Patience is the best medicine |Vinzent +Jack| Hospital Car

Roadie 🪶Jack

Although one would assume from the whole getup that Jagal wouldn’t be conscious for some time, it was always dangerous to make assumptions on the Train.

There was no immediate response to Vinzent’s monologue. Not even a shift on the heart monitor, if you weren’t watching closely. And yet…

“Since when’re you dead?"

Quiet voice rough but not entirely rusty with disuse, he squinted down at the man past his feet without attempting to otherwise move. It was unclear how much he’d actually heard, let alone processed. But at least he knew someone was there!

Vinzent Mayer

Vinzent expected nothing from Jagal. So, the quietness was not surprising.

However… It didn’t take long.

Wh-

What.

What.

Even if he almost missed what Jagal has just said, it was undeniable that Vinzent’s next expression was one of astonishment. Even within his surprise, the artist somehow knew to keep his voice mostly down as to not disturb anyone in the vicinity.

“You’re awake?!”

Carefully, he approached Jagal to take a good look to be sure that hey, he talked?! Vinzent’s presence can certainly be felt now. The strange nature of Jagal’s statement was mostly ignored. Which means… Progress ??? Who knows.

Vinzent’s instinct tells him he shouldn’t stick around too long, but his curiosity and concern are currently getting him. Maybe he can ask a question, there’s no hope but better try that never knowing.

“… I am really wondering how you’ve managed to leave that car…? I thought I would never see you again. Yet here we are.”

Now then, Vinzent’s not expecting anything coherent or a direct answer from Jagal, but that question did stay for a while in his mind. And he’s not about to dive in Jagal’s personal life.

… Yet?

Roadie 🪶Jack

Jagal’s gaze followed Vinzent’s motions, but otherwise he didn’t have much response to that reaction. Surely the little troll man at least found it amusing.

Vinzent Mayer “You’re awake?!”

“ ‘pends on how y’ look at it.”

He rolled his shoulders back—about all he could do with his upper body at the moment. At least there was no danger of stabbing! Probably the best circumstances one could hope to have a chat with Jagal in.

Vinzent Mayer “… I am really wondering how you’ve managed to leave that car…?

“Which car?”

…If you could call this a chat. Somebody’s earned a “disoriented” medical bracelet. …As if he wasn’t like this half the time, anyway. But you could assume he was probably getting some kind of sleep here.

Vinzent Mayer

Holy sh-t.

Okayyy, here we go. Let’s have a civil conversation, yeah?

Roadie 🪶Jack “ ‘pends on how y’ look at it.”

“… Well, alright. Yeah, you are.” 10/10 for trying.

Vinzent does frown a bit, as he notices that Jagal’s movements are this limited. While there’s absolutely no worries of being stabbed or being hurt right now, it still didn’t look great like situation for the man. At this moment, Vinzent could only try to either help Jagal piece it together a bit (a big emphasis on try), or he could just leave him be.

… The former option was worth a shot at least.

Roadie 🪶Jack “Which car?”

…If you could call this a chat. Somebody’s earned a “disoriented” medical bracelet. …As if he wasn’t like this half the time, anyway. But you could assume he was probably getting some kind of sleep here.

Oh boy. How to explain. Does that mean Jagal has either caught up on them at some point or did he get in a different car that left him in this state? Who knows…

“The library car, with the ghosts that appeared from the books and all.” That’s about as concise as he could get without saying anything else unnecessary. Man, Vinzent hated this car. It was upsetting! For many reasons.

“For some reason… You were unable to leave that car back then.” If Vinzent knew the details of why Jagal couldn’t leave the library car, well, let’s just say that he’d have more reasons to get angrier. Not that it would be productive (It wouldn’t), but still.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Vinzent Mayer “… Well, alright. Yeah, you are.”

What was the topic again? Didn’t know, didn’t care. The guy was probably right about whatever it was, sure. Jagal was plenty of things.

Vinzent Mayer “The library car, with the ghosts that appeared from the books and all.”

Uh… yeah. That sounded familiar. He vaguely nodded, if it could be called that at such a slow rate. At least it was just to himself. He’d left, huh? Sure didn’t remember doing that. Even remotely determining to.

He shrugged, slightly less vaguely. Enough for his skin to stretch at the restraints, but only just.

“Died, I guess.” The librarians wouldn’t want him sitting there rotting, after all.

Vinzent Mayer “For some reason… You were unable to leave that car back then.”

His gaze drifted to the clear plastic “PERSONAL EFFECTS” sack slouched against the wall. For all the things surely still inside the pockets and satchel, there weren’t any visible books. His eyes lost focus without turning elsewhere.

Just leaving her behind again, huh? What a piece of sh-t.

Vinzent Mayer

Vinzent’s waiting for Jagal to speak again, until the end. Despite everything, he does try to be at least courteous in manners.

At the nod that Vinzent nearly missed, he still looked at the man to pay attention, because that was getting difficult to follow along someone who’s barely awake.

