Otono-Tachibana Makie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
therewerefifty) wrote2013-07-21 09:10 pm
therewerefifty) wrote2013-07-21 09:10 pm
[Action]
[This morning she coughs, and there is blood on her palm.
She has no idea how long she sits, curled up in the blanket and leaning against her bed, staring at those damning traces. It's not a lot. It's all she needs. Makie knows the symptoms well enough, watching as her mother wasted away over the passage of time. Suspected from nearly the very beginning. Feared and denied. There's no denying it now.
She showers and dresses without a word, paying barely any attention beyond making sure to wash her hands thoroughly. Her mind is turned inwards. Seems that she's inherited more than her mother's profession, then. How fitting. Fuki took less than a year to succumb, but her living conditions were squalid. She has no idea if that's a good length of time or not. In a place with cleanliness and running hot water, maybe it will be much longer.
What does that mean, in a place like Luceti? They say the dead come back to life. Does she merely have to serve penance the once and come back healthy, or... does she look forward to dying time and again as the disease runs its course over and over? She should find out. She should... somehow... it's hard. How? She can't see herself asking on the journals about it. That would be telegraphing it to the town, and far too much attention. Unlike her home, she has a half hopeful, half afraid thought that the people she has met won't take the news well. She doesn't want to draw all that-- no, she should tell people. Saori. Rin. They deserve that much.
...she's in a house with too many people. She should leave. It's safer. Plenty of empty apartments. She can isolate herself and make sure she's no burden to anyone.
She doesn't want to. That's a surprise.
Life is good, here.
Then there are tears, and she packs her things. There aren't many.
Order of business. She's a coward, and leaves a letter on her bed, addressed to Saori:
I'm very sorry, but I feel I need to move away for a while. You've all been very good to me, and I thank you. It isn't because of anything any of you have done. I don't know how to filter on the journal. If you write to me later, I will explain.
- Makie
After that, she visits three places:
- the forge, to pick up her hopefully now repaired weapon.
- Seventh Heaven, although by 'visit' she'll stay outside and ask one of the staff to fetch Rin, if they could
- finally, community building #1 on a search for Tenten. She met the girl in a kitchen when she first arrived, and she needs to return a sword.
After that, well. She still has a list of empty apartments. She'll find a quiet one somewhere.]
((ooc: despite Makie's intentions, housemates are more than welcome to action in on her before she leaves the house if they prefer. She'll still be visiting these places regardless of the fallout-- where she ends up at the end of the day may change, that's all. Chrissakes Makie, it's not the 18th century, go see a doctor :|))
She has no idea how long she sits, curled up in the blanket and leaning against her bed, staring at those damning traces. It's not a lot. It's all she needs. Makie knows the symptoms well enough, watching as her mother wasted away over the passage of time. Suspected from nearly the very beginning. Feared and denied. There's no denying it now.
She showers and dresses without a word, paying barely any attention beyond making sure to wash her hands thoroughly. Her mind is turned inwards. Seems that she's inherited more than her mother's profession, then. How fitting. Fuki took less than a year to succumb, but her living conditions were squalid. She has no idea if that's a good length of time or not. In a place with cleanliness and running hot water, maybe it will be much longer.
What does that mean, in a place like Luceti? They say the dead come back to life. Does she merely have to serve penance the once and come back healthy, or... does she look forward to dying time and again as the disease runs its course over and over? She should find out. She should... somehow... it's hard. How? She can't see herself asking on the journals about it. That would be telegraphing it to the town, and far too much attention. Unlike her home, she has a half hopeful, half afraid thought that the people she has met won't take the news well. She doesn't want to draw all that-- no, she should tell people. Saori. Rin. They deserve that much.
...she's in a house with too many people. She should leave. It's safer. Plenty of empty apartments. She can isolate herself and make sure she's no burden to anyone.
She doesn't want to. That's a surprise.
Life is good, here.
Then there are tears, and she packs her things. There aren't many.
