hh_mirror | Closed RP 2/2

Back in the present, Seto's eyes remained closed as he mused over that memory and wondered if Ryuuji was going to stay away from the room to let him rest.

As soon as the sorting was over, Ryuuji slipped away from the room, heading straight for the Hospital Wing. He hadn't seen Steerpike at the Sorting, but that was mostly because his friend was now in charge of the Hospital Wing, thanks to Granny Weatherwax's absence. That was pretty convenient for Ryuuji, really, since it meant that he could just grab Steerpike and head off to his room. If it had been the touchy witch, then he doubted very much if she'd be willing to do room calls, especially over something undiagnosed.

Striding through the calls quickly, he paused in front of the door, then rapped three times in quick succession, the way he usually did. Not waiting for an answer - his knock was more to announce himself than ask for permission to enter - he pushed the door open and poked his head inside, calling out, "Steerpike? You here?"

Ryuuji stepped inside as he spoke, glancing around to see if he could see the other Slytherin anywhere.

Hearing his name, Steerpike looked up from the shelf of potions, elixirs, and remedies he'd been studying so closely. Stepping out into the open, he spotted Ryuuji. "Ah, how lovely to have you come by for a visit."

"I just can't keep myself away." Ryuuji quipped, the urge to be flippant overruling everything else for the moment. Hands sliding into the pockets of his robes, he focused on his mission again, canting his head to a side and shooting Steerpike a mock-apologetic look. "Though, sad to say, it's not just your presence that compelled me to come. My roommate's ill, and since he's not able to come here himself, I decided that the next best thing would be to kidnap you and bring you to him."

Cue a dramatic pause and half smirk, "So, are you going to come willingly or do I need to affect a bad accent and find a get away broom?

"Ill?" He raised an eyebrow. "Not too seriously, I hope. I'm more of a pharmacist than a physician. What's wrong?"

"...That's not very reassuring." Ryuuji made a face at that, leaning against a wall. With a sigh, he informed the other, "And I don't know. He said he was feeling nauseous, looks like he's fevered and should be lying down about now. Maybe a cold or some type of flu? And how much do you know about the stuff in here anyway? Because I kinda doubt your role as a pharmacist back home used the same type of meds as here."

"I have been studying the medications available to me. I'm not an idiot. Has he been vomiting?"

"Yes, though I don't know for how long. Wouldn't it make more sense for you to ask him these questions than me? I only found out recently that he was sick." Ryuuji's tone was fairly calm, even though he was more than a little panicked about the idea of Seto falling sick, especially while in his room and right after Mokuba arrived. "Or we could admit him to the Hospital Wing."

Pacing back to the shelves of medication, Steerpike called back over his shoulder. "If he's feverish, you might be able to answer more clearly. If he's severely ill, of course, we'll need to fetch one of our many resident doctors, but if it's something like the flu I should be able to patch him up. How's his breathing?"

"...I have no idea. I came to see you first, not him." Ryuuji admitted, wondering if that had been the best thing to do. Taking his hands out of his pockets, he followed Steerpike, just in case he could help carry something. "And I don't think he's that feverish. The owls he sent me apologizing for leaving so suddenly because he's sick were fine - or rather, the notes were fine. Coherent and neatly-written."

"Well, I'll just bring some basic remedies and come see, yes? I'll be able to tell if he needs an actual doctor."

"Sounds fair enough, thanks." Holding his hands out, Ryuuji asked obligingly, "Need any help carrying anything? I've got my schoolbag with me, as well as a pair of perfectly good hands."

"Here, then." Steerpike passed him the small satchel full of simple curative mixtures. "Ready when you are."

Taking it carefully, Ryuuji nodded, then shot Steerpike a quick, thankful look as he stood back to let the older man lead the way. He swung his own schoolbag off his shoulder, and carefully placed the smaller satchel inside it, then zipped it close and slid it back over both his shoulders. "Right, let's go."

