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

Entry tags:

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

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!

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[ 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. ]

[ 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?

[ 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. ]

[ 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. ]

[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?

[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?

[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?

[ 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. ]

[ 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? ]

[ 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. ]

That sounds like something strange to be sighing about...you're right about the city though. [It's said lightly, but he's looking over Yu with more care than might be normal of a stranger.

Just what had Koromaru noticed?]

It's kind of strange that I haven't been affected by whatever's affecting the people here, now that you mention it. Is it the same for you too? [There's really nothing about Yu's demeanour that suggests anything off about him, but people don't normally sigh when asking for someone to pick them up and that he looks well enough to walk on his own is a pretty concrete implication that something is preventing him from doing so.]

[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?

[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?

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?

[ It's been hard enough admitting to his friends what's wrong, and needing their help hobbling around... he hardly wants to bring a stranger into his troubles.

Still, he knows it must seem strange to simply be sitting here and seem oddly distressed about that fact. His expression gains a faint wry edge. ]

Not exactly.

[ He doesn't elaborate, but the mildness in his demeanor and tone seem to suggest he isn't too bothered by it - whatever "it" is. ]

['Not exactly' is exactly the kind of phrase Minato uses often to draw attention away from himself, and Yu will be able to see from his thoughtful frown he's pretty unconvinced that everything's fine.]

If that's so, do you mind if I sit with you? I can keep you company until your friends are here. [There's something about this stranger's situation that intrigues him, and Koromaru's already taken to lying down so it's not like he has much say.]

[ ... ]

Go ahead, [ he says with a quiet smile. ] I don't mind company.

[ It's a bit of a hedge answer, not as warm as what he'd normally give. Rather, his tone is as warm as always; but normally he'd say something like "I'd like that." The idea that this boy will be here when someone turns up to pick him up, and see that he's been handicapped the way he has... it's a little uncomfortable.

But somehow he gets the sense the other boy already knows something's amiss.

He can't shift on the bench to give Minato more room to sit, but thankfully he doesn't really need to.

Yu nods in Koromaru's direction. ]

That's not a CyBuddy, is it?

[ Most of those went down, after the recent fiasco with CERES technology. ]

[ 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. ]

Blind?

[ His voice is edged with concern. Of course, then Chibi asks him if he needs help, and his shoulders - or rather, just his right shoulder, since his left won't work - bunch up reflexively. At least Chibi won't be able to see it, a distant, reactive piece of his mind things. ]

... sorry. Yeah. [ Quietly. At least Chibi will probably understand. ]

My...

[ His voice trails off as her words make a few facts click smoothly into place. When his vision went dark, and he had the sense of vertigo.... and hours later, his limbs no longer working--

If their implants have something wrong... it's probably interfering with their code.

He figures this all out in the moment it takes for his mouth to thin into a line. Slowly, he nods. ]

Yesterday, yeah. [ Yu sighs through his nose. ] I could tell something had gone wrong, but our implants... this explains a lot. [ His soft voice is a little grim. This explains why the whole apartment has been feeling it. ]

Arf! [Koromaru looks up when he sees Yu nodding in his direction, ears perked and tongue hanging out. He's only seen Yu once before and he didn't hear what Minato had talked about to him, but he does think they should stick together right now.

Minato smiles faintly when Koromaru is brought up, though he's also vaguely glad that this other boy isn't just waving him off even though he could. He settles down at the other side so they can both have some personal space, sliding his hands into his pockets as he rests his back against the bench.]

He's my friend, actually. I'm not sure how Koromaru even appeared after everything that's been happening or why he was chewing on my friend's shoe when he appeared, but I'm happy about it.

[ Yu's shoulders jump very slightly with silent laughter as he watches Koromaru, his expression warming a little.

His gaze returns to Minato as the other boy sits down, and there's a polite sort of curiosity on his face. It's genuine, though, obvious in the way he tilts his head slightly in a gesture of actual interest. ]

A friend? [ He doesn't seem to find that strange. In fact, the corners of his mouth quirk up in the ghost of a grin. ] That's great. It must be nice to have a little good news with everything that's been going on.

[ Chewing on a friend's shoe... ] Do you live with your friends?

[Minato's looking back curiously too, but only because Yu's apparent lack of surprise at Koromaru being called a friend is...interesting, if he had to use one word for it. All his friends were unusual in their own way, but they were also so immediately distinct that Yu stands out even more as he looks like any other guy.]

I guess so. It could be because ViViD isn't a robot...only those seem to be broken, but it's still made things hard as of late. [People have been trying their best to keep the city maintained, but there's still rubble in some places and garbage piling up, which gives him a feeling of uneasiness at times.]

And yeah, I'm staying with Shiho-san, Kaoru-san and Kaz. Least Kaz didn't mind Koromaru chewing on his shoe...they're all really nice, though.

[Rei nods slowly, nails clicking on the hard rubber of the wheelchair's grips.]

Usagi and I figured it out earlier. It hit pretty hard. I couldn't stand up straight, and I knew...something was wrong. I've always had the ability to sense things in myself, and it just felt like something was wrong with my eyes.

[She dips her head and lets out a breath.]

She...removed my implants. With a spell, it worked out. I don't have any part of them in my head anymore.

I do not know why either, but it's a pain in the ass regardless. [He pinches the bridge of his nose; at least he knows where all parts of himself are. He can't say that much for anyone else.]

[Still, he stands, then bends to offer a hand in the general direction of Yu's arm. He can see halfway, and he can see the wakfu in his own arm, so it makes it a bit easier.] Let's get you up, then we can find a bench. We can cover each other's weaknesses, yes?

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

Rei

Rise

Yosuke

Minato

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