[OPEN]

[keephersafe]

Who: R & YOU
Where: Beach up to the mansion
When: February 22nd
Rating: PG-13
Summary: R comes back from a canon update and is very confused
The Story:

[He washes up cold, wet and half-drowned on the beach, unable to coordinate his arms and legs to fight against the tide until the waves take pity and throw him out onto land with a cut on his head for good measure. R had spent long enough on the beach to know where he is immediately, and he feels the bottom drop out of his stomach moments before he goes on to throw up several mouthfuls of salt water.

Lying on his side he sputters and coughs painfully, his throat raw, and slowly shifts over so he can push himself up onto his knees. Once there, he coughs fitfully again, struggling to draw breath into still-protesting lungs. His chest hurts, and he twists a hand into the front of his shirt as if it might help, feeling the fluttering pound of his own heartbeat against his ribcage.

It's some time before he manages to wobble up to his feet, shaking with cold but still lacking the physical ability to get goosebumps, and he abandons the idea of trying to use the phone in his pocket before he even tries it. Cold zombie fingers. He'd just drop the thing.

In this state of unsteady disorientation he picks his way back to the mansion and pushes open the door, grunting softly against the weight of it. Blood from the wound on his forehead has formed a thin rivulet down the side of his face and soaked into the white collar of his shirt, creating a picture that might be gruesome were it not for the overall pitiable state of the man.]

Ex--- excuse... me. [He says to the first person he sees, struggling to get the words out around the still-present speech impediments and the chattering of his teeth.]

I th... think I need a d-d-doctor.

Comments

[naughty_nurse]

[At the mansion, Mikan walks out of the clinic, looks up AND WOW OKAY SO MANY QUESTIONS AT ONCE-]

Huh?! W-what happened? I thought you couldn't get hurt!

[isn't that part of the whole zombie deal???]

[keephersafe]

Uh.

[Oh.

He only realises in that moment that his head kind of hurts. His fingers go up to the source of the sting and come back red, and he looks at the blood as if he doesn't quite understand how it could be coming from him.]

I've been... home. [Right. That's what happened.] Things are... different.

[naughty_nurse]

[She hesitates, but only for half a second. Zombie or not, he needs help! She runs over, grabbing his wrist.]

Come with me to the clinic right away!

[keephersafe]

[R flinches minutely when she grabs him.

His entire body feels sore, though most of it is located very precisely to one point in his head, and the way he stumbles when he tries to move is less the shuffle of the undead and more the weary misstep of someone almost too tired to keep moving.]

O... kay. Coming...

[naughty_nurse]

[Thankfully, the clinic is right by the doors, so it's only a few steps away. Once inside, she lets him go, running about to grab supplies - ]

Where do you feel the most pain? Describe your injuries as best you can! Sit, please!

[keephersafe]

[Oh, that's a lot to take in at once. The final command is the easiest to obey, so he sits, and looks at her a little blankly before he answers.]

My head. It's... [Bleeding. He touches it absent-mindedly, adding to the blood already drying on his fingers.]

I think... that's all.

[naughty_nurse]

[She's at his side within seconds, shoving things in his hands - a cup of water, and pills.]

These should dull any pain you feel.

[Now she's inspecting his head, through the hair, to find the wound and examine it.]

Can you tell me what happened? Were you struck with a blunt object?

[keephersafe]

[R knows, logically, that there's a use for the things she's giving to him. As it is, the idea of trying to drink water is so entirely unappealing that he just puts them to one side and ducks down so she can get a better look at his head.

The wound is still bleeding, a faint throb under the skin pushing the crimson liquid out of the split in the skin just under his hairline. A throb like a pulse.]

No... I w... was in the ocean. I've b... een gone.

[bibliocorn]

[This is a deeply worrying sight to step into the entrance hall to. The human looks an awful state, he doesn't know all that much about their physiology, but he's pretty certain they should look like they've been dragged backwards through a river. ]

Oh! Um! Right, of course!

[He knows sixty healing spells off the top of his head, but he can't use any of them. He hops from hoof to hoof, nervous. ]

I. Can you walk okay? I can help you to the clinic.

[keephersafe]

[He's hallucinating.

He's cured, he's spent the last couple of months trying to pull some kind of life back together, and now he's back in Wonderland and he's hallucinating. Must have hit his head harder than he thought.]

I... I can walk.

[R's never been to the clinic - a dead person doesn't have much use for a doctor - but it can't be far, surely.]

[bibliocorn]

[Sunburst could count the number of times people met him and didn't assume they were hallucination on the- well, if he had hands, he'd only be able to count the number of time son the fingers of one of them. Still, for now, he'll focus on fussing over R. ]

Alright, well, if you come with me, I can show you the clinic, they should be able to help you there. Are you freshly arrived?

[keephersafe]

Uh... no. Been h-here before.

[It's been coming back to him since he washed up on the beach, like a fuzzy dream getting clearer instead of fading. Not usually how his memories work, but he can't deny any longer that this all might be some kind of figment of his imagination.]

Never needed... the clinic.

[bibliocorn]

[He walks slow, keeping an eye on him, just in case. ]

Oh. Well...that's very fortunate for you. Especially given this world's tendency towards trying to kill us.

