destinystrings | Farewell Happy Fields!

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Farewell Happy Fields!

Farewell Happy Fields!

☯

What: Aftermath of Anoli Attack: Hospital
Where: Leo Ward - Caduceus Hospital Headquarters
Summary: It is the aftermath of the Anoli attack on the Closing Ceremonies. The injured have been taken to Caduceus Hospital Headquarters, and it is time for reflection, visting, or old-fashioned escapes from the hospital rooms.
Warnings: Mild squick if people want to describe their wounds in explicit detail.

Caduceus Hospital Headquarters. It has a distinguished history within Hinoto-Ri, boasting of a staff of well-trained Healers, as well as possessing the most cutting edge medical technology possible. There was no limb they couldn't reattach, no organ they couldn't replace... - they even claimed to be able to bring someone back from the dead (with the small disclaimer that it could only occur under certain conditions and with an obscene amount of luck).

So needless to say, the hospital was more than well-equipped to deal with the aftermath of the Anoli attack on the Closing Ceremonies.

---

Nearly every hospital bed had been filled by an injured patient that night. The A&E room had been in constant chaos, with civilians crying and shouting, searching for loved ones, or demanding to see doctors or healers to help so-and-so...

There had also been plenty of reporters milling about, shouting and crying over the status of the Mayor's Secretary, and whether the Red Lion had really died at the scene, or if he was still alive and well within the safety of the hospital's ICU.

By the time morning broke, there was a false sense of tranquillity within the hospital. The healers had been pushed to their limits with the sheer number of patients being wheeled in and out of surgery, but otherwise, the situation had finally gotten under control. Now, both civilians and visitors were merely waiting for word of the conditions of their injured friends and family...

[Welcome to the winding down of the event! You are now at the hospital, where you may be visiting the injured, or be one of the injured yourself! Those with RED injuries will be in the ICU, and those with YELLOW injures will be in normal wards, for obvious reasons. Those with GREEN injuries wouldn't have had to go to the hospital at all, so they are free to come and go as they wish!

You may all start your threads and mingle!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It made sense in a way... birds shed feathers - molting, the word sprung to mind. Someone with wings would go through the same process, new and stronger feathers replacing older ones or damaged ones. He wondered if that meant that the person before him could fly, though he held on to that question for the moment.

Instead, his eyes went wide at the offered feather and he reached for it a bit timidly. It was the first time he'd been offered something...

"For me? Is it all right?"

He didn't want to close his hands on the feather yet, in case Avitus changed his mind.

It might be a safe enough bet that he should be able to fly -- from wrist to wingtip, those wings were a good six feet, not quite seven, long. Or at least, they would be if they didn't seem to bend halfway down. (What kind of bone structure did they have, anyway?) He had to have at least an eighteen foot wingspan, and he didn't look to weigh much at all, as thin as he was.

"Of course," he said, giving him a little smile, holding it out further. "If you'd like one, I can't see any reason against."

Xehanort takes it, a bit of awe on his face. It's fluffy and soft, still a big warm from body heat. His hands shake a little. Even if it's a small gift, it's still the first thing he's received from another person. It means something that he can't quite put his finger on.

"Thank you..." he whispers. He clears his thoughts and puts on a smile, bigger than he's meant to. He's surprisingly happy about this.

Huh... it meant that much to him?

Avitus tilted his head a little, lowering his stance a bit to peek up more at the man's face. "You like feathers?"

It certainly did feel good to know that something he'd done had been the cause of that smile. Whatever happiness he could contribute to, especially in a hospital, and especially during a time like this, just had to be worth it!

"I... don't know. This one is interesting..." He'd seen pictures of birds in books, but the feathers in there were always stylized. This is a real feather, and it's interesting... though he'll examine it (carefully) on his own time rather than in front of the person that gave it to him. "I've never seen a feather before. Not a real one."

He turned it over carefully, holding it up and watching the way the light reflected off of the blade.

"I'm sure that they will bring happiness to people. Knowing that someone cares enough to leave a gift... that means a lot."

"You've... really never seen one? I hadn't thought--"

His wings sank a little again, smile fading just a bit. "...What sort of place did you live in before?" Curiosity was taking over, even as he idly resumed preening, running his fingers through his feathers. Birds had always been present in Nosgoth, so the new idea that maybe they weren't in this man's world was completely unexpected to him.

"Oh..." For a moment his head dipped, as though the feather was suddenly entirely fascinating. "I don't remember anything about the world I came from. I arrived here without any memories of the past. For all I know, there could have been birds everywhere."

"Oh...!"

And he hadn't expected that, either. He was quiet a moment. If this place were all that the other knew of, so far....

He tried turning that thought around on himself: hypothetically, if this place were all that he knew of, what would he most want to make sure he found out about? Never mind that he hadn't even explored all that it had to offer yet himself, something already came to mind, and he couldn't merely not bring it up.

It was of dire importance, you see.

Avitus leaned just a little closer, watching the other's reaction. He held his breath, but to ask.

"Have you tried ice cream yet?"

A blink, and then another, but he does remember something... cold and sweet and...

