2020-09-12: Awakenings
- Log: Awakenings
- Cast: Riesenlied, Leon Albus, Noeline, Lily Keil, Fei Fong Wong, Elhaym van Houten, Citan Uzuki
- Where: The Thames - Upper Deck
- Date: September 12, 2020
- Summary: After a long slumber, Riesenlied awakens. Everyone is happy to see her awake at last of course -- but what has happened in her absence?
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
A small horned Hyadean, dressed in Fereshte robes, sits in darkness.
She has no face. Just a hole, where a face would be. Oftentimes, she would wear masks to pretend to be people, but right now... she can't find any masks, hidden in the darkness.
She's sobbing gently, but there are no eyes for tears to flow from.
The figments of people pass her by. Other members of the Fereshte, garbed in Baskar traditional clothing... then, the citizens of Adlehyde, and Wayside, and Azado. A red balloon passes by and pops.
As the red balloon pops, an armored figure in blue, carrying a large demonic spear, walks away.
Wait...
The little Hyadean awkwardly scampers to her feet. She hurries after the armored knight, but try as she might, she can't catch up.
Wait... wait! Please, wait! Father!!
She trips, collapsing on hard cold ground.
Father...
---
Riesenlied's eyes abruptly open.
The harsh, sharp glare of a light above forces them shut again; then immediately, she's hit with a thousand different feelings. Sluggishness, hunger, exhaustion and a melange of feelings all stir like a powerful cocktail inside of her.
"Uh..."
The Hyadean can scarce remember right now, but she collapsed some two months ago and hasn't been awake since then. Her condition is weak, yet as she slept, as she dreamt, changes have been happening to her body--
*CRASH*
--like the huge tail that just accidentally knocked a glass of water over!
"Wa-aaah!"
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon's office is only a little down the hall from the infirmary. His office is not his workshop, which is on another floor -- it is a relatively quiet place, with mostly empty shelves that have a few books. He is not one for sentimentality; his books are several travelogues for Aquvy, a Kislevi field manual, a listing of prominent personnel from Aveh, and his very matter-of-fact journal, which mostly records his movements and the weather.
At present, he is writing a few notes at his desk. Updating the files he keeps in a ledger, which details people. He ticks a couple of marks:
Lovelace, Jos. Present at Valeria Chateau. Remains enemy.
His silver eyes look down at the ledger. His expression is vacant and distant; the hint of stubble on his chin and slightly unkempt length of his blonde ahir is really the only indication of his emotional state.
*CRASH*
Those silver eyes narrow. Leon stands up, nudging the chair back with his leg. He steps out into the hallway, glancing both ways. One hand rests on the holster for his sidearm -- not drawing it, but ready to. He pokes his head inside of the infirmary -- at the bright lights -- and then, the floor. A smashed glass of water, and then--
He blinks. His eyes take a second to adjust. Then, he finds himself smiling without planning to, in longer than he can remember.
"Riese?"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
For Noeline, the last two months have been an interminable time. At first, she'd treated Riesenlied's collapse as if it were another bad day, bringing her to bed and making sure she was cared for - but as the days went by and the other Hyadean failed to wake, she'd begun to worry more, first trying to share in Riesenlied's dreams and then doing her best to give her partner as much of her presence as she could.
It's not that she's been totally absent - but she certainly hasn't strayed far from Riesenlied's side, and some of her upbeat spark has given way to a quiet and deep concern as she withdraws. She never really figured out what to do about Riesenlied's failing health outside of encourage her into Walking Days, and for a while it seemed like that might have been a mistake; for all that she'd promised the both of them she wouldn't dwell on it, the lack of a family around her hadn't made it easy.
This is all a little harder to remember when she's woken up from her position dozing at Riesenlied's bedside by a sluice of water hitting her in the face. "Bwu--" blurts the Hyadean in a distinctly un-Noeline way, and then she splutters into a rapid cough, trying to spin her mind up.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily's workshop is not near the infirmary. However, she hasn't actually been in her workshop for a little while either. She happens to be not far from the infirmary, though not as close as Leon. She does not hear the crash at first so much as feels something. Lily lifts her head, looks--and then registers the noises.
She is pale, and has been very quiet. She's in decent enough health, certainly, and is in better condition after the operation at the Chateau, but...
