1623/Lend a Hand

Lend a Hand
Date of Scene:	02 June 2024
Location:	Mitakihara General Hospital
Synopsis:	After Sunbreaker's defeat, Endymion checks in on Ikuto post healing-wave.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Ikuto Tsukiyomi
Tinyplot:	Sunset of Sora

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There would have been visitors, giving Ikuto the news that the fight was underway. There would not have been a talking cat, she was on Molly duty.

Five minutes ago, there was a rush of golden warmth and silver coolness, both healing and setting things to rights, pushing the speed of the normal mahou healing to relieve pain and knit flesh--

--but these are burns. Burns are horrific. They don't heal the way cuts do, they leave horrible scars if they're not seen to every step of the way, they maim, they-- they're bad, they're so bad.

Whatever painkillers Ikuto is on are still in his system; whatever bandages he has are still on, it's just that in the wake of that wave, everything is beautiful and nothing hurts. Just for a little while.

A tall boy with fluffy black hair and actual literal metal pauldrons on his shoulders, a military-cut jacket with pale blue and gold trim on it, armor around his waist, a cape, a sword, armored boots-- he sticks his head and shoulders through the door and asks almost experimentally, "Tsukiyomi-san? Chiyo-chan told me you were, ah--"

Indisposed? Burnt crispy? Magical but drained? Fill in the blank.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto stares. "You're the guy I saw with Chiyo's cousin at prom. Her boyfriend, who was supposedly drained by Hinoiri-chan. If your magic is back, it means Hinoiri-chan was defeated. Any news on if she's alright? I...hope everyone wasn't too vengeful in their treatment of her. That thing wasn't her. Not fully, at least."

From the catboy's shoulder, a VERY loud yawn startles him and he turns to see Yoru...slowly getting up from the incredibly long nap he'd been taking. "Mrrph...Ikuto? Can I sleep a bit longer nya?" For the normally stoic and unbothered catboy, there's a moment where he looks like he might burst into tears from seeing his Chara awake again. Just a moment, but...no, wait there are the tears. He has a heart after all. "N-no you lazy little cat! You've been sleeping for nearly a week damnit! I was...worried, alright?"

Yoru smiles up at Ikuto. "I kept dreaming that you were trying to fight Hinoiri-chan even without magic like a dummy. Hey, who's Dark Souls over there nya? Are you here to visit Ikuto?" The cat Chara points a claw at the Prince.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"She's fine," the boy says, a little unimpressed with the question. "I'm Endymion, yeah." He comes in and shuts the door behind him. "I'm also Tuxedo Mask, for what it's worth. I'm also Mamoru Chiba, eleventh grade, Radiant Heart Academy. Literally none of that is important, though."

Now that he's in fully, it's easy to see the discoloration on the lower part of his face -- his chin and cheek -- and the horrific mess of his right hand. "Where were you burned?" he asks, businesslike. "I'm a healer, that was me and Serenity a minute ago. But I'm checking in on everyone I've been told about, just to see if there's anything extra I need to do or you might need to be aware of."

He nods a greeting to Yoru, absolutely ignoring the 'dark souls' comment. "I'm here to visit Ikuto," he agrees, "briefly. I have one other person I still need to check in on, though I believe Terios-san is with her right now."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto nods. "Right. Looks like you had an...encounter, with her as well. It's er...my right hand mainly. My left shoulder and leg were burned, but that's nothing compared to what she did to my hand." He raises his bandaged hand. "Doctor said it was pretty much to the bone, like someone got me with a branding iron. I guess a superheated metal claw strapped to your hand will do that."

He grins. "Thanks for checking in on me, Endymion-san. I'm still not used to all of this...hero business. Friends, allies. Helping people. It feels strange. Does this ever get any easier?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Endymion does not sit down, because hospital visitor's chairs do not account for the kind of armor he's wearing. Instead, he nods, then holds his own mess of a right hand out. "Same main attack hand, huh," he says sympathetically. "She blew back my energy blast into my hand and then held onto it while she did the rest. If I leave the surgery to the hospital, I might get most of the functionality of my hand back. Physical therapy might get my shoulder working all the way again. Let me see?"

