In Restless Dreams I Walked Alone

[knightlyperformance]

WHO: Marc Spector/Steven Grant & you I guess
WHERE: Edge of Temba, let's say westsiiiide
WHAT: The Moon boys had a narrow escape. Someone help a guy out?
WHEN: Now
WARNINGS: Bloooood


"One more time... From the start..."

"We've gone over it several times already-"

"Again, Steven-" Marc said testily as he continued to trudge along through the snow. In his current state he was quite the picture of bedraggled; several long, bloody furrows clawed across his coat from his left shoulder down past his waist, the right leg of his pants in a similar state though not quite as deep. Blood was smeared across the side of his face, mostly the result of a bad attempt to wipe it from where it had earlier run down from a gash just beside his right temple. His right sleeve was nearly stained in it and practically shredded to boot, his hand practically wearing a glove of caked red although he was sure it wasn't completely all his. His fingers remained locked around an odd, slightly twisting spike of sorts that appeared to have been broken off of something. His other hand clutched an old pocket watch he'd found. Broken it was pretty much useless, but he'd managed to buff the casing to a shine that he could see his reflection, see Steven. He vaguely recalled they had a shovel when they'd left earlier, but hell if he knew where it was now.

On the pocket watch's faint surface, Steven's tongue darted nervously over his lips, his gaze dropping off to one side as his brow nearly pinched in slight frustration. Worry, however, was ever present in regards to Marc's current condition.

"The day started off with a disagreement - you decided it was time to try exploring the territory in this weather and I of course said 'no, we shouldn't go out on our own, we may need a travel buddy if we're going out like this' to which you replied 'No, we'll be fine, we got a plan, let's go' - which isn't much of a plan, mind you - and we went. But our little segue into the wilderness decidedly took a turn for the worse with that giant...feline...beast?" The memory was fresh, yet didn't stick around as long as he had hoped for in retreading their steps, which led him to glance back up at the man who shared his face. "Huge. Could've killed us. Look, mate, we really need to ring for help- "

"...almost...there..." Marc knew he was being stubborn, but at the same time he wasn't sure who all to contact. Most of those he'd spoken with were acquaintances at best, wary about him and reasonably so, he'd admit. He knew he was probably pretty bad off though. Steven was right. Whatever they'd run into could've gotten them killed, probably should have. And then he blacked out, and the next thing he knew they were alone, in a questionable however alive condition.

He knew Steven was still talking, but he'd long since forgotten to tune in. It was getting harder to see. Maybe a lot of that blood was his after all. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and rest for a moment. The pain was nothing new, in a way nostalgic, like an old friend. Or maybe the roommate you never wanted. Usually it faded away by now, but that was back when he still was attached to the hip of an Egyptian god.

The sudden cold briefly brought him to his senses. He squinted against the snow, both comforting and burning against his skin. He was lying face first in the snow and wasn't sure when he'd fallen, but it seemed his body had decided it had had enough. Barely managing to lift his head, he could see the outline of buildings. They'd made it. They were so close. But it was so cold that he wasn't sure if he was moving his arms to try pushing himself up or they just gave up on him. Slowly his eyes closed. Maybe he'd just rest a moment. Just a quick moment...

Comments

[crystalmaster]

Radley was out scouting the area when he saw them and ran over. "Hey! Can you hear me?!" He knelt down by Marc. The sight of the blood in the snow was deeply concerning. What had happened?!

[knightlyperformance]

It was probably fine, it was mostly old blood. Maybe. He hadn't been paying much attention that last mile.

Was someone yelling? Or was he imagining things? The voice sounded vaguely familiar but his foggy brain wasn't making any connections. The only outward response was the slight twitch of his eyelids.

[crystalmaster]

Radley started trying to feel for broken bones or other injuries to be careful of.

"I'm gonna try to get you some help, okay? Can you stand at all?"

He wasn't sure how much he could support Marc on his own unless Marc could move a bit.

[knightlyperformance]

Marc probably wasn't exactly a light load. It didn't seem like anything was broken but otherwise whatever injuries he might have sustained weren't visibly obvious since he was lying face down.

[crystalmaster]

Once Radley was more sure he could be moved, he tried to turn Marc onto his side to keep checking for injuries.

"Can you hear me at all?" he asked again in concern.

