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

He knew his cough would draw her official attention instead of their constant dance of tiptoeing around the problem. He stifles down what he can from his sensitive lungs as she straightens up, asking if he’s okay, and Uldren buries the moment before he answers with a long deep sip of his hot coffee, letting it soothe his sore throat. “Yeah, just a cold I think.” With how active he’s been helping out his neighbors and preventing more flooding, it’s no wonder he’s caught something.

But it does open up the option to ask her the same, much to her displeasure he’s sure. He lowers the coffee cup to his lap, still cradling it with both hands, head tilting as he regards her more fully. “What about you? You don’t seem as energetic.” He chooses to say instead of I can tell you’re holding in your coughing and you can barely breathe. all for the sake of not wanting to come off over protective like her father.

Still, the concern gleams in his gaze.

Uldren

ira

She takes a few small sips of her tea while waiting for a reply, doing her best to try and keep her own lungs from getting too irritated. Knowing very well that if she starts coughing too, it won't be just once or twice when she's like this. He then responds with it being a cold and she nods slowly. "Makes sense with the weather... And something seems to be going around." It's an acceptable answer enough for her. Colds are nothing uncommon during this season, to others nor to herself. Just that hers rarely decided to stay as regular colds.

Then the question is turned back to her. Even if she expected it, she can still feel herself about to turn on the aggressive defence as a first reaction like she always does when it is her father uttering as much as a word about her health. However, this is a different situation, with Uldren being the one asking. So she reins in the emotions before anything can flare up and gives herself a few heartbeats to reset her mind, reminding herself that she has decided to trust that Uldren genuinely cares.

"My lungs hurt when I breath... Started a few days ago and it's getting a bit worse." She admits in a quiet voice and leans back against the bench, tilting her head backwards and tries to force in a deeper breath. A small grimace of discomfort flashes across her face. "Feels like someone's... Stuffed my chest with sharp rocks and then standing on it." She mutters, tilting her head forward again to take another sip of tea while avoiding to meet his gaze for now, as the guilt gnaws on her for not saying anything sooner.

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

“Yeah.” Uldren starts unhelpfully, frowning at the thought of it being the other sickness that has gone around and seriously debilitated so many people in the building he lives in. It’s part of the reason the concern is so high for her, seeing so many people around him get to the point where they can’t move – some of them, like Ira’s mother, dying from whatever the disease was that was floating around. “Just feels like a cold right now, at least.” It made it better in his mind, at least.

But of course he swaps the conversation over onto her, his gaze finding her as she leans back against the bench and looks up toward the sky that can’t decide if it wants to rain more or part into letting some sunshine through. His brows pinch together and his hands clasp on the cup a little tighter, Uldren working his jaw as he listens. “Should we have come up here then?” He asks suddenly, knowing they’re close enough to go home if that’s the case, yet he remains rooted to the seat. “Does anything help?” He adds as well, knowing it’s a tender subject for her and not wanting to go overboard.

He doesn’t want to be like her father, after all.

Uldren

ira

The thought of anything potentially being connected to the new illness is worrying enough. She has seen and heard what it does to a lot of people and the last thing she wants is for either of them to get it as well. She doesn't want to think about what it might do if she gets it in combination with her usual, current problems. Because what she is going through right now feels all too familiar to be something new.

And to keep herself from worrying too much, she nods and tries to reassure herself that Uldren just has a cold.

She shakes her head at the question if they should have come up, but not to say they shouldn't have, but to what she thinks is a hidden suggestion that they should have stayed home. "Going up won't make it worse...And I really didn't want it to get in the way of us having a good day together like we planned." She clears her throat and barely keeps the coughing back, taking another sip before carefully speaking again.

"Not much. Moving around is taxing, lying down chokes me... Need medicine for it. If it's... The usual, I'll need antibiotics, which some clinics seems to love to overcharge for... And if I don't get enough in one go... Then there's no point in taking any." She shakes her head with a small sigh and shifts closer on the bench to lean her shoulder against Uldren, finally deciding to at least seek some emotional support rather than close herself up.

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 looks up at the sky for a brief moment as she shakes her head and answers his question, peering at the clouds that drift by, some darker and heavier with the potential for rain while the others seem fluffy and bright. “Guess the air up here’s prolly better, too, huh?” He asks, wondering if that’s part of the problem. After all, he’s never gotten so many colds as he has since moving down below. And there’s a big part of him that severely misses the openness of Undunli.

But that’s a ways away and there’s no way he’s going back there with the lockdown in place, nor without Ira at this point. He takes a sip from his coffee again and lets it soothe his sore throat, letting his green gaze drift back over toward her, before lifting an arm to tuck her into his side as she leans against him, pressing his cheek against her forehead. “Course they do.” He hums with a sad sigh before shifting his weight a little to accommodate her to lean heavier on him. “So we’ll take this little excursion slow, yeah? Take breaks when we need to and have a good time.” He presses a kiss to the crown of her head.

Uldren

ira

She nods with a short hum of agreement, but even if the air on the Plates is better, it's still not nothing that is enough for her to feel any interest in trying to move up. The weird Drencher pride getting in the way of that. She rather be managing to survive the struggles of the Drench than becoming a Plater. At least she still has the option to go out to the Scapes and get some fresher air, when those areas aren't flooded.

Uldren hugs her closer and she huddles up against him, leaning her forehead gently against him and closes her eyes. She's a bit surprised to be able to keep her defenses down during the conversation about her health, even if the discomfort around the topic still gnaws on her. A part of her also keeps trying to tell her to be wary, that she shouldn't trust the care and affection and that she's going to end up being backstabbed again. However, she does what she can to keep pushing it back and ignoring it, telling herself she can trust Uldren to be genuine.