Roadie 🪶Jack “Died, I guess.” The librarians wouldn’t want him sitting there rotting, after all.

… Yes? He hesitantly nodded at this, looking quite confused. If Jack meant the ghosts, then… Yes. But… Ah, Vinzent’s probably overthinking this.

Roadie 🪶Jack His gaze drifted to the clear plastic “PERSONAL EFFECTS” sack slouched against the wall. For all the things surely still inside the pockets and satchel, there weren’t any visible books. His eyes lost focus without turning elsewhere.

Just leaving her behind again, huh? What a piece of sh-t.

Vinzent couldn’t help but follow Jagal’s gaze to where it was. Noticing that there weren’t any visible books, he wondered if he could take a look for the other man, but… That felt wrong. Even if he’d ask politely, that. Felt. Wrong.

… Has his snooping around in the library towards about a certain someone haunted him since then? Even if he wanted to get back at her for being so obnoxious and hypocritical initially back then, the consequences weren’t nice at all. In fact, he just wanted to talk after trying to genuinely understand what was her deal. But he made it worse, which makes him feel still awful about this incident. And he knows he's at fault for this one, no matter how much justification Vinzent can try to muster up. And then…

Ugh.

Uuuuurrrggggh…

Vinzent honestly didn’t want to think about her ever again, she’s as good as gone.

In any case. Perhaps it is best to ignore these memories, so Vinzent can try to help Jagal instead, but first… A question. Just to make sure.

“Would you like to take a look in your bag? I can pick it up and get it closer to you.” An offer, at least. We never know. And hey, he won’t look inside without Jagal’s permission.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Oblivious to Vinzent’s internal musing and most of his own, Jagal didn’t really respond to the nod. Agreement, just listening—whatever it was supposed to mean didn’t really matter. Not to him, at least.

Vinzent Mayer “Would you like to take a look in your bag? I can pick it up and get it closer to you.”

After a good moment’s processing time, Jagal squinted at him, then the bag. Right, that was his. Worthless as all of that was, in the end.

He just cocked his head a bit. “Shoulda raided it before I woke up.” Unasked-for thieving tips!

“…Not like I can stop you, anyway.”

He mumbled something else about “better use” and settled his head onto the pillow again, turning away from the stuff. Do as you will, I guess.

Vinzent Mayer

Roadie 🪶Jack

Roadie 🪶Jack He just cocked his head a bit. “Shoulda raided it before I woke up.” Unasked-for thieving tips!

Haha what. Guess he could, but is he really a thief at heart? No!

Roadie 🪶Jack “…Not like I can stop you, anyway.”

He mumbled something else about “better use” and settled his head onto the pillow again, turning away from the stuff. Do as you will, I guess.

… Awkward. Vinzent opted to indeed take a look inside to see if at least his memory of Jagal’s books from the library are indeed not here. Then he’ll leave it be.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Vinzent Mayer Vinzent opted to indeed take a look inside to see if at least his memory of Jagal’s books from the library are indeed not here.

No books loose in the personal effects bag, and the closest runner in his satchel was just a few herb-drying papers. Definitely nothing Vinzent would recognize from the library car. Just an awful lot of Other Stuff, apparently free for the taking…

Even through the rustling, Jagal didn’t look back over. Wasn’t he supposed to be a lot more aggressive about protecting his earthly possessions than this? Awkward.

Vinzent Mayer

Everything about this is awkward, man!

Roadie 🪶Jack Even through the rustling, Jagal didn’t look back over. Wasn’t he supposed to be a lot more aggressive about protecting his earthly possessions than this? Awkward.

See, Vinzent expected Jagal to fight through his restraints and trying to get him… But nothing happened. Has it really been this bad?

Best to get it done and over with. He is curious as to what else is in the bag exceptcwhat he has already seen- but if there are no books, there’s no point in looking further.

So, with his search being over, Vinzent put everything back to where it was and looked at Jagal with what could be described as being regretful.

“… It’s not there, I’m really sorry. I know how important they are to you.”

If Jagal wants him to leave, Vinzent will respect that, but first he’ll wait, just to be polite as the bare minimum.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Vinzent Mayer “… It’s not there, I’m really sorry. I know how important they are to you.”

That at least got Jagal to look back over, squinting. “What’s not there?” Was there something in particular Vinzent wanted to take from him? The knives? Probably useful in a killing game. Jagal wasn’t even sure if they were still in the clear bag, anyway. Dangerous to have them anywhere within reach… Not that they’d let him reach, either.

Vinzent Mayer If Jagal wants him to leave, Vinzent will respect that, but first he’ll wait, just to be polite as the bare minimum.

“…….”

Jagal sure didn’t seem to care one way or the other. Stay, go, kill him yourself, all about the same.

Vinzent Mayer

Roadie 🪶Jack That at least got Jagal to look back over, squinting. “What’s not there?” Was there something in particular Vinzent wanted to take from him? The knives? Probably useful in a killing game.

