2018-02-18: Can't Stop the Hammer From Dropping

From Dream Chasers
Jump to navigation Jump to search 
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

The battle with the Golem is behind them; the battle with Gryndille is behind them. The Black Wolves have made camp some distance away from the still-smouldering wreckage of the Kaiser's Summer Palace, like they once did along the Avehan border on mission. ...But this set of Wolves has a different makeup, of course. That is all too clear.

Some of the tents have to be shared, and Lily did not have a proper medical tent to use, so she's instead cordoned off a small area and covered over her medical supplies, preparing it for use. ...And there is use that it requires, for certain. It is late the night after the battle, and the moon is high in the sky, though the smoke has not... particularly abated. There was rather a lot of it, from all the Gears, from the Palace...

They could probably have gone to Nortune. They probably still could. But there are injuries, and frankly, Lily doesn't want to deal with civilization or its risks at the moment. The tents are green; there is a larger fire in a pit to warm by. Lily has handed out Kislevi ration bars. They are... technically food.

And she has Josie stretched out on a makeshift bed. She's dressed as she was in the battle; arms bare, strange circuitlike patterns visible up to the base of her neck now, stretching across her clavicle, slightly down, obvious because she's in a tanktop; she has discarded the ruined armor. She has a basin of water already set up, which is hot.

She's in easy conversation distance of the main fire, at least, which has some logs around to sit on. It's... pretty cold.

"This is going to be unpleasant," Lily comments to Josie, and holds out a bottle of vodka. "Might as well." 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riese is... amongst those that are gathered, because as much as she wanted to scream and run away inside, she didn't. Because Noeline told her that they're with her. Because Fei told her that they're with her. Because Lily would punish her if she pulled off such a stunt, above what she already has, and Mikaia and Janey wouldn't forgive her either.

So she is here, though she's being even more quiet than her usual timorous self; the damage done to her small frame is evident, as well as her clothes. Her gown and capelet exist, insofar as they're clung to her, now dirtied and besotten; her back and wings are in horrid shape where she took a nigh-nuclear blast, bits of her skin shaven where the warped, red-coloured... organometallic composition of her wings take over.

She's not really eating either, though if it's because she has no appetite or because she doesn't like ration bars isn't really clear. 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

With a ragged sort of sigh Noeline is also sat nearby, and another reason that Riese isn't running away is because the black-haired metal demon is doing her best to tend to the blonde's wounds. There's very little she can honestly do, outside of hope to provide some support, but she is at least lending something in the way of medicine to the situation, her sword stabbed hard into the ground next to them and a series of pockets open along its length to dispense a repair solution into the air. It probably does more for Noeline than for Riesenlied, honestly, but it's at least an attempt.

She's staying quite quiet by her standards, not really sure whether to be sad or angry or terrified and still kind of bobbing somewhere in the middle between all three - not that she'd voice any of them, tamping it down for the time being to simply offer her presence to Riesenlied instead. Turns out the middle of that triangle is just 'real tired, and also I have a hole in me'. 

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

It could have been worse, by Josie's reckoning. The Kaiser's alive and in their collective debt and nobody's dead. All their injuries are things that can be fixed, in time.

Still, though...
All else being equal?
She'd rather not have the broken leg.

Within the tent some significant distance from any sort of civilization, Josie lies sprawled out on a cot. A splinting job's seen her this far, but eventually the rest of the business will need attending to, so to speak.
Normally, this would see the archaeologist laid up for weeks outside an intervention from a Crest Graph user or the like. But fortunately for her, they're a little far from 'normally' in this situation.

"Lucky me," she comments, glancing down at her exposed lower left leg. The pantleg's been cut off somewhere around the lower thigh, laying the injury bare.

Uncharacteristically, her expression is drawn and tight-lipped.

The good news is, the break doesn't involve the knee or anything at all in the thigh. The bad news is, that sure is a broken shin.

Her gaze shifts sidelong. "How's it goin' over there, Sunshine? ...And Sugar." Tight though her expression might be, she still manages a lopsided grin at the pair. ...Which maintains as she regards Lily.

"You're a peach, Tiger," she mumbles, taking the bottle from Lily. She swirls its contents without looking at it, a thoughtful if somewhat strained expression on her face. Then, levering herself up on her right elbow, takes a good old swig. It won't get her as drunk as quickly and as thoroughly as she'd like, considering what's about to happen, but any port in a storm.

Outside, atop the tent, Penelope (returned from parts unknown) lurks, feathers fluffed out. 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

EARLIER

Fei left with Elly to get more supplies, ultimately running into a rat beastman with a white shirt, and a green jacket with a green backwards cap and a satchel around his body who seemed to be the only gentleman willing to work for them in their current, uh, condition.

