Eleasis 13 1370 dr

[child_of_bhaal]

Who: Syeira and YOU
Broadcast: N/A
Action: Red Fish, other ships, Iskaulit
When: Beginning 8/10 and ongoing

[Red Fish]

Hello Red Fish. Here she is. Again. Clean as a whistle, in her clothes that should be less than dust, all neat and tidy. Even her hair is brushed. But somehow she still looks like a wreck. Probably due to the all over flush and the sweating due to her raging fever. And also the fact that she feels as weak as a newborn kitten. She stumbles, leaning heavily against walls when she can't keep to her feet.

[On your ship, her first week back]

Somehow, she's there. Feverish, very likely still dressed for bed. Because that's where she ought to be. But no, she's on your ship. Wandering around, maybe looking for someone, or something. Talking to herself softly, deliriously. How did she fly a shuttle in this condition? Probably very poorly.

"Here...Here? Wrong place. Or the right place?"

[Iskaulit, first week]

She has a stick of charcoal in her hand and she's chosen some spot, a wall or floor, perhaps in the garden or the gym, or one of the bars or even a hallway, and she's furiously drawing. It's just lines and smudges in black on black. The more she tries to make it make sense, the less it seems to, and the more her obvious frustration grows.

"I saw...I saw but it won't come out..." There's black streaks across her face, her hands and on her shift. She's still a weak, feverish mess.

Comments

[theboogieman]

[he wants to believe, with all the logical parts of his mind, body, and heart, that this is some kind of awful trap. but oh, how he has this gift for knowing when something is evil, when something is dangerous--and he knows now, in the pit of this stomach, that the thing in front of him is neither.

it doesn't make any sense. doesn't add up. doesn't do a lot of things, but that also doesn't stop him from forgetting about his weapon to hurry up to her and grab her face between his hands and feel her warm skin and her heartbeat and know that she really is--she really is here.

he makes this sound, this horrible... choking noise as every part of the last few weeks crushes his reservations and his windpipe along with it. he grabs onto her and drags her in as close as he can, holding onto her like he's afraid she'll disappear if he ever lets go again.

...at least now she doesn't have to worry about holding herself up. he's got it.]

[child_of_bhaal]

[Oh...

Oh dear...

She's never seen him like this. Even sick and foggy, she knows this is big.

With him holding her tight, she puts her arms around him, and starts rubbing his back as best she can. Trying to comfort. Trying to soothe.]

Shh. It's okay. I'm okay.

[Oh. She...died. She had thought she'd never see him again, and now he's more emotional than she's ever seen him. Over her.

Her own eyes start to water. Sick and crying. She feels a rush of guilt for having caused him pain, and relief to be alive to feel that guilt.]

I'm sorry, Zhas. I'm so sorry.

[theboogieman]

[he hides his face in the crook of her neck. he doesn't ever do that, too preoccupied with the state of his facepaint--but for once, he doesn't care if it smudges where he's pressing his cheek against her shoulder. let it leave a mark, he'll fix it later, it doesn't matter. Syeira is back.

he never gets this. he never, ever gets things back. that's not how his world works.

he isn't crying. he isn't shaking and hasn't made a sound past his initial reaction--but when he pulls back to look at her again, he has an expression on his face. features twisting into worry, confusion, he looks over her to try and see if that's true.

is she okay? what happened to her? he doesn't have the words to ask, but it's obvious that he wants to know.]

[child_of_bhaal]

[She looks like she feels terrible. Her skin is too warm, and there's perspiration forming on her brow. She's clearly exhausted, but she's giving him her full effort to stay up and thinking and moving. It makes her a bit lightheaded.]

I... changed.

[He's one of the few who will know what that means. She'd told him about the Slayer, the monster inside her. She's sure he'll get it.]

Some kind of dragon, and they wouldn't run. I didn't have any weapons, so I had to do it. But I stayed in it too long.

[theboogieman]

[he knows, but whether or not he is calm enough to comprehend is questionable. he might react to all of this in a few seconds, or a few minutes, or days from now when he can finally rest and sort through the mess this is turning out to be...

but for now, he needs help. she needs help. and there's someone else who desperately needs to know that she's here.

so he calls for Coil. he doesn't even step away, still holding her up--but he turns his head and shouts the boy's name down the hallway. he has a terrifying yell, in that kind of deep and booming tone usually reserved entirely for fathers who're about to get you in big trouble.

and he calls for him twice, to cement that he's not even remotely joking around.]

[child_of_bhaal]

[Holy-! She did not know he had that kind of voice in him. It's so loud, and she feels so wrecked. She presses her ear into his shoulder, covering her other with her hand. She even makes a small whining sound of complaint.]

