In the Still of the Night [Open, but please pm first]

[Aiyo Shinbatsu]

There was a single problem with the whole situation: Mio, who was apparently Shinbatsu's superior, did not have anywhere to go. She had changed already, as though she were ready to leave. Shinbatsu did not allow his discontent with the answer to become apparent. He couldn't keep her: that much he knew. He could not keep her.

"A pleasure, Kuroda-san, Makahisa-san. I wish we could have met under more civil circumstances." He nodded, letting his eyes drop a little in thought. "Kuroda-san, you are free to leave whenever you are comfortable to do so." His eyes rose to look at Mio. "I don't want you to strain yourself, Makahisa-san. I still haven't given you your stuff back. I can release you to the Medical Dispensaries tonight if you'd please, but their facilities are overwhelmed. I need to get to work. The bar closes at two; you are free to stay here until the morning. I'll check up on you later tonight."

That was that, as far as Shinbatsu was concerned. Mio could stay here until the morning, but not longer. He turned and started heading toward the stairs. Before he left, he stopped and spoke once more. "I'm sorry for what happened to you."

[[Topic left unless stopped. You're free to continue RPing here, and I may re-enter at a later point if you do-- let me know if you want me to.]]

 

[Uri]

Uri gave a polite nod to the greeting and silently listened as he was dismissed, but Mio was ceremoniously told she was locked in the room until Shinbatsu could bring her to the hospital remains. While Uri didn't agree with his decision, there was no way he was going to leave someone in such a state, after such ordeals, alone in a stranger's bedroom; it reeked of bad taste. As the doctor left the room, Uri watched Mio continue applying more of the emerald-hued medical chakra to herself, using it as a means to help alleviate a migraine. For people who didn't know any better, or who weren't trained in practical medicine, healing chakra was oftentimes used for things that it had place in being. What Mio didn't know is that using it to help stave off her headache would only make it that much worse the next time it happened. Healing chakra had the unfortunate side effect of making cells in the body lazy. When someone would accelerate something to unnatural levels, it would learn to stop producing itself normally if it happened on a regular basis.

Seeing as how there was no way they were leaving the room, Uri unceremoniously plopped down on the floor at the foot of the bed, pulling his beaten leather satchel into his lap and digging through the contents.

"C'mere, have a seat next to me."<i></i> As he dug through his bag, he would pull out the random object from time to time. First was a white cardboard box, small gold decorations on the outside of it making it appear important. Second was a stack of plain white writing paper. Third was a small metal tin which rattled when he handled it. Now he pat the floor again, "Come, sit. Stop with the glowy hands. It'll give you head cancer."<i></i> He laughed, clearly jesting. Now he popped open the metal tin and retrieved from it two small, green gel-capsules and held them out for Mio to take, "Here. Take these instead."<i></i> Another quick venture into his satchel and he produced a small canteen of water, the liquid sloshing about as he too offered it to the med-nin, "I figured, since we're gonna be down here a while, we might as well relax and try and enjoy ourselves. Those well help get squash your migraine like a house under a sandworm,"<i></i> And these, he said popping open the white box to reveal it to be filled with various sugary confections, "Will keep us full. I got this on my way home from some construction work. They were fresh out of the oven!"<i></i>

 

[Hoshirei]

Like Uri, Mio was a little irked that he wasn't going to let her leave. She could probably spend the next few days with the family she met a little while ago, but now she didn't even have the opportunity to do so. The other man might be a doctor, but she was really really tempted to just pull rank on him, drag Uri along and go to the hospital remnants herself. As she started to fume, she noticed that Uri had stayed and was now rifling through his bag. Mio easily sat down beside him, stopping her medical chakra, even though she was loath to do it.
When he produced the pills, she was only a little surprised because she knew of his travels. First rule when traveling, bring some form of first aid, even for things like a headache. Mio took them and the water and swallowed the pills easily, thankful that he didn't have the type that you had to chew... those things were gross. Uri then pulled out a box of sugary treats. Her stomach growled lightly, only enough that she would notice and she reached for one that looked to be cherry flavored. Cherry was her favorite.
"The particular chakra I was using would not have given me head cancer. When I have a migraine, my blood vessels constrict from chakra over-use. All I was doing was trying to sooth the vessels and make it so I didn't end up with a migraine. I end up having to drink whiskey to make it go away when I get one. That is, if I can catch it before the pain becomes debilitating."
She nibbled on the cookie and had to smile, it was cherry! "These are rather good, Uri. Do you know who made them? I might have a new favorite sweet."

 

[Uri]

"They're from a bakery over in the Palais, the 'Just in Chime" bakery. I've been going there since I was young. The family is really nice and they make the best jam and jelly-filled things ever!"<i></i>

It was funny, Uri noticed that Mio trusted him so much despite having only met so briefly before. Someone hands you unknown pills and offers you sweets without a second thought and there's acceptance. He was sure there was a stranger danger story in there somewhere. Luckily for Mio Uri was an upstanding individual who just happened to use his broad spectrum of skills to try and make everyone around him feel better; good, bad, or indifferent he aimed to improve quality of life through any means necessary. Something the chuunin had mentioned before was working under the tutelage of an alchemist just so he could spend more time in the gorgeous greenery that he had discovered existed elsewhere. During that time he had learned a lot of different flora and how they could be used to speed up a person's recovery. Chakra healing had done a great deal of wondrous things, but so many people had forgotten the roots in which medicine had founded itself in.