In an extra moment, Lily leans from the other side of the door into the room, briefly beside Leon. "Riesenlied," she starts, and then steps inside. "Shh. Yo'd be a little disoriented right now."
Lily kneels down to handle the smashed glass, which mostly means a light touch of shadowy Ether and a flicker of violet light.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
FEI FONG WONG...
...Is not great. He isn't having nightmares--except the ones of Josie shooting him in the chest but that's normal right?--but that hasn't really made him feel much better. Josie's betrayal(?) has essentially knocked Fei for a loop, that careful psychological balance he's been maintaining has been knocked off kilter and Id has even gone so far as to MASQUERADE as him in order to torment others for whatever strange hopes he still carries within him.
He has tried to mitigate this by thinking of cute things to do with Elly but it's been hard to shake the visages out of his head.
*CRASH*
Fei is there shortly after Leon.
"You said Riese?" Fei asks. His eyes flutter--his breath catching in his throat. "Is she awake??"
A big goofy and dumb smile appears on his face. He assumes Riese is awake after all because something broke even though he can't really see inside.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly has also been, generally speaking, avoiding situations where she gets shot at more by people just this moment. She's earned that, right? She's not letting people down. She's not even running away, she's just recovering. Recovering from the strange feeling that has been left in her after that horrid Ley-creature's exposure. Recovering from repeated violent injury. Recovering from culture shock.
The Karlsefni is comforting. After all...
Elly's used to a steel sky.
also fish.
Mostly the fish.
Elly was working on SOMETHING because her hands smell slightly of fish as she comes running down a hallway. She had apparently heard Fei because as she peeps in round the corner she says, "Riese--??"
Elly has her hair tied back into a sloppy bun with a long strip of tie-dyed cloth and is currently wearing an apron with a colorful cucco print and text underneath it: meria boule cucco feed BOULEFY YOUR POULTRY! (It is either a promotional item or a recycled feed sack.)
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"I may have been projecting." Fei says as to why he got Elly that apron.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
The matter of Hyadean physiology is still a thing about which Citan Uzuki is learning. There are analogues, to be sure -- but the point remains that there are a number of things which a Hyadean's body can do which a human (or similar) cannot. Some of these differences are the obvious ones. Others are more subtle.
He had taken his cues from Noeline at first. Perhaps this was normal. But it had become clear in time that it wasn't, and then there had been a few -- careful -- questions. Mostly about how to keep her comfortable, whether she would need to take anything in for nutrition, the basics.
But even the Karlsefni, as advanced as some of its facilities within might be, still was never made with anything like their physiology in mind. In fact, the only thing that likely was is now--
He, too, had been far from his workshop at this particular moment. "Is that...?" Citan wonders, cocking his head to one side for a moment, before following after Lily and soon joining Leon...
As other parties begin to gravitate similarly towards the infirmary.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
There's a way in which a rapid succession of events leads to one another. Riesenlied's new and enormous tail is something she visibly is VERY confused at having, as it swishes up and down and threatens to knock other things.
"N-Noeline--" Riesenlied holds onto the side of her head, gasping in pain even as she reaches up with her... bedsheet... and tries to wipe her beloved's face free of water, and then reach forward and embrace to her side tightly.
Leon, Fei, Lily and Elly all come in. Elly's fashion sense is amazing and draws her attention for a moment longer.
There's a pause as she opens her mouth, sags, and she looks in pain;
"L-Leon... right? Leon. And..." A laborous pause, as she looks towards the dark Ether. "Sharon." Riesenlied doesn't usually use that name, but the way she sounds happy to remember it is... suspect. "Elly. And... Doctor. And--"
She blinks softly. "Fei, did you dye your hair...?"
She rubs at her head, looking rather taxed.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Of course, when it comes to Citan offering his help in investigating what might be wrong with Riesenlied... well, Noeline has certainly been both appreciative and forthcoming with details, but has also been quick to point out that neither of them are really your standard Hyadean case. She's wry whenever she refers to herself as a 'custom model', even before you account for the fact her body is infused with a Medium, and she doesn't begin to know what effects Riesenlied's ongoing mutations might be having on the rest of her body.
