un: eraserhead

[dryeyes]

What should be done in the case of sickness?

[He hadn't asked the locals because he always struck himself as a person who didn't get sick. This was, of course, a lie, he was a person to simply work through his sickness until his legs gave out. He should have seen this coming, really. Rain doesn't cause colds, after all, but working in the rain for almost a full day while not sleeping will sure compromise the immune system.]

I assume a quarantine is useful for the natives. All the ill are kept in one place with as much soundproofing as possible. If it's only a few cases then they may stay isolated rather than risk moving outside of walls. They don't have the luxury of a reset. [which is still sketchy as hell, to him, it's hard to believe he might have a second life ready to go]

There is, however, the matter of us.

To those with opinions:
Individuals with a sickness that compromises their silence should:
1) Remain isolated in their rooms, muffling sound as best they can.
2) Attempt transit to the hospital to minimize threat to the residences.
3) Attempt to leave in order to assure no sound eaters are attracted to the city.

If you have a better idea than that, go ahead. I've got nothing better to do than check this for now.

[And people in House Four can tell he's not talking in hypotheticals. He's curled up with a blanket, muffling coughs into cloth while facing the wall in his empty, empty room.]

Comments

[saltsplash]

Well, maybe the hot tea will do the trick. I don't think it's caffeinated. If that fails, I'll exorcise the tension and stiffness and you'll have no choice but to relax enough for sleep.

[He'll gesture to "shush" before Aizawa can comment on that ridiculous statement since Reigen's moving the pillows and soundproofing around, and disappears into the kitchen to start boiling water.]

[dryeyes]

[He opens his mouth to retort but is immediately "shush"ed. His mouth hangs open for a bit, offended that he wasn't able to say how ridiculous it was. After a moment, he stubbornly pulls out his device, pulls up Reigen's profile, and,]

You can't exorcise tension.

[Delivered while Reigen is starting the tea. Only once he's gotten that out of his system does he settle down in his newly-formed blanket cocoon.]

[saltsplash]

[Pshaw!!]

How little faith you have in me!!

[dryeyes]

[He has absolutely zero faith. He has enough trust to be here, to lay down in a mess of blankets and try to sleep.]

[but, of course it's not coming easily now]

[he buries his face in a pillow and just grumbles, waiting for the tea. not the exorcism. that's still stupid!]

[saltsplash]

[Reigen's back in just a little bit with hot tea, securing the room and passing the tea to Aizawa.]

Alright. Drink that, then I'll help you relax.

[He pulls a chair out and sits backwards in it, in the meantime.]

I want to start looking into other buildings and the hospital and see if they can't be outfitted like this. The more we work to adjust the living spaces here, the better.

[dryeyes]

[He'll shift a bit, taking the tea and taking a small sip. He still doesn't look relaxed but, you know, give it time.]

... that'd be useful. The rain reminded me how stifling this was. [He missed heavy footsteps. And if he wanted to continue Shinsou's training, he'd eventually have to find an area where the sound was muffled. Combat was never silent.]

[saltsplash]

If we could find something underground, that'd probably work best. It doesn't sound like the Sound Eaters are burrowers, but maybe I'll check with the locals in case they tried that.

[Lots of "hey did you try this", and for a good handful of things, they tried. For others, they were too scared to try. Both were perfectly reasonable reactions.]

The learning phase is always tough. This project,

[He gestures to the room]

took time out of me learning more sign language. It's got its benefits and it'll be helpful long term, but I can't help more if I have to type every time.

[dryeyes]

Underground would be useful. If it doesn't currently exist, though, we're not going to really be able to make anything new... [he mumbles, more like talking to himself than anything else.]

[There's another sip of the tea, his hair falling forward as he leans over. It's extra messy since he's been sick. It's hard to focus on personal hygiene when you're miserable.]

Their sign is pretty different from JSL. I doubt it's based on anything in particular, just cobbled together from a bunch of scared civilians...

[saltsplash]

[It's reassuring, relaxing, it's releasing tension to talk to someone. Aizawa was practical and planning stuff before, but Reigen had fallen through on plans - things happened, he found an important task he wanted to do, then fell into the routine of guarding like he was assigned. That chat from before helped clear his head, after not being allowed to talk for so long - Aizawa's price to pay is getting the chaotic storm of thoughts that Reigen hasn't been able to point at anyone yet.]