Hammer the Supplier looks Fei over. "So..."

Fei says, "So...can you help us? "

Hammer looks Fei over some more. "...Do you...need a towel?"

Fei is still covered in his own blood. "Oh yeah if you could bring a towel along that'd be great."

"Right." Hammer says. "And that over there..." He points in the distance to the smoke billowing upward to the sky. "That was you guys? And the entire royal guard was destroyed?"

"I don't know if I'd say the entire royal guard." Fei says. "I don't even know if the Kaiser's back yet."

"The Kaiser." Hammer says. "Whom you kidnapped."

"Rescued." Fei says. "...By kidnapping and fighting off his rogue military."

"Right." Hammer scratches at his chin. "Bro--"

"Fei."

"Right, bro, I hear you." Hammer says. "Tell you what, I'll get you everything you need, but in return...do you need a mechanic?"

NOW

Fei returns to camp, freshly bandaged (Hammer insisted) and carrying a bundle of supplies. The rat flavored beastman trails behind because Fei warned him that Lily might still be a little 'murdery'.

"Hey guys." Fei says. "Uh, I found someone to help fix up our gears so we can ... get them outta here. It was actually kind of hard to find someone for some reason..."

"Right, I don't know what they're thinking, letting a business opportunity pass them by like that." Hammer says, while hiding--lets face it--probably behind Elly.

"Right." Fei says. "Everything good here?" He looks to Riesenlied. "You good?" Please don't scream, Hammer, please don't scream.

"Don't worry. I know all about the Wayside colony..." Hammer pushes up his glasses. "Don't underestimate my information network." 

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly is being used as cover by a person who she holds a position of privilege relative to; won't be the first time, won't be the last, probably.

Elly has a gauze patch over one eye - the observant might have seen it was reddening even before she went with Fei, on both general principles and because of her being relatively upright and ambulatory. Her left arm is also wrapped up and in a cloth sling. This may have been overkill, but she isn't protesting it. She looks rather wan, but she's probably tired.

From Hammer.

"Hammer," Elly says with a deliberate steadiness, "I'd like to introduce you to my friends."

Elly indicates with her unwrapped arm. "This is Lily. Don't be afraid." Why did she specify. "This is Josie. This - ah, you know them? Well, that's good. Um."

Elly sways steadily as she looks at everyone, but she doesn't just keel -- or, for that matter, Keil -- over. She just feels desperately and silently weary for a moment.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Oh, Lily would have a reaction to Riesenlied running off at this point. ...And Riesenlied is very much on her list for treatment, but there is only one of her and many of them at this point. So is Noeline, for that matter. Her own injuries, as usual, she puts off until last. ...She didn't get the worst of it anyway, somehow, despite being hit full-on by Gryndille's cannons.

Everyone here is on her list, in fact, including some who aren't here at the moment. But who are arriving.

"Oh, you think I'm a peach now," Lily answers Josie, "But wait until I set the bone. You're lucky I'm being that nice. Father-in-law." She shakes her head.

...When Fei arrives, with an extra person, Lily's hand immediately rises, clear palm out, pointing straight at Hammer without even looking. It may become obvious why Elly specified not to be afraid of her. ...Fei's explanation comes, and Lily pauses, turning to look at them. "...All right," she says. "That'll be useful. Lily--formerly Lieutenant Keil, Kislevi Special Forces. My father attempted a coup tonight, and I don't have a nurse here to help me out, so you'd better not be injured."

Lily does not look up at Penelope; instead, she takes Josie's leg in her hand, and, well--

It's not actually pleasant, as she removes the splint, as she looks over the injury to make sure it's all set up, and... starts to work. The splint is removed by way of a line of disintigrating power. The bone is good old medic hands.

"Anybody gets worse while I'm working, let me know." 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

In truth, repair gel and powder do work on Riesenlied -- they just don't assist her with her Tainted problem, whatever mechanism or fault that caused her degeneration continuing to make foreign materials introduced into her degraded. Otherwise she would've probably Ship of Theseused out her fragility long, long ago, after all...

And it does help. What doesn't help is her own sense of guilt, as she can't help but latches onto Noeline's feelings of anger, sorrow and fear... and knows that she continues to do these things.

She needs to draw strength from her. From Mikaia and Janey. From Wayside.