But those thoughts are still far off as she reaches forwards even as she splutters, the sensation of Riesenlied being conscious and nearby temporarily overriding the rest of her thoughts. "Riese," she says, her voice hoarse with disuse; she'll register the tail later, pay more attention to the words later, but for now just plants her head against the other Hyadean's shoulder and lets her arms go around her beloved, scales or no.
It takes a long while before she can draw out a breath and lift her face, tears beading at the corner of her eyes before she sucks them back in. They're long-lived - perhaps three months shouldn't matter quite so much to them. But Noeline has always considered herself rather human. "... easy," she cautions with a wan smile. "Take it slow, step by step."
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"It looks like, Fei," Leon says, keeping his voice softer than usual. His hand drifts away from the gun that he had been about to draw. The swing of her tail explains everything that needs to be seen.
He looks at Noeline, then, and flashes her a smile. "Quite all right there, Noeline?"
He steps into the infirmary, making room at the door for Fei, Elly, and Citan. He pays only passing attention to Lily's efforts with the remains of the glass of water.
He smiles, but the smile flickers a little at the name 'Sharon.' The way that Riese seems to hesitate on his name -- the question about Fei, and the way she looks taxed. But Noeline has her, so he isn't too worried that she might fall over and hurt herself.
"Just rest easy," he says. "It's been a couple of months. Do you know where you are?"
He wonders, for a moment, if asking her to pronounce 'Karlsefni' in such a state is unfair.
But he is Leon Albus.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily at this point has a reasonably good understanding of Hyadean physiology, which is not something she'd have expected a few years by now. On the other hand, her test cases are very unusual, considering. So maybe it's not time to break out the doctor's shingle...
Lily rises once the glass is taken care of (that is to say, is atomized) and looks to Riesenlied as she looks over herself and looks over them all. She says each of their names, and--
Sharon. Lily'd said she used both, to someone. That Risenlied remembers it first... "That's right," she says regardless, and her smile actually starts to exist rather than flickering. "As Noeline says. Step by step."
But she defers to Leon's question, there--it's a good first one.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly's avian tabard gazes upon Riesenlied with a soft and empathetic concern. It does not do more than that, because it is a picture of an animal, not the animal itself. Even so...
Elly looks round to see everyone. Everyone just about! OK, not literally so. She leans round to glance to Noeline, giving her a nod, and this glancing lean means that Elly sees that Riesenlied... grew a... a...
Elly's lips purse and her jaw tightens as she suppresses the urge to just BLURT IT OUT.
Leon asked the big question, so Elly, instead, beams at Riesenlied, and then is on the verge of saying something to Fei and Citan when --
did you dye your hair?
Elly glances >_> <_< >_> <_< as if to try and see if that is... true.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"I...I don't..." Fei swings his hair about a bit--still brown. He blinks once and then tries to look at the hair on the top of his head in bewilderment. Id can pretend to be Fei in some aspects but his moments of brilliant stupidity are impossible for even his alternate psyche to copy.
He says, "I think my hair is still okay," He steps in once Leon gets out of the way and takes a moment to wipe a tear from his eyes. "Y..yeah... Just take it easy." He says. "There's no rush to catch up. We've got plenty of time."
He looks to Elly and smiles faintly at her. He seems just as happy to see her, as he is any other day he sees her. She's a salve on his psyche--and, let's face it, more besides. He looks forward to the day she can fulfil that particular role less and less.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Which is even more reason why the situation is one in which he is rather more helpless in than usual: she can tell him everything she knows about treatment, but there's no assurance it'll work properly in either of their cases... perhaps the more so with Riesenlied's baffling and unique situation. Perhaps what's happening now is abnormal but there's no way to know how to treat it--
And he's also entertained the thought that perhaps this is normal... but only for Riesenlied, or one with her particular physiological makeup. Between her debilitation, the changes wrought on her, and the baseline differences of her people...
As they say, sometimes the best medicine is time.
And as they say, first, do no harm. He'd opted to wait and see rather than risk her further damage.
"How are you feeling, Riesenlied?" is his first question to her.
At which moment -- the same in which Riesenlied mentions Fei's hair color, as if happens -- the doctor glances about. "Perhaps we may wish to, ah, spread out somewhat? I am certain she is feeling rather overwhelmed at this moment." He has not moved yet himself, though...
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Easy. Take it slow. Step by step.
Leon says it's been a couple of months, though, and THAT gets her eyes to shoot wide open.
