spellbinders | mapping party mapping party

Entry tags:

mapping party mapping party

Who: a bunch of less-than-upstanding nerd boys
Where: along this route
When: Day 8, or thereabouts
Open/Closed: closed to mapping party; pm

rebells if your character would have icly asked to come!

[So you may have gotten a telepathic message a few days ago about an expedition to map the coastline . . . or maybe you were invited along by a friend. Whatever the reason, it's bright and early this morning, and it's time to set out!

Characters would have gotten a further telepathic message from Jay with a date and time to meet outside the shacks. They'll be heading east along the "shore," tracking the coast, and then heading directly back towards base camp . . . who knows what they'll find along the way?]

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[Dirk sits in front of him. It's the first time Dirk hasn't gotten edgy and nervous about being in Dave's space—or rather, it isn't, because this is exactly the same panicked lack of awkwardness that came when Dave cut his hand open in front of Dirk.]

What do you know about treating snake bites?

Irrelevant since I don't got one.

[ he's attempting to draw neosporin. so far his art skills aren't up to snuff, but dave simply keeps patiently attempting it. he's capable of functioning on worse injuries than a little numbness and blurred vision, and trouble breathing is whatever and he doesn't panic. ]

So, how are you?

[ goddamnit. fifth attempt is still useless. this time he slows down even further and looks over at what he's sketching. ]

[How Dirk is: panicked and pale and anxious as he forces himself still.]

It needs to be an antivenom panacea. Nothing else will really do the trick when we have no clue what it is. The process for developing antivenoms takes too long.

[Anxious and unsettled. But what can he do? They don't know what kind of venom it is. He can't destroy it if he doesn't understand it.

He alights on the idea with widening eyes behind his shades. Dave's bite is below the leg, Dirk think. That means they have extra time since the heart has to work extra hard to move it through circulation. So the fastest way would be—]

I can destroy it.

[ dirk usually has to see whatever he's doing to do that.

and dave has no idea what the fuck an antivenom panacea looks like.

he...

draws a box with he words on it to see what that does. ]

Weird answer to a question askin' about what you've been up to ghostin' about.

[ the box is empty. ]

What the fuck do you mean by 'ghosting about'? You're the one avoidin' me, dude.

[Dirk picks up the snake's head and jams its fangs into his shoulder, just underneath his tattoo. There should be enough venom in it for him to get a sense, but while he's still thinking straight he also pries back the snake to get a better look at the venom and a drop of it on his tongue.]

What the fuck.

[ he doesn't argue the point - won't bother to explain himself, either - but just stares. dave doesn't particularly want to see anyone injured or anyone dying; there's no emotional connection there beyond that generality, just now.

the generality is still enough to unsettle him, and he draws back. ]

[Okay, he has a taste for it, and now he knows how it feels running through his veins. He can get the sense of it, its effects. He makes guesses about chemical composition from that. Venoms tended to vary but the basic actors could be consistent. So if that's the case...

Dirk's eyes shut behind his shades, and he reaches into his power. Slowly, he starts picking apart at the venom, finding it in little fragments, targeting the feeling of it and working it away. The dizziness stays with him but it stops advancing. The wounds close up.]

I have it.

[He reaches out for the venom in Dave, to destroy it, too. It's a process that comes in pieces, but he has the idea of it now. He knows he can track it down.]

[ if he reaches out physically, dave will block his hand somewhat ineffectually, not particularly thrilled about the idea of even rolling up his pants leg. otherwise he can't really stop the destruction of whatever, sitting stock still as if carved from stone. it makes it easier to ignore the side effects as "shit i can't do anything about right now". ]

[It's just a thought. He doesn't try for the snake bite, it's too complicated in itself when he can't see it or the venom. He makes it thorough, stubborn. He calculates based on what he knows of the spread of venom and the amount that would be delivered.

A moment more after he is sure he is done, he stops. He is worried that if he pushes further than that, he'll start destroying the wrong thing by aiming at something that isn't there.]

The symptoms stopped progressing for me when I got it all, but they didn't fade out instantly. It's coming off now, though. If you feel it fading in a few moments, you should be okay.

[His voice is quiet still.]

