2021-04-25: Burned Out
- Log: Burned Out
- Cast: Xander Lovell, Riley Arwell
- Where: Somewhere near Djose Temple
- Date: April 25, 2021
- Summary: After the battle with Magilou and Margaret, the Fangs aren't doing so great.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander's lungs ache all over again, this time from flame instead of vine. He crushes one of his alchemical candies between his teeth as he half drags, half carries Riley on his back. Xander tries to press one of the candies to Riley's lips, but unconscious, he can't take it. A healing vial injection is administered in its place, and maybe Riley will complain about the pain in his neck later, but -- fuck, Xander just hopes Riley can complain about the pain later. Only adrenaline and resolve keep Xander's frayed threads together. Has he fled far enough? Are they being pursued? They need to rest, but they can't afford to be caught.
It's a cave cliffs around the outskirts of Djose Temple that he hopes will be their sanctuary, and with more blood and more of Valmar's power, vines erode the entrance to bury it in stone. It won't cover everything -- not their own escape, later -- but it might be less suspicious. Still, he does not stop until they're deeper within the cavern, where everything is dark and silent and Xander can believe that maybe they're finally safe enough to stop.
He sinks to the ground, lying Riley down while his own limbs shake. But it's not the exertion that's causing it. Xander rips off his mantle, folding it several times to try and give it some thickness, gently slipping it under Riley's head as a meager offering of comfort against the harsh 'campsite' Xander's chosen. He sets his hand to the side of Riley's face, inspecting his condition. Xander may have his own wounds, but after the stunts Riley's pull throwing himself into fire and using his body as a fucking shield, he's the one at risk for being on the brink.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he whispers, his fingers trembling against Riley's cheek.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Riley is covered in burns, the worst and most extensive being on his back where he purposely absorbed the attack earlier in the battle, but also lashing up his legs and arms from where he waded through the firestorm trying to reach Xander. There are signs of shock; his breathing is shallow and quick, punctuated by coughs from breathing the heated smoke, and his pulse is rapid and slightly erratic. The healing injection should help, but there may be some question of which way the balance might tip, and whether it could be too little or too late.
Xander's words draw him partway to consciousness, though he doesn't seem to fully grasp what's going on.
"Xander, we just have to... together..." He finds his hand and grips it tightly, staring into Xander's eye with a look that's simultaneously unfocused and intense. He doesn't seem to realize they've made it to safety.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
That ever dangerous hope seizes Xander's chest when Riley's grip tightens on his hand. "I'm here," he says, urgent and tense. "It's over. Just -- just rest."
He's too afraid to let go of that grip, instead going through his supplies with hand hand. Xander will need both hands, eventually, for bandaging, and with a wince, he's reminded he still needs to bandage himself. But right now he squeezes back on that grip as if it's the one thing that's going to keep Riley from slipping to a place where even Xander's alchemy won't be able to bring him back from.
He readies salves for the burns, fluid injections, and a candied medicine... that, in case Riley can maintain his consciousness, if only to have something pleasant in the dry heat of his wounds and the pain scorching his skin. Xander's out of cherry flavor, and that's such a low and stupid priority to care about but it feels like another burn to deal with that makes his breath catch.
It's not like we won't get to have it again later, he tells himself, and he hates the doubt gnawing at him what if what if what if.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
I'm here. It's over.
Something in Riley relaxes, even as his addled mind takes this in entirely the wrong way. "...Good. I'm... I'm so sorry for everything. I love you. Goodbye."
Then he slips from consciousness again, which, while it may have a worrying effect juxtaposed with such words, has no deeper meaning to it than the fact that Riley mentally 'left off' with trying to find Xander in the flames with the thought that they might be about to die together.
He rests quietly for a while, then, giving Xander time to administer more treatment and maybe see to his own wounds. The next time Riley comes to consciousness, the healing serum has had more time to work, and there's more mental clarity. Also -- pain.
"X-xander," he whispers, hoarse but lucid, "have you got any stronger drugs..."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"Don't--!" Xander hisses at Riley's apology. His attention snaps away from his supplies back to Riley entirely, gripping his hand in both of his own. Xander's eye widens, quivering and glossy as he squeezes his fingers in. But Riley's hand goes slack in his grip along with the rest of him. "I --" But anything Xander might say dies knowing Riley can't hear him. There's an empty moment where Xander doesn't breathe until he sees that Riley still is.
It's not over, Riley's just being an overdramatic asshole (who is quite possibly, very legitimately dying) and Xander throws himself into treatment. Once it's done, Xander's entire body sags. Stable. Riley's stable. That... that needs to be enough.
Even with Riley unconscious, it feels impossible to say anything. Or maybe especially because he's looking at the almost-corpse of his best friend. Instead, Xander brushes back Riley's hair and leans in to steal a kiss Riley will never remember.