But she feels too fragile right now, because all that bubbles underneath the surface is anxiety. "... y-yes," Riesenlied tells a little obvious lie, to Fei and Josephine when they ask. She looks like she's hardly paid attention, such that she's nearly alarmed when--

When she sees Hammer right next to Fei, blinking. "U-um-- um--" she bows her head and rather helplessly defers to Elly with a nod, not trusting herself to be able to speak right now. 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

In turn, Noeline is all too aware that her own thoughts are probably affecting Riesenlied; it's a bit of a vicious circle, and she knows it. Normally, she would be better able to control herself from the get go; for the moment she can only let out a second sigh before leaning forwards to carefully rest her head on one of the blonde Tainted's shoulders. It's a very forward motion for their surrounding, but she closes her eyes to remind herself that Riesenlied is still around.

Be more patient, she quietly reminds herself, and does her best to try to let that anxiety bleed out of her, or at least look past it.

"If only we knew, Miss Lovelace," she chuckles in return to Josie. "I would be the first to tell you. Give us a bit to work it out, perhaps." It's a very dry sort of humour coming from her, but at least it's paired with a lopsided smile. Hammer's entrance makes her crack a single eye open, eyebrows hitching upwards. "Oh, we're famous?" she hums, and the smile perks up a little further. "Well, that makes things a little easier, I suppose. ... I will be fine myself, Miss Keil. Or at least, I will be walking soon enough. Little blessings," she adds - never mind that she's running out of the fine mist surrounding them both. It's enough for the moment. 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Hammer looks towards Noeline. "Is that a...?"

"A crimson noble? Yeah." Fei says. "I mean, I didn't ask her but I wouldn't make her mad."

Hammer nods slowly, flinching when Lily raises a hand at him, but chilling out when she seems to calm down. Don't feel bad, this is pretty much the canonical Hammer experience so far. "I'm not injured, lieutenant ma'am." Hammer says, uncertain of which to use so he just goes ahead and uses both. "I've brought along some fresh bandages, gels, clean water. I can take a look at your gears too if you want. I've worked on battling gears, so you can trust me to know what I'm doing. I'll focus on getting 'em moving so they're not in the middle of the city."

"He wants to come with us," Fei explains further, still wiping himself off with a towel periodically. He looks to Elly and adds, "We can probably take a breather here for a moment. It doesn't look like Leon's back." He must have seen that Elly was exhausted. Maybe he didn't know it was exhausted of Hammer but that's okay. You can't stop the Hammer from dropping sometimes. 

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

"I was only saying what Leon would have said to him, you know," Josie mock protests.
Leon would never, this she knows as a fact.

Her gaze narrows, as if in mild annoyance. "And that's Josie to you, thank you very much, Sugar."

They have a visitor, apparently. Josie freezes about mid-tipple, gaze resting on the beastman using Elly as a shield for a long silent moment. Then, she lifts the bottle into the air in a sort of salute/wave gesture.

"Hammer, huh? Nice to meet you. I'd offer you a drink, but..." she glances down at her leg and lopsidedly shrugs.

"I think I'm gonna need the whole thing."

Introductions complete, she settles down heavily onto the cot.

With the bottle in hand, she looks a little more 'strung out drunk' than 'badly injured in a fight with a hellish ancient ARM' but, details.
"Might as well get this over with, huh?"

It's not pleasant.
It's not pleasant at all.

Josie lets out a strangled scream before she grits her teeth, writhing briefly in agony on the cot as Lily tends to the bone. But she at least stays still enough for the medical work to conclude.
The part after the realignment is probably the easier of it. 

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly looks at Fei; it is a little slow, but she smiles at him. She smiles too at Riesenlied, and then she steps forwards. It's a little slow but it's deliberate; her unwrapped hand goes out to rest against Riesenlied's shoulder. "Thank you," she tells her. "For everything."

She takes a deep breath and lets it out, before explaining, perhaps echoing Fei, "He's excited at the prospect of working outside of Nortune. Isn't that right, Hammer?" After a beat, she says, "You know, I think..."

Elly trails off, the half-formed distant memory of Morgan too vague to coagulate in her tired mind. She sways, still adjacent to Riesenlied. She doesn't stiffen when Josie nearly shrieks, although she does seem to wake up, and tighten up.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"Oh no, Carver," Lily says. "Once I finish with the others you're at least getting bandages. I saw that wound. Fast healing or not I don't intend to take chances." A beat, though, as Lily reflects on the anxiety at the back of her mind. ...She can imagine the source; she doesn't have to have this power to understand how Riesenlied might be feeling, but she doesn't know hot to speak to her about it. So instead, she looks to Josie again with a lifted eyebrow. "What Leon would have said," she repeats, deadpan. "To my father."

"God knows everyone on this planet seems invested in telling me what to do with my love life," she grumbles, and waits for Josie to introduce and then--doesn'te ven wait for her to finish that 'huh' to get started. That scream, that writhe--Lily holds Josie's leg still with a grip of iron to make sure she doesn't have to do this again.

