Starring:
Date: October 22, 2016
Summary:
Mushi finds Goh to tell him of his prognosis and possible treatment.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Prognosis for a Pickler"
Unknown location
It's been an interesting week for the pickler. He started it by consummating his relationship, and then finding out that he had blood in his eye. The day after he was left alone, free to explore the village with strict instructions on 'not to get into trouble'. Those were instructions he ssooorrrttt of kept to. At the very least he stayed on the edge of trouble, demonstrated by the fact that he's still alive!
But not free.
Due to excessive action and drama inside the Namami Restaurant, Goh, who was obviously unable to defend himself against the fierce shinobi of the Mist, has been enlisted into kitchen duty. He stands in the back of the establishment, a literal STACK of plates and glasses to his left. Two tubs are before him, one filled with suds and water, the other filled with clean rinsing water. Given the stack of clean dishes to his right, he looks nearly done. Sort of.
With an apron strapped around his chest, the pickler gets to work on the next batch, scrubbing and cleaning away. Yeah, he may have got into a little trouble. But at least he lived!
Mushi has been gone for almost a week when she finally returns. She went straight to the room where she hoped Goh was, as he stayed out of trouble. She didn't find him. She looked at the calmer places in Kiri but couldn't find him there either. When she heard he was in the Nanami Restaurant, she had to keep from screaming in frustration. What is he doing at that brawling den? She had told him to stay out of trouble. So she goes, heads into the back, and says just that. "I told you to stay out of trouble," she says, by way of greeting. "But here you are getting all caught up in a dangerous place like this. Finish those in five minutes and come with me!" Then she'd storm out to the front, and find a table. Not happily. The expression on her face keeps the patrons away.
"Oh, hey Mushi!" Goh lifts a hand to wave, scrubbing brush still held. "What's up? Welcome back." His face sort of falls a little when she seems so upset and bothered, his nose wrinkling a little in fright. "But I did stay out of trouble!" He calls back after the healer, leaning off to the side as he watches her depart the front exit.
If she cared to get the details, Mushi will learn that Goh was sent flying through the front window and into the restaurant proper. As he didn't have the money on him to repay the group for damages, he had been drafted into service duty. WHO exactly threw him into the place? Well, that had never really been determined. And as far as the owners of this restaurant were concerned, they didn't care either.
Regardless, Goh scrubs like a man possessed, and in five minutes, is left with a pile of clean, sparkling dishes. "It's like art!" He proclaims, beaming at the job. With little time to process the achievement though, the apron is discarded and he walks out the front. The pickler is rotating his shoulder, the arm probably sore from cleaning so much.
"So what's going on? How'd your trip go?" He queries with a huff, assuming Mushi is not far from the front of the store.
Mushi looks as if she might repeat Goh's first trip through the window. The window has been fixed. Everything in here has a kind of secondhand look, as if they expect the decor to be broken frequently. There's nothing too expensive that'd be hard to replace. Her stern look melts when he asks about the trip. She looks a bit unhappy and then a bit happy, and then just focused. Extremely focused on Goh, who she'd beckon to sit down at the table across from her.
"Goh-kun," she says. "I found out what your body is like." Her eyes are a bit sly at those words, and then somber. "It's good I found you in time. Your chakra needs to be restored. Otherwise your vital organs will shut down. Damaged by your own energy. To live we need to fix you up. The good news is I found someone who knows how. He far surpasses me in chakra network knowledge and treatment. The bad news is it'd take me a year to master it. No…six months, five, if I tried. Too long though. So we're going to Konoha. And Inuzuka Taiki is going to fix you up."
"Yeah you did," The pickler replies with a sly smile in return. "I remember. I found out what yours was like too." What she says next sort of washes over him a bit, his hand lifting to scratch his head. "What? But I feel fine." After of course, Mushi had injected him with energy. "Why are my vital organs going to shut down?" He looks at his own torso, lips twisting in a bit of confusion. "I don't understand. Why can't you just learn and fix me up yourself? I'm not sure I trust anyone else to do the job." That is said seemingly honest enough, the pickler walking over to sit on a nearby bench, leg folding across his knee.
"Inuzuka… that's the clan with the dogs, right? You're telling me he knows more than /you/? Come on." He appears to find that hard to believe, the man even rolling his eyes as he chuckles.
