Look Where You're Going [Catalina]

[TheHopeseeker]

It had been a long day.

Zephiran sighed as he leaned over the sink of his small bathroom, tired emerald hues staring back at him in the mirror's surface. The large apartment was too big, his bare furnishings hardly filling it out. It felt empty, silent. He was used to the silence, but this was almost oppressive. Pressing in on him from all sides, crushing him.

The pounding in his head had not lessened. If anything, it had gotten worse. A constant ache that pulsed throughout his skull, settled behind his eyes and wrapping around his head in a tight, constricting bubble. He sighed, scrubbing a hand down his pale face. He needed to get out, to escape the restriction of the apartment. He had left his few valued things behind, had had no choice. Material things had little value, but the relationships he had formed during his candidacy were the only things he truly treasured. But, his choosing had come too soon, forcing him to leave those treasures behind.

Pulling a plain brown coat over his uniform shirt, he quickly left the apartment, wandering aimlessly through the apartment complex. His focus was skewed, attention barely being paid to the path he walked. He knew the layout of the compound by heart, but it was easy to forget, to fade into a less conscious state of mind. Drift. It eased the pain.

[Catalina]

Iriel had been laying in her appartement all day which made her antsy. Her mother was naging her to go and see them but She was way to busy to do so. Their bond has not been that great since her twin died it shook the whole family. She grabs her dark blue sweater and runs out the door taking her phone and backpack.
Quickly closing the door she double checks the lock twice before She Turks around and runs down the hall. She was So excited to finally get outside She forgot to watch where She was running and before She knows it she is a foot away from running into a man. Oh crap, not again. She thinks to herself. It seemed like it would be another day which She literally ran into someone.

[TheHopeseeker]

Vaguely, he realised he should have seen the woman coming. Should have been able to hear her from miles away, at the speed she had been travelling it would have been impossible to miss her footsteps. Unfortunately, he could hear little but the blood rushing in his ears, the restricting bubble of tight air constricting his senses and leaving him flailing helplessly.

He thought he probably should have made some attempt to pick himself up off the ground, remove himself from underneath the woman Pilot sprawled on top of him. Instead, he lay unmoving, eyes closed and a low, choked gasp slipping through clenched teeth. He was pretty sure he had smacked his head against the floor during the floor, only adding to his discomfort. He tried his hardest to not move, or breath. Or think, for that matter.

[Catalina]

She scrambles off the person when she realized what happened which took a moment for her to get over the shock, "Oh my goodness I am so sorry!" She looked panicked and sits on the floor holding her side. It might be bruised byt she didn't care about that. "Are you okay? Can you move?" Her ears flattened a bit and her tail laid on the ground not moving. She hated it when this happens, she should definitely make a note to keep watch of where she was running and the area around her.

[TheHopeseeker]

She was speaking to him.

At that point, he decided he should probably at least do something. Sitting up made his head swim, neausea curling in his gut, and he quickly lay back down again, resting his forehead on the cool ground and unconsciously letting out a low moan. He probably looked pathetic, sprawled on the ground, a thin sheen of sweat covering his ridiculously pale skin. He would have made some effort to tidy himself up if it weren't for his more pressing concerns at that moment.

Like not throwing up.

[Catalina]

At the moment in which the man tried to get up was when it dawned on her that he was no in great shape. She sighs and moved him over against the wall after Some sturggle and feels his forehead, "Crap man. Your burnin' up and pale as a ghost." She thinks for a second, "Stay here Ill be right back." She rushes back into her aprtment and comes out with a garbage can and a bag of ice, "Okay dude. Your not in the best shape to be walkin around anywhere." She puts the bag of ice on the back of his neck where his skull and spine meet. If it came to it shes have to drag him all the way to the infirmary or steal his keys if he had one. Last resort for sure was to drag him into her place though it probably wouldnt come to it.

[TheHopeseeker]

Okay. He was sitting up now. That was a whole new adventure in self control. Letting his head hang down till his chin hit his chest, he blew out a heavy breath through his nose, trying very hard to not puke up the little he had managed to consume that morning. Blessed cool touched his neck, slipping down his spine and running up into his skull. It eased the throbbing in his temples, if only slightly, and he let out a relieved sigh.

Cracking open an emerald eye, he lifted his gaze enough to see the face of the woman he had unintentionally collided with, wincing slightly when the light from the corridors above struck right through the centre of his pupil. Said pupil narrowed to a tight slit, alike to a cat's eye, before he dropped his gaze away, back to the floor.

