8th || Sharing is Caring!

[achievementhunter]

[There's no such thing as "accidentally" calling everyone on the Far Stones. One must have consciously made the decision to speak to everyone, like a walkie-talkie that can't be turned off on the receiving end. So when Chara speaks to- everyone, it is with full awareness that they are, in fact, speaking to everyone.]

Poisonous flowers are curious things, did you know? [Which is why they start off on such a chipper note!] For many, it is the act of ingesting them which causes illness or fatality. For others, however... the simple act of prolonged contact is enough- toxins are absorbed through the skin.

Death can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. [By golly, they sound happy about this.] So it's a frightfully good idea to invest in some gardening gloves, should you wish to transplant any flora from Ziziphus to another locale. It could be the difference between a new garden and your rather unfortunate demise.



[Anyways everything's totally chill. Chara's totally fine and absolutely nothing is wrong ever, they just like making these kinds of announcements for kicks. It has Absolutely Nothing to do with failing to request gloves of their own.

Comments

[postictal]

Where are you.

[It isn't a question. He was bleeding out in the dirt just last month, and it is way too soon for Chara to be returning the favor. Particularly when they only have until the tenth. God, they only have until the tenth.]

I'm on my way.

[achievementhunter]

I- [A rough exhale, and a laugh. Tim, you're really not following the game here, are you?]

Don't blow things out of proportion, Timothy. At this stage, I'm sure I have some resilience to this style of illness.

[postictal]

That doesn't mean you should tempt fate.

[He's not seeing the humor in the situation. He doesn't see the humor in most situations. Don't take it personally; they called everyone on these stones, and they did so intentionally, because oblique calls for help are the only ones they can endorse.]

That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like hell.

[achievementhunter]

[He's-

Not wrong. It's not an unfamiliar hurt- they remember it, the sensation of fire ants crawling across their skin, a building unease and paranoia that may be more psychological than symptomatic- their mind's recollection to the last time this happened. Their head is... aching, but not swimming. Yet.

Give it another ten minutes.]

The mountain temple; there's a mana pool up here that will lead you directly to me. [They sigh it out, like he's forcing them to eat their vegetables.] There's nothing you can do, you realize.

I either make it or I don't.

[postictal]

You're making it.

[As if he could will it so through sheer fucking power of will alone. He would. He would, if he could.]

Give me five.

[achievementhunter]

No rush.

[Really, none at all.

They're not going anywhere.]

action also cw for casual suicide ideation

[postictal]

[Maybe not. But he's there anyway. And there's a joke he could make - we really should stop meeting like this - but it feels in poor taste. Taste. God, he could eat a bullet some days, thinking the things he does.]

[You'll hear him before you see him, huffing as he hikes up the mountain. He hasn't broken his pace or slowed since he embarked.]

H-hey. [It's wheezed out, slightly, but he's here, kneeling beside them.] How're...how bad is it?

sidecomment for reaction, not part of main thread

[lightlessfuture]

[ The tiny bug sitting with their stone held in both hands is - they'd look relieved, maybe, if they could look relieved. But the general impression is Oh Good Someone Is Here. Someone who responded to them, even.

They're sitting close to Chara, but they scoot back a little to give him space. Still, they can't help but tilt their head up in a sort of pleading movement, all too happy to relinquish what little control they have of the situation. Please fix it. Help them. ]

cw for just like, everything ever it's us

[achievementhunter]

[They've been splitting their time between responding to others and shooting their sheepish helper a few judging looks, though by the time Tim arrives they aren't- they're dealing with it. Sitting in the shade, their cheeks are exceptionally flushed, some light blistering on the left side of their face.

Their hands are a lot worse off.]

It could be worse. I sat down when I noticed the onset of symptoms. [A shrug.] Likely, they'll worsen rapidly in the next few hours.

[postictal]

[Because dying is easy, for the child who's done it so many times. What's one more to their ticker?]

[What's one more. It shouldn't be easy. It shouldn't be something a kid can shrug and move on over, and the fact that they can isn't their fault but the fault of a world that failed to protect them in any way.]

[Should've been there. Should've done something. Should have doesn't take him as far as it once might have; he's here now. He sees them, and this...horned little bug creature sitting beside them. There's no one else around, so he'll have to assume this is whoever was using the stone to reach him.]

[There's no time to spare for introductions. He hisses in through his teeth.]

