Closed | sharp objects

[flowrite]

WHO: Iwai and Fai, Noah, Sakura, Xiaolang
WHERE: CLAMP house
WHEN: Early Sunday morning, 1/21
WHAT: Fai gets yet another nasty Retrospec surprise and Iwai gets to deal with it. Thank goodness for patient boyfriends ;~;
WARNINGS: Blood, violence, vampirism, fear reactions. Probably not going to be pretty for a bit.



[It's still early in the morning, early enough that... well, the sky outside would have been dark anyway, honestly. But they've been trying to keep a pretty decent routine despite the perpetual darkness, and Fai's brain is telling him it's way too early to be up yet. It's even too early to be up early and making breakfast for the various members of the household, or for Iwai to have made his way out to the kitchen to make coffee. So Fai sighs, closes his one good eye again, and rolls over to curl up against Iwai and try to fall back asleep.

Except... darn it, maybe he should just zombie-shuffle over to the bathroom real quick first.

So that's what he does. He's gotten enough practice at this in the new house by now that he no longer bangs his shins against anything in the dark. Mission successful. Door pushed most of the way closed to keep the light off of Iwai so as not to wake him. Bathroom business accomplished. Hands washed. Fai pauses here at the sink, yawns mightily, and stares blearily at his own image in the mirror. Blond hair skewing every which way. One very droopy eye. One dark black swath where the other used to be. It's not pretty, but at oh-dark-thirty he doesn't have to be particularly pretty.

Bed. Boyfriend. Warmth. They call.

He prepares to turn back around, to snap the light back off and muddle his way back to the bed to burrow under the covers again, when something catches his eye in the mirror.

More specifically, his eye catches his eye. A flash of gold. For a minute there he could have sworn--

That's when the pain hits. Mind-numbing, nerve-searing, bone-twisting pain, everywhere. With a strangled yelp Fai loses his grip on the edge of the sink and falls to the bathroom floor, unable even to catch himself on his hands and knees. It's all he can do not to scream but the sounds coming from the bathroom are definitely unhappy.]

Comments

[geckoman]

[Iwai doesn't stir when Fai moves. He's used to sharing a bed with Fai and having him either curl closer for warmth or sometimes needing to get up for a moment. You know, bathroom trips are a thing.

So he's still sound asleep when Fai goes to the bathroom and would have stayed that way.

If not for the cry.

It's not a scream and it's not overly loud but it comes with a thud that suggests something heavy hitting the floor. That's enough to wake up Iwai who sits up quickly. The sound is coming from the bathroom. Half asleep and only in his underwear, he's too the door in a flash and doesn't bother to knock. Something tells him he doesn't have to.

Seeing Fai in such agony on the floor, he immediately rushes to his side.]

Shit, Fai. What happened? What's going on?

[flowrite]

[He's not even aware of the approaching footsteps or the door opening--it's only Iwai's voice that breaks through the fog of pain to alert him to his boyfriend's presence. Teeth gritted and his eye still closed, a whimper escapes him and he reaches a hand out blindly to grasp for Iwai.]

I-- I don't know!

[The words accompany the whimper, as if they couldn't have managed to find their way out otherwise. The pain hasn't abated at all. It's like his whole body is broken, twisting, grinding inside. If he were more coherent he'd probably expect to find blood all over the floor beneath him, given the state he's in, although outwardly the only indication that anything is wrong--other than the contortions and the expression of pain, of course--is that he's gone even more pale and he's sweating.]

[geckoman]

Shit...

[He can't see anything broken or bleeding or anything like that. But all this on the bathroom floor can't be good for whatever the hell is happening.

Rushing to the bed, he grabs the entire comforter and brings it back to wrap it around Fai, even helping to tuck it under him so he won't just be on the cold bathroom floor.]

Hey, hey. I'm here okay. I don't know what's going on but I'm gonna be here for you.

[While they...waited this out.]

[flowrite]

[There's a moment of panic--well, further panic--when Iwai disappears into the other room. Thankfully that doesn't last long, and then he's at least warm and wrapped up while his body works through... whatever it's doing. At this point Fai doesn't even know whether this is something Retrospec has done or if it's something he should be going to the hospital for. Isn't even coherent enough to ask.

