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Post by Nari on Jun 25, 2024 14:06:25 GMT
Seeing Luka again gave Theo a rush of emotions, and it was very apparent he was close to crying. However he did his best to wipe away the tears and keep himself under control. He would not cry, not again, that would be embarrassing. He was stronger than that.
He wanted to tell her that he missed her, but all that came out was a choked “you stupid.” It was incredibly stupid of her to come to the Exile’s base after he just sacrificed himself for her, and quite rude too. Though he really couldn’t complain about that right now given her position was much better than his.
She mentioned a lot of things, something about being roasted by a God, Atticus looking like shit, and Gwen being afraid of fire. A lot of interesting stuff that he had no idea what she was talking about.
The initial adrenaline of Luka’s arrival soon wore off, and Theo could only tug at the restraints as the questions of how they were doing came up. There was a lot he could say to paint a picture of how bad all was, but thinking about it too much felt painful. One didn’t have to look too hard at the champion of Baldr to see how unwell he looked. Sickly, hair tangled, and his clothes were covered in stains.
“Jason’s been through it,” he said, lowering his head, “that asshole just tried to date me and just gives shitty food. What kind of psychopath feeds someone cold pasta?”
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Jun 25, 2024 18:09:00 GMT
Jason scoffed when Luka said they don't give him enough credit for being smart. He knew that. He wouldn't say it out loud because there was no point in yelling at people to listen to him. Might as well do what he needs to do and wait for people the catch up.
He narrowed his eyes at Theo ignoring his own torment and instead only mentioning him. "He's been poisoning Theo with European mistletoe. Trying to find his weakness i'm guessing," Jason could cut in before Theo could completely move away from the conversation. He wasn't going to downplay the hell he'd been put through while Jason was here. "Given me small doses of rat poison when he or I don't play along."
Jason shifted and pulled against the restraint tying him to the wall. He was ready to be away from here. He got as much information as he could from this place without going braindead.
Glancing at the ziptie around his wrist then back at Luka he gave a small smile. "No, we're not great but we can move."
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Jun 25, 2024 19:22:38 GMT
Luka raised an eyebrow at Theo's comment of 'you stupid', rolling her eyes. "No, you stupid."She provided nothing else to that. Just a childish reply to a childish comment.
When Theo commented about the cold pasta, she gave him a look of surprise, before scoffing. "Wow, cold pasta, you sure got your priorities straight." Because cold pasta obviously caused him to look like he got ran over by a monster truck, eaten by Fenrir, shit out, and then reeaten by Fenrir. She processed her words, before her face contorted, looking to the side, "Wait, why does every fucking guy we fight want to date you?"
When Jason revealed the truth, she looked downright pissed, and her eyes flicked to Jason. "Where did Ripley get his tactics from, fucking Shakespeare?" Whatever. The boys obviously couldn't stay. That was fine. She got to her next point as Jason continued to speak, claiming they weren't great but could move. "Good. I want you both to get checked out when you get back. You're both being poisoned, and you," she looked at Jason, gently inspecting his head, "got your brain scrambled by the giant wolf."She gently set her hand on Jason's shoulder, voice softer, "I know you were going to come here, but I never should have put you in danger for this plan, Jason," she paused, moving behind him and grabbing her knife out of her pouch, working on cutting the rope as she spoke, "But thank you...for being here with Theo. For being a cunning and brave little fucker." The rope came free, leaving Jason free to move, and she moved over to free Theodore. "And you. Don't think I'm letting you off the hook for what you did." Her voice sounded angry, but when the ropes were free, she moved around to his front and just sat there, mouth going dry, and looking at the ground. Her eyes were watering, and she felt choked up. "You better never worry us like that again."
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Post by Nari on Jun 25, 2024 19:54:24 GMT
Luka was being Luka, and Theo couldn’t help but take solace in the levity. He even rolled his eyes at her comment about people wanting to date him, as if he weren’t surrounded by the most insane people one could imagine.
“‘Cause I’m fucking hot and single, I don’t know what else you expect,” he sassed back. A very true statement that was muddled by how shitty he felt. Gross and borderline nauseous again. Jason confirming what Ripley had been doing to him just caused the man to look down at the floor in discomfort.
The poisoning, yeah… Mistletoe was such a dumb thing to be badly affected by, yet here he was. At this rate he was going to go into anaphylactic shock because of a stupid plant.
Theo kept his gaze kept to the floor as Luka started freeing them, once again not wanting to look her in the eyes as she scolded him. He really just looked like a kicked puppy through and through, and only looked back at her once she finished talking. His eyes narrowed indignantly.