[notsuitedforthis]

The man's head lolled as his body was repositioned, still mostly unresponsive if not already dead from bleeding out.

'Mostly' was the operative term until Steven's eyes decidedly snapped open, his mouth gaping as he immediately gasped for air. A mistake - his lungs stung, burning from the cold as pain throbbed from his wounds and extremities.

"-OHGODithurtseverythingHURTS," he screamed, instinctively trying to curl in on himself when it was a bad idea. "It's so cold! This is the worst, get a doctor, I can't feel anything!!"

[crystalmaster]

Radley jumped a mile at the sudden outburst. "Hey hey hey! It's okay, it's gonna be okay. I'm here, I'm going to help you. Just don't curl up like that. I need to see how bad you're hurt! What happened to you?!"

[kree_soldieress]

It being winter and her being trained in medicine was no excuse for Lauri-Ell not walking her patrols. Perhaps it was for the best, because it meant the woman was roving at the right time.

No, the right time would have been earlier, would have been for her to have been with the fools earlier. As it was she caught sight of a flash of red and changed her path. Was that a figure out there? Perhaps. No, she became certain as the distant figure collapsed. Lauri-Ell put on a burst of speed, running to try and reach the figure.

"I'm coming!"

[knightlyperformance]

Maybe, maybe not. Marc wasn't one to announce his comings or goings. To be fair, he hadn't planned to go off too far, and how was he or Steven to know that the weather had accidentally landlocked an aquakat in the slushy river they'd come across?

Lauri-Ell called out, but the man in the snow made no response. He wasn't quite sure that he was just hearing things, and lying in the cold was numbing, but it also lessened the pain. No, he should get up. He knew this, but his body wasn't cooperating.

[kree_soldieress]

At last she arrived, stooping at the man's side. Blood. No, this is not good.

"I will carry you to the hospital. Will you consent to being carried?"

[knightlyperformance]

Unfortunately there wasn't a response. His conscious was slipping as it was, so it wasn't like he was in much of a position to argue if he did have any problems with it. At least most of the blood looked old by now, not necessarily a good sign, but at the same time some reassurance that Marc wasn't still bleeding out.

[kree_soldieress]

Well, she will do this then, picking the man up and holding him close to her warm body. That will have to help for now.

“We will patch you up. I will move now.”

And she took off at a run. An easy run for her. Which, over conditions like this, was only a casual ten miles an hour. Needless to say she was coming up on the hospital quickly.

[knightlyperformance]

Marc might've felt quite uncomfortable if he'd been awake for the trip. Being carried while someone was running couldn't be a very smooth method of transportation, but at least he was spared feeling any exacerbated pain from his injuries. One thing to be thankful of the cold for. Or maybe that was the blood loss. Not like he was in any position to think about it.

[wearingthestars]

It might have been a quick moment or much longer before he was been shaken on the shoulder with a gentle but firm grasp. Billy's face was twisted up with worry as he catalogued all the various states of emergency and which required his attention first.

"Hey? Hey, I need to you wake up, okay? I'm here to help, but I need you to wake up," he encouraged.

[knightlyperformance]

Why was someone telling him to wake up? It was way too early. Or was it late? Wait, where was he anyway? His brow was marred by the slightest furrow, a sign that he was at least responding somewhat.

Closer inspection would reveal that despite how disgustingly blood-coated his hand was, it couldn't have all been his. The end of that weird broken off spike he held was dark with it. Something had definitely been on the receiving end.

"Mgh..."

[wearingthestars]

Well...he was alive at least.

"You're okay-" Billy assured, though frankly he wasn't sure with all that blood. "You'll be okay." That one might have been more to reassure him.

"Warm," he murmured, conquering a pleasant heat to surround Marc so he could focus on dealing with where all this blood came from. He did his best to gently push Marc over onto his back. "Your head's not looking too good, I need you to try and stay awake with me, okay?"

[knightlyperformance]

So long as Marc was still breathing, he'd quite agree. He'd unfortunately been through worse, and that was even without all the fun Khonshu stuff. This was just different because it involved some alien water feline.

The sudden warmth was both a shock and a relief, the man gasping at the difference in temperature. His eyes opened then, wide-eyed and uncertain, but he vaguely recognized the voice. He winced, that split-second of tension lapsing as he gave into the exhaustion still lurking behind the pain. It hurt to breathe but that was probably because he was sucking in icy air a moment ago. His breath was short but he managed a faint 'okay.'

