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 Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2024 4:20 pm
Quote: Immediately follows smile & pain will fade away. Happens BEFORE the Knights get summoned to the moon and BEFORE Muri and Volterra purify!
For one thing, he’d planned to be heading into space with Kaifeng, not bridal-carrying the little headache around while they tried to find Helene. For another thing, the fact that Kaifeng was, after several failed attempts at getting to his Wonder, somewhat worse for wear, to the point that he wasn’t being relentlessly perky, or talking Muri’s ear off about whatever was on his mind……well. It made guilt twist in the pit of Reiki’s chest over the fact that he normally had a limited amount of wherewithal for dealing with Kaifeng, and largely endured the process (with the intent of, in so many words, farming favor with Helene) rather than truly enjoying it.
Okay, sure, Kaifeng was an acquired taste, and it tended to wax and wane for Reiki. But he wasn’t supposed to be so pale. Nor was he supposed to be politely curling into Reiki’s chest, being perfectly silent except for when he shivered or made a soft, discontented noise about not having found Helene yet. ********, Kaifeng’s natural state was chatting pleasantly and being a Silly Lil’ Guy in a way that always made Reiki want to question its sincerity but with so much insistent earnestness that he couldn’t bring himself to do so, not……this.
Whatever this was.
Considering what had gone on with Camelot a few nights ago…… Heading out of the park and into town—in the direction of where Kaifeng had said he and Helene sometimes liked to patrol—Reiki banished those thoughts for the time being. He could puzzle this out later (inasmuch as he was capable of puzzling anything out about some problem that Knights were having, which he had to admit was Not Very Much).
At least it didn’t take him long to feel out a White Moon aura that matched his and Kaifeng’s own power level. Peering out of an alleyway in the direction of said aura, just his head, Reiki sighed in relief at the sight of a very tall somebody in a very sunset-colored fuku, with intricate rope patterns tied all over his body. Oh, good, exactly the alien they needed right now.
“Helene,” Reiki called out to him. “Quick, I need your help with Kaifeng.”
Maybe not the best way to open a conversation, especially not given how entwined these two could be, but if anything would get Helene’s attention, it was Kaifeng. Hopefully, Reiki had earned enough grace to not be blamed for the current mess that whatever power incontinence was happening to the Knights in town had made of Helene’s Squire.
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 11:16 pm
There was little that could garner Helene's immediate attention and concern quite so well as something being wrong with his zhiyin. Perhaps the return of his brother ore brother-in-law might have done so, hypothetically, but that was not what was before him.
He recognized Murikabushi--Chaos, but generally well-intentioned, so not likely the cause of whatever had happened, which was not as much of a relief as Helene would have liked. His expression was grim as he moved to meet them, and he held out his hands--a silent expectation that Kaifeng would be handed over to him. It wasn't per se an insult to Murikabushi, just....Helene would certainly feel better if he was the one holding his clearly-unwell beloved.
"What happened?" The question was short and clipped, mostly because he felt very, very displeased with the entire situation.
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Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2024 1:27 am
Reiki met the clipped question and extended arms with a nod, and by handing over Kaifeng, gently easing him into Helene’s arms where he rightfully belonged. No offense was taken by either the gesture or the fact that Helene was very To The Point about everything. Helene being To The Point about things was one of the reasons Reiki liked him—the ways in which he was To The Point often made Reiki feel like Helene would be very good at throwing shade, if he ever had an interest in learning—and, like, of course he would want to hold Kaifeng when Kaifeng looked so unwell?
“Short answer, I don’t entirely know what happened,” Reiki explained, biting back on a sigh because he didn’t usually enjoy watching Kaifeng do PDA with Helene, but there was some relief in watching him nuzzle at Helene’s chest and curl a hand up in his rope harness.
Looking Helene in the eye and tactfully pretending that he Did Not See the “Kaifeng isn’t well, you can’t hold comfort-seeking behaviors against him” PDA, Reiki went on, “Longer answer: we met up to go visit Kaifeng’s Wonder, like he invited me to do. We chatted for a little while beforehand, nothing out of the ordinary. Then, we tried to actually go to his Wonder and we couldn’t. I thought it might be something to do with me, like maybe his Wonder was protesting the Chaos aura? But he couldn’t get there when I let go of him either.”
A deep breath, and this time, Reiki did let himself sigh. Frankly, he felt he’d earned that given what he had to say next: “Then, Kaifeng kept trying to get there. And I don’t know what difficulties he may or may not have been having the past few days? But he’s not the only Knight who’s going through it. I helped out a Royal Knight the other day and his shield got taken out by a youma—not a particularly nasty one, either. When Kaifeng called his own weapon to hand tonight, it kept falling apart. And I tell him to knock it off with trying to get to his Wonder—I get that he loves it, but trying to get there is clearly hurting him, so maybe stop doing that for now, right?—but he kept trying until I hoisted him up to get him to you.”
