damned_institute | Night 44: M41-M50 Hallway

Haku squeezed Artemis' hand once before letting go and sitting up a bit more. Habit had him slide a scalpel from his pants, but he held it loosely and out of sight. "Good evening," he offered politely.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Hanatarou. He didn't like being laid up and all but defenceless like this.

Hanatarou blinked at Artemis as he opened the door, but gave a small smile before moving into the room as indicated. "Hello, Fowl-san. Haku-san," he added, with a polite bow to the...person on the bed, his attention lingering for a moment on the visible bandages as his smile turned into a concerned frown.

He barely registered that Artemis had asked a question, with his attention focused on that, but managed an absent, "Oh...no, I don't need anything." He pulled the sword from its place at his side and glanced around for a second before setting it down on a desk, where it could stay safely out of the way while he was busy. If this was going to be as much work as he suspected it would, he really didn't want to take the risk of collapsing onto the blade and doing himself an injury.

The healer lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed, careful of the one already there, then paused as he started to reach toward Haku. "Er. If you don't mind, Haku-san," he asked, suddenly uncertain. They were clearly expecting him, but he'd only barely met Haku the last time he'd been here, and it wouldn't do to just sit down and start healing without a word spoken.

Artemis nodded, privately glad that Hanatarou had at least set his visible weapons down before tending to Haku. He knew there was nothing to be worried about (after all, Hanatarou probably wasn't one of those serial killers who ingratiated themselves to get close to others--he seemed too... self-deprecating to attempt something like that), but Haku hadn't worked closely with Hanatarou and thus didn't know that. And Artemis was at least smart enough to know that a wounded animal was more dangerous than a healthy one.

...not that Haku was an animal. Thank goodness he had enough sense not to make these sorts of potentially insulting metaphors out loud.

He stood by the dresser, a little ways off so that if (for some reason) his magic decided to react to the healing, he would have time to get it under control before it did any serious damage. Smiling encouragingly at Haku, he watched.

Haku smiled in a manner that hopefully expressed calm and gentleness and not 'touch me and I may just remove your eyes'.

"It's fine Hanatarou-san. Do you need me to do anything to make this go smoother for you?"

"N-no, nothing. Um, just hold still? This could take a few minutes..." Hanatarou managed a smile in return, but it was clearly nervous and very much forced. What if he really couldn't do very much? He didn't want to disappoint anyone who was as close to a friend as Artemis was, and Haku seemed nice as well.

The healer swallowed hard, trying to will himself to stay calm and composed, then reached out toward Haku again. He paused with his hands hovering just before the other's chest, not quite touching, and then closed his eyes for a moment as he concentrated. A faint green glow outlined his hands as he focused his reiatsu, sending it toward the wounds underneath the bandages, and his brow creased slightly in unconscious reaction to the headache that inevitably sprang to life.

(skipping with permission.)

Haku sat quiet and still, eyes closed and mind carefully blank as Hanatarou worked. He kept his face blank at the odd sensation of being healed... it was almost, but not quite like being healed by chakra.

He did know that this would cost the young man and he felt that he should be able to help in return...

As promised it did take several minutes, during which time Hanatarou outwardly remained unmoving, though his jaw slowly clenched with the effort to ignore the pain it inevitably caused himself to heal while trapped in this faulty gigai. He did manage to ignore it, though, focusing on only the healing - Haku bore several wounds, all deep, and from experience here Hanatarou knew that he wouldn't be able to heal them all completely as he should have been able to.

Artemis had wanted his friend to be able to move again, though, so the healer did his best to accomplish that. New flesh formed beneath the bandages, skin and muscle and sinew re-forming and closing over each wound. While they were still only half-healed, though, still tender and easily susceptible to re-opening, the strain finally became too much.

The pain inside Hanatarou's head abruptly spiked, his vision going white as he lost his focus at last. The green glow about his hands winked out, and they dropped heavily into the healer's lap as he slowly toppled over.

Instinctively, Haku moved and tried to cushion the fall as best as he could, or at least get the healer to stay on the bed and not fall to the floor.

Wincing slightly, he was aware of how his injuries pulled and he glanced at Artemis with a silent request for assistance.

