winderlust | i tried to think of a wind pun for this title

[The voice is nice. The food looks and smells beyond nice. It's the outfit that has Gaius looking at Rean with confused suspicion. It's laughably stupid. It's not even trying to pretend it's not hiding something, and Gaius can't trust anyone who's so obviously hiding things. Especially not here, where the people he was trying to help just attempted to kill him.

...Only attempted, though. Somehow. And he has been bandaged and all... But he's still not taking pills from a weirdo.]

You realise you don't look very trustworthy.

Maybe not. But some people are mysophobic. And those are just painkillers.

[One of those sentences has nothing to do with anything but it's implied he's referring to himself, at least. He pulls up a chair and sits next to Gaius, looking at him with that laughably suspiciously bundled up face.]

If I meant you harm I wouldn't really need to make you take a pill for it, right? You're really lucky to be alive right now. It's been three days since you got shot.

Three days?!

[Okay that's a derailing thought. He was going to criticize the outfit some more but he's realising he hasn't contacted home base in that long.]

Where's my-- oh.

[He had a phone. He doesn't need to be told he doesn't have one now. But it is making him more than a little anxious. It's church policy not to go to anywhere an exorcist went missing without proper preparation but eventually, eventually that will probably happen. So long as they don't determine it's not worth risking people with such rare powers, which is entirely possible. He's not sure which would be worse. He doesn't want to be abandoned but, somehow, despite having been shot and pushed off a cliff, he also doesn't want to get a whole village in trouble.

He's wondering why it's bothering him. Either the villagers are salvageable, in which case there's nothing to worry about, or they're corrupted in a way he couldn't sense, in which case strong action would be the right thing to do. But he's remembering the looks on their faces, now, and it's deeply unsettling.]

...Why am I alive?

[Rean nudges the water a little towards Gaius. Take your meds :(]

I fished you out. No one is going to try to hurt you again. I'm really sorry about what happened. It was just... A mistake. You should focus on getting better. It really is kind of a miracle you made it.

You fished me out?

[Look he's too freaked out to take meds and relax, even when he hasn't realised this is the demon he's after! But he does at least, reluctantly, pick up the glass of water. His hand is shaking, but it's not because he's afraid. He's just that physically messed up right now.]

How do you know they won't try again? I haven't given up on my mission.

[He reaches out to gently steady Gaius's arm, even though he's suspicious as fuck his touch is light but firm, helpful.]

It's been three days, like I said... It's all been worked out. No one is going to hurt you. I don't think the Ogre is going to stick around either, not with the church being interested in this place. But your chief concern should be getting better, you can't fulfill any missions if you can't even get out of bed, you know.

[It's true, too, once he has Gaius patched up he plans to move along. He can't bring anything but trouble to this place now that the church is involved.]

Edited 2018-06-28 00:43 (UTC)

[Look saying you have it all worked out and this demon is just going to wander away does not make you any less suspicious. But he is at least taking the pills. Sure. Weird guy has a point that he can't do anything while he's this injured. Either he's genuinely being helped and eventually he'll be better enough to investigate, or he's not and he's going to die. Even if someone tried to strangle him this very moment he wouldn't be able to stop them, so there is 0 rational purpose in being difficult.

He doesn't like it, though.]

Forgive me if I'm not inclined to take your word at face value.

[He laughs, a little startled.]

Can't blame you. I don't really inspire trust in most people.

[He tugs the tray closer to Gaius too.]

Still, you should eat and get some more rest. Your body is going to need to do a lot more healing before you're up to anything.

...I appreciate your help.

[But he still doesn't trust it. It's only the fact that treating him and then poisoning him immediately after would be a huge waste of time that convinces him to accept the food.

It is, in fact, really good. And he hasn't eaten in three days so he really wants to drain the bowl, but when he starts he immediately gets nauseous, so he ends up slowly pushing the tray away.]

I'd also appreciate the truth. Why are you hiding?

[He's smiling a little sadly, not that Gaius can see it. But maybe it's in his voice.]

Sorry, but that's not really something I want to talk about. I know it's hard, but you don't have any choice in trusting me right now.

Whether or not you can believe me, I don't mean you any harm. And that's the truth. So try to take it easy and get your strength back.

[Lucky for Rean, Gaius is a really super nice person who is generally chill, so he's not going to do anything wild like try to snatch Rean's mask off. Even if a little part of him wants to. It's not like he can do anything about whatever he might find, so he may as well wait and find out later.]

Right... Thank you.

[The thanks is genuine. He should be dead and he's not, so regardless of whatever is behind that mask, he should be thankful.]

The Goddess must have wanted us to meet.

[Because if She didn't, he would be fish food.]

Well... This is definitely something of a miracle, so She's probably pretty fond of you. I just happened to be here.

