[semi-open] did u hear the joke about the dragon

[perfectstrike]

Who: perfectstrike & anyone who might have cause to try to call Peko to check up on her after the CERESTour!
When: just after the CERESTour into the next day (ic: 1/26-1/27)
Where: CERES Hospital
What: Peko got herself injured during the CERESTour and is patently confused as to why people keep visiting her.
Rating/Warning: Warning for blood and talk about injuries, but nothing gorey or gruesome.

---

[Immediately following the tour, Mosley had kindly ushered group three to the hospital for their sustained injuries. Peko, having gotten herself hit with the sharp end of a not-so-virtual dragon's claw, had needed to be rushed to get several nasty-looking gashes cleaned and stitched, along with some smaller burns treated. Swords aren't much good against things that can fly and breathe fire, after all.

Some time later, she can be found in the wing tended to by human and humanoid doctors (no androids here, please), seated quietly in one of the beds with her eyes closed as if she's asleep. The heart rate monitor is beeping quietly and steadily, and there's an IV hooked to her right arm to replenish some of the fluid she'd lost from bleeding everywhere earlier. All in all, though, she looks fine! If the ripped and bloody sailor suit in the corner and the fresh white bandages covering her left bicep and peeking out from above the cut of her hospital gown over her chest are any indication. At least the gown is cute, with happy little robots printed in a pattern along the fabric. To promote organic healing, of course!

Before the Cerevice goes down, though, she'll be answering calls with voice and just generally trying to rest and recover in the hospital. She's fine, though, really--!]

Comments

[perfectstrike]

Hm?

[More visitors... Peko only seems to be getting more and more confused with each successive visitor. Don't mind the veritable flower jungle that Lee left in his wake.]

Ah, Yang... please come in.

[And another present... what did she ever do to deserve this?? At least having it announced as a special delivery means she can't mistake it as something else this time.]

[flaredo]

Don't mind if I do!

[ In she bounces, beaming-- and placing the bag on Peko's bed. ]

I thought hospital food might be gross and alarming, so I brought you some fruit and a box of assorted chocolates.

[perfectstrike]

I...

[And here she was, thinking she was prepared to accept another gift... but she's not. She kind of just stares at the bag with a little surprise, because wow, something useful... and freely given, too? How could this all happen to her, Peko Pekoyama??]

I, um... t-thank you. I'll accept it gratefully... though you did not need to do something like this.

[flaredo]

I know I didn't need to-- but what are friends for, if not to distract you with food and company?

[ Duh. ]

[perfectstrike]

I-is that so...?

[Peko learned something new about friends! Slowly leveling up her knowledge of these things.]

You're... very kind to do so. Please, if I can share it with you...?

[She's wincing as she pushes herself more upright and reaches for the bag to open it. She doesn't like candy at all, but a chocolate or two is nice... she's more interested in the fruit, though. Hospital food is indeed gross and alarming.]

[flaredo]

If you don't pull a stitch or something, hold on-- [ Let her prop you up with pillows first, friend. They can nom when she's sure you won't keel over. ]

[perfectstrike]

[Thanks friend, that's much better. Trying to sit up without pulling anything and also not causing any extra pain is more difficult than she'd anticipated, but this is good.

In spite of what she said, though, she doesn't immediately reach into the bag. Instead she looks toward Yang as soon as she's settled, lips curving into a bit of a frown.]

You are not here to apologize as well, are you?

[Peko hasn't understood the reasoning behind two of the three apologies that came her way from their teammates already, and she definitely won't understand it Yang does the same thing.]

[flaredo]

Apologize? [ Judging from the surprise widening her eyes-- no, not at all. Was Jaune blaming himself or something? ]

Uh, no, I just came to check on you.

[perfectstrike]

[Oh thank god. Peko visibly relaxes, reaching into the bag to pull out an apple and offer it to the other girl. Apparently making sure she eats something first is important...? Or Peko is just trying to consider other people's comfort as more important than her own.]

Good. The other three have already stopped by to do so, and I am still not certain why.

[flaredo]

[ Well, she'll take the apple, but she's not eating it until Peko procures fruit for herself. She's the more injured one here, and Yang holds the apple between her palms, head tilted. ]

Did they say why?

