just what I needed

roll me up and smoke me, love, and we can fly into the night
you take drugs, to let go, and figure it all out on your own

The train ride up toward the Plates is luckily one that seems like a blur. Uldren’s focused on making sure everything is perfect, if only because they’ve agreed to make this one an actual date, and he’s determined to make it a good one. Especially because of the destination. That and it also helps to get out of the Drench, if only to get away from where the sickness seems to thrive (something that has him under the weather but stubbornly refraining from mentioning any such thing).

The ride comes to a stop and Uldren offers out his arm to Ira to help her out of the vehicle — ever a gentlemen — until they come face to face with the bright morning, the slight smattering of rain, and the bustle of a lot of people whirring by heading to work or social gatherings. It’s almost overwhelming, and it’s only the second time he’s been up here — indulging his sister’s whims when they’d first arrived.

“Well, where would you like to go first?” He asks with a small smile, head tilting Ira’s way.

Uldren

ira

For the her, the train ride is spent mostly inside her own mind. In a silent argument with herself over not being in top shape currently, as if having said argument would make any difference. She's mostly just frustrated over the situation when she just wants things to be as fine as possible for the day. There's a headache pressing against her temples and she's feeling a bit generally under the weather as well, but it's nowhere near as bad as whatever is affecting a lot of people in the Drench. And whatever it is, it's not what's concerning her the most at the moment.

The familiar, very unwelcome ache is back in her lungs. Making itself known every time she takes a breath and seems to increase every day. She had slipped into her old habit of pretending the issue doesn't exists, despite promises. However, it might be difficult to keep it a secret properly at this point. With how she starts getting winded too quickly when moving around, how her breathing is a bit short and shallow as if something is tied tight around her chest. And she's also started waking up several times at night from trouble breathing. Though she's not sure how much Uldren has noticed yet. At least so far, the worst coughing has mostly been stabbing her at times when she's been alone.

She takes the offered arm once the train comes to a stop and gives Uldren a small smile, before stepping out and squinting at the light. She pulls up the hood of the warm wool poncho she's wearing, but doesn't pull it forward enough to cover her face so she won't just cut herself off from her company.

"Let's... See what's that way. I want to remember I found a kiosk in this area selling hot drinks to go one of the times I was here." She points down a smaller street lined with shops, one that seems to be the least crowded one in sight. "If only to get away from this rush of people to start with." And she really wants something to keep her hands warm with, because sticking them inside Uldren's shirt to warm them on him might give them odd looks. Not that she'd really care, but still.

roll me up and smoke me, love, and we can fly into the night
you take drugs, to let go, and figure it all out on your own

She hasn’t made it noticeable for Uldren to comment on postponing the date, and he’s stubborn enough to keep his own problems to himself as he focuses entirely on her own health after the recent admission. So they make quite the pair as they step out of the train, taking in the sites and the large buildings, the open air that seems breathable and yet he may end up in an awful coughing fit if he takes as deep of a breath as he wants.

Either way, he tucks her into his side, their arms linked as he squints through the crowd to try and figure out the street names, head tilting slightly to hear her better over the bustle of the city.

“I could go for a coffee I think.” He grins, before a slight raspy laugh leaves him in agreement of moving away from the crowd. “You think you can remember the name or what it looks like?” He asks, picking the direction and immediately starts to step toward it, hoping she can spy the place she speaks of.

Uldren

ira

Even if he had tried to postpone it because of her health, she would have refused to accept it, perhaps being equally stubborn about brushing her own issues away to focus on him instead. Though her stubbornness about it comes out of an anxious fear over the known potential outcomes if things become too bad and it often causes her to fall into denial instead of admitting the problem to prevent things to get worse in the first place. Bad habits? Absolutely.

The rasp in his laugh has her shooting him a somewhat concerned glance, but she doesn't make any comments about it. Yet. "Never bothered trying to remember the name, but I'll know the place when I see it. Always easier to remember directions and appearances than a bunch of names." She replies, leaning in a bit closer to be heard over the noise and huddles a bit closer to him overall for comfort as they start walking towards the street. The uncomfortable feeling of being very out of place is already creeping up on her, but she's happy to not having to be up here alone. And being in very preferable company, as well.

While the street she pointed out isn't empty, there's way fewer people still so far and less noisy. They don't have to walk far until they come to another intersection and she nods towards the kiosk in question tucked against a wall near a corner of one of the buildings.

"That's the one!" She calls out with delight, though raising her voice  causes her throat to tighten and she can't help but flinch at the stab in her chest from the deeper inhale she has to force down into her lungs. She quickly tugs Uldren with her towards the promise of a hot drink, hoping it will distract him enough to not notice anything being off.

roll me up and smoke me, love, and we can fly into the night
you take drugs, to let go, and figure it all out on your own

They both make quite the pair as he drifts through the streets alongside her, letting her glance at him while he brushes off any semblance of there being anything off with his laugh. “Bit similar to down below, yeah?” He teases her, but keeps her close as she starts to guide him through the streets and Uldren has to remain squinting because he’s so unused to the light these days. Even if it’s overcast, though, it feels good. He can feel the bit of sun peeking through the heavy clouds, and like a sunflower he tries to soak it up.

It helps getting guided down a street that doesn’t have as many people, though, and he can take in the sights a little bit more. But as Ira perks up and points out the shop in question, he looks to it and then looks back to her with a pinch to his brows at her sudden change. But before he has a chance to comment on it, she’s tugging him along.

