IC INBOX for The Last Voyages

[magician_king]

You know what to do.

Comments

[biocomposer]

"Because I believe that if I can prove to her I'm willing to engage on her terms, she might be more willing to engage on mine."

[magician_king]

"Okay, that makes sense."

Jasper does seem very fightey.

"So- shield, taser- anything else?"

[biocomposer]

"The reassurance that I haven't...entirely lost my mind has already been covered. Thank you," he says, sincerely.

[magician_king]

"This is not a smart plan."

He feels like he needs to meet his eyes and say;

"But it's unlikely to have permanent negative consequences thanks to the death toll, and it may very well be worth a try."

[biocomposer]

Of course it's not a smart plan. It's also Jasper's plan. Going along with it certainly isn't his finest hour, but it's still not his stupid plan.

"I'll let you know if it goes catastrophically wrong so that you can tell me you told me so."

Fair's fair.

[magician_king]

"It's not going to go catastrophically wrong."

He says, with a laugh;

"But I will bring you soup if you die."

[biocomposer]

"I appreciate that. I'll tell you when things have been arranged with the Admiral."

But for now, he's working his hands through a final set of stretches before they get back to it.

[private to Quentin and Fives, backdated to March 18th or so - between the Child flood and 4WD]

[ninefox]

[Voice]

I did something stupid but no one is dead.

[He sounds - just a bit too steady.]

[magician_king]

Okay. I'm in the library but I'm walking home now. Anything I should bring?

[Also incredibly steady- but there's the tell tale sound of him already being moving.]

[callmefives]

Where are you? Do you need help?

[ninefox]

My cabin. I can get home. I'm fine.

Actually Fives could you come help me get my jacket on. There's blood but it's not bad.

[magician_king]

[Quentin draws in a sharp breath.]

Should he bring the first aid kit? Should I come too, for that matter? I want to know what happened and I want to help, but those are priorities three and two and number one is making sure you're okay.

[Which doesn't always mean all hands charging on deck when it comes to Jedao. He's jogging now- to the elevator, where he can wait for instructions before picking a button.]

[callmefives]

On my way, ner'karta. [And he's trotting now, chest going a little tight.]

I have a small combat medkit in my pack, cyar'ika, and I think we still have a medkit under the sink in his bathroom too.

[ninefox]

I know how to do field dressings.

[This is just a little bit whiny, a three-year-old who can put his own socks on sort of petulance. At least it's not so flat.]

Only it's hard to get them tight enough one-handed. I cut into my collarbone and I bled a lot and you don't like blood and I could come home because the doors know me and your doors are one-handed but I miscalculated the immediate mobility impairment and I don't want someone else to see me without my jacket on and ask what happened.

[magician_king]

Okay.

[Deep breath in, deep breath out.]

I am going to go make some tea, and make a living room nest for you. Fives is going to come to you and take immediate care of you and then bring you both home to me. That is as far as my plan goes. When you are ready to extend the plan please let me know.

Fives- thank you. Can you keep me on the line even if you aren't talking to me?

[callmefives]

[Fives doesn't ask why or how he cut himself like that, he'll save that for later if Jedao doesn't volunteer it. Right now is just for practicalities.]

We'll get him cleaned up and come home. [He promises Quentin, just as the door to Jedao's cabin slides open.] And keep you on the line.

[ninefox]

Is there a spell for just wiping the medication out of someone?

[Jedao is sitting in the middle of the floor, shirtless, oddly poised. It hurts so much and the hurt is soothing, a deep mind-obliterating throb. There's blood on the floor, a cleared area easy to clean, and blood soaking through the skinseal Jedao has applied to the left side of his clavicle, oozing and dripping around the edges. His comm is on the floor, to his right, easy to operate.]

I don't think this one was a major factor but it might be useful to get a clean baseline on this sort of distress. No, wait, that would just be a sober spell, wouldn't it? Fuck. I'm sorry.

[magician_king]

I have a fifteen minute deeply technical answer to that that has to do with complex serological theory and comes down to 'kind of.' I know I would be soothed by launching into it full tilt, but I'd like to be sure that you both would also be.

[callmefives]

[Fives is at least more than accustomed to blood and mayhem, and this is nothing like finding Jedao with his intestines trailing across the floor had been.]