“Yeah, sure, but I’m sure you did the same thing I did, didn’t you?”
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Jun 25, 2024 20:20:39 GMT
Jason rubbed his wrist once the zip tie released his hand and used the wall behind him to get to his feet. He was still dizzy from the last bug he took control over, and his vision was probably darker than it should have been due to using his magic. But he couldn't tell in the dark loading dock area.
Jason rolled his eyes as the two bickered in a friendly manner. As nice as it probably was for them to be reunited, this was not the time or place.
"Both of you make the rest of us worry," Jason shot back to both of them. Then he looked at Luka. "And you should have told me your plan. But we'll deal with that later. Let's go," he urged quietly and started testing his weight on his feet.
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Jun 25, 2024 20:32:55 GMT
River had gone somewhat silent for the rest of the meeting. Once more letting others take charge since they'd been more active than he had in the past few weeks.
He was picking at the bandage on his hand, adjusting it this way and that until Pascal asked for permission to speak.
The leader turned his attention to Pascal and nodded, he didn't need permission. He was a part of this council too.
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Jun 25, 2024 21:02:17 GMT
Luka laughed at Theo's sass, her hands going to her hips as she looked at him, "Standards?" She replied then continued, "How many fucking boyfriends does Ripley have now? Three? He's like bloody King Henry VIII."That was a joke, obviously at least two of those 'boyfriends' didn't even like Ripley. Then again, King Henry's wives didn't like him either...When she scolded him, and he returned fire, she opened her mouth to retort. Jason interrupted, pointing out that they both worried everyone. She wanted to reply with 'Well I planned to let you into the plan but then things went to shit' but she had a feeling now wasn't the time. Jason was right, they had to go. She took a deep breath, standing up herself and looking to the door as if to be sure it was closed. Then she grabbed the bag into her hands and started sorting through it. "Today's your lucky day boys, I'm like Australian Santa Claus," she commented as she sorted through it. First things first, the keys. She grabbed them out, and handed them to each boy respectively. Then she returned to the bag.
First, she pulled out her tiny notebook with her notes written on it in her messy writing and odd quips. She handed it to Jason, "I've written what I've learned in this, and I have a rough schematic of their base drawn in as well. It's the quality of a 3-year-old drawing with their shit on a wall but it should give some inside info just in case."Just in case she couldn't get out. If her next plan went to shit. To Theo, she handed him another item. A phone that was in good quality it appeared. "I nabbed that off of Fishface earlier. Use your princess powers to unlock that thing and you can see into their group chats first hand. Return the favor for what they did to us." Right then. That handled the phone and the notebook. Next phase then. "And by unlock it, I mean right now, I need to see it for a second but I don't possess the ability to break into it and I have a feeling throwing it at the wall isn't going to do much good." At that, she waited, staring patiently at Theo. She'd wait until the phone was unlocked to continue explaining what was going on and what the plan was.
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Post by Nari on Jun 26, 2024 13:37:43 GMT
Pascal regretted speaking up as soon as the words left his mouth, and he gazed anxiously across the room at the other people. They looked back at him and the attention made him even more nervous. However he was given permission to speak, and it didn’t seem like a good idea to back down now.
He stood up from his chair and walked closer to the front, holding some slips of paper in his hands. He was fidgeting, and quickly brushed his crazed hair out of his face.
“I’m not good at public speaking,” the man muttered, too quiet to be heard by most people in the room. He could feel his muscles tense as he looked back to his seat, as if debating if he should sit back down. However, it was suddenly occupied by the ghostly Lewis, and he gave Pascal two thumbs up and a smile.
Looks like he was doing this…
“I wanted to request to have more people trained to work in the medical ward,” he spoke aloud, his attention soon drifting down to his notes, “While Lucien and I have done our best to keep people healthy, it's incredibly apparent that two people can’t be in charge of the health of almost 20 people. Its incredibly stressful, and things will likely get worse if just one of us being gone cripples our capacity to help people.”
“It would be unreasonable to ask for more people to go to medical school, however some basic training for first aid or even permanent help in bedside manner, cleaning, restocking… that would help ease this burden.”
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Post by Nari on Jun 26, 2024 13:52:51 GMT
Theo scoffed at Luka’s comment about King Henry VIII. He didn’t like the implication he had anything going on with Ripley, cause he didn’t. The guy was a freak through and through, and he wanted no part in whatever he was doing. Thinking about it too much just made him feel sick, especially for what Laurie must be going through.
The gloom seemed to leave his expression when she pulled out his key from her bag, and he immediately grabbed it from her hands. How much he missed having it. While she talked, the boy furiously combed it through his hair, pulling out tangles and dirt. When he was done, he seemed proud that at least something looked presentable.