If I could use just one emote to describe Vinzent’s emotion it would be :isee:. Either way, Vinzent was a little puzzled at how easily Jagal forgot what mattered to him in the first place.

“… T-the books? That you wanted to keep…” Stay vague as much as you can. Definitely not the knives! But, it’s true that Vinzent could have the opportunity. He just didn’t want to. …The screwdriver was technically still something he could use to defend himself just in case. But ideally, Vinzent would never use it ever to shed blood. And only use it for its intended purpose.

Roadie 🪶Jack “…….”

Jagal sure didn’t seem to care one way or the other. Stay, go, kill him yourself, all about the same.

Huh. No answer. Or maybe Jagal’s silence is an answer. Besides, what good would it bring if Vinzent did harm? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. His bitterness toward Jagal has long been gone, even if Vinzent remains not very fond of the man.

“… Well then. I’ll leave you be. If there’s nothing else you need, that is.”

Standing around would make it even more awkward. Vinzent played with his rings a bit while he started to step away from Jagal’s bed. It might have been short but… It genuinely was not the worst thing that happened. Maybe depressing, but that’s a whole other can to open.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Vinzent Mayer “… T-the books? That you wanted to keep…”

A flash of pain crossed Jagal’s face before he managed to push it aside. What was really important, huh. Great. That was the last thing some other guy needed to know about. Jagal didn’t much care to know about it himself, at this point. What use was it? They were still dead. He still couldn’t do anything about it. Couldn’t even stay with them. Why on earth had he left? Couldn’t remember walking out of that car. Couldn’t remember even vaguely going towards the door. Collapsing, maybe. Then… what?

Didn’t matter anyway. He’d still left. Traitor.

Vinzent Mayer “… Well then. I’ll leave you be. If there’s nothing else you need, that is.”

Jagal laughed. No idea why, but apparently that had been funny. Nothing else he needed, huh?

“You could always get these things off my arms.”

Somehow his voice made it sound like a guy in a trenchcoat offering kids candy. Or maybe he just always sounded like that.

Vinzent Mayer

Roadie 🪶Jack That was the last thing some other guy needed to know about

Oops! Vinzent wasn’t supposed to know that part, sure, but it was too late to take it back! Either way, it was best to let it be for now.

Roadie 🪶Jack Jagal laughed. No idea why, but apparently that had been funny. Nothing else he needed, huh?

“You could always get these things off my arms.”

Somehow his voice made it sound like a guy in a trenchcoat offering kids candy. Or maybe he just always sounded like that.

Truthfully? Vinzent had no idea what else to expect but that. He saw it coming.

“…'Kay so. Assuming you wouldn’t jump at me and brandish a knife nearby, I guess I can do that. Or maybe it will be a stupid as h*ll decision, but that I have chosen. Up to you too. Anyway, here we go.”

It was a mercy Vinzent wasn’t tied to his own bed in the past, but that also meant he didn’t have a good idea how to untie these. But well, if he doesn’t try, then he’ll never figure it out. So there he goes, leaning to attempt to untie the restraints on Jagal.

Roadie 🪶Jack

(cw needle mentions)

Vinzent Mayer “…'Kay so. Assuming you wouldn’t jump at me and brandish a knife nearby, I guess I can do that. Or maybe it will be a stupid as h*ll decision, but that I have chosen. Up to you too. Anyway, here we go.”

Jagal half-laughed, but even that came out flat. Yup, stupid to assume he’d ever make the correct decision.

But all right, sure, this was happening. Slowly. Eventually.

“…Thanks.”

Without further comment or anything that sounded more heartfelt, he reached over to yank out his IV lines. Completely safe and fine! At least he didn’t try to stab Vinzent with any of them. Not that anyone would be feeling well about this, either…

Vinzent Mayer

(cw needle mention cont.)

Roadie 🪶Jack Jagal half-laughed, but even that came out flat. Yup, stupid to assume he’d ever make the correct decision.

Exactly.

Roadie 🪶Jack “…Thanks.”

Without further comment or anything that sounded more heartfelt, he reached over to yank out his IV lines. Completely safe and fine! At least he didn’t try to stab Vinzent with any of them. Not that anyone would be feeling well about this, either…

Vinzent wasn’t about to add anything else than a nod that he saw Jagal doing… What. What is he doing??? Unbuddy, what are you doing? While at least Vinzent appreciated that he wasn’t stabbed…

There was a quite bad pain shooting up at his wrist and jaw. Exactly where he got burnt. Great! What the f*ck! Would a sudden fever be preferable instead? … Vinzent would not think so. He’d rather be in physical pain from his wounds rather than having his whole body crash down.

…

Yet.

Okay, he gotta say something. Anything. As the pain was dulled down just a tiny bit, to not have it be so focused in the moment, Vinzent talked again, while still wincing.

“Welcome.”

Yeah, that’s about the extent he can say for now. Both because of the pain and because… He didn’t know what else to say. The one question remaining is why. But that didn’t mean Vinzent wouldn’t do the same thing if it was himself instead. So, he opted to shut up about it for the time being.