That's up to Jedao, cyar'ika. [He can't imagine it being particularly soothing, but it won't bother him either, and if it would soothe Quentin and not upset Jedao then he's fine with it. His comfort level is fairly irrelevant at the moment regardless.]

How deep is it? [He asks Jedao as he crouches next to him and detaches the slimline pack sealed to the back of his armor so he can pull out bacta since the skinseal Jedao's already used obviously has to be replaced anyway.]

[ninefox]

I like your voice.

[He tilts his head contemplatively.]

Although possibly you don't want to reinforce this behavior.

[He holds up the fingers on his right hand, almost an inch apart; when he said in the bone in meant in it, but clarifying aloud might bother Quentin.]

[magician_king]

I can't not be nice to you right now. Positive reinforcement be damned- I'll just have to be twice as nice to you the day after tomorrow.

[He answers, slightly less panicky, slightly more focused. The water runs in the background as the kettle fills.]

Blood magic gets a bad reputation because a lot of beginners think it sounds cool and do each other permanent damage bootlegging rites, but in actual practical usage it's a somewhat niche but generally useful kind of sorcery when it comes to recovering from injuries. You work it almost exclusively through fresh herbs and incantations in Dagbani, a fairly regionally specific African language- and you get the most purchase using plants from that area of the world too.

[And off he goes, into the full and thorough explanation that always comes when Quentin Coldwater starts talking about sorcery. His voice will keep them quiet company while Fives patches and cleans Jedao up, while they work their way home to him.

It takes a long time to answer the question- that he could effectively save Jedao from an ill intentioned poisoning or the venom of a serpent or what have you, or even probably do something about accidentally consumed poisonous berries or even help with straight up alcohol poisoning, but not much more than that. If they tried to poison him with his medication then they could probably wipe about half of what was already in his system out when they worked on it- the words 'wax on, wax off' are used- but he'd need to do about a week of reading in the library to be sure he wouldn't accidentally murder him in the process.

Also the living room is tidied, laid cozily out, with tea and food on a tray on the kitchen table in case the bedroom ends up being the better bet. Actually Quentin's energy just translates into him cleaning every part of the house, just in case.]

[callmefives]

Fives peels off the skinseal with efficient brutality so he can examine the wound. He takes Jedao's lead and doesn't talk about it, just checks the edges, frowns at the severity, and slathers it with bacta while Quentin explains steadily in the background. Then it's just a matter of getting it properly bandaged and helping Jedao on with his jacket.

[ninefox]

It's one single cut, incredibly neat and clean, avoiding major nerves and blood vessels. Jedao isn't so much stoic as stoned; he closes his eyes early on, sways and moves easily at nudges of Fives' hands, trusting and docile. He feels like all his normal energy and madness are eroded but the steady pain, like waves beating rocks smooth along the sea shore. He feels carried inward by the slow tide.

Maneuvering his arm into his sleeve is the worst part; the pain crests and crashes, and his face contorts in a grimace, although he doesn't make a sound. Not even like he's trying all that hard to keep quiet, but as though he forgot how.

"Love you," he murmurs, a voiceless whisper, before the door opens, and then he's grinning and standing straight, a perfect facsimile of his more usual ease.

[magician_king]

Casting about while he chats, Quentin looks around their home for the thing that will help. He microwaves the bag of rice he uses on the small of his back. He lays out Sense and Sensibility and a jigsaw puzzle on the coffee table. Ex explains about Dagomba succession traditions and the alternating generations of kings and the impact each of the ruling lineages have had on the spellwork over history.

He feeds every pet and waters every plant and is waiting at the door when they arrive with the huge orange cozy sweater.

[callmefives]

It's the depth that worries him, and that Jedao sat here and did it to himself, slicing through skin and bone while he bled all down himself and onto the floor. Nothing like the weals and burns Fives asks him to give him. Though at least he took pains not to maim himself.

He's the most careful when helping Jedao into his jacket, making sure not to do anything that might open the carefully bandaged wound. Once it's done, he doesn't ask him if he's up to the walk home, he knows he is.

"I love you too, you di'kut," he murmurs back, and positions himself on Jedao's bad side, so no one can bump into him in the hall as they walk.

"We're on our way, now," he tells Quentin.