Side Effects (7-14-11) [Keo & Aemilio, maybe others later]

Keoki pinched the bridge of her nose as she walked over to her camera bag. It had been early this morning that she'd just realized what day it was. Or, more like, what day was coming up. On the 16th, it'd be a full moon. That meant it was time to start taking her medication, no matter how much she hated it.

Her pills were by no means some miracle medicine that just magically stopped her transformations. Pulling out a white pill bottle with a ripped off label, she took out two round, red pills and downed them quickly without bothering to get a drink. And now it'd only be a short while until the side effects kicked in.

After about fifteen minutes, she started getting a light headache, and took that as a sign to go sit down on her bed, leaning against the headboard. The effects were simple, in order to supress a transformation, it had to be slowly weakened, by bringing out the lycanthropy transformation early in small doses. Small meant that there would be no external changes, it only went through some of the internal stages. After a few times of going through that, her transformation would basically be used up, so that by the full moon, she'd have no energy left.

Now, in an actual transformation, she'd turn into a werewolf with a high enough pain tolerance to quickly shrug off the pain that went with it. But with her medication, she remained human, and feeling your insides shifting, tearing and healing, but never actually completing the change was always painful. She pulled an arm over her mouth before letting out a small whine as the pains kicked in. She curled her legs in and leaned her arm and head against her knees to wait it out while just sitting on the bed. At least that much was comfortable.

But while she was in her room so that no one would see her, she'd actually forgotten to lock the door before taking the medicine. She'd left it unlocked since both of her friends, Creed and Tobias, were only a door away.

Though Tobias and Creed's rooms may have been closer to hers, their ears weren't. Aemilio just passed the unlocked door to Keoki's lair when Keoki let out a small vocelisation of her agony.
Admittedly that from a small distance, with a door in between it didn't initially sound like a sound of pain, but that just made Aemilio all the more curious. He could just say he was stopping by to say hello or use any standard excuse alike, to catch a glimpse of what was going on in there. And if nothing intersting was going on, at the least he got to have a chat with a girl he liked.

So he walked over and knocked on the door - just in case something freaky was actually going on in there. "Keoki?"

Keoki suddenly regret not just trying to keep her mouth shut. Of course she'd end up with bad enough luck for someone to hear. Aemilio no less. "Go away," she tried to sound forceful, maybe even angry, but it ended up obviously half-hearted.

She didn't really know if that would work, so she moved despite the discomfort it caused, sliding her legs over the side of the bed so she wouldn't look so pathetic, at the least. Of course he'd said how he liked strong girls, and here she was trembling over some pains from some medication. So Keo just tried to collect herself as much as she could in case he didn't leave.

"Are you ok?" Aemilio asked uncertainly, his hand already on the doorhandle and moving it slightly, hinting Keoki he was going to come in a couple of seconds ahead, instead of just bursting in.

Then he opened the door just a little and peeped his head through the gap. He was surprised to see her sitting on the bed, obviously not well.
"What's wrong?" he asked, coming in a little more as he decided this situation called for him inviting himself inside. Standing out there in the hallway peeping in would only attract more attention right?

She didn't do anything else when she heard the doorknob, figuring how it would go from here. She wan't really used to explaining it. If it had been anyone else, Keoki would have refused to say anything. She ran a hand through her hair as a frustrated habit, she hadn't bothered to tie back yet, but even that movement seemed a bit strained. After a moment, she spoke up a bit hesitantly, "I'm fine. It's just an illness, of sorts... It's not contagious," she quickly added.

"It just hurts a little, but I'm used to it," she said a few seconds later, smiling slightly while outright lying with that. But the last thing she wanted to do right now was look like she was whining about it. Keoki kept her eyes on the floor mostly now, hoping he wouldn't ask much more and just move on.

"What illness?" Aemilio asked, finding 'an illness' a suspiciously unclarrifying anwser. Especially because she seemed to be familiar with it, having had it before and knowing it wasn't contagious. He didn't express his suspisions though, but just acted worried instead.

He walked up to her and crouched down in front of her, in order to get into her gaze even as her eyes were pointed down. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked smiling kindly.