If Ikuto lets him, he takes the other boy's bandaged hand, and he says, "I'm going to have a look at what still needs to be fixed, if that's all right. I'll be working with another mahou healer I know, someone more surgically inclined who actually has official training, to get my hand's function back. I want to see if it looks like you might also benefit."

Unless Ikuto stops him, Endymion will unwrap the other boy's mummified hand and examine it -- it should be in roughly the same shape as his own, healed but badly, a mass of scar tissue and shortened tendons, skin stuck where it shouldn't be because it healed to itself... no open wounds, but, well, all the evidence for the world to see that this kid's dominant hand is a wreck that won't do what it's supposed to do.

"I wasn't there for the fight," he says quietly, "I was here. A few doors down from you, actually. I've been here for two weeks. I saw what she looked like after the fight, though, and I think she got off easy. She's clean now, though, so there's that. She apologized and it sounded like she meant it." He says matter-of-factly, "I'm still phenomenally angry with her, and I won't forgive her until I see a lot of evidence that she's turned around."

There's a warmth, magical, the golden half of the healing combination that washed through the hospital earlier; there's a sense, through that touch, of a connectedness to the whole of Earth's ancient past; there's a sense of a cozy hearth in the dead of winter, or of the sunshine on an open meadow, or of the solidity of bedrock, or the secrecy of a cave with the Earth's glittering veins through its walls, or the electric life of cities--

--and there's Endymion's voice, gentler, "It feels like the home I didn't have growing up. It's as easy as breathing. It's everything that should have been."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto grimaces at the sight of his damaged hand. "Eesh. They hadn't really let me get a good look at it before. I'm a musician, so keeping my hands in working order is a bit important. I'll manage any way I need to, though."

"I can understand being angry with Hinoiri-chan. She really crossed some lines, to say the least. I mean, she tried to hurt my...someone very important to me. Only reason she didn't succeed is that I pretty much forced her to get me instead, at the cost of all this. Someone told me that was something a hero does, but I think it was just desperation more than anything else. Desperation to not potentially lose someone I don't want to lose. To not be alone or have even more regret piled on what's already there."

Ikuto shakes his head. "Sorry. Getting lost in all that again won't do any good. You talk like someone who isn't from here, Endymion-san. Are you er...a unicorn too?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Just an orphan," Endymion says with a tiny, crooked little smile. "Once upon a time, Crown Prince of Earth. But in this life?" He shakes his head, and he throws the bandages out in the biohazard bin. "Someone who doesn't forget."

He takes a step back and gestures. "You can get up, wash your hand off. I can get a nurse to freak out if you want, or you can just chill for a while and talk to your fairy while the hospital's in a tizzy over what we did. I'll let my surgeon friend know you'll need the treatment for your hand as well."

When he steps literally anywhere, his cape ghosts behind him, stronger and lighter than silk. It's a billowy piece of cognitive dissonance in the hospital room. "Oh and, next time you see me, Chiba or Mamoru is fine, I don't care." A beat. "I'd listen more, but you're more sympathetic to someone who maimed you, possibly for life, than I am actually capable of being right now. Don't get me wrong, it's fine to be philosophical, but I'm going to need to check on the rest of the crippling injuries she inflicted and I don't have the emotional bandwidth."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto nods. "I'll try not to sneak out of here at least before getting proper treatment, and I'll get a nurse to put more bandages on this in a bit. Take care of yourself too though, yeah? You look like you've had it as rough as anyone else this past week."

He waves with his good hand. "And thanks again for checking in on someone like me. ...I used to work for Easter, if you didn't know. Turned on them a while ago now, but the things I did for them aren't so easily undone."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Oh," says Endymion, blinking. "I used to work for Beryl Holdings. I finally got free in December, took my whole crew with me, with Serenity's help." His hand's on the door, and he smiles, and there's no humor in it. "But there's being a villain, and then there's making it personal. You'll figure out the difference when you stop letting guilt dictate your worth as a human being. It's fine. Take heart, okay? I'll be in touch."