"Ma'am is fine," Lily says. No 'call me Lily', no 'no need to be so formal.' This is Lily, she doesn't do that. "I'll take all of the above," she says to Hammer then. "And a look at the Gears. If you've worked in the battling arena, then you're right. Though..." She trails off, "The cockpit in mine is dangerous. Sparking. I overloaded its boosters pretty hard."

A pause, though. "...Leon's call whether he comes along," Lily says, "But we could use a mechanic." A beat, "...I'm excited about working outside of Nortune, too."

At that, Lily passes her hands over Josie's shin, and closes her eyes; it won't be just the shin, of course, but that's the start of it. "...When I'm done," she says, "You don't walk for the rest of the night. You need moving we carry you. Unless you want to re-break it."

Lily's eyes close, and Hammer gets to see her arms glow red, circuitry alive with motion and power, as Lily bends her will towards the understanding of where bone should be, how it knits together, where it rests within muscle, and vein, and artery, and tendon.

"...Making a habit of this," she murmurs, but she sounds distant; for the next minute or two, she is not here. It feels... warm. Far warmer than magical healing usually does, like a fire on a winter's night. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

It makes her feel helpless, perhaps, is the best way Riesenlied can put it. Helpless to change her course, helpless to show a better Riesenlied to Noeline, Lily and everyone else... but she's snapped softly out of her reverie of half-listening to Fei and Hammer as Elly sets down next to her--

--and blinks and says, "... n-no. The least I could do was-- help." She bites down on her lower lip, hard, wanting to summon that usual gentleness that's been her for so long it feels natural. Elly's hand against her, and Noeline's presence on her other side... they both help, though.

Lily's lecture of Noeline needing aid does-- help snap her further out of that reverie, as she moves towards the compartments on Noeline's sword to start administering the bog-standard aid Metal Demons are taught. Absorbent microfilament, nanopaste...

"I wanted to... help. But Gryndille... words are useless against it. So I--" she chokes up a little, as she focuses on applying medicine. 

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

"Sure. Why, d'you think he wouldn't?" comes Josie's response to Lily on the matter. At least she bears a grin best appended with the phrase 'shit eating', but, still. It's unlikely to earn her any favors.

Particularly when she says, in response to Lily's muttering, "Only 'cause you two seem intent on having the longest courtship."

No favors. None, at all.

Lily's got hands of steel; even if Josie were hell-bent on getting off the cot she wouldn't have managed it. Instead, she drops the bottle to the floor and grips the edge of the cot with her left hand in what would be sure to be a white-knuckled grip if her gloves were off.

Above, Penelope watches. Silent, impassive.

"What... you need another mechanic? Not good enough, huh...?" Josie manages, once the pain begins to recede. Her grip on the edge of the cot eases. "...Though, heh... maybe you should take a look at Leon's Gear while you're at it. 'Fraid I ran into a bit of trouble..."
He was probably not happy about the damage, honestly.

She fumbles for the bottle on the floor after that, apparently intent on drinking some more as Lily does the easier part of the work. "No walking." She exhales a breath. "You drive a hard bargain, Tiger. Well, then--" She levers herself up and stares down at the bottle in front of her. "That's just how it's gonna be..."

Then tips the bottle in a shaky salute towards the medic in the tent, as if in a toast. "Only the best of habits~"

"And speaking of--"

She takes a swig. 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

With a snigger that is brighter than strictly necessary, Noeline looks towards Josephine. "And that's Noeline to you, Miss Lovelace," she shoots back in much the same manner, though with a more carefree laugh bubbling at the back of her voice. There's a relish there, as well, and she looks towards Hammer as her grin shows her teeth.

"Really. Have you never seen a Crimson Noble cuddle a Metal Demon before?" she asks point-blank of the poor mechanic. "Truth be told, I'm as soft as a fly, you know." She doesn't sound it, but then that's part of the act, and sinking back into it for the first time in a very long time is part of the fun of it.

She has the respect to fall silent at Josephine's scream, at least; part of her knew full well it was coming, and she's more focused on drawing Riesenlied back against her, an attempt to prevent the blonde becoming too spooked by the noise in her current state.

Once it's over, she resumes speaking, smooth as can be. "I cannot speak for Leon, of course, but at the very least we could offer you a place to go in Wayside. Getting out of Nortune is rather a good move right now, I dare say. The Kaiser being alive is going to make a coup very-- confused."

