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

[herotypical]

Right. Your...the talking thing. [ she frowns. ] You can tell me later.

[ she clearly isn't happy about encouraging a delay but...but she saw the blood and concern for jack sparrow wins out against that usually indomitable curiousity.

quietly: ] Come on, let's go get you fixed up.

[all7seas]

[No. That's not okay. He needs to speak his piece now. Except he can't; his throat is too raw from being throttled and overusing it. He tugs one of her hands over his heart instead. Pressing it there. Hoping he won't fall over.]

[herotypical]

[ sure, buffy hopes she knows what he means by the gesture but she has been rendered just pessimistic enough to assume not. her fingers pull and bunch over his heart, tugging on the cloth. the trouble is that she knows what's on his arm just under that sleeve -- she cannot see it at the moment but it's right there in front of her. inked. a hundred times more permanent than a sparkling butterfly.

her eyes are wet but they haven't spilled over. she will fight tooth and nail for them not to. ] We have to get back before it's dark.

[all7seas]

[So Jack allows himself to be helped again. There's always later. There will be time to straighten this out, once his voice is healed and he can find some of those daisies that Dawn was talking about, because he has no idea how this went so horribly wrong.

Lots. Lots of daisies.]

[herotypical]

[ a clear benefit of being short is that she must be at the near-perfect height for playing crutch. she supports his injured side with her shoulder, wrapping her good arm around his back.

perhaps silence is best. she doesn't want to talk her way into another mess -- not until they manage to get out of this one. ]

[all7seas]

[Jack can't go that fast; can't talk. And after a while, it becomes clear that he needs to rest again.]

[herotypical]

[ then it's lucky there's yet another of those convenient little shed barn things nearby. she helps him inside when it's clear that he's flagging. ]

[all7seas]

[This time he manages to croak out:] Enough. Go, Annie.

[He has been out in the field for a while; he will surely be transported back soon. And walking is not anything he wants to do anymore.]

[herotypical]

No.

[ she doesn't say much else -- no reason to inspire him to talk further. instead, she helps him to a hay bale. ]

[all7seas]

Yes.

[He sits down, relieved. Why don't they take me out?]

[herotypical]

What? You're going to make me go with all your scary non-ability to walk or even argue without sounding like a chain-smoker with laryngitis?

[all7seas]

[Silent laughter at this, and Jack shakes his head. No.]

[herotypical]

So, I stay. I'm not leaving you to get picked off by some thinks-he's-all-that Third Partier.

[all7seas]

Fine.

[This was frustrating, because all Jack wants to do is talk to her and tell her how she'd got the wrong end of everything, and all he is lacking is the voice. The walk had aggravated the wound in his side, and an unpleasant wetness is beginning to spread over his white shirt. He tends to that instead, lifting the hem of the garment.]

Not so bad.

[herotypical]

Bad enough. [ she begins to undo her splint. there's fabric enough there to staunch the blood. ] I just about think I can go without this now, anyway.

[all7seas]

[This earns her a glare.] Certain?

[herotypical]

Nope. I'm just doing it because I enjoy the sharp pain. [ she flexes the arm with a light hiss. movable and sore, but not incapacitated. more gently: ] I'm certain.

[ she crouches by him with the scraps of her cardigan in her hands. ] Can I...? And answer with a nod or a shake because if you keep talking I'll use one of these to gag you.

[all7seas]

[In happier times, Jack Sparrow would have made a joke about that threat. This time he nods miserably. He caught that hiss. He is not happy.]

[herotypical]

[ she wishes they had water or that she felt at all capable of asking jack to surrender his rum. instead, she dabs carefully at the wound and tries to clear at least a bit of the blood away before wading the fabric up and (extra gingerly considering it's state) uses her other hand to hold up his shirt. she holds the wad firmly but carefully to his stomach. buffy wishes she knew more about first aid. ]

[all7seas]

[The rum maybe could be used to disinfect. Jack is using it, however, to get more drunk. He clamps a hand down on that cloth so she can free her own. Herself.]

Go now?

[herotypical]

What did I say about talking?

[ she remains crouched. ] Don't answer that; it was rhetorical.

[all7seas]

[He decides to try again; maybe he can start over. In a hoarse whisper:] Annie? Friends? [This is followed by insistent hand motions to the contrary and an emphatic shake of Sparrow's head. He wants to be more than that to her.]

[herotypical]

[ here she was, tending to his injuries and...and he doesn't even want to be friends anymore? is that what he's trying to tell her? buffy swallows hard and drops her eyes to the bloody work ahead of her. ]

If you're being cruel just to try and make me leave, it's not going to work. [ whispered.

buffy did always miss the point. ]

[all7seas]

[This is clearly going to take more effort. He reaches down to touch her cheek, trying to regain her attention.] You. Me. [Oh, God, Sparrow. Stop making those easily-misconstrued hand motions.]

[herotypical]

[ her attention does return upwards at that touch and then...? is he perhaps proposing some kind of strange friends-with-benefits arrangement? is that what all the hand motions are about? and the inability to say friends in a normal, friendly way even with all the windpipe damage?

she tries not to look horrified. ] I don't...Jack. I'm gonna go with erring on the side of caution and hope you didn't just suggest what I think you suggested.