asgardeventide | 003 ♒ Video Day 148, Early Evening

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003 ♒ Video Day 148, Early Evening

[Eridan had been wandering aimlessly through Hel district after another day of absolutely worthless job searching. The acrid purple smoke he had inhaled while passing through the streets was dismissed as some sort of strange pollution. And it wasn't until he began coughing that night, his skin flushed and damp with sweat, that he began to worry.

The announcements over the network to report to the "hospital" had only worried him further. Willingly gathering all the weak in one central area? It just didn't settle well on his already upset stomach. Even if there weren't Imperial Drones here ready to cull him for the slightest weakness, handing himself over to someone's care when he was at his weakest was something he was just not prepared to do.And so he had barricaded his room, turning the lock and dragging the heavy dresser in front of the door. He didn't trust anyone in this city further than he could throw them, and he was fairly sure that wouldn't be very far considering he was too weak to raise his arms, let alone get out of bed.

The video shows him lying in bed in his room in Baldr's welcome hall, propped up against the headboard with pillows. He is missing his trademark cape and scarf. The reason is apparent as the gills on either side of his neck flutter with each quick, rasping breath that he sucks in between coughing fits that leave him weaker and weaker.]

So. This vaccine.

Wwhen exactly wwill it be made avvailable? An' howw much is it goin' to cost to get it delivvered?

[In his experience, everything has a price.]

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Fuckin' wwitch. Don't lie to me about your non-existent wweird wwitchy powwers.

[He leans forward, letting the door crack open again.]

...Sam. You havve to swwear on your fuckin' life that this isn't some trick.

[He pauses, taking a deep breath.]

This hospital thing. It's not just some plot to cull--fuck, it's hard to explain. An' I sound insane, but I don't care if you hate my vviolet guts. Just fuckin' promise me.

[Oh Eridan...

It didn't sound crazy at all, not to her. Painwheel worked for her, after all, and she had her own issues.]

Nobody hurts you but me, and I'm not going to cull you. If I were to let you get killed that easily we couldn't have fun down the road, and I'm not finished with you.

[She was slumped against the door too. God, she was exhausted, and this was not what she'd expected to hear.]

Take the Eridan. I may hate your fucking violet guts, but I want to still be hating those guts tomorrow. I promise you.

...

Kismesis.

[She shuddered. She didn't like those words. They sounded artificial, wrong. But they were his language too, and she knew just enough about it to know that it would clarify that she wasn't out to kill him.]

... You mean that, don't you?

[Eridan sounds incredulous, and surprisingly self-conscious.

He looks between the ampule and the dresser before leaning all his bodyweight onto the piece of furniture, shoving it just enough to get the door open half-way.]

You better keep your fuckin' promises.

[She slid to the side and pushed the door aside, keeping her face mask in place. The smell of someone who'd been burning up with the fever alone for days wasn't something she wanted. She took her own ampule and jabbed it into her arm before reaching out and using her power to take command of his arm as soon as she could seem some of him.

It would be a simple matter if he was weak enough, hopefully, to make him do the same. Get the medicine into his system.]

I always keep my promises. And don't you lie to yourself and pretend I don't have evil, witchy powers troll boy. I will use them on you now and again. Got it?

Let's get you into the wheelbarrow unless you want to pretend you don't need it.

[Eridan moves like a doll, jabbing himself with the ampule, offering no resistance to her controlling his motions. He shakes his head afterwards, trying to clear it enough to be able to stand without falling over.]

Wwhatevver,. Wwe'll see wwhat you can do wwhen I'm at my full strength as soon as this--

[He coughs loudly, wiping away the dark violet blood from his lips before he nods, to himself. Eridan kneels, leaning heavily against the wall and uses the leverage to push him upward, barely able to get to his feet and not steady at all. ]

I can fuckin' wwalk. I'm not a wweak human that needs to be grubsat by a harpy like you.

[She struggled at that point. She knew roughly what a Moirail was supposed to do. She knew that she didn't want that, and that she didn't like feeling pity for him. It mucked up the desires she had and it gave her a bit of a headache. It was a hell of a lot easier when she was irritated with him to deal with him.]

