[FIN] Mind your own business

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abigail had had such a lovely day shopping. Even though most stores wouldn't have sales in the middle of December, she had managed to find some that did and had therefore decided to take full advantage of them. Unfortunately a lot of other people had the same ideas, probably to find gifts for family, so what Abigail left with was quite a bit less than she had anticipated. Still, she'd gotten good deals on a couple of things, had stopped to get lunch for herself and her two bunnies, and had returned them to their pokeballs before she decided to check out one more store.

The last store turned out to be a total bust though, but that was alright. There'd be more sales after the winter holidays were over, she reminded herself as she walked down the street in the shopping district. More sales, and by then the stores would've restocked too so she could actually find things she was looking for. Hopefully, anyway.  

[Suudonym]

The unseasonably autumn-like winter invited more time out and about than Luke would have expected this time of year, but he had no real complaints. The small apartment that had been home for half a year felt increasingly stifling the closer he came to the date he had been given for the anticipated surgery - or perhaps he was just increasingly restless. All the same, the result was that the boy had chosen to spend his day making something of a circuit through Camphoreon's large shopping district, a small purchase at the supermarket billowing out into an expedition through one of the tall department stores (a scarf for when the weather remembered the date), an out-of-the-way cafe (the only coffee he really liked), and a popular bookstore (restocking stationery to write to his parents). Having underestimated the time of year and its proximity to a major commercial holiday, he often found himself dodging busy shoppers and moving a fair bit more quickly than was comfortable to keep from getting in the way of others.

The day's stress eventually caught up with him in possibly one of the worst places in the city: along the highly populated esplanade that bordered various shopping destinations - not exactly an ideal place to be afflicted unexpectedly with lightheadedness and chest pain, if such an ideal place existed at all. The boy leaned against the facade of a building, trying to be as out of the way as possible and ignoring the curiosity of the passerby. His right hand connected with the wall, a few light shopping bags hung around his wrist, with the sensation of the solid brick against his fingertips slowly overwriting feelings of dizziness. His left hand, unencumbered, rested heavily against his pounding chest, dim eyes trained unseeingly on the ground and senses numbed to everything but his breath and heartbeat. He was a spectacle and he hated it, but the important thing was to not plainly pass out in the middle of the walkway.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The former breeder found herself on the same esplanade, though her destination was the outskirts of the city so she could call out Epona and ride home. Her pace slowed when she saw a head of red hair close to the walls of one of the buildings, and she stopped altogether beside the boy when she recognized his face. "Luke?" She asked, eyebrows raised a bit, and she took a step closer to him. He looked terrible, and immediately thoughts of what to do and how to help raced through her mind. "Are you alright?"  

[Suudonym]

Feeling the passing stares was frustrating enough without being spoken to, and without registering the fact that he had heard his name and thus was acquainted with whomever was speaking, he snapped a terse "I'm fine." He had never been interested in being fussed over; his mother's doting and pitying over his lost memory had troubled him similarly, and such were the feelings that had prevented him from speaking of his to health to many.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abigail recoiled a bit, enough to refrain from touching him as she had been seriously considering, and was taken aback by such a hostile reaction. Even if his words on their own indicated he was fine, his tone of voice and the way he said it was vaguely discomforting. Still, she was only concerned about his well-being, especially since he looked as if he could pass out at any moment, and she frowned lightly. "Excuse me for worrying." True, she had only met him once before, but why the hostility? She wasn't a total stranger.  

[Suudonym]

Egh, that was definitely a defensive tone. A breath inward and then outward. "Sorry," he said, his hand falling slowly away from his chest; his eyes remaining lowered and unfocused, "I'm not really a fan of this whole… audience thing." He could still feel the occasional glance of members of the passing crowd, and he could just imagine their curious or derisive thoughts. It was incredibly uncomfortable, even demeaning, and as soon as he had his bearings about him he was so out of there.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The former breeder relaxed a bit, thought of touching his shoulder once again, but once again decided against it. Her tone relaxed too. "It's alright," she said gently, keeping her voice low but not whispering. She didn't like the whole 'audience thing' either, and if talking a little quieter meant less people were eavesdropping, the better.

"If you'd like," she started, watching him closely, "we can go into a coffee shop or something - somewhere nice and quiet, and sit down." Because sitting down looked like a thing he really needed to do, like, now.  