With an infuriatingly calm smile, Steerpike strolled out of the Hospital wing. "So where is our little patient?"

"My room, like I said." Cue a pause, and snicker, "Except you haven't been there, right? Tch. Bad Slytherin. Never visited your hardworking Prefect, who tries so hard to take care of all your little needs."

With a smirk, Ryuuji quickened his pace just enough to take the lead, and then sighed dramatically, "I suppose I'll just have to show you the way."

"Oh, are you hurt that I've never graced your inner sanctum with my presence? Generally if I'm in someone's bedroom it's by invitation."

"I'd say something about the entirety of Slytherin House being free to drop in any time they need something but given the context, I'm not sure that would be wise." Ryuuji laughed, heading down a flight of stairs and automatically skipping every third one. "Instead, I'm simply say that I'm not so much hurt as surprised that you'd actually wait for a direct invitation."

"Really, now," Steerpike's amused grin tempered his melodramatic words. "You've hardly given me reason to hope that I might be welcome in your private chamber."

"Oh, what, so it's my fault now?!" Pretending outrage, Ryuuji threw both hands high in the air, mock-pouting at Steerpike, "Sure, blame me because you have no sense of subtlety. And here I thought," Dramatic sniff, paired with eyes opened wide as if to prevent tears, "Here I thought you were different! That you understood."

Watching Ryuuji's display, he couldn't resist playing along. "Understood? Understood the cruel way you toy with me, oh fickle flower, only to scorn me at every turn."

"A fickle flower, am I?" Ryuuji raised a hand to his brow, with feigned anger, "If I am a flower, I am one with a stem of steel, to be able to resist the charms that you spend on me and anyone around. Think you not that I don't know what you are doing when you court anyone with power? Every time my heart softens towards you, I am cruelly reminded that you have no particular liking for me."

With a snicker, he concluded, "And then my heart breaks!"

"Ah, but what could be sweeter than mending your poor shattered heart with tender kisses, my dear Ryuuji?"

"Not bre-breaking it in the first place!" Ryuuji did a fairly good imitation of someone whose words were broken up by sobs, eyes bright with laughter as he turned the corner, now fairly close to his room. "You are cruel, sir, cruel if you would take advantage of my sorrowful state to work yourself into my good graces."

Stepping closer, Steerpike reached out to cup Ryuuji's chin in one hand. "Where can I turn without being so slandered? My kindest deeds are twisted by such nimble tongues as yours into the vilest calumnies."

Stopping at the other's touch, Ryuuji widened his eyes innocently, and pretended to think for a few moments, musing out loud, "Where can you turn indeed?"

He did tend to draw a line between words and touch, unused to having someone cup his chin like that unless they were trying to make him look at them, or about to kiss them, so wasn't sure if Steerpike holding him still like that was a sign the other was getting carried away or not. And seeing as Ryuuji rather liked Steerpike, despite the other's smarminess, he figured it was probably a good idea to stop him about now.

Drawing his chin away, he gestured at the corridor and declaimed with a sly wink, "How about around that corridor? There's a tastefully-decorated bedroom not too far from here, and I can promise you the company is genial."

"Well." He grinned lazily. "I will have to take it on faith that you wouldn't lead me into a bedroom for unspeakable horrors."

"Oh, come now, would I do something like that?" Ryuuji started walking again, pace brisk as he knew perfectly well where he was going, "I'm your Prefect. Why, I'd even be responsible for tucking you in at night and checking to make sure there no monsters under your bed if you were child enough to need that from me."

Stopping outside his door, he murmured the password softly, then pushed it open as he tossed over his shoulder, "You need to have more faith in me!"

"Faith in you, you faithless creature?" Steerpike laughed, matching him step for step. "How many young things do you tuck in at night?"

"At the moment, the only one I tuck in is my erstwhile, ill roommate, who -quite rightly - has far more faith than you." Ryuuji waited for Steerpike to enter, flashing him a quick grin, then gestured at Seto on the bed. Not sure if Seto was awake or not, he called out quietly, half-expecting to be told that his banter with Steerpike was what had woken Seto, "Seto - you awake? Steerpike's here from the Hospital Wing to take a look at you."

