[OPEN] Mission 156

[soul_mods]

Characters: Open to participants who signed up here.
Location: Lake Tahoe, CA
Rating: Various.
Time: March 27th, late morning.
Description: The second of the three Madness emitters outside Death City is the target for this mission. Bundle up, everyone -- it's gonna be a cold one.

The mission begins late in the morning, to allow the mission-goers as much sunlight as possible in the warmest part of the day. Not that it'll help much… Temperatures are well below freezing already -- unnatural even for early Spring in the mountains -- and a howling snowstorm threatens to blot out the sun, beginning up the mountain where the slope just begins to rise sharply.

The slopes themselves are fairly barren: a windswept-looking tree here, a cabin that may have once belonged to the snow patrol there, maybe a Madness-crazed bear or mountain lion. Those braving the storm are lucky enough to see five feet in front of their face in these conditions!

Those brave few who manage to make it to the top (enduring falling temperatures and defeating the corrupted fauna and hulking kishin yeti along the way) may come across their goal at the very summit of the half-mile-high mountain: the Madness emitter itself, in the eye of the storm… And one last obstacle: the Witch guarding it.



OOC NOTES.
- The event summary post containing all relevant links is located here.
- Make your own threads, but please indicate in your subject line [CHARACTER(S) | LOCATION | OPEN/CLOSED]
- If you have any further questions, the mod thread on the coordination post is here!

Comments

[3rdbest]

[ matt wraps the cloth around the wound in his arm, watching it quickly gain a red color from the blood. He lets his arm up, and with his free hand he reaches for Sollux's hands to put them on the improvised bandage he just made. Sorry, Sollux, your hands will get dirty with human blood. ] I need you to tie that up, as hard as you can.

[ Sollux being blind thing. Yeah, Matt needs to explain what is going on. ] It's a bandage. I want to compress the wound on my arm, so blood will stop flooding out. I can't do it with one hand, I need you to do this for me.

[silicomb]

[ aw shit. this is, perhaps, the closest Sollux will ever seem to open and utter dismay. ]

Mothergrubfucker, okay, okay! I-- just tie it, right?

[ he really, really doesn't want to do this, but there Sollux is anyway, doing his best to oblige Matt's request without being very stupidly and violently ill. ]

Like this?

[3rdbest]

[ Matt hisses, but he lets out a small "yeah". He observes the arm for a second and then remembers his shoulder; there are puncture wounds, but the cougar didn't tear the flesh, at least.

Once he is done, he reaches for some snow, pressing it against his arm to numb the pain.]

......I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. [ to get angry like that; that wasn't like him at all. And he seriously didn't want to say those things to Sollux. ]

[silicomb]

... Don't apologize. I, er. Didn't mean to either. [ what the hell was wrong with him, saying that kind of shit? sure, he can be abrasive like no one else can, but that was several levels of Crossing The Line back there.

he hates this mountain. ]

Sorry. [ maybe, maybe if he hadn't dropped Matt like that, or kept a lid on his temper, this wouldn't have happened. maybe. probably. definitely. ]

[3rdbest]

[ Matt went as far as mentioning Sollux's relationship with him. That was all sorts of low. ]

I guess we are even. [Matt finally grabs back the clothes he took; it was getting cold, even if adrenaline was pumping through all of his body right now.

After, he grabs snow yet again but this time he plays with it a bit before giving it to Sollux; wash the blood on your hands, Matt doesn't want people asking why your hands are covered in blood, Sol. ]

[silicomb]

[ it takes Sollux a moment to register just why he has a handful of terrible frozen precipitation, but when it finally hits, he starts scrubbing the blood off with a furious vengeance. ew ew ick ew. ]

Matt-- Matt, we need to get you to a... the infirmary, or someplace. We gotta go back.

[3rdbest]

No. [ he came here to kick some kishin egg's ass, that's what he is going to do, goddamnit. He gets attacked and goes back? No, just no. They didn't even do anything. ] I can keep going. [ for a little while longer, at least ]

[silicomb]

You're going to bleed out or dry up or something! You think I want a floppy gun in the middle of a fight?

[3rdbest]

I'm not- [ yes, he is losing blood. But he is also full of adrenaline right now. ] I can keep going, this will close soon enough. [ Matt doesn't like the idea that he is running away just because of a wound. And he doesn't like that he won't be doing anything for this battle, either. ]

[silicomb]

Don't shit around with me; I know how pathetic your individual healing processes are, you douche canoe.

[ okay. if force and shaming isn't going to work, there's only one choice left. he's going to have to break out the big guns.

with some effort, Sollux reaches out to lay hands on what he hopes is Matt's less wounded shoulder, schooling his expression into one of very worried, very uncharacteristic pleading. ]

C'mon, man. I don't want it getting worse on the way. We have to go back.

[ this next bit almost hurts to utter, but it's a necessary evil. he quietly congratulates himself on not gagging on the phrase. ]

Please.

[3rdbest]

[ goddamnit, sollux. don't do that. Matt is strangely weak to you and your weird alien feelings and your weird relationship to him. Even if he ignores a huge chunk of what he was told regarding Sollux, he still feels shitty for not remembering someone as important as Sollux and so he is strangely weak to him.

He isn't sure if he cares, if he pretends to care, if he subconsciously forces himself to care, or if he cares because Mello, Near and L do. But he does.

So that expression does work.

Damn you.


The boy groans but sighs after, giving in. ] Fine. Let's go back.

[silicomb]

[ success. sollux: 01 matt: 00 ]

All right. C'mon. Do I have to carry you? I mean, it'd be a good idea if you went all Weapon.

[ he's just got to keep up the adolescent woofbeast act up a little while longer, that's all. ]

[3rdbest]

Don't push your luck. I'm not an invalid. [ Matt moves his hand to reach for Sollux's hand, but not to turn into his weapon form - he is going to lead the way down ]

[silicomb]

No, but you're hurt. That's close enough. [ he tries not to think of how little a reach it is to hold to Matt's hand like it's actually a comfort. ]

[3rdbest]

[ he looks at Sollux for a moment, before turning his gaze away. Not that it mattered, since the troll can't see, but still ]

... yeah. [ adrenaline is wearing off and now Matt starts to feel the pain in his arm, a bit tired and worn out. Okay, so maybe Sollux was right about going back. ]

Thanks.

[silicomb]

Just. Don't die on the way down, all right?

[ you know, once or twice is more than enough, thanks.

maybe if things were a little less stressful, he'd be more worried about how tightly he's holding onto Matt. welp. ]

[3rdbest]

[ with a tired smile, Matt squeezes Sollux's hand ] M'not going to die again. [ aha, he said "again". Matt usually pretends he doesn't think about his death. ]

[silicomb]

[ he laughs a little, if hollowly, ducking his head as they go. he doesn't seem likely to let go anytime soon. ] Good. 'S good.

[3rdbest]

[ with that, Matt falls silent as they walk down the mountain. He is still holding the troll's hand, while blood still drips down the other arm (if he hadn't done the bandage, it would be a lot worse and Matt would probably be severely anemic).

But honestly, the silence is much better than start screaming at each other again.

And he is planning on staying like this until they reach a safer area.]

[silicomb]

[ Sollux is perfectly fine with companionable silence. it keeps him from trying to find things to say and in the right tone of voice, too. not that he isn't worried, but the point here is keeping it under wraps.

they're utterly terrible with social situations, they are. ]