Headache of the Century [Open]

[blessmefather]

WHO: Matt, Mary, and any who visit his apartment
WHERE: The nice apartment where Matt and his niece Mary live
WHEN: Throughout the day November 2nd and 3rd
WHAT: Matt's super senses have returned and he's in pain from sensory overload.
WARNINGS: None


Just as Mary announced on the network, her uncle was wavering between barely functional and intense pain. He had woken up that morning to the sound of what he thought was a large crash only to realize it was a rhythmic sound from over his head, the neighbor from the apartment above simply walking across a room. Then the rest of it started to seep in, other noises from the building were amplified hundreds of times more, unfamiliar noises at frequencies he had never heard before reached him, even the hum of electricity in the wires of the walls and the soft footsteps of the spiders living there. Then outside sounds, the city, people waking up and coffee makers beeping, yawns and groans from neighbors in other buildings down the street.

That was just the noise. His sinuses were starting to itch as if he had been standing in the perfume department at a department store and the clerks had sprayed every sample in his face, except there were scents like food, garbage, and wet dog. He could swear he could taste all of last night's meals and both times he brushed his teeth in his mouth, and the comfortable bed he had laid down in the night before felt like it was covered in sheets of sandpaper.

It was too much. His head felt like it was going to explode and the shout of pain he gave a moment later woke Mary. Thankfully the pain would come and go and random intervals and he was able to tell her that this had to be the power the Other Matt had. Problem is he has no idea how to control it. He hadn't expected it to be nearly this strong. If he's lucky someone will have an idea for him or a temporary treatment until he figures it out.

Comments

[thisloveisjustice]

The moment he saw Mary's post on the network, Tatsuo dove into his closet for his ear protection. And then he realized the muffs smelled of the gun range, like gun powder and hot metal. So he took a few minutes to wipe them down, knowing he was just trading one smell for the other, and hoping soap was slightly less offensive to Matt's nose than gunpowder.

The ride over to Matt's apartment took longer than Tatsuo cared for. He couldn't exactly ask the driver to speed after all. When he finally arrived at Matt's door... Tatsuo realized he had another problem. Ringing the doorbell was out of the question. Knocking was almost as bad. He couldn't text Matt because listening to his phone read off his text would be too painful. He didn't have Mary's number to text her. Which left contacting Mary through the app again to ask her to let him in, and hope she was still home!

Tatsuo pulled out his phone... and bit back a curse. Dead. Damnit. Which meant his secondary phone and navigating the rudimentary version of Retrospec available on it.

[blessmefather]

Tatsuo needn't worry after all. Matt's problem was also a blessing of... sorts. Just as soon as his friend was biting back a curse Matt opens the front door, standing on the other side blinking heavy eyelids at him. He looks like he just woke up with the worst hangover in his life.

"Heard the elevator coming up," he mumbles, rubbing at his temples. More accurately he heard the uber drive down the street, Tatsuo's voice saying goodbye to the driver, his entry into the building, the sound of his footsteps, felt the vibration of the elevator moving down and then up, and then the hesitation outside the front door. Oh yeah and to top it off... "Could make out your figure outside the door."

[thisloveisjustice]

Tatsuo gapes at Matt for a moment, then slides his spare phone back into his jacket. He almost comments on the whole elevator thing, but Matt's second statement just... throws him. He slowly steps inside Matt's apartment so Matt can close the door.

"You mean that... weird way of seeing Other-Matt can do? It can see through things?"

[blessmefather]

Matt gently closes the door. "Yeah. Retrospec must have paid me a visit overnight. It comes and goes. Sometimes I don't get enough information, sometimes too much." Speaking of, he winces when someone comes driving down the street with what might be the loudest possible motorcycle engine. Even Tatsuo would be able to hear it roar by.

"Jesus. It's like they just drove that motorcycle straight through my head. Like the fog all over again but less destruction, more everyday sounds."

[thisloveisjustice]

Tatsuo winces sympathetically. That was loud. He can only imagine how loud that must have been for Matt.

"Hey, Mary said she gave you some ear plugs, but that doesn't mean you can't wear more ear protection, so I brought my ear muffs. Just because you can hear everything now doesn't mean you don't run the risk of hearing damage."

And he holds up his shooting ear muffs. Rated for 26 db, which should end up totaling 31 db when combined with ear plugs.

[blondferret]

Derek decided to not wait around for Mary's message back and instead took a shower and put on fresh clothes. He didn't feel Matt would want to smell his fruity hair gel or his strong cologne. Once dried and changed he rummaged though his cupboards and grabbed all his different teas and tossed them into a plastic bag. He also grabs his special supply of pain killers, many which he keeps for his girlfriend when she is not feeling well (ibuprofen, Tylenol, naproxen, and Excedrin migraine).

