We're more than carbon and chemicals

[lucetimods]

Who: All Draftees
What: Fighting Third Party
When: 26th, 27th, 28th, 1st, and 2nd
Where: The Southern Farmlands
Summary: See here for overall details.
Rating: Probably gonna be gorey in places :|a

DOESN'T NEED A CUT. People should know how this works, if not, just follow other people's lead. I'm gonna set up some strategist threads at the top, for the four strategists to use if they want to, otherwise people should start their own threads.

((Mod Note: Since this has been asked a few times, just fyi, the livestock do not talk. Happy hunting!))

Comments

[memoryboxes]

[She can hear the disdain for Jack so well, and yet it just humors her. She just can't help but laugh a little.]

Oh, you're not interested in the beanstalk, Archie-san?

[originaljackass]

Archie-san ain't a fan, Sayo. Couldn't say why.

[simplestgift]

He'll...never stop talking. [Droplets of blood are seeping out the top of the bandages. Vaguely, he wonders if the last two months have been a dream, and he's still dying on a prison bed.]

[memoryboxes]

Oh, I suppose I can understand enjoying to talk far too much, myself...

[But she's more focused on Archie's condition. Sayo sees the blood, and nods.]

Jack-san, we should stop by that barn for a moment. I'm growing a little thirsty, so it would be nice to see if there's any water there...

[He can't keep this up, going along like this.]

[originaljackass]

[He notices that blood too and nods, cutting in the direction of the barn instead.]

He's going to need stitched up sooner rather than later. You got any needle and thread in that kit of yours?

[Jack may not be a medic, but he's lived a long and interesting life. Before he got his rapid healing, he used to have to stitch his own wounds up.]

[simplestgift]

[Archie's breathing hitches again, the only sign besides the tension and pallor that he is EXTREMELY uncomfortable. He touches the bloodied bandages gently, resisting the urge to press down.]

[memoryboxes]

[She nods.]

I do. I'm not very good at stitching wounds. [As in, she's never done it.] Could you?

[That would be good for the wound, she remembers as they close in toward the barn. Stitching is good.]

[originaljackass]

Yeah, yeah. I can do it. [He nods to the barn now ahead. His hands are full, so she gets to open it.]

[simplestgift]

[He licks his lips, suddenly thirsty for some reason. Mr. Bush once struggled out of his own sickbed to bring him a cup of water. No, don't go back there.]

Jack.

[memoryboxes]

[Sayo proceeds to grip the barn door and pull--it takes her a moment, as her strength isn't much, let alone with her injured arm from a day prior, but it finally swings open. When she ventures in, she finds it abandoned. Good. Maybe there's a well around here, or perhaps some sort of... pump, like how the kitchen sink works in Luceti.

Was the river far from here? She wasn't sure... not at all.]

[originaljackass]

[Jack doesn't answer first, not until he can set Archie down somewhere that's clean enough. For the most part, he's not paying him much mind as he clears a space out, then pulls out a flask from his belt.]

Arch, you ain't got nothing to say I'll care about. Have a drink first, you'll need it. [He unscrew the top and brings it to his lips, bringing his head up if he needs it. Inside there's good old fashioned whiskey.]

[simplestgift]

[Archie takes a good long drink of the burning liquid, comes up for air, and drinks some more. With a grateful sigh, he lies back.]

You should...you should tell Sayo about the beanstalk.

[memoryboxes]

[She'll have disappeared and re-appeared with a pale full of clean water, and sets it down next to Jack and Archie; she also sets down the kit, opened to Jack for whatever he needs, before she comes to rest on the opposite side of Archie.]

I've never even heard of such a thing as a beanstalk, actually. I was going to ask what it was...

[originaljackass]

[Jack looks from Archie to Sayo and then rolls his eyes.]

Don't be such a damn sap, Archi. [First order of business, cutting open the bandages Saya already applied. He fishes out a neck from his belt to do just that. He's just going to carefully peel those back now.]

[simplestgift]

[There's a slight intake of breath. No, no, Archie is not actually asking for Jack to tell Sayo a story. He wants to listen to something to get his mind off the last time he was wounded.]

[memoryboxes]

[Sayo preoccupies herself with studying the wound, masking a feeling of anxiety from her face at looking at such an injury. She'd ask what a sap is, but now's not the time for her usual breed of confusion.

Instead she pulls a clean handkerchief from her kimono and uses the cool water to wipe Archie's forehead. She imagines he'll start developing even more of a fever in the coming few hours...]

