Closed to Shotaro [and maybe others later]

[decideformyself]

Being dead was significantly less interesting than Philip had anticipated. After all, it wasn't much of anything. The really interesting part was coming back to life, being disoriented for a few minutes, and then realizing what had happened.

How thrilling.

After the morning announcement, he wasted no time in barging over to Shotaro's cell. "Shotaro! Guess what!"

Comments

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro, however, had had far too interesting a day. He'd ended up falling asleep in his shirt and trousers. His tie was tugged almost loose enough to come apart entirely. Talking with John had helped a lot, and, mysteriously enough, so had Terui. Of all the times for him to be a civil human being. At least he was when it mattered.

He'd been awoken by the announcement, but regardless of what the President had said, he'd just rolled back over again with the intention of going back to sleep. So groggy and wrung out was he, that it didn't register right away that Philip was the one talking. By the brain pieced together the sentence to tell the offending early bird to go sing somewhere else, he realized just who that was.

His heart rushed and his eyes snapped open. All at once he sitting up and about to get out of bed. He was not reaching for his crutch, and nor was he balancing on the one foot he did have. He wasn't quite that awake yet.

All he knew was Philip was alive. "Philip!"

[decideformyself]

Whoops.

Philip rushed over to put a hand on Shotaro's shoulder and push him back down. "Are you so excited to see me that you're willing to risk life and limb?"

[tanteiotaku]

Getting pushed down was just enough of a kick in the brain to remind him why he couldn't just stand up. But he would not be swayed. "Of course I am! Come here!" he stood up, half hanging onto Philip's sleeve, and half pushing up by his good leg. Once he was properly vertical, he pulled Philip tight into a hug.

[decideformyself]

That hug was such a foreign sensation that Philip's first instinct was to pull away. But he restrained himself, because doing that would mean sending Shotaro toppling to the floor. It was weird; constricting in a way, but only a little unpleasant. How strange.

He couldn't help the smile that found its way onto his face. "Did I miss anything?"

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro held him tight for a good long minute before he finally loosened up. But he didn't entirely let go of him. His balance wasn't quite up to snuff yet, and even if it was, he didn't intend to let go of him just now.

"That's a hell of a question." He rubbed at the back of his head. "The guards came and took you away. I talked to John afterward, too." But he wasn't so quick to admit to the amount of freaking out John had to talk him through. "But I'm glad to see you again, Partner." He smiled widely though.

[decideformyself]

So nothing much. In a sense, it's like Philip just slept a bit longer than usual.

"So glad to see me that you insist on using me to replace your crutch, it seems," he said lightly.

[tanteiotaku]

"Hey, you were dead! It's only natural to want to hang onto you a little bit longer, isn't?" There was some frustration in how he said it, perhaps overcompensating a bit. It was easier to deal with those emotions in frustration than as they really were.

[decideformyself]

"Is it?" Philip tilted his head in confusion. If that was natural, then he wondered what it was to feel annoyed at being held onto like this. Unnatural?

[tanteiotaku]

Okay, he had to swallow his pride a little. "You're my partner, after all. I watched you die. Once is enough for something like that." He sniffed a bit. Okay, maybe he still kind of felt that way. It's been an exhausting couple of days.

later at the library

[starcharted]

John had a feeling that if there was one place Philip was sure to be, it was the library. He had waited a fair several hours past the morning announcements to allow his friend time to reacclimate himself after his... incident, but by the late morning hours his patience had begun to wear thin, his emotions seesawing somewhere between excitement and worry.

Even if Philip likely didn't consider him a very close friend yet, the opposite was true for John. He really had grown quite fond of the younger man; while his temporary death hadn't struck him nearly as hard as it had Shotaro, to say it hadn't hit hard would have been a lie.

John ended up investigating several aisles of books before spotting Philip, and immediately his worry gave way to relief. He waved and smiled as wide as he could manage before sprinting toward him and wrapping him in a gigantic hug. Likely something the boy wouldn't appreciate, but John was so happy to see him alive again that he didn't care if he got scolded for it.

[decideformyself]

Philip had his nose in a book when John spotted him. In fact, he didn't even notice the man until that hug happened.

