bursts into tears

[oversea]

Comments

[oversea]

I'll sleep once we make it to the next town. Don't worry.

[ unfortunately, he can't trust elysium to be in guard duty at the moment in his condition, and he likely won't be able to rest up and heal properly until they're actually somewhere safe. as long as they're on high aler outside, elysium probably won't himself relax. ]

[transmit]

Mm. Let me send that message to Lungmen I've been meaning to.

[ as altruistic as this might sound, there's no denying the self-serving edge to it: the more lungmen involves itself in the issue, the less likely their pursuers are to have the resources, or the inclination, to bother them.

he has to collect himself, close his eyes. he tries not to let it show how difficult it is, even though it's all he can think about. breathe in, breathe out. channel his arts like he always had and has been for the past few hours and it'll be fine. ]

[oversea]

[ he settles down next to him to keep an eye as he does this. is this perhaps a bit overbearing? maybe. but elysium hasn't looked this bad in a while, considering people shouldn't be using their arts for such a prolonged period of time. ]

... Mm. Let me know.

[transmit]

[ it's not.

while the transmission itself goes without incident, barring the requests for assistance he blows past, it's as though his strings are cut the moment he finishes the message, his balance tipping until he ends up collapsing against thorns.

goodnight. ]

[oversea]

[ goodnight.

thorns will readjust them so that elysium can lay a little more comfortably, even though he probably won't notice a difference with the level of exhaustion he's at. he'll keep checking their perimeter with alchemy, but he gives up on doing it at a constant rate or else he's going to tire himself out faster...

docybara (which my autocorrect now remembers) waddles over and settles down at elysium's other side. ]

[transmit]

[ docybara is so important to me

depending on when thorns expects elysium to wake up, there may be cause for concern when he just sleeps past everything. calling his name and gentle shakes will not be enough, and as docybara starts to break down the drug in his system, he gets antsier and antsier.

he starts whining at thorns to do something. but what… ]

[oversea]

Settle down, Doctor.

[ ... okay. he says this, but he's starting to get nervous.

of course, the first thing he's going to do once it becomes clear he isn't waking up easily is to check his breathing and pulse.

[transmit]

[ good news!




both are abnormal. his breathing and pulse are way too fast, and his brows are knit together as if in pain. if he really wants elysium to wake up, maybe he can resort to something more forceful? surely it will be fine. ]

[oversea]

[ HOW IS THIS GOOD NEWS

but it's all he needs to start shaking elysium more forcefully. ]

Elysium. Wake up.

[transmit]

[ it means… he is alive… 🥺

there is a groaning noise but consciousness does not seem to be anywhere close. wahoo. docybara is now convinced thorns is a lying liar. ]

[oversea]

[ docybara no!!!!

okay. thorns is going to have to move to get up, but he readjusts elysium so that he is leaning against docybara. he has to go dig to find medicine... ]

[transmit]

[ how can docybara worriedly watch if he is being used as a prop… he is so discontent but he seems aware enough not to want to move elysium. this has been such a terrible, no good, very bad day.

and although elysium doesn't seem to be waking up, he starts muttering words under his breath. ]

Maybe we need to go straight to Sietsa…

[oversea]

[ well, at least he can talk.

thorns returns and will try to get elysium to take the meds... ]

Hey. I need you to wake up.

[transmit]

[ love that docybara is in my autocorrect but siesta is not

he's just going to double over coughing. it remains unclear whether he'd heard thorns or not. ]

[oversea]

[ AAA sorry he is just going to lean in really close and shake him. ]

Elysium. Look at me.

[transmit]

[ he blearily opens his eyes…

but mostly he just tries to sit up, only to collapse back on thorns. ]

… Aaah… How long… has it been…?

[oversea]

A few hours.

[ they probably should have been on the move by now, since it's best not to stay in the same place for too long, but thorns is realizing elysium is not