Video-backdated a few hours to early afternoon

[inthejunk]

[The kid on the video doesn't look so hot. Not in an ate too much candy sort of way, either. He's pale and clammy and his lips aren't a healthy color. His eyes are dilated. He should probably be in bed. In fact, he probably is. But he's got something important to say first, judging by the serious expression on his face.]

Ah. I hope it doesn't ruin the holiday atmosphere, but I guess I should warn everyone. If someone gives you chocolates and you don't know them very well-

[He stops, curls up a bit. Ow, his freakin' insides...but before he can properly complain about those, he bumps something behind him. It turns out to be a plastic IV line, and when the cart falls over it tugs him hard enough to make him knock his head against a vacuum chamber, hanging around conveniently in case any patients in the area need their stomach pumped. Yosuke makes a frustrated, whiny sound.]

Ow! Ugh...anyway, please don't take candy from strangers. It might make you sick.

Comments

[inthejunk]

[Glare.]

No way, that guy is way worse than me!

[Shit. Wait...]

I mean-!

[retraced]

Now I know you're making things up.

[Because no one is more dramatic than you, bro.]

[inthejunk]

Aw, shut up.

[Have a friendly shove, and a face hug between your shoulder blades. Ooh, your shirt is soft...]

You're gonna be late, aren't you?

[retraced]

I am, so let go...

[He stops himself short and blinks, eyes trying to focus on the ground. The ground...whoa, why does the ground feel so far away all of a sudden? Actually, everything feels sort of fuzzy. His brain, his skin. That's probably wrong...]

Hey, Yosuke. Where were we going?

[inthejunk]

Hmm. The park! Or...or maybe just the garden. The garden is closer.

[Or possibly to school and work, but who cares about those things?]

[retraced]

[Oh, right. That makes sense. He's got a lunch out in front of him, and you can definitely eat in the garden. He blinks down at the meal, curious as to why it feels like the colors all just ran together across the counter for a second before turning back to normal. Well, if they're normal now...]

All right, let's go. [He picks up the bag, checks to make sure that he has keys in his pocket (but not his jacket or weapon or...anything important) and starts for the back door.]

[inthejunk]

[Yosuke is up early anyway. Gilbert leaves for the bakery way earlier than he leaves for school. So what's the harm in a little stroll through the gardens? He can't see one.

So he grabs the back of Gilbert's shirt, the way he used to as a child trying not to get lost during shopping trips, and he follows. Some fresh air sounds nice.]

Hey, why don't rats live in the garden? Aren't they supposed to? Rats and snails?

[retraced]

[The ground feels weird as they walk, and as soon as Yosuke asks, Gil is certain that's the reason for it. Rats and snails did live in the garden when they weren't being chased out, and the garden is dirt, dirt is on the ground, so therefore if the ground feels strange, it must be because of rats and snails. The snails would feel more like rocks, which also exist on the ground, so those might be harder to spot if he tries.

Out they go into the fresh air, Gilbert's eyes trailing across the ground to keep a look out while Yosuke clings to him. Good. Better to keep close just in case the ground starts acting any weirder.]

Traps. They get trapped so they don't eat the plants. Sometimes - sometimes they sneak in.

[inthejunk]

Oh...ew.

[Whether it's the trapping or the sneaking he objects to isnt clear, but as soon as Gilbert mentions the plants he can't help noticing them. Wow. They're so green.

Yosuke lets go of Gilbert and kneels to inspect a sprig of winter berries and the plant they're attached too. They smell sort of like pine, or something oily. Like spice wood. And they're a pleasant frosty blue color, on a wintergreen limb. He reaches out and snaps a few off, to get a closer look.

They smell so green. ]

Do snails live in the snow? Aren't they too...boogery?

omg this tag was hidden in my inbox grrrr

[retraced]

[Boogery? Gilbert isn't sure that's a word, but somehow he can still picture what it means. And for the life of him, he can't recall at the moment if snails could even move through snow, or if they slept all winter or only came out in the daytime. He should know this, but the information is slowing becoming buried under a pile of heavy fluff in his head.

He'd be concerned about this, but at the same time it doesn't feel like it should be important.]

They...they dig holes, probably. Or live in their shell or - what's that?

[He's leaning over Yosuke's shoulder now to inspect whatever he's picked up there.]

RUDE

[inthejunk]

Berries?

[Yosuke moves to hold them out for Gilbert to inspect, but they roll off of his hand and disappear into tiny berry shaped holes in the snow. He gazes after them for a second and frowns.]

Oh. Never mind.

[retraced]

Huh-?

[Where did they go?! No, Gilbert won't let the ground get away with my swallowing them whole! He kneels down and brushes the snow aside, as gentle as he can manage to keep it from trying to swallow his hand as well, and searches for the little berries.]

