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[ ... ... ...

Terry was honestly not thinking about that, and now that it's dawned upon him, there's an empty smile on his face as he just sits in bed, frozen in shock. ]

I... I'll... be fine...

[ He's still stuck on the :D face. ]

...Will you be? The more often you stay in the hospital, the less you'll be able to work. It would be even worse if you were fired for having unreliable availability.

[ Will you really be okay, Terry... ]

[ He's just internally screaming about how all his accumulated money when he's back home is useless. nbd nbd ]

I'll have a talk with a person from the billing department about payment plans and stuff... I can always work at the hospital for free if I really had to, if they'll accept me...

[ Future looking really bleak with reality ensuing. ]

[ This is why you want tangible assets to pawn off at a later date. Have Terry regain a television or a boat or something, the townspeople here would probably love that. ]

Or you can just accept help from somebody else. Is it really that bad, if I want to help?

[ Assuming Terry actually had something of value... ]

Well, no... but it's a lot, you know. And I don't want to trouble you since you have your own things to buy and...

[ What does he use all that money for??? Maybe he's responsible and saves his money like we're supposed to be doing, I don't know. ]

I don't plan on staying here any longer than I have to. I'm fortunate enough not to have to worry about shelter, so my expenses only go towards food and the bare necessities to keep alive. Any extra money, I'd like to use to keep other people alive. We're supposed to be doing this together, right?

[ It's not like she's going to foot his entire medical bill? She can just chip in what she's able to. ]

[ Maybe he'll actually collect loot now and sell them off to item makers in the town. No problem...

Terry stares at Kido in silence for several seconds before blurting out with a not quite correct translation--

So he basically just shouts "suki!!!" at Kido lmao ]

[ Uh

lmfao

Kido startles and lets the cat drop to the floor and leaves to call a nurse into the room because Terry is being very concerning all of the sudden ]

[ ... ... ...

????????

Terry just sits on the bed, all confused. He's not sure what he said wrong... the nurse comes in, looks at Terry, looks at Kido, and looks back at Terry.

"What did you say that was so strange?" ]

Uh... (suki)...?

[ The nurse looks at Kido's direction with a flat stare.

"It's only polite to reject him to his face, you know" she says, and promptly leaves.

????? ]

[ No, don't leave!!!! Nurse-san, please, Kido needs you to check Terry's head...

Aaaaaa

She can't say it to his face, so she'll just... go back to the corner and play with the cats... Yeah, this sounds like a good plan, and maybe she can mumble under her breath and hope Terry doesn't hear. ]

You can tell me again when you're not high off morphine...

[ The cats welcome Kido and some of the kittens paw at her hand and even flops on their sides for her to rub their belly.

Terry unfortunately caught that, but he doesn't understand what she means by that. Languages sure are complex... ]

Thanks for helping me as usual. I feel like I'm always in your debt somehow.

[ Belly rubs are a trap and she's not going to fall for that. But she will sit down on the ground, leaning her back against the wall and crossing her legs so that the kittens have a lap to crawl onto and sit on. Cute. She can almost forget about Terry being there if she just sits and plays with the cats. ]

You can pay me back by getting better. So we can go to the festival together next week or something... That's all I want.

[ As if on cue, the kittens go to climb all over Kido's lap. They're even playfully fighting each other for their spot, batting each other on the head and tumbling here and there. ]

We'll have a lot of fun.

[ He can see Kido and the cats from where he's sitting on the bed and... that's really cute. freaking kawaii as hell. Terry won't comment on it, and just watch on with a fond look on his face. ]

[ Aaaaa she loves cats. Reasons why Kido will visit Terry in the hospital: to get to see his cats. Seeing him is just a bonus. ]

Yeah, it'll be fun. I haven't told them you're here, but I bet Suzume and Hayato would be excited to see you again too. [ I made up their names just today bc Leon asked, but presumably Terry got the names of the two kids Kido's babysitting the last time he was over ] I'll take on piggyback duty for the time being, though.

Ah, really? That's good to hear... Are you sure though? They don't... pull your hair or anything, right?

[ Felt like he had a bald spot on that night...... ]

No? They're good kids.

[ She has protective gear, aka she wears her hood all the time, no danger to her hair. ]

They pulled on my hair when I was there... It felt like they ripped some of my hair out. This is unfair treatment...

[ apple pie onii-chan is sad ]

[ haha... Kido must have missed that, or ignored it. ]

They're kids. If they're roughhousing, just tell them to stop. Otherwise you'll just get bullied all your life.

[ She sure did ignore Terry's suffering... ]

By kids too... man, this sucks. Working at a daycare sounds like hell now.

[ He's basically imagining himself to be that cat with a million frogs surrounding it, except they're kids. ]

Just gotta stick with freelance work.

[ lmfao that's how it is. Can't even be mean to the kids or they'll cry, so the only option is to be bullied. ]

Freelance work is... what, designing houses and painting houses, stuff like that?

Um... basically providing services without having a boss! You're your own boss... or something like that? I helped people find things back home with my powers. It was fun too... and I got paid a lot.

[ finding 8 lost cats though.... no thanks ]

[ The services is what she had questions about, not the definition of freelancing, but helping people find things makes sense, sort of. Like those "private eye" businesses you read about in storybooks. ]

That sounds like something more suited to you. Something like that would be a big help to the people here too, probably, and you wouldn't have to run around town or push yourself too much doing something like that.

Going with people to help them find things at the location costed extra!

[ So the option of still running around town is still... unfortunately there. ]

I'm not sure if I can do something like that here though, since it's... pretty much a magical thing, isn't it? I'll probably be marked as a fraud or something.

Yeah, so?

[ Who cares if you're a fraud... ]

You'll be helping people, and you're putting in real work. It's not really fraud unless you're the one stealing things in the first place.

I... guess so.

[ Hm. Terry is giving it a serious consideration. Sounds like it's time to open up a stall or something in the market street once he's out of the hospital. ]

I'll give it a try then! Thanks, Kido!

[ Some kittens paw at Kido's stomach while standing on their hind legs, which makes Terry realize... ]

Oh, right. Cat food is in the bottom drawer. Can you feed them for me?

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