recolle | (semi-open) don't try this at home, pls

(semi-open) don't try this at home, pls

WHO: Transcend Game staff, and anyone who has significant enough CR with Kaiba I guess? Or you could drive by and popcorn.
WHERE: Transcend Game's offices, and then subsequently the hospital
WHEN: Thursday, 20 July - Friday, 21 July
WHAT: What is supposed to be a staff briefing for the Convention ends up a disaster when Kaiba spontaneously collapses.
WARNINGS: For later? Descriptions and depictions of extremely unhealthy sleeping and eating habits. Please don't try this at home.

A: The actual collapse + aftermath (morning, 20 July)

[ It's not obvious, but he's been hazy and distracted all week, mostly because with all the stupidity from trying to complete bingo squares for Retrospec's game, and the almost herculean effort of trying to run both his company and the convention happening next week (especially with the threat of Retrospec present and ruining his work). Even if he does have a capable staff team of helpers and volunteers, Kaiba is also usually stubborn as fuck, so it's no surprise that he's running himself ragged.

It's fine, he can manage, he can cope.

Thursday morning there's a meeting - it's scheduled for 10 in the morning, so it's not too early or too late, and it's for his staff team and the volunteers helping out, as well as anyone who's involved with setting up for the convention: it's not supposed to be anything too complicated, a breakdown of roles and assignments and chains of command, as well as a couple of standard routine briefings and paperwork to sign. It's not supposed to take longer than two hours.

He ignores the headache that's pulsing in the back of his head.

When it's all over and done, when his secretary reminds him that he has a lunch appointment with a convention sponsor, and Yugi and the rest of his team seems to be handling the last of the stragglers in the room, he doesn't have any further excuse to remain in the room any longer.

The last thing he remembers is taking a step forward before he blacks out, his legs giving way under him and he collapses, crumpling to the ground in an almost-dead heap.

What will you do now? ]

B: welp, hospital (afternoon, 20 July and most likely overnight)

[ Somehow or another, he's been wrangled into the hospital, and while he's conscious, he's definitely tired, and it shows.

He's also possibly kind of grumpy at being confined to a hospital bed on an overnight stay - come keep him company? or give him the third degree about being an idiot with overworking himself and stuff.

he just wants to go home, ok. ]

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[It would be strange for Katherine to miss the subtle signs of Seto under stress. She's known him for so long and been around him so much that of course she'd notice the way the stress eats at him, the set of his shoulders, the intensity of his stare, that millisecond delay after a question before he answers sometimes... the signs are subtle, but they're there.

She would never call him on it in front of everybody else, though. Throughout the meeting she sits and pretends as though nothing's wrong, though her lips may purse slightly from time to time as she's taking notes. Her plan is that perhaps she'll corner him after the meting and force him to take a break, that either she or one or two of his employees can meet with the sponsor in question... but before the room can completely clear, Seto's collapsing to the floor.]

Seto!

[If she'd thought about it, she wouldn't have cried out his name, but Katherine isn't thinking about that as she fairly throws her belongings back to the conference table, sprinting over to him in her heels and dropping down next to him. As she does, she looks around for anyone else that's in Seto's circle of confidence--or at least, what he has of one. People who can be trusted.]

Get everybody out of here. [The order to one person. To another--] Call the med team in. They'll decide whether we need an ambulance or not. Quickly!

[First things first--get him laid out on his back and make sure he's still breathing. (Any help is appreciated! Kath's a capable woman, but when time is of the essence, she won't turn down anybody.) Elevating his legs to help with bloodflow. And finally...]

Seto, can you hear us?

Are you still with me, Seto?

[It's a damn good thing Fai was in between appointments when the call came in. He didn't know the young lady on the other end of the call, but after a few seconds it didn't really matter. It was also a very good thing that he wasn't driving at the time, because for a long moment he simply pressed his hand to his mouth and tried not to panic. And then he broke into a run for his car, dialing the office along the way to cancel the rest of his appointments for the day.

If anyone else is in the room he'll wait outside the door, although his usual patience is shredded thin today. He's got his arms crossed over his chest and he's pacing fit to wear a groove in the floor.

At any point that he's not allowed in the room, either because family is there or because visiting hours are over, he can be found in the waiting room down the hall nursing a giant cup of coffee, curled up in a chair and trying to catch up on work on his phone. And definitely not sleeping. And looking kind of like a mess.

When he does finally get into the room...

...he's just going to hang back by the door for the moment, until he's acknowledged. Mostly because he doesn't know whether to yell or cry and he really shouldn't be yelling at his boyfriend when he's in the hospital.]

