bakerstreet | Florence Nightingale Effect Meme

Florence Nightingale Effect Meme

1. Previously aloof tough character gets injured, lets the love interest treat their injuries, and reveals a newfound trust and intimacy. This might or might not involve the tough person making that hissing sound when the love interest touches their injured face, but not quite pulling away...

2. The love interest gets injured, and the tough character treats them and suddenly reveals a tender side.

It's an old trope, admittedly, but an understandable one. You're hurt - physically or emotionally - and perhaps even on the brink of death. And then, out of the blue, someone saves you and brings you back. They heal you, they feed you, cloth you, wash you. In the human mind, the intimacies can bring up warm feelings, even in the hardest of hearts. Will you fight them or let them grow? And what about when it's time to leave? You may not feel like leaving your angel...

HOW TO PLAY
1. Comment with your character and preferences. Mention if you'd prefer to play the healer or the healed - or both, for greatest versatility!
2. Reply to others.

NOT EXACTLY PROMPTS, BUT IDEAS

- The finding and saving
- The hurt/comfort care process, I.E. cleaning wounds, bathing, wrapping bandages, etc.
- Feeding, finding clothes, etc.
- Mother hen behavior ("you're still hurt, don't do that!")
- Comforting from trauma
- Unwilling patient
- Pulling away, trying to be all aloof
- Realization of growing emotions
- Denial
- Attempts to instigate something more
- Jealousy at seeing your savior with someone else
- Confessions
- Mutual attraction
- First (accidental or no) kiss
- Obligatory sex scene option
- Make your own scene

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

[Don is... he's angry. He's relieved, too, so relieved he feels stupid for being angry, but.

But Gai's never gotten hurt so badly before, and Don knows it didn't have to happen that way. Marvelous can take care of himself, can't he?

And seeing the bruises that go up Gai's leg way beyond the break he's already set kills him every time.

Until Gai's rested, Don has him set up in the cabin that was once solely Don's and has gradually become 'theirs.'

He burned himself a couple times in absentmindedness making dinner, but he's made sure that when he comes back to check on Gai he's got a tray of Gai's favorite things braced on his hip while he pushes the door open.]]

[It's been a long, exhausting day. He managed to stay quiet through having most of his wounds dressed, but having the bone set actually made him cry, though he did manage to throw up into a bucket and not on the person who was holding it. (In related news, Marvelous now owes Ahim an enormous favor.) For a while afterwards he managed to doze, because space painkillers are awesome, but now that the adrenaline and the shock have worn off he's starting to wobble back towards feeling like himself again.

So he's pretty alert when the door to their cabin opens. Definitely alert enough to give Don a subdued version of his usual sunny smile.]

Don.

[And yes, once he had a little quiet time for his thoughts to start clearing and float above the fog of pain, it occurred to him that Don was pretty quiet through... well, everything. But they're back together now, so everything's okay, right?]

Thanks. For taking such good care of me.

Well. [Don boots the door shut and sets the tray up for Gai. His smile is a little stiff.] You needed it. How are you feeling?

Better. [For once he notices right away that Don's holding something back, maybe because he has to focus on smaller details to keep himself steady.] But I always feel better when you're around.

[Okay, even space painkillers can't dampen his constant urge to compliment his boyfriend.]

I'm glad. [He's trying to get better at accepting compliments, but between that and not yelling at Gai he's spinning a lot of emotional plates.] We'll be on the move again starting tomorrow so we can sit around and catch cabin fever together.

[He takes the lid off one of the bowls and dunks a spoon in it because forget it Gai people on space painkillers don't get chopsticks.]

[(Aw, he could totally handle chopsticks! ...on Earth painkillers. He'll probably poke himself in the face with that spoon at least once.)]

That'll be nice.

[Even if it's made with some kind of other space animal and not actual chicken, he makes a really good oyakodon, which Gai appreciates. It smells great, and it reminds him of Earth--even though home is here with the Gokaigers, now, it's nice to have reminders of his own planet. But the way Don's acting still nags at him, and he sort of squirms against the mess of green and silver pillows he's propped up on.]

Sorry I made you worry about me.

[Don wants to ask 'Are you?' and the thought of doing it and the terrible things it would make Gai's face do causes his chest to ache and his eyes to sting.

So he doesn't say anything.]

[Oh no. Silence is very rarely a good sign when he's apologizing for something. So Gai kind of barrels ahead, not so much oblivious as eager to set things right.]

I didn't really know it'd hurt like it did. [He glances down at his hands.] Guess I don't ever think about that stuff when I'm in a fight. Afterwards, I know what I did was reckless, but...

[Gai will have to put up with the ominous silence a few seconds longer while Don chooses his words. He didn't exactly decide on making a protracted whining noise and stooping to hug Gai's head, but that's what happens.]

You can't keep doing things like that!

[Wait, what? He's not expecting either the anguished sound Don makes or the hug, and both of them create this weird tight feeling in his chest--the unmistakable sinking knowledge that he's hurt the person he loves most.]

Mmph-- [He manages to turn his head so he's not talking directly into a mouthful of plaid shirt.] Don, I didn't mean--

[Don smushes him closer, which is by no means the manifestation of a subconscious desire to vindictively smother him.] You're always-

[No, bad approach, egress, reframe it for Gai.]

We're a team, right?

Of course. [He doesn't really squirm--after all, the smushing isn't hurting his bad leg, just making it tough to talk around a bunch of Don's dumb shirt du jour--but he does wriggle a bit so he can look up at Don.] I said I'd always have everyone's back, and I meant it.

