Visiting the Boss [Nao X Veritas]

Life had taken an unexpected turn since she had met the young man. For starters, she continued to deliver whatever information she wanted in return for her eyesight. They both kept up their end of the deal and things began to look up. Of course she had no idea why he would even be interested in the things he asked for, but Nao didn't bother to dig into it.

Sight was also a brand new experience. It was terrifying at first, but as the weeks went by, she quickly began to adapt. Reading and writing actual words was a difficult task, but she continued to study faithfully whenever Veritas didn't need her. It was odd though. Whenever he didn't call her, she felt a sense of loss in a sense. He always gave her something to do, but after it was done...Well, she had a lot of time to herself. He had kept her so busy at one point, that when he didn't call or message her after a week, she had absolutely nothing else better to do with her schedule completely open. It made no sense. He was always there, no matter what.

He didn't even answer her calls. What was going on?

Maybe he's not okay... Maybe she should just check up on him. No harm in that, right? With that in mind, she immediately left the grounds and made her way for the forest. It was an...unusual place to meet your boss, but she recalled one of the times he mentioned about hiding out there. Why he would do that?...Again, it was one of those things she didn't bother asking about.

Eventually she approached one of the largest caves she had ever seen. It was pitch black, but maybe he was in there?... "Hello?...Veritas?...You here?" She frowned, suddenly feeling stupid for shouting into the cave. How does he do it out here? It's getting cold... She pulled the jacket tighter around herself. It was getting late and the nights were growing colder.

No response. Well...He had to be in there. She could 'feel' his presence. At first, she was a bit hesitant to enter the darkness. It wasn't because she was afraid-- Alright, maybe she was a bit afraid of the dark. After all, she had been in the dark for her entire life and the past few weeks had been literally an eye-opener. She didn't want to be in the dark anymore...But, he was in there so she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and ventured inside.

Just like before, Nao channeled her energy to focus on her surroundings. With every subtle pulse of her energy, it told her everything she needed to know. Progress was somewhat slow and when she was about halfway there, something startled her. With a gasp, she opened her eyes and shielded them from the light the drone produced. "Huh?..." A...Cold? He could actually get one of those? Veritas could actually get sick? She frowned at the drone. Why didn't he say anything? It wasn't like she was going to die from getting the flu-- Wait. The drone brought up a good point; her sight.

She checked the time. Oh crap... Nao had been smart enough to keep track of the 'time' that was given to her. At most, she had about two hours left. Oh man... She had almost forgotten about that. "Okay...?...Then?..." she awkwardly talked at the drone, "I'll be back with your stuff. If I don't hurry now then it'll take longer for me to get back." Luckily for her, the drone had stopped her halfway. It least it wasn't lying. The trash scattered along the floor was evidence enough. Oh well. She could scold him later for not telling her.

The quest for his items was eventful. Staying in shape was a wonderful thing and right now she was thankful for making it a habit. Running back to the campus was the first thing to do and it didn't take long to pick up her pack from the room. Next, was into town where she ran past others in a haste. On the way to the store, she literally ran a middle-aged woman over and spilled her groceries all over the street. That took up ten minutes of helping the lady recover her items with a bunch of apologies to go with it. Getting the items inside took even longer when someone in line couldn't make up his mind on whether he wanted the expensive toothpaste or not.

It was enough to make her scream, but eventually she made it out of the store with the items he requested. There was something else, but she couldn't put her finger on it. He kept referring to his cold as a 'bug'...And obviously he didn't mean like an insect, so what did it mean?...

"Ah.." she rubbed at her eyes. They were already beginning to itch and everything around her had some kind of 'halo' around it. Street signs off in the distance were getting blurry. It's happening already?... She bit her lip and immediately dialed Veritas on her phone. What else did he need?

She felt so pressed for time. Any minute now, Veritas was going to choke on his own vomit and keel over. Either that or something worse was going to happen. Upon hearing him gag, Nao pulled away the phone and winced at the sound of vomiting on his side. Gosh, is he really that bad? Nao felt sorry for him. At least her mother was there whenever she came down with a serious cold. Veritas was in a place ten times worse and not only that, it sounded like he was dying. "You know, you should just go to the hospital..."

Suddenly, the 'halos' around the area began to disappear and her vision sharpened. Oh no... Now he sounded pained over the phone. "N-No you didn't--" Everything was crystal clear and while that was a good thing, it also meant that Veritas had dug a deeper hole for himself. Now she was beginning to run for it. "You idiot, what did you do that for!?" Her heart raced. He sounded so awful by the time she had picked up the medication from the pharmacy. "Okay, i'll be there soon just uh...Don't die on me, okay?" confident that she had what was needed, she ended the call and made haste.

Luckily, someone spotted her and offered a lift back to the school grounds. It was a great relief and it got her there much faster than being on foot. From there, Nao made a beeline for the forest. Channeling energy into her legs gave her the speed she needed to return to the cave. It was also much easier and required less concentration. Having sight was a blessing in disguise. Before, she felt sluggish and...plain. Now that she did not need to disperse energy consistently, it made her feel stronger and refreshed. It was all thanks to Veritas, but still. He didn't need to put himself at more risk just to grant her sight now... If he didn't, you'd take even longer to get here.

Once she arrived at the cave, she turned on the flashlight she bought from the store and made haste inside. "I'm coming in whether you like it or not!" she announced and ventured further. Past the scattered trash and bags, she finally spotted the pitiful Veritas in his bed. " Geez, you look like hell..." There was enough light around that she shut hers off and immediately dug pills and water from the bag. "Here, take these...and no use in tellin' me to go away, 'cause I won't."