Midnight Run [Catherine, Isamu]

Yeah, that was a good question, why did she tell him that? She felt the flutter of adrenaline slowly drain out of her system, thinking of an answer that wouldn't be further shameful to admit to, flinching when the ointment was rubbed into her wound. Always stung, but it made healing quick and clean... Wasn't anything compared to the accounts she managed to decipher from those journals, but that was simply because she was missing a key technique. With all of that, she settled on an answer,

"Because I lost. Our bargain? You win," Her voice had changed from it's normal tone to something more airy, melodic - closer to her true accent than the one she intentionally imposed on her voice day after day, "I'll even buy dinner if you feel such is warranted... But don't use that name on the clock."

For a moment, she lied in silence, staring at the stars with silent wonder, "..I'm scared of sleeping, Isamu. Bad things happen when I sleep. So I made it so I didn't need it... I always knew I did, but going, going, going all the time nearly got my ass killed this time... Hah..."

"Oh, yea. I never did ask for somethin' in return for our little stipulation. Heh, guess you've finally decided to get some well-deserved beauty sleep, huh?"

He didn't voice it externally but the airy and melodic nature of her voice was charming, an emphatic departure from the rough voice she commonly regarded him with any time they crossed paths. As he continued to treat her wound and rub it gently, he listened to the woman admit the danger inherent in living a sleepless life. He could understand remaining active for a long time, but between working herself to exhaustion and depriving herself of rest? He sincerely wondered how she hadn't lost her mind already.

Of course, though he was proud of his victory - as any prideful man was - he wasn't going to rub it in her face. No, if anything her excersised patience as he finished applying the ointment. Grabbing the bandages from the box, he instructed her to hold her arm up as he slowly but surely winded the bandage around her arm. During the bandaging, he finally responded to her worries with a warm smile. An expression of genuine sincerity he rarely presented to most outside of a select few.

"I don't know if it's somethin' related to night terrors or simply the fear of rest, but, if it helps... I'll be here to look over you and make sure ya get good rest for a change. Schedule's pretty open and we've got a couple of days until we can head back and notify that the hollow's been taken out, if it isn't at death's door already. In any case, I'm here. Anisse. Just relax for once. You deserve that much, even if you tell me otherwise. There's nothin' to be afraid of."

Ever so slowly, he carefully ran a hand through her hair, maintaining a reassuring smile as he patted her bandaged arm.

"..Yah'.." Her tone fluttered with weak shame, covering her face with her other arm as he worked on fixing up the other, the undoubted movement of fabric revealing flashes of burn scars or massive teeth marks dotting and misshaping her skin. That smile, he never smiled that way before, has he? What did that mean..? Though, rather than that question leading into a string of worries and concerns, anxieties overlapping and folding and compressing into a cacophony of terror in her skull... But she simply accepted the expression for what it literally was, for once. Not like she was feeling awake enough to scrutinize it.

Instead, she'd point at her bag, "..That thing is still alive... I could sense it.. It just retreated... The details..." Her breath was sounding short, forcing her to regulate it for a moment, "...Gas masks. Put one on if the fog's rolling in. It invades through... Through airways. Don't move... From here.."

Looking up at him, her waning consciousness only evoking some concern of if she should trust his word... Well, it wasn't like she had much of a choice here, huh? There she went, her vision going black.

"Easy, easy. Like I said, I won't budge an inch. if the bastard springs up, I'll cut it down with my blade."

And he had meant every word of it. Even now, he could tell it was inherently difficult for her to fall asleep, but he would keep his word. His eyes turned toward the bag as he pulled it closer to his person, removing a gas mask from the bag.

Considering the effect that godforsaken hollow had on Anise, he definitely wasn't rearing to experience any of his past trauma or whatever that unholy thing exacted did to one's soul. His duty declared, his promise made, he sat closely at her bedside, observing her face as her eyelids finally closed.

He would have lit a cigarette to unwind, but he didn't fancy the thought of wakin' her with cigarette smoke. No, he simply kept the mask in his lap as he bided his time, onyx eyes constantly surveying and studying the area if the foxlike entity returned to finish the job.

The night would go on with a surprising amount of peace, the entity's presence hardly felt - as if it truly ran away to lick it's wounds for now. The stars would dim, the moon sinking in the distance, until the colors of sunrise crept across the rural landscape with a gentle dance of light, a new day welcoming the land.

Throughout her hours sleeping, it wasn't remotely as peaceful as a typical slumber. Frequently tossing and turning on the bedding, scrunching her eyes and speaking in her sleep, the occasional scream raking her lungs and tensing her body, until she simply lapsed into more silence. A longer period of peace, several hours of silence from her, would be interrupted with her rising from her place of rest, and walking the clearing. Attempts of gently guiding her back to lying down were successful, but she'd certainly speak of some grisly things under her breath in this state, of family and hatred of someone...

..Eventually, when the sun began sinking low, her eyes would open. Groggy, she rubbed her eyes and tried to pull herself upright. She felt at her bandage - minimal pain, her wound must've been done healing... The sound of bandages unravelling would surely alert her company of her waking, a listless gaze running down her horribly scarred arm, exposed.