Slowing his pace, Steerpike walked in, hoping he wasn't about to be confronted with a desperately ill patient.

Seto had been perfectly awake, just had his eyes closed--he had attempted to sleep, though. On Ryuuji's bed, sans robe, he was in black pants and a black dress shirt yet again, covered from neck to wrist to toe (black socks), and for once, under a blanket. A light blush of fever was on his cheeks, and bright, feverish blue eyes opened, peering out from under dense ebony lashes.

Had Ryuuji said....

Seto sat up, then pulled the blanket around him to muster up the best glare he could send Ryuuji's way, granted it, the glare partially failed. "What? I told you not to bother. I said I would lay down. It's just a fever! I don't need someone to look me over."

It was so tempting to bolt for the study. So...painfully tempting, or it would have been, if the room wasn't too bright and shifting in wrong ways when Seto tried to get up.

Okay. Forget bolting.

"Seto, you look awful. Play nice for Steerpike, he's being a sweetheart by agreeing to come down here." Ryuuji responded, heading straight for the bed and plonking himself down at the foot of it, having paused only to kick off his boots by the doorway as he didn't like getting the rugs dirty.

Concerned green eyes studied Seto closely, then Ryuuji reached out with a lightly-tanned hand to press the back of it against Seto's forehead, declaring after a moment, "And you definitely have a fever."

"I don't care if he plays nice as long as he's cooperative. First, I suppose, is how long have you been ill?"
Neko/Seto [Please void about 59% of what I say--it's the fever talking.] says:
Seto grit his teeth and pulled away from Ryuuji's hand, attempting to glare at it for touching him. How dare it.

Then he turned his head in Steerpike's direction. "...." Blue eyes shifted to Ryuuji, then looked at the floor as Seto asked, "Is that really important?"

And he wasn't the most cooperative person in the world...but he just couldn't bring himself to cause too much trouble at the moment. ~~Not feeling well enough to.~~

"...if he's going to be like that, you probably should call in one of the doctors." Steerpike crossed his arms and smirked. "Preferably one who specializes in leeching and purgatives."

Slightly larger blue eyes looked back up at Steerpike. Well, Seto could cooperate a bit more, perhaps. "It's just...." Would it sound too awkward if he asked Ryuuji to leave the room? Most likely.

And he didn't really want Ryuuji to leave him with someone he was unfamiliar with anyway.

"I've been ill for about six to seven days now, so if I've handled it this long without it being obvious, I think I can manage to wait it out until I'm better. It's probably just stress-related anyway," Seto attempted, glad he had the occupation to back up the stress claim with ease. Especially since he had left school for a short while to supposedly deal with said business.

"...riiiight. And you're feverish and sick to your stomach? Any trouble breathing, congestion, body aches, rash, vomiting, headaches...?"

Seto turned to glare at Ryuuji, this time adding on a growl. He couldn't believe Ryuuji was humiliating him like this. What was Ryuuji thinking?

"Headaches are fairly normal with my occupation, so I can't be certain if that is caused by the illness or not," Seto tried to explain. In truth, he usually suffered migraines, but he didn't mind calling it a headache.

"My breathing seems fine. No body aches. No rash." Vomiting....

"And the vomiting was caused by a grotesque image, not by the illness." I sound so pathetic. Why is he doing this to me? WHY?

"So, feverish with vomiting..." Steerpike reached for his satchel. "Any dizziness, weakness, fatigue, other digestive disturbances?"

Ryuuji helpfully took it out of his schoolbag and passed it over to Steerpike, watching Seto sympathetically.

Seto's hands clenched the edge of the bed, knuckles going white as he forced himself to stay there. If he fled, Ryuuji would just chase him down or stop him anyway. The blanket slipped--the world was cold.

Seto started to shiver a little, though, that could have been frustration and anger.