"It's just something I developed a few years ago. Every so often, there's just this kind of, tearing pain through most of my body, once or twice a day for a few days. I'll be fine in a few minutes, despite... how that might have sounded," she started, taking a moment to see what else she could say. She didn't want to specify that her problem had developed four years ago, the same year she was also attacked by the supposed 'rabid dog', because if anyone put those two things together, there could be even more questions. All she added was, "I already have it as managed as it'll be."

When he moved over and asked that, Keoki really only had one request, "Can you... not tell anyone about this?" Then she moved over a little, "And, you can sit down, if you want." She knew that request would just make it seem suspicious, so she might as well figure out how she was going to explain this.

Aemilio looked puzzled at her explanation, unable to imagine what kind of disease could have these sympthoms... If only he'd listened to Axel's boring medical babble more often!
The only think he could work out that showed up every now and then, hung around for a few days then went away again, felt like a tearing pain in the body... and incidentally started coming up a couple of years ago with a young woman like Keoki.... was a very different monthly inconvienence that had in no way to do with wolves.
He managed not to pull a face but was sorry he'd brought it up...

Then she started about keeping it a secret, which averted his mind from the assumption Keoki was experiencing an *ahum* female body problem again. Come to think of it, she did seem in far too much pain just for cramps. His curiousity fired up again, he sat next to her on the bed and promised: "I won't tell a soul."
He would like her to tell some more about this illness she was experiencing but didn't really know where to start asking. Where does it hurt? How does it hurt? Those were questions that would puzzle a doctor, nevermind him.
"Do you have any idea what causes it?" he therefor asked, already expecting an anwser that would only make him more curious and leave him just as clueless.

She glanced over at him and wasn't too surprised by the reaction. When he asked for the cause, she was already set for that story. "It's some genetic thing, something to do with the nervous system," she was glad Anna had given her information to tell on times like this. Keoki wouldn't have known to come up with this story herself, but Anna was a lot smarter, so she spoke up again, "Basically, my nerves don't like me. They send off pain signals when they're not supposed to, nothing can be touching me at all, but can feel like my lungs just exploded or something. Apparently it skips generations, usually, so while my parents didn't get it, I did."

"I take medication to keep the frequency down, but that's the best I can do. Once, I bugged a doctor for pain killers. But it didn't react well with my medication," she actually had gotten pain killers for it once, not exactly legally, and it didn't end well like she said, not that she wanted to explain," Thankfully most cases are no longer than five minutes." And it was true that it was usually pretty short. She could tell it was just starting to go away now.

"Ah," Aemilio said, completely oblivious if what he'd just been told was true or just nonsense. It sounded real enough... "that really sucks," he concluded, uncertain what else to say about it, especially after she pointed out painkillers weren't an option.
At the mentioning of how short the dicomfort usually was he smiled again though; "at least that makes it manageble?" he asked, careful to express cheer about that as he wasn't sure if Keoki considered that plus side to make it all that much better.

He put his hand on her shoulder, carefully as if he was afraid she might break if he put too much strenght. "Again, if ever there's anything I can do?" he insisted with a friendly voice, "even if it's only a hand to squeeze until it's over."

As long as he didn't question it anymore than that, Keo was fine with it. She did get a bit of humor out of it when he didn't really seem to know what to say, "Yeah, but you learn to live with things when you can't fix it." and she just nodded when he said that made it manageable. It was, since she only had to take her medication, the real cause, every eight hours.

Keoki didn't actually expect him to rest a hand on her shoulder, just slightly flinching, though from surprise and general unease with people touching her rather than pain, before looking over at him. It was a warm gesture, and she didn't really know what to say at first, other than replying, 'thank you', and placing a hand over his. She wasn't entirely sure if he was being genuine about wanting to help, but she had said she'd try to be more trusting than usual.

When Keoki flinched Aemilio was afraid he'd hurt her for a moment but then her handplacement reasured him he'd done nothing wrong. He was also glad she seemed to accept his offer, even though he doubted she'd be knocking on his door for support any time soon.

"I'm impressed you can through this like that," he said, "I mean... it's got to be pretty tough going through this on your own every time again...?" And he recalled she was anything but begging for attention and sympathy when he knocked on her door just now.
"Even for someone who's already used to it," he added, thinking that might be a counter argument to come up.