[perfectstrike]

[She does reach into the bag to take something for herself, but pauses when Yang asks and takes her hand back out, instead counting with the fingers of one hand.]

Kirkland apologized for not being present when I was injured, Arc apologized for my injury, and Kamishiro apologized for not immediately attacking as I recommended.

[She pauses and does reach into the bag for an apple of her own, though she doesn't bite into it yet.]

Save for Kamishiro, there is nothing that the other two could have done. They apologized for nothing.

[flaredo]

[ Ohhh boy. That's enough to warrant a: ]

Ohhhh boy. [ A verbal sigh! But Yang finally bites into the apple, chewing thoughtfully before she swallows and speaks up again. ]

Jaune, believe it or not, is the leader type, so he always feels bad if something happens to a group member. I don't know why Arthur was apologizing for that, since he got injured too.

[ Guys are weird. ]

[perfectstrike]

Is he?

[That's a surprise to Peko, though really, it shouldn't be. In fairness, Peko tends to operate on her own anyway, so if Jaune had been giving orders that made sense, she'd have followed them, but in the absence of them, she'd be fine, too.]

Are you and he something like classmates, then?

[Since Yang had said they'd come from the same place, after all.]

[flaredo]

Yep! We're not on the same team, but we go to the same school - that's Beacon - and he hits on one of my teammates a lot.

... I wanna say he's gotten better.

[ But then he'd hit on Peko, so she's just sighing and sloooowly shaking her head. ]

[perfectstrike]

I see.

[Peko frowns slightly and glances toward one tulip in particular. There's a little folded piece of paper near it, mostly covered in scribbles to cover what would have been words on it. If Yang follows Peko's glance, she might see the corner of a very cute drawing still visible. Hits on one of Yang's teammates...?

Well, no one would hit on her, Peko Pekoyama, so she's not really seeing the connection.]

In any case, what did you and Kirkland uncover?

[flaredo]

Huh-- [ For a moment, she's distracted, eyes drifting over to the flower, the paper with... well, she can't exactly tell what it is. ]

The colony while it was still being built... and knocked down by earthquakes. But that speaker said the earthquakes weren't natural ones, either.

[perfectstrike]

Is that so...?

[Earthquakes, huh? In the quake of what Kuzuryuu had told her:]

I wonder... if they are not natural, if it is what the young master described to me as "elementals." Apparently his group found a computer system with information about different groups native to this... planet.

[From the way she says "planet," it's obvious she still can hardly believe this.]

One of whom were fire-breathers, as we heard. I have to wonder if the earth ones described are responsible for the earthquakes you experienced.

[flaredo]

Well, if they were as unhappy as our fire-breathing buddies about things getting settled, I could see them trying to take down the buildings.

... Or something related to it. Did his group find anything that said what happened to the natives?

[perfectstrike]

No, they did not. I believe the gist was that...

[Give her a second, she has to think back.]

Water elementals are hard to find, and can breathe underwater. Air elementals are hard to find, but may be to the north, and are responsible for breathable atmosphere. Earth elementals are easier to negotiate with, and have a good sense of direction. Fire elementals wanted nothing to do with CERES, and breathe fire when angry or excited... is what the young master reported.

[flaredo]

... Huh. So there's four kinds... but if the Earth ones are so reasonable, it doesn't make sense that they'd cause an earthquake. Unless, you know, CERES pissed 'em off, and I know they're capable of that.

[perfectstrike]

[She huffs a quiet, not-quite amused laugh through her nose and shakes her head.]

Yes, if nothing else, CERES does possess that particular talent.

[Oh, but that's right, getting back to Beacon for a second--]

Arc recommended a detective -- Sannomiya Shiho -- to me to analyze the substance I took from Mosley. Would you trust his judgement?

[flaredo]

... Well, I'd trust his judgment on anything other than flirting, at this point.

[ High praise, coming from Yang. ]

I don't know that person, but he doesn't usually go for anyone questionable...

[perfectstrike]

You keep mentioning "flirting"...

[First while they were in the diaries themselves, and now here. Why does this keep getting brought up...??]

[flaredo]

Ah, yeah, that's sort of his bad habit. He flirts with pretty girls and he's terrible at it.

[perfectstrike]

...I see.

As long as he can fight well, that's all that matters.