and jumps behind it like a barricade. There's a slushy dripping across the side of his face as he counts his "ammo" (just random food particles). Your character can either be hiding with him or firing from the other side. ]

Alright! I got seven nuggets!! [ He... eats one of them mid-sentence. ] --Six nuggets. And a carton of chocolate milk. Augh, where's the mashed potato?! I need it, I need it now!

sᴀɴᴄᴛᴜᴀʀʏ.

[ Normally Jaune doesn't spend too much time in the sanctuary, the place can get a little too tinfoil-hatty for a guy who naively takes everything at face value. More than that, he sometimes starts feeling strangely ill if he hangs out in it longer than necessary. It's probably just him, though.

He also figures there's going to be another mass gathering here in the coming days, assuming there were other people who got kidnapped as well. If not, then he needs to at least tell some of his friends about what happened. What if he randomly dies again without sharing everything he knows?!

This all sounds well and urgent, but if you happen to see Jaune in the sanctuary, he'll just be... mopping the floor and cleaning the walls. What? It's therapeutic! ]

More pizza leftovers... I wonder if we can order McCeres for the next group meeting... n-not that I, y'know, dislike pizza or anything. ... Also, why am I talking to myself.

ᴄʜᴜʀᴄʜ.

[ Jaune isn't religious by any means, and the building itself isn't dedicated to any particular god. What he does like about this place is the sense of community, as well as the idea of keeping faith and hope strong.

Jaune wonders if he started a trend here or if it's just normal thing that happens, but ever since he put up a small photo of a missing Pyrrha on the walls, others have been doing the same. Eventually it became a memorial wall for those who have fallen or gone missing from Cerealia, with Jaune even updating Pyrrha's status from Missing to... well, resting in peace. Around her picture are the names of his other friends carved: Sousei, Tenka, Peko, Zack, and many more. Rapunzel is the latest addition, and there was also Weiss' name, but it's been crossed out. Twice. ]

It looks like this place still isn't done with me yet, huh. Man, this is gonna get confusing...

[ Quietly, he wonders if anyone would even add him to this little shrine if he doesn't come back someday. It's not like he talks about this special place with anyone. ]

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[ If anything, he feels like he should do her laundry just to make up for all the worrying he caused. ]

...I'm okay, Shiho. Better than ever... [ That last part echoes just what the doctors told him. He certainly could be feeling a lot better than he is right now. ]

[She can see that, but it doesn't mean she isn't still incredibly angry about it.]

...I know. [Her voice is kind of muffled, but hopefully he can understand her anyway.]

It's just....I didn't want it to happen to you.

It was an accident.

[ In case Shiho was planning on murdering CERES or Adrien over it. ]

I just wish I could've done more to help.

[She isn't going to murder Adrien-

She'll just....talk to him. Kindly. Because her hands are still on his back and she can read the memories from him.]

...I know.

[Pulling back just a little, tears be damned, Shiho looks up at him.]

It isn't your fault. [It's CERES' fault and she's going to humiliate and then beat them up.]

I just hope the others were okay...

[ He glances at the little memorial wall. ]

It sucks, having to add more names here.

Well...Yosuke was okay. He contacted me. [And was the one who told her that Jaune had died.]

And we aren't going to add any more. I....I'll help. [Which is the first time she's ever explicitly said that she's going to go against CERES instead of conducting investigations on her own with Kaoru.] Kaoru-chan will too.

[Because where one was, the other was inevitably never far behind.]

You can't stop people from disappearing, Shiho.

[ Though he agrees with her sentiment, and Shiho and Kaoru are the closest thing he has left that he can call team mates. ]

...
W-Wait, can you? [ Esper powers are forever a mystery to him. ]

I know that.

[Maybe if Aoi were here too, the three of them could break physics and make impossible things come true just with the combined force of their powers. But by herself, all she can really do is make people wish they'd never done that one incredibly embarrassing thing as a kid.]

But there are other ways of helping, you know? Like...with...with CERES. With psychometry. And with Kaoru-chan.

[She's throwing in her lot with you guys, Jaune.]

W-What if you faint again, like last time? Maybe using your powers on Flamine-related stuff is too dangerous...

[ CERES is fair game, though. They've played their cards too close to their chests for long enough. Also, Jaune still has that feeling that CERES isn't their worst enemy here. ]

But I have to do something.