"I don't really have a choice," she said with more of a sad smile, "I guess you could say I don't have to move around like I do, but... I have my reasons. That's all I can say right now," And Keoki actually hoped maybe she could tell him that secret eventually, but right now, she was pretty sure he'd just call her insane. Even if he tried to ask about it right now, she wouldn't budge much on that.

"So, I just deal with it. I'm fine, now though," she added, no longer having any problems as she moved her hand back to her lap, "But, could you just stay a bit longer? I like having someone to talk with, though maybe we could move on to something nicer?" she tried suggesting, since it could be nice to get onto something different.

A little annoyed by the mysterious air Keoki gave her illness because it only made him all the more curious while at the same time disabeling him from finding out more without coming off rude. He sighed it off, telling himself he should just be pleased she opened up this much already.
His bad mood diappeared altogether when she asked if he'd stay. "Of course I'll stay," he said with a warm smile, "I just told you right - just ask me if there's anything I can do."
He shifted the way he sat on the bed a bit, turning himself towards her a little as he tried to think of something more cheerful to talk about.
"Let's see," he mused, "ah it's so typical - just on a moment like this I can't think of a single thing to talk about. I never thought I'd say this but I wish mrs Nellis was here to chat us up. Honestly, the woman's like a jukebox; you just throw in a coint and it makes noise for ages."
He grinned a little embaressed; "don't get me wrong, she's a lovely person if you ask me... but also living proof that the tongue is the strongest muscle in the human body."
It was fairly ironic that he was rambling on about someone rablming on, but he didn't know much else to talk about this quickly and considered he might as well distract Keoki with this nonesense until something more interesting came to mind.

"Heh, that offer could easily be abused, you know," she pointed out jokingly, before he shifted a bit, though she stayed as she was, "But, I am glad, you know, to actually have someone I can, well, start to trust," she wasn't sure what word to replace that with right now. Was trust the right word just now? She decided there wasn't much use dwelling on it, and the way he described Mrs. Nellis was rather accurate.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she said with a quiet laugh, "I'm kind of worried what will happen if she decides to take the role of announcer for the show coming up. Speaking of which, have any of you or the other performers scheduled practices or anything like that? I'd assume something has to be worked out." She was rather curious about the performance. It'd be interesting, since Aemilio was playing. Though it would be more fun if she could eventually hear him play on his own.

Aemilio chuckled at Keoki's comment, though he was mostly amsued by the idea of her taking advantage of him. When she started about trust his laughter died immediatly to be replaced with a happy smile; to and from some people those were just simple words but coming from her it meant more.
Fortunatly she went on about the talent show so he would'nt have to comment on it. His playing of music was a bit of a downer though; Dominique hadn't arranged anything yet though she said she would. Not that he was over-eager to play with her anymore.

Suddenly something came to mind. "Wait here," he said abruptly getting up from the bed and hurrying his way out the door to return moments later with a small black suitcase. Less sinister than that may sound it contained a roll-up keyboard very much like seen beneath* which he took out, unwrapped and put on the bed, kneeling in front of it.
As he turned it on he mentioned to Keoki: "it sounds much better with a real piano but this might..."
He left his sentence floating midair as he started playing a sad but elegant melody better known as Requim for a Dream. Indeed it didn't sound nearly as good as it would've on a proper piano but still it seemed fairly impressive he could just play it like this. All the while he seemed in a state near trance, concentrated and a 100% focussed yet fully at peace.
When he was finished he - and please let Keoki pay attention because it was a rare treat - blushed a little shyly and mumbled: "it's... not all that good yet... but I hope you liked it?"

*

Keoki was a little confused when he suddenly got up to leave, and would have gotten up if he hadn't told her to wait. When he returned with a black suitcase, she was rather curious as he pulled out the keyboard and placed it over the bed. It was oddly flattering that he'd thought to do that after talking about the performance, since she recalled that he preferred to play alone. But she stayed quiet, nodding when he mentioned it wouldn't sound as good as a real piano, and keeping still so she wouldn't disturb him by shifting the bed.

