lifenet | 8th || Sharing is Caring!

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8th || Sharing is Caring!

[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.

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[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.

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.

No rush.

[Really, none at all.

They're not going anywhere.]

[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?

[ 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. ]

[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.

[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?

I’ve been gardening for the entire day, Tim. For multiple days. [When is about as hard to answer as how is simple.]I noticed I was feeling warmer a few hours ago, but ignored it due to the heat of this area.

[They look towards their quiet companion for assistance. This is a question the Knight may have an easier time answering.]

Do you recall when you started noting physical changes? The blisters, for example.

[ The Knight looks contemplative, as much as a blank face can look contemplative. After a little bit of consideration, they scratch nine vertical marks in the ground and nod. "Nine hours" seems to be the answer.

The symptoms hadn't been quick to appear; it had been a few days of work before the effects really started to show. But once they had shown in earnest, things had gotten rapidly more serious, it seems. ]

[Nine hours. That's just an estimate. Even if this wasn't toxic enough to kill them, this can't be fun for them to have to sit in. If they'd swallowed anything, he'd know to induce vomiting, but this?]

[He's just...useless here, as always, isn't he?]

You know which flower might've been...? [The one that did it?]

[Muffet moves briskly, coming over to sit down neatly beside Chara. She tries to position herself so that they don't feel too hemmed in, but still close enough that she can do what she needs to do in order to help them. She affords Tim and the Knight a brief, polite nod in passing- acknowledging them, but not wasting any vital time by speaking.]

[Instead, she addresses Chara:]

If I give you some monster food to eat, do you think you can keep it down? Or would you prefer I use green magic directly.

[She wants to give them the option to avoid that, if she can. She knows they don't like being touched. ]

[Oh, that question is easy, Tim. Their voice is dry when they respond, entirely confident in their conclusion.]

Wolfsbane. [They know its effects far too well, by this point. As Muffet settles next to them, they turn their head towards her, nodding.]

My symptoms include a fever, aches, and dizziness. If I eat it now, I may still keep it down... prior to the convulsions.

At which point, a direct application will be required.

[Thank fuck. He's got no clue what to do with poison when it's not ingested, when it's bled in through the fingertips. Muffet - she's a monster. She has the capacity to heal.]

[Him?]

[He's...useless.]

Is that gonna help? Or will it just...slow it down?

[She nods, pulling a coconut cookie out of her pocket and handing it to them while giving Tim the same answer she'd given Chara over the network:]

It will heal all the damage the poison has already done, but because the poison is still in their body it will start the process of harming them all over again once it finishes. Their body will flush the toxin out on its' own, so if I can keep healing them as it makes its' way out of their system I can ensure they don't take any harm from it.

There are more obscure, specialized techniques meant to deal with things like this more quickly and effectively, but I'm afraid healing isn't my area of study.

[She grimaces briefly in frustration at her own inability to fix things faster, but doesn't bother dwelling on it. There are more important things to worry about right now.]

Inefficiency aside, it will do.

If my memory serves correctly, it won't halt the effects completely. [Chara adds, seemingly unconcerned as they begin to nibble on the biscuit. Blessedly, the stinging in their blistered hands and cheek feel an almost immediate sense of relief.] Wolfsbane is exceptionally potent- and Muffet only has so much energy.

It would be best to wait for points where my condition is significantly worse than it is currently, should we wish to ensure Muffet has time to recover from continuous use of her magic.

[A pause. And almost pointedly:]

Of course, the simplest solution would be to let me die. But I imagine that isn't an option you are willing to consider.

[Alternatively, things would be a lot easier if they simply had Muffet and Asgore working together. Coincidentally? Chara doesn't mention it.]

Like hell.

[He bites it out before he can bite it back. No, it's not an option he'd be willing to consider. It's not an option anyone here would - ]

[There has to be something else. Some other solution. They have magic mana pools and healers and maybe not the sort of resources they had back in the Castle but they're not fucking helpless and they're not merely leaving them to die.]

What about - Hinata? He - he knows medicine, right? Maybe how to get the toxins out?

The option has been considered and rejected firmly.

[Muffet's reply is brisk, leaving no room for argument.]

We needn't rely only on my stamina- monster food heals using green magic much the same way that casting it directly does, and I've gotten in the habit of stockpiling it whenever I can manage to do so. We can use stored supplies to start with, and then switch to casting on you if and when you start having trouble keeping food down.

I know that I'm not the only one with healing abilities on this island, too, assuming that there haven't been more disappearances than I've realized. I'm fairly certain that Ignis has some kind of similar skill.

Suit yourselves. [They needn't say more, but really. Keeping them alive is both a waste of resources and time. For Muffet, perhaps it's just kindness blinding logic, but Tim?

He's well aware he's being selfish, refusing to let them go. Holding them back from the edge of a cliff, yet again. Better to watch them suffer than watch them die.]

Medicinal knowledge only goes so far without the proper equipment to act on it. [They point out.] I highly doubt there is anything Hinata can do without requesting the majority of a laboratory from the Story Teller. That aside, I've asked him to assist me elsewhere.

Ignis may be an option.

[He's always been a selfish son of a bitch, scrabbling to keep a hold on the things that he's never really had any control over - and never should. It's his own hopeless wishing and wanting: just this one, just this one, just let someone else make it out for once, for once, for once - ]

[Ignis. He...they like him, don't they? They've spoken to him, he knows, but that's the extent of what he knows, because he doesn't ask, because he doesn't pry, because he only treats boundaries worth a damn when it suits him personally.]

Ignis. He's got...healing magic, right? He can flush this stuff out?

I don't know the details of how his particular magic works, we would need to ask him. But if nothing else, it would mean one extra person contributing energy- we did test to see how his magic interacts with my own, once, and it strengthened the effects quite nicely.

[The more they've got to work with, the better. She doesn't plan to leave any potentially useful option overlooked.]

If you need the support, then certainly, ask away.

[He's at least one person who won't be capable of seeing them vulnerable, regardless of how close he is. It's a better option than others that could be suggested, by far.]

In the meantime, mister Wright, if you would assist me in returning to our hut..?

[He swallows. Chokes back a dozen things he should say, could say - doesn't. Won't.]

Yeah. Sure thing. Do you mind if I...? [He knows they're not the sort of person to like it, particularly when he's done it before - carrying them, and it's not even the physical weight because they are so damn small for someone their age, exactly like a kid that's been surviving off of spite and magic alone for god knows how long.]

[The remind that, despite everything, there's still a part to them that's as fragile as anything else.]

[They dislike it about as much as he expects, for the reason he expects- and hate it for so much more. Near immediately, Chara's expression closes off, fingers curling into white-knuckled fists in their lap.

~~the floor, the wall, the ceiling~~

Every moment they exert themself physically is going to make this worse, they know that much. The worse they make it, the higher the likelihood that this process would turn fatal. And they've already conceded to avoiding death.]
[But they still hate this.]

If you must.

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8th || Sharing is Caring!

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action also cw for casual suicide ideation

sidecomment for reaction, not part of main thread

cw for just like, everything ever it's us

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Jumping in as requested.

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Do you guys want me to have her call Ignis on her stone?

considering how old this is probably better to handwave after this, I think

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cw: referenced child abuse.