He blinked back to the moment when Gwen’s phone was presented to him, and snorted. “It’s PRINCE powers thank you very much,” he mused before looking down at the screen.
“Unlock please,” he said in a sweet voice, and the screen lit up until it was at the home screen. Genius hacker Theo has done it again, and he held the phone out for Luka to see what she needed.
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Post by pallas on Jun 26, 2024 15:06:09 GMT
Lucien watched as Chiara gave Pascal a gentle but encouraging smile when he made a comment about not being good at public speaking. At that point, the man began to make his suggestion, though again Lucien was aware of the way that he seemed to glance back at his empty chair. He could convince himself that he was just wanting to sit back down for the moment to be over, but… was Pascal seeing things that weren’t there?
He was soon distracted from this thought by his mentor’s suggestion that more people help out with Medbay, either by being first-aid trained or by helping in other ways like restocking the supplies. Lucien himself had found himself exhausted with keeping up with such tasks; the admin, the restocking, everything needed to keep the Medbay functioning. Having some people just lending a hand to ease the burden would certainly help.
”I think it’s a good idea.” Lucien was the first to speak up in support of Pascal’s request. ”One of us can barely hold together Medbay on our own, and it’s still a lot of work with two.” It was never fun acknowledging that he couldn’t cope with the demands of Medbay and being healer alone, but it had to be done. He’d struggled before he asked for Pascal’s help and again when Pascal was gone. Besides, his abilities could only cope with so much and it meant that he wasn’t consistent in his ability to help. That would get better as he spent more time learning from Pascal and could help either more things without resorting to his powers, but in the meantime it wasn’t ideal.
”It might be useful for all the leaders to know first aid,” Lucien suggested, exchanging a glance with Pascal to see what he thought of the idea. ”There is always at least one leader on a mission.” Anyone else who wanted the training could also get it, but this covered their bases.
”I’m happy to do first aid training.” Chiara added. ”And I can help with Medbay sometimes. Organising, admin, maybe some restocking.” Of course Chiara went for anything that allowed her to sort and organise. The restocking would have to be light for now with her injury, but it might actually help her build up strength in that arm.
”I’ll definitely do the first aid training.” Dillon volunteered. It was helpful knowledge for missions. He wasn’t opposed to helping in the Medbay either, but he thought it was better to let other people have the opportunity to volunteer first. As leader, he had tasks to do but he was aware that some others might be feeling like loose ends.
”You can ask me for anything you need doing really quickly. Urgent restocks or supply runs, things like that.” that was Lane offering her skills.
It seemed like once people were aware there was a problem they could help with, they were eager to help. If enough people wanted to volunteer, perhaps helping in the Medbay could just be another chore along the many others in the pantheon for people to do, and everybody could share the burden of everything except the things that only Pascal and Lucien could do.
____
CHARACTER PROFILE IMAGE CREDIT: ElenaA via Picrew
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Post by Leo/ Clundy on Jun 26, 2024 18:20:32 GMT
River nodded at the suggestion as well.
"I agree. We should all know a little so that when we need our heavy hitters, they aren't overrun with us. Thank you, Pascal," he turned his attention to Pascal and gave him a small smile.
He was glad he'd made the suggestion. He truthfully hadn't even been thinking about that. And he should of, between all the times he'd been snapping at Lucien to stay safe because he was one of two healers. Having them all trained in some way would be good for the long run.
Ariella raised her hand before realizing she didn't need to do that and sheepishly put it down. "Not to speak for everyone but we have nothing better to do but learn right now. At least until the next mission happens."
That was true. For now, they were just researching and planning around their new enemies. There wasn't too much else they could do.
"I will argue that I think the majority go first before the leaders. We have enough to do for the moment. We'll just have to play catch up," River suggested looking around the room then at all of the leaders. "Does that work?"
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Jun 26, 2024 20:53:00 GMT
Luka scoffed when Theo said Prince and not Princess, "You can make things do your bidding. It's like how Snow White can sing to birds. But okay, do your thing Prince Theo.”
When he unlocked the phone, she found her anxiety increasing tenfold. He held it out to her, and she hesitantly reached out, hands shaking as she took the item into her hands. First she opened the chat with Atticus. He was probably still resting, but part of this plan was stirring up trouble for the Exiled.
She started typing, prim and proper and unlike she usually would. She had read through some of Gwen's texts and tried to pick up the writing style. It was blunt.
Atticus, I've stuck with you through everything. Through the fire, through the tragedies, I've followed you.
She stopped for a moment, reading through it and fixing the spelling mistakes before returning to writing.