"Oh... yes, there was some at the Christmas party, I think..."

Another grin. "It was really good, but I couldn't eat a lot of it since it was so cold."

Avitus nodded. "It does get hard, when it's colder... but if it's allowed to sit and warm up a bit, it's softer, and one can eat quite a lot."

That's the voice of experience, there.

"What of hot chocolate?"

Clearly, these were priorities. Very important priorities.

This sounds like something that should be investigated at some point. "I'd like to try that..." he added. He knew there was ice cream in Terra and Aqua's freezers... it wouldn't be too difficult to get at.

This time, a vigorous nod. "I really liked the hot chocolate, though it wasn't chocolate-y enough... I thought it would be more like drinking melted chocolate than milky chocolate. I suppose the name is just a bit misleading..."

"It wasn't... chocolate-y enough? Well, how much of the chocolate powder did you put into the milk?"

Uh oh.

"Powder..." He wrinkled his nose a little. "I didn't see how it was made. It was already prepared... is it really just chocolate powder? There has to be a better way to make it."

Oh dear...

"Well, when I make it at my place, I do it by heating up the milk, and adding chocolate powder. It all dissolves... and it can hold quite a bit of it.

"I just have to be very careful about how much I add -- I nearly made myself ill with it being too thick, once." He could feel his cheeks turning more purple at the admission; he knew that he knew better, but it'd just tasted far too good! And so he ends up giving the man a sheepish smile. "I doubt you'd have that particular issue, though. It's... somewhat specific to my clan's biology, when something we eat is too solid."

....hot chocolate that was solid enough to make him queasy, while ice cream didn't? How much chocolate had he put into it, anyway?

"Why is it powder?" Xehanort couldn't help but wonder aloud. "Why not just melt some chocolate proper? It would taste a lot better..." Though he couldn't help but wonder silently how much powder it would take to make milk go thick. It was something that bore investigating later, on his own time.

"Perhaps it's so that it can be more easily mixed into the milk? It's supposed to be a drink, as I understand it. And it doesn't feel so..." He paused a second, trying to figure out the proper adjective for the quality he had in mind. "...So cohesive as the solid sort."

A little pause. "What exactly is the difference between the two, anyhow? I haven't tried the bars of it; I can already tell it wouldn't much agree with me...."

No, don't play with the chocolate at home on your own later. Play with it with Avitus! It will be a delicious, delicious mess, surely?

"Solid chocolate can be melted down. If one melts the chocolate, and mixes it in with the milk... I wonder..." Clearly this bears investigating. When he gets home he plans to try it... wondering if they have solid chocolate anywhere. He'll have to find out.

"From what I understand, a bar of chocolate has cocoa and butter and sugar and flavourings mixed in with it. It's not pure chocolate in that sense, but it's very sweet. I can't eat too much of it."

"Butter? But it's so solid.... maybe it's the sugar?" The idea that cocoa butter would be a wax is lost on him; he's thinking of butter made from milk, here.

"I'm not sure how well butter can mix with milk. One is oil-based, and the other water... so even if one were to melt it down, it may remain separate." There seems like there should be something more to it, however, and he can't quite put his finger on the thought that's trying to form there.

"I don't think it's that kind of butter... when you melt it, it doesn't separate into oily components like that. It stays the same. It should mix, in theory... though perhaps some experimentation is in order, if you'd be amenable to that."

"Oh, I think I very much would be, yes!"

There was that grin again; this would surely be the start of a wonderful friendship, built on the solidest of solid foundations: a shared love of something fantastic!

Or at least it would be a good chance to experiment with sweets, with someone who liked them perhaps as much as he did. Some things were simply better, when shared. Like dessert. In great quantities.

"My name is Avitus," he said, giving the other something of a nod, a small bob that was more a bow than not. "And yours?"

Anyone who is interested in kitchen mad science is good in his books too! Partners in crime mean Aqua is less likely to get on his case...

He returns the head-bob with one of his own. "I'm Xehanort. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Barely a pause -- "Might it be best to wait until things have calmed a bit, or would a distraction from this mess be welcome sooner than that?"

It's an honest question! Some people dealt with stress better when they could distract themselves from it in the middle of it; others would rather save the happier times for when things had been dealt with, and they were ready. Avitus had no idea which Xenahort would be, or would be at the moment, but he could deal with either way.

Though, if he were the latter, the burdie may have to experiment a little bit in advance, and just... hope the human didn't mind.

"We're not really involved in these things. It can happen whenever we want to do it."

It's a bit sad in a way as he doesn't feel like life should stop because his friends are laid up in the hospital, but perhaps he feels a bit vindictive.

Fair enough!

"Well... I ended up sleeping a while ago, so I suspect I'll be up quite a bit later tonight than usual... perhaps nearly all night; I'm not certain yet. And I was going to stop at the grocery for a few items on my way home anyhow, once visiting hours are through here...."

Hm, yes, this could work out nicely!

"Would you like to come with me? I've quite a few syrups at home already, and some dishes we could use. I'm certain that I've at least enough for the two of us... if that would suit you."

Farewell Happy Fields!

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