bottlecaplogs | [LOG] Early August

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[LOG] Early August

Who: Ren Amamiya and YOU!! (and Goro Akechi)
What: General interactions post-coma
Where: The Oran Berries Guild, Grumpearl network video, the Pokeclinic
When: Early August
Warnings: Discussion of illness/injury/disability, medical stuff in general, implied medical trauma. More TBA as needed.

Having been out for all of July thanks to succumbing to the mystery illness that has been plagueing Bottlecap Bay for a while now, Ren's still regaining his bearings. He's a little mad at himself for letting it get this bad- and for making everyone worry. That's the last thing he wanted. Still, he's eager to catch up on what he missed, and to start doing missions again... but he's still under doctor's orders to take it easy.

1: Return to the guild.

Having woken up and finally (finally) been deemed healthy enough to leave the Pokeclinic, the first order of business is to return to the guild. There's an excited march in his step, though it is somewhat undermined by a limp, and the general air of... tiredness hanging around him. A sure sign that he's still recovering. That said, the moment he steps through the entrance of the spire, a grin spreads as he immediately sees a few familiar faces. A few new ones, too, but regardless, he seems happy.

"Hey," he says, voice a little rough still, "sorry to worry you, but I'm back now. What'd I miss?"

2: The Pokeclinic.

A: The waiting room.
Despite being declared healthy enough to leave, that doesn't mean he's completely rid of the clinic. With strict orders from Dr. Denne, he's back the next morning for a checkup already- to make sure he's doing okay. Ren thinks it's a little much; okay, so he's aching all over still, and it's causing him to limp a little, but it'll clear up, won't it? Dr. Denne said it would, so why all this?

Still, he begrudgingly enters the clinic, watching the pokemon bustle around to take care of the patients. His ear twitches, but he goes to announce his presence to a nearby Chansey, who tells him to wait- they'll come get him soon. So he does, settling down.

B: Checkup.
Soon enough, Ren's called in by the same Chansey, who takes him to an examination room. It's not Dr. Denne today doing the checkup, which makes him... a little nervous, honestly. Okay, a lot nervous. The people here are no Takemi, and despite having been treated here, he still doesn't like it. There's needles around, and all sorts of things he doesn't recognize, and he knows, he knows they don't mean him harm... but the mind doesn't easily forget, despite what he tells himself.

If you're volunteering at the clinic, perhaps you might notice him as you bring around equipment and medicine...

3: [Locked to Akechi] before all this...
For the first time in a long time, the green body in the hospital bed makes a noise. Not just a pained moan or anxious shift at whatever nightmares keep him trapped in his sleep, but an honest to god, confused wake-up noise.

Ren's in pain. His eyes blearily blink away sleep, but it's... hard. He's so tired, and nothing properly registers. He doesn't recognize the shapes in front of him. He's confused, and a little scared.

He does, however, recognize a familiar smell. Consciously or not, the slowly waking Ren seeks it out.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Seeing how quickly Ren takes to the berry, Akechi offers another. He'll likely need to eat quite a bit to get his strength up after being sedentary for so long. Every little morsel counts.

If Ren looks around the edge of his bed, he may even notice a pile of assorted seashells and stones, all neatly arranged.

"I understand that you've been trying to keep up. You're so stubborn, always so eager to lift others up, but seldom letting us ease your pain."

The next berry goes a little slower than the first, Ren's chewing more thorough this time, though his ears flatten. His head is still spinning a little, he feels like...

He'd been dreaming earlier, hadn't he? Nightmare. Right, he'd had a nightmare. He doesn't want Akechi to worry about a silly nightmare, no matter how real it felt.

"What are you..." he starts before he finally looks around, taking in his surroundings. A little dazed still, he slowly blinks.

"... The clinic?" And not just that, but... the bed he's in is surrounded. Trinkets, seashells, flowers, stones- evidence of people coming by and leaving him gifts. But there are so many, and what'd Akechi say earlier...?

"I've been... out for a month?" he sounds disbelieving.

"Yes." That sharp, serious look overtakes his features again. "And I believe that your continued nightmares were a result of something more." He stops for a moment, placing another berry down expectantly. "I've given it some thought, but I find it peculiar that when the widespread nightmares ceased, I slept restfully, while you've been plagued by recurring nightmares and pains only relieved in my presence."

He looks down, eyes narrowing further. "But looking back, I did open up about some of my own misgivings. You never did."

"But they're just..." Nightmares. They're just nightmares... aren't they? Very realistic nightmares, but...

But...

Ren chews on the next berry as he tries to gather his thoughts- a little hard, considering he's still feeling a bit faint and out of it. Still, slowly, as he eats, he considers the situation. He has been struggling with that weird illness here, try as he might to deny it towards the others. They're not stupid, of course, but he didn't want to worry them.

In the end, he only made them worry more, didn't he? And... Akechi is right.

"... I guess," he mutters.

"If they were 'just' nightmares, they wouldn't have had lasting repercussions!" He doesn't mean to shout, but it's hard. Ren's collapse took a deep toll on him. It made him think, for better and for worse. "I understand that you want to be strong, dependable, and avoid burdening others, but your lack of regard for your own needs and limitations got you in this position. So please, let others help you. Ask the clinic to look into your condition, so that they may possibly offer treatments."

Ren doesn't flinch from the sudden shouting, but he does still, guilt cropping up in his throat. Fuck, he made things worse for everyone, didn't he? How horrible- the leader of the Phantom Thieves, the one who's supposed to be strong, who others can look up to-

What a mess.

