so tired...

        tears welled in his eye, but they did not fall. they never would fall, he wasn’t that KIND of person. it hurt, though, & it’d continue to h u r t until he could get the proper help for it. what was the proper help, exactly? no one could figure out what was wrong with him, why this brand of dark magic was effecting him so much. he never told them it wasn’t the one he said, but rather a home brew that he’d still use from time to time. when he used it, it always did this. if he wanted this to stop, then he HAD to tell her. & he understood that.

        ❝ tell my brother N O N E of this, ❞ he demanded through his airy voice, shaking as he grasped her sleeve. he wouldn’t trust her, but he understood her importance. ❝ there was an accident with dark magic when i was younger, it recoiled & hit me instead, which took my eye out. the doctors believe there’s a l i n g e r i n g curse in the socket, but there’s no spell to get it to stop. every time it happens, i try to dig it out, which is WHY my brother brought me to you. you can’t do anything about it, either. this isn’t a doctor fix, this needs a fucking e x o r c i s t . ❞

        his opinion of course, no one had to believe him. but after the constant doctor trips & the like, at some point he got tired. he never wanted to see another nurse, or another doctor ever in his life. if caligula could REFUSE medical attention when he was hurt, so could nero. he wasn’t allowed to be a hypocrite now. another nausea s e s s i o n came to the poor man, & he covered his mouth quickly, keeling over like he was about to, but not quite.

Mitama was a talented healer. She’d known that since she was a child; despite her utter disinterest in involving herself with other people, the gods had other plans for her. It was part of the reason she liked to lock herself away to write grandiose haiku in her spare time. Haiku couldn’t come to life and pester her with personal information, or try to spill their life story on their deathbed. Sometimes, however, all the innate talent in the world couldn’t fix a problem--like a cursed eye.

Her expression betrayed none of her doubts. She knew that, in order to put a patient at ease, she had to present a comforting face. Comfort manifested differently for each person. For Nero, she couldn’t imagine that he wanted her to smile and offer kind words. He just wanted the truth. She took notes in quick, efficient shorthand, only getting down the key points. She could remember everything else and write it down later. For now, she had to focus on Nero.

@haikumaiden ♥ ‘d for a starter!

        this was the third time in one day he’d ripped his eye patch off and began to almost dig at the missing eye. it started hurting again, just as it did the day he lost it. there was nothing in the socket any longer, the whole thing had to be REMOVED, but the phantom pains had returned, and so had nero’s desperate need to dig it out. whatever it was that was in there. his mind kept telling him that the magic was back in there, squirming and wiggling about. it certainly felt that way periodically. and the was part was nero had done everything to distract himself from this but it just wouldn’t stop. it got back to the point where his b r o t h e r was so worried, he’d took him to the medical bay and left him there.

        his mind begged and pleaded to destroy it, destroy that whole part of his face. the SILENCE in which he was left in made it all the more worse. fingers tapped, his leg moved on its own, and he stared at the nothing in front of him, while his head raced with thoughts. not good thoughts, never good thoughts. a hand went over his eye, digging at the skin of his eyebrow before he quickly took his hand away from his face upon the sound of footsteps. and when he was expecting a real doctor, s h e came in.

        ❝ absolutely not. ❞ his feet slammed to the floor when mitama made herself known. he wasn’t about to be taken CARE of by someone like her. he wouldn’t even trust her to take care of a minor cut, let alone his own problems. ❝ no, no, i won’t let you- ❞ and then the worst case scenario possible happened. the problem was that his body c o u l d n ’ t handle the amount of dark magic he’d force it to take, and sometimes… well, now his lunch and possibly breakfast was all over the floor, as he was hunched over.

Mitama watched the entire scene impassively, standing with her arms crossed. She wanted to be here as little as he wanted her there, but unfortunately for them both, she couldn’t deny Reinhardt when he was upset. Why did it have to be the younger, unpleasant brother who was ill, and not the one she actually enjoyed having conversations with? She hid her frown and uncrossed her arms, forcing herself to relax. She was all he had right now. She couldn’t allow her feelings to cloud her judgment, or she’d never hear the end of it from her father.

Delicately, she picked her way around the mess he’d made. While it was ugly, it wasn’t the worst she’d ever seen. She’d been on the battlefield, after all. Besides, someone else would clean it up. “Unfortunately for us both, your reputation precedes you. I was the only one your brother’s teary eyes could sway to see you.” She stopped in front of him and lifted her hands, bracketing his face. Hopefully, her cool skin would soothe his burning enough for him to focus on the questions she would need to ask.

@haikumaiden.

“whoa—look, i’m IMPRESSED, but i just about stepped on ya!” he tuts at the girl, foot still hovering above her. who just naps and leaves themselves completely vulnerable like that, anyway? “aren’t there better places for that? like… i dunno, safer places? TELL me you at least got some kinda dagger hidden in your shoe or something!”

        nero did whatever nero wished to do. if he wanted to talk to reinhardt, then he would sometimes barge into his room. and it wasn’t like LOCKS did anything against his brother, he would always find a way past them. but nero had seen things he probably shouldn’t see his brother doing, which settled him down with barging in just a little bit, and he would knock somewhat. unless he deemed it urgent, in which case rein could only h o p e they were just napping at that point.

        ❝ depends on how deep i’m in you, then he MIGHT walk in, ❞ the kitsune nodded, crawling into bed with the towel still on since his tail wasn’t quite dry enough. was he supposed to save those words for later? he didn’t give a shit, and probably would never give a shit. his lust was known across the camp, so who really cared. ❝ i don’t think he will though, he’s probably passed out himself too honestly. you w o r r i e d about him? he’ll just leave without saying a word. ❞

“Is that the requirement for him to walk in?” Her tone was teasing, but her eyes were thoughtful as she gazed up at the ceiling. “Perhaps non-penetrative will be good enough for today, then, lest your brother be summoned by our activities. We can take our personal time in my room, in the future, where he will not randomly stumble in.”