It's a language, and it's pretty quick to learn compared to some sign. It feels like you have to drag out information so much longer by typing. And there's not as much organization for their information, not a ton of experimentation going on.

[Again, still reasonable. But the lack of resources makes it hard.]

But us. We're different. We're not afraid enough, we're still curious. If we try to act fast, maybe we can change things. I've been thinking about that a lot, I've never been in a situation like this - I'm a problem solver, but the most extreme thing I've done is stare down a domestic terrorist.

[dryeyes]

[There's a slow blink in response. His head was already foggy but it was a topic he cared about. The state of this place wasn't his issue to fix but any changes they could implement would make things easier for those of them stuck here. Shaking the locals out of their mindset was outside his grasp, but organizing information, gathering information, that felt easier.]

Domestic terrorist... [So, another person with a hero's instinct to meddle but no power to back it up. He takes another sip of tea and shifts his weight.]

Rest assured, even a professional can feel shaken in this kind of situation. I've seen what they're so scared of, when they took the group of us to Paris. [He could still see it, sometimes, when he closed his eyes. He'd never admit that was another reason for his drought of sleep.]

... it doesn't change the fact we need to act. [And he can't right now. How frustrating.]

[saltsplash]

Some of us have ideas, after what everyone saw at Paris. A Russian guy was talking about a bell, I was wondering if the sound of a waterfall would repel them the same way the rain does. Stuff like that, we should publicly brainstorm things to look at and experiment with.

First thing first, we should try and find a way to stop or distract the Sound Eaters so we can get away if we mess up.

[dryeyes]

It seems like overwhelming them with sound is almost more effective than staying silent. There is that inherent risk in making any sound at all, though. [Would Present Mic be more help or hurt, here... he'd initially thought it would be a death sentence. But, if a loud enough sound could just throw off their whole sense of being...]

Stopping them... [he leans back, clearly thinking] stopping them... [... he's too sick to process it properly. His brow's all knit with concentration and he's not coming up with much. After a pause, there's another sneeze that he quickly muffles with his arm. A bit of tea spills onto his arm.]

[If it hurts, he doesn't flinch, just grumbles more.]

[saltsplash]

[Reigen jolts, but he's a bigger weenie about hot spills, apparently. He'll get up and retrieve the cup from Aizawa.]

Alright, I'll quit picking at you for ideas.

[Tea cup set aside, and Reigen cracks his knuckles.]

Time to purge the tension out of those shoulders.

[dryeyes]

[There's a sort of tired, hopeless look at the tea is taken from him. He's fine. Sure, there's a bit of redness where the tea spilled, but it's fine.]

I said I was fine. I don't need it. [Although, rather, the tension seems to build in his shoulders immediately at the suggestion.]

[saltsplash]

Normally the block of purified salt works best, but my hands are skilled enough.

[Brace yourself, because Reigen's going to just. Go ahead and start kneading at Aizawa's shoulders and back. He's put three house wives and a grouchy salaryman to sleep with this technique, time to add a sick superhero to that list!]

[dryeyes]

[He tenses up at being touched. Purified salt? This whole thing was a mess of elaborate snake oil! He wanted nothing to do with it. He needs to message Shinsou and say he's coming back and if he sneezes on the way that's fi-]

... Ah.

[Wait, that's... not bad...]

[No!! Does not like being touched!!]

[... but it's not bad...]

[This will alternate for about two minutes before he settles on "not bad" and just sort of sags down in place and melts.]

[saltsplash]

[See? He's got his merits! He avoids a confident huff, increasing the speed and pressure - and for the finishing blow, he starts rolling his knuckles down both sides of Aizawa's spine.

He manages not to whisper finishing blow, since Aizawa would probably get mad.]

[dryeyes]

[he absolutely would]

[Instead, with the restraint in place, there will an appropriately pleased groan, into-]

[Aizawa falling soundly asleep. Good job! Perfect combo! SS Rank! Boss Defeated!]

[saltsplash]

[Perfect! Reigen bundles Aizawa up gently so as not to wake him, before quietly sneaking out of the door. He could sleep for a couple hours until dinner. Mission accomplished.]