But I can no longer stand by and let you act like a monster. I never wanted to become this, and you've made me into it. I'm done being silent about that. I'm done following your cruelty.
She held off on sending it, reading through it. She knew Atticus would see this in the morning, but she worried about waking him up. But it's not like he'd be able to reach Gwen anyways, not while he was on medical bed rest.
She sent the message, before going back and staring at the next one, her thumb hovering. Her breaths were a bit shaky, and she felt terrified. She looked up at Jason and Theo for a moment, before her resolve hardened and she opened the next chat.
Ripley.
We need to talk. Meet me in the Meeting room in 30 minutes.
She then exited the chat and shut off the device, passing it back to Theo and looking at the two. "I don't have my key, they took it when I got here. Laurie doesn't have his either." She didn't know whether the two boys had read over the texts as she wrote them or not. She didn't hide the screen from them, but they now had a strict time limit. They had to leave. If they wanted to ask, then they could, and she’d explain.
Her gave lingered on the two, and she glanced at Jason. "Listen, I’m sorry I didn't explain things but I needed it to be convincing. Be safe. Try not to crack your head open again." She said the last part to make it a little less heavy. Her words sounded too much like a goodbye, even to her.
Next was Theo. She turned to him and took a deep breath before speaking. Might as well spit out what she’d been stewing on after all.
"I don't care if you don't think you are ready to be a big brother," This. was. embarrassing. Bleh. Gross. It was sappy and it made her feel like a child. "You are the closest thing I've got to one. Even if you're weird and full of your self and allergic to a Christmas kiss plant and attract a bunch of weirdos like some kind of fucko magnet." The last part was rushed, and then she shut up.
Okay. Feelings were done. Yay! She could die happily never going through that again.
She offered another smile. In case things went...wrong, she had to say it. She had to tell them both how she felt.
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Post by 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 on Jun 27, 2024 19:41:08 GMT
When Pascal brought up first aid, Cleo nodded at him "It's not like I'm going anywhere," but River's suggestion was right. The leader's needed to focus on this new plan. "However, River is right."
Then they addressed the room as whole, "Everyone should get basic knowledge of first aid. While a leader will always be present on a mission, separation of groups may occur. It never hurts to be knowledgeable." Guinevere nodded along with that. Echo herself looked eager to learn something new. Lorenzo just looked relieved that the leaders would be doing it separate from everyone else.
"Is there anything else anyone wishes to discuss?"
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Post by Nari on Jul 1, 2024 16:14:04 GMT
Theo watched with narrowed eyes as Luka took the phone and started texting the other exiled. Something was clearly going to be stirred up behind the scenes. There was a certain glee in the back of his mind as he imagined what the fallout would look like, though given the urgency it was unlikely that they’d be around to see it.
Once she was done, he’d pocket the phone and hold his key in his hand, running his thumb along the teeth of the comb. He’d look up at the mention of her without a key and blink. The gears in the back of his head were turning.
Was she not leaving too? What about Laurie? Theo’s expression tightened, and he gripped his hands into fists. She was saying what sounded like a goodbye, but he didn’t want to hear any of it.
“No,” he said, shaking his head as he put his key into his pocket, “I don’t fucking care what they put me through, I’m not leaving you two alone. Whatever they throw at me, I can take it!”
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Post by Nari on Jul 1, 2024 16:40:54 GMT
After Pascal finished speaking, he could feel his palms sweating in nervousness. Unsure how the room would take his request. However, they all seemed to agree with him that this was a problem, and he let out a breath in relief.
“Thank you,” he muttered, and moved to sit himself back down. The healer looked at Irene as she moved her head across the room at each of the other leaders. After a moment of silence, the woman soon spoke up.
“Yes, I do think there’s more we need to discuss. We’re down two leaders with Haleema and Luka gone, and given how terribly things were going while our leaders were scattered, it seems like a good idea for us to have some structure in place regarding absences, sickness, death, or…”
Her gaze turned to Cleo, “in the event someone needs to be removed from their position. Understudies in the event someone can’t fulfill their duty, rules set in place, not to mention some code of conduct-”
A wince of pain caused her to pause her train of thought, and Pascal would quickly put his hand up.
“Not today,” he spoke, keeping his eyes on Irene, “you are already pushing your injuries being here. Any further discussions should be held once you are better.”
The woman stared back at him, clearly annoyed that she was being interrupted. However he could tell it in her posture how tired she was. Meetings could be turbulent and exhausting, and he didn’t think she’d be able to sit through another hour while they tried to iron out systems and structures.
After a moment she lowered her head and sighed, “fine.”
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