milliways_bar | (no subject)

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After his "conversation" with the Dark Dragon and Mia's subsequent tongue-lashing, Autor found himself chastened and in need of a bracing cup of tea. He picks up a face mask for protection from the flu and soldiers out to see if his worries about Oswin and Rae being infected are well-founded.

Catch him out and about in the main bar.

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The boy shakes his head. "He's... He's returned, but he has been out for two weeks and a day. He's also being possessed by a powerful being called the Dark Dragon, who claims that he'll be all right."

He furrows his brow. "Full case?" he asks. "What was it like?"

"Poor Lucas," Rae says, wincing. "Hopefully the... dragon is right."

"It was weird. On top of feeling awful, I could feel my control of my own body slipping out of my control, sometimes for hours or a day at a time, and had thoughts that weren't my own going through my head."

Autor frowns under his mask. "That sounds terrifying," he says, squeezing her hand. "I'm so glad you're all right now. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Nah," Rae says, settling on the seat beside him. "I'll be fine. Mostly it's just trying to regain my strength. It's rough enough being sick, but hallucinating you're someone who doesn't want to stay in bed and drink tea like a good little sick person just makes it worse - so glad I don't normally get sick."

"How have you been, apart from being holed up? Feeling all right? Keeping busy?"

It might be clear that she has been worrying about him, in the meantime.

"That does put a damper on recovery attempts, yes," Autor says, with a touch of wryness.

He bumps her shoulder gently enough to avoid spilling either of their teas. "I've been busy, yes, but mostly restless," he admits quietly, removing his face mask. "I confess I've missed your cinnamon rolls. And, you know. Conversation and such."

It's quite clear he was worried about her, in the meantime.

"I made a small batch the other day, trying to get back into the swing of things without overtaxing myself. They turned out all right, but I was really tired afterwards," she says, returning the shoulder-bump.

"I missed you, too. I wasn't myself for much of the time, but I missed you anyway."

"This really hit you hard, didn't it?" he asks, frowning. He sips his tea to help him resist the urge to feel her forehead. "How long were you sick?"

"The only times I've been sick, since childhood, have been this weird disease in Milliways. I'm not a good patient," she chuckles slightly. "And yeah, it hit hard."

"...Honestly not sure how long it was. I missed hours at a time, sometimes. It was well over a week, I'm sure."

Autor shudders at the thought of missed time. "Sorry to hear that. I hope you make a full recovery soon," he says. "But you don't get sick? Truly? That's quite lucky."

"Yeah - I just don't get sick. It meant that this time, having had this weird flu here before, I knew what it was before it fully descended. Before I... woke up thinking I was someone else."

"Can you remember who you thought you were?" he asks, blinking as he sips his tea. "What a strange virus. That poster really didn't have any useful information on it about the flu's true nature."

"Yeah, I still have the memories of the time I thought I was them, and, you know, memories of their lives, too. Last time - the first time I had it - I hallucinated I was a rising starlet from 1930s London. Thing is, a friend of mine here hallucinated he was this starlet's true love - wanting to take her to New York. So we were both sick, hallucinating we were people who were intimately involved. It was a mess."

"This time, there were a couple of different people."

"Sounds like an awful mess. That has to be difficult to keep straight in your head," Autor says sympathetically. "Who were you this time?"

"For the first while of it, I kept thinking I was... some sort of con artist. Sydney, but she had crafted this persona named Edith, who pretended to be an English aristocrat with banking connections, so she and her partner could swindle them out of their money."

It shows on her face that Rae didn't like her at all.

"So you thought you were someone else who was pretending to be someone else, both of whom were unlike you," he says, blinking. "Which persona did you take on for the second part of it?"

"Sydney spent the entire time lying and flirting with everyone she met," Rae sips her tea to get the bleh feeling from her mouth. "As for the other person - have you ever heard of Amelia Earhart?"

Autor blinks at her, trying to picture Sunshine ever telling a lie--or flirting. It's a strange thought.

"Amelia Earhart," Autor says, trying to place the name. "No, I don't believe I have. Who was she? Or you, rather?"

"She was a very important female aviator - and knew it, too," Rae replies, sipping her tea. "It was weird - Amelia knew herself to be herself, but also had insight into her place in her world's history. Like she had read up on herself, after her time."

"Oh, strange," Autor says, sipping his tea. "That had to be a layer of disconnect for you. I've done that, though. Do you know how she managed to do so without Milliways' library?"

"Nope, no clue."

Rae leans on his shoulder slightly. "I'm just glad it's over. Amelia was okay, I suppose - but Sydney just made me feel wretched and dirty afterwards. She was either seductive or offensive, and lying all the while."

"I'm glad you're back to your non-lying, non-offensive self. It's good to have you as you, Rae," he says, leaning back. "Are you going to take a few days to rest after this? You still look weary."

"Yeah, I'm going to stay here until I feel back up to... normal, I guess," she answers.

"Before I go back and deal with whatever mess that's brewing back home."

"Ah, right, you still haven't been back since then?" Autor asks, surprised. "Do you have a plan to deal with it yet?"

"I was planning on just staying here a few days... but then I got sick, and it's been a couple of weeks since I felt up to thinking about dealing with anything."

That'd be a no, Autor.

Autor bumps her shoulder again. "Then stay. Get your strength up. We're glad to have you," he says. "Maybe we can think of some options for you before you leave. Is there anything you need right now aside from rest?"