"Fatigue, but that's from stress. Otherwise, I'm fine." I am not admitting to dizziness or weakness. GAH! Good thing Ryuuji can't seem to figure out just when it was I started getting sick. He's oblivious sometimes, and that comes in handy, for once. Hm, for a sick person, I'm still pretty lucid.

Seto just gave Ryuuji a glare in return, infuriated the other couldn't heed warnings, and only getting more frustrated.

"Well, I can give you something for the fever, that will help you rest, but I'll only give you enough for three days." Steerpike tried to look stern instead of bored. "If you're still sick then, you do need to speak to one of our doctors. We certainly have enough lying about the place."

The blush was no longer from the fever, embarrassment growing. "Fine. Thank-you." This meant no more talking of the problem, right?

Good.

"Of course, since you're being so vague as to your digestive symptoms, I'll need to give you suppositories."

Ryuuji didn't even know what to say to that. He could tell it would be a bad time to laugh, but gods, did he ever want to. Torn between sympathy for Seto and sheer amusement at the idea of Seto having to deal with those, Ryuuji canted his head at Steerpike, arching an eyebrow with a look that said clearly 'I do know what you're doing', and asked politely enough if in a slightly strangled manner, "Are you sure those are necessary?"

"Not if I can get a more thorough idea of his symptoms. That would give me more confidence, you see, that I was giving him something appropriate."

Seto's eyes were closed as he continued to lightly growl, blaming Ryuuji for this entire thing. He couldn't believe the nerve of either man.

"It doesn't matter. If that's what he insists on giving me--I simply won't bother with them," said Seto, in a surprisingly calm voice for someone so upset. But that was the thing about Seto, the more angry he became, the less likely he was to yell. His voice got firmer, sharper, and sometimes even quieter, lower, taking on a dangerous edge, as opposed to volume.

"I gave you about as much as I could. There's little else to say. I'm feverish, nauseated easily, suffering from vertigo at intervals, and suffering from fatigue. It all could easily be stress related." Or from a lack of proper nutrition and sleep....

"And I've been suffering lightly from all of those for the past seven or six days. That's all there is to tell." I really do sound pathetic. Stop already.

"That's much better," Steerpike said quietly. "I do stand firm on my statement that you must see a doctor if three days' worth of simple remedies don't set you right." He pulled out a cobalt blue vial. "Three drops in six ounces of warm water, every four hours."

"Thank-you," Seto said in an oddly subdue tone. He found he lost his anger, so quickly, too. Well, he was still annoyed, but feeling just oddly...exposed.

He didn't like it. This is why he didn't see doctors.

Seto took the vial, wrapped it in a hand carefully, then pulled the blanket back up around him, eyes focused on the ground now.

Now he just had to wait for them to leave--then he would lock himself in the study for a while.

"Thanks, Steerpike." Without making any move to get up from the bed, Ryuuji tilted his face up towards the other, giving the older male a real smile for a change, genuinely grateful for his help. Seto was his roommate, and sort of under his care, and his best friend. He didn't like the idea of the other being sick in the least. "I'll make sure that Seto sees a doctor then if he's not feeling better, and I appreciate you coming down here."

Nodding, Steerpike closed up his satchel again. "I'll just leave you be, then. See that he rests."

Seto's eyes lifted from the floor to the study door, aching to just take off. But he waited patiently for the doctor to leave.... Hopefully, Ryuuji would just leave him alone.

"Will do, gum shoe." Ryuuji responded lightly, sliding back into his more usual, teasing tones. "Have fun in the Hospital Wing - I'll stop by some other time and make a proper social visit, 'kay?"

Nodding, Steerpike left. Well, that's my good deed for the week.

Gone!

With that, Seto pulled himself from the bed, finding it a bit more difficult than it should be, and he headed straight for the study, with his laptop on mind. It would help him pretend this whole thing hadn't happened.

"..." Oh, that was impossible. Ryuuji was imagining things. Seto had not just blithely staggered to the study.