Artemis hadn't expected Hanatarou to go quite this far with the healing, especially considering Homura needed him later. He was about to question Hanatarou about how he was feeling, when the shinigami suddenly fell over. Artemis nodded to Haku and took hold of Hanatarou under the armpits. This was certainly going to be interesting...

But it wasn't nearly as hard as Artemis thought it would be. Compared to anyone Artemis had tried to move before (including Hitsugaya and Haku), Hanatarou was light. Perhaps Artemis was getting stronger... or Hanatarou was far too thin for his height. As strong as Artemis' ego was, he had a feeling Hanatarou wasn't eating.

The boy dragged Hanatarou over to his own bed, finally deciding that there was no way he could lift him onto it, so he simply propped the healer up between the bed and the dresser, stuffing a pillow behind him. It looked like he had a bit of a nosebleed... Perfect. Homura would be so pleased to know that Artemis had squeezed most of the juice out of his healer. Not that Artemis cared much for Homura's missions, but he felt it best to be on friendly terms with the high rollers in the institute.

Now, he had two injured persons in the room, and only one of him. He looked to Haku, then back at Hanatarou. "Are you alright?"

It was a good thing that Nataku hadn't been in the room, Hanatarou thought to himself somewhat fuzzily as he struggled against the fatigue washing over him. If the boy had been there, after all, he probably would've woken up with more doodles on his face...if not worse.

He'd pushed himself too far again, he knew, but still couldn't really feel too bad about that, given how little he'd been able to do in the process. Even if using his powers damaged his gigai, Hanatarou still wasn't willing to not do so - he would feel better again much faster than Haku would have healed without his intervention, so he counted it worthwhile.

In the meantime, though, he was vaguely aware of being moved, and managed to open his eyes again a little as he was propped up. A second after Artemis spoke the words registered, and Hanatarou lifted his head, still squinting a little against his headache as he replied, "'m fine."

"Forgive me for disagreeing with you Hanatarou-san," Haku said, looking concerned and slightly frustrated. He didn't like using healers for this very reason; they always pushed much too hard.

"Perhaps I can help you now? You've given me back almost full use of my hands, and while I cannot work healing energy like yourself, I can help with the pain..." He wouldn't push though.

"Haku's right," Artemis said, crouching down by Hanatarou. "You don't look well. Haku is very excellent at what he does, I highly recommend you let him help you."

The boy genius looked back over to Haku. "My only question, I suppose, is are you up to moving around now, or should I bring him back to you?" He didn't particularly want Haku to be getting up and moving around if he wasn't ready to do so. It would defeat the purpose of Hanatarou's healing if Haku simply injured himself again.

"Huh? You're a healer...?" Haku's offer caught Hanatarou's attention, and he latched onto that rather than starting an argument over how he was feeling now. He was starting to get used to the aftereffects here, and was quite certain he was just fine. A few minutes to catch his breath and the headache would subside, and he could be off and on his way and not bothering these two any further.

He glanced back at Artemis again and blinked once, then shook his head and started to push himself to his feet again. It was a little slower going than he would have liked, in order to convince them that he really was okay, and he had to grab hold of the bed frame for support as he did. "N-no, really, I'm not that tired," he insisted, but still gave Haku a look that was hesitantly curious. He wanted to know what Haku had meant, but didn't want to be a bother, either....

"Not a healer like yourself. I merely know a few tricks to ease pain or provide first aid." Haku offered a smile and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He glanced at Artemis and then back to Hanatarou.

"I don't wish to undo all the good work you've done by walking over and dragging you back to sit down on the bed, so if you'd be so kind as to come over here, I can at least help with the headache you must have."

"Yes, yes, I know you're fine, but I'm sure Haku would feel much better if you at least let him help with your headache. After all, it would be like someone making you dessert and not offering to share."

While he spoke, Artemis gently pulled Hanatarou to his feet and guided him over to sit next to Haku.

"It's quite interesting really," he said, conversationally--throwing Haku a look that indicated Hanatarou might become a little nervous or skittish. "It's really more like acupressure than what you use. Perhaps he would be willing to teach you sometime. No doubt it produces less headaches and nosebleeds, and could be used when the injury isn't so very serious."

The metaphor didn't entirely make sense to Hanatarou, and he blinked quizzically at Artemis before realizing that he was being guided over toward where Haku sat. At that point he glanced from one to the other, the words finally sinking in, and he perked up a little in sudden interest.