[Suudonym]

"Yeah," he said, raising his eyes. Sitting down was very much the best option he had at the moment, but in the middle of the walkway wasn't a great place to do so. He'd had a little time to gather himself, though, and felt more or less confident in his ability to walk to somewhere nearby. He moved slightly away from the wall, ready to follow if Abigail made motions towards a direction; he wasn't really aware enough of their location to dig up memories of which way would yield the closer cafe.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Oh. She didn't exactly think he would agree - perhaps she thought he'd be more stubborn? - but either way he looked ready to follow, so she glanced in either direction. She immediately regretted being the one to lead, seeing as she hardly knew the area...

But, seeing a nearby street sign, she pointed. "I know a nice little coffee shop down this way," she said as she began walking in that direction. Not too fast, of course - she didn't normally walk fast anyway - and occasionally glanced back fleetingly to make sure he was still following and hadn't passed out or anything.

Luckily though, they made it there without incident, and she entered first and held the door open for him. "You can pick where to sit," she offered to him. The inside of the cafe - less a coffee shop, really - had various kinds of seating, ranging from booths to tables with normal chairs. Abigail figured a booth might be best, but she'd let him pick.  

[Suudonym]

Normally he probably would have been more stubborn about it, but for the time being he was in a kind of self-defensive autopilot mode that had no qualms against relegating decisions to a known party. He registered her words vaguely upon arrival, surveying the seating arrangements of the shop more for proximity than for apparent comfort. He wound up trained on one of the booth seats one way or another, setting his bags down lightly on the floor beside the seat and resting his head in his palm with his elbow propped against the table. A resting position achieved, he began to take stock of himself. Was there still pain? Only slightly; it seemed to be mostly fatigue. He didn't detect any nausea or heartburn, and the worst of the arrhythmia felt to be subsiding. Anxiety and weakness were a given, but he felt more or less confident that he wasn't enduring another heart attack - and that was really all he could ask for.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

After Luke headed in a direction, Abigail followed and sat down across from him, kind of glad he'd chosen a boot. It was harder to fall over and onto the floor in those than normal chairs, anyway, plus they provided at least a tiny bit more privacy than normal tables. Sort of.

A waitress promptly walked over, said her usual spiel along with a polite "what can I get for you today?" Although she was looking rather concerned about Luke.

"Just two glasses of water for now please, thank you," Abigail said easily, folding her hands in her lap.

The waitress nodded and left, and came back momentarily to deposit the glasses in front of each of them as well as a promise to return in a few minutes if they wanted anything else.

Abigail had said a polite "thank you" to the girl, and once she'd gone she looked across to Luke as she pulled her glass closer. "How are you feeling?" She asked before taking a few sips. Ahh, that was better.  

[Suudonym]

After the more or less positive assessment of his well-being, Luke began to take in his surroundings and circumstances more thoroughly. He raised his head, placing his chin in his palm. A paleness lingered in his features, but his breathing, at least, had roughly returned to normalcy. "I'm okay," he said vaguely. "Mostly tired." The fatigue, according to prior experience, would last a while longer; all he could do was quietly wait it out until his body didn't groan at the thought of rising and walking home.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The woman nodded at his words before taking a few more sips of her water. She was still very curious as to his state of health, and why he looked like he was about to pass out. Why he still looked like he was going to pass out - though he did look much improved already since sitting down. "Would you mind if I asked why?" If he said no, she wouldn't pry. She didn't want to be rude, after all.  

[Suudonym]

He watched the glass of water in front of him idly as the condensation gathered and rolled from the glass towards the table. He would much rather have brushed the question off, but he had already been pretty rude considering she was just showing concern. He probably would have just the same concerns if he encountered someone suffering like himself. "Arrhythmia," he said with reluctance in his voice. "It's not usually a big problem these days, but I guess I overestimated myself."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abigail hesitated a bit. Arrhythmia? She might have heard it before - something heart-related? - but she couldn't remember exactly. Whatever it was (and she made a mental note to look it up later), it sounded serious. She wasn't about to make a big deal about it though, especially with her ignorance of what it actually was, so she merely nodded sympathetically. "I'm sorry you have to deal with that. It's easy to overestimate yourself - I used to do it all the time while I was pregnant with my daughter. Though of course, that's obviously quite a different situation," she finished with a small frown that she hid behind her glass of water. She kind of wished she could look up arrhythmia right now, but had no means with which to do so. Oh well.