[ When he wakes up an indeterminate amount of time later, after they let fall asleep, he's groggy and listless in the way that an unexpected afternoon nap - or unexpected sleep in general can bring, and it takes him too long to register the person at his bedside, even with the almost-too-bright blond hair that's the most obvious identifying trait. ]

... Fai?

[ He blinks into focus, struggles to push himself back up into a seated position, takes into account the sharp bite of sanitiser and the unfamiliar surroundings, and he knows he's in the hospital. Fai is standing by the door, some distance away from his bedside. And perhaps it's just instinct, or something like that, but he doesn't quite notice the way his hand is reaching for Fai's, gesturing for him to come closer. ]

... Did they drug me? Why do I feel terrible?

Edited 2017-07-21 10:14 (UTC)

[it's not hard for Grell to get Kaiba's diagnosis after she sees him being hauled in, and when she's wrapped up her work for the day, she heads not out the door but to his room instead. they don't know each other well - barely, if anything - but he's so young, and he's one of them. she's thought of them as a collective, a group, for a while now. a group that has to look out for itself, in the wake of everything.

it may help that she keeps her white coat on when she enters the room, to heighten the appearance of being official, though she's certainly not any of the doctors or nurses who might have seen him.]

Seto Kaiba. Are you awake?

[that, at least, is gentle.]

[ He's always been a light sleeper. And since the doctors have just let him doze off normally, Grell's footsteps and her words are enough to rouse him, although he's still groggy and it takes him a moment to actually register her presence and sit up to face her, a far cry from how sharp or alert he usually is. ]

... Yes.

[ Her red hair is striking as ever, recognition dawning on his features when he finally recognises her from the few times that they've met in passing.

Huh. He should have known she was a doctor - it's never come up in their conversations, but he's seen her giving first aid at the fight club, of course. ]

Are you here to bring me good news or bad news?

[ the next thing he knows, he's blinking his eyes open, there are harsh fluorescent lights over him, and blurry faces staring down at him, and... hands? ]

What happened? [ except that well, since his mouth feels so much more like cotton balls, it comes out more like whahaoh.

The blurriness doesn't quite fade (and the lights don't help very much, either) until he blinks a couple more times and it takes way too long for him to recognise Kath's face. ]

'm... here...

[ he tries to sit up, and finds his body clumsy and unresponsive.

he's at work. on the floor. with kath crouched over him, and he's vaguely aware of some other people in the room, too, with the hushed whispers in the background.

what? ]

[ She appreciates putting in hard work and all, but this kind of unhealthy overworking... not so much.

And with the convention days away this is a bit... troublesome. Soon, Kaiba will have to deal with an irritated Frenchwoman. ]

So. How long have you been doing this?

[It doesn't take long for Ardyn to catch wind of Kaiba's state. News moves quickly, especially if this news happens to revolve around a fellow user of Retrospec; their community, strange as it is, is also a tight-knit one. And when he hears that his ex-student has overworked himself to the point of putting himself in the hospital, of course Ardyn will visit.

His footsteps herald his presence when he enters, followed by his voice permeating the air. Easily recognizable, for Kaiba.]

Mr. Kaiba.

[Well, there's not much will left to yell right now. That may change, but for the moment Fai automatically moves closer to the bed and reaches out to hold Kaiba's hand in both of his. His ever-present smile is notably lacking, however, and his voice is quiet.]

Hey. No, they didn't drug you. You just fell asleep. You must be pretty exhausted still.

[He bites his lip at the second question.]

You feel terrible because you haven't been taking care of yourself. There's only so long a person can push themselves before their body gives out, Seto. You weren't made to operate twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, no matter how much you'd like to, and you weren't meant to operate without food or water. You're not a machine.

[ Familiar hands cover his, but Seto's the one who moves, his fingers slipping between Fai's. Fai's hands are warm - his own skin probably feels kind of cold. If he's noticed that Fai's ever-present smile is lacking, he doesn't say anything, mostly because he's not looking at Fai's face, rather, he's looking down, at a spot that's slightly off where their hands meet.

It's avoidance.

Mostly because he knows. This isn't the first time that it's happened - there hasn't been a relapse in quite a while, actually. He gets caught up in his responsibilities and forgets.

He opens his mouth as if to say something, then closes it, as if it takes a moment for him to reconsider whether he really should be saying it. His eyes flutter shut, obscured by his bangs. ]

I don't have enough time.

[ if it helps? it usually doesn't happen very often, and he doesn't relapse into it that often either. but he can feel the irritation as soon as she steps into the room, and it instantly makes him go on the defensive. ]

I don't look to put myself in the hospital intentionally, Miss Écarlate.