You are so fucking stubborn, you know that? Fine. Follow me.

You fucking owe me dinner for this shit, do you hear me? I'm not your damned bab...grubsitter. I'm your fucking harpy, and you had better not forget it.

[God, all she wanted to do was just fall asleep, but she couldn't let him see that. This was awkward enough as she got up and started to walk, only casting a glance to make sure he'd followed.]

[And Eridan wasn't going to let her treat him like a moirail or even a friend. It hurt his chest in a way that reminded him too much of Feferi. And no one wanted a repeat of what happened there.]

Wwe'll fuckin' talk about wwhat I owwe you an' more importantly wwhat you owwe me, later.

[He only makes it a few steps away from the support of the door before he stumbles to his knees, chest heaving for breath. He tugs the scarf and cape from around his neck, gills twitching, as he slumps against the wheelbarrow.

This is completely undignified and he knows it and everything in him is screaming against asking for help, but--]

You had better not fuckin' hold this ovver my head, harpy. I can wwalk, I'm just indulgin' you.

[This was as much a headache as an actual relationship in its way. She reached up and gripped her forehead before sighing and then turning. Walking back, she grabbed the wheelbarrow handles and nodded.]

I can deal with that. I'll spare you the town crier routine. I'd rather not strain my voice over the likes of you. [Besides her voice was a bit tired already.]

Well, come on fin-rot. We're not going to get this whole nonsense over with just standing here like lumps.

[That's because, at least in his mind, it is an actual relationship.]

It's not as if you evver stop talkin', harpy, so wwhat else wwould be neww?

[Eridan does what he's told though, crawling into the wheelbarrow with what's left of his dignity, wrapping his cloak around him as he shivers.]

I hope you knoww I'm givvin' you the exact same hospitality if evver you're on Death's hivve entrance.

That's how this works, yep. By the way, Mister Pot, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Kettle. He's also of an ebon hue. Don't you worry about me. I can damned well take care of myself.

[She took started walking, pushing him along and grumbling the whole way. Just getting him out of the house was going to be a pain in the ass. Samantha grunted, thinking to herself that she'd never actually expected this sort of thing to be this much work.]

An' I can take care a' myself, too, Kettle or Pot or wwhatevver the fuck metaphor you're failin' at usin'. I didn't need you burstin' into my hivve, an' playin' ovverprotectivve lusus.

Ain't like wwe can actually die here. Not for real.

[Eridan grumbles as well, unfastening the cape from around his neck and unraveling the scarf. He's actually hot, a sign of his days' long fever ending.]

[She carted him along with her own set of grumbling, muttering all the way.]

Dying's Dying, even if you get dragged back from the dead. Trust me. But I don't care either way. That doesn't change the rule just because it's not real. You go for the jugular and all bets are off.

I want to see you squirming in one piece, fin-face.

[Did she just flick a finger at the back of one of those fins? She wasn't sure if this place really did change the rules with this, but she wanted to make sure this was clear. She was not getting into some screwed up death thing. Her life was sufficiently screwed up as it stood.]

[Eridan flinches as she flicks him, growling up at her. He blinks, tilting his head up at Sam, honestly confused by her words.]

First a' all, don't get the wwrong impression, but yeah, I wwant you in one piece, too. If only so I can continue to terrorize your evvery fuckin' wakin' moment.

Second a' all, I thought we couldn't die. I mean, that's wwhat I wwas told, at least.

[And now he wonders just what other misconceptions he's laboring under.]

[She rolled her eyes and laughed.]

You'll only get your chance when I'm not right in your face making your life a living hell. Got it? As for death, you can die just as easily as anywhere else, but they'll bring you back to life. Least, that's what I've figured out.

You, though... regeneration kinda changes that. I can cheat a little with you because you grow back more.

Oh... I didn't--no wwonder evveryone is wworried about this fuckin' wweird plague thing. I just thought you wwere fuckin' ovverreactin' like normal.