Bending is enough to make Xander wince -- he'd forgotten his own injuries in his tunnel vision. When Riley finally wakes, it's to Xander stitching his own side together, cutting the last of the thread with his fanged teeth.
He ties it off before setting his hand over Riley's forehead to keep him from trying to get up. "...You need water, not more drugs."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
"Aughh," Riley complains. The injustice. He is trying to get his bearings, but it hurts to move. It hurts to not move. It looks like they're in some kind of cave? "Can't I have both? I have been good." Well, by his own definition of 'good.'
He tries to look Xander over without craning his neck, and gives an unhappy mumble as he sees the state he's in. That was a rough fight. That went really badly. That's right -- he thought they were going to die. Why didn't they die?
"What happened? How did we survive? How are your lungs?"
He gives a weak cough. His own lungs feel pretty raw.
"If she messed your lungs back up, I'm going to be so mad." A beat of hesitation. Is there anyone left to be mad at? "...Did you kill them...?"
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"Shh," Xander hushes harshly. "You're the worst, actually, and maybe this will make you think twice about leaping into a god damn fire next time!"
But it's not all spite. Or any spite at all. Xander sighs. "...I loaded you up enough as it is. I don't think we can risk what your body can handle right now."
Xander pulls back to check his own wounds and make sure he's properly bandaged off with a grunt. "... Regrettably, no." And he does regret it. It's dangerous to have witnesses alive. This is becoming such a mess...
Greenhorns. Amateurs. They really are, when you get down to it.
As to how they survived. "We are the Fangs of Valmar, if you recall. And our own blood works well enough in a pinch... Evil plants don't burn so easily."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Riley gives another dissatisfied grumble. "You didn't answer me about your lungs. You don't have to act tough and impervious. Come here." He does not lift his arms, but kind of grasps with his fingers to give the general idea of that intention. "I'm hugging you with my mind." This may be the safest kind of hug for both of them right now.
Maybe this will make you think twice about leaping into a god damn fire next time!
"If I hadn't, and I was the last one standing, maybe we would be dead now. I didn't think to do ... whatever it is you did. Evil plant shield? I'll have to teach myself to do that..."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander flusters, straightening with Riley's attempt at a mind hug and jerking his gaze away as he clears his throat. "They're better off than yours." He breathes out a longer sigh. "Alchemy can take care of any lingering damage this time."
Without having to kill anyone.
He looks to his wrist, which he already bandaged. The bite is the simplest wound he has after the battle, but he bit to bleed and there's red soaking through the dressing. "Outside of your shovel and my scythe, we haven't explored it much, have we? ... It's useful."
And possibly concerning to think about accepting even more of it into their lives.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Their ways of accessing the Blood Garden vary. Both of them have some ability to call the flowers forth from their skin at will. Riley can also summon them from the earth with arrows. It seems that bloodletting is another, potentially more powerful method. And probably a dangerous one. But whatever Xander summoned to hold back an inferno was probably more substantial than the poisonous blooms Riley is accustomed to summoning with more conventional methods. Riley frowns at the bloodied bandage on Xander's wrist.
"Yeah, I guess. We have a lot of evil powers we haven't dug into..."
Riley's still not entirely sure what happened in Cereza that allowed Xander to kill so many people. It's not like he wants to repeat it, or even to risk what making Xander thinking about it too much might do, so he's never pried about the specifics. But they might need to learn to tap into some of that dark power more reliably now that they have a collection of Drifter witnesses to their crimes and may face more difficult battles like the last one.
"But... we made it. We're alive, and Valmar's fed." He smiles at Xander, though it's unavoidably pained. "I wasn't sure if we would, this time. I'm not sure if you could tell." That's probably a joke. "Healing and exploring our evil powers is going to cut into our peaceful reprieve time, though..."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Cereza. Drowned in thorns and blossoms, with enough power called to collapse buildings. An entire town, dead, with no hope of escape or evacuation. With that sort of power, why is it they would struggle so much against would be heroes that call themselves Drifters? But every time Xander tries to remember, he risks sinking into that empty, hollow place where Riley's voice can barely reach him.
Will he remember if he learns?
Will they survive if he doesn't?
But we made it.
Xander stirs from his thoughts. He turns to face Riley, reaching out to gently set a hand on his head, which might be the one place it isn't going to sting to touch him. "I told you we weren't going to die." A lot of words were thrown around on that battlefield. A lot of doubts keep being presented and thrown in their faces. "I'm not going to waver," he promises, voice softer. "It doesn't matter who comes for us."
And more may come for them now, he thinks grimly.
"... We can save the evil for a little later."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
I'm not going to waver
"I'm up to it, too," Riley says. The assurance doesn't have quite the desired effect with him trying to lie perfectly still so he doesn't offend any of the burnt skin on his body. He tries to tell himself that his current state is proof he can protect Xander in battle, and not the opposite. One of them was going to have these burns, wouldn't they? The fact that he took them on could be why they made it out at all.