When he started playing, it was still impressive to her, keyboard or not, to hear how good he was. She kept her eyes by the keyboard at first, but when she looked back to Aemilio, he just seemed completely absorbed in it. She wondered if he even noticed she was watching him, before she realized that herself and glanced back to the keyboard with a light blush that faded by the time the he finished playing. She clapped lightly after the performance, smiling when he actually seemed concerned with it, "That was lovely. Really. It's a first no less," she glanced back to the keyboard so she wouldn't end up getting embarrassed, "Never had someone play a song for me before. It's... well, really sweet, Aemilio."

Uncertain why he suddenly felt so exposed and vunerable, Aemilio was glad with Keoki's reaction. Despite his dislike for playing in public, this felt ok in a weird kind of way. He quietly smiled at the his keyboard rather than facing Keoki right now and softly replied: "I'm glad..." and that was about all he'd vocalise right there.

He got up again and started rolling up his keyboard again, then as he'd finished he sat back on the bed, where it'd just been again, next to Keoki where he looked at her for a moment. "You said you feel it's hard to trust people," he said, "but you tried. So I'll try opening up a bit more too."

Keoki smiled back at him, even though he wasn't facing her. It was a bit odd to see him quiet like that, he always seemed confident and more than willing to talk. She tried to think of something to say, but by then he'd already gotten up and moved the keyboard to sit by her again.

What he said next made her rather curious, but she tried not to show it too much. She did make it clear that she's rather mistrusting, but it seemed like he wanted to say something this time. When he didn't go on, she kept her eyes on him before quietly asking, "Is there something in particular?"

"Well," Aemilio started hessitantly, "the piano thing was a bit of a huge thing to be honest." For a moment he seemed a little disappointed that she didn't seem to think of it in that way. But his grin - much like his confidence - returned quickly as he went on: "do you think you'll be up for a short trip in the garden tonight? As if, after dark?"

"I'm sorry, I thought... I don't know, I'm still bad at this," she just regretted what she'd said. Keo had assumed he just didn't play for others because he didn't want to, but it seemed like there was more to it than that. She felt a bit better when he asked about a trip to the garden, "Sure. I haven't spent much time there yet, now that I think of it. Um, should I meet you there?" She wasn't exactly sure what this was supposed to involve, since he just called it a short trip.

Aemilio was - cruel as it may sound - glad Keoki regretted her words there for a moment. He was also glad though when she appeared to cheer up at his question and also the hint of confusion about the nature of their future trip to the garden.
"Sounds good," he said with a smile and a blink of his eyes instead of a nod, "shall we say... somewhere between 11:30 and midnight or would that be past your bedtime?" he ended in a teasing tone.

"Oh, but that is rather late, don't you think?" she started with a pretend tone of concern before grinning and speaking seriously, "Don't worry, I'll be there. Never been one for curfews or the like." She'd actually been troublesome for her parents shortly before she left, for other reasons, of course. And Anna never really gave her a curfew when she wanted to go out, so she'd spent the last few years doing as she pleased. Though thankfully she never got into too much trouble.

((I figure we might as well just continue it from this thread instead of making a new one, unless you'd prefer to start another.))

Aemilio grinned as a reaction to Keoki's joke, then went over into smiling because of
her agreeing to meet in the garden tonight.
"Tonight it is," he stated with a mysterious kind of cheer in his voice, taking her hand and placing a small kiss on it.

(( uninspired interval, skipping to that night))

It was a soft night, reasonable warm for the time of day, a bright moon up in the nearly cloudless sky. Aemilio leaned against a tree nearby the mansion's greenhouse exit. He was wearing dark clothes which, combines with his dark eyes and hair may have given him a slightly gothic appearance in nothing but star- and moonlight.
He was waiting for Keoki, calling himself crazy for doing so.

Keoki checked the clock to make sure she wasn't running late before continuing to fix her hair into a single braid instead of her usual ponytail. Sure, it might not be all that visible in the middle of the night, but it couldn't hurt that much, she figured, pulling a hair tie onto the end. She'd opted for just a nice, light purple top and black capris, and slipped on a light jacket in case it'd gotten cold out before leaving her room and heading for the garden.

It took a minute to adjust from the house to the darkness outside, but she quickly headed out towards the garden, looking around for Aemilio. She noticed the greenhouse, but it took a moment before noticing a dark figure against one of the trees. She wasn't sure how many people would hang around the garden this late at night, so she started walking over, though she stayed quiet for now.