Re: Chapter 4 - Consequences
Jiro woke slowly, hearing the sounds of running water somewhere nearby, head muzzy with the last whips of dreams. They had been... less unpleasant than the usual, on the whole. Alex, her mind gone, her body withering and shutting down despite everything he could do to try and save her... Wei, fighting him again and this time crushing him, leaving him broken and helpless as the room flooded, doors slamming shut... The darkness that had been within Johhny, reaching out and taking him, filling him and wearing his body and soul like a suit.
To counter those, he had some good dreams too. A triumphant return, armed with a cure and great knowledge and lore... Omiko, beside him, doing homework or watching television or watching him practice. Simply being together, for such was joy... Later, doing... other things together, and while he wished he could deny any such impulses... he could not deny the appeal, unrealistic or dishonorable as it was. Fortunately, he'd shifted position on the couch at some point, and thus was concealed his... reaction.
For a moment as he woke, he lay there, letting his brain catch up and taking in the surroundings. Someone was running the shower, it sounded like, and there was somebody outside running water as well. Watering the grass? Well, it wasn't that important.
He could hear someone asleep on the bed, breath coming deep and slow. He turned over, his reaction more or less gone, and looked, hoping against hope...
It was Alex, looking much as she had the night before when he'd went to bed. He muttered a quiet curse in Japanese and stood, taking further stock of himself. He felt... not so much tired as worn. He'd failed in more than a few ways last night and it had very nearly killed a friend. He'd let his feelings get the better of him as well, with that email, which was probably going to accomplish nothing other than remind Takashi Nakamura of his existence and get another mercenary tossed his way. As if he'd not done enough damage to Alex...
And we're no closer to stopping this second set of vampires... though I think we could argue that we've fulfilled the letter of our bargain with Dragoneye. We know enough about them, now, to cover the 'information' part of things. Then we can skip town. If we can get to Lillooet I can talk to Bruce. He's an even better healer than I am, AND a mage. This is much closer to his area of expertise... wait. The border. They don't have pasports... hell, they probably don't legally exist...
As he mulled that thought over he absently noted that the shower had turned off. He was hungry. He also noted that he stank of fear-sweat and night-sweat. He'd need to change, sooner than later. And... kuso, there was no way to get around it. He'd have to tell Sarah (if nothing else, the briefest of glances at his laundry bag would tell her something was up) about the curse. It went better when he told someone, when it wasn't a surprise...
Whoever was watering the lawn must have tripped or slipped or something, as there was a muffled curse from outside. Simultaneous with it, he heard the bathroom open, and a jet of icy cold water came flying in through the window and caught Jiro straight on. "Kuso!" she swore in surprise, one hand flying up to block the stream.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:24, Sun 17 July 2011.
