it's been a long day without you my friend [OPEN]

[covenantal]

Who: covenantal & you!
When: IC 9/13 to 9/20, OOC 8/29 to 9/05 (the duration of event 33!)
Where: Pinesona apartment and elsewhere.
What: Relying on others is hard. Relying on others is necessary when your left arm and leg stop working, though. With bonus memory loss!
Rating/Warning: None right now.

---

[ i. closed to the pinesona apartment ]
[ Ever since the shutdown of the city's robots - and the uprising of all their appliances - Yu has been on a mission to replace as much as he can. It's taken a lot of scouring of the city, but he managed to find things like another refrigerator and microwave. Replacing their stove was probably the hardest thing, but more than anything, wanting to get the apartment in some semblance of working order so he could cook again had been high on his list of priorities.

So sue him, he finds all the cooking he does soothing, even if it's the most domestic.

He's in the kitchen the evening of the 13th, not yet realizing anything is amiss. Puttering around and deciding what to make so that everyone can pick at it at their leisure as they get in is leading him to decide on maybe oyakodon or gyudon, either one would be simple and the twins would probably like it--

--but as he goes to take a step, his leg just ... doesn't work.

With a yelp and a pretty loud crash he falls to the floor, where he stays for a moment in a painful heap. When he instinctively tries to push himself up, his arm won't respond, either. Struck dumb by confusion and a slow creeping sense of dread, Yu stares at the arm that won't move and gasps: ]

What?

[ Throughout the rest of the week smaller scale incidents of this nature will happen. His roommates can find him sometimes sitting in the middle of the living room floor, or pressed up against a piece of furniture or a wall leaning heavily on his right leg. The paralysis comes and goes seemingly at random, and probably despite all wisdom, he keeps pushing himself to do things anyway despite knowing he might get stranded somewhere. He could use a hand ... or a stern talking to. ]

[ ii. open ]

[ More than anything, it's a sort of stubbornness that keeps pushing him out the door.

The idea of being incapable is so foreign to him. Not being able to help himself, much less other people, makes the hollows of his chest feel shivery in ways he doesn't want to acknowledge. It's alien and unnerving and not right.

So he can still be found running errands around the Residential and Shopping districts, though it's in these places that you'll also find him .... stopped. Leaning against a wall, or awkwardly splayed on a bench, looking like he fell onto it more than sat on it. Each time he'll be thin-lipped and tapping slowly at his CereVice with one hand, his left hand strangely limp or tucked away in his pocket. Definitely at least once his leg gives out on him again, and though he falls, it's not as hard or bad as the first time. He'll tumble somehow into a sitting position, looking almost like he meant to do that (in the middle of a sidewalk?), though with a terribly annoyed expression on his face.

Should he not see you as these moments happen, he can be overheard mumbling this is ridiculous or a similar sentiment. However, should he accidentally, say, crash into you (what were you doing there, anyway?), he'll start apologizing profusely. ]

[ iii. wild card ]

(ooc: if you'd like to plan something else hit me up via pm or at izanagis!

Comments

Rei

[covenantal]

[ By now, he has gotten a wheelchair.

He hates it.

Necessary concession though it is. At the moment he's sitting in it outside his residential building, resting and scrolling through his CereVice. Yu is fit, especially in his arms and torso thanks to boxing, but pushing himself one-armed in a wheelchair is a whole new set of muscle movements, and he does still get a little tired out by it. It won't hurt anything to rest here for a moment before moving on. (Or trying to - it's a challenge to move a wheelchair himself with one arm and one leg.)

He isn't expecting anyone to happen across him - or maybe ... was just hoping to avoid it. ]

[faithfulflame]

[Rei, on the flip side of things, is actually having a much better day than she has in a while. Friends being gone hurt, of course, but the certainty and knowledge that she was finally whole and pure again was liberating. It was honestly almost enough to make her miss the teenage boy in a wheelchair trying to move, but not quite. Her eyes flicker over him, almost sliding past before they catch on the familiar glasses.]

Yu. [No kun, not anymore. Once you die with someone and then slay an army of toasters, they become uchi and no longer soto. At least, in her way of thinking anyway.]

What happened?