Iwai doesn't know what's going on. Fai sure as hell doesn't know. And by god if that isn't a terrifying feeling....

For a few seconds Fai manages to open his one good eye. There's fear in his expression, along with the pain, although it's probably hard to tell from his eye given that it's gone golden instead of blue, and the pupil is a vertical slit like a cat's. It's an utterly foreign, completely inhuman look--the one Fai caught just a second of in the mirror before this started. And of course Fai has no idea. He just clings to Iwai, the blanket, anything he can get a grip on.]

[geckoman]

[Iwai catches sight of Fai's face for a moment and he's sure that he sees...a gold eye? That's not possible though. Fai's eye color is blue. He doesn't have much than that glance though because he's needing to sit on the floor and hold onto his boyfriend so he can help ground him at least.

It's what he can do for him right now anyway.]

I've got you. Just try to keep breathing. Keep breathing. You need air right now.

[flowrite]

[Bless Iwai. There isn't much comfort to be had in the middle of this situation, but what little there is, is all from Iwai. Fai even manages a couple of semi-deep breaths, although nodding doesn't seem to be an option at the moment.

Finally, for a second or two, the pain recedes. Fai looks up at the older man in surprise, his face pale and his hair hanging in limp strands around his shoulders. And then his one--now blue again--eye rolls up and he faints.]

[geckoman]

Fai? Fai?

[He curses under his breath again then carefully lifts him up off the floor and to the bed where he tucks him in to keep him warm. Flipping the light on by the bed, he turns off the light in the bathroom while he's at it, he sits by him and gently rests his hand on his face.

What is that going to do though? It's not like this was a fever. Is a fever. Hell he doesn't know. He just knows this is probably some app bullshit so he can't even take him to the hospital. They can't help with....this. Whatever it is.]

[flowrite]

[Long minutes drag by, threatening to stretch into half an hour before Fai stirs again. His breathing is regular and he doesn't seem to be in pain anymore, he just seems exhausted by whatever happened. Is happening.

When he does begin to stir he lets out a low groan--even though whatever caused the pain has subsided, some part of him remembers that episode very vividly. The groan cuts off into a sort of pathetic whimper and Fai turns toward Iwai's side of the bed out of newly-acquired habit, hoping to curl up with his boyfriend. He doesn't even open his eye yet, just tiredly mumbles:]

Mune-chan... I had the worst dream....

Xiaolang

[keystaff]

[It's....some sort of ridiculous hour of the morning. But that doesn't stop Sakura heading out to try help search for Fai anyway. Her brother tries to protest, offering to help too if only to probably try get her back in sooner by helping find their guardian. Sakura is grateful for that, of course. More people searching meant he'd be found that much sooner. In theory anyway.

She wasn't even sure if Xiaolang was awake at that time, probably not, but she'd messaged him anyway. And he'd responded, so she ends up hesitantly heading over to their place and meeting him.

Because this happens all the time with a girl showing up at his window on a staff. Of course. But at this hour, it's much less likely that anyone else would even see. At least she tries not to tap at his window too hard.]

Xiaolang-kun?

[cardcaptured]

[Truth be told, Xiaolang hadn't been awake when Sakura had sent him that text-- he wasn't one to stay up super late, and he was still resting up from his recent illness as it is. But the chime from his phone, the very specific one he had set for Sakura (LOOK-- it was good for when he needed to know she was texting him, okay), roused him from his slumber, his worry piqued by the fact she was messenging him at this hour of night. He did ask her to contact him at any time should something happen, but...

Any trace of sleepiness vanished from his body as he read her message, his blood running cold. If he wasn't awake, he was now. He quickly sends her a response and scrambles out of his bed, nearly waking Jasmine who was asleep atop it, hurrying to pull on some proper clothing over his pajamas. Moving was still a bit painful, but he managed to get a hoodie and hat on, at least, along with shoving a few talismans in his pockets, before a gentle tapping can be heard outside his window. For a brief moment, he thinks it's Derek's owl, here to send him more bad news, but Sakura's voice filters through the glass. Normally, he'd blush (because that seemed to be the de facto reaction to her presence these days), but his concern over Fai and the curiosity of HOW she got outside to his balcony override any dokis he may have at this moment. He tugs the curtains aside to reveal her waiting outside for him, astride her staff... thing, and he quickly pulls open the sliding door, letting in the cool night air.]