[Maybe Hyoubu could check on the state of her health before she tried it again. Was it that it was just too overwhelming on her psychic centre? Or was there some other reason?]

We...we don't know if I'll do that again, right?

I guess I'd be a hypocrite if I asked you to stop doing dangerous stuff, huh?

[ Considering how many times he's thrown himself at danger despite Shiho's best efforts to keep him out of it. ]

[Dear dokis, go away.]

I...I do things like this back home all the time. Well...I mean, usually Minamoto-san is there monitoring and that quack is there too....but it'll probably be fine.

[If she overreaches with her powers, her heart will just stop....at least it'll only affect her and no one else.]

[ No sense in arguing it, then. It's a lot better to support each other than to hold the other person back - it's the foundation of any cohesive team. ]

Alright then! I trust what you're doing, Shiho. I'll just have to stand in for "that quack" and keep an eye on you! Heh, quack... so great!

...Thanks. [He even manages to eke a small smile out of her at how excited he is just at calling Sakaki a quack.]

His name is Sakaki, by the way. Not "That Quack".

[One awful psychometer was enough for anyone and even though she's sure that no one would ever care enough about Minor Character Sakaki Shuuji, she still shouldn't take the chance that Jaune might accidentally insult him without knowing. Psychometers are a petty bunch, and she knows this better than anyone.

Also she finally notices that she's still holding onto him.

Uh. Time to change the subject as she looks at all the names on the walls, slowly letting go now that she's sure she isn't about to burst into tears anymore.]

H-Heh... [ He was aware that she was still holding on, but bringing it up probably would have been awkward for her. Besides, hugs are cool!! (says who, jaune) ]

Serious stuff aside... ha... ah... do you... d-did... uh. Hm. --do you wanna, like, do something? I dunno, hang out or whatever. [ It's been a while since they did fun stuff, and staring at this wall isn't gonna make anyone feel better. ]

[The fact that he was aware and hadn't said anything is what stops her from telling him that no one thought hugs were cool. (As far as she was concerned, they were now officially cool and anyone who said otherwise was inviting the ire of a psychometer.)

Shiho fights down any giddiness on hearing him ask her to hang out. She's the calm and cool one, damn it. Besides....he probably, definitely didn't mean it in any non-platonic way. This was Jaune Hugs-Are-Cool Arc they were talking about here. And she wasn't about to touch him and check no matter how curious she was. That doesn't mean she isn't still flustered and trying her best not to fidget.]

O-Oh...s-sure. What did you have in...um...mind? I guess we could, like....celebrate your coming back to life. Or something...like...that. If you want. Everything's been kinda...crazy lately, I guess.

[People celebrated that, right? It wasn't weird?? She tries to make sure that she doesn't sound too eager about it.]

I'm awkward at parties... [ Truthfully, he just wouldn't feel right celebrating coming back to life. Not when he feels that people like Pyrrha deserve that kind of chance more than him. But he's here now, and it doesn't mean he isn't grateful. ]

What about something less crazy? Did you need, like, help with kidnapping your friends or something? W-Wow, I can't believe I just said that.

I-....um...never mind. No party, then. [Better that he thought she meant something casual like a party with friends than for him to think she meant something just with the two of them....]

....it's not like I go around kidnapping all of my friends on a daily basis...what kind of a weirdo does that...

[but there is one thing...]

Someone challenged me to steal their motorbike.

[Shiho, why do you do this]

...a heist! I love heists.

[ In movies, that is. ]

--wait, what? How?? [ That should have been his first response. ]

[Heists were more her speed. Not him loving heists because damn it, that's kind of cute. (Also shut up, inner voice that sounds suspiciously like Fujiko.)]

He was telling me about his bike, and I said I could take it. If I wanted. Because of the-

[She holds up a hand between them. The psychometry is what she means.]

...you know. He has this mechanism on it, but I can figure it out.

[Also Kaneda inexcusably called her a softie, and she needs to reestablish her rep as a force to be feared.]

You in?

We're gonna give it back though, right? I dunno if I wanna make a biker mad, but we gotta do it if your honour is on the line. [ Honour in stealing??? children pls ]

Besides... we're a team! Any challenge to you is also a challenge for me, and I say... challenge accepted.

He's not really a biker. He's just a big baby. But yeah...I guess we'll give it back. [It's not like she needs the bike in the first place.]

Thanks. [She missed this...she's not going to tell him, but she missed this.]

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[OPEN] Infinite in distance and unbound by death

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