[covenantal]

[ On top of this new strangeness going on, he's feeling that, too. Athena and Merlin - two of his closest friends in the colony outside of his team from home - gone one right after the other. It's a familiar pain, and he's had the very great fortune in the past to get lucky with friends returning. But it's never a guarantee, and he abides the ache and sting of it without outward reaction.

Honestly, Rei is probably one of the few he'd tell. They're her friends, too.

Still, her presence surprises him when she calls his name. The lack of honorific - and the familiarity that comes with having dropped it - touches his face in small, unnameable ways. He breathes out a sigh. ]

To be honest, I'm still not sure. I know it's not just happening to me, though. [ He grimaces slightly. ] Right now, I can't use my left arm or leg.

[ He keeps his voice steady, keeps his feelings off his face, but there's still an air of restlessness to him. He's rarely ever felt this helpless. ]

[faithfulflame]

[It's an unfortunate set of circumstances all coming together, to be sure. Her lips tug upward in a weak smile and she steps up behind him, running her long fingers over the pushgrips of his wheelchair. His restlessness was not missed, and she truly felt bad for him.]

It's been since your implant started acting up, yes?

[That was a circumstance she'd figured might be the cause of it all. She rather vividly remembered her own morning, that violently irritating itching sensation in her eyes. She'd felt woozy but Usagi was rather immediate in administering treatment.]

Maybe this morning, or last night?

Rise

[covenantal]

[ Once he gets a space of a few hours where everything seems to be working properly, he uses one of those hours to run out and get some things early on.

When he comes back, it's with a shopping bag over his arm. With this hidden bag of goodies he'll peer through the living room and, not finding the person he's looking for, knock on Rise and Naoto's door. ]

Rise?

[pseudonyms]

[The world was ending. Everything was horrible. Horrible! Everything was slowly falling apart and all Rise could do was lay dramatically on her bed for a few moments even when Yu knocks on the door. She tries to say "come in!" but nothing leaves her mouth and there's a frustrated little noise instead. From inside the room, Yu will hear her stomping to the door finally and she opens it, fixing him with a sad little pout as she stares up at him.

Hi, Senpai. Are you here to make the world less awful?]

[covenantal]

[ ... did she just ... make a noise?

He doesn't have much time to wonder over it before he hears her footsteps, and he takes a step back for her to open the door. The look on her face does something to his expression, making it go a bit crooked and wry. This has got to be frustrating for her.

Yu lifts the bag, smiling a little. ]

Hey. I brought you some things. Hopefully they'll help a little. Want to see?

Yosuke

[covenantal]

[ The morning of the 13th is still normal, at least to him. Not long after he woke up something went strange with his vision, and he got incredibly dizzy ... but the moment passed, and he was left to shake his head and wonder what had happened.

He's thinking idly of asking Dipper and Hiro later if they experienced anything similar, but right now he's just making breakfast and keeping an ear out for anyone else who might be starting to stir. He's usually the first up, anyway. ]

[youraffection]

[ It's still normal. Or, at least it seems that way in the beginning. Yosuke's feeling...off. When the lamp by his bed doesn't seem to be working. He knows that he's got the darkest room of the apartment, being the only one without a viable window, but it's not quite the same as blackness. Still, he shuffles out of bed to turn on the overhead light.

Flipping the switch? It does nothing. No matter how many times he flips it. No light under the door, either. It's...

--it's making his skin feel cold. What's going on? A total blackout? What new bullshit is CERES pulling?

Yosuke pushes the pad that slides the door open. He can hear it open, he can feel the light whoosh of air that follows, but--

Nothing. ]

...Wh--

[ Panic starts to rise in his chest. He reaches out, feeling for--anything. He stumbles forward, hitting the couch. Why can't he--what's going on? Frantically touching his face, he feels his eyes--the lids--

They're open.

Oh god. ]

Wh-wh-what the hell is this!?

[ And there goes a lamp crashing to the ground. He jumps backwards, hitting the wall at his side. ]

[covenantal]

[ Yu hears Yosuke's door open before he sees it -- and a small smile settles onto his lips as he calls out: ]

Good--

[ But as he turns to face his friend, the rest of the phrase dies in his mouth. Yosuke seems lost, stumbling, his eyes staring ahead at nothing as he moves, and Yu's expression instantly turns into concern. He sets down what he'd doing, starting to move forward, but before he can speak again Yosuke touches his face and yells. ]

Yosuke!