"O-oh. Oh no..." Riesenlied whispers, but the question focuses her. One thing at a time. She squints again, breathing in and out as she holds onto Noeline's hand, in recollection as she leans her head down against the Hyadean's on her shoulder.
"Y-yes, this is... the... K..."
So far so good.
"The Kraken, right?"
... that was one temporary Black Wolves ship ago, Riese... so close.
Also yes, Elly, that sure is an enormous tail...! It still swishes around, not unlike how her horns tend to wiggle.
Fei sounds confused about his hair, and Riesenlied lowers her head to stammer, "Oh... I am sorry. I thought I..." She furrows her brow. "I thought I remembered you having red hair."
... well, she's not WRONG, but...
Between Lily and Citan and Noeline, an IV drip feed with some choice nutrients was enough to keep her going; she's careful to not rip the line from her arms. The question of her ongoing atrophy ontop of a lack of exercise is another, but it'll have to wait for now.
Citan asks how she's feeling. "It mildly hurts... right now, everything feels confused."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Once upon a time I would have said 'my pride will recover', but I'm a little beyond that point right now," Noeline grumbles to Leon. She has to take a moment to actually get that much out, because it's difficult to go from distant to her usual brand of upbeat in the space of a few minutes, but the soft huff she makes as she strokes Riesenlied's shoulder counts for a lot.
Caution is baked into her psyche at this point, and the way in which Riesenlied hesitates over details and has trouble with her memory is something that makes her glance towards Lily with the tiniest of flickering frowns across her face, trusting the other woman to catch the expression regardless. But at the same time, she catches herself before it can rise to panic - well aware of how much they share over their link, and unwilling to flood Riesenlied in concern and worry right as she wakes up.
"That's alright. You've only just awoken - I imagine it'll take a while to shake a sleep that long off," she says in a soothing voice, carefully brushing through some of Riesenlied's hair as she draws in a deep breath and quietly hopes to herself. "Have some water, first."
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"I think we can forgive that," Leon says to Noeline with a smile.
He wonders about the tail. But he has seen a lot from Riesenlied's transformation, and it is not such a surprise. He does glance at Fei, once; maybe she is thinking of Id. He decides to not say that aloud, however.
He looks at Citan, then nods. "A fine idea, Doctor Uzuki," he says. Leon moves into the room -- a distance across, a little closer to Noeline and her chair, to give others room.
"Karlsefni, but that was the ship before this one," Leon says, with a smile. He shakes his head once. "We'll take things slowly. Fortunately, we have two very qualified medical personnel here to help. No need to push it."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily catches Noeline's glance, the subtle cue sfficient for her. Lily is noticing, too--the things Riesenlied remembers... and also the things she doesn't remember. She glances to Fei, at the matter of the hair dye, and back to Riesenlied again. "A good idea," Lily agrees with Citan about spreading out. She moves around to the other side, for that matter.
"I think your pride can recover from anything," Lily notes to Noeline with some amusement, perhaps to throw off the little flicker of worry there. "That's right. A little confusion is natural; you've been unconscious for a long time. ...At the moment, the pain is actually a good sign."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Oh, yes, good idea," Elly answers Citan, taking Fei's hand and squeezing for a moment. The tail on Riesenlied...
It reminds her obscurely of Emeralda.
OK, it's not that obscure. But the motion - and of course, Emeralda is not a Hyadaen (right?)
"I was making fish and rice balls," Elly offers. "Would you like me to go get them? They're going to be a little rough..."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Oh uh." Fei is concerned by this!!! But he isn't going to dwell on it when Riese has so much on her plate right now. He looks at Riese's supertail and--also looks for anything else it might knock over.
He looks to Leon and gives him a knowing nod. He knows what's up.
"Yeah--you're probably sore from being in a bed for so long." Fei says. "Take your time and we can work out the kinks later."
He steps back a bit to givev Riesenlied more space. "I'm not leaving," He explains. "Just don't want to crowd."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong also smiles at Elly and squozes her hand back...!!!
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
It's not that Citan hasn't noticed the tail as much as there are a list of things, in order, that are of importance to him here and it's rather lower on the list.
First of all is her mental state which--
Citan glances at Leon when she names the Kraken instead. It's entirely possible it's simply due to disorientation after so much time unconcious, but it's still a response that gives one pause and cause for concern. "..."
