i don't feel so well

[got_it_memorized]

Who: Axel and Riku
When: 02June, for the Outbreak plot; mid-afternoon
Where: House of the Rising Tsun
What: Riku is down with the sickness
Warnings: prolly nothing


While the Initiative-issued tablets were definitely a bit higher-tech than he had grown accustomed to back home, there was one thing Axel had found made it worth trying to figure out all the buttons and options: games. Sure, a walkie was good enough for him, in most cases--keep it simple, stupid!--but you couldn't play games on a walkie. Having discovered the option to kill time without sitting up had been a huge breakthrough in Axel's laziness regime, and he had quickly downloaded half a dozen games to find out which ones were the most entertaining.

Most of the games had premises that made little to no sense, he'd found. He had quickly grown addicted to one where the only purpose was to fling oddly-shaped birds at buildings in an effort to crush any green pigs dwelling within. It was actually more difficult than it sounded.

Stretched out on the couch, the tablet resting on his abdomen as he attempted to demolish the landscape using his supply of avian ammunition, Axel had already beaten his high score. It had been a most productive day indeed. He was pretty sure it was his turn to make dinner, but until someone came home and confirmed this, he was content to continue wasting time.

Comments

[got_it_memorized]

When Axel had glanced up to find it was 4 in the morning, he'd decided that was enough saving birds from porcine deforestation. After doublechecking that the front door was locked, he shuffled back to his room with a stretch and a jaw-cracking yawn and flopped unceremoniously onto the bed.

Sometimes Axel dreamed vividly, but tonight had been dreamless, and so when he was jerked awake by a sharp pain in his head, he was not only startled, but confused. He was additionally confused by the strange chittering noises that seemed to be emanating from the air around his head. ... Yeah, okay, no more cream cheese bagels before bed.

Sitting up slowly, his eyes focused in the grainy shadows of the room and he rubbed the top of his head where he was sure something had tugged at his hair. He glanced up then just in time to see something flying at his head--

"Uwaugh!"

--and let out a yawp of alarm, snapping both arms up defensively before he realized it was Riku's rainbow sherbet bat creature. With a gusty sigh of relief that it was only the trained attack bat who seemed to get a kick out of orbiting his head, Axel leaned back on his hands and blinked groggily at Stellaluna.

"I didn't order a wakeup call, Fluffy," he grumbled, scrubbing at one eye socket with the heel of his hand. Not bothering to stifle a yawn, Axel squinted at the bat. "Wha'ssa matter with you?" he asked, frowning. He'd seen the bat circle excitedly before, but she seemed rather distraught at the moment. Had Riku forgotten to feed her or something?

... What the hell did trained attack rainbow sherbet bat things even eat?

"Okay, okay, fine," he said, waving her off as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and got to his feet, arching his back. "I'll feed you, sheesh. I hope you like cold cereal though, 'cuz that's all I'm capable of preparing at this ungodly hour."

Stellaluna continued chattering distressedly as Axel nudged his bedroom door open and shambled out into the main room, headed for the kitchen. As he bypassed the living room, though, Stellaluna made a high-pitched keening sound and grabbed for his hair again.

"Oi!" He whirled quickly--aha! So she had pulled his hair!--and gave an affected glower. "Riku needs to teach you some manners, Luna," he said, shaking a finger. He'd taken to just calling her by the latter half of her name; the full thing was far too long and he was far too lazy to say all of it. As she flew in tight circles in front of him and then darted back and forth between where he stood and the back of the couch, he supposed maybe this was less lashing out because he was moving too slowly and more an endeavor to get him to follow her. "All right, okay, I'm coming," he said through a yawn. "If I look at whatever you want to show me will you let me go back to sleep?" Sure, Axel might have only slept a few hours at a time, but really... 6am? Gimme a break.

As he rounded the couch, however, what he saw there was not at all what he'd been expecting. Tilting his head and blinking as he waited for Riku's form curled up on the sofa to turn into something that made sense (though admittedly he had no idea would have made sense to wake him up at 6am to see), he glanced up at Stellaluna and then back to Riku. Then back to Stellaluna. Then back to Riku. Okay, so she was concerned because Riku was couch-crashing?

"The couch ain't restricted territory, you know," he said quietly to her as she went back to orbiting his head. Reaching up to scratch the top of her head as she hovered near his shoulder Axel turned to head back to the kitchen. "Come on, don't you want some cereal or something?"

She grabbed his hair again as he took a step forward, and he stopped dead in his tracks and held up one finger.

"Okay I'm really gonna have to ask you to stop that." Turning to look at her again he shook his head. "What's the problem? I don't speak bat. Pig-Latin, sure, but I don't think that'll help here." Stellaluna broke orbit and landed on Riku's shoulder, bouncing slightly, and Axel made a shooing motion at her. "Hey, come on, stop that," he chided in a loud whisper. "Let him sleep, I said I'd feed you."

That was when he realized that Riku wasn't moving. So far as he knew, Riku wasn't usually a heavy sleeper, so the fact that a crooning bat on his shoulder didn't seem to faze him at all was odd. A stab of sick dread lanced through his stomach and before he'd thought about it he had dropped to a crouch in front of the boy and placed the back of his hand in front of his nose and mouth. He let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding when he confirmed that the kid was still breathing, at least, and then shooed Stellaluna from his shoulder.

"Hey," he said softly. "Riku van Winkle, you in there?" No response. He reached out and took the shoulder that Stellaluna had been perched on, with intent to shake it himself, then paused, frowning. The fever had gone up. Not a lot, but it was up nonetheless, and the fact that the kid still didn't seem to be waking up left Axel puzzled and a little worried.

Really, Sheena would kill him if Riku did something stupid like died again on his watch.

Axel didn't know a whole lot about medicine or diagnosing illnesses, but he knew that if someone was unconscious instead of just sleeping it was probably a bad thing. Riku's breathing was shallow and a bit labored, his brow drawn together in discomfort--what the hell was wrong with him? He certainly hadn't been as 'fine' as he'd wanted Axel to believe, sure, but Axel hadn't really thought he was in any danger. What had happened?

Stellaluna made another distressed keening sound, and Axel got back to his feet. Striding back to his room and grabbing the chair from his desk, he wheeled it out into the main room and positioned it backwards near the couch. Okay, fine, if Riku wasn't going to wake up, then Axel would just... wait. He wasn't sure he'd be able to forgive himself if he just left the kid to his own devices and he just stopped breathing or something. Straddling the chair and folding his arms on the back of it, Axel propped his chin on his forearms and watched the steady, if rapid, rise and fall of Riku's side where he slept.

It wasn't exactly riveting TV, but he supposed he owed Riku this much.