[ Yu darts over as the lamp crashes to the floor, reaching out to grasp his friend's shoulders without even thinking. ]

Yosuke, calm down, it's alright. I'm right here. [ ... his eyes-- ] What's going on?

[ ... he couldn't be .... ]

Minato

[covenantal]

[ Mid-week finds him 1) back in the residential district and 2) stranded. He'd been having a few good hours, and decided to try heading out quickly to pick up a few things to eat - pre-prepared, if he could find it, since his ability to cook was hugely diminished right now - (and he didn't want to leave Yosuke for long) - but the good fortune barely lasted him out his door.

So he's sitting on a bench not far from his building, staring at his CereVice with a contemplative frown, debating which of his friends he should call to ... come get him. He hates having to do it, to seek help like this, but...

... he needs to rely on them as they do on him, right? He'd promised it. Even if this is ... this is so visceral.

He'll end up letting slip a sigh he didn't intend to really voice. ]

[moribound]

[The changes around the city haven't gone unnoticed by Minato and it's a rather depressing sight when a large part of Cerealia still isn't up to form but with Koromaru being here he's been feeling much better than he has in the past few weeks and it helps that he hasn't been affected at all, aside from a short spell of vertigo that had left him taking refuge in his bedroom only for it to pass a few seconds later.

He thinks nothing of seeing Yu sitting on the bench while staring at his CereVice at first, assuming that Yu is about to send a particularly difficult message to someone. It's only when Yu sighs and Koromaru nudges him that he realizes there's something more going on and approaches the bench, stopping beside it as he doesn't have the intention of taking a seat.]

You were sighing just now...is something wrong?

[covenantal]

[ With a soft questioning noise, Yu glances up at his visitor. A boy... no one he knows. Yu lets his eyes briefly search the stranger's face before he shakes his head, taking care to gentle his expression. It wouldn't do to worry someone he doesn't know. ]

Sorry about that. I'm alright. I need to call one of my friends to come get me, that's all.

[ Rise could get to him, but she couldn't handle his weight... and obviously Yosuke is out of the question. He'd kill himself trying to get down here. He'll have to contact someone else...

(Here's where he'd think to call Merlin. He buries the twinge he feels over the thought.) ]

The city's up to something strange again, [ he offers, by way of conversation. ]

twoooo

[manolia]

[Chibi is blind more often than he isn't, these past few days. He guesses he knows how his dragon brother felt when the cataracts came in; it sucks when you want to get groceries and suddenly lose your entire field of vision.]

[He has a wooden cane extended, tapping out the steps in front of him with an unpracticed rhythm. He can see the vaguest outlines of things with wakfu sight, but he cannot see much more than that; it's an ability he hasn't used in a very long time. The cane has become a lifeline, the clicking and tapping letting him hear and feel the area, the weight in his hand a comfort.]

[He can still work, at least. With wakfu sight, with muscle memory or in those gaps where he can see, he can still work. Fingers idle are the worst thing he can imagine.]

[There's someone on the sidewalk, a figure of wakfu that feels a bit familiar, so he approaches without thinking about it. Perhaps this stranger can point him in the right direction if they don't fall their ass right on him--] Shit! [Ow. Chibi rubs his aching back right above the site of impact, then looks towards the figure. It's familiar, but who is it, that familiar voice...] I... Pardon me, I cannot tell - who is this?

[covenantal]

[ Yu only gasps in surprise and sudden pain, the sound half a hiss when he breathes out again and tries to shift himself into a position to sit up. It's hard, when half his body is immobile. ]

Chibi, I'm so sorry--

[ Then the words register, and his eyes go a little wide. ]

... it's Yu. [ Said evenly, though touched with a faint uncertainty. ] Yu Narukami. You can't--?

[ Tell? .... see? ]

[manolia]

Aha! [Chibi snaps his fingers.] I knew I recognized the voice. It is just difficult, now that I am walking blind much of the day - since whatever happened with our eyes. [He waves his cane in demonstration, then uses it to try and get to his feet.]