As he solemnly promised the night prior, he remained true to his word. He remained at her side, observing her condition, checking for any irregularity in her breathing, mindful of the distinct possibility that she might experience a night terror of some sort that would wake her up. As expected, there were moments where he had to gently ease her body back into the bedroll, but it kept him active, and he hardly minded supporting her after winning his bet.

The grisly words she muttered under her breath were certainly interesting, but he paid them no mind as he continued to look over her during the night.

He sacrificed a whole night's rest for her sake, but since he had slept so much during the day prior, it definitely did not appear as though it would impede his day, at least not to any discernible degree. After all, compared to his partner here, he slept like a normal human ought to sleep.

At any rate, as the sun rose above the horizon to greet them, Isamu noticed Anise rising from her slumber, unwrapping the bandage around her arm, noting the wound that, while horrifically scarred, seemed to be healing up well enough to discard his fear that it might reopen. Then again, knowing her, he couldn't be too safe. If anything, he was curious to see how she reacted after an extended period of rest. Turning his head in her direction, he flashed a playful smile, his head tilted to the side.

"Welcome back, sleeping beauty. How'd a whole night's rest feel for a change?"

She wadded the soiled bandages together in a neat roll, only pausing momentarily to acknowledge Isamu's presence with a squinting glare - yeah, guy could yuck it up all he wants. He won, she had to admit that this habit of her's wasn't going to work out in the long run - the venom samples she'd been taking weren't sufficient to keeping her awake, if only she could read that damned recipe... But even if she could, was it really worth it? Staying awake long enough just made the terrors worse, even when she started she acknowledged that, but she just wanted to be stubborn.

"Awful. Like I shat my pants and sat in it," Her croaking tone was followed shortly by a brief coughing and a hacking spit off into the nearest bush, grunting and digging through her bag for a bottle of water, "..Urfh. It'd probably take several nights for that to start actually feeling better."

That bottle's contents were gone in a near instant, clearing her throat, "...Yeah, I gotta go piss. After that we're getting my machete back and skinning that peeping jackass while his heart's still thumping in his chest."

"And here I was, worried one night's rest would wash away the grumy attitude I'm so fond of."

Isamu chortled softly as he shook his head. True enough, he didn't expect a single night to fix her inhuman habits, but it was a start, and he won his bet, so little was his complaint. What he did expect, of course, was Catherine's clear intent to eliminate the hollow that invaded her body the night prior.

He wore his gas mask last night in the event it might return, but the night went surprisingly well, all things considered, and he eventually removed it once the sun rose. Rising from the ground, he transitioned into his routine morning of stretching and pacing around to ensure his body operated at its ideal condition. Concluding his brief routine, Isamu turned to

"Last night, i recall you mentionin' that that bastard invades through airways. With that in mind, before we go approachin' it, have ya thought of a specific gameplan, Ani?"

He had already developed a nickname to go with her true name. What could he say? It was a pretty name.

Her eyes burned with a slight headache, now she was regretting not packing those chewing herb bundles... She grumbled and fussed as she vanished into the brush for a few minutes, reemerging when she was done with her business and rubbing her eye. Really should get more water before the sun set, she definitely heard something trickling not too far from them...

"Oh, right." As she arrived back, she stood by the treeline, gaze to the side as she momentarily froze with that nickname. Ugh, she did not have the energy to correct that, at least it wasn't the nickname that pissed her off... Grabbing a stick, she'd come up to him and drop into a squat, beginning to trace images in the dirt, the first one appearing as a four-legged entity in a cloud surrounded by trees,

"Well from the little information gathering our guys got, I assumed it was a hollow that hid itself in the mist like an ambush predator. Was off the mark, but bringing the masks didn't turn out to be a bad idea. It lures people, particularly weary travelers it seems, into the mist with... Ugh, something they'd want to hear," There was no point lying, it could mean the difference between life and death - a small wounding of her pride was hardly measurable, "And when they're where it wants them, it hijacks their body through their airways, and uses it to pull the rest of the group in. Nasty shitheel eats you inside-out, total freak."

She made rather graphic looking drawings to illustrate this point. He didn't need to know what she was seeing during that, "So if we want to catch it off guard, one of us is gonna have to bait it out. It's a total coward and takes off if the situation isn't in it's control... So one of us is gonna have to take the bait, while the other lies in wait."

Looking up at him, she'd give a look that lacked any amusement, "You're going to want to be bait instead of me for my sake, huh? No need to play noble prince, Hagane."

"Of course, of course. You know me. A noble prince never lets harm come to those he cares about. Plus, I'm not exactly keen on watchin' you rip that thing from your body twice."

Isamu playfully rolled his eyes at her stoic expression as he sighed softly. He was accustomed to this routine by now, and he didn't really mind playing the role of the sitting duck if it achieved their bottomline on missions of this nature. He meant what he said when he said he didn't welcome the idea of seeing her deal with that creature a second time, considering the effect it had on her last night. It helped him win a bet in a morbidly humorous sense, but he definitely didn't think it needed to exist and continue terrorizing the civilians here, either. After burning the illustration and Catherine's words to his memory, he nodded his head as he glanced around the area, wondering where it might appear before turning to Catherine with a curious gaze.

"I expect it'll strike again tonight, but I can't be too sure, either way. I'll just keep my eyes and ears peeled and play the role of a weary traveler whose lost his way, let it lure me in, and bam, you strike it down and kill it for good'."