"Sometimes people who feel fine can still be in bad health," Mushi says. "This is uncharted territory for me. But I suspect being constantly in pain means you're very close to having your body shut down. It may be years. It may be days. If it were a matter of simply restoring you while you were healthy otherwise, I'd do it. But he says your body might shut down any day."
She shakes her head. "It's amazing. He does know more about chakra pathways than me. And even if I learned it…I looked up his records. He has /experience/ in this. He's done it before, and succeeded. The research he's put into this dwarfs mine. And he has a reason to keep you alive and in good health." She reaches over to touch Goh's hand. "He'll succeed Goh-kun. I know a brilliant healer when I see one. He was recommended by the Kazekage, and when I met him he had me scrambling like a novice to keep up with him." She smirks. "Even though he is from the dog clan, yeah."
"Sometimes people who feel fine can still be in bad health," Mushi says. "This is uncharted territory for me. But I suspect being constantly in pain means you're very close to having your body shut down. It may be years. It may be days. If it were a matter of simply restoring you while you were healthy otherwise, I'd do it. But he says your body might shut down any day."
She shakes her head. "It's amazing. He does know more about chakra pathways than me. And even if I learned it…I looked up his records. He has /experience/ in this. He's done it before, and succeeded. The research he's put into this dwarfs mine. And he has a reason to keep you alive and in good health." She reaches over to touch Goh's hand. "He'll succeed Goh-kun. I know a brilliant healer when I see one. He was recommended by the Kazekage, and when I met him he had me scrambling like a novice to keep up with him." She smirks. "Even though he is from the dog clan, yeah."
"Itami recommended him?" Someone else he had known for a long, long time. Leaning back, he rubs his face with his hands. It seems almost too much to believe. How could he be dying like that? His organs didn't FEEL like they were rotting. Or did they? The confusion on his face shows that he really doesn't know. "He's done this before?" Goh asks, sounding surprised. "He has repaired a complete chakra network that's as blown up and destroyed as mine?" The pickler looks to Mushi then, head tilting like a pup trying to learn new things.
"Well… I dunno. If you're so sure," He begins, looking down as Mushi takes his hand. "…if this is the best way to do it, then I guess I have no choice. But you have to be there. I dunno, in case he wants to pull the plug or something like that." He smiles faintly. "It's a long trek to Konoha, though. I'd say it's at least a week of travel. Maybe even ten days."
"She did recommend him," Mushi says. "I went to Suna first to do some research. When she pointed me towards Taiki-san I thought he might be a glorified veterinarian. Being from the dog clan." She smiles ruefully. "His skills as a healer might surpass his clan heritage. But no he hasn't. While he has restored damaged chakra networks, he hasn't ever done one as critical as yours. He's not perfect, I know. But any healer who says they're perfect is no healer at all."
She reaches across to grab Goh's hand. Squeezing it so tight it's almost painful. "Goh-kun I'll be there every second. I won't let anything happen to you. At worst, he'll fail and I'll have to try myself. But you should know there's a price. Oh, not money. But he's concerned by the people who did this to you. Like me, he was astonished someone could remove a chakra network and the person comes out alive. You'll have to tell him, if it were to succeed…if that's okay with you."
"So… he hasn't got experience." Goh replies, sounding a bit down at that news. Rubbing the back of his neck, he shifts on the bench. Maybe a bit uncomfortably. It wasn't perfect, but given what Mushi was saying, finding someone that was perfect for this job is going to be… Well, difficult. If not impossible. But he does smile. "Gross dog clan, huh? Smelly bunch of med sheets." Said like an old man!
When she grips his hand so tightly, he smiles once more. "Have to tell him what?" The pickler asks, not quite getting the meaning. "My chakra network wasn't removed." He clarifies. "It was overloaded. Destroyed from the inside out. Is that what you want me to tell him? Who did it? And why?" He frowns. "Why does he want to know that information? Does it matter?" He leans forward on his seat, considering that. "Maybe it would be best for his own health if I didn't say that sort of stuff. This group… I don't know. They could come after me. And anyone who knows about them. I don't want to put this Taiki guy in danger."