[But Yu seems to be having an issue, so:] Ah. Do you need help?

One!

[meowbel]

[So much for having the most epic and most awesomest birthday Mabel wanted. Ever since the robots decided to go cray cray on everything, she barely had enough time to make the biggest and tallest cake she wanted! She was so hoping to make it big enough for all of Cerealia (or at least most of Cerealia) to enjoy! But alas, it just wasn't meant to be!

But now that it looked like a majority of their appliances started working, she knew what she had to do! As she got out her sketch book, she was ready to make the biggest cake that anyone as ever seen!

And it was going to be great!!

However, before she could get herself started, she suddenly heard a loud crash. Without another moment to lose, she quickly ran toward the direction of the sound before looking at her fallen friend]

Whoa, Yu? You okay over there? What in the world happened?

[covenantal]

[ Well. Someone was going to find him. It's a little unfortunate it had to be Mabel. Whatever's going on, he wouldn't really want either of the twins to see him like this.

Without much choice, though, he peers up at her, his expression uncertain. ]

... I don't know. My leg gave out...

[ And his arm won't move, either. He can't even shift his shoulder. Yu tries to twist, and he manages to use his right arm to pull himself into a sitting position, but his left leg twists awkwardly and his left arm hangs limp. ]

[meowbel]

[With that position, she couldn't help but wince at how painful it might feel. With how his leg was, she wondered how come he can't feel the stress he was putting on it]

Then c'mon, we gotta get you to a chair or something! That leg and arm of yours really must not like you today!

[As she gave her hand out to him, she hoped that she had enough strength to help him toward somewhere to sit! While he was a lot taller than her, she had enough strength to support him.

Or at least she hoped so. Trying her best to place his left arm over her shoulder, that's when she gave a proud smile!]

It's time to put those shoulder muscles into action! On the count of 3, let's get moving! 1...2...3...! [Will Yu be able to get up?]

i

[truedetective]

[At some point, there's a crash from the living room.

Said crash has come from Naoto, who's swept what seems to be a stack of books and papers onto the floor, and is crouched next to the table, her head in her hands. She doesn't look up, but she doesn't seem to be crying, either.

She seems more frustrated than anything.] It's not... making sense. None of it's making sense!

[covenantal]

[ The crash startles him into running in, anyway.

He's mobile right now! That's nice. Normally he's been using his moments of mobility to help out Yosuke and Rise, as well as do any errands that need doing, but at this moment he's chosen not to leave. If there's no real need to, then it's just an unnecessary risk. So it means he's around to help, trotting into the living room to stop a few feet away from Naoto and her table. Letting a quiet breath go through his nose, he moves over to the table and slowly starts to pick things up.

Gently: ]

What's wrong?

[truedetective]

[She doesn't straighten up, not looking at him. Her voice is tense, so tense it seems painful.] None of it's connecting. I-- I can't think! I look and I see, but it doesn't fit like it should! It-- it fits, normally! But now it's all... [She takes a deep breath, trying to get herself under control.] I-- I don't know what's happening. I can't connect things. Information flies out of my head the moment I'm not looking at it.

ii

[succeeder]

[ When Yu comes tumbling Togami's way on the street in the Residential District, it seems inevitable that there will be a collision. But Togami is alert, if not very conscientious. He reflexively sticks his leg out to kick him away, and though he's confused, he doesn't seem guilty about it, even if Yu starts spouting apologies. ]

...What the hell are you doing?

[covenantal]

[ ... well.

For what it's worth, Yu only huffs a pained breath when he gets kicked, curling slightly on the ground. Mostly he's winded, though ... that's definitely gonna ache.

He stays there, mostly because it's a struggle to coordinate himself to sit up when he only has use of his right side. He peers up at Togami. ]

... I don't suppose you've been hit by the strange effects of the last few days?

[ Somewhat dry. Not judgmental or accusatory - the dryness is really regarding his own predicament. Awkwardly, with his arm crossed over his body, Yu uses his right hand to push himself into a sitting position. ]

[succeeder]

[ He's had odd flickers of targeted uselessness, but he thankfully hasn't been suffering anything to quite this degree. He grimaces just looking down at Yu's current state (even though some of that state was actually caused by Togami just now). ]

Are they advancing that far?