Sakura...!

[He hurries out to meet her, shutting his balcony door behind behind him, the worry in his face plain to see.]

Are you alright? Have any of you found any clues where to find him yet? [Probably not, if she was here, but it didn't hurt to ask.] And what about Iwai? Is he getting any proper care?

[keystaff]

Not yet. I'm okay, I'm just worried. Iwai-san said there wasn't time to let me look at his injury before we left to try find Fai-san. But hopefully, if we find him quickly, then we can see.

[She answers, biting her lip in betraying her worry. No sense in hiding it, when Xiaolang knew she wouldn't contact him at such an hour if she wasn't. But another pair of eyes might help at least. She could at least check with Xiaolang and see if he was up for helping.]

Are you okay to come help look? I didn't mean to wake you or anything, but. Fai-san needs help, so....

[cardcaptured]

[His eyes soften at the look upon her face, despite his own concern, and it feels as if a fist had tightened around his heart. This wasn't fair. Sakura had already lost enough parental figures in her life-- she didn't need anything to happen to these ones too. Not when she was finally seemed more like herself, again.

He strides forward and places a hand upon her staff, close to where her own hands probably were on there, looking her right in the eye and attempting to give her what... appears to be a reassuring smile. It's small, and tentative, but it's there, doing his best to try to get her back to her optimistic self.]

... of course I am. I told you you could contact me at any time if something came up, didn't I? So don't worry about it.

[And with that, he moves over to the back of her wand, throwing a leg over it and adjusting his balance the best he could upon the rod.]

Ready when you are. We should probably check closer to your house, than anything else. It's dark, especially with this whole dome thing, so chances are he probably didn't get far. [Or so he assumes, anyway... who knows how fast CLAMPires run??]

[keystaff]

I know. Thank you, Xiaolang-kun. I'm not sure how far he could have gotten. Maybe if I message the others and see where they are looking and we can go from there? Search other areas?

[Regardless she at least knows the basic directions back home from here to make a start on heading that way. It's a relief and reassurance to know they weren't alone in this. That he was here and going to help too. It would be good, having another pair of eyes at least.]

[cardcaptured]

[Xiaolang wasn't entirely sure of how helpful he'd be with the search-- it was dark, and his talismans wouldn't light up very much this high up-- but he could at least keep an eye on spots that Sakura couldn't while she was steering her staff. Even if it wasn't much, he wasn't going to refuse her request. As begrudging as he was to Fai when they first met, he gave Sakura a happy and comfortable life after the hardships she'd been through, and to that, Xiaolang was grateful. Fai was an important person in her life (and possibly his, too, if his memories were any indication), so he was going to do whatever he could do to help her find him.

His grip on the rod tightens as they ascend from his balcony, and he realizes a little too late how risky this could possibly be. It was one thing when they were flying in the tunnels-- the ceilings were high, but they weren't exactly multi-story drops. This on the other hand... thankfully they had the streetlamps and city windows to illuminate their way, but they were still gliding super high in relative darkness. Still... he trusted Sakura. Mostly. If she made it this far to his place on that thing, then they should be fine heading back... maybe.]

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. It'd be a waste of time looking in the same spots everyone else is if they haven't run into him yet. This way, we can at least cover more ground.

[But then, something about that sentence finally catches up to him, and he quickly tries to peer around at her.]

-- wait, Sakura, you're not planning to message them while we're up here, are you??

[WE DON'T TEXT AND DRIVE, SAKURA]

[keystaff]

E-eh? No. I'm not sure I trust myself with that. I'll land in the park nearby and we can go from there.

[It's sort of on the way back to her place anyway. A start. And she obviously hadn't found Fai on the way to his either. Not yet. So she shifts a little, gesturing for Timcampy to keep up as she then makes to land.