Order of business. She's a coward, and leaves a letter on her bed, addressed to Saori:
I'm very sorry, but I feel I need to move away for a while. You've all been very good to me, and I thank you. It isn't because of anything any of you have done. I don't know how to filter on the journal. If you write to me later, I will explain.
- Makie
After that, she visits three places:
- the forge, to pick up her hopefully now repaired weapon.
- Seventh Heaven, although by 'visit' she'll stay outside and ask one of the staff to fetch Rin, if they could
- finally, community building #1 on a search for Tenten. She met the girl in a kitchen when she first arrived, and she needs to return a sword.
After that, well. She still has a list of empty apartments. She'll find a quiet one somewhere.]
((ooc: despite Makie's intentions, housemates are more than welcome to action in on her before she leaves the house if they prefer. She'll still be visiting these places regardless of the fallout-- where she ends up at the end of the day may change, that's all. Chrissakes Makie, it's not the 18th century, go see a doctor :|))
[Action]
Makie...
[Her own voice remains soft, but worry slides it's way into her tone.]
What's wrong? You...can tell me, if something's bothering you. If it's something I can help with, please let me.
[Because if it's something she's done, or something Makie needs to be happy, then this housemate is more than happy to see it done.
Or just drag her to the doctor's.][Action]
It's nothing that can be helped. [Once she says it, there's a certain calm that steals across her features. Inevitability.] It's certainly nothing that anyone here has done, Saori. You're all very kind.
I'm... I don't...
[So. Hard. Everything she should say is just too sharp. But Makie remembers, searching for the words, that this is the woman who told her frankly about her own parents. What she did. Sharp in return.
...]
I'm sick. It's more than a cold.
[Action] Ugh, I hate spotting mistakes after a reply
She pauses at the mention of illness, though. That simple statement is something that was, for many years, one of her greatest fears. That the curse hadn't been broken, and anyone she cared about would fall ill had been an ever-present worry. But after thirty years with Yuuna, and a year with her friends in Luceti she's dismissed that as unlikely. And it's even less likely that Makie is afflicted by it. The disease should've run it's course in days, not weeks.
This is not it.
Which means that Makie is being dramatic, foolish, and likely has no idea that doctors can cure most things. Modern medicine had been a shock to her, too.
Saori plants her fists on her hips, barring the door with a frown.]
Makie. If you're sick, you're not going anywhere except to see Ami. You certainly aren't leaving this house for something like that. Earth and Stars woman, I can't even begin to describe how silly it would be for you to leave while you're ill. Especially if you've got more than a cold. Yuuna's a nurse and Helios is a skilled healer in his own right. We can take care of you better than you can look after yourself.
[There's a beat and she smooths her features back to their usual calm. Makie, you aren't a dog, you can't just slink off and die because you're coughing up a little blood.]
Put your things down and let's go to the clinic.
[Action]
It's not about taking care of myself. [Who is Ami, anyway? A doctor?] It's infectious. [So many people live here.] I don't want to be responsible for anyone else becoming ill. Not...like this.
[She refuses to be a burden. If she stays, that's all she'll become.]
[Action]
Makie, I can't get sick. And neither can Yuuna, Kitten, or Daisy. Unless the disease you've contracted is some sort of magical curse. Which Helios could break with his magic.
[Spartan physiology and immortality being what they are, she's considering this a safe bet. And she's quite certain that Helios could easily weave a spell to keep himself free of infection as well.]
Ami's a doctor, though. A brilliant one. And in my time, and hers, illnesses that were thought to be completely incurable can be taken care of with a pill or a shot. You could be completely cured in a matter of days, and probably healthier than you were when you arrived. It's no burden, and it's our responsibility to make sure that you receive the medical attention you need.
[She lets herself smile, a worried and concerned little twist of the lips.]
I know it's not what you're used to. I remember when my world was like yours, I lived through your time. Doctors have changed since then, though. And I know Ami, I respect her ability as a physician. She's bandaged me more than once after a battle here, and I've seen her work with other people.
Trust me, she'll be able to help you.
[Or...you could let Saori drag you. That's always an option.]