As does her answer.
"I see..." He lapses into silence again, crossing his arms over his chest. "...Yes, as Noeline has said, this is understantable. It may be best if you remain bedridden for now, Riesenlied. ...At least until we are able to ascertain how you are." He may also be troubled by the thought of her rising from bed just now only to collapse due to her muscular atrophy potentially having worsened. Without being certain how it might affect her he could not even in good faith suggest mobilization of her limbs during her sleep.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
The ramifications of being out for months is catching up with Riesenlied, as she looks through the way Noeline goes from distant to that usual upbeatness, and the frown that she first senses through the empathic link of their rings.
"... Noeline, everyone. I... I am sorry. Months," she blurts out again, sounding shocked. "I would not have asked that of anyone."
She looks to Noeline. "I... felt you... I sensed you. Your presence... with me, all this time."
There's a tender, soft smile that soft belies the sense of worry underneath; like people say, she doesn't want to crowd herself, overwhelm herself with worry, as the Wolves spread out over the room.
The pain is a good sign. It's true; better to feel pain than to feel numb, to feel nothing. Lily mentions Noeline's pride can take anything; there's a giggle in turn as she looks to Noeline again to say, "That is true. You are unfailingly bright..."
Citan responds that it may be best if she remains bedridden, and there's a gentle nod from the Hyadean. She has a look around the room again, and notices the wheelchair and the leg braces -- both items she's used to help make her more mobile.
"Yes, I think so too," Riesenlied nods, but then Elly brings up the topic of food, and true to nature, the mention of rice--
*CU-CCOOOOOO*
--brings a rumble from her stomach.
"O-oh! I suppose I have not had food save..." She holds up her arm and looks at the IV line. "Ah... thank you. You have kept me nourished all this time? I cannot thank you enough."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline lets out a gentle puff as the atmosphere returns to light chat rather than the question of Riesenlied's memory. It's a concern, something that will nag at her brain for some time to come no doubt, but right now all she wants to do is set it aside, revel in Riesenlied's presence, and perhaps get some actual refreshing sleep rather than a series of fitful naps.
Even so, she has a smile on her face as she chuckles at Riesenlied's shocked expression. "What is a couple of months to us, who have been through centuries waiting for each other?" she tries first - but lets the act go to smile gently, clasping Riesenlied's hands in hers. "It was tough. But I would not have left you for the world. Nothing was going to move me from your side."
"... though maybe I should have brought you somewhere a bit nicer to recuperate," she notes of the Karlsfeni's gun-metal grey, making a show of sulking at it as she lightly jokes. "I would much rather be some place with a pleasant breeze, and maybe some fields. That sort of thing." It lets her cover the grumble of Riesenlied's stomach, too, or at least try.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"We can get you whatever you need," Leon says, with a glance at Fei, then at Citan. He is thinking of a cane or crutches, if one is necessary. His silver eyes turn, then look back at Riesenlied.
He smiles, then shakes his head. "Hardly," Leon says. "Think nothing of it. You're one of ours. We wouldn't abandon you in such a time."
Then he looks at Elly, and nods. Getting them some rice and fish seems wise.
He looks back at Noeline, though, and tilts his head. "Is that a subtle suggestion to remodel the place?" he asks. "I don't think we can make a warship look like an island getaway, Noeline."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Fish and rice balls. That's very relevant for some reason. Lily might be hungry. Maybe not.
But the fact that it's been a long time is... true, and Citan frankly has the right of it as far as Lily is concerned with remaining where he is.
"You didn't have to ask," Lily follows up Leon's statement. "I think I might've been insulted if you thought you had to," she says, and smiles back. She sensed Noeline though...
And--ah. Thanking the IV line itself... Well, that's very Riesenlied in a way.
"We could manage some curtains," Lily suggests. "Maybe a nice photograph of the beach." Wry.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
That is one rumbly tumbly.
"Alright," Elly says, with a clap of her hands. "I'll be right back, just give me a minute."
Which means that she isn't quite there when the rest of the conversation happens, but she was not far away. She was in fact in the officer's messroom, which is not exactly the galley but does have food preparation spaces meant to help encourage separation between the exalted individuals known as "the brass" and those who hold the lower and inferior position of "enlisted."