"And those pills, I made those. Mind and Mouth Soothers I call'em. They can relieve the worst of headaches and keep your breath cool and refreshing."<i></i> He said, reaching into the white box and pulling out a chocolate-covered confection, "It's a mash up of a few different flowers and peppermint; butterbur and feverfew if I recall correctly. Some other bits too. I learned a lot about those things in Fire Country, leaving in the forests."<i></i>

He bit into the chocolate-layered treat, red goo leaking from it and sticking to his lips, "It's so much easier to learn everywhere, not just in one place. After the village went underground and I stopped seeing sunlight it was hard to thrive, y'know?"<i></i> In just one more bite he finished the snack and reached for one of the pieces of paper from the stack he left on the floor, "And I wouldn't have learned how to do this."<i></i> In between his hands, he folded the simple sheet of paper over and over again, adding new creases, flipping it every which way until he stopped and in his hand rested a paper bird. Gently, he blew air from between his lips and the bird drifted off of his palm, looking as if it would just descend to the floor. In but a brief moment it no longer fell, but took wing and began to fly. The folded wings flapped and the make-shift bird circled around the room.

"Through all living things, we can find answers. Plants provide us with medicine, oceans quench our thirst, animals feed us, and we in turn must nurture the world to create life."<i></i> Now it was evident that Uri was capable of making things come to life in more than just earthen forms, but paper now too. Spreading the sheets of paper out before them, he gestured to the spread, "Do you have any requests? I have spent a lot of time and lost a lot of blood from paper cuts learning how to fold these."<i></i>

 

[Hoshirei]

(((EEP! Sorry!)))

"'Just in Chime', eh? That's quite a name, isn't it? I'll have to go there some time." Mio nibbled on her pastry, thinking about different things. Normally she wouldn't have just taken the pills or the water without putting them under intense scrutiny first. Hell, she wouldn't normally take the pastry without interrogating the person who had them first. Uri just felt so safe that for some reason she couldn't question him.
He actually made the pills? Well that was different. She hadn't had homemade pills since she was six and still with her parents. Mio smiled softly in Uri's direction and watched and listened as he continued. She marveled at the bird that was able to take off almost under its own power. She then reached for a few sheets of paper to do her own folding as she talked.
"I have had similar pills before, and whenever I can I try to supply herbal remedies for my patients. Some of them work better for some things. I just couldn't ever recall the formula for headache medicine and have had to make due with chakra. I am the only if not one of the few medics that make herbal remedies." She continued folding until she had a few different creatures beside her. "None of these are like yours, but some of them can do different things." She lightly tapped a green one, surging just a little bit of lightning chakra into the paper, and it hopped a few times. There were two white birds, both cranes, but folded with a slight difference. One had a narrower body and glided around the room when she tossed it softly. The other had a larger body and actually flapped its wings as it sailed for a few feet.
"I never did learn how to make them move for a long time, but they are fun to make sometimes. My mother used to make the cranes fly around my head to calm me if I had a nightmare. Don't tell the Nekozuka-girl but I'm rather fond of tigers. Can you fold one of those? I never learned how to fold cats, just frogs and birds."

 

[Uri]

At least Mio had proven she was a sensible girl when she wasn't being haunted by her past. A part of Uri wondered what she would be like without all the pain and sorrow she had lived through, and how different she would be because of it. Regardless of the outcome, she was still breathing and living in the world that still accepted her. Life could only get brighter after being in the dark for so long. As he sat there, he nibbled on another treat as he watched her display of origami skills. Honestly, he was surprised, so many people didn't bother with papercraft anymore, especially in the desert where the harsh elements would shred such delicate pieces.

"Anything can be done with a bit of imagination. Let me see what I can do."<i></i> For this Uri stuck his hand back into the satchel and pulled out a few other sheets of paper, these a dark brown. This was to make sure there was contrast between the papers. Now he took nearly the remainder of the pile and began folding. As he worked, looking at the intricate creases, he smiled fondly at the little bits of paper, "My family has never been particularly wealthy and growing up my mother used to fold paper animals so I would have toys..."<i></i> Uri's finger kept at his task, more and more pieces being formed, but it had yet to take shape of anything remarkable, "So when I got older, I learned how to fold just about every animal. That way, no matter my circumstances later, if I ever had kids, they would have something to play with, a memory to cherish."<i></i> Now he was working with the different segments, the two colored papers now merging and as he linked other parts, the feline shape became more obvious, "'Cause in the end, it's the little things we remember that define who we are."<i></i>

A long piece of paper stuck out and soon, turning it end over end, it became its tail. Fine detail work came in, and soon the tiger had a face as well and he presented the tiger to Mio, "Tadaa!"<i></i> A quick tap on its nose and it came to life, the seal on Uri's bare hands glowing for the briefest of moments. Twisting tail and twitchy ears, it turned its inanimate head at Mio, "And I won't say anything to the tiger lady. Now you have a tiger of your very own! I can't promise the longevity of its liveliness, though. That's tied to me."<i></i>

[mft]

 

[Hoshirei]

She watched as he folded the cat, marveling at his ability to make something so complicated. He brought it to life and she couldn't help but giggle and reach toward the small tiger. If it let her, she would pet it gently, not wanting to even accidentally tear the finely crafted creature. Uri explained that the little creature was tied to him and that he wasn't sure how long it could survive.
Mio just smiled. "Even if it can't be here for long, it is here for now and it is beautiful, Uri."
Focusing, she made a little ball of snow that wouldn't melt until she allowed it to do so. She then rolled the ball for the little tiger before yawning. Mio tried to watch for a few minutes to see if the small tiger would play with the ball. If it did, she would focus on the paper tiger, trying to keep herself awake.
After a while, she drug herself back to the bed, still trying to watch what was going on, before falling into a sound sleep, hopefully finding no nightmares. The next day would come soon enough, and with it new challenges. Mostly surrounding the dead body that may or may not still be in her old apartment.



((topic ended after Uri posts))
(((sorry for the huge time in between...)))