[mortalcoil]

[Coil could be on the other side of the universe and he would still hear that tone. he could be dead and that voice would somehow reach him and make the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. That voice is an instant shot of adrenaline, and hearing it twice is nothing short of bracing for the end of the world. it hardly takes an instant for him to be up and flying out of his room, his blood turned to ice water.

he doesn't have time to grab his weapons, so his eye is gleaming with fearful energy gathered up and poised for trouble. he comes bolting down the hall--obedient and silent, ready to work--but that only lasts as long as it takes him to process what he sees before him in the corridor.

when he comes into view and it hits him, he slams to such a sudden halt that he almost falls over himself. and forget breathing or thinking or feeling, all he can do is stare.

Zhas is arm-in-arm with a ghost.]

[theboogieman]

[sorry Syeira, Zhas is busy now. he doesn't know what's going on, what he thinks, how he feels--but he does know how to take care of sick people, so he's latching onto it.

Coil doesn't get much room to think, because Zhas quickly signs at him. even with one hand, his meaning is obvious:] 'I need help. To the lab.'

[he tilts his head to invite him forward, finally looking back down at Sye. he takes one of those hands in his own, if he can.]

[child_of_bhaal]

[Maybe don't bellow three inches from sick people's ears, eh Zhas? Maybe avoid that. In the future. Because it's not like she's feeling the most clear headed right now, as it is.

When she chances to open her tightly closed eyes and lower her hand from her ear, she sees Coil come skidding to a halt. And stare.

She lifts her head up from Zhas' shoulder, giving him the hand that's closest to him when he reaches for it. (She gets that urge. She had it when he came back.) Her other sluggishly signs:]

Hello, Coil.

[mortalcoil]

[he sees Zhas' signs. he understands the words. he processes what he needs to do. but for once, he doesn't fall into the immediate obedience that normally pilots him forward as reflexively as breathing.

because breathing isn't happening as it should either. something horrible (hope? grief that he'd never quite swallowed?) rises up and locks tight in his throat until he's drowning on it.

and then he's moving forward, right for Syeira like he needs to catch her before she disappears, because that's what happens. that's what had happened before he'd even had a chance to try and stop it. she'd disappeared and hadn't even left a body behind--only ashes, like a monster would.

it wasn't right; it was a failure that had sunk him. and there's never any coming back from that. that's just the way of the world.

and yet, here she is.

so, he rushes forward on legs that are suddenly shaky, and he wants to say, and ask, and apologize... so much so that it presses on his chest, squeezes until he actually makes a sound.

it's almost a whimper--strangled and sad, before he's grabbing his arms around her shoulders.]

[theboogieman]

[and Zhas had half a feeling that this would happen. between the day that he himself returned to the Fleet, and all of the thoughts they shared about their surrogate mother-figure when they stood together under the tree... this is kind of just what Coil does, now.

so his goal here is to keep Sye upright, and to keep Coil from hurting her (because hey, he got punched in the chest when he got back).]

[child_of_bhaal]

[For the second time in minutes, she's grabbed up in an embrace, by someone who she never thought would do such a thing. But it's good, and a bit painful. Her chest squeezes a bit around her heart, because both of them have been so affected by her dying.

There's one hand with Zhas, and the other is free to wrap around Coil. She tucks her cheek against his, and again softly shushes, offers murmurs of comfort and apology.]

I'm here. It's all right now.

[mortalcoil]

[there was once a point in time where Coil would have just stood by while Syeira was mauled to death by some ravenous creature. honestly, he might have even helped. even one of their last interactions had been them at each other's throats in vicious argument, opposed at the very core of their beliefs.

and yet here he is, hanging onto her as if she was some long-lost sibling. she's seen him broken open and ruinously-honest enough times in the past year that she might as well be that close.

when he finally sucks in a breath and pulls away, his face is absolutely drawn with distress. with one hand still gripped on her shoulder, he signs 'Sorry,' and 'I tried.']

[child_of_bhaal]

[She should have apologized to him for that. He'd been hurt and she'd been unfair. But she'd waited, and almost hadn't gotten another chance. She wouldn't make that mistake again.

She lays her hand on the back of Coil's neck, shaking her head, even if it's probably a terrible idea to move it like that.]

No. Not your fault. It's not...

[And that's about all she has in her very dry well of strength. She scratched the bottom of her proverbial barrel, and it has nothing left to give her. Her vision starts to get spots, and she's aware that she's probably going to fall over.

She wavers on her feet, squeezes Zhas' hand weakly. She should...say something?]

...Zhas?

[Oh she's going down. If they don't catch her.]

[theboogieman]

[oh, he'll catch her. it's not like he's gone far; he leans back in and easily scoops an arm under her shoulders to keep her from toppling over onto Coil or a wall or anything equally embarrassing.]

To the lab. [come on, kids. with everyone else being emotional, he finds it easier to put his own feelings aside and start managing the situation.] You shouldn't be standing.

[the explanation is for Sye's benefit (he knows she doesn't really like the lab...), but he sends a glance in Coil's direction anyway, just to make sure he won't be getting any strange disagreements from his end.]