Ch 37. Isekai Support Group IV
John was wan and weak when he walked into the building to start preparing for the support group meeting. He immensely regretted the spiced meat he’d eaten at Grimnar’s and had spent all of the previous evening, most of the morning, and a good chunk of the afternoon emptying himself of every trace of it from every available orifice. He’d attempted to treat himself with some small healing potions he kept in the apartment, but while they gave him temporary relief, since he wasn’t empty yet they couldn’t ‘heal’ him. Andressa had asked him if he wanted her to stay the night, since they’d been spending most of their evenings together, but he’d already been feeling the stirrings of something in his gut and while he was enjoying his intimacy with Andressa there was such a thing as too much intimacy, so he made an excuse to get her to leave.
He had been ‘better’ for a few hours at this point. This meant that he was no longer expelling from every end and his stomach no longer felt as if it was made of writhing centipedes. He considered skipping the support group, but he had never missed one since he’d started them and he didn’t want to leave everyone rudderless without him. The only compromise he’d made was instead of walking as he usually did, he instead opted to hire a carriage, winding up in one in the shape of a pumpkin.
Before he set up anything else he sent for the deliveries of tea and pastries and sat halfway between wakefulness and sleep for nearly an hour before people began arriving. He forced himself to his feet and said his hellos, his legs and hands a bit shaky as he did so.
“Are you okay?” asked Sarah, who'd been among the first to arrive.
“I’m fine. How are you doing? Your last set seemed to do really well.”
“It did! I’m sorry I didn’t get a drink with you afterward. I had to meet with the manager. He wanted me to emcee a few nights next week.”
“That’s great… It is great right?”
“He pays a bit extra for it, so yes.”
“Congratulations then,” said John, his voice shaking a bit.
“Why don’t you have a seat? I think it’s about time for things to start.”
John nodded. It seemed a bit early, but she may have just been paying more attention to the time than he was. He went to sit on one of the uncomfortable chairs, grateful to be sitting, though he would’ve preferred to be laying down. He dozed there for a while, feeling like more time was passing than he expected, but soon enough the usual crowd as well as a few irregulars showed up. He stood to get things started managing, he thought, to give his usual scripted description of his arrival to the world perfectly, though for some reason he saw a number of concerned looks in his direction. He presumed people were feeling particularly empathetic to his plight when he had been trapped in trees by mites.
He sat back down and listened to a few of the others go over their stories and what they’d been struggling with. When he would be about to interject or ask an additional question Sarah or another of the other group members seemed to beat him to it. They seemed very eager to contribute that evening, which surprised him, but also made him feel proud of them.
After they were done a new member began talking. She was tall and pale with jet black hair and after a few moments John recognized her as the girl that had showed up a few months ago, but not said anything. He’d seen her one or two more times since then, but she remained shy and unwilling to speak. This time though she was standing in front of the group.
“Hello uh, everyone. My name is Delilah, and I came to Avalon just a few months ago.”
“Hey there Delilah,” said a man next to Sarah in a sing-song voice, getting him a firm stomp to the foot from her and a glare from John. It was hard enough for people to talk without people making jokes the first time they spoke.
The girl hesitated, but managed to continue. “I was pulled here when I opened a book in a used bookstore. I woke up on the back of a flying turtle. It was… cold, and there was nothing for me to eat or drink. The turtle didn’t know how to talk, but after a day on him I managed to get the courage to look off the side of his shell. I could see a city, I know now that it was Avalon. When we flew over it I flagged down what looked like a man on the back of a dragon, but turned out to be an elf. He helped me get down on solid ground and gave me food and water, then I was guided to a guard. He was a minotaur, but at that point I was so tired that I didn’t care what he was. I just wanted to get home.” She paused for a moment. “He guided me to the housing that was set up for otherworlders like me and my neighbors gave me food and drinks and explained the situation to me and where I could go for help.”
John felt some pride hearing that. Pride that the housing he set up was so helpful, but more pride that the people he’d helped place in it had done such a good job helping another person. It used to be that he’d personally go and talk to the people himself if he could, but there were just too many at too random of times. Knowing that everyone else was stepping up like he’d hoped made him feel better for not being able to give everyone the personal touch he wanted to.
“I’m glad that everyone helped me. I still want to get home, but I also want to get better at dealing with being here. So… that’s why I’m here now.”
“Welcome Delilah. We’re glad you decided to join us,” said John, managing to beat Sarah to speaking in spite of his exhaustion. “This is a safe place and we’re all here to help however we can.”
There was some light applause and Delilah smiled for just a moment, then nodded awkwardly and sat back in her seat. There were a few more people that wanted to talk or go over specific problems they’d been dealing with, but John was only barely able to stay aware of it.
When it was over he walked over to the refreshments and made a brave attempt to drink some small sips of water.
“Are you dying?” asked Sarah.
“What? No.”
“You look like it.”
“I was sick most of the day. Just feeling a little weak is all. I didn’t think anyone had noticed.”
“Everyone noticed, John. You’re two shades paler than usual and you’re pretty pale to begin with. Not to mention your trembling voice and shaky limbs.”
“Ah. I thought I was hiding it pretty well.”
“No.”
“Well, I just didn’t want to miss a meeting. I’ve run every single one. I don’t want to not be there if I can help someone.”
“John, no one else attends every meeting. Even Rene, Ben, and Eric aren’t here today.”
“Rene ate the same food I did that made me sick, Ben’s upset with me, and Eric is hanging out with his Arena friends… I’m very proud of him. That said, who would run the meeting if I’m not here?”
Sarah pointed at herself.
“I don’t know…”
“I’ve done these meetings a thousand times, John. I can emcee more than just a night at a comedy club. I was basically running things for you today in case you didn’t notice.”
John frowned. “I did… Just, what if there’s a particular sensitive situation and I’m not here to help?”
“Then I can send a message to you for advice or help.”
John frowned.
She sighed. “You’re a bit of a control freak, you know that? Tell you what, let me wrap up here tonight. If nothing explodes you can maybe let me take the lead while you’re here once or twice.”
He sighed. “I guess I can do that.”
“Good. Now get out of here and go lay down in bed.”
“Let me just-”
“Go now or I’ll make you. I can probably take you when you’re not sick as a dog, when you’re barely able to stand like this it's a sure thing.”
He shook his head. “Thank you. Let me know if there’s any trouble.”
She nodded and he made his way out and onto the street. He flagged down a carriage, this time one that was all black and being pulled by a man in all black with no head. He carefully climbed up the stairs to his apartment, finding Andressa sitting with her back against his apartment door reading a book.
“Andressa?”
She looked up from her book and frowned with concern. “I knew you were sick. You ran your group in this state?”
He nodded sheepishly.
She sighed. “Open the door and let's get you inside. I’m going to be pampering you and caring for you until you feel better.”
“You don’t have to go that far,” said John, a bit uncomfortable at her wording. “Just your company will be nice.”
“I do have to go that far. I need to eat while I’m here, don't I?” she asked, smiling as she absorbed his discomfort.
“I suppose one of us should get to eat something. I think I’ll be on dry toast for the next day or so.”