They get to the kiosk and he peers at the menu, eventually deciding on some kind of hot coffee that’s infused with sweet syrups. But before he orders, he flashes Ira a sweet smile. “What would you like?” He asks, reaching into his pocket to get the lasti ready to pay for their drinks.

Uldren

ira

She nods with a hum at his comment about it being similar to the Drench. Similar, yet very unfamiliar. Probably filled with all kinds of regular and social rules she had no clue about and can only hope that this area of POSE is safe enough to not accidentally step on some aristocrat toes. Every time she's been up, she worries about getting into trouble for anything really. However, this time she really tries to push any worries aside and enjoy the date instead.

With her focus on the target shop, she doesn't realise her mistake of walking over at a faster pace until she stops with Uldren to look at the menu. She barely manages to keep herself from start gasping and breathes as normally as she can while her lungs painfully bother her for more oxygen. When Uldren asks what she'd like, she glances his way and spots him reaching for his money.

She wants to object to him paying for her, but trying to speak would result in her gasping for air, so she just gives him a soft smile in return and spends a moment longer looking over the menu until she feels her breathing being more under control. "I'll try that spiced tea." She finally says and points at the option, still sounding a bit winded despite her efforts. Her shortness of breath brings a flash of annoyance over her expression, mostly aimed towards herself.

roll me up and smoke me, love, and we can fly into the night
you take drugs, to let go, and figure it all out on your own

His arm tightens its hold on her as they move, noticing from their closeness how much the quick paced movement seems to affect her, and his stomach churns with potential possibilities. Of course, everyone had heard about what was going around, and given her familial history with such things, he finds it difficult to not simply just ask her.

But he keeps it locked behind his teeth, letting her decide what she wanted before he looks to the worker and requests a large spice tea and a large hot coffee, hoping that the warmth might soothe both of their throats. “Do we want to find a place to sit?” He asks, nodding to some benches under an overhang to protect from the rain while he pays and waits for their drinks to be done.

Perhaps it would give them a bit of time to recover and let the hot drinks do their job.

Uldren

ira

She assumes he's noticed something being off by now, especially after that tightening hold on their way over. However, she continues her attempts at seeming normal, even if it is starting to make her feel a bit guilty about it. At the same time, she doesn't want to worry him, though it might be too late for that now anyway, and she keeps trying to tell herself that things are fine, it's not so bad and it's nothing that's going to disturb their day.

Uldren's question knocks her out of her thoughts again and she looks at him for a second before she catches up with what had been asked, and turns her head to spy the benches he's talking about. "Yeah, we do." She looks back to him and a small smirk has managed to find its way to her lips, but as she continues speaking, her words are broken up a bit by her having to take an extra breath to prevent any further lack of oxygen. "Can start out slow and... Figure out our next plan of action from there"

They receive their drinks and she takes the lead towards the benches, being a step or two ahead to be able to take a few shallow breaths through her mouth without it being visible. Sitting down on one of the benches, she leans forward to rest her elbows on her knees while hugging the large mug on both hands to let the steam rise against her face. "At least it's not pouring down heavily today... Sun might even come out a bit." Weather being classic small talk, though she doubts it's going to work much as distraction from anything else.

roll me up and smoke me, love, and we can fly into the night
you take drugs, to let go, and figure it all out on your own

He very nearly repeats the question when she looks at him, pausing before she responds. But Uldren finds some relief whenever she responds, even if it’s broken up. It only causes the concern to grow a bit more – though he’s a hypocrite in his entirety given the fact he can feel the twinge and tightness of his own lungs when he orders and pays, offering her a soft nod to the smirk he finds there. “I’d like that.” He offers, moving to collect their drinks as soon as they’re done.

It's warm and wonderful in his hands, and he follows her to the bench, cradling it in his hands as he blows on the top of it as if it might give him the ability to cool it down enough to drink at least some of it. His green gaze drifts toward the sky, spying the shifting clouds over the tops of the large skyscrapers, and he leans over to nudge her gently with his elbow. “Maybe we’ll get a sunshower.” He suggests, flashing her a grin that’s soon broken up by a brief moment where his lungs tighten and he has to cough.

He keeps it minimal as he can, however, a few to get the majority of it through before he follows it up with a sip from the coffee, hoping the warmth breaks up whatever else decides to stick in his lungs.

Uldren

ira

She closes her eyes for a moment and carefully inhales the steam rising from the mug. Sitting down makes it easier to breathe, but the ache in her lungs remains together with the shorter breaths against the tightness in her chest. As long as she's not assaulted by any coughing fits that will give her away for real, even if her change during the walk over might have already done that.

The nudge has her lift her head to look at Uldren and the sunshower comment makes her huff a short laugh and shakes her head with a smile. However, the smile quickly makes way for a more concerned look when Uldren is the one starting to cough. Now, coughing in general is nothing odd at all, but perhaps there is something in the sound of this that has her react. She sits up more straight and looks him over, worried. Never mind that she doesn't want him to worry about her, but it's always different when it's someone else.

"Are you doing alright?" She asks softly and turns her gaze down to her mug to hide the worried expression, carefully taking a sip of the hot tea. There might be a risk the question will just be turned back towards her and she'll be forced to admit that she's been growing gradually worse over a time, but she doesn't want to ignore Uldren's wellbeing still.

There's also the fact that she does feel very bad about keeping things secret from him for days. Again. A short sigh escapes her and she leans down over her mug again with her elbows resting on her knees.