Derek drives to his parents house to grab a nose clip from when he swam as a kid. He tells his mom one of his friends is not feeling well as he washes it and quickly waves good-bye.

Once he gets to Matt's apartment he quietly knocks on the door and whispers.

"Mary, it's Derek, open up."

[blessmefather]

"Coming," Matt calls through the door. He opens the door and steps aside to let Derek come in, letting go of the doorknob for a second to rub his forehead. The door starts to swing like it's going to slam into the wall but Matt throws a foot out and stops it from colliding with what would have been an earsplitting bang to his ears.

"If I disappear into the bedroom suddenly it's because of the noise. I think they're doing construction somewhere in the neighborhood and every time the machines start up it's too much. Then there are moments it just... Floods anyway."

[blondferret]

Derek steps into Matt's apartment and takes his shoes off, his plastic bags rustle as he moves. When the door closes, Derek takes a look at Matt. He looks tired. Derek attempt to be as quiet as possible by whispering everything, but to his great annoyance, he can't hide the fact that he is now speaking in a English accent.

"I brought some things for you mate. I have some relaxation teas, a nose clip, and various types of pain killers. I wasn't sure how bad the pain was going to be. Maybe they'll help with that construction noise."

[blessmefather]

"A nose clip?" Matt stretches out a greedy hand immediately. "I think everything has a scent to me now. The air, the walls, the furniture. So much at once. This must be what Tatsuo has been going through since he woke up with that super nose... Pain killers would be a good idea too."

[usurpers]

[ after spending most of his day at the park (and retrieving a cloak from the grasps of the turkey menace), eren makes his way over to matt’s place once he’s gotten some pointers from his mom. bless his mother, an angel on earth for being the sweet nurse she was— she coughed up all the natural remedies and tips she could find when eren mentioned helping a friend with “severe sensitivity migraines”, leaving him with a bag full of bottles and cliff notes, recipe post-its for mary and mr. murdock with her own personal highlighter touches. it’s true, she is a bubbly angel. she’s even forced eren to bring them half of this week’s apple strudel.

he opens the door, arms full, but hopefully some of them could be of use. mother went a bit overboard, but hey— at least we know where eren gets some of his exaggerated mindsets. even if he’s in normal clothes, the one thing that probably sticks out is, in fact, the cloak over his shoulders and covering his torso. plain and grey, but sporting a hand sewn symbol of bright blue wings. now that he’s got it back, it just feels— natural to wear it. he even wanted to wear it, like a part of him had missed it being a part of him. it’s a little strange and makes him frown, but . . . well. ]

Matt? [ quietly, as told. ] It's Eren.

[blessmefather]

[ Matt opens the door almost instantaneously after Eren softly speaks. This might be the most casually dressed and most disheveled Eren has ever seen him. He's wearing sweatpants tucked into his socks and a worn out t-shirt. His hair is fluffy instead of combed down and his glasses are nowhere in sight. Instead his big eyes are accompanied by bags with the kind of glint people wake up with when they're hungover. Matt steps back to let Eren inside. ]

Hi Eren. Mary said you were bringing something... You can put it down over on the counter or table.

[ He blinks slowly, barely turning his head. ]

New jacket?

[ Well that's not a typical comment from your friendly blind neighbor. ]

[usurpers]

[ tfw your blind neighbor realizes you’ve got new clothes

that is to say, there’s some silence that follows widened eyes of surprise as he enters. after a good look over, it was obvious matt was blind, the paleness in his eyes was still as apparent as he was completely exhausted. carefully setting the bags and such down on the counter, he begins separating them.

there was only one way that pings eren; maybe it was the way the cloaked flowed, or the swish it made, different from his other uniforms— it probably smelled like old fashioned cabins and wilderness. maybe action. and freedom. ]

You can actually smell that?

[blessmefather]

Uh yeah.

[ Matt closes the door and slowly paces after him, rubbing at his forehead with one hand. ]

The sound gives away the size and guessing based on how you're wearing it you have a jacket over your shoulders. It doesn't have the scent from laundry detergent the rest of your clothes do, among other scents that make it stand out. I can't think clearly enough to tell you what they are but the different smell logically means new or unworn.