"Thank you," he murmured, voice tight and tired, "I, uh..I apologise for...any inconvenience."

[Catalina]

"Its cool. I dont have anything to do today besides I dont think you would have been able to make it outside in your condition." Iriel smiles. "Do you want some medicine or do you want to sit here for a while or go back to your place? Heck even my place with the way you look." She sits down next to him watching him intently incase something else happens.  Seemed like the ice helped a bit but not enough.

[TheHopeseeker]

He shook his head, instantly regretting the movement. "Please don't trouble yourself over me." He muttered, lifting a hand to massage the spamming muscles in his neck. Maybe it wasn't just Jenova's influence making him feel so ill. But he'd barely set foot outside the complex since, well, since he became a candidate. Not that that meant bugs and germs couldn't get inside the buildings, of course.

[Catalina]

Iriel shakes her head, "I would not be able to forgive myself if I left you here like this. Especially after I ran into you which could be a reason why your like this." It made her feel better to help the person She just ran into. Since it made her focus on something else other than that. "Whats your name?" She asks looking at the ice which had already melted quite a bit.

[TheHopeseeker]

He sighed softly at that, leaning his head back against the wall and mourning the loss of the icy chill that had previously cooled his unusually heated skin. Normally he was the icy cold one. Stifling the urge to raise a hand to his forehead, he replied, tongue feeling strangely heavy in his mouth, "Pilot Cardinal Zephiran Cresent."

[Catalina]

"I'm Piolet Echo Iriel Luminas. You have a nice name Zephiran." Iriel looks dowb the hallway, "Do you need anything to drink? Or anything at all?" She askes Zeph putting the ice back on his neck. If it was melted this much he must be roasting. She thinks but kept it there since the water would help stop the ice from melting the rest of the way atleast.

[TheHopeseeker]

Zeph wasn't quite sure what to say to that, whether it was the illness or just his own personality, it was hard to say. Moving his head a tiny bit in what could have probably been called a shake, he let out a breath. "No, thank you. I'll, uh, I'll be alright in a minute." He said, swallowing past the dry lump in his throat.

[Catalina]

Iriel did not belive Zeph but decided it was better not to presure him to hopefully not stress him out, "Okay. Let me guess. Your still binding to your dragon and or your terribly sick. Or both." She smiles remembering those not So good days with bonding with her dragon.

[TheHopeseeker]

Zeph let out a harsh sigh and closed his eyes for a moment, willing the room to stop spinning. There was an odd, crackling noise in his ears now too, but he still heard Iriel's words. "Yea," he confirmed, though which question he was even replying to, he wasn't sure.

[Catalina]

"Wow. That sucks. How about I give yah Some tips? They might help with well," She moitions towards Zephs head, "Your bug Thats goin on." She smiles, "Might as Well help yah some more since if it is a virus I might get it next." Iriel was not worried about getting sick. It gave her Some time off and allowed her to have atleast something interesting happen even if it is not enjoyable.

[TheHopeseeker]

A soft chuff, "Sure." Anything would be a help right now, something to help the steady throb and flow of information and the fresh sear of the bond fade, even just a little. His stomach flipped excitedly, drawing a soft groan from him as he pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his forehead on them. No doubt they looked an odd pair, seated in the middle of the hallway, one ashen and sickly, but he really couldn't bring himself to care.

[Catalina]

"Just let it happen. Dint fight the dragon your gonna lose." Iriel thinks for a moment, "Pain killer and meds could help. And try to understand your dragon." Iriel had a few other trick but she wanted to keep them reserved. One of them was definitely the ice pack. When she sees him groaning, "Medicine definetly might be the solution for you." She pats his back.

[TheHopeseeker]

Zeph let out a miserable sound somewhere between another groan and a soft sigh, running shaking fingers through tangled silver locks. There was littke point trying to fight Jenova, he knew that, but it still felt like he was being...violated, in some way. His mind was the onky thing he had been left with,  the last thing that was truly hjs to keep secret, but now itnwas being completely and utterly, well, raped.

It was both infuriating and terrifying.

Letting out a soft sound, he pried his eyes open again, wetting his dried lips, "Do you think...you could help me stand?" He asked, hating how weak his voice sounded.

[Catalina]

"Sure." Iriel stands up and stretches then cracks her back. "Just make sure you that if you start to fall over again let me know. Dont need yah fallin onto your head again." She offers her hand to Zeph after kneeling down.