Worlds apart, hearts broken in two, two, two

[the_freak]

Arrival (slightly changed from TDM, Season 4 spoiler warning. CW: blood)

Eddie blinked and the world seemed to turn upside down (ha!). He was flat on his back, Dustin was no where to be seen, and the spores of the Upside Down had been replaced with a light flurry of snow. For half a second Eddie didn't feel that choking pain, and he wondered if he was dead.

For a moment he starred up at the sky, strained breathes crystalizing in the air. It was so much brighter here... So peaceful. He turned his head and caught sight of some shining thing. Transfixed by the datapoint, the pain shot back in sharp focus as he strained to sit up. Everything in him screamed to stop, but he needed to touch that thing. He fell more than once before managing to right himself and took unsteady steps towards it, fingers smeared with blood as he finally made contact, and a flood of information assaulted his all ready shot nerves.

"...What the...shit?" he rasped once it released him, stumbling over as his legs refused to support him any longer. He looked down in confusion at his blood staining the snow. Fucking aliens. Sure. Why not at this point???

Audio- A Few Days Post Arrival

Heeeey, um...I don't really get how this thing is supposed to reach anyone without an antenna or anything but uh...can anyone hear me?

How do I even find a frequency?

This is fucking bullshit man.

[There's a clattering as the device is tossed away in frustration, Eddie sure it's not working.]

Comments

Audio

[ziedrich_bearer]

[Oh come on, kid. Was this really so hard?]

Shouldn't throw comms around. Not good for them. What if you break it?

Audio

[the_freak]

[Oh shit, it was working.]

I mean at this point...it's not things can get much worse.
It's working? You can hear me? I don't understand the buttons on this thing...

[ziedrich_bearer]

Clearly I can hear you.

[Why wouldn't he be able to?]

Guessing you don't have smartphones?

[the_freak]

The fuck's a smart phone, dude?

[He frowns at the device. So it's more phone than walkie talkie? But it's cordless...]

This is some serious sci-fi shit.

[ziedrich_bearer]

The think you're holding, dude. And it's not sci-Fi. IT's literally happening.

Arrival

[crystalmaster]

Radley sees someone at the arrival point who looks in bad shape. Frowning, he starts to head over. Really, the Agrii would bring someone here in this condition?! He looks so young too....

"Hey there. Can I get you some help?"

cw: blood continued

[the_freak]

Eddie coughs weakly and tries for a laugh, grimacing as more blood fills his mouth.

"Help- nn- help would be good, man. I just need a-...just need a minute-" he pleads, head lulling to the side as he grits his teeth.

Re: cw: blood continued

[crystalmaster]

"We have a hospital here," Radley says. "I can try to get you over there...." He hates to think of him having to walk, though. Looks like he'll probably need to come up with some kind of transportation. He walks around the area hoping to find something he can use as a sled, at least.

[the_freak]

Nodding, Eddie offers a shaky thumbs up, letting his eyes fall closed for a moment. It would be so easy just to drift off.

He tries to make himself sit up to help, groaning and holding his side. Or trying to. His fingers kept slipping and he made a face.

"It's bad, huh?"

[crystalmaster]

Radley comes back over with some scrap that should work as a sled. "I'm not a medical person, but it looks like it is. What happened?!"

[in_extremis]

There was a ringing in his ears; more like a vacuum, a hiss of dead air that popped suddenly, then a thump-thump-thump, out of rhythm with his frantic heart. He wasn't allowed to fall. Something grabbed him, hard and cold, barred across his chest to pull him back against something solid, with angles that would dig into his back, then a new sound in his ear; "Fuck," with a whine that kept on ringing after the pop of the consonant, like it was vibrating through an amp.

The arrival at the fountain had been a small chirp in Tony's ear, an a camera feed at the corner of his vision that he mostly ignored as people passed by the space on their way to the diner or the greenhouse. This one was harder to ignore, as the movement left a shadow behind on the snow, a dark smear that drew Tony's eye and quickly had him leaping into the air, the mothcat at his feet startling back as the Iron Man's jets flared, leaving a circle of muddy, melted snow and shed feathers in the library garden.

