'learn you some self care, bitch' - prophesis at some point, probably, internally

[playthedamncard]

[No one has ever accused Seto Kaiba of laziness. He has a whole company of dedicated employees, but he works just as hard as anyone. Genuine work, not just sitting around Being Important. It's the only way he knows how to exist.

Which occasionally presents a problem.

Are his people encouraged to take their PTO? Damn right they are. Parental leave covered? Of course, what country do you take this for, America? His people are well cared for, even if he occasionally snaps at them in the heat of the moment. He demands the best, especially out of those closest to his most important works. Shame he's never learned to heed his own advice.

When Mokuba worriedly suggested he looked a little run down, he naturally said it was fine, just a little tired, nothing some sleep and a dose of vitamins won't fix. When the truth was that he'd been feeling a little more than just run down all day. Slower than usual. Less focused. Exhausted by nothing.

He doesn't have time for that. He's got kickboxing after a booked two hours of going over the improved Solid Vision codepush before it goes live, and that's after several board meetings about quarterly funds and stocks and some new ideas for commercial branding, not to mention he's got a public appearance regarding an expansion to KaibaLand that he absolutely cannot be looking 'a little run down' for, so...he just...can't. He has to be at 100%. Anything less is unacceptable.

So naturally his condition doesn't improve by morning. His condition has considerably worsened. He raids the medicine cabinet to take a few things that individually should help ease some symptoms but also probably should not be taken together, and spends as much time on makeup to hide the pale pallor of his skin or the darkness under his eyes as he can before that's just too much concentration. Nibbles on a piece of fruit and calls it breakfast because he can't imagine stomaching much else. His body aches, and every step feels like a chore, much less standing rigidly straight, but he does it. Powers on. He has to keep going, because he doesn't have a choice, because he has to give his all, in everything, all of the time, or what is the point?

He does not quite make it to the front door before he quite suddenly is left wondering if the carpet under his cheek is merely worn from use or if it could use a deep clean. It's the last semi-coherent thought he can remember having.]

Comments

[prophesis]

[ Indeed, Ishizu remains unmoved. ] If I don't, you'll push yourself.

[ She will lower her gaze, at least, to respect his self-consciousness, but - oh, dear, she is too used to Marik. One of her hands is itching to help him with that. To take the spoon and...just....

Ishizu grabs her right hand with her left. One more chance. Give him one more chance. It's important for the children to do things themselves. She mustn't.

But he doesn't look comfortable, and that hurts to watch. ]

[playthedamncard]

I always push myself.

[Which is true. And the problem. He's so focused on make spoon go down make spoon come up consume that he does not have any attention left for whatever Ishizu may or may not be doing.

Until finally he just. can't. His arm feels like lead, and he's exhausting himself just from the act of feeding himself, and his arm just lays there on the tray like a traitor. He, slowly, sits himself back into a more upright position with a groan. This...sucks, and he's barely actually eaten anything. This sucks!]

[prophesis]

[ Ishizu's heart just about breaks. Oh, Seto.....

She can't resist any longer. Forward she leans, taking up that abandoned spoon. She fills it with soup, about halfway - not too much, not so much that sipping it will overwhelm him - and brings it to his lips. ]

Open your mouth.

[playthedamncard]

[He's a smart boy. He knows food is good for him, especially when sick. He knows this. It's probably better if he looks too sick to have any kind of embarrassed blush blooming on his face.]

Not hungry.

[This is. the worst. It could be worse - Ishizu is not going to hold this over him, is not going to threaten him in any way. She's shockingly genuine. And yet pride won't let him just let this happen.]

[prophesis]

It wasn't a request.

[ You are too weary to feed yourself, sir. You no longer get a say. Ishizu does not raise her voice. But she also does not budge.

Open. Your. Mouth. ]

[playthedamncard]

[He's petulant and prideful, but he's too achy and tired to keep it up for long. He does, however, do his best to scowl about it first. Just to make sure she knows that he does not like being given orders or given no choice.

...Soup smells good though...so, fine, okay, whatever, they're both stubborn, but she has more energy to keep the stubborn streak up. He obliges. Even if he doesn't like it.]

[prophesis]

[ Well done. Ishizu nestles the spoon carefully against Seto's lips, tilts in the contents nice and slow so as not to overwhelm or burn him. When she's finished, she withdraws and refills, repeats...

Oh, a drop is nestling in the curve of his lip. She places the spoon down briefly to daub that away with a napkin.

Her poor boy. Her poor proud weary boy. He's raised himself from nothing, but he's done so nearly all alone. Trying to be the strong one for his sibling. Unwilling to embrace his greater part in the whole of fate, even if it would connect him to others.

Ishizu's expression is downright maternal, and somewhat wistful. He doesn't have to carry that load all alone. Let her.

Let her, Seto. Please. ]

[playthedamncard]

[She's doing everything, and there might be some small teeny tiny part of him that's grateful, just so he can relax, even if relaxing is the enemy-

But also she's doing everything, and it just seems so wrong. Even if soup good. After a couple of spoonfuls and a dab of napkin, he gives a little shake of his head.]

