Infection-Shelled Regios

"What, this old thing? Pah, you shouldn't worry about it, it's as stable as a-"
Landon didn't need to think of a clever simile. He didn't need to act all tough. Not because he had proved it, but because his leg fell to the floor with a plastic-y thump, leaving its owner leaning against the inside of the ambulance with a sheepish look plastered upon his face. He froze in that position momentarily, his features seeming to be made of stone, before he muttered something incomprehensible - but probably thick with curses - and slumped to the floor. "All right, maybe it's not that stable. Maybe I really do need a combat prosthetic. I'll get one when I can afford one, by gum. But really, I couldn't have held off the entire horde. If anything, you and your skills managed to get us out alive. If anyone else saw you out there, I've no doubt they'd be praising you as their saviour."
And it was true - even if he had managed to escape the pollutant beasts' grasps, he could never have held off the small army flooding towards the van, like a maelstrom of starved zombies. Added to the fact that his aim had been thrown off, the scope had started to crack, and that the actual rifle was beginning to fire funny from the hit it took, he would probably wouldn't have been able to hit the broad side of a barn after about two more minutes of fire.
 
An uneasy gasp slipped from her lips. It was ironic that just as he started to act all macho his artificial limb decided to fall off. Miku flashed him another worried look (though she couldnt find reason behind the sudden care) She waited to hear a loud, painful raction. Like 'Ouch!!' or 'Dammit!'. Though a flurry of curses did follow, it wasnt what she had expected.

Miku couldnt help but fashion a small blush when Lando. A nervous shade of red that almost caused her to forget the situation? She also found it sad that he couldn't afford a combat limb when he was out putting his life on the line. Miku neatly resumed her sitting posture, sitting on her knees and pushing her skirt down with her palms. " Well, I-I dont know if it was all that impressive, i got sloppy.." She almost made a small frown. " But.. Thanks "
 
Landon was a little perplexed at how someone so obscenely strong could be so shy, after such a display that took out a sizeable number of enemies, and saved a group of military artists from becoming chew toys. However, he made no bones about it, and he put the blushing down to simple embarrassment, even if he himself had never seen someone do such a thing.
"Oh, cheer up, lass. Who cares if you fouled up once or twice? You still managed to save these men and boys. They owe you their lives - a debt I doubt they'll forget for the rest of their lives."
"Hey, love-birds, it's time you stopped flirting and gave me a hand shifted the patients. We're almost at the hospital, and I've got to get to Floor Street."
"Er... The leg?"
"Give it a quick-fix, and get yourself checked out while you're in there."
Sighing, Landon pulled on the prosthetic, grumbling something about taskmasters. Nevertheless, no matter how he grumbled, he always did what he had to to survive. Even if it had cost him his leg, at one point.
 
Miku smiled as she received further praise for her earlier heroics. As he spoke she looked to the other passengars. "Thanks.. I-I guess I really did okay."

"Um-" She was cut off by the drivers comment. Instead of one of her usual flustered remarks she simply smiled and looked away. Miku scanned the injured military artist, immediately picking out the ones she would need to carry in first.

Then she looked back to Lando as he began adjusting his artificial limb. "Hey umm Mister, do you need help making it through the hospital doors aswell? That dosn't seem to stable." Miku pointed to the leg.
 
Landon hesitated for a moment, glancing at his leg - the stability of which was shaky at best - and the distance between the door and the ambulance. Giving in to reason, he sighed, and gave his response.
"Just through the doors, if you can. I'll be able to take it from there, though."
Though he didn't try to show it deliberately, Landon was not the kind of person who liked to accept help, mainly due to prideful reasons of wanting to show independence. An odd reason, given that he was a sniper, and thus a supporting team member as opposed to somebody on the front lines, but he hated it when he couldn't even pull off something simple like walking properly. With a grunt, he lifted himself, and began limping to the doors. Miku would have to catch up if she wanted to help.
 
Mikue gave a slight smile. She didn't expect him to accept her offer s openly. Judging by how quickly he was going to sacrfice himself just a few moments ago, it didn't seem like he was one to accept aid from anyone.

Before Miku could give it a second thought, he had already pushed himself out the ambulance and was making his way to the hospital. She scampered behind him and lifted his arm over her shoulders. It looked a little awkard because he was so much bigger than her but she was happpy to take some of the weight off o his bad leg as they scuffled through the door.
 
"So, what kind of training have you been doing? It certainly seemed effective, and I certainly haven't seen it."
Though it was simply idle banter, it was only natural that he take an interest in what Miku had done to gain her skills. He had never such form and power, not in his simple academic city. Yes, he was a good sniper - but only because he had spent incessant hours on the rifle range, until he was able to pick out a target if it so much as twitched within his vision. He tried not to allow too much weight on her, however, despite how much power she had displayed. he was, first and foremost, somebody who at least tried to make aa good impression. He would not do that by essentially collapsing onto a new ally of his.
"Bad leg, Landon?"
A weary-looking doctor made the passing remark, knowing ful well he was correct. It was not an offensive statement, by any means. It was just a statement.
 
