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Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 10:35 pm
Despite an elbow that felt like it should be broken if not bruised, and a tailbone and attached rump that she suspected was bruised, Sherry had declined any treatment for herself. Well, aside from a basic bandage that she'd taken a moment to apply herself. A light sigh escaped her as she sat on the stool next to the bed, watching everything the attendant was doing, mildly wondering just what his notes on the clipboard would say. Nothing earthshaking, she supposed. No one had seemed too worried about Jake when she brought him in, despite the fact that he'd obviously hit his head. She hadn't, sadly, been around for all of the examination. There had been some gear to take care of, too.
Soon as she'd had the chance, she had returned. It was just as well. Head wounds, and she was pretty sure that had been the worst of it, were not her specialty.
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:33 pm
Jake's head was pounding, and every part of him felt like it was on fire. Even the slightest movement made him wince, and he groaned softly. He was planning on taking on more titans, but in this state, he doubted he'd even be able to move, let alone fight. Not to mention he was pretty sure Sherry would make sure he didn't do anything reckless until he was fully healed.
His eyes twitched, and he clenched his teeth, grip on the bed covers tightening. Damn it all, he didn't have time, he had to... had to...
Slowly, his eyes opened, and he instantly regretted it, shutting them again as the light nearly blinded him, making his headache even worse. After a few minutes, he opened them again, slowly, and turned his head to look at Sherry.
"...Sorry."
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 3:47 pm
Rather good at the whole 'watching' thing, Sherry'd noted that while Jake was more or less awake, he hadn't seemed quite ready to be fully awake. This didn't seem to phase the attendant in the slightest, as they only nodded and then left.
Thus, Sherry and Jake were alone, for the most part, when Jake finally came to enough to say something.
"Why?" Her expression was as much concerned as confused. It wasn't his fault the Titan had gone and smacked him. It would take a massive amount of skill to have had everything work out like that and still live, on purpose. Not that she didn't think Jake couldn't pull it off... It was just that she figured he'd been focusing he attentions on perfecting other things. Like not getting hit.
"Accidents happen," she added, shrugging.
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 4:50 pm
In his state, he probably shouldn't be moving. Given his luck, he probably ended up breaking something, or at least it felt like it, as his body protested to any sort of movement he made. Regardless, he still managed to push himself up, groaning and wincing every so often, and panted as he was sitting up, back against the bed.
"I... I got a little reckless. I'm glad you didn't get hurt though." He gave her a sad smile. "And I'm sorry for always dragging you into these situations for my own selfish reasons. I..." ... should he tell her? It was only fair she knew his predicament, not that it'd really do much, but he owed her at least that, especially with all the help she had given him.
"I don't have a lot of time left."
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:04 pm
She watched him, letting him sit up on his own, and wondering just how badly he was hurt. Sure, she was sore, but she had not been knocked around by a giant, beach-walking beast. It made sense he’d be a lot more sore than she was.
Sherry shook her head and smiled at him. Reckless indeed. She was used to it by now. He’d been far more reckless in the past, and that had, at least once, ended very, very badly. For him more than for her. He was learning though. From her vantage, the actions of today had not been too terribly reckless. They’d been within reason, for sure. “You don’t have to be sorry,” she began, the response almost a reflex by now. “Wait. What?” Selfish reasons? Time left? “Time for what?”
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:30 pm
Even as a hunter, being a human pinball was never fun, but he supposed he was somewhat thankful he was a little more durable than a regular person. Had he not, he was sure he'd be pretty much dead by now.
Though, as her response grew more bewildered, he bit his lip, wondering if this was a good idea. ... no, he shouldn't hide it, and he wouldn't be able to anyways. She'd end up knowing sooner or later, and he supposed it would be better if she knew now.
"I..."
"You will have two weeks."
The death lead's voice rang in his head, and he shut his eyes, shuddering slightly. Two weeks... Just how long had it been since he had borrowed them?
"I... only have two weeks..."
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:37 pm
Sherry’s curiosity, and not the cute innocent kind, only grew as Jake somehow looked more distressed than he had a moment ago. She could read the hesitation in on his face and hear it in his voice, but as his reaction grew more intense so did her worrying. It almost looked like this was painful to talk about… unless that was just the aftereffects of his run in with the Titan.
“Two weeks?” She leaned in closer, scooting the stool closer, too. “Two weeks for what?” Her mind was working on the problem, as much as it could. No Chester. Needing to train, the urgency he seemed to have behind that. “…Two weeks to get Chester back?” That didn’t make a whole ton of sense, since the bond was for life and all.
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:46 pm
Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea, as he doubted Sherry would be able to do anything, and this would only worry her more. But he couldn't take it back now, and he had promised.
As she scooted closer, he studied her face, already sensing the anxiety in her tone. He laughed softly and turned his head, gaze falling on the runic daggers beside his bed. Time always seemed to be against him in such crucial moments, and even now, he could almost hear Chester silently chiding him for getting himself into such a situation.
"In a sense, I suppose. Those runic daggers... they belong to Caelius."
