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[When Natori sees one of his dolls come back shortly after his own very close save with the Silence, he assumes the worst.

Jun gave him a clean bill of (spiritual) health earlier, so as far as he's concerned he's good to go-- he may still be fighting his own chills and nausea, but the only way they factor in is that when Natori shows up in the park after following the doll back at a run, he's doing it with a touristy South Sister sweatshirt layered under his jacket.]

Kate-- [He'd known it was her doll, and his initial reaction is relief that she's still moving, that he didn't find her trying to fight something off or on the ground because he couldn't make it in time. His second is to pause just out of her range and focus on if anything feels off. He can't pick up on any malevolent presences, but he's not sure if he would; he felt what he's sure was the Silence earlier today, but that doesn't mean that he'd be able to feel it at this distance if it was laying low inside a host.

His third is to take his jacket off and hold it out to her. It's light-weight, the sort of jacket you'd throw on in the end of spring more for protection from the sun and wind than for warmth, but it's still something.

Gently, but urgently:] Did you feel something?

[It's something, but she doesn't take it. Instead, she backs up from his kind offer instead, rapidly shaking her head, which causes her nausea to kick into overdrive.

It's not pretty what happens next, but it does happen, and once she's finished upchucking, she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and rasps out her words.]

The Plague. [She starts, shaking her head. He won't know what she means, but she's frantic. The sickness is the same kind, had she touched something unknowingly? She doesn't want to spread it to him.]

She's here-

[If she were thinking rationally, she'd realize that she's not here, that something else happened, but she can't quite get through that line of logic through her instinct to survive. Run. Hide. Warn the others, Natori doesn't know-]

[He pulls the jacket back as she turns to get sick, an automatic response as much to her rejecting his offer as the instinct to give her space.]

The-- [plague is not what he thought she'd say. To come into this so certain that it was going to be about the Silence only to hear something completely different is more disorienting than he expected. But-- could they have been wrong? Jun didn't see any trace of the Silence on either of them, but if that was because it was never the Silence to begin with...] Kate, what plague?

The Plague! [She huffs, bracing herself with her hands on her knees. She knows this sickness, this deep, disorienting sickness.]

She's- [She coughs, and it sounds wet and unpleasant.] One of the killers- infects people with her sickness before she does you in.

["The killers." That's what Kate called the ones who were in that other realm with her-- the hunters, not the hunted. So that meant one of them showed up here too? With all the conversations today about the Admin's end goal, he can't help but feel a stab of anger at this. What better way to make it clear that the concern for their wellbeing was fake than by bringing in a murderer like that?]

Okay. [He keeps his distance, his voice even. Kate's the one who knows what they're up against; he has to defer to her on this one.] How can I help? Anything that can help to treat it, anything I need to look for to stop other people from catching it? [A chill goes down his spine, and whether it's from the weakness from earlier, the outdoor temperature, or the idea... he doesn't want to think too closely about it.] What are the symptoms?

[Focusing is always the hardest part when you're infected. Kate doesn't remember how, only remembers the purple haze, but the Plague must have been there, snuck up on her somehow.

It's not like it hadn't happened before. She coughs and hacks again, trying to catch her breath between rasps.]

There's- fountains. Can cleanse her sickness. [But if they aren't in a trial, what does that mean? If there's no fountain, what happens then?]

Only ever saw 'em in a trial though. Just- don't touch anything I do. It shouldn't spread from me to others. [Kate wheezes, and feels her stomach lurch as she tries to keep down the bile.]

Coughing. Vomiting. Weakness.

['Weakness' he has, but neither he nor Father Hansa experienced coughing and vomiting. It's a small relief, given the circumstances, but anything that points away from the idea that there's a killer going around among the residents spreading sickness like this is a good thing.]

Fountains... is it a matter of purification? [If the sickness isn't just viral, but something with a spiritual element to it--] I'm willing to try a purification spell if you think it won't make things worse.

Maybe? I- [She's interrupted by more wet sounding coughs, and this time she's unsuccessful at keeping it down. RIP to that patch of grass.]

I don't know. I'm willing to try if it helps everyone else.

[If she gets others sick... Who knows what'll happen? It's what she's afraid of the most.]

It shouldn't hurt, even if it doesn't work, [he says gently-- he knows that the physical pain isn't what she's concerned about, but unless she's actively possessed that should be true nonetheless.

...He pauses when that thought crosses his mind; he's nearly positive that was the source of his own sickness earlier in the day. Could that be the problem that Kate's experiencing as well, instead of a killer out to infect everyone? He doesn't feel that nasty presence lingering around her, but...]

I'll draw the circle over here first. [So he doesn't have to approach her until it's ready; he has a feeling that's what she'd be the most comfortable with. He finds a stick to start tracing out a circle.] When did this start?

[The thought of being in pain doesn't even cross her mind. Being sick is uncomfortable in a way wholly unrelated, and Kate gives a rasping laugh when he says it, even if he may not know why.]

Just a few minutes ago. Felt somethin' awful. Like... Well, there ain't anyway to describe it other than it's a feelin' I've had before.

[Being stalked by the Entity... the strange feeling of a malicious deja vu.]

[That laugh makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up. There's nothing Natori said that seems to lend itself to a laugh, so... it's likely something to do with the idea of it causing pain, and he can't think of any scenario that would lead to that reaction that's, you know, a good thing. He pauses, very briefly, before he keeps going with the circle.]

Got it. Do you normally have to see her for her to attack? And can you describe anything about her to me? It will make the spell work better if I can counter specific traits of what we're up against.

[And it will let Kate keep talking as he gets set up.]