[Eridan's face colors violet, and it's not from the breaking fever. He was almost embarrassed about misunderstanding something as important as that.]

Not like anyone fuckin' told me anythin' anywway.

Guess I'll havve to work at those stupid wwitch-y powwers then. An' here I thought they'd be completely useless.

[That blush made her grin take on a look that wasn't entirely different from the ones he'd seen when she'd been crazy. Her eyes weren't quite as wild and her voice didn't have that aggressive, sultry side to it. However, she was looking down at his sickly ass with a fairly... hungry look.

It wasn't entirely unlike the way Kanaya looked on occasion.]

Oh... you're going to get plenty of use of those witchy powers of yours. I promise you that. Compared to you, I'm porcelain that could shatter at any moment, and I don't break easily. You?

I... want to see just how much of a tolerance for this you really have one of these days, purple-blood.

[Eridan grins up at her, still flushed, but with a bit of bravado back.]

I'vve told you before, you hotblooded harpy. You can certainly try, but I'm not surrendin' wwithout a fuckin' hell of a fight.

[Even though he's sure that's not going to deter her.]

It's a date. Call me when you're over this shit, or I'm going to stake out your room.

[She intentionally took him over a rather large bump in the road, banging him into the air a little before landing properly. In the distance, the hospital loomed like a horrible dark image from his worst nightmares. Passing someone, she handed a satchel off and pointed them in the direction of one of the paths she hadn't taken yet to get to him.]

And no. I won't meet you in the lake, gill-boy.

Edited 2012-10-01 23:31 (UTC)

I kneww it wwas a mistake lettin' you knoww wwhere I li--aah!

[He growls as they go over the bump, grasping the sides of the wheelbarrow to keep himself from falling out.

The hospital. He didn't even want to think about it. Maybe if he just--no, closing his eyes wasn't helping. He shifted in the wheelbarrow, attempting to sit up without either falling out or passing out from vertigo.]

You knoww wwhat, I'm feelin' a lot better, so wwhy don't you just leavve me here, an' you fuckin' can go do... wwhatevver it is you actually do.

Right now, what I'm doing is embarassing you and making sure you know this place won't ... what'd you call it? Cull you. Besides, you made me promise you jackass, so I'm stuck next to your room until they clear you.

You're stuck in this wheelbarrow, bucko.

[She grunted, shifting to a jog and trotting along, the jostling more than enough to attend a faster approach and at the same time keep him bouncing around so he couldn't get away easily. She needed to get him there soon.]

Fine. I believve you. I wwas just kiddin' around anywway, wwho actually believves somethin' like that.

[Eridan did. And still does. Paranoia like his just doesn't disappear because someone tells him that he's being paranoid.

He grows quieter, sullen, as they approach the hospital, wrapping his cape more firmly around his shivering shoulders even as he attempts to keep his grip on the jumping wheelbarrow. Falling out would be even more embarrassing than being in the damn thing in the first place.]

[Samantha took a side entrance, avoiding what crowds remained to receive innoculation. Informing the attendant, she stopped and set the makeshift rickshaw down and grunted. She didn't look at Eridan, not wanting him to see how close to collapse she actually was. She double checked to make sure she'd been innoculated before nodding to an attendant.]

Put me in the room next to his. I'm checking in too, just in case...

[A good cover, she hoped. She had a feeling she'd hit the bed and be out for the next twenty-four hours with what she'd been taking.]

Don't argue with them, Eridan, or I'll find out about it.

Fine, wwitch. Noww, go the fuck to your respite block or wwhatevver they havve here in this Horror Terror infested place.

[He is surly and sullen, but allowing the people at the clinic to help him to a room without grumbling above a dull roar. So, he's actually being pretty well behaved. That won't last long.]

Yeah yeah...

[She never heard the complaints. She did reach the bed in time to collapse, but by the time he started making people's lives hell, the exhaustion hit her like a ton of bricks. Her body would permit her to stay awake no longer.

She could deal with him another day. For now, she was out like a light.]

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003 ♒ Video Day 148, Early Evening

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>.> I love getting to use this icon. It's silly, I know.