He dropped his book in surprise and flailed.

[starcharted]

At Philip's resistance he pulled back, realizing he may have overdone it a bit. He bit his lip and bent down to pick up the book, holding it out to him with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry." His eyes fell to the book cover for a moment before looking at Philip again. "It's good to have you back is all."

[decideformyself]

He grabbed the book out of John's hand, a little more forcefully than he should have. He stared down at it bleakly; great, now he'd lost his page.

"You're the second one today," he commented. "What a peculiar way to show enthusiasm."

[starcharted]

John could tell Philip was a bit cross with him, but he'd more or less expected some type of resistance. Normally he would have been a little more cautious about personal space, especially with Philip, but circumstances weren't exactly normal.

"I'm guessing the first was Shotaro." He laughed, not just at the thought of Shotaro being scolded for hugging him but the fact that Philip thought hugs were peculiar to begin with.

[decideformyself]

"Correct." Philip wasn't too upset, really; just mildly annoyed. "In any case, I've now seen for myself that what you said was true. It really is remarkable."

[starcharted]

"I suppose it is when you think about it," he conceded, wringing his hands together, "though, I generally try not to. It's a bit disconcerting when you realize you're more or less somewhat of a zombie."

[decideformyself]

"A zombie?" he repeated, confused.

[unquestionable]

After his discussion with Shotaro the previous day, Terui had spent the remainder of his evening trying to study a book he had checked out to no avail. Two things were very much bothering him, and they wouldn't leave his mind. First, he couldn't decide if he believed that Philip would actually "come back to life". Even if it sounded like a delusion, Hidari wasn't the type to say those kind of things lightly. The reality that Deadmen even existed should have been enough to make him realize the world wasn't quite what he thought it was.

Second, the fact that he found himself caring about either of them to begin with was somewhat of a problem. It wasn't just them either, but several others had also garnered some sense of sympathy from him. If he started caring too much about other people, he wouldn't be able to enact his revenge when the opportunity came. To Ryu, both matters were as complex as the other.

He had eventually given up and gone to sleep, but by the time the next day came he was ready to see if Shotaro's words held true. When he made it to to Philip's cell he found that it was empty, though for some reason, despite telling himself to be logical, he had almost expected him to be there. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to wait around a while.

[decideformyself]

Philip should have been freaking out over having come back to life, but life outside of the syndicate's lab was all new to him. Random splenectomy? New experience. Coffee? New experience. Coming back from the dead? Check. So he was intrigued by it -- enthusiastic, even -- but he wasn't reacting like a normal inmate should. He was just as excited about it as he was everything else, which was more excited than normal people got about most things, but only at about his baseline for everything else.

He'd probably be surprised to learn that normal prisons don't act like Deadman Wonderland.

He returned to his cell, library books in hand, and paused when he saw that it was occupied. "Ryu Terui. What are you doing here?"

[unquestionable]

When he looked up at the sound of Philip's voice, the shock on his face was too real for him to hide. It was all true, then. The people running the prison had harnessed the power to bring life to the dead -- not only that, but they had managed to keep it a secret from the public just like everything else. What were they doing to keep lips so tight about their discoveries?

"You... how?" It wasn't a coherent response and he knew it, but it was all he could manage. His world had just been rocked all over again.

[decideformyself]

He knew why Terui was reacting this way, but he couldn't help dicking around a little. He cocked his head sideways and with only the barest trace of a smile, replied, "This is my cell. It's where I sleep."

[unquestionable]

At any other time that kind of remark would have earned Philip a serious glare and a condescending word or two, but for the time being he was much too busy simply staring at him and trying to comprehend the reality of what he was seeing.

"How are you alive?" He finally asked, adding clarity to his previous question.

[decideformyself]

His smile only became more pronounced when Terui finally got to the point. "I would like to know that as well. But the warden adamantly guards her secrets."

[unquestionable]

Terui managed to hold his tongue, but that smile he hated so much did cause him to shoot Philip a judgmental look.

"You're not going to try to find out?" He questioned, not sure what he thought of the idea of Philip not pursuing it.

[decideformyself]

"Of course I am."