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:55 pm
The anxiety she was feeling only continued to grow as Jake chuckled and looked away. What did that mean? Was he about to try and avoid explaining? He’d done that before, but she had no intention of letting him do that this time. No, Sherry needed to know what was going on.
“In a sense? Because those belong to… Caelius?” Sherry swallowed, the tone of Jake’s voice unnerving her somehow. Or was it just the words, the reference? “He let you borrow them?” Didn’t one usually get such things from the quartermaster or supplies? Were they special daggers? Two weeks. “What happens at the end of two weeks?”
Surely her worst assumptions were wrong. Even if it was the Death lead they were talking about, nothing would be too drastic, right?
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 6:27 pm
In the past, perhaps, he would try to avoid explaining the situation, but he couldn't like to Sherry anymore. He owed her an explanation at the very least.
"Surprisingly... yes. I went to Mark to try asking him if there was anything I could do to get Chester back and he told me I had to try summoning him myself. He asked if I had been training, and... well, with Chester out of commission, I suppose I somewhat slacked off with that. It's... it's my fault I can't summon him, so I asked to borrow some daggers, and then..."
A sigh. "To be honest, I don't really know... or want to know. I should have died back then, but he let me live for some reason. And now... he's giving me another chance, something I don't deserve. I don't think he'd be willing to overlook it this time if I'm not able to re-summon Chester, but I just... I don't..."
He grit his teeth, chest aching slightly with each breath. "I dont' know if I can..."
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 6:50 pm
Eyebrows furrowed as Sherry listened. She had heard the part about summoning Chester, about how he needed to try, but the rest was new. New and a bit troubling. “Should have died…” she repeated, frowning in thought. Was he talking about the mission where Chester broke? Or when the daggers were loaned? Maybe it didn’t matter. Especially not if Jake felt like it seemed he did.
Sherry wasn’t quite sure if she heard his last words clearly, quiet as they were, but she didn’t need to. After what he’d just said, she understood enough. “Jake,” she began, reaching out to take his hand in hers, “you can do it. I don’t know what’s holding the two of you back, but I’m sure you can. You can’t doubt yourself. You deserve a second chance, and you wouldn’t have one if you couldn’t do it.” She was pretty sure of that, anyway.
She opened her mouth again, but was suddenly unsure of what to say. So she squeezed his hand and asked, “How long ago was this?”
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 7:05 pm
It was one thing to find out that he couldn't summon Chester, but another to know that the reason he couldn't was because of him. Chester was perfectly fine, just sleeping, which he was relieved to hear, but to know that it was because he hadn't been training himself... was that why the connection was cut off? He was trying, calling out to him, training himself again, pushing him to the brink of his limits, and yet... what was he missing? What was holding him back?
He flinched slightly as Sherry took his hand, a habit he really had to get rid of. He gave her a hesitant smile at the encouraging words, and sighed. "It's not him. It's me. Mark said I could re-summon him at anytime, I just had to want it, but... I don't know why..."
Was it because he didn't want it badly enough? Or was part of it him thinking it wouldn't be that simple?
"About a week ago... perhaps..."
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 7:14 pm
She’d seen that flinch, but she was getting really good at not letting it deter her. In the end, she just squeezed his hand a little harder. “And you’ve been trying all week?” She knew he had, more or less. He’d certainly been trying the past couple of days, she knew that much. Even if the results were less than ideal, he’d been trying.
“No matter,” she said, smiling. It was one of those sad smiles. There was only so much she could do in this situation. “You can’t give up, even if it hasn’t happened yet.” He knew that, right? She was not being very helpful, was she? “You… just have to figure out why it’s not working.” Super helpful.
“Is there anything I can do to help? Besides beating you to a pulp and titan hunting?” She figured those were already on the menu.
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 7:29 pm
Having her hold his hand was somewhat comforting, and he smiled, squeezing her hand back. "I suppose... somewhat. I don't really know what I can do, since the training courses are still down, and I can't really do any of the external missions in my state. Aside from the spars, I had a run-in with a horseman in the haunted house, and... the gap between us was huge..." He laughed bitterly, remembering how he had barely scratched the horsewoman, and if he pulled back any later than he had, well...
He turned to look at Sherry, glad he had told her. "Thanks. I only hope it's not too late. And you're already helping a lot." He placed his other hand over hers, smiling. "Really, thank you."
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 7:42 pm
The kindness on her face fell away for a moment. “You didn’t tell me about that.” Not that he was required to tell her about everything he did, but horsemen could be dangerous and if Jake was admitting it was a lot stronger than he was, well… “But I suppose if you’re ok then it’s alright.”
When he turned to look at her again, though, the softness came back. “It’s not too late.” It couldn’t be too late. Too late was not acceptable, so it simply couldn’t be. “And you’re welcome.” She squeezed his hand again and smiled. She was supposed to be comforting him, but somehow he was comforting her. She must be silly.
Silly or not, she was aware that hugs might bring pain, judging from how he’d moved earlier. So instead of giving him a hug, when she rose off of the stool and leaned over she kissed his cheek.
“How are you feeling?”
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