[wearingthestars]

"Perfect," Billy praised, sparing a moment to flash him a reassuring smile, "Just like that. Can you tell me uh...what street did you grow up on?" he asked, looking to offer a gentle test to his memory, while also keeping him awake and talking.

"I just need to, um-" he gestured apologetically to the coat, before gently working it open so he could get a better look at what he was dealing with. Was he actively bleeding out, or was the timeline slightly less urgent.

[knightlyperformance]

Everything still felt hazy, but Marc could understand the need to keep conscious. It felt like it took extra effort to form words, but he found himself answering the question even before he really started to think about it. You couldn't really forget home, even if you tried.

And that was the problem there. He didn't want to remember. "-no," he grunted abruptly, sounding at least more alert as he cut himself off from where he'd begun to ramble about his family's place in Chicago, his grimace more due to trying to shove back unwanted memories than from the pain he was feeling. He managed to stop himself from shoving Billy away, recalling what the kid was trying to do here.

Of course that just made him try to move and help with his coat himself, stubborn as he was. Not his best idea but this day was full of those, it seemed.

[thestaremaster]

A quick moment came and went, and by the time those eyes opened again he would be in a whole other space. Bucky had found him out there, face down in the bloodstained snow- a sight that felt uncomfortably familiar- and silently carried him back to his new room in the hotel.

Presently he'd find himself bundled up in Bucky's bed, Bucky sitting near by and glancing over as he saw the man shift.

"You gotta death wish, or just manage to break your communicator?" he asked.

[notsuitedforthis]

The details were bleary as Steven tried to focus, his head still floating while he slowly gathered he wasn't in the snow and cold anymore. He was nice and warm, steadily waking up to see that yes, he wasn't dreaming.

He was slightly startled by Bucky's presence, eyes widening as he tried to move. Fortunately he was stuck enough to not do anything more than jump an inch off of the mattress, sighing once he calmed down again.

"...Meant to ring, honestly I did," Steven finally breathed, reminded of how much pain his body was in. "Didn't get to use it in time, obviously."

[thestaremaster]

The accent was...new. Bucky's head tilted some, eyes squinting momentarily as he tried to discern if it was just a trick of his ear or the result of that head wound.

"Sure you did," he breathed with a half smile, "You remember what happened to you out there?" he asked, nudging the glass of water he'd left by the bed a little closer so he'd take note of it.

[notsuitedforthis]

Unaware that Bucky caught onto the anomaly, Steven's tongue darted out over his lips, his brow furrowing as he tried to think of how to answer the question. "Um. Well, I- thank you, by the way," he rasped, interrupting himself as he slowly reached for the glass, "-I was out there. Exploring." So far, it didn't sound too different. Not until he gingerly took a sip, clearing his throat to speak a little louder. "And...well, I think I...came across something rather dangerous. Large beast, huge claws." His nose wrinkled. "Spikes."

It was no trick of the ear - there really was an accent. And his body language, subtle as it was currently, was just as different.

"As you can tell, it saw me. Didn't want to let me go on my merry way, apparently."

[thestaremaster]

Cataloguing the differences, Bucky nodded faintly, attention split as he listened to the description.

"I can see that," he noted, "Did my best to patch you up. You'll probably want to stop in at the hospital though. You banged your head up pretty good. You uh...feeling all right? How many fingers?" he asked, holding up two of them in a half teasing manner, but there was clearly some real concern with how his brow furrowed. "You remember your name and everything?"

[notsuitedforthis]

Blinking, Steven glanced down at Bucky's handiwork, quickly meeting the other man's gaze again while lifting his glass slightly. "Oh, you did, cheers." Having a longer drink didn't actually bring him up to speed with the situation; in between careful gulps, he nodded, setting the glass down to give Bucky a proper answer. "Sure that's two, unless it's really three? If not, then we're really in a bit of a spot," he tried to laugh, his grin turning into a slight grimace as he winced.

In trying to compose himself, Steven huffed. "'Course I do. My name is Steven Grant, former museum gift shoppist operator expert." Meaning no, he still wasn't fully aware that he should have said something else here.