When he caught the bleeding guy, he instantly regretted it, the other hand fluttering like it could find a better hold that didn't pull at whatever had sprung the leak, but that seemed to be everything. "Hold on," that strange, metallic voice came again, the only warning before Iron Man was lifting him too quickly against that unforgiving chestplate, talking all the while. "The hospital isn't far, there'll be somebody there, probably, I'll call them, anyway, you just enjoy the ride--maybe take inventory, you know, so we all know what we're getting into, feel free to do that one out loud."

[the_freak]

"..." Eddie blinked at the robot(?) with a look of awe. Maybe it was the blood loss. Or all the trauma. Or maybe it really was just about the most metal thing he'd ever seen (and there was a lot of competition for that in the last few days).

"...holy shit, man," he muttered, breath catching with a pained wheeze. Oh right- he was dying. "Is this real?"

[in_extremis]

The golden mask looking down at him didn't have a smile, but made a noise like a pressure release when Tony breathed a short, anxious laugh and hoisted him a little higher, more securely cradled. "Hey, that's a good start. This is real, and you're getting blood all over my suit," Tony said. And if he kept chattering through it, the takeoff shouldn't be so jarring, though there wasn't much he could do about the sharp sheer of winter wind as he started toward the hospital. "We can talk about compensation later, I'll add it to your bill. You wouldn't believe the drycleaning for this thing. You're still supposed to be working on that list, by the way, where's the blood coming from, that kind of thing, I'm not hearing a lot of progress here, I feel like I could cut you out of this project." Wherever it was, Billy's communicator chimed relentlessly as Tony sent bursts of urgent messages to get his attention. If there was nobody at the hospital already, Wiccan could get there the fastest.

[the_freak]

God. Shit. Damn.

Eddie grit his teeth at the jostling, and groaned, slick fingers trying to find a grip on the smooth surface of the suit (apparently).

He choked out his own laugh, and a lopsided smile, blood staining his teeth.

"Pretty much- nnn- e-everywhere, man?" Eddie countered, but he tried to make himself focus. "My um...my sides...my sides are bad. And my throat I think. They were all over- I don't-...we're flying. Shit, we're fucking flying-"

Wide eyes looked at the ground below, fear and pain slowly broached by a hint of a stunned smile.

[in_extremis]

'Everywhere' was about as much as Tony had assessed himself, so he made a slightly impatient huff between grit teeth. Throat was pretty alarming with the amount of blood, but the fact that he was still talking must have meant that sounded worse than it really was. Still, "Try not to get too excited, sweetheart," Tony advised. "Try to keep some of that fuel inside the tank." He wasn't eager to find out what a blood transfusion might look like in this place.

They didn't have to go very high, skimming barely above the snowbanks as Iron Man made a straight shot across the square toward the hospital. Where the road was cleared, it was cracked and uneven, some snarled weeds dead and frozen in the cold and still stubbornly pushing the paving apart. The buildings they did pass were dark, their facades chipped and rusted at their best, windows broken and abandoned. Including the one that they touched down in front of, Iron Man stumbling a few steps forward in his rush and without his hands to balance his landing, sending him crashing his shoulder into the doors that looked like they might fall off with one more hit like that.

When he did come to a stop, the momentum leaving him as quickly as it did the Iron Man, Tony stared around the hall, having not planned this far ahead. Someone had to be nearby, whether it was Lauri-Ell or Omega or Billy, and eventually Tony tried shouting, "Ladies?" He couldn't just stand around hoping one of them would answer him, though, so he went the way that he knew a bed was, and with increasing desperation creeping into his voice tried the next thought that struck him, "Jon?" Last time he was pacing down this hall, Jon was always around.

Arrival

[mutedsuspicions]

Lerith's heading out of the greenhouse when he spies someone new. He's never seen someone dressed like that before. Compared to whatever all of that is, the elf feels under dressed (though his sweater and scarf from Miss Lark are obviously better).

It's when the human stumbles and goes down, does he go over in a rush. He's got a fistful of elfroot in his hand as he bends down. Whoever he was, they were definitely hurt.

[Where are you hurt?] because it's still instinct to Sign of course. The yellow eyes look at Eddie, curious and worried all at once. Right, communication. The device comes out to let Jon speak his words. 'Where are you hurt? Can you stand? I can help you to the healer's building.'

[the_freak]

What...is he looking at?