Which she has apparently been practicing given how it goes smoother than her last times she has been trying it out. She summons Glow while messaging the others, to get a better view of her phone, even if that seems rather bright as it is amid the darkness.]

Alright. I know where they are at least, so if we stick around....here?

[She pulls up a map on her phone, pointing to where Iwai and Noah are and then the area opposite that she and Xiaolang could search.]

Finding Fai

[geckoman]

[He's been grateful to have another set of eyes in his car as they drive along. It's dark out there with it being night and with the dome thing. Looking for Fai isn't going to be easy. Hasn't been easy. But Iwai isn't about to give up on his boyfriend. For the sake of the kids. For the fact that he loves him. For Fai.

Going around a corner, he shifts his gaze around again. His chest hurts from the shirt rubbing against it but whatever. He'll deal with that later.]

See him yet?

[He's hoping Noah has a better angle on his side of the car.]

[redarm]

[Noah wasted no time getting ready to help Iwai search. He's wearig his pajamas underneath his coat and boots, but that's fine. He keeps his eyes peel through the window, trying to see if he can spy Fai]

Not yet...

What made him run out anyway? That might give us a clue.

[geckoman]

He's the one who cut me. Made him think that he's going to hurt everyone he loves.

[Fai didn't need to fully say everything for Iwai to know that. He knows how his boyfriend thinks. How he operates.]

He got an app thing that changed him and now he's scared.

[redarm]

[There's a bit of silence out of him. So that's what it is...? Noah knew exactly how that felt- it happened to him last summer.]

...Somewhere secluded then. That's where he'll go.

[geckoman]

Yeah that's what I'm thinking too. It's why I keep slowing down at alleys and why I'm trying to get to the park. Places like that.

[Places sure to have next to no people right now while this dome is up. Iwai knows what is needed for escaping somewhere and staying out of sight. He's glad Noah understands too even if it bothers him that the kid would have to know in the first place.]

[redarm]

[The stuff that Noah knows that a kid shouldn't know was a very long list. It's one of the reasons Noah was pretty quiet about his past. It bothered people too much to hear about it. Just like he doesn't explain now.]

Got any secluded places that are meaningful? Fai's pretty sappy.

[geckoman]

Yeah. Let's see if it's in the dome.

[The place where they stargazed together. Up on that hill overlooking everything as they were on the hood of his car. It's a good idea... He's not sure if it's in this dome but one way to find out right?]

There's a hill he and I went to not that long ago.

Meanwhile, back at the house...

[flowrite]

[It's still the wee hours of the morning, but Iwai and Noah are back at the house now with Fai in tow. Fai's still wrapped up in Iwai's coat and doesn't seem terribly interested in giving it back. Especially now that they're inside the house and Iwai isn't going to freeze to death without it. Other than that he's barefoot and disheveled, but otherwise unharmed. Just by looking at him, anyway.

By the time Xiaolang and Sakura get back he'll at least have tried to clean himself up a little, brushing his hair and tying it back, putting slippers on his feet, that sort of thing. He's not going to go get a shower or try to get back to sleep before he knows the kids are all indoors and safe again.

And... the sliding glass door to the back porch is busted. Oops.]

[geckoman]

[Iwai is currently shirtless now and sitting at the kitchen table. He's already waved off Fai a couple of times for insisting he shouldn't be treating his own injuries but here Iwai is doing that anyway. Fai's brought him the supplies and so Iwai's taking care of this.

When he sees the two kids, he gives a nod.]

Hey.

[Ah. Xiaolang's here.]

Your family know you're here, kid?

[keystaff]

Fai-san! You're alright? And Iwai-san, your -- ah! Um. Y-yes. I figured another pair of eyes would help....

[She'd heard that Fai was back and all at least. It just took her a bit to get back from where they were searching, even though it was quicker than might be expected from that far out, with her staff and all, helping them to fly.]

Though I'm not sure if he talked to Leon-san. Probably he was still asleep.....

[Hopefully Leon doesn't wake up and freak out? Oops.]