[keephersafe]

[He stops himself before he says he's already dead. That Wonderland is always trying to kill them off isn't a thought that occurred to him before now, but now it does, and he finds himself struck with a new level of concern for his own mortality.

Being Undead could still mean your existence could end, but it was a different thing entirely to having a beating heart.]

Guess so. [In the relative warmth of the mansion a few of the things he's remembered to do start to kick in, and by the time they reach the clinic he's shivering all over from a combination of shock and cold.]

I don't... feel so good.

[How much seawater had he swallowed?]

[bibliocorn]

[Beating hearts, after all, can be stopped. Horribly easily, too. He pauses, a forehoof raised, concern growing. ]

What's the problem? I'm not really...adept at this kind of thing, and I don't quite understand humanoid medical conditions, but- well. Where does it hurt?

[DOES THAT HELP? IS HE HELPING? ]

[keephersafe]

[R grimaces, nausea rolling through him like a wave. He resists the urge to throw up, at least, and instead grips his stomach slightly as it twinges.

Priorities. Right. What does he need to fix first? He looks around the room in a half-nauseous daze, then realises that he is still very cold.]

Need t... to dry off. First.

[Things will feel better when he's warmer, right?]

THIS IS SO LATE I'M SO SORRY please feel free to ignore if it's too late

[livemoore]

[ Liv hasn't even been pretending to sleep since she realized R disappeared. She's been up, waiting, just camping out in his room sometimes, unsure of when exactly and where he'll turn back up. But, as non-breathing as she is, she needs air, she needs to not be confined inside the walls anymore, so she goes outside.

As luck would have it, that was the right call. She doesn't even get past the mansion doors. ]

R! Oh my God, what happened to you?

[ Oh, this is bad. This looks so bad. ]

AS IF I WOULD

[keephersafe]

Hit my head.

[Oh, good, it's Liv. If he'd had the physical energy he might have broken into a run to reach her sooner, but instead the opposite happens, and he wobbles a few steps before coming to an unsteady stop a few feet from the mansion doors.

Now and then, the wound at his hairline throbs. It's probably pain. Still a new enough experience that sometimes it's hard to tell.]

Nothing... um. Nothing br-broken.

[He thinks, anyway. Could be walking on a shattered ankle for all he knows.]

[livemoore]

[ Liv frowns as she looks at his head, then looks at him. ]

Guess your variety of zombie doesn't heal super fast. Come on, I'll take you to the clinic and we'll make sure you're actually whole.

[ One arm actually goes around his waist so she can guide him a little better and support him as they walk. ]

[keephersafe]

[How can he tell her that he isn't technically 'Dead' anymore? It doesn't come to the forefront of his mind as something important, since he sometimes forgets about it himself, but he's going to have to tell her eventually. She's never seen him injured enough to realise that before, he wouldn't have been bleeding at all.

He leans on her a little for support while they walk and finds a comfort in it, more than glad that she's still here.]

How l... long was I g... one?

[livemoore]

A week, just like normal when your stuff doesn't disappear. Do you know how much time passed at home for you?

[ They're making progress as she heads in the direction of sure medical supplies. ]

[keephersafe]

Not... not long. A month... maybe.

[Maybe longer? He's never been the best at judging time passing, and that's not something that changed.]

Sorry... about the blood.

[Which he is sure is currently getting on her, while he's still actively bleeding down the side of his face.]

[livemoore]

Wait.

[ She frowns in surprise and confusion. ]

You're actively bleeding. How are you bleeding?

[ At the clinic, she lets him in and sits him down. ]

Are you alive?

[geekorthodox]

[ Patterson is still adjusting to being back in Wonderland. It's not usually something that anyone looks forward to, being stuck in a place like this again, but things could always be worse. She has friends here, she's established at least some sort of routine, one that she's able to fall back into easily. She has a pretty cool roommate - Liv - and there haven't been any horrible events in the last week. She won't voice that last bit of gratitude out loud, though, because who knows who could be listening and feeling spiteful.

Deciding the weather is too nice not to enjoy, she decides to head out for a walk along the beach, wearing a t-shirt and a zip-up hoodie sweater. She doesn't get very far, though, before stumbling into someone she recognizes. And - oh, no. Bending just a little to see his eyes, her own are full of worry. ]

Oh, my God. Hey. Hey, it's - been a while. You look awful. Come here. [ She's the one who steps closer, though, taking off her sweater and wrapping it around his shoulders, trying to warm him up. ] Okay, you're gonna be okay, I promise. Let's just - yeah, let's get to the clinic. And get you warm.

[ But this is strange. He's bleeding, and he's cold. But he's dead. Or he was. None of it makes sense, but honestly, none of it matters right now, other than focusing on what he needs. ]

[keephersafe]

[Friends. Yes. There are friends here, much like the one who leans down to catch his eye and then wraps her sweater around his shoulders. He feels the warmth of it seeping through his soaking clothes and struggles up with her help, shaking in the wind whipping in off the ocean and moving in the sluggish way of someone disoriented and injured rather than Dead.

That's not to say his coordination is perfect. There's a good reason he never bothered to reach for his phone.]

H... ey, P-Patterson.

[Her name comes back to him in a flash of colour, like a soap bubble popping across his mind. Patterson. She's kind, and she's not afraid of him. Not that there's much reason to be, anymore.]

Thanks.