Eddie squints up at the elf(?) and blinks a few times, wondering if his broken mind is drawing images from his campaign. His eyes drift to the hands, head tilting weakly as he tries to interpret the meaning. And then he gets the strange...device to speak, and the meaning should have been more obvious really when he thinks about it.

"...Everywhere?" he groans, trying for a smile and groaning before shaking his head, "I don't think so, man."

[mutedsuspicions]

He's an elf, Eddie. C'mon, keep up with the campaign here! Aside from the pointed ears and yellow eyes, there's also teal colored tattoos that are on his face, marred by the heavy scarring from his slave days.

Lerith looks over the human and frowns. He probably doesn't have the strength to carry him, but he could help him up and go towards the healer's building. His staff, strapped to his back, gets pulled off and he holds it out, even shaking it a little until the human takes it. He shoves the elfroot in a pocket.

'Use that to help and I'll help you out towards the healers'. Carefully, gently, he goes to help Eddie to his feet by throwing an arm over lanky shoulders and trying to get him up that way.

[the_freak]

Elves. Vecna. Demogorgons. Is there anything in D&D that isn't real??

Eddie tries. He really does, taking the staff, and trying to let the...fucking elf take his weight (still staring in disbelief). But he's not upright for more than a few moments before he's more or less complete dead weight, shaking his head with a pleading whimper as his body wants nothing more than to collapse in on itself.

"I ca- nn-- I can't-"

[mutedsuspicions]

Lerith has no idea what's going on through Eddie's head. All he can see on that human's face is pain and the elf knows he needs to go to the healers. The hospital wasn't... far but it might be a struggle for the man to get there. And that's proven true as the mute takes all of Eddie's weight.

Shit.

Well, it wasn't like this was a strange concept to Lerith. His background in Tevinter before Haven, the way he had helped other slaves, this fell in line with that. Knowing that his arms won't hold a human up, the elf squats and shifts to try and get Eddie onto his back instead. He could carry him that way!

Arrival (redux)

[quark_assassin]

There's only a few seconds between Eddie hitting the ground and the sound of approaching, hurried footsteps, accompanied by the steady rhythm of Dustin sharply cursing under his breath the entire way.

"Fuck, shit, piss, fuCK--" He stumbles over a particularly rough patch of snow and ice as it buckles his knee, windmilling to catch himself before he faceplants. Not a terribly graceful recovery, but a recovery anyway - Dustin continues in stride. "Fucking snow, goddamnit!"

His frustrations are only partially because he's been outside for too long and is cold and unhappy. Most of it is fear. New arrivals are uncommon enough, and ones that collapse in a puddle of their own blood, even more so. That's...more blood than Dustin's seen a person bleed ever, actually. He might be panicking.

After what feels like a painfully arduous journey across the frozen central plaza, Dustin finally slumps down in front of Eddie, cheeks and nose pink from windchill and eyes wide with shock. He wastes no further time shoving a small glass vial of light blue liquid in front of Eddie's face - an Eorzean health potion, one of only a small fraction he has left from the trip.

"Drink it."

[the_freak]

The dramatic journey earns Eddie's attention, weakly turning his head towards the cursing. It prompts a half smile of amusement. Idiot looks like Henderson.

"Nnn-" Eddie makes a face and turns his head from the unknown liquid. "The fuck, man-?" he protests, looking confused. What was that stuff? And who the hell was this?

[quark_assassin]

"Drink it," Dustin insists, slower and with a firmer edge to his voice. He unstoppers the vial and presses it back towards him, just as urgently. "Health potion, should stop the bleeding. Mind the taste."

[the_freak]

The tone has Eddie refusing on principle at first, twisting his head and then squinting in confusion. A health potion?

Coughing in pain, Eddie doesn't have much time to weigh his options. But worse case scenario- the kid was offering some kind of poison. It wasn't like he was going to last much longer either way. Why not roll the dice?

He swallows it down and makes face. Kid wasn't kidding.

[quark_assassin]

The taste is, thankfully, the only part of the experience that's truly objectionable. Eorzean health potions work quickly; aside from halting the bleeding on his larger wounds and completely closing up the bigger ones, Eddie should notice a pleasant, cooling numbness follow along with it - the feel of a topical anesthetic, to match how it probably tastes like he just swished some on his tongue. Dustin studies him patiently to see how he reacts.

"Working?" he follows up after a few moments.