"Acupressure...like, um, spirit points?" he asked, looking wide-eyed at Haku. "I, uh...er, learned about that, but..." It hadn't even occurred to him to try that here, considering most of the injuries he'd dealt with so far. He was foolish, wasn't he? Such a worthless healer.

"I don't really know what 'spirit points' are," Hake said, shifting to make room, "But I think they might be similar. I can't use them properly, as I don't have full use of my power here."

He held up his hands to show that they were empty. "But I'd like to try?"

"Well, considering how different your worlds must be, the technique can't be exactly the same. At least I would wager it isn't exactly the same," Artemis offered, trying to quash whatever doubts Hanatarou was undoubtedly feeling about Haku using a technique he already knew on him.

"In some ways, Hanatarou, being here is a gift to those of us who are willing to learn from others," he said with a smile. In fact, if one ignored the fact that they were all prisoners against their will and couldn't come and go as they pleased, being amongst those from other worlds wouldn't have been all that bad.

Noticing the invitation inherent in Haku's gesture, Hanatarou cautiously settled on the edge of the bed just in case he'd actually been mistaken. "Um...I'd be curious to see?"

His curiosity about what Haku meant was enough to distract him a bit from the headache which was, indeed, rather strong at the moment. At least his nose had stopped bleeding, so clearly he was just about ready to leave. As soon as he'd seen the demonstration, at least.

Reaching out, Haku settled a light, cool hand on Hanatarou's arm and smiled. "Tell me if you want me to stop and I will. No hard feelings."

He carefully took the healer's hands in his own and quickly found and pressed on the correct points to ease the pain the young man had to be feeling. He couldn't have done anything for the nosebleed, so he was glad it had stopped, though knowing it had happened in the first place was frustrating. After a few moments, Haku's hands moved to touch a few more spots on Hanatarou's arms, his hands getting a bit colder as he worked.

Hopefully, it would work as well on a Healer as on Artemis, but when Haku had done all he could, he drew back his hands and folded them neatly in his lap.

[skipping Arty with permission]

Hanatarou watched Haku work with complete fascination, only halfway aware that the work was being done on him. It was similar to the technique he knew, but subtly different, and it completely distracted him from the pain - until he realized that the treatment had worked and there wasn't as much to notice anyway.

He blinked down at his arms, then glanced up again and offered Haku a shy smile. "That's amazing, Haku-san. Thank you." And if he didn't have to wait a minute to recover, he could hurry off and find the rest of the group, who were undoubtedly waiting for him by now. However long it had been.

Haku smiled and bowed his head. "Perhaps when you're not in a hurry, I can show you a bit?" He settled back and nodded at the door.

"I don't want to keep you from your appointments though. Thank you for letting me help Hanatarou-san."

"Thank you for your assistance, Hanatarou. I really do appreciate it," Artemis assured him. He was glad that Haku had been able to deal with the healer's headache--not only because it would leave Hanatarou fresher for whatever Homura had in mind, but also because wandering around alone at night while compromised was never a good idea. Hanatarou had grown on Artemis, insecurities and all. If he were prone to thinking things were adorable, Hanatarou might have been one of those things.

"Haku's right, though, I don't want to keep you from Homura for too long. Something tells me that he isn't particularly pleasant when things don't go as planned," he said with a smile. "But if you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to ask."

The reminder that he really did have somewhere to go caught Hanatarou up short; he would have liked to talk to Haku some more, but he really should wait until there was more free time. During the day, maybe, and maybe he should ask if Haku was free tomor--no, he needed to go. He was already late enough and Homura was probably going to be unhappy.

It didn't help matters any that Artemis also seemed to think Homura was the grumpy type. Hanatarou hastily rose again and stepped back, pausing to bob a bow to each of the pair. "Um, I was glad I could help. A little. And thank you for your help, Haku-san." He smiled a little, shyly, then grabbed up his sword again and scurried off.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/728500.html?thread=60624308#t60624308)]

Haku watched him go with a small smile. Honestly, that young man was just begging for someone to come along and kill him. It made Haku feel a bit protective, but he didn't think he could handle following around two people with limited defensive skills. ~~no offence meant of course~~

He looked up at Artemis. "I hope he doesn't get into too much trouble," he said.

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