I'm not ghosting. I just have no damn clue if you even want to spend time together and you've pushed away from my efforts. I can take a hint, dude. Just... not if it's your life on the line.

[His eyes flicker open and up.]

If the symptoms don't start easing soon, please tell me. I was scared of overdoing it.

[ dave continues to not move. ]

I'm fine. [ since he has no idea what hint he wants to give - it's true he's relaxed a little more with dirk going god knows what and just sticking to strangers and rose and john - dave simply ignores the rest of it. he doesn't want to open up the can of worms that is "how much of bro's ghosting around was my fault".

thinking fleetingly of rose and john has him automatically checking the area to see who, if anyone, clocked the entirety of that fiasco. ]

You should probably still wrap those puncture wounds. [ it's easier to comment on than anything else. ]

[It isn't an answer, and Dirk's head tilts in irritated questioning. It's almost impossible to figure out what is happening with Dave and it terrifies him.]

Because puncture wounds probably ain't great to leave open to the air even if you fix the venom.

[ dave elaborates, helpfully. ]

Or under clothing.

You didn't cut yourself open under anythin'.

You damn well know what I mean.

Do I. [ he fucked up neosporin a lot, but bandages, at least, he doesn't even have to draw. he just unslings his backback and digs around for a second before tossing a roll at dirk. ] You unfucked your accent, I see.

[He catches it on reflex.]

We already covered how it gets stronger in your presence.

[He reaches into his power again. Snake bites he can do, in fact, and ease away the injuries. Then he offers the roll back.

He wants to fix Dave's bites, but he's less certain of it. The venom was an emergency. This isn't quite.]

[ it goes back into his pack. he won't wrap his own shit until he's alone. ]

Can barely hear it at all. [ manners he was never taught clamor for attention and he knows he should say thank you, but he doesn't want to admit to anything that just occurred. ] John did agree to train with me, for the record.

[He goes still and quiet. Then he turns his head away.

It's stupid and unfair. Dave doesn't deserve this. Dave has every right want to avoid him and it's fair, it's all fair. But Dave said he'd try. He said he'd try this, he'd try to be friends and get to know him, and Dirk can't tell if Dave was lying then or if Dave has tried enough and found him not worth bothering for.]

You stay still to keep the blood from circulating more. You keep the injury below your heart by laying down, if necessary. Cleaning the wound, sucking the venom out, or slashing it open basically does jackshit.

[But the poison is dealt with. Dave can wrap himself up, if he wants.

Let me know if you ever decide you want to do something with me. There isn't much I wouldn't do if it meant time with you. I meant it when I said I wanted to try, and I haven't changed my mind since.

Sure, [ and it's a fragment of a sentence. "sure you would" or "sure you do" or "sure that's a thing i'll do" when it isn't really. he'll lay claim to the time his friends will give him without a second thought, but dave has known them all for longer than he's known anyone else and they have only rarely rebuffed his efforts. he's never been skilled at reaching out for others quickly or often.

and his friends don't seem to care. rose was only vaguely interested in what dave was doing about dirk, and john didn't mind or press when dave confirmed they'd stopped training. he doesn't have to pretend as much as he'd thought.

dave abandons the sentence and says instead: ]

Why would suckin' venom out be a thing. It'd just get in your mouth were it even possible.

Because people in movies do it.

[ well, yes. but for all he learned a bunch of shit from movies: ]

Movie first aid is generally egregiously wrong. I ignore all of it unless it's backed up by other shit.

[ fool me once. ]

A lot of people don't have your presence of mind about it, presumably because movie logic has the sort of don't-think-about-it-too-hard sort of logic of other kinds of folk wisdom. The poison gets into the blood, so getting rid of that blood will get rid of the poison—while blatantly ignoring how fast blood actually moves. Or like how most movies treat water as being soft.

[ you don't remove shrapnel. you don't do tourniquets. not unless you really know what you're doing. these are mistakes you do not make twice, if you survive making them once.

dave shrugs. ]

For the most part I don't freeze up about it.

I assumed you didn't from the way you handled other things. [He gestures towards his leg.] My understanding was that American cities in the 21st century had fewer venomous animals to contend with, and that that was why you didn't know what to draw.

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