She pauses, and a hand gently moves through Riesenlied's hair. "... just because someone or something will not listen does not mean you have to give up what you are - nor give up what you wish to be. The bridges your words build do more than simply defuse situations. They are support," Noeline huffs ever so softly, her words paired with a hand through Riesenlied's hair. There is a tiny note of reproach in her voice, but only a tiny one, and it's paired with a quietly fond smile. 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Hammer would probably know OF Morgan if he's a former champion. Neither him or Fei say much while Josie's screaming, though. Hammer doesn't know what Gryndille is so he's not sure how to help Riesenlied out here, though the way she seems upset, it's clear he feels kind of awkward and bad about it.

He focuses on Lily. "Gonna need new boosters then," Hammer says. "Thanks for the heads up." He seems to smile. He sees Lily's circuits but that's a bit beyond his level at this point in time. If those things were on the GEAR he might be able to do something about it.

Fei sits down near Elly. It's not within handpatting range of Riese or anything, but he does seem worried. "Hey," He tells Riesenlied. "I don't know if it's advanced enough to get anything like that, but we can't say what the future will hold."

He looks over to Elly and nods to her with a smile. His mood, despite being exhausted, is still pretty good. Nobody had to tell him to live or anything. And nobody died. These are the greatest victories as far as he can tell.

Hammer starts handing out water bottles to those who want them. It's not alcohol but well you probably don't want to get dehydrated either.

"I didn't know you were a mechanic," Fei tells Josie.
"Hey, it's not like it's a kitchen," Hammer protests. "With the number of gears you've got, you're gonna need an extra hand. But don't worry... I'll prove myself with my work...!" 

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"Riesenlied... you tried, and I don't think that it's... Gryndille doesn't seem to be a 'person,' it's more like an automatically piloted Gear," Elly says, able and willing to accept, in this reality, that sometimes a giant robot does not explicitly and specifically need a live human pilot in the cockpit to operate.

She looks at Lily and at Josie and at their liquor. This time at least she doesn't worry about it. Seems like a pretty credible anesthetic to her, though, she thinks, what if she takes -- but they don't have that stuff here, Elly remembers. She squeezes her eyes shut, then opens them once more.

Fei is sitting down.

Elly abruptly goes down about three feet. She, too, is sitting. Her hand leaves Riesenlied, and she crosses them on her knee. "What isn't advanced?" she asks, a little muzzily, before saying to Noeline: "You're all very kind. Ugh... I want to cry, almost, but I think I'm just tired... there isn't anything to cry about, I suppose, not right now..."

Well, Lily and Josie might disagree.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"...That's the Ether booster," Lily says to Hammer. "But probably those boosters, too. I know enough about Gears for field repairs, but... I didn't have time to look." And Hammer is assuredly more expect on it than she is. Though Lily does mention to Fei, "She's a mechanic all right." Her attention focuses back on Josephine after that though, on that grin of hers that didn't earn her any favors.

"...Look," Lily says, "We're not in a rush. We've got things to do. Most people don't get married in the middle of warzones." And they were in warzones. Though... She has a pang of something else, talking about marriage, given her father. She shakes her head.

"Yeah, you've got habits all right." Her hands cease to glow, and Lily actually exhales heavily; whatever it was that she just did, it seems to have taken a lot out of her... though Josie can likely feel the pain receding already. She's no Symbologist, that's for sure.

"...Very confused," Lily agrees with Noeline, and takes a bottle of water, handing it to Josie. "Drink this. You get a hangover in the morning and I'm not helping."

At that, she rises, taking in a long breath. "...I'll do another round in about an hour," she says to Josie. "But first..."

Lily steps out of the makeshift tent, easily enough given its open walls. She walks over, striding past Hammer, striding past Fei, and kneels down straight in front of Riesenlied, golden eyes boring into the Tainted woman's own gze until she practically forces eye contact. "Riesenlied," she says, and her voice is stern. "...I don't ever want to see you do that again. Disappearing into my Gear was bad enough--tearing out your own heart to go after that machine directly was suicidal. The least that you can do is stay back and help us with the talents that work for you. The least that you can do is not make me watch another friend have her heart torn out in front of my eyes."

Her words are harsh, but even. She does not raise her voice. ...But Riesenlied can feel that it is much more than just anger that motivates her. She can feel the pain, and the fear, if she is open at all to it.

 "...If you ever die on me in battle I won't forgive you. And I won't forgive myself. You'll have to go on to the next world knowing that. Forever."

...she rises, at that, turning her head away. "...Now come with me so I can tend you." She pauses, at that, and relents very slightly only to look down at Elly. "...Being tired is a reason to cry. There are plenty of other reasons. ...There's no shame in that."