Reiki shook his head. “Seems like something’s going on with the Knights in town,” he said, “and yours needed to be with his zhiyin before he hurt himself worse. Worrying about his Wonder makes sense, but he has to take care of himself, too.”While out of it and distinctly not feeling his best, Kaifeng was aware enough of what was happening to know that, first of all, he’d gotten shifted into a different set of arms. A set of arms attached to a chest he knew very well, because he fell asleep snuggled up to it every night. Blearily fumbling around, Kaifeng found the familiar rope harness and clung to it as much as he could—which wasn’t very much, right now. His hand curled around the harness loosely, and as if it could compensate for that, Kaifeng nuzzled at Helene’s chest.
Yes. Good. He still didn’t feel great. But he was where he belonged, with his zhiyin.
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Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2024 1:51 am
Helene took Kaifeng with care, gathering him up and holding him close--gently and tenderly, because he was something precious, and because Helene would do anything to protect him. The entire circumstance made him feel distressed; the idea of Kaifeng being struck by some kind of mystery illness was...not pleasant.
Not after what had ravaged his world. Not when he was still afraid to bring Kaifeng to his planet for fear that the disease that had killed his people might kill his zhiyin.
Murikabushi's answers were not at all reassuring, in some ways--because they weren't answers, only guesses--but they were in others. If a Royal Knight was also having trouble, then it was clearly nothing that was wrong with Kaifeng specifically, and that was...something.
He pressed his lips to the top of Kaifeng's head, a bit of carefuil reassurance for him that Helene was here, and would look after him while he was unwell.
"thank you for bringing him to me," Helene said. "I will ensure he does not continue to push himself to visit his Wonder when there is clearly some sort of interference blocking it." He frowned, thoughtfully. "Not sure what could interfere with a Knight's connection to their Wonder in this way--or with multiple Knights' connections to their weapons and magic. Very strange. Somewhat alarming." Which he should perhaps not reveal to someone in service of Chaos, but Helene trusted Murikabushi. Expected that, shortly enough, he would make the choice to go where he properly belonged.
"And--there are other people who will help me look after him. We will make sure Kaifeng does not do more damage to himself."
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Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2024 2:11 am
Feeling the kiss, Kaifeng relaxed somewhat more. If not for the somewhat messy circumstances—including, among other things, Muri’s insistence that Kaifeng not trust him too much until he was purified because the wrong people could try to push him for intel or something—he could have slipped back into being Liánlí right now and been happy. “‘m sorry, gege,” he murmured, nuzzling at Helene again. “Didn’t mean to, just? Scared.”Reiki nodded, listening to both Helene taking the situation seriously and Kaifeng chiming in as much as he was able right now. “Good. I’m glad he has you, especially while things are such a mess for Knights,” Reiki said, meaning it earnestly. Kaifeng could get on a b***h’s nerves sometimes—usually by being too similar to Reiki himself in ways that he didn’t enjoy admitting to or seeing reflected back at him—but…he did try to be a force for good in the universe. Reiki could respect that. “Don’t know if I’ll hear anything helpful, but if I do, I’ll try to find either you or someone who can help me pass it on to you.”
Blossom would be a solid bet. Kaifeng had mentioned at least some degree of familiarity with him, and even if it was mostly “Kaifeng had found Kerberan liquor at his Wonder and then Blossom had fixed him up once,” that was something.
“I hope this doesn’t last long enough for me to contact Kaifeng with my own White Moon senshi phone, but……” Reiki huffed and waved a dismissive hand at his own desire to talk. “The trial of getting purified is a whole thing. Story for another day, when Kaifeng isn’t all messed up.…… Be safe getting home.”
Part of him wanted to provide backup, but……that, in and of itself, currently wasn’t safe.
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Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2024 2:22 am
"Thank you," Helene said. "We would appreciate any help you can give." Perhaps it wouldn't be much, but Murikabushi knew other people who might know things, and Helene was loathe to turn down any help at all when it might make things easier for his beloved Knight, who was clearly unwell.
"I will keep us safe," he promised. Anything that would dare threaten them while Kaifeng was unwell--Helene was normally careful and restrained about combat, but he would not brook any threats to Kaifeng's safety. Especially not now.
He gave Murikabushi a brief nod.
"I hope that next time we meet, all is resolved and you are free of Chaos," he said, and then he turned, heading towards home.
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