"My trainning? I umm.. I guess its sort've advanced." Miku figured it was okay to open up abit more now. "I'm kinda aspiring to become a heavenly sword one day and so.. I've received trainning from them."

She gave herself a small smirk seeing that although he was injured he was still somewhat trying to manage on his own. This guy was certainly detemined. He was strong willed. Never had she heard of a such a skilled sniper in Zuellni, even with an impairment he was incredibly formidable..

Miku then sucked in a deep breath bfore asking this next question, most likely a sensitive subject. "H-Hey um.. How did you-"
She was cut off by a doctor stating the obvious
 
Landon raised his eyebrow at hearing Miku wanted to be a Heavenly Sword one day, though the term meant little to him. He assumed them to be an elite force in her city, and that she was some sort of prodigal child. He nodded, acknowledging, but nothing to show he really knew what she was talking about.
It was an obvious question, one people were always bound to ask him sooner or later. He didn't like to talk about it, but for the sake of getting it over and done with, he usually told people when they asked, as long as they seemed like they would not make a huge fuss over it. If there was one thing he hated, it was being told what he couldn't do, or being pitied because he was limited in what he could. Casting off the wistful look and tone, he adopted a more serious version of both.
"I was out, with my squad. Patrols, you see. We were patrolling to take out any mutants that were endangering any civilians. But... Well, it was before they found out the virus was airborne. Masks had been handed out as a precautionary measure, but nothing to really stop it. My team - my own friends - turned on me. I watched them mutate. Held one of them as their teeth grew to fangs. Do you know what it's like to be clinging to an evacuation vehicle, while your own captain chews your leg off? It would have been salvageable, under normal circumstances. However, there was a virus around, with no known chemical cure. They had to amputate it."
 
In a more serious tone, Lando answered her question. She didn't even have to finish asking. Obviously, she wasn't the only one curious.
As he spoke Miku could only cover her mouth (avoiding a girlish gasp) and shake her head no. It was true she had a vague idea of the feeling but nothing compared to him. She couldn't imagine watching that happen up close and on top of that losing a limb. Lando was obviously of a stronger will than she was. Under the skill Miku was a nervous, emotional wreck. It wasn't the same with him. He was.. unphasable.

"I-I'm sorry." Miku almost regreted asking. His change of tone was unsettling and his story was shaking. Out of the corner of her eye, Miku glanced at him. There was surely more to Lando than met the eye.
 
"This is a war, you know. This kind of thing happens, and I guess I was just unlucky. I can't allow myself to stop doing my duty, though - I at least owe it to my captain. She never stopped believing in any of us, and I'd feel like failure if I quit now."
The bitterness in his voice was prominent - to deny its existence was to ignore the elephant in the room. He tried to hide it with a wistful look, but all this achieved was him contorting his face without so much as a single hint of wanting to remember the past. He shook his head slowly, attempting to dispel his bitterness - he reasoned that he hadn't the time to be wallowing in the mires of memories, and as such, he introduced himself - it only seemed natural, after all, and he felt that Miku wasn't a bad person at all. Her shyness seemed a little odd, for someone with such power, but he didn't mind her. "Name's Landon, by the way. Little bit of an odd name, but I'm sure it has some sort of meaning to it."
 
Miku nodded. He was right. It wasn't like his was the only casualty she had ever come across, this kind of thing happened frequently, at least everyday. Also his captain sounded like a deemingly Trustworthy character. No wonder he had such resilience.

"Lando.." She voiced in a whisper before letting out a slight giggle. It was an odd name just as he said, but it had a nice ring to it aswell.

Miku decided it was only proper to introduce herself aswell. "My name-" She cut herself off. Miku used her free had to awkwardly fumble around in her bra for a second, ant the once again pulled out her dite. From upclose it would seem to have a tassle on it bu that wasn't the case. Attatched to the end was a silver charm bracelet with her name spelled out it in bright hearts. It was a keepsake. Miku dangled it in front of his face for a moment and thn put it awaky. "Its that" She replied like a child.
 
Landon, despite being slightly surprised at seeing someone pull their dite out of their bra, refused to permit any sort of reaction on his part. In fact, all he did when he was shown her name tag was nod slowly. Until something clicked in his mind, however.
"Miku... Miku... I've heard that name before... Ah, she's a singer, not a bad one at that. Well, I say 'is,' but it's more 'was,' due to the infection. Regardless, it's a cute little name."
Landon had reasoned that, if she was allowed to giggle at his name like that, he could at least try to exploit her shyness for his own amusement. Just a little. He knew she was not giggling because his name was incomprehensibly silly, but he felt that saying what he did would be little something he could chuckle at before he turned right, into the room of the doctor that would adjust his leg. Something else was on his mind, however. Nothing much, but he constantly wondered when he would be able to afford a combat prosthetic, one that he needed so desperately.
 
Miku followed after Lando. She watchedhim give a slight nod after she gave a somewhat awkward introduction.