[inthejunk]

Dude, what are you doing?

[The berries are gone, as far as Yosuke can tell. And they're just berries. What's the point of digging up snow over them? He kicks some aside, just to watch the way it floats and arcs and shimmers. Cool.]

You're gonna be late and your knees will get wet.

[retraced]

Ah - that's right, we're in a hurry.

[He stands again, knees wet just as Yosuke predicted, but he doesn't seem to notice it at all. Though that also begs a new question, one that he can't believe he has to ask again. He spins in a half circle to view the rest of the garden, as though he could see the answer waiting to jump out at him.]

What were we late for again? Wasn't I supposed to cook something?

[inthejunk]

[It's a terrible idea to encourage it. Gilbert seems a little off today somehow, though Yosuke can't put his finger on it. Only, wouldn't it be great if Gilbert decided to stay home and make breakfast instead of going to work? That would be more fun for everyone, right?]

Maybe it's waffles.

[retraced]

Then what did I need from the garden?

[He not entirely convinced! He teeters slowly to one side as he glances around the other way, but he doesn't lose his balance, oddly enough.]

There's no honey in the trees, it's too cold for bees to be out.

[inthejunk]

Where do bees go in the winter?

[Because he's never really thought about it before, but they must go somewhere. And if Gilbert is the kind of guy who gets honey from the garden instead of the farmer's market, then he must know.

Yosuke attempts to steer him back towards the house, though with someone Gilbert's size it's never easy. Still, it's cold in the garden. At least it should be. Yosuke doesn't feel the cold, but he can see the snow. Unless it's not snow...]

Hey, soap doesn't get outside right? I mean unless it's a music video. That's not something that happens, right?

[retraced]

Hm...

[He's sure he knows this too. There's a lot of information in his head right now, but for some reason he just can't access it properly. Maybe he'll be able to remember later, if he waits a moment or two for his mind to catch back up to the question.]

Soap? Did you fall in the dirt?

[Stoned or not, this is exactly where his mind is going first.]

[inthejunk]

You're the one who was on the ground!

[Yosuke objects to this completely unfair accusation, dude.]

[retraced]

I didn't touch the dirt!

[Not with his hands, see! He holds them up in Yosuke's face just to make sure that he can see for sure that his hands are clean as a whistle.]

[inthejunk]

[Yosuke shoves Gilbert's hands away with an annoyed whiny sound. Stop it.

It's just enough to break his concentration, and he forgets what they were doing again. Damn it! He's pretty sure it was important. Or at least something he was looking forward to. But it's no use. He can't recall.

Sullenly, he takes a seat on the stoop and kicks at the snow, enjoying ruining the pristine loveliness of it.]

How come you didn't go to work? Are you sick?

[And then, a little uncertainly:]

Am I sick?

[retraced]

[He isn't at work because he needed to go to the garden, right? No wait, he needed to go to the garden before work. Maybe he was supposed to make strawberry cake today, there are strawberries back here, he's pretty sure. He turns in nearly a full circle, but he doesn't see strawberries anywhere.]

They must be with the bees...

[He shakes his head.]

I'm late, aren't I? At this rate I won't be able to get any work done...and Oz will probably be upset with me.

[He sounds ready to cry at that. Even goes as far as to cover his face with one of the hands that Yosuke just shoved away.]

T-this is terrible!

Hey what if we did prose instead

[inthejunk]

Yosuke glances around warily for a moment, concerned about these invisible zombie bees that might be rising from the snow. But no bees appear, not even the faintests of buzzes to be had. Do he relaxes, and tugs Gilbert's shirt to get his attention before the dude guilt spirals-those never end well.

"I'm cold."

then this log would explode

[retraced]

The tugging at his shirt knocks him out of his spiraling angst, or at least puts it on hold briefly. Because that spiral is still making his thoughts spin around in his head like a tornado, the debris clogging his ears in a way that makes him feel unsure that he's even heard Yosuke correctly.

"If you're cold then you should be somewhere warmer," he answers, as though this is a startling revelation and not just common sense. He starts up the stairs, grabbing for Yosuke's wrist to pull him along. Gently, like he would have done for Oz when they were young (if he'd ever been allowed to lead back then, at least).

"It'll be warm, even without a fire."

Sweet.

[inthejunk]

Yosuke frowns at the mention if fire. He doesn't like the idea at the moment. Fire is pretty and all, but...didn't it happen-shit. It did.

The image of Oz, dead in the library, something awful in there with him maybe? What was it? All he remembers is grabbing Ciel and...leaving? Or was he chasing Ciel and screaming? It's fuzzy, but it's enough to make him jerk his hand away from Gilbert and take a few steps back from the mansion in alarm.

"NO! No, I can't go. I-I have school!"