CLOSED | healer & the headache

[ino]

WHO: Nanami & Ino
WHAT: Meeting up to determine the cause of Nanami's headache.
WHERE: Library greenhouse
WHEN: 12/21
WARNINGS: None yet, but if any pop up I will add them!



[ Rather than attempt to be right on time for when Nanami requested to meet, Ino actually leaves early to head over -- hoping to take a little time to explore the greenhouse for herself prior to meeting with her very first patient of this new world. Just because she had work to do didn't mean she couldn't enjoy herself first, right? Especially since Nanami had been so laissez-faire about meeting up in the first place. Surely, he wasn't in any life-threatening danger, even if he had potentially made himself miserable for longer for no reason. Besides, she had a pretty good idea at this point of how to remedy common complications of that nature ... she just hoped the implant wouldn't complicate things.

But in the meantime, she's delighted to explore the different types of plants growing here once she arrives, as well as the technology that's being used to keep them thriving -- different yet similar to what she's familiar with for cultivation of the flowers grown at her family's own flower shop.

By the time Nanami arrives, especially if he's early, he's likely to find her leaned over or crouching by one of the benches with several pots on it, trying to figure out exactly how the automatic watering system is set up. ]

Comments

[stresspoint]

[ Nanami arrives precisely on time. It's true that he actually leaves early and spends some time browsing the poor, sad library before crossing into the greenhouse. In fact, he spends an hour or so organizing and cleaning a little patch in the mess, trying to set the shelves back in order. But he arrives on time, approaching what he assumes has to be his meeting partner. And he looks about as respectable as he can muster with the LILITH issue casuals, but at least he's not going out of the base. ]

...Were you waiting long?

[ She seems like she's been there for some time. He almost has to double check, but he didn't arrive late. ]

Did you lose something?

[ino]

[ When he walks up, her attention snaps to him instead, and she straightens to greet him properly with a bright smile. ]

Oh! I've been here for a bit, but only because I wanted to check this place out and I was up anyways. [ She gestures to the section of hose she had been examining. ] I was just seeing how they had it set up to water the plants. They've got way more advanced stuff here than we do at home.

[stresspoint]

[ She's definitely got more energy than he does, but that's really no surprise. Nanami greets her with a straight back, bowing politely even though he knows it's off tone for the moment. At least his expression is softer than usual. ]

Thank you for meeting me. I apologize for my lack of courtesy yesterday. I wasn't myself. My name is Nanami Kento. If you have any questions, this time I'll answer you properly.

[ Instead of basically passing out on her. ]

[ino]

[ She lets out a little chuckle at how formal he's being. But she does appreciate the apology nonetheless, given she was fairly concerned about whether or not he was going to be okay. ]

Yamanaka Ino. It's nice to meet you, Nanami-san.

[ She gives him a once over, looking to see if she can spot any easy-to-detect signs of distress, injury, or illness. ]

Well, first things first, how are you feeling today? Still have a headache?

[stresspoint]

Yamanaka-san, it's nice to meet you.

[ He normally isn't as concerned about that level of formality, but he owes her and he does genuinely feel bad for how poorly he conducted himself. Some things just hit harder than others. Although when she looks, he isn't showing any obvious signs of injury--if anything, he's lacking in signs of injury at all. Almost like most of his visible body has never known scars aside from the implants given to all of them.

Nanami frowns slightly at the question, unsure. ]

I feel better. Sometimes my vision acts up, but the pain isn't as frequent.

[ He tests this by opening and closing his hand, but that only makes him more confused. ]

[ino]

[ When he mentions his vision, her more casual look starts to fade into something more like concern. ]

Your vision acts up? [ She looks to his hand, and then back up to his eyes. ] How long has this been going on? Do you remember anything happening that might have given you a concussion or head trauma? [ Of course, if he doesn't remember, that's even more concerning, but ... ] Any nausea or dizziness when that happens?

[ Ino, calm down, give him some time to answer the questions! ]

[stresspoint]

Sometimes. It's temporary... it starts swimming.

[ Which probably isn't a great sign, but you know. He sucks it up. Ino reminds him of Shoko in this moment, almost like she's scolding him for misusing his body somehow. ]

I've been dizzy. It's been going on since I woke up here, so I assume it's just part of the transition of being brought here and given these implants.

[ His hand goes up specifically under his left eye, as if that one side is the thing bothering him. But it's probably also the side his implant surgery was affected by most. ]

Nothing serious has happened to me since my arrival. It's just... occasionally everything is heavy. There should be something there, but there isn't.