[He's got some complications with his faith, to be sure, but he's not going to go venting them to an exorcist. Instead he leans back in his chair.]

If you want to thank me, just get better. That'll be thanks enough. Which means no pushing yourself until you're feeling sturdier, and eating, and getting plenty of rest. I'm something of a hermit so I'm mostly here, I'll be around if you need anything at all, and I know a thing or two about medicine. I might not be up to date on the latest science but I should be able to get you back on your feet and ready to go save the world in no time.

[Somehow it's not at all surprising that someone like Rean would be a hermit. Gaius really needs to figure him out, though. He has a lot he needs to think about, actually, but the painkillers are kicking in and he's starting to nod off, no matter how hard he tries not to.]

Mmmn... Wait.

[Wait wait. He can't pass out in the middle of a conversation just because he's a squashed meatball!!]

What's your name...?

Oh, right. My name's Rean. You're Gaius, right?

We can talk more later, looks like you're passing out again. Get some sleep.

I'm... hn.

[He tries to form words but it's not happening. Instead his vision fades out into darkness, and he's unconscious again.

He doesn't manage much more than that for anothee few days. But when he's feeling actually conscious, he tries, tentatively, to get up. Rean will hear it surely but if he doesn't at first he will when Gaius encounters his own broken leg and ends up on the floor.

When you're either passed out or on painkillers for a week it's easy not to realise how extensive your injuries actually are.]

[Rean's at Gaius's side in an instant the moment he hears the thud. For the last week he's been there whenever Gaius needs anything but he wasn't anticipating Gaius trying to get up on his own.]

Hey--Gaius?

[Hovering, worriedly, looking him over quickly and running his hands down over Gaius's leg and touching his bandages to make sure nothing is torn open or damaged again. It might be weird for Gaius to have someone touching him so casually, or maybe not, considering Rean's been attending to him like a full time nurse for a week.

Rean's not even thinking about it. He stopped being body shy hundreds of years ago. Though he also stopped spending this long with anyone. Gaius may be passed out for most of it but the last week has been the longest proximity he's spent with a single human in centuries, and it's strange.

Right now, though, he's mainly concerned with Gaius re-injuring himself.]

Are you okay? What do you need? I can get you anything, but you really aren't fit to get out of bed yet.

[Fuss.]

[It's weird because he's been unconscious for most of that and out of it for the rest. He's not thinking "hey this guy must've wiped my ass the last week" he's just thinking "this guy is touching me a lot and that's weird".]

I'm fine. I was just restless.

[And drugged. The drugs are nice. Rean's hands are nice too actually but he's too out of it to particularly love it or hate it.]

I can bring you something to read. Just don't try to get up again for a while, okay?

[He's getting an arm under Gaius's shoulders, and while he could lift Gaius easily, Gaius might be too conscious for that not to be suspicious, so he makes a show of kind of struggling to get Gaius back in bed.

Somehow while making a show of it he manages not to jostle Gaius much at all but he's hoping the drugs haze that away.]

You really aren't in a state to be moving around yet.

I noticed.

[Not until he hit the floor, but he did notice. It's hard not to realise you're in bad shape when you can't hold your own weight. He does not, however, notice Rean being too good at moving him. Gaius is dizzy and sore and not quite up to making the smart observations he should be making as an exorcist.

He's beginning to pick up on the lack of human presence, though. It's like a blind spot in his vision -- hard to understand when he's drugged and exhausted but equally hard to ignore.]

You know... you're a strange person.

[He's not glad Gaius is so injured but it DOES have the nice side benefit of Gaius being too out of it to notice things, so there's a silver lining. He settles Gaius back in.]

I get that a lot.

[He wants to deflect Gaius from focusing on the weird person bit though.]

Do you like card games? We could play those if you're restless.

I guess-- No.

[You almost did it Rean. You almost distracted him. But he's trained too well to gloss over this part.]

I can't sense you at all...

Really? I'm often told I don't have much presence.

[He pulls the covers up around Gaius, fluffing his pillow.]

Did you want those cards? Or maybe a book?

Hmm...

[Goddess what a shady guy. Gaius doesn't trust this but he's also too out of it to properly pursue.]

Alright, let's play then.

[He's going to lose SO MUCH.]

[It's been a long time since he played Blade with anyone, and some of it's luck so Gaius won't lose EVERY hand. Finally Rean stacks the cads and sets them down, pulling over a few books and setting them next to Gaius.]

You look like you're ready to sleep some more. I'll be here when you need me. No more getting up though, if you need something, call.

[It's a gentle concerned lecture, at odds once again with how fucking shady he is.]

Right...

[Yeah he's falling asleep agsin. At least he's easy to manage when he's drugged! But that won't last. He'll sleep like a good patient for now, but in a couple of weeks he'll be ready to move, and when that happens all bets are off.]

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