It's hard not to see her. She's one of the taller ones, but she does have to see us I guess to attack. [Eugh. Just thinking about it makes her stomach clench, feeling even worse.]

She uh, vomits on us. From a distance. [Disgusting to admit, but she continues on. She's gotten used to a lot of shit in the fog.] Over time it weakens us enough that the next time she finds us, just hitting us with that censer of hers is enough to have us on the floor. [Which hurts in a way that being stabbed with a knife doesn't, but she tries not to think about that while she shuts her eyes tightly, willing another wave of nausea to pass.]

She's dressed like an old sort of priestess, but half of her is rottin'.

[The mention of her vomiting on them is enough for Natori to pause again, though years of practice lets him keep a fairly straight face. Just. Eugh. Why are some ayakashi so gross.]

Well, no wonder you're looking so... thrilled. [But rotten projectile vomit priestess with censer is enough information to make the circle a little more specific, though in the name of caution he adds in a few symbols that he thinks would counter the Silence as well. Soon enough, he's scratched out a spell array; he steps out to the edge and draws out an ofuda from his bag.]

Alright. Step into the middle? If it works more like a curse than a virus-- even if it's a curse transmitted by disgusting means-- this should hopefully purge it.

[Thanks, Natori. Kate knows she looks awful, but she bets she feels even worse than she looks, because she upchucks again, something impressive considering how little she eats, as he finishes the circle.

She's still trying to keep a healthy distance from him just in case, but once he tells her to step in the middle, she does, even if every muscle in her body is protesting it.

Kate looks at him, waiting for something to happen before another coughing fit takes over her.]

Am I s'posed to do somethin'?

Mm, focus on how it feels when you use one of the fountains to heal yourself, [Natori says, clapping his hands around the top of the stick with the ofuda sandwiched in the middle. The truth is that there isn't actually anything that Kate needs to do, but it feels like a good idea to give her a task to focus on.

He leans the stick into the outline of the circle and concentrates; light briefly fills the grooves that he carved out in the dirt, and a rush of wind swirls around the two of them as Natori activates the spell. He opens his eyes once it's finished and looks Kate over.]

How do you feel? [That's "did it work or what," phrased a little more delicately.]

[She'll believe that's how it works until told otherwise, and she tries to steady her breathing, picturing herself at one of the fountains, splashing the cool water on her face, rinsing her mouth out.

The wind rushing past her gives her hope, and she tries to keep her concentration, but when he speaks, all she can do is shake her head, slowly and gently to avoid feeling more awful.]

Still like shit.

[At least she's honest.]

Well, honesty's the best policy, especially when it comes down to whether you're carrying a mysterious virus. [He leans his weight slightly on the stick, biting his lip as he looks down on the circle.] I guess that means it's not based in something spiritual...

So. What's the next steps? How long does this take to cure itself on its own?

When we get out of a trial we're cured of any injuries or sickness. Other than that... An' other than the fountains, there ain't nothin' for it.

[Which means that this is a problem. How long would it last? Would she just have to stay sick and infected like this? Or would it eventually pass on its own?]

Hmm. Well, there are a lot of people here with healing abilities, right? Between them, I'm sure we'll find someone who's able to do the same thing as the fountain would. My expertise is pretty limited here, you know?

[He's just here for the exorcisms, man.]

If you think my wards might stop her-- like the ones you'd find at a Shinto shrine [he adds, since he remembers that she's been to Japan (presumably before all of the insane murder trials stuff) and actually has the context for what he's describing] I can also set them up at your home so she can't try to get at you again.

[Thanks, Natori. Totally helpful.]

I don't think they would. She's not like- the Spirit. [Who was more ghostly. The Plague was more of a rotting priestess herself, though definitely not one of Japanese origin, if she thinks hard enough.

Which is hard to do, trying to keep bile down her throat.]

Thanks anyway, though. Who d'ya know whose capable of healing?

["The Spirit," "The Plague." Even the implications of the things that Kate's been through are a lot to handle. He'll defer to her judgment on this one, because it's not like he has any idea of what to do there.]

Mm, Sokie's got some healing abilities. There's also a newer guy named Vangeance who can heal, though I don't know if his extends to sickness along with injuries.

[Names she takes note of between fits of coughing, chest starting to hurt from just the force of it.]

Y'think they'd be able to help? I don't know much about magic.

[Other than her own injuries, which seal up quickly enough all on their own in crackles of golden and black.]

Honestly, I don't know much about that sort either-- my world doesn't have healing abilities like that. I'd try Sokie first. She's the one that I'd bet would have more experience with illnesses. Vangeance seems like the type who's more used to being a field medic, but his magic is extremely powerful.

[It's only occurring to him now that this is the sort of thing he should really know more about-- the last thing they need is to waste time in an emergency finding out the healers' limitations the hard way.]

I ain't ever met her. But it'd be a good thing to go meet both, I assume. Abilities like that are valuable.

[She knows that first hand, with Zarina's uncanny ability to take the wounds off of someone else and take them in their stead, no matter how deadly. It's an ability that she sorely wishes to have, with how useful it might be in the future.]

Yeah. I was just thinking along the same lines. It's not paranoia if there's really something out there, right? [He gives her a humorless little smile.] I think you'd get along. You and Sokie. She's the sort of person to complain about useless young adults who can't feed themselves, then drag them into her kitchen to learn.

[Three guesses who this description applied to.]

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itt just wear a mask

WASH YOUR HANDS, KATE

what if she touches his face instead

that's the opposite of helpful???

he could be a corona cutie tho

SIX FEET AWAY, KATE

:(

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