[part of what Ryuji's worrying over, of him waking up and going through whatever suffering he did alone, is barely even a blip on Dave's radar. he just had a split second of relief that he was awake again at all, which quickly devolved into horror over the night of radio silence Ryuji had to endure.]

[because the both of them, of course, could never stop worrying more about the other than they do themselves.]

[he's laid in bed, and it's tempting to immediately crawl under the covers and warm himself up, but he pushes against the mattress with his elbows, propping himself back up into a sitting position, twisting so he can look at Ryuji straight on. his expression is calm and serious as ever, but there's an underpinning of high anxiety in his voice, and the way he takes a breath before speaking.]

Don't try to fight them. By yourself, or — at all is really the ideal scenario. Just. Just run if you see them. Okay?

[this isn't really the way he'd rehearsed that request in his head — he sounded way less panicked in his head — but, that's how it came out.]