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.

[decideformyself]

That made sense now that he thought about it. "I see. So this is 'empathy'."

Belatedly, Philip wrapped his arms around Shotaro. This was just one more new experience.

[tanteiotaku]

He smirked. "Yeah, something like that." He gave him another pat on the back. Eventually, he did finally let go of Philip and put a hand on the wall to balance himself. "But you're totally okay?"

[decideformyself]

"I feel completely fine." He patted his abdomen, right over where his spleen should have been. "Although if I'm not careful, history may repeat itself. Shotaro, were you aware that the spleen plays a vital role in the immune system?"

[tanteiotaku]

"John told me. When you were asleep I picked his brain a little." Okay, time to change out of these clothes. He tugged that tie the rest of the way off and started unbuttoning his shirt.

[decideformyself]

He didn't want to admit it, but he didn't really know what to do to mitigate the risk. Should he ask someone? Not that woman doctor, definitely. Maybe John, or Aya. They were doctors, they might know what to do.

He stood there, picking at his lip and idly watching as Shotaro unbuttoned his shirt.

[tanteiotaku]

Well, that was something pretty easy to read. He continued as he moved around his room changing clothes. He'd gotten pretty good at navigating his room without his crutch. He didn't really know what to say for Philip's sake.

But he finished changing his clothes, and finally found something to say. "John wanted me to let you know that he's dealt with what's just happened to you before. He wants to help you if you want it. He's a good guy. We can trust him. Especially after I called him last night." In retrospect, it was kind of embarrassing. But at the time it was a lot for him to deal with.

[decideformyself]

"I see. Yes, I may need to do that..." He didn't want to dwell on it, though. The more he did, the less he felt the thrill of having experienced and recovered from death and the more, well, ill he felt about it. So he promptly changed the subject by picking Shotaro's hat up from wherever he'd left it and planting it on his partner's head.

[tanteiotaku]

He smirked over to his partner and got the hat better adjusted in relation to his hair. It was a precise balance, after all. He reached over and ruffled up the hair at the back of Philip's head. "Let's go get breakfast."

[decideformyself]

"Sheesh-- not before I brush my hair," he scolded Shotaro. He looked around for Shotaro's comb, grabbed it, and fixed what had been messed up. "All right, let's go. You look as though you could use your morning coffee."

[tanteiotaku]

Oh, so he liked his hair that way, huh? "Maybe an entire pot." He finally grabbed the crutch. He was just so glad to have his partner back, that an extra touch here or there came automatic, as if he were just an illusion.

[decideformyself]

Philip wasn't sure he'd ever get used to just randomly being touched like that. Sometimes he would swat Shotaro's hand away, but after the realization he'd just had he couldn't bring himself to do so this morning.

In fact, when they reached the stairs he took it upon himself to wrap his arm around Shotaro's waist to hold him steady as they ascended.

[tanteiotaku]

When he felt the arm wrap around him, he smirked over at Philip, but he didn't say anything. Yeah, he was definitely back. For now, he would focus on that. He brought his hand up around to hold onto Philip's opposite shoulder, so he didn't need to use the crutch at all.

"You know, I bet I could use my Branch of Sin to make a new foot." Just thinking out loud, really. He's aware of how terrible an idea that would be.

[decideformyself]

Philip glanced sideways at Shotaro, skeptically. "The blood loss that would be required would be prohibitively high," he pointed out. "You would probably be too dizzy to maintain the effort required to keep the prosthesis in place, let alone walk on it."

[tanteiotaku]

"Haaah, probably." Though Philip probably underestimated just how stubborn Shotaro could be with something like that.

Once they'd gained the top of the stairs, Shotaro put his crutch into service again. "Terui paid me a little visit last night."

[decideformyself]

"Ryu Terui?" Philip looked surprised. He stayed alert, though, in case Shotaro lost his balance. "What for?"

[tanteiotaku]

"Because I asked him to. He saw the guards taking you away and contacted me to see if there was anything he could do. I asked him for new bandages and he actually even put them on for me." He shrugged, slipping around that they were actually needed.

"He didn't believe me when I said you'd be back. He probably thought I finally lost my mind."