But that was then and this was now.
Elly returns with a tray and on that tray are a good twenty balls of what look to be plain old cooked white rice that had been gently massaged and wrapped in thin strips of seaweed. Decorative and flavorful in this case, rather than being actually structurally integral. Maybe Elly didn't quite get the idea. It will get fingers sticky. But -
"Please, take as much as you like!"
The filling is mashed ocean fish - fillets from several different types of fish have been gently mixed together with a bit of soy sauce and a sprinking of grated horseradish, producing a salty tangy vigor that brings out the taste of the sea.
"Unfortunately we can't open a window," Elly says to Noeline, soberly.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
He at the very least wants to prevent another collapse from happening just as soon as she has awoken. Her condition is likely fragile enough as it stands -- there is no sense in exacerbating things. "Yes... I do believe we will be able to help her with that," he answers Leon, "but first of all, she must rest, as paradoxical as it might sound!"
But Citan shakes her head when she thanks him (and Lily and... possibly the IV). "Noeline was able to provide us with the information we needed in order to help you. Without her, I would have been forced to guess what you might need."
When Noeline complains, though--
The doctor raises a hand to his chin that just happens to partially obscure his mouth... and the fact that he is trying to keep a straight face.
"Then we agree. Some curtains may be in order," he says at length, before finally moving aside to let Elly-with-a-tray pass on by unimpeded.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Riesenlied, come on... We're your friends." Fei chastizes gently. "Would give you the world if we could. Looking after you when you need our help is the least we could do."
He hears the stomach rumbling and he laughs into his hand, leaving it there to hide his smile. He missed Riesenlied, sure, but it only really hits him how much of a soothing presence Riesenlied has always been now that she's returned. He feels much of his earlier anxieties fading away...
Not all of them because he's Fei Fong Wong, but many of them.
"Wow, those look great." Fei says but isn't so gluttonous that he's going to stop Riesenlied, who has not eaten a food in two months, from having her fill.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Was Riesenlied thanking the IV? Perhaps she really was thanking everyone, including the IV line. It's a very on-brand thing for her to do.
There's the softest little snicker from Riesenlied, at Noeline's light grumbling that it's too gray in here! She doesn't look like she's really noticed, but as Leon mentions they can't really make it look like an island getaway...
"Ah, maybe curtains would help, but... the rice and fish definitely add some home comfort," Riesenlied speaks warmly as Elly comes in. "Thank you, Elly."
Everyone's reassurances that they would've stuck by her side -- Noeline's romantic affirmations, Leon's assurance that she's one of their own, Lily's quip of whether she even had to ask at all... Fei telling her they'd give her the world if they could. And of course, Citan's unfailing advice and support, and Elly's warm smile as she gives her food...
She tears up gently, sniffling into her own mouth as she holds up her blanket for a moment. Then she looks to Noeline. "We have such wonderful family here too."
She accepts one riceball, and starts nibbling on it -- but since Fei looks hungry too, she gestures to him as well! She's going to take a moment to work through one.
Privately, she thinks, Josephine must be just around the corner too! She should say hi to her.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"I'm just saying that some furnishings would be nice," Noeline puffs towards Leon. "Maybe a rocking chair or two, or some nice pleasant bookcases." She's happy to continue on the joke as lightly as she can, enjoying the way it improves the mood of the game. She shuffles aside a little to give Elly space to offer some food to Riesenlied, but can't bing herself to break contact with the other Hyadean just yet.
She can only agree at Riesenlied's description of the Wolves as family, and lets out a soft breath to herself as she nods in turn. "... thank you," she says solemnly to them as a whole, briefly bowing her head. It's not something she needs to do or say, she knows that, but it doesn't stop the impulse regardless. Then she's gently rubbing Riesenlied's back, easing her into eating with a quiet encouragement.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"I feel as if I may get overruled," Leon muses after a moment, eyes turning towards Lily, and then Elly, Citan, and finally Noeline. He sighs, but it is good natured.
He does perk up a little -- subtle, as always, given that it's Leon -- when Elly returns with food. He takes one of the balls of rice only after Riesenlied and the others have. He has a bite, then nods his approval to Elly.
He does get a little rigid-backed at being called family; not out of any disagreement, but that usual awkwardness when Leon has to express any emotional intimacy with people not named Lily Keil.