[Action]
Saori is right to an extent. She has to admit that. She's so far out of her depth in this place, even now. Makie is so very reluctant to have to rely on anyone at all, but...
...]
It's lung sickness. [Her voice is faint, the words so uncertain. She knows how this is meant to go. Or she did. Now, she's not so sure.] My mother died from it.
[It's karma. But it's clear Makie has no idea what to think right now. Too much information thrown at her at once. Too much she obviously hasn't taken into account.]
[Action] Excuse the modelface icon.
if anyone in the house could be called normaland any normal person would probably have jumped to the same conclusion. ]Lung illnesses are fatal if untreated, so I can see why you're worried. But don't. You'll be taken care of. I know for a certainty that there are ways to heal sick lungs in the world Ami's from.[She holds out a hand, offering some support, while making a mental note about Makie's mother. Clearly this particular situation was striking close to home, and it was likely her friend had contracted it from her mother. It explained the fear of being near people, certainly. And it adds to the poignancy of the situation for Saori, who lets her smile widen just a hair. A chance for someone she liked to overcome a personal demon was a decidedly worthwhile cause]
I know it's overwhelming. At worst you'll have to stay in the clinic for a night or two, and you'll probably need a special medicine called an 'inhaler' but that shouldn't be any trouble at all.
Now, shall we go? Everything will be fine, I promise.
[Action]
She can't allow herself to believe that. Not yet. That a doctor could help her doesn't sound so farfetched in a place like this. She should have thought of that, shouldn't she? And yet, Makie is reluctant to go. It is oddly attractive, the idea of just quietly letting the disease take its course. She doesn't examine that too closely. There's no need.
What eventually gets to her is the smile, and the hand Saori offers. Makie might have certain beliefs about the course of her life, but if a Japanese goddess is saying it's all right, then maybe...
She lowers the bundle in her arms to set it quietly just inside the door, and prop her shamisen beside it. She'll return for the instrument later.]
I'll go. I'm... I apologise for being foolish.
[Action]
There's no need to apologize. All I ask is that if you have a problem or a concern...talk to us. Any of us. We'll help you, and it won't be a problem. Friends and family have each other's back, don't they?
[With a perfunctory nod at the door, she heads out into the summer heat and down the street towards the clinic, Makie in tow.]
[Action]
She's not sure how to answer that question. More, she's struck by the discrepancy, that at home she has neither of those things. Luceti is so very different.]
...all right.
[Action]
It doesn't take them long in any event and when they enter Saori immediately goes over to knock on one of the office doors.]
Ami? I've got a patient here who needs to see you. She's very ill.
[Action]
[Action] and thread tracking ON! so i should be set for post order
Please come in right away.
[Action]
Ami. This is Makie, and she's been coughing and sick for a few days now. She says it's lung-sickness...but I know that could mean a lot of things.
Makie, this is Ami. My friend, the doctor. She'll take care of you.
[Action]
What... do I need to do? [The clinic's surroundings already show her things will be far different than the doctors she's seen in Edo.]
[Action]
Please sit down, and relax. [She takes the nervousness to be that of someone who simply 'doesn't like doctors', and smiles.] I just want to talk to you for right now. [No medicines or shots - yet.]
[Action] You guys can really go ahead and skip me...I'll interject as needed?
[Action] Yosh o7
[Action] sure!
[She has a small notepad that seems to be used for taking notes on these histories.]
[Action]
There's a cough. It started... the first time I can remember was just after the cultural fair. I thought it may have been a cold, but it's grown increasingly worse. Uncontrollable at times. I feel-- [She puts a hand to her chest.] It's heavy. Like something clinging to my chest. And I've had a fever that comes and goes. And I am very tired, sometimes.
This morning, there was blood.
[She's not eaten all that much lately, but that's not that uncommon with Makie. So she doesn't think to list a loss of appetite.]
[Action]
I think you should have come here sooner, with those symptoms. Whenever you're sick, no matter what it is, it's best to receive proper treatment right away.
[Action]
[Action]
How have you been eating lately?
[Action]
[Action]
How about sleeping? Have you been sleeping alright?
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]