lucetilogs | Zompania Draft: Coming Home

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Zompania Draft: Coming Home

Who: Anyone drafted to Zompania, or recruited as reinforcements, or left behind in the village. SO. Everybody!
What: The draftees and reinforcements return to the village.
When: May 26, early early in the morning
Where: Back in Luceti
Summary: Most draftees and reinforcements return to Luceti in the very early hours; now, instead of a medevac site for the draft, the village is a welcome (?) refuge from the nightmare of Zompania for its own. There's a high likelihood it still looks a lot like it has in the past few days; those in the fight didn't even get a chance to shower before returning.

(This is the place for all your post-draft trauma and reunions and every other thing. Have fun! And don't forget to entry-tag your character.)

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You're going to make it there whether you walk there or not. [Elizabeth immediately reaches out to pull something out of a tear to help her-- only to get a very firm push back from the siphon. That was going to take a while to get used to.]

Come on, lean on me, I'll hold you up. [Sure she would. All 175 pounds of dead weight, while she weighed maybe 120 on a good day. But, if anything, she's determined to take care of him.]

No, I don't want to knock you over too.

[Which he can already tell is likely to happen if he keeps leaning on her the way he was for a moment there. She's slender, he's almost all muscle, and she doesn't stand much of a chance at being able to hold that up for long.

So he straightens up, tries to take a few steps on his own. And he manages, sort of, until his legs can't handle it anymore and drop him abruptly to his knees with a snarl of frustration.]

[Elizabeth lets Gai walk those few steps on his own, only because she didn't want to discourage him. But the second he starts to fall, Elizabeth runs to him and tries to keep him from falling. Physics isn't in her favor this time, though, and she can't even get herself under him to break his fall.]

I've been knocked over plenty of times this week, what's one more? [Elizabeth slides herself under Gai's chest, directs Gai's arms over her shoulders, and starts to stand up. She can't carry him like this, no, but she can at least get him up.]

Booker! [Elizabeth wills herself not to fall backwards from the weight, and digs in while leaning forward.] Booker, help!

[He comes when he's called ~~like a good dog~~ and shrugs Gai's arm around his shoulder opposite Elizabeth's. The kid weighs a lot, deceptively so, and Booker shifts a few times to get a better hand hold.]

Are we gonna be making a habit of this?

[He wished he was joking.]

You think I enjoy this?

[It's snapped with a bit more venom than he really means, but he's rather touchy about his weakness around other people, especially Booker. He hates the fact that he is a dead weight at the moment, unable to even stand on his own without assistance. Still, he doesn't hate it enough to be willing to take the option of sitting helplessly on the ground instead, so while he grumbles, he allows Booker to adjust him.]

Booker, Gai-- [Elizabeth can shoulder half of Gai's weight, thankfully, and she settles on the other side of Gai.]

If either of you have any love for me right now, you will focus on getting all three of us home without fighting, or so help me God I will make both of you listen to me cry all the way back.

[That threat wouldn't be hard to make good on. She takes a few deep breaths and starts them walking.]

He started it.

[He says it small and surly, like a child told that someone was going to turn the car around.

But he keeps pace with Elizabeth, doesn't walk faster or slower and keeps his steps the same length as hers and doesn't say anything else. For now.]

[Gai doesn't dignify that with a response. That's partly because he doesn't feel it's worth responding to and partly because just putting one foot in front of the other is taking up all of his remaining energy at the moment.

He's really not doing as well as he tries to pretend and the sooner he can get somewhere to lie down, the better.]

[Elizabeth narrows her eyes at Booker, though she knows it's not going to do much to chastise him. If Gai weren't right between them, she might've tried out a 'Daaad...' on him, just to see what would happen.]

[But at least the walk continues in focus and relative silence. Elizabeth opens the door and carefully maneuvers herself so they can move sideways into the house.]

Just bring him into my room.

Fine.