Lily stalks back off to her tent, and pours some of the water into another basin from its bottle, heating it with orange-red radiance. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied does appear a bit shook right now, such that it rattles her a little to have to hear Josephine's scream -- even if she knows it's for the mend. It takes her back to when the archaeologist was dangling against the chandelier and she realises how hard it was to disengage from the enemy to assist her ally. Her friend.

How hard it was, and perhaps, how easy it was to slip into that mindset. To wear that mask again.

Own it, spoke Nasrin in her mind back when. With your own two hands.

She listens to Noeline as she coaches her. Encourages her. She keeps working at the paste and spreading it thin, but does pause to accept a bottle of water from Hammer with a thankful little nod. She listens to Elly as she says she tried--

"... I know. I just-- at that point, I just thought you needed a--" She swallows in fear, fearing what word was going to come out of her lips next.

'Machine'? A 'Killer'?

Lily comes towards her, though, forcing eye contact with her. Lily's golden eyes are much more stern and resolute compared to her lost red ones right now. She can't seem to muster the werewithal to not fall apart right now, shaking a little and sobbing softly as Lily berates her, even if it's coming from a good place. And she knows it's coming from a good place.

The talents that work for her...

Own it, Nasrin repeats.

She does feel strength lifting up slowly at her knees, as she reluctantly looks towards Noeline and leaves her side. Then steps towards the tent. 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Heh... maybe I better check that stuff out now, then." Hammer says. "I don't want to keep you waiting because a four hour job became a six hour job. Do you mind?"

"Go ahead." Fei says, seemingly trusting Hammer enough that he isn't going to try and steal one of the gears. Or maybe he doesn't CARE if Hammer steals a gear.

He looks towards Elly and adds, "Hey if you want to--" But he is pulled reluctantly away as Riesenlied seems to be the one suffering the most right now.

He should say something, he thinks, but what Lily said is frankly probably better than anything he could come up with, but Riesenlied is a friend whom he's chastized and worried over plenty, but more to the point--he has seen her as someone he could rely on. He should try to be someone she can rely on to even as his limits often fly very closely to his face.

"Riese... Against Golem Sado, you helped me a lot." He says after a moment. "Some people never get to be who they want to be, but you've come farther than most. Don't feel like you have to be your truest self right from the getgo. It's a journey, you know? It's okay to stumble. We'll catch you. You're not a 'Metal Demon' to us, or even a 'Hyadean' for that matter--you're just Riesenlied. Our friend."

He is quiet for a moment before adding, "Sorry, if that's going a bit too much there."

This is so awkward, Hammer thinks. 

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

"Uh huh," Josie says, with all the impression of disbelief possible in the world appending to that statement. "Hey, think of it this way: you two could start a trend. I'm sure it'll be the done thing, with the state of the world, anyway..." And in spite of that particularly grim statement, she shrugs and grins all the same.

It's quite a long drag of the contents of the bottle -- let's hope Josie's eaten something, or even someone of her prodigious habits and talents will have a little bit of a problem come the next day.
She stiffly gives Lily a thumbs-up with her right hand.

"I don't have to worry about being hungover now, you know," Josie 'helpfully' points out. Nevertheless, she still hands over the bottle and takes the water, which she downs in another swig.

"It's a hobby," she explains to Fei, punctuating the statement with a shallow shrug.
The sort of hobby where she tends to leave what she toys with in a wide assortment of parts and completely disassembled.
"Anyway, don't worry about it. Sounds like he knows Gears pre-tty well. Maybe you could show me a thing or two!"

She pauses here to look over at Lily, as if idly inquiring after whether she can get up and go now... despite knowing that's not possible.
"At some point," she allows, before downing what remains of her bottle of water and sinking back onto the cot. "Sure. Sure. Whew... remind me not to break a leg again. Heh, makes me wonder why that's a saying..."

She closes her eyes, draping her left forearm across her brow, apparently intending to there lie for some time.
Which is the point at which Lily steps out of the tent and...
Josie lifts an eyebrow but otherwise doesn't move. Not yet. Lily's certainly giving her the what-for, huh. "Tough time for Sunshine..."

She reopens her eyes and glances over at Elly, perhaps noting now her own reaction at this point. "You okay there, Red?" 

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly just sits there, radiating warm feelings towards Riesenlied. Other people speak, words fade...

She startles when she's called 'red'. She then grimaces at the twinge in her arm. She answers Josie with a slightly muzzy smile, "Oh, yes! I'm just worn out, given... I mean... Given..." She is wearing a mostly-exploded maid's dress, even now.

"Everything," she concludes. "I can't really complain, not when you're so badly off..."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline knows better than to try to gainsay Lily Keil right about now; she's tired, and hurt, and damn if she's going to risk getting kicked in the head by interrupting the medic warrior. She does snort softly as Lily speaks, but it isn't out of protest, more out of a quiet amusement as she nods her head.