Getting off the bed, taking a blanket with him, Ryuuji paused for a second to strip off his robes then went straight after Seto. "SETO! Are you insane? You need to get back to bed, you're sick!"

The blue-eyed male turned to give Ryuuji a subtle glare--and he already had a blanket with him, which he kept one hand tightly over.

"I don't plan to run a marathon, I'm just retreating to my laptop, and the study," Seto explained, voice taking on that eerie calm tone once more. "And further more, if you bring another doctor in here, I may just move into the Slytherin dorms for a week or so." Maybe longer. I can't believe he did this.

"No, go back to bed and rest. Your eyes are way too bright, you shouldn't aggravate them by staring at a laptop screen," Ryuuji insisted, tone one of clear concern and nothing else. "And if you move out, then I'll make sure someone stays with you 24/7. Like Mokuba. I can get him excused from classes to sit with you, since by that point you'd probably be so mad that you wouldn't want my company."

Okay--forget moving out. "You are not making Mokuba miss out on classes just because of me. That's hardly fair--he's actually looking forward to learning here. Leave him out of this," Seto lightly hissed, still stopped in his tracks.

Why wasn't he just walking into the study and closing the door? WHY?

Because he'll just use magic anyway, and either stop me, or force me to go back to bed, that's why. And I hate that. So why even argue over it?

"And I've been managing just fine this entire time without properly resting. I only slept for a short while after...being left with Eros." Seto, naturally left out any mention of the conversation that led to that. "If I was fine then, I'll be fine now. And in case you missed it, I was resting just fine until you brought a doctor in here, when I asked you not to. If you had just done as I requested, I would still be resting." He never learns.

"...Seto, you really, really need to rest. Please rest now? You haven't rested enough, and Steerpike was useful because he prescribed meds for you." Ryuuji's tone bordered between pleading and guilty, the boy both regretting that he had dragged Steerpike there and at the same time, not sorry in the least. Seto needed meds. He was sick.

With his fever rising, Seto saw the room tilt and he sighed. What would more arguing do? Raise his stress. And what would that do? Make the fever worse.

Giving in--Seto hated to do that. He bit his bottom lip, sucking it between his teeth so the act wasn't too visible. "Ryuuji...why should I listen to you?" Seto asked, voice terribly calm. "I asked you not to do something, and you did it anyway."

"You should listen to me because I'm asking it for your own good. Telling me to not bring a doctor didn't do me any good and did you good, so that's why I did it. Whereas this is good for you, which is why you need to sleep." Ryuuji argued, starting to feel tired himself. Hopefully whatever Seto had wasn't contagious. Nah. More likely just general fatigue from the thought of the long argument that lay ahead.

Still very annoyed with Ryuuji, but too tired to argue much further--he had been trying to sleep before, after all--Seto finally gave in, without speaking, though. He returned to the bed, wrapped up in a blanket, and watched Ryuuji, feverish bright eyes focusing on him. There was, of course, a pout and painfully red cheeks to add to this. But silence....

It was long before Seto could no longer keep his eyes open. Dark lashes descended, like a curtain.

Ryuuji simply sat down at the foot of the bed, letting Seto watch him without protest. If he'd dare, he would have stroked the other's hair away from his face, but as it was, he knew he was pushing his luck to have Seto in bed at all, without further argument.

Only when he was sure that the other was asleep did he get up, finding a beautifully-engraved golden bowl studded with emeralds amongst his many toys, and then emptying it only to fill it with cool - not cold - water from the bathroom. A splash of rose essence was added to it, a handful of rose petals from the flowers that grew near the hammocks scattered on the surface of the water, then Ryuuji set it down on the bedside table next to Seto and seated himself on the floor. A square of soft cambric embroidered with his initials was carefully folded, then the edges damped with water, Ryuuji dabbing Seto's face with it every so often when it looked like he was getting overheated.

Seto could sleep for as long as he liked; Ryuuji would keep watch.