"Well--ah--" He actually stammers. "Of course, Noeline."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Elly's sacrifice of time and fish are noted and appreciated. Lily first of course agrees with Citan, "Rest is very important; being unconscious is less restful on its own than you'd imagine." Many thanks were manged. It's all fine. And hmm.
Lily smiles at the matter of family, though ther's something in her eyes for a flicker of a moment--something distant. Surely it must just be that she had a different family that was less good, once.
"A bit," Lily agrees with Leon, and grins when he stammers. She doesn't call him on it, but oh, he can tell she spotted that. It's very clear.
"...You're welcome," she says instead to both--and accepts a rice ball as well. Since there's a number. "These are actually rather good..."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly is pleased that her food hasn't killed anybody. CHANCE!!
"Oh, you're all too kind..."
"It might be awkward to do, but we could paint something on the walls," Elly offers. At the mention of family - Elly's cheeks color and she looks away, but she smiles as she does.
Though...
... but no need to linger right now, Elly thinks.
"Do you want one, Doctor?" Elly says, pivoting the tray towards Citan. "And -- do you mean, that it was demanding to her to recover, even to this point?" (Oh no, an exposition prompt...)
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Regarding Noeline's increasing list of demands and Leon's reaction to them, well... Citan has to try harder not to laugh this time.
Though it seems that the doctor, too, holds some level of awkwardness when it comes to that particular vein of emotional intimacy, given that his reaction to Riesenlied's remark is to remark, "...Ah, I see," after a few moments more and fidget briefly with the end of his ponytail.
But of course this is when Elly turns his way. "Yes, thank you, Elly," he says, selecting one after a moment's careful consideration of the tray's contents. It at least is unlikely to be spicy, as foods go. "...As to your question, yes, that is correct. I cannot completely compare the two, but it appears akin to being in a comatose state. ...This status is far from restful for any who has succumbed to one -- it merely appears to be a form of sleep! Moreover, it has a negative effect on the rest of the body. It is typical even during a short coma for significant muscle wastage to occur due to the effects of stress and immobilization. ...That is why," he says, glancing at Lily, "I would consider it wise for her to not move about just yet."
Some deterioration would be likely in any event. In the case of Riesenlied, with an already deteriorating body... prudence is best.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei blushes when Riesenlied recognizes his ETERNAL HUNGER.
"Okay... Okay, if you're sure." He reasons that it probably wouldn't be healthy for Riesenlied to GORGE herself either. Yeah, that's the ticket..!! He can eat a riceball. He takes one.
He instantly looks somehow more guilty than he did when he was overlooking Elru, but nibbles on it all the same.
"Noooo, your food is the best Elly." Fei insists. "And I mean I'm not just saying that either. You know just how to make them."
He looks to Citan and adds, "...But--" He begins but then nods his head. "Well you're the Doc." He grins. "I just hope she doesn't have to stay cooped up in bed too long either." If it were him he'd be eager to get up but maybe that's why Fei approaches a lot of his problems by trying to headbutt them.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied isn't the type to ever really be too embarrassed at being emotionally honest, because let's be fair, that's her entire thing. But Leon's awkwardness as Noeline thanks them all brings--
The faintest bit of a cheeky smile too, as she doubles down on that and says, "Yes, thank you very much, Leon."
The tail swishes very gently as she does so, then she beams brightly to everyone too, hitting them with the full force of a Positive Rainbow. "Thank you, everyone!"
There's something to be said for the power that can produce true-end smiles, after all.
The suggestions all around, to paint the walls, to add curtains, does bring that smile further -- perhaps less because she really wants to get this room to be less drab (she's lived in the Photosphere a lot of her life, after all) and more because the cheerful camaraderie that's blossomed between everyone is positively infectious.
The smile fades a little as Citan responsibly explains about her condition, nodding quietly. "I understand, doctor," she answers softly, looking towards Noeline and squeezing her hand.
"In the past, Sharon gave me physical exercises to do too, but that will have to wait until I have the energy for it...!"
She does look towards the riceball again, then compliment Elly, "This is really tasty, Elly...! I am really grateful. And..." Fei expresses that he hopes she doesn't have to stay cooped up too long.
"Well, until then, I am sure I have plenty to read and catch up on as well...!"