You're not my mom. You don't have to do this.

[prophesis]

[ Stubborn boy! But Ishizu only relents to stubborn boys who try different tactics. Against this one, she can stand firm.

If you don't wish for further soup, sir, please eat this toast. ]

Be at ease, Seto.

[ See, with toast, you get to bite it yourself. Does that make you feel more powerful? She is trying to be considerate.

....Though. ]

Everyone has burdens they cannot shoulder alone. We do not necessarily have to take on each other's pain - [ and if Rishid suddenly needs to repress a sneeze, so be it; she worries about him, too ] - but support from others unlocks strength within ourselves, as well.

[ He needs to feel an active part so badly, doesn't he? And yet he fights his fate. Self-made man, you have taught her many things. Yet even your problems are of your own making. ] Please entrust your wellness to me. You will be ensuring your own recovery.

[playthedamncard]

[...yes the toast makes him feel a little better. He'll even hold it! It's not a spoon it's not awkward in his heavy hand and all he has to do is hold it in place. And it's his other hand anyway so it's not even the tired arm! He will nibble toast. Under his own power. For now. How long is anyone's guess.]

I don't think being my nurse is going to unlock some kind of hidden strength in me.

[He's pretty sure his strength is hovering at near 0 as it is anyway, but as ever, she's not exactly being literal.]

Could've taken me to a hospital. Called doctors to come over. [ma'am do you have a license]

[prophesis]

Would you wish me to?

[ ...Yet he has a point. Ishizu had barely considered the idea anyone but she would care for him. She had realized his circumstances, and acted.

....Fate guiding her, perhaps. In which case there may be some significance to this incident. Or....?

Or the same factor was at play then as there is now, watching him feed himself and hoping he likes the cinnamon. It is not merely being taken care of to which Seto Kaiba objects, is it? He is attempting to understand why it's her. Why it's Ishizu Ishtar.

Frankly, Ishizu Ishtar would also like to know. Surely she cannot - she cannot be hiding something from herself. Not when she knows the sorrow that brings. ]

[playthedamncard]

If I was actively dying, yeah.

[Which he isn't, arguably. He's just...sick. He nibbles at the toast (mm, cinnamon, good call) what might be called thoughtfully, using the brain cells that aren't burnt out to consider the situation and Ishizu's presence, her answers to his persistent questions and pestering. His tired eyes gaze over at her, and, yes, he could use a couple days of sleep, but he's still present (at present).]

Why are you here? [He's asked it before, but he's asking it again, because he wants an answer that isn't 'taking care of you doofus'. Because yeah, no shit, he can see that. But she does not have to be here in his bedroom hovering over him. He hesitates with his next bite.] Do you even know?

[prophesis]

[ He saw through - or was it a guess? Either way, she supposes she can't be surprised. Seto Kaiba was always good at defying expectations, at sensing how best to disrupt her plays at the last moment. Doing exactly as anticipated until she's caught wrong-footed...

She's avoiding the question. Ishizu is every bit as strict a disciplinarian with herself as she is with others. She turns her gaze inward, considers the question. Why is she.....? ]

Seto.

[ Oh, this is impermissible, this is selfish, this is terrible of her. All she can think is that it must be her, that she cannot possibly entrust him to anyone else. That somewhere along debates over destiny, Seto Kaiba became her responsibility in her mind, and Ishizu Ishtar is nothing if not dutiful. ]

I am here because...

[ She is being ridiculous. But she cannot leave his care to others. She must not.

She....will?....not? ]

[playthedamncard]

[In another time, with more energy, he might have laughed in her face. Oh, Ishizu, the seer, who eerily knows nearly all - doesn't know something? Can pluck at the strings of his mind and heart as though he were an open book, but can't look at herself? It's funny.

It's not really funny.

She struggles, and somehow, that's satisfactory. Not so much, perhaps, that she's struggling, but that her attempt at answering his questions means, in one way or another, she's telling him honestly that he doesn't know. Maybe she needs more time to figure it out. Maybe, even without The Powers That Be pulling them around, something is out there guiding her. (Not him. Can't be him. He guides himself.)

But whatever the case, he is satisfied. Or at least, finds this acceptable. He sets the rest of the toast down, apparently done with it for the moment, and observes the spread in front of him rather than continuing to stare her down.]

I'd like more soup, please.

[He's even polite about it. Is...is this a reward?]

[prophesis]

[ ....Satisfied with his opponent at a loss, or simply satisfied an attempt was made and she is sincere? Or attempting to guide her hand towards his desired behavior?

Ishizu will let him play his power game if it gets food into his body, however. The necessity of that, she feels with absolute clarity.

Once more, the spoon. ] It's hot.

[ So be careful. Here you are, you darling shining boy.

...It is peculiar how right this feels. He is the reincarnation of her Pharaoh's best friend, a mighty priest, and yet....

Somewhere along realizing she has built visions for herself of her reading some of her favorite ancient texts to him in bed, the way she used to read to Marik when he felt unwell and fussed, Ishizu begins to suspect she may be projecting a tad. ]