How long's it been? Do you know?

[lightlessfuture]

[The voice that emits from the stone in answer is not Chara's, but it's not the voice of its current user, either. It's a flat, almost mechanical tone. ]

TEMPLE - IN - MOUNTAIN - PEAK - ENSO

[achievementhunter]

See, now you're just spoiling the surprise.

[Gosh.]

[lightlessfuture]

[ The Knight puts down the stone and sort of GESTURES HELPLESSLY at Chara because they definitely came up here with them to help transplant flowers BUT NOW YOU ARE SICK AND THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO EXCEPT CALL PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT TO DO. ]

[achievementhunter]

[They're giving you the most dead-eyed look in the world, bug. But considering that movement is not spectacularly wonderful, right now, that's the best they have. Consider yourself lucky.]

Hope the threadjacking is okay. :D

[prettypurpleparlor]

Thank you so much dearie, I'm heading there now.

[Muffet refrains trying to argue about this entirely, just grabbing the nearest bit of monster food she can grab and bolting straight for the temple. Some small corner of her mind privately resolves to find out whoever sent that and make sure she can repay them properly.]

tooooottally fine!

[achievementhunter]

That's hardly necessary.

[Chara cuts in almost impatiently, with the knowledge of something she doesn't have.]

In addition to being pointless. Didn't you know?

Green magic doesn't work on poison.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet replies without even slowing down, speaking calmly into her stone as she runs to the mana pool and dives through.]

It can't chase it out of your system, no. What it can do is keep the damage from getting any worse while your body filters it out.

[As long as a poison is in the body, it will continue to work- but the body doesn't care for anything toxic to stay, and will hasten a poison out green magic or no green magic. If one has the patience to sit with a patient, healing the damage done over and over until the poison has finished running through them, it can mean the difference between life and death. And a body that is otherwise entirely healthy will find it far easier to push a poison out than one already struggling.]

[achievementhunter]

That- [Is a concept they'd never considered. Before, whenever they felt even remotely better, they would simply turn to Asriel and he would-

Their death had- taken a long time. Chara's memories of those weeks are hazy, at best, but what was it the monsters had said to Frisk? There was nothing they could do.

Perhaps they'd all simply-- stopped trying.]

...I suppose.

Do you want me to hop over to the thread with Tim and The Knight or stick with this one?

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Likely they had tried and tried and tried again, only for it to fail because they simply didn't know the cause and therefore could not treat it. Helping the patient wait things out isn't terribly effective when they keep dosing themselves again.]

[Muffet falls silent as she approaches the temple, entering and looking around worriedly for Chara.]

Probably best to jump into the thread with Tim!

[achievementhunter]

[And there they are, seated in the shade of a pillar with Tim crouched down in front of them, the Knight hovering anxiously off to the side. Even from a distance, the changes to their complexion as a fever sets in is--

Noticeable.]

[postictal]

[He doesn't recognize the voice. Doesn't need to. Clearly, it's not Chara, meaning that there's someone with them. Someone who needs a stone to translate, and probably doesn't know what to do in the case of poison - meaning they'll have to resort to asking others for aid.]

[At least they're more willing, in a manner of speaking, than their companion.]

...thanks.

Do you know when this started?

[lightlessfuture]

[ They are bug, how does time work. They think hard, as quickly as they can. ]

NOT - LONG - AGO

BUT - FAST - IS - BEST

TOO - MUCH - POISON - OVER - TIME - I - THINK

[ They know little about how toxins apply themselves to a living creature; they themselves can heal without consequence due to their nature, and they know a little first aid, but it doesn't cover this sort of situation.

In conclusion: HELP??? ]

[postictal]

It probably would've taken some time. [Mostly said to himself. He's breathing hard, already moving at a swift jog.]

Who're you? You're with them now?

[lightlessfuture]

[ A notable pause. What should they call themselves? They still don't really have a set name.

Uhhhhhhhhhhok this will do. ]

ASSISTANT

WAS - HELPING - WITH - GARDEN

WITH - THEM - NOW - YES

[postictal]

["Assistant." That's vague. Might be that they don't have a way of really...extrapolating from there, given that the tone is this flat, impersonal thing. He's talking to a robot, maybe. Or someone with a poorly defined sense of self.]

[Later. Figure it out later.]

How're they doing now?