[When they get into Elizabeth's room, Booker couldn't be happier. He sets Gai down on her bed because he's pretty sure the kid isn't up for sitting either.

He doesn't know whether or not he should linger after that, mostly he just wants to leave but he hasn't been told to yet. Booker shifts awkwardly from foot to foot, eyes shifting from the open door to Elizabeth as he if were waiting for her to tell him to do something.]

[Booker's assumption would be correct: no sooner does Gai make contact with the bed than he's lying back against the pillows and going utterly slack from exhaustion.

Much like after the mission, there's sweat trickling down his face and plastering his hair to his skin, though at least this time he's still conscious.

Conscious and miserable, if the expression on his face is any indication.]

[Elizabeth tries to help as best she can with guiding Gai down onto the bed with Booker's assistance. Once Gai's there, Elizabeth takes stock of how he looks. She doesn't like what she sees, but she's not going to fall apart over it.]

Booker? [She knows he doesn't have any obligation to help, hell he might even hate Gai now for marrying his daughter, but Elizabeth is going to try anyway.] Can you get me a washcloth and a bowl of cold water? I'm going to get him out of his coat.

Alright.

[He sighs it and shrugs off the gun from his shoulder - almost relieved he doesn't really need to have that on him anymore. Besides, the more he has to do the less he has to think about things right now. Which is a blessing.]

No, I can...

[Already Gai is struggling to sit back up again so he can start wrestling off his coat. But it's slow going with arms that don't seem to want to support his weight nor move properly, and he ends up looking more frustrated than anything else at his own weakness.]

[Elizabeth lets him try, of course, but she's not surprised when Gai still can't move his arms enough to get the coat off. She pushes his shoulders up and slides herself behind him, to act as a backrest, sort of.]

It's alright, Gai. Let me help.

[She gently guides one of his arms towards her so she can get the sleeve off, then does the same to the other. Next is his holster, because if there's one thing Elizabeth is uncomfortable with, it's Gai sleeping on top of a gun.] Do you want your shirt off too?

[Booker comes back with a cloth and a bowl of cold water some time later. He might have stopped for a quick drink but since Gai wasn't bleeding out he thought he could get away with it.]

Here.

[He sets on the table next to the bed and stands near it, waiting for more instructions or whatever else Elizabeth needed from him.]

Just the coat is fine.

[It was enough of a struggle to get that off; after that, he isn't sure he wants to attempt trying to lift his arms enough to pull a shirt over his head. Lying down is his main priority at the moment.

There's a distinct sense of guilt at being so utterly helpless, dependent on Elizabeth to do all of this for him. He wants to apologize-- and he would have had Booker not come back into the room. That cuts off any thoughts of apologizing right there for the simple reason that he doesn't want to show any further vulnerability in front of the other man. Bad enough that he can't even sit up without Elizabeth to prop him up.]

You don't need to worry about me.

[Well, Elizabeth was going to offer to cut it off of him with her trauma scissors, but if he wants the shirt he keeps the shirt. When Booker comes back with the water, she offers a faint smile in thanks.]

[That statement, though... Elizabeth goes through a range of emotions in a second, between disbelief, concern, then just plain amusement. 'You don't need to worry about me'. She married him. That statement is ridiculous.]

[Elizabeth puts her forehead to the back of Gai's head, then turns to look at Booker. As much as to say 'He's a little dumb, but I love him anyway.']

[It might be exhaustion talking or the fact that Elizabeth knows things she didn't before; but for a short, fleeing moment he's reminded of someone else. Someone that had Elizabeth's blue eyes and dark hair and her little bemused smile while she takes care of her husband.

It has an adverse affect on Booker and he seems to forcibly make himself more alert. Not so part of this...weird moment. He needs to leave.]

If you don't need anything else.

[Booker keeps himself from snapping it at least - only just - and flees the room to go find a bottle of...anything.]

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Zompania Draft: Coming Home

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