"... I realize you wanted to help in the way you thought best. ... I simply do not wish to see you sacrifice your beliefs in service of that," she appends to Lily's words, at least there to offer Riesenlied assistance in getting up to her feet. "Those beliefs are how we've managed to come so far. Why I am here with you. To me, they are more important than the world," she adds under her breath, the last statement spoken privately and low. Only then does she chuckle, and nudge Riesenlied in the doctor's direction. "Give me a moment to catch my breath, and I will be with you."

She does pause, and glance over at Fei with an amused huff. "... if you ask me, I've always drawn a line between the two. Hyadean and Metal Demon... I would like to think we're the former, first and foremost. But, that's a little complex a line of thought for today, I think," she adds with a soft hiss as the paste gets to work.

There is a long pause, during which Noeline nods to Josephine's levity in recognition of it, and then the twintailed girl bows to Elly with an amused sigh. "We do try. ... you have provided your own assistance in turn - please do not think that sort of thing is a one-way road, hm? That said-- Fei, you could at least get her a jacket or a blanket or something," she adds as she plants her hands on her hips. "Really. Is chivalry dead?" 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily's not really worried about Hammer at this point. She should be--she should be particularly paranoid--but it's... not that she isn't paranoid, exactly. Yes, things have gone well, but it's an entirely different sort of reaction. Fei brought him in. She trusts Fei. And, well--

One Beastman isn't going to hold up if she starts hunting him.

"If you worry about it now, you don't have to worry about it in the morning," Lily points out to Josie. ...But then, she's not really advising Josie much for a while. She is focused mostly upon Riesenlied in those next moments, expressing a deep care for her in the way that she is able. ...Riesenlied is having difficulty, shaking, sobbing, and at least Lily does not keep it going there, leaving it at that for the moment. ...Until...

As they start towards the tent, Lily places a hand on her arm. "...Careful," she says.

Fei perhaps has said something kinder to her. ...Lily can't add to it; she can't really say anything like that. She takes her hand back, and shakes her head. She can't say anything kind to Elly, either; she just... withdraws. She considers Noeline's words, appended, remains quiet for a few moments and then says, "...Yes," she says. To what Noeline says? To Noeline joining them? Whichever. She doesn't specify.

Instead, she makes it to her tent, and heats the water she's gathered, gesturing Riesenlied to sit down on a cot--and offering an arm if she needs it. "I can put up some curtains if you need them," she says. "...There's a lot I need to look over." 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Inbetween her sobs, the feeling of shame welling up and over her as her shoulders seize and lift, and she clutches her chest by draping her arms over each other... Riesenlied does listen to Fei. Her horns wilt just a little bit, as he says that not everyone knows who they are... that people don't even get that chance sometimes--

And she's reminded of when she speaks of how she wants her brethren to be able to get that chance...

For now, she clings hard to the word that's so foreign to most Metal Demons. Friend. Elly's warm feelings are comforting indeed, to an empath... for so long now that they've known each other in the short times they've interacted, there's-- a genuineness in Elhaym that Riese finds inspiring. A genuineness in Fei, when he expresses his thoughts plainly and shows his emotions without fear. Now, moreso than ever.

She has a very quiet nod towards Noeline, trusting in her to come after her after a moment later. "Yes, please..."

She shyly looks towards Josie as she enters the tent, bowing her head a little. She sits down on the cot and nods very quietly, repeating, as if it's the extent that she can speak right now, "Y-yes, please..." Perhaps out of a sense of privacy more than any bashfulness remaining.

It's strange, foreign and fragile to her, to be this fragile and vulnerable... which is a weird thing to say to someone who's so open and honest.

But in many ways... the Black Wolves have been the first people she could call friends on a personal level, aren't they? 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Hammer does not test Lily's patience by stealing her gear. Frankly, it's going to take him a while to get them in enough shape that he CAN steal them. And he isn't going to risk it anyway. He's seen what 'you guys' have done to the Royal Guard after all.

Of course, it was actually Golem Sado that did 'that' to the Royal Guard and Fei just didn't feel like he needed to correct him on that point. It's not really lying, Fei imagines, he just figures this team could've taken on the Royal Guard so it's ok if Hammer thinks they could.

Anyway, Hammer sensing a plight about to hit his 'bro' helpfully tosses Fei a blanket. You can be sure that Fei didn't have a jacket on his person that...would be something Elly would want wrapped around her. Fei gives Hammer a small nod as if to suggest, 'okay, if you really want to call me bro, that's a good start' before he does, indeed, wrap that blanket around Elly.