[ his scowl disappears after a couple of seconds, though - he honestly doesn't mean to be that confrontational, it just slipped out. he's tired, still.

he has to think of how to actually answer her, and that alone means that it's. well. pretty bad. ]

.... Probably as of last week?

[ the rumour mill must be going on overdrive, at this rate, if even Ardyn knows about his condition, because one, honestly, he's not expecting that many visitors, period, and two, how the hell did the news get out anyway?

(he seems to have forgotten that he actually collapsed in a room full of people, but yeah that's what happened.)

also, maybe it's unintentional, but Ardyn's voice actually makes him flinch - it's probably from his years of being a professor, but the mere inflection in his tone?

let's just say Kaiba's expression is grim when he finally looks up at his old professor. ]

...Professor.

[ a beat. ]

... Alright. Let me have it.

[ u did come here to yell at him didn't u ]

[ He could at least allow a good night's sleep... ]

Perhaps you should consider sleeping for a few days, or perhaps today. I still plan on being ready by the 25th at the latest, but even so, I make sure not to work myself too hard.

And that's going to get better when you drive yourself into an early grave?

[There's no heat behind the words--if anything, Fai's voice gets smaller, sadder. More lonesome. He's lost too many people in his life, for various reasons, and he's suddenly, desperately afraid of adding Seto to that list. His grip on Kaiba's hand doesn't get any tighter, as if his boyfriend is made of glass, but nevertheless he clings to that point of connection and bows his head.]

I'm sorry. This is my fault, I should have been paying more attention. I knew you were working too hard, but I didn't think....

[ What do you even get someone in the hospital, especially your boss? When Yugi had heard, he immediately put his effort into helping the volunteers and keep doing the work he could do to keep Kaiba from being stressed when he came back. That left him worried on what to bring; it was natural to bring something to someone when they were not feeling well.

Though flowers were probably the norm, Yugi settled on a puzzle set from his grandfather's shop. That would be more interesting. Knocking on the door, Yugi popped his head in with a warm smile. ]

Mr. Kaiba...?

[Fawkes hates hospitals.

That's hardly a surprise, all things considered. It's not as though he goes out of his way to keep talk of his mother a secret; while it's true that he doesn't go around broadcasting it by any means, it's also not something he'll hide outright if talk of family or of his reasons for being in the city ever comes up in conversation. There are people who know about his mother. There are people who know his reasons for hating hospitals.

And yet very few people are aware, probably, of just how deep that hatred runs — how merely setting foot in one takes him immediately back to that awful summer of tubes and wires and softly beeping machines, of hard plastic chairs in the waiting room and harsh fluorescent lights burning down from overhead. He hates the smell of them, the sterile chemical aroma of equal parts clean and sick. He hates how they make him feel like a trapped animal, not by walls or doors but by his inability to do anything to change the fate of the person confined inside them.

Fawkes hates hospitals. But he also does plenty of things that he hates, and right now coming here is more important than his own loathing.

(He lies to the nurses, which is something he learned back then — a good way of smoothly getting what he wants. Being honest subjects you to protocols, and well-meaning friends aren't often considered a high priority who should be afforded particular consideration. He lies and tells them he's a business associate instead, and for all that they're not eager to let Mr. Kaiba get back to overworking himself anytime soon, they do at least appreciate the necessity for a business to continue to run even in its owner's absence — and in fact, that they might actually stand a better chance of keeping Kaiba there longer if he believes his company is being overseen in good hands while he's away.)

(It's all lies, of course, but it works, and that's frankly good enough for Fawkes.)

Which is how he ends up sitting in one of the uncomfortable chairs at Kaiba's bedside, waiting patiently and quietly for his friend to wake up from a shallow and impromptu nap that the exhaustion in his body probably forced upon him whether the force of his will agreed with it or not.]

[The strange thing is, of all the visitors that Kaiba is likely to get in his current state of hospitalization, Carmen is probably one of the few who would actually be willing to defend — on some level — the course of action that put him there in the first place. She understands ambition, of course. She also understands responsibility. And certainly she understands the temptation — the experience of having the force of one's determination transcend their own physical limits, and the refusal to concede to those limits so long as that drive still existed to provide fuel to keep going.

In short, she understands the mindset that puts workaholics into hospital beds. Certainly she's come close to putting herself in one at least a few times before, herself.

When she arrives, it's in red as always, making her stand out like a cardinal against the muted neutrals of the hospital. She's also come bearing a gift bag decorated in metallic whorls of silver and black, with a bit of tissue paper sticking out of the top, and she hovers with it near the door until she's sure that he's seen and acknowledged her before proceeding into the room properly with a soft click of her high heels against the sterilized floor.]