"You're right," he sighs, "of course, you're right. Akechi. I'm sorry."

He doesn't meet the other's eyes, looking away. Akechi's aura is soothing, yes, but does he deserve that much right now?

He needs to fix this.

Don't worry, he wants to say, but somehow, he doubts that's what Akechi wants to hear from him right now.

"Then don't make the same mistakes." The fire in his voice dies down, and his posture droops. "I don't want to see you in that position again, although... I'm certain my own ambitions hardly helped."

Emmet made that much clear, though it stings to admit it. A hefty blow to his pride, if nothing else.

Now that, that's the last thing Ren wants to hear.

"Akechi- don't you dare hold back on my account," he says, voice a little stronger than before. He- gets it, he does, but-

He looks away for a moment, pensive.

"I'm- maybe I'm not doing well. Maybe I need to slow down for my own good, but," he looks at Akechi, "If you did that- that'd just make me feel worse. You know it. You'd feel the same, right?"

"I would." Heaving a heavy sigh, he glances at the pile of shells and other trinkets. "I... left you gifts. There were festivities at the beach, but since you couldn't participate, it only seemed fair."

"Ah..." Ren looks around at the pile of trinkets. "All of these... you...?"

He pauses for a moment.

"... Thanks, Akechi. You didn't have to."

"Perhaps, but I wanted to." Sighing, he shuffles just a bit closer. "I'm not exactly a sentimental sort, but I... missed you."

God. Even admitting as much is no easy feat for someone like him.

Ren's heart swells a little. His gaze softens.

"Akechi..."

He swallows a little, nestling closer to Akechi. It's still so hard to wrap his head around, that he was in a coma, and if he thinks too hard about it, unpleasant memories of his dreams surface. Still, this is sort of nice, he supposes, even if the mood is weird.

It's not long before they're interupted, however, a Chansey barging into the room with all sorts of medicine- which she promptly drops with a gasp when she sees Ren awake!

"You're awake! Oh, happy days!" she thrills happily, before turning to Akechi. "Why didn't you come get us immediately? This is important news! We'll need to- oh, and this- and that-!"

Ah. ...That likely was pertinent, wasn't it.

Feathers fluffed, he stumbles into an attempted excuse. "Ren is my partner. Ergo, we wanted some time alone."

He even shuffles close, just to ensure that Ren doesn't get whisked away too soon.

The Chansey wibbles around, scolding Akechi.

"Now! We need to make sure he's not going to-! And also, we need to know if-!"

She rattles off a few reasons why Akechi definitely should've just told them and Ren...

Ren shoots the Chansey a look, and when she catches it, she finally settles down a little with a sigh.

"Well! I... understand," she shakes her head (or... more like her entire body?) "But I hope you also understand his condition could've been much worse, and we wouldn't have known! But... fine. I'll go inform Dr. Denne, and I'll leave you two alone for now. But only for now! And if something doesnt appear right, call someone immediately! Alright?"

"Obviously." Akechi scoffs, matching Ren's look with one of his own. But, once the Chansey leaves, he relaxes.

At least now they have space again. "I suppose I'll have to let the doctors oversee you before we can leave. After that... well, Mightyena-san deserves to hear the good news. Otherwise, we should be free to do as we wish."

Ren relaxes a little when the Chansey leaves. She means well, clearly, but he's not in the mood.

"Probably," he sighs. What a pain. He's silent for a moment, before he carefully asks: "how... is everyone doing, by the way?"

"As well as they can be. Many were concerned and hopeful for your recovery." He speaks calmly, trying not to further any guilt Ren may be feeling in the moment. "We've been rather busy as well, as there's an expedition on the horizon."

Ren's both happy and feeling horribly guilty that people were concerned about him. That's the last thing he wanted. Unwilling to deal with that right now, though, he latches on to the last thing Akechi said.

"An expedition?" he asks, perking up.

"Indeed." Ren's enthusiasm earns a soft chuckle. Of course that'd excite him. "Evidently, the guilds wish to expand beyond the forest. What that means has yet to be seen, but I can only imagine you plan to attend."

"Well, duh, Ren starts, getting up in excitement... only for his legs to give under him, weakened from the coma. His face crumples a little. "... Ah."

Akechi frowns at the way Ren collapses, then shuffles over to nudge him back upright. "Well, if you're going to participate, then you need to get your strength up. That means eating, resting, and presumably light exercise."

Ren huffs, rolling his eyes a little- though he can't help but smile.

"Yeah, yeah, got it, Dr. Akechi. Anything else you recommend?"

"You owe me quite a bit of time, seeing as you were out for so long." A smirk takes hold, and he tips his chin up. "Plus, we ought to move all these trinkets back to the room."

O-oh.

If he did not have fur covering him, Akechi's wing under his chin would've surely revealed his blush. His mouth opens in a little 'o', but he's quick to recover, with a matching smirk on his face.

"Well then, I suppose I've got my work cut out for me, hm?" He leans into Akechi. "I'll make it up to you, honey. Promise."

Honey. God. It's a good thing Akechi appreciates the banter... and the attention.

Chuckling, he leans closer in turn, to a point where their foreheads are nearly touching it. "Well then, dear... I suppose we ought to relocate, hm?"

...After the Chansey looks Ren over, of course.

[LOG] Early August

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