"He has more relevant experience than me," Mushi says. She reaches out to touch Goh's cheek. She runs a finger down his jaw line. "Goh-kun I care about you a thousand times more than Taiki-san, or anyone in Konoha does. But healing isn't just an art. It's a science. And his is more exact. Besides, I plan to watch how he tries to heal you. If he can't do it at least I'll have a bit more knowledge."
She flinches when he describes what happened to him a bit more. She hadn't inquired, and he hadn't told her yet. "Well don't say anything of it beforehand," she says. "It's good incentive to help you, if you withhold the information till after a successful operation." She chuckles. "I told him not to speak of this to anyone, and he promised. Not until he's had a chance to speak with you."
She stands up. "Get something to eat. Get prepared. We're leaving in ten minutes. We'll get to Konoha in a day…same way I got around to Suna and Konoha. Flying. I hope your habit of being able to ride summons hasn't changed. Otherwise your vomit will be dropping for several miles."
The pickler feels his cheeks and face flush when Mushi tenderly caresses him like that. The goofball smiles like… well, a goofball. "That's probably a good idea. If he really needs to know and wants to put a target on his own back, then I can tell Taiki the story after. And if /you/ want to know what actually happened," He begins. "…you need only ask. Alright?" Leaning forward, the pickler will motion to kiss Mushi, a hand lifting to grasp the back of her neck and give it an affectionate squeeze. Like some sort of massage! Then, pulling back, he'll sigh. "I guess we'll see what happens."
"I'm good on animals." He declares. "But… flying?" He seems uneasy. "Mushi, I'm no good with heights! You know that. I get wobbly even if I'm on a high bridge. It takes a whole day to fly there? How will we relax when… I don't know. The threat of falling to our death is ever present?" Goh pines at this sort of thought for a moment, sighing dramatically. "Why don't we just walk? It's much safer. And, y'know. Lower."
Mushi leans into the kiss, and parts with a regretful sigh. One of the rowdier customers says, "Get a room you two!" Mushi responds by throwing a salt and pepper shaker at his face. It misses fortunately. She turns back to Goh with a scowl though her cheeks are red. She takes a moment to compose herself, and make sure the shouter won't retaliate.
"It'll be fine," Mushi says, unconcerned. "You know how you tree walk and stick on? Well, Kirameki does that. Except it's us she holds on. We don't need to do anything. And she uses some technique, maybe her wind chakra, to keep us from getting blown away. It's comfortable as sitting in a chair." In a chair that's miles high. She shakes her head. "As for traveling, no. If you could move as fast as a shinobi I'd consider it, but the sooner we get there the better. So buckle up. And hey, maybe you'll like it." She grins.
Goh snickers at the comment, but laughs loudly when Mushi throws something at him! That'll teach him. Standing up from his seat on the bench, the pickler stretches out, rotating his hips with hands placed on them. "Alright then. But if I fall off," He starts. "You really have to promise to catch me. Or at least drop me over a lake or something, so I can swim to the shore." Offering a hand to Mushi, either to help her up or just to hold, he casts a glance. "I'll have to head back to the apartment to get some of my gear. I'll be sure to load up on some food, too." He pauses.
"How was Itami, anyway? I haven't seen her since I've been back. I heard she was the Kazekage now. Pretty wild, huh? Everyone has grown up a bit."
Mushi gives a laugh when Goh makes her promise to catch him or dump him in a lake. "Trust me I had the same reservations," she says. "Going into the air I had no one to tell me that it'd be just fine. That I wouldn't drop to my doom. As it is, KIrameki is my summon not because she's the strongest, but because she's the most adept at carrying human passengers."
She nods and climbs to her feet. "I'm going to collect my things as well. I can store anything you might want into a scroll." She glances around. "Do you want to give tearful farewells to anyone here?"
"Na." Goh replies casually, shaking his head. "No-one that can't wait until I get back. I've met a few interesting people, but no-one that would care that I'm gone." It's a bit of a sad statement, but it's said so matter-of-factly that it suggests Goh doesn't care! "Come on. Let's head back. Then we can…" He swallows audibly. "Go fly on your big bird." The pickler winces at the though, gripping Mushi's hand tightly. "Let's roll."
And with this, he begins to stride out, headed back to the apartment that the pair had rented out for the week.
