action.

[theroadwarrior]

Who: Max and the crew of the SS Starstruck and any visitors.
Broadcast: N/A
Action: Max is sick after falling into a frozen lake. He is insufferable about it. he's been awful active for an antisocial dude
When: January 8-9th-ish.

[After a rather disappointing day of nearly freezing to death thanks to big ugly creatures, hallucinations, and generalized know-nothingness of an arctic terrain, Max is confined (at last) to a bed aboard the SS Starstruck. Well, partly. A slight fever and a sneezy, lethargic exposition is apprently not enough to keep him pinned down.

A sick Max is even more insufferable, turns out.

It's just — difficult for him to explain in words, what being still does to him. It's one thing to sit in a driver's seat, or even a passenger's seat, and to get out and feel your ass and legs numbed after hours of going on and on until the guzzoline runs dry. At least you can see the open world whizzing passed you.

But a bed. For one thing, Max hasn't slept in an actual bed in... He's not sure how many days. Not counting the rare occurrences, he's not even sure he's slept in anything more than a car's reclined seat since he first began his journey on the dystopian-gone-apocalyptic roadways. This is torturous. He's fairly sure Peggy and Nami and Furiosa are out to get him for sure. As it turns out, no-nonsense women are still far and beyond his greatest weakness and adversary. He's been shed of his bulky uncomfortable jacket and left in his mid-sleeve shirt, and in that way he's looking like an paradox: the most comfortable discomforted man in the galaxy.

So yep, when people aren't looking, he's getting up and wandering back into the cargo holds, where he had originally spent most of his time. In fact, one could probably board a shuttle and find him passed out asleep in the driver's seat, swaddled up in blankets. And still with a mildly sour disposition. Be careful waking him, he swings sometimes.

He only wanders to the main control room, where the crew would pilot their ship, when it's empty enough. Otherwise, he'll dip into the kitchen and eat, because being sick back home didn't mean avoiding food; if you were needing sustenance and it was there, you had to keep going, force something down to keep your strength up. Max was fairly good at it.

Unlike... you know. Being horrible at staying put.

On the bright side, he doesn't consider returning to the planet?

Not yet, anyway.]

Comments

[theroadwarrior]

[He does snap awake, and he even has an idea of who it could be; there aren't a lot of people who wear heels. In fact, nobody does back home, so it stands to reason it may just very well be Nami. Who really needs to do something about her wardrobe, it's hardly battle-approved in his opinion. But you do you.

He abandons the shuttle for a brief moment to limp out of it, clearly favoring his better leg almost entirely, to the point where he's hopping. He may or may not have really banged it up, and it's kind of swollen. But he has Ino's medicines to try on it today, so. Don't judge him.]

Mm. You.

[... Hello, he means. Hello. Yes.

He notices the bundle she's carrying though, and his expression clears up into something almost kinda endearing, like he's genuinely caught off guard that she — someone who fished his dumb ass out of frozen water — would go back to get his things.]

[mikangirl]

Me. [Are we always gonna begin conversations this way, Max. Also excuse you, Nami can leap around rooftops in a freaking hurricane in high heels, she has mastered heel fu. But also lol shounen.]

I guess I brought this back to you at a good time. [Given the hopping and all. But she's already seen the look on his face, so her smile is less teasing than it could have been as she holds out the brace, his jacket and other assorted belongings still draped over an arm.] How're you feeling?

[theroadwarrior]

[Do you expect an honest, helpful answer? Because he just grumbles something under his breath and gives her a 'don't be nosy' sort of look. Even so, he can't exactly mask the flush of a mild fever on his face, or the redness of his nose. Or the way he hobbles on that aching knee.

And he does seem to loosen up on the closed-off thing, because when she offers him his things he takes them carefully. There's his jacket. He actually looks very pleased, slipping the revamped jacket on to join the raggedy bracelet, as it very well should.

SO FINE. YOU GET AN ANSWER. BEGRUDGINGLY.]

My knee hurts. But m'fine.

[See, it's an answer. He sniffles quietly, looking kind of tired on second glance, even though he feels like he's been sleeping more than he has in... well, a long-ass time. He's not gonna thank you for this, because he's a jerk, but he at least replaced your scarf. Give and take, you know.]

[mikangirl]

Good. I'd hate for my time to have been wasted.

[See there, I have an investment in your wellbeing. But despite her snark, she is relieved to see he hasn't gone all the way to pneumonia.

Nami nods down at his wreck of a knee. Normally she wouldn't bother offering, but given he's sick and can probably barely see straight--]

You need a hand getting that back on?

[theroadwarrior]

[He looks at the brace, and there is a very clear war between his usual nature and the one that Nami is attempting to prod at. Getting help is not his forte. He sits with a thump onto the small ledge that leads further into the shuttle.]

Mmm....no. You've done enough.

[He doesn't say it in a harsh way, like he resents it — it's just. You know. You've done enough.]

[mikangirl]

All right. It's your call.

[She turns to leave, then pauses.] Listen, I'm not that much an expert at icy living, but if you want to go out there again and need some tips, look me up. I can at least give you the standard common sense version.

[theroadwarrior]

[Yeah, the incredulous look is firmly placed.]

...

I don't do well with company. Or talking.


[Most of the time. He has a real problem with self-isolation.]

... But I'll remember.

[Is he being genuine? Is he fibbing? Who knows.]

[mikangirl]

[She rolls her eyes at you, Max.]

Noted and noted. I'm not offering company. Not where it's not wanted. I'm offering advice. You can text me and I'll leave you a list if you really wanna avoid talking. Just don't go out there ignorant again.

[theroadwarrior]

[Here's his reply to that:]



[unintelligible grumble of dissatisfaction.......... but grim acceptance]



[Did you catch all that.]

[mikangirl]

[Ah Max, you're a man of so many words.]

Great talking with you.

[Now I have sassed you accordingly, I'll see myself out.]