"Don't let Riese catch a cold," He shoots back, barely missing a beat. 

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"Ikh tre," Elly begins to answer Noeline, before laughing weakly and starting over. "I guess that's right... I just wish I could help more, but... I don't know. I'm afraid if I go to sleep, I'll wake up and..."

And what?

And Fei is wrapping a blanket around her. "!" Elly's eyes widen as she is rendered a red hot ellyrito, shifting from hip to hip to get properly wrapped and giving him a thankful, shy smile. Then she shivers -- as if now that she's in a blanket, she can finally rest.

Right here in the tent? Yeah, probably.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"Of course I would not," Noeline huffs; she is somehow managing to look almost put upon at the fact that Fei didn't unbutton his vest to drape around Elly's shoulders, as gross and blood-and-sweat-ridden as it would probably be. "Or at least, I will try. You have not seen how fervently colds seem to cling to her. She is made to be tucked up in a rocking chair, I am quite sure," she grumbles openly.

She does at least pause at Elly's words, and look up towards the tent flap; for a moment, her gaze is terribly far off into the distance, as she rakes at her hair in a moment of open uncertainty. "Some things cannot be helped quickly. Better to rest than to have everyone burn themselves out, hmm?" she chuckles after a moment, and bows her head just a little in recognition of the sentiment. "It's appreciated. But Riese will be cheered more by knowing you're on the mend."

When she moves to slip into the tent, it's with a more respectable silence; immediately, a hand gently rests on Riesenlied's shoulder, back to being that everpresent source of support. 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily is silent, through most of Riesenlied's crying. Through most of the conversations with others, the tender moments. Riesenlied may be able to feel the difficulty Lily is having with this situation, the uncertainty, the way the spectre of dealing with all of this looms over her.

...She doesn't forget about Hammer, but she's not expecting him to try to leave. She spots the blanket, has some approval of that, as she finishes walking over. ...She glances once to Elly, and lets her gaze linger as she talks about sleeping, as she starts to rest. ...But this, too, is better without her words, isn't it?

"Take care of her," is all she says to Fei. "...I'll look you over again after."

Riesenlied's need for privacy does not bother Lily in the least; she simply sets up a set of curtains, hangs them through with thick pins from the tent, makes sure that Riesenlied has a certain amount of privacy. "...I'll need to get at your wounds," she says, and looks to Noeline. She waits, for a moment, and then dips her hands into the water, scrubbing quickly and efficiently with chemicals and clean water both.

"..."

Lily starts to turn back to Riesenlied, and she can't get out what she's feeling. ...It's frustrating. So instead, she focuses on her actions, on the care that comes next. ...And tries not to linger on that wound in Riesenlied's chest with her eyes. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Lily would well know the difficulty of being an empath, of not being able to filter your thoughts to her own; in such a fragile state, it's difficult to not notice -- but she does appreciate Lily's attempt to quiet her thoughts down. She appreciates that it's difficult for Lily, that she's a creature that Lily doesn't have necessarily good words for.

It won't heal in a day. But it will heal. Better to rest than burn out.

She quiets down, herself, from her crying; she quietly undoes her gown, what remains of it anyway; the capelet kind of falls off into parts from where it's already burnt off from taking the brunt of the damage from Gryndille, when she covered Josephine.

It might have been less unsettling if Riesenlied were a normal Metal Demon, a being whose physiology is more alien than human -- yet the discoloration that makes it red makes her flesh disturbingly... human-like, yet uncanny enough to indicate, to a medic like Lily, that it isn't.

It still responds to healing like humans would, though -- she flinches and sighs with relief as Lily dresses and nurses the wound.

On a better day, after rest, Riesenlied might ask Lily what that power was -- that power that ultimately saved them all, a manifestation of the circuitry and magic she'd seen before... but... right now, she doesn't trust herself to have the mental fortitude and words. 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

And what?

Despite Fei's sass back to Noeline, he does seem to care deeply for Elly. Did he ever share the full story? Did he react with shock and awe at Lily's new powers? He definitely noticed them but he didn't gawk. It's as if some part of him understood all along and it was just a sight to see it. Or maybe there's a simpler explanation: Fei doesn't need to know right now--if ever! Perhaps they'll find out together, perhaps not. There's enough mystery on Filgaia to last a hundred lifetimes.

But right now he just wants to watch Elly sleep. There's no reward he can think of from the day's battle that would beat this moment. 

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly, fortunately, doesn't snore or anything.

Retrieved from "https://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2018-02-18:_Can%27t_Stop_the_Hammer_From_Dropping&oldid=5128"