[ ... in all honesty, he would probably have dealt better with actual anger, because when Fai's tone gets smaller, sadder, it stings more than anger would have, and Kaiba actually flinches, hard enough to recoil slightly, his hand instinctively jerking almost as if to pull away, but there's an aborted action there. ]

... It's not your fault.

[ and maybe it sounds forceful, because it kind of is. ]

It's not your fault, Fai. I am a grown-ass man and if I forget to eat, it’s my own damn fault.

[ a sigh, before he finally can bring himself to look up, to look back at Fai. ]

If anything, you should be yelling at me right now.

It is my fault. You've been under so much pressure lately, you've been so busy, and... I'm supposed to be part of your support system. I'm supposed to notice when you do stupid things like stop eating.

[Kaiba is finally looking up again, but Fai looks backward, toward where the nearest chair is. He reaches back with one foot, hooking the leg of the chair, and pulls it close enough to sit right beside the bed. Pulls Kaiba's hand up with both of his to rest against his cheek.]

I'm a terrible boyfriend, but... I really don't want to lose you.

[maybe just a little

Ardyn doesn't say anything at first (which might be more flinch-worthy than his actual inflection), only crossing near enough to pull up a chair next to Kaiba's hospital bed, and taking it upon himself to sit.

He exhales.]

Priorities first, Mr. Kaiba. How are you feeling?

[ the look that he's giving her means that sleeping for a few days is out of the question, that's losing way too much time than would be actually acceptable, especially since he still has so much undone, and so much at stake.

yeah he's a stubborn perfectionist and a workaholic, which is always a dangerous combination. ]

Today, at least. [ he does sound the slightest bit resigned at that, mostly because there isn't anything he can do about it. ] They're not letting me leave until tomorrow.

[ A couple at least. She probably can't out stubborn him even if she tries, or bothers to try. ]

That's something at least. By the way, I notice the gossipmongers have been at it again. Last I checked, you were too busy for relationships.

[ did you want to make him feel more apprehensive than usual? because it's working, considering the almost wary look that Kaiba is giving his former professor, mostly because he usually does not find himself on the receiving end of, you know. reprimands in general. he's not entirely sure what to expect.

it's also why he looks vaguely unsure when Ardyn pulls up a chair next to his bed, and he straightens a little almost defensively, though it's kind of unconscious. ]

... Bored, if you want me to be honest.

[ there's only so much that one can do when confined to bed rest. ]

Otherwise, I feel mostly fine. Just tired.

[ sleep debt catching up with him, tbh. ]

[ Yugi's lucky, in this case - he happens to be awake at this moment, and he's flicking through an abandoned newspaper that someone has left behind in his room in an attempt to pass time in some way and not end up stir crazy from being confined.

he looks up when Yugi pokes his head in, though, and gestures for the other to come in, although he does look mildly surprised, like he's not entirely expecting visitors. ]

[ his sleep is fitful, mostly because his body isn't used to it - he's the kind of person that sleeps for short bursts at a time, so the combination of sheer exhaustion and a drug-induced sleep that has him asleep for a better part of the late afternoon pretty much is enough to throw off his routine enough that he's disoriented and groggy by the time he awakes again.

it's to the point where he takes slightly longer than a moment to actually figure out who is actually by his bedside, although the red hair and the generally familiar figure should have been a dead giveaway. it just goes to show what a combination of starvation, dehydration and exhaustion can fuck up brain processes, which is why Kaiba's vowed to himself that he's not about to let this serious of a relapse happen again.

but anyway, back to the important thing at hand.

when he finally realises that Fawkes is currently waiting in a chair next to his hospital bed, it's enough to at least get him to struggle to sit up again, although he does have to close his eyes momentarily to stave off the sudden headache that comes with having moved a little too fast for his body to keep up with. ]

Fawkes.

[ when it passes, at least, he'll open his eyes, reaches for a glass of water on the nightstand because he at least remembers the doctor's instructions even if he doesn't like being in this position, being this weak. ]

I didn't expect to see you here.

[ there may or may not be a slight undertone of curiosity, mostly because Kaiba is vaguely aware of Fawkes's burning hatred of hospital and how he avoids them like the plague. ]

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(semi-open) don't try this at home, pls

SIBLING BLACKMAIL TIME

B, the whole time | also ota! perfect time to meet Kaiba's boyfriend amirite?

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b;

B, unsurprisingly

B, slightly more surprisingly

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