@haikumaiden  ( sc )

     “Snow falls lightly down / Filling the ground heavily…”

Haikus were a lot harder than she thought, but she had asked Mitama to teach her about them ( considering the girl was always speaking in rhyme and 5-7-5 all the time. However, from the way her brows creased in frustration, it seemed like she was having trouble with the final structure. After some minutes of silence, she finally snapped her fingers with glee.

     “It’s snowing on Mount Garou!”

Wait, that wasn’t five syllables.

“Éponine, no--” Mitama broke off with a groan, her head falling to the table. It made such a satisfying thunk that she did it once more, just for emphasis. She’d known her friend was struggling, but she hadn’t thought she’d break out such a terrible last line. 

        oh that was new. normally people came to him they were annoyed with caligula, but it seemed quite the opposite. very rarely did he experience someone being annoyed with him, it just wasn’t a thing that happened to him really. there was a smile that tugged at his pale skin, one that was so horribly noticeable, it would’ve probably gotten him into trouble. GOOD, that was what he wanted. one of his favorite things to do was piss people off, and it wasn’t h a r d when they made their buttons so open to be pushed.

        ❝ that’s kind of unfortunate then, isn’t it? ❞ he leaned down to be UNCOMFORTABLY close to her, bringing the pear to his pink lips, and taking a bite to annoy her. ❝ if only you were q u i c k e r. then you could’ve gotten what you wanted. but alas, you’re slow, and when you’re slow, you lose. ❞

Mitama held her ground when he leaned in, although she did flinch slightly when he bit and some of the juice splattered against her cheek. Gross. She planted her feet firmly, glaring up at him with anger to rival an oni, and fought back. It was look late to save the pear; she wouldn’t want it now that his disgusting mouth had touched it. But maybe, just maybe, she could save future fruit--and shame him in the process.

        turning on his heel, the kitsune made way for the door where he could possibly get away from this mess. but there was something nagging at the back of his head, telling him that was too mean, and that he should give her a chance. he wasn’t his brother, it wasn’t LIKE him to be t h a t kind of mean. so with the annoying nagging and guilt, he turned back and made his way to the room she suggested, though he held an angry look.

        ❝ all i wanted to do was eat, ❞ the wannabe knight UTTERED under his breath, cool eyes looking around the room as he couldn’t help but see how plain it was. white walls, wood floors. the odd painting here or there really spiced it up for just a second, but other than that. . . no wonder this room was abandoned, lost among the other luscious rooms that had m u c h more to offer. ❝ ask your questions, i’m gonna fucking eat. i haven’t eaten in at least a day. ❞

“Language.” She was chastising him before she really knew it, and grimaced inwardly. She’d only just met him, and she was already treating him like one of her patients. Either way, she’d said it, and that meant she had to own up to it. “Children walk through these halls. It wouldn’t do for one of them to hear you.” She’d never been one for truly being proper, but when it came to influencing the young, she had much to say.

@haikumaiden // closed starter

     “ HEY, Mitama ! You’re always writing poems or something like that right ? I’m kind of curious about them. I mean, poems are a way to express the heart right ? It’d be interesting to learn about them, if you don’t mind ! ” He added a wink to the end of his sentence.

     “ Why don’t we have a cup of tea over this ? I’m sure it’ll be a good way for us to get to know each other. ” He honestly held no ulterior motives. He simply approached her with the motive to get to know her better. He probably was going to end up flirting with her … by habit. Hopefully, her father wouldn’t come to hunt for his head or anything. He swore he wouldn’t do a thing to her. 

“Mm?” She lifted her head sleepily, peering at the man. What as his name, again? For a moment, she racked her brain, going over everyone she’d met before she settled on his face--yes. “Laslow,” she replied slowly, her recently-wakened mind struggling to keep up with his words. Several popped out to her: poems, express, and tea. There was a heavy silence, perhaps a bit too heavy, as a haiku formed on her lips.

@haikumaiden started following you

“Mitama! Wake up! This is the nightwatch, not your nap time.”

Can’t or won’t —- it was a terrifying mixture of both, but he would never breathe a word of it. Not even as it was tipping at the edge of his tongue. He can’t speak of how he can feel the exhaustion settling in every bone of his body, but can’t seem to close his eyes — to keep his mind blank enough or a night’s rests. Noise, everything was noisy in his head, especially in the dark. Leo can’t seem to do it, and won’t choose to if it just places more exhaustion onto him. No, he won’t force what doesn’t belong in his system…not anymore.

The king looked at Mitama —- his young healer’s progress halted by his stubbornness. Leo sighed;; humor her, he thought — nothing will be loss.

“I see that you came prepared…Alright ;; tea it is then…”

She let out a happy hum as he relented, a smile stretching across her lips. There was a power here, in influencing a king’s actions, but now was not the time to dwell on or investigate it. Instead, she stepped back gracefully, dipping her head to acknowledge his decision, and moved away.

“The best place for you to lay down would probably be the couch,” she commented, gesturing to the furniture. She wouldn’t presume to think she would be allowed in his bedroom, even for something as medicinal as administering tea, and she wanted to keep an eye on him during this process. She withdrew her rod and summoned up the pot she’d steeped earlier, just in case Leo agreed. Another wave materialized a cup, and she poured as she spoke.