[originaljackass]

[Damn, these two are just being so damn depressing. Maybe he'll fill the silence with some talking while he gets to work.]

So, beanstalks. I was twelve back then. I'd already did the thing with the pie, the incident at the well, and even my fascination with defying fire. It was just me and my mom in our broke ass farm, if you could call it that. All we had left was the family cow and she wasn't even good for milking anymore. So between the choice of starving, she sent me to go sell the poor fucker and get us some cash that we could survive the winter on.

[After cleaning the wound with the water, he empties some of the flask on the wound to disinfect it and help dull some of the pain. Because stitching this man up ain't gonna be fun.]

So I head into town, looking for a buyer. Now, this new guy rolled into two. Told me about some fancy magic beans that would solve all my financial woes. Now hell, I was a kid, but I was a sharp one. The money from the cow would only get us halfway through the winter. After that? We were as good as dead. But if I took this gamble, we could be set for life. So I took him up on it and found myself the proud owner of some magic beans. Of course, when I told my mom, she pitched a fit and threw em out the damn window, sending me to bed without supper. What a bitch, am I right?

[Aaand here comes the needle.]

[simplestgift]

[There's a slight, slight hiss as the needle pierces skin, but focusing on the story is helping much more than the whiskey.]

[memoryboxes]

[She winces herself at the needle, but is paying close attention.]

Oh, goodness... But I guess I wouldn't believe they were magic either... If Kaji had brought them to me, I would have been grumpy myself...

[Seriously child, magic beans?]

But were they? Not ordinary beans, I mean.

[originaljackass]

Course they were magic. I was just getting to that.

[And here comes the needlework. It's not as elegant as a doctor's would be, but he knows what he's doing and it will heal, but unless someone better better fixes his work, it's going to leave an unsightly scar.]

So I went to sleep. Next morning? Big ass beanstalk. That's a plant, a vine that beans grow on. Only this one was huge. It went up into the sky, way up into the clouds. Thicker than any tree I'd ever seen. Just went to show how much my mom knew, so I went climbing it, expecting to find my reward. What I found was a huge castle. And I'm not just talking, "Damn that's a big place I'd love to live there", I mean it was so damn big I could fit into the space underneath the door. It was a castle belonging to giants.

So I did some poking around and found out that this giant had a nice stash of gold holed up there. Better than that, he had a fancy ass magic goose that laid golden eggs. In order to make my escape, I had to of course seduce and pleasure his giant wife and their fine, smokin' nubile young daughter. [Yes, he actually tells it that way. No, it did not happen that way. He was twelve, dammit.] Course, as I made my escape, the giant caught my scent and as I made my escape, he came down after me on the beanstalk.

[And there, the stitchwork is done. He cuts the thread. He goes to grab the additional bandages. Sayo, he could use your help keeping him propped up for this part.]

[simplestgift]

[Between the stitches and the story, Archie is properly distracted. The bleeding is slowing, but he still feels lightheaded.]

[memoryboxes]

[Sayo has no clue what 'seduce' or 'nubile' means, so she just skips to the more important matter at hand, as she helps to lift Archie up (mumbling a quiet 'are you doing okay so far?'):]

What did you do to get away?

[And at such a young age! D8]

[originaljackass]

[And now to wrap the bandages around the wound while he finishes his story.]

I got down to the ground first. Then I took an axe from the woodshop and before the giant could make it down, I chopped the beanstalk down. Even rallied some villagers to help, seeing as how the giant would be bad news for the lot of them. The beanstalk came down and so did the giant, landing right on his head and killing him. I made my mom a rich woman and the villagers celebrated me as a hero, setting the stage for my career as a famous giant slayer.

[Nevermind the threat of a giant was his fault, as he had been a thief who stole from the giant.]

Of course, that's a whole other story for another time. Maybe one day you'll get to see the movie version.

[And there, Archie, you're all done. Jack takes a moment to admire his handiwork.]

That should do it.

[simplestgift]

[Archie looks exhausted. Not merely faint--exhausted. Pain takes it out of you, people. But he made it through without complaint.] Thank you. Thank you both.

[memoryboxes]

Sounds like you've lead a very exciting life, Jack-san. [a little laugh] Though I'm not sure whether I should envy it or not, with how dangerous it sounds.

[And he sets her gaze downcast, as the man thanks them, and puts her hand over his reassuringly. She knows if she were hurt, she would want such a thing to comfort her.]

Don't even worry about it, Archie-san. We're all here in the same predicament to keep an eye on each other.

[a pause]

We should probably start moving again...