"You don't have to leave me behind and start hunting with the crazy magic Drifter."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander looks down. "You don't have to be," he says, quieter. "It only ever had to be one of us."
That he does remember -- Riley writhing in his own pain and suffering, and Xander so helpless to save him. But then he did save him when Cereza was bathed in blood.
But the suggestion makes Xander ruffle again. "I'm not leaving you behind to go hunting with that -- that... witch." He swallows when he says the word, and it's stupid, probably, that it gets to him. Witches are allowed to exist. But witches existing and seeing through his 'illusion' jabbed a wound he doesn't want to admit to right now.
"I'd sooner try to kill her." It's almost a joke except that Xander's supposed to be killing about everyone he meets, according to Valmar.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
It only ever had to be one of us.
"If it's ever going to be only one of us, shouldn't it be me?" It was his curse to begin with. Xander is only doing this because he forced it onto him. "Anyway, you need me. I'm important to this equation. I'll explain how when I can think better. Are you sure I can't have more drugs?" That's not going to help you think better, Riley. You'll just end up having some deep insight that turns out to be incomprehensible.
I'm not leaving you behind to go hunting with that -- that... witch.
Riley's gaze softens as Xander trips over the word. He remembers the stories -- one of the more whimsical threads running through Xander's sometimes overly serious family. But those memories are all ruined, now, aren't they?
I'd sooner try to kill her.
"Well, I guess that's reassuring." What a mess their lives have become, if that's a reassurance. It's hard to even tell the threat that she poses. Certainly, in terms of her power, she came near to killing them. But she sounded as if she might be as evil as they are, maybe only fighting them because her whims and their own aggression pushed things in that direction. Will she hold a grudge against them, now, either way? Her emotions during that fight didn't seem to make a lot of sense...
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"No, it shouldn't be," Xander says, but he doesn't elaborate on that. He sighs again, lacing his fingers through Riley's hair in what he hopes is a comforting gesture in place of the alchemy he can't give him right now. "I'm sure. You're too important to put into a drug coma."
Using his logic against him!
Xander moves closer, getting his flask. "But if you can lift your head, you should try getting some water." He'll assist with that by bringing the flask to Riley's mouth, so long as Riley isn't in too much pain to try.
"It's how it is." Reassuring or not. Xander knows Riley doesn't love the killing. Xander doesn't love the killing. Even an eccentric magician who set them on fire -- twice -- probably doesn't deserve it. That look in her eyes, and the way she would laugh... Xander, at least, thinks she made a little bit of sense, which might be its own problem.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
No it shouldn't.
Riley frowns, waiting for a reason. A reason doesn't seem to be forthcoming. He savors the hair ruffle even through his own active grumbling. "It's true, I am very important..."
He then lets himself be helped to drink -- his throat certainly needs the water, even if the rest of him doesn't want to be moved. It does hurt, but Riley tries to be less vocal about it, if only so that Xander doesn't think he's torturing him.
Either way, by the end of it, he's exhausted as if he did something arduous. "...Whew. Being set on fire is the worst. Let's never do that a-" He loses the train of thought midsentence, his mind spinning off to finally make the obvious connection that escaped him, even when he was so emphatically and specifically demanding Magilou not use fire on Xander. He wasn't even consciously thinking about it in all the chaos, but... that would have been how they died, wouldn't it? ...It must have been so painful. Did they manage to find one another first, or...?
He blinks away the thought, finding himself back in the present moment. "Never do that again. We'll both master evil plant shields."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Water and hair ruffling are the best Xander can do right now. For as much harshness as he can put in his voice, his hands are always careful where his mouth isn't. Professional, even. Clinical. He hates a part of that when it's just the two of them. Like there's no communication in it, because it's the same anyone else would get.
Xander sets the flask aside and doesn't push it beyond those limits. But Riley mentions fire, and even Xander tenses with that, his fingers stilled briefly. Fuck. He'd forgotten about all of that in everything else. Is it better not to call any attention to it if Riley's trying to avoid the subject?
Well, now he feels terrible for yelling at Riley over his desperation to keep Xander from dying in a fire.
"All right," he relents, instead of trying to act like he's the only one who's got to bleed and fight for once. "We'll figure it out. Together."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
We'll figure it out. Together.
Riley brightens. Apparently he is content to let the topic of dying by flames pass by without further exploration. They're in agreement that they don't want it to happen, and that's all that really matters.
"And we can do all of the stuff we were planning before." When they were trying to look forward to a future after their next kill that didn't seem certain. "...Eventually." Hopefully with the help of Xander's alchemy, they can heal fast and grasp at some of this reprieve while they have it.