That doesn't mean jumping out whenever there's a chance to get killed! [He sucks in a hissing breath that isn't sniffling at all shut up.] You don't like it when Marvelous does it, so why do you get to do it?

[His mom got upset with him when she came to the hospital to berate him for running out in front of that truck, even though he got sentai powers out of the whole deal. Don's gotten upset with him before for throwing himself in front of danger. He's lost count of how many times he's heard the others shout his name when he threw himself into something reckless. But this is the first time it's really, deeply registered that getting himself hurt is hurting somebody else, and it does something terrible to his heart. He feels hot all over, vaguely ashamed of himself for a reason he can't define, both contrite and defensive at once.]

I always turn out okay, don't I? [It's meant to be reassuring, but his voice cracks a little.]

But you never act like anybody would miss you if you didn't.

[Yes, Don is crying into Gai's hair now. Very quietly, which seems uncharacteristic, but still.]

[That, that touches off an old and painful memory. Gai swallows hard, then reaches up to loop both arms around Don's waist, head turning so he can press his cheek into his chest. Up close he can hear the tiny hitches in Don's breathing, and each one is a little nick in his heart.]

I guess... I guess I didn't have a great example to follow.

[Hugging helps. Even if Don's first impulse is to put a hand on Gai's shoulder to keep him from moving around too much, hugging helps. He wishes he didn't worry about this. The others don't worry like this, right?]

You mean Marvelous?

[(Spoiler alert: the others absolutely worry like this. Not as much over Gai as they do about their respective significant others, but.)

Gai's mouth sort of lifts in a sad little smile. Even if this hurts to talk about, Don is warm and solid and he smells good like he always does. Even though the others might tease him about wanting to hide from danger, he's brave about the things that really count, and he makes Gai feel safe.]

No. I mean my dad.

[He's nestling in close now and he doesn't even care how sappy it might look.]

He supervised construction on a bunch of buildings. I looked up to him a lot, when I was little. He was always telling me to do the right thing, even if it was really hard, you know? But... when I was eight years old, he died on the job.

[Oh. Oh, Gai, you suck. You suck because even if you don't realize it you're pulling Don out of angry mode by agitating his tendency to fret over people. It scales back the hitching breath and warm patters in Gai's hair, though.]

Oh.

I'm so sorry.

[He shakes his head a little. Now that the beginning's out, he can't help but keep going.] He was showing some future tenants around a building site when a cable holding up a load of I-beams snapped. The foreman was right under it, but Dad pushed him out of the way. [Now it's his turn to sniffle.] They said he didn't feel anything. That he died a hero. Because a hero does what's right, even when it's reckless.

[His words come out somewhat muffled against Don's shirt, and there are spots of warmth leaking into the fabric there, too.]

And Marvelous-san said, way back in the beginning... he said he'd accept me as a Gokaiger if I could do something he couldn't. [Like fighting off several dozen Goumin and a handful of Sugoumin armed with nothing but a plank of wood and sheer bloody-minded persistence.] Turns out that's the kind of hero I am.

[Don just holds him for a while. As much as he'd love to say something pointed about others feeling the loss he feels now, he suspects that might not reach Gai. And it feels cruel besides. He presses his lips together until they pale.]

He did do what was right. He saved someone helpless. [He scrunches his fingers in Gai's hair.] You did what was right, too, back then. Those people couldn't have helped themselves and you wouldn't just let them die.

[His tears now aren't solely out of grief: he's finally unearthed a deep worry that he's never been able to voice to anyone, even himself, about belonging to this crew. Gai almost burrows into him, as far as he can without jostling his bad leg or upsetting the dinner tray on the mattress beside him.]

And if I don't give it my all every time... then what good am I?

[It's a cracked whisper, hoarse and unhappy, the words almost difficult to make out as he curls into Don.]

[That anxiety is way too familiar and the way it twists Gai's voice hurts Don like seeing the bruises on his leg. Gai's hurting and it's not 0% Don's fault. He moves closer so Gai won't have to shift anymore, holding him as close as he needs.]

You are good. You're so, so good and I love you. But. Giving your all shouldn't mean giving your life when it's not necessary. If you saved Marvelous' life today, I can let this slide. If-

[He doesn't want to choke up saying this. He's being such a good senpai right now and bawling would ruin the effect. It's not easy.]

And if we lose you so other people can live, I'll be proud. I'll be heartbroken, but I'll be proud. But only then.

["You guys and your dreams aren't so frail that you need me to protect them."

This is the flip side of what Marvelous-san said, that one time: he's been entrusted with this wonderful, amazing teammate who somehow loves him, and he has to be careful or he'll risk breaking the most precious treasure he's ever had.]

I'm sorry!

[He's nearly clinging to Don now, knuckles white as he grips the back of his shirt. Gai hasn't really cried around Don. Not like this. Not in the kind of stormy, violent-emotional-release way--he loves Don so much that he doesn't want to do anything that could be construed as selfish. But the truth is that he did a stupid thing today, a stupid thing that could have broken the heart he tries so hard to protect. And he doesn't want to be his dad.

The lives of the helpless are important, but so is his own. Because it's tied to someone else's, and he wants that to last as long as possible.]

I forgive you! [Don's started to panic a little because he really, truly doesn't feel equipped for this. The ramifications of physical pain are hard enough to deal with. All he can think to do is hold Gai close and stroke his hair. And watch out for any signs he might disrupt the tray or shift his bad leg too much.] I forgive you and I love you, so please don't cry.

[Yeah like that'll work.]

Florence Nightingale Effect Meme

Doc : Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger : starter for @enthusianchor

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)