They then turned into a room and hnded him to a doctor who them helped him with his prostetic. Miku found it sad that he was risking his life battling the infected and yet no one would even grace him wth a proper limb. If she had received funds of her own she surely would've put it towards a combat leg for him. Sadly,that wasn't the case. Miku stood there in the corner while Lando prepared himself. She was silent, as if waiting for an order. That was what she was used to after all.
 
The doctor was going through the normal rigmarole of looking up Landon's data on the computer, comparing it with the measurements he had taken on another date. It was tedious procedure, and one Landon knew well - his prosthetics were constantly being bent out of shape, so it was unlikely that he would ever be able to go for a long period of time without having to visit the hospital. It wouldn't take long to adjust and fit it - in a society where taking out and replacing a person's spine was normal, it wouldn't be hard to adjust a piece of reinforced plastic. It would still take time, however.
"You've really got to step out of duty for a while, Landon. And I'm not just saying this because of the leg - you look a bit tired."
"I've got a shorter shift tomorrow, doc. I'll be fine. Even if we are being run ragged by the infection..."
 
After waiting in the corner for awhile Miku silently followed the doctor round the room, curiously peeking at all of the statistics, data, and graphs.
She didn't know much about what to do with an injury, being taught to move on as quickl as possible. Although Lando seemed bored, as if this was an everday thing which it most likely was, Miku ddnt know how to take it. Should she have been worried or something?

She continued making curious faces( which turned out to look surprisingly cute ) at all of the computer screens and paper as it was jotted on.

Shortly after she shot around towards Lando as he conversed with his doctor and cut in at the end. "Y-Yeah, maybe the doctor is right Lando.. Don't you think you've done enough for awhile?"

From what Miku could gather she couldn't fathom the stressful situations he had probably endured due to the infection.
 
"The lady's got the right idea, my friend. You're going to wear yourself down to a skeleton if you don't take a rest."
"People are able to manipulate their kei to keep them going for days without sleep."
"But you're not one of those people, are you? They're the elite of Glendan - the best of the best. You're a sniper from Zuellni. Learn the difference."
Landon, bitter as he was, couldn't deny that his intermittent five-hour naps were not going to beat off the fatigue accumulated through his fights and staying up so long. He could suppress it for a little while, but in the end, he would always succumb to his tiredness. He had even collapsed on more than one occasion - though nobody seemed to see any reason to bring it up, and though she possessed great strength and skill, Landon didn't think Miku would respond too well to knowing he had been pushing himself so far. Nevertheless, he persisted.
"But I'm needed, I'm part of a team..."
"And a team's job is to support their allies when they can't deal with something. Rest, Landon. I'm not asking you any more, I'm telling you - doctor's orders."
"I'm a fighter, doctor. I'm going back on there, as soon as I've collected myself."
"Your funeral."
 
Miku lips formed a pout. Sometimes she just couldn't. Get through to guys. It seemed that sometimes stubbourness was a charms, for it seemed to make Lando boths brave and stupid...

It didn't seem that he was one to falter once his mind was made up aswell, even as the doctor ordered him to do so. With a sigh, Miku gave up. The doctos last statement shook her up abit. Your funeral. She could only hope that doctors weren't always correct in Zeullni.

Another one of the doctors statements registered with her aswell. The one about the Glandans able to distribute kei in such a way. She herself couldn't do such a thing but she knew of many who could. Most of her on kei would be spent avishly during battles and such a drastic change in use was difficult. Thus she chose not to learn it.
 
The leg had been adjusted sufficiently, rendering Landon able to walk properly, though he was hardly fit for service. he'd refuse to admit it, but after the shifts he had been doing, he was practically dead on his feet. Part of him wanted to believe that the doctor was just trying to scare him into following his advice. The other part of him knew that his overworking himself would be the death of him. Yet, he continued to do all he could at the fronts, despite the protests he received. He glanced at Miku's pout, but did not register it properly. Had he been able to process anything correctly, he would have chuckled a bit, and told her she looked cute when she was like that. Now, he was just weary, and needed rest. But he refused outright to - his stubborn pride, or possibly something deeper, was stopping him.
"There."
"What?"
"I've just gotten permission from the head of medicine to declare you temporarily unfit for duty. You will not be allowed on any missions until I've seen you, and can certify that you are properly rested. I'm pushing it by not saying you need a proper prosthetic - this one's barely holding out."
 
A look of awe was plastered over her face. Miku looked towards Lando, then at the doctor, and then at Landon once more.
In a complete ignorance of medical functions she whispered. "C-Can he do that?"

Miku held a puzzled face. If in fact it were under the doctors jurisdiction to do such a thing it would be a great thing. Landon would be required to take a break, and rest himself. Though she didn't know how much how happy he would be about that. Miku had plenty of rest lately, even on the flight over to Zuellni and her work here hadn't even started. Maybe she could cheat it abit and relax with him.. Maybe. Although to tell the truth she wasn't as hardworking as Landon, Miku was due for a break every once in awhile aswell.
 
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