[ino]

[ She listens quietly as he describes his symptoms, clearly concerned. Though the "admonishment" part of it seems to have mostly faded -- it wasn't like he did something stupid and wasn't taking care of himself, it seemed that it might really just be an issue with something that none of them could have prevented. ]

It's not normal for the implant to be malfunctioning, either. Not that this is the first case I've heard of, but what you're describing is different ...

[ She comes a little closer, to examine the eye that he seems to be indicating. ]

Has anything strange been happening while you're browsing the network with it? Or just these physical symptoms in your body?

[stresspoint]

[ He knows he's going to have to disclose everything eventually, but Nanami hesitates, reluctant to be so blunt with someone after one meeting. He lets Ino examine his eye, which doesn't look physically that different than the other. In fact, he looks pretty average. ]

Just physical symptoms. Browsing was helping. I could concentrate.

[ Or rather it was distracting him from the itching uncertainty he's been wrestling with. There's a little pause as Nanami finally gathers up the words to explain himself. ]

Actually, before I arrived, I was injured. The feeling seems to come and go in the same areas... I thought maybe there were side effects after arriving here.

[ Yes, he knows. His expression grows more sulky as he admits he has some idea that the pain might not be purely physical. ]

[ino]

[ Yeah, that admission seems to throw her a little off track, and she backs away a little to properly address him again. ]

So you were hurt before you arrived, and the pain is in the same places ...? What sort of injuries were you suffering at that time? And ... did they seem to be healed physically when you woke up here?

[ Now this is a new one that she hasn't heard of yet. And due to how mysterious the process of their arrival had been, she's honestly not sure if it could have to do with the implant or the people who brought them, here, or if he was simply traumatized by the experience ... Hopefully, he'd be willing to keep talking about it and allow her to properly examine him once she had all the information she needed. ]

cw: some descriptive injury

[stresspoint]

[ When Ino backs away to look at him, Nanami shifts his weight. He doesn't quite flinch or look away, but he looks more uncomfortable and he seems to move restlessly like he can't quite get settled under her gaze. Maybe from guilt or from frustration at himself. That seems to be the case as he lets out a heavy breath. ]

That's right. I was...

[ He trails off, at first rubbing the back of his head with a hand to relieve some of the discomfort of talking. The confession feels wrong to go into detail with, but she's a healer, right? He should trust her to handle it. ]

I woke up like this, without any physical injuries or scars. Before I arrived, I had sustained burns and lost this eye.

[ He's caught between trying to give a proper report and feeling bad for telling her at all. It leaves him looking extra serious as he gets more angry with himself. ]

The truth is, this body shouldn't exist. Even with advanced medical tools, it wouldn't be possible. Our doctor could regenerate impressive damage, and even she would have called it hopeless. I assumed it might have been something related to that.

[ But he's fine. At least in a general physical way. Nanami is stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the idea of phantom pain holding him back. ]

[ino]

[ As she listens to his description, her face falls a little -- curiosity turns to something more like sorrow, and she briefly remembers the despair she felt when Asuma had been too far gone for her to fix. It's mind-boggling to her that the people who brought them here seem to be capable of fixing that damage, of bringing the dead back to life in such a way that they could potentially live again like normal.

Well, almost normal. If what Nanami is telling her is true, then perhaps he'll never be rid of the psychological burden of what happened to him. ]

... I'm sorry. It sounds like you suffered a lot back then ...

[ But, it wouldn't do to make assumptions. If she could confirm there was truly nothing physically wrong with him, then maybe she could try and help him overcome the mental portion of his trauma. ]

I think ... I have some ideas about what might be causing the pains you're feeling. But it'll require me to do a bit of a more thorough examination. Would you be okay with that?

[stresspoint]

[ He can tell by Ino’s expression as he gives his explanation that he’s not facing a great answer. It’s similar to the looks he’s seen from Shoko when they had to ask her about potential outcomes for difficult cases—-some of them weren’t able to be saved. When the best thing they could do was try to ease some of the suffering.

He doesn’t think he’s that poorly off, but it’s still a worrying look. Maybe he shouldn’t have said so much? But it won’t help her figure things out otherwise, and if he wants to get past this, he needs her help. ]

I don’t remember all of it clearly.

[ Nanami lowers his gaze. He doesn’t quite look away, but he still feels awkward confessing to a new acquaintance just how bad things were. But since he’s relying on her, he’s going to have to be honest. He’d been partly delirious toward the end, focus going in and out while he was still trying to fight through enemies. ]

Whatever you need to do, if you can find the cause, I’ll do whatever I need to. I don’t want to have anything happen during a mission.