[ Matt's new party trick. What a show off. ]

[faeblooded]

[Mary's message via Retrospec and the heavy pot of soup that her mother had thrust into her hands was what ultimately set Mattie out for Matthew's apartment-- both to deliver the food and to help Mary make any necessary rearrangements in the apartment in order to better help her uncle. She let herself in quietly upon arrival, as Mary had instructed and stalled momentarily in the doorway.

Sounds were troublesome, she recalled. She was also wearing her usual heavy boots.]

Ah, dammit.

[She cursed under her breath, frowning in her contained frustration at her own stupidity. Pot of soup still in hand, she looked around for a safe place to put it where none of the furniture would be damaged by the heat of the steel pot itself. And, finding none, stepped back outside of the apartment where she could put it down and tried got started on removing those blasted shoes.

What was worse, the sound of the shoes or taking them off outside? She didn't know-- and she didn't know which to risk either.]

[creatability]

[Mary was hovering around the door of Matt's dark room, and when she heard Mattie galumphing up the steps outside she started making her way out with a whispered apology. The door creaks open a moment later and she pokes her head out, startled to see the blonde girl outside and working to get her boots off.]

Oh!

[She whispers that, flashing a quick grin.]

When you get those off I have some soft slippers you can use inside.

[faeblooded]

S'okay. I don't need anyone to go outta their way.

[She was here to help, after all. Mary had more important problems to consider, like her uncle's well-being and the amount of noise that would likely be entering the apartment through an open door.

Pulling the last shoe off, Mattie pushed them near a wall and hefted the pot of soup in her hands.]

Hope he likes chicken and rice. It's still pretty warm if you guys want something now.

[creatability]

[Mary nodded and stepped clear, gesturing to the shoes.]

I'm sure he does. If not, I do. Put those on though, seriously. It'll muffle the noise of your feet on carpet.

[And with that she heads towards the kitchen.]

I've got him settled for now, and once that food's settled down, I think we should go outside. There's...some stuff I need to tell you. About this.

After the announcement goes out.

[creatability]

It's hard not to panic even with a half dozen adults already saying they're intending to come by, but Mary manages it. Closing her tablet with a soft click that she realizes is probably deafening, she starts carefully brewing a pot of coffee for him and then goes looking for him.

She's in her softest slippers, walking with her legs open wide enough so her pants don't whisk-whisk together as she does...but she's still worried it'll hurt.

"Uncle? Several of your friends are coming. And they had suggestions. Would you like to try them?" she asks in a hushed voice.

[blessmefather]

Matt clutches at the side of his head covering his ears still but he turns his head as she enters and tries to smile at her. He can feel her raised body heat and hear her heart thumping a little fast with worry.

"Sounds good to me," he answers, voice dry. He clears his throat and laughs breathlessly. "That's saying a lot because a lot of things sound bad to me right now. Worth a shot right?"

[creatability]

"Okay." She breathes out heavily, trying to keep her voice a whisper but it is hard. All things considered, it's just rough not making a lot of noise.

"The first suggestion is to put you in a dark room, with a slow fan. So you can focus on that. I...don't know if you can feel light, but that is supposed to help with migraines?"

[blessmefather]

He nods at her. "I don't see light but... I can hear the light bulb when it's on. Better to keep it off. At least until it's dark out if you need it." Please oh please let this be over by nightfall. This morning has felt like an eternity and he doubts it has been more a few hours at the most since he woke up and in turn woke Mary with his shouts.

"Fan... Um..." Think. Did he stow that away in the- "Cabinet in the office."

[frostythehitman]

[ After their conversation, James makes his way over to the apartment address Matt gave him. When he arrives, he keeps in mind that Matt mentioned not to knock, and that he'd hear him coming. Which is kind of creepy when he thinks about it.

But as he approaches the door, he tries to step lightly. He eases the door open, steps inside, and then eases it back shut.

And then talks in a normal volume. ]

Hey, it's James. Where are you?

[blessmefather]

Over here.

[ James can find Matt leaning against the arm of a couch holding his head in on hand and running the fingers of the other over his temples. He's wearing the ear muffs his friend brought over earlier and under that the ear plugs Mary had given him but he doesn't strain at all to hear. He hadn't bothered to put on his glasses, making the bags under his eyes obvious, and he was dressed down in sweats, looking the least put together James would have ever seen him. ]

What was your idea?

[frostythehitman]

[ Wow, he truly looks like shit. Shit with earmuffs on. It's both a pathetic and hilarious sight at once. But he holds the laughter. ]

First thing's first--where's the kitchen?

[blessmefather]

[ Matt raises an arm and half-points-half-waves in the direction behind James. ]

Back and to the left. Do you need help finding a... kitchen utensil or...?