"Slow and easy, yeah." She mumbles, but remains still and allows herself to just relax in the moment for a bit longer before reluctantly peeling herself away from Uldren's side to carefully stand up. "Alright, enough sulking about this... Let's walk around some and see if we can find anything fun." She holds out a hand to him with a soft smile. "You have permission to worry and coddle me all you like later when we're back home instead... Or cuddle me, whichever works for you." Her expression turns towards one of her usual smirks and she wiggles her hand at him to urge him to take it and get up from the bench.

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’s content to remain like this for a while, even if the Platers grow some amount of nerve to start staring at them as they walk past – taking note of the clothes that certainly don’t fit in with the finer looks the Plates often kept up with. Uldren decides that it probably helps a lot not having to deal with flooding every other day.

But she moves, his head tilting away from her as she speaks and he watches her silently as she moves to stand, gaze focusing on her and the offered hand. He takes a sip of his coffee before he stands and takes it, intertwining his fingers with her own and a crooked smile in response to the smirk that graces her face. “Alright, deal.” He decides, taking a step with her hand in his, in a random direction he chooses (not knowing where anything really was here). He thinks down the street he can see the colorful banners of a flea market, and pure curiosity draws him with her alongside him.

“Start with a flea market, see if we find anything we can't live without?” He suggests, shooting her a grin that’s perhaps too excited. It might give him ideas at least for what might capture the Platers attentions, too.

Uldren

ira

If she had more energy, she'd almost be tempted to give the Platers something to stare at. Like she once joked about horrifying Platers near Uldren's booth by not behaving decently. For now, though, most are ignored and she only shoots those staring a bit too much a questioning look until they move on.

She links her fingers with his when he takes her hand and nods at him agreeing with the deal, then starts walking with him in his randomly picked direction. Slower than her usual brisk pace, for sure and walking is indeed taxing, as it wouldn't take long for her breathing to grow a bit shorter. Feeling like each breath is pushing gravel around in her chest, but she can stubbornly push through it for now. Her throat isn't very soar at all, most of the issues are located in her chest, but it only makes her more concerned that she's not having just a common cold and that Drenak is not going to let her get away easy.

Uldren's excitement over the flea market has her chuckle softly and quickly draws her out of her concerning thoughts, his grin being met by an amused look. "I'd be surprised if they have anything I need, but I'm curious now." She says with a brighter smile and looks to the colourful banners as they come closer. Taking a drink from her tea to let the warmth spread through her again, she slows down a bit more and clears her throat.

"Hey... Speaking of better air." She starts, as if something just came to her mind. "Remember you mentioning wanting to see the Tangles, when you walked me home the first time? I should totally take you there when Tanul comes around again. Show you all the blooming flowers."

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 take their time with it, not without there being a deadline. As far as Uldren’s concerned, it’s aimless wandering and having a good day, which he selfishly knows he can at least provide her. Though, in the name of a similarly selfish thought, he aims them toward the flea market, flashing her an innocent smile as she chuckles to his comment, the gem’s dealer shrugging his shoulders before his attention returns to the tables laid out with a variety of gifts and trinkets. “Won’t know ‘til you look, huh?” He teases her, playfully nudging her with his elbow.

Some of the items are every day things – some carved wood in different styles, some handmade blankets, something that’s akin to a water repellant that Uldren thinks is severely overpriced (though it is the Plates, and he’s a hypocrite in judging when he does the exact same thing to the platers). He sips from his drink as he casually looks around, until her question brings his attention back to her.

There’s a grin that spreads once he’s swallowed, nodding before he has a chance to say anything. “I’d love that.” His voice is quieter, as if it was genuinely something he wanted to do with her. “I bet it’s beautiful. Colorful.” Not like the Drench wasn’t colorful, but it was mostly due to the neon that sustained the Drench and not nature at its finest.

Uldren

ira

As Uldren would have seen from the visit to her room in her own apartment, she isn't exactly one for gathering a lot of trinkets and other knick-knacks. She's more the one finding things and selling them for some extra lasti rather than keeping them herself. The recent thing she's found and kept is that hairpin she handed over to Uldren for him to fix up in whatever way he wants to. So his comment and elbow nudge have her roll her eyes in response, but still smiling in amusement. "Oh, fine. Guess it won't hurt me to look." She shakes her head with a soft huff.

The items at the table they are currently at receive a look of vague interest from her, but she is very much appreciating Uldren's enthusiasm about the market and his company. Even if she was to find something she'd like, she isn't very keen on spending any money unnecessarily. With her health being too bad for her to work either of the jobs right now, she'll have to start eating into her savings. Especially if she's to find some medicine as well soon.

His agreement to her suggestion of going on a trip to the Tangles together does however manage to bring a spark of excitement of her own to her otherwise tired eyes and she leans in closer to keep her voice low, as if telling him a secret. "I've got a very special place to show you then. You'll love it." She presses a quick kiss to his cheek and pulls back just in time to feel the tightness suddenly increasing in her chest.

As if knowing exactly what is coming, she's very quick to let go of Uldren's hand and move back to the edge of the market to get away from people, finding a lamppost to lean against as she buries her face in an arm to mute the sound of the rattling coughs as much as possible. She crouches down to put the mug on the ground to not drop it and remains seated like that, her free hand pressing against her chest and her eyes squeezed shut against the stabbing pain each cough brings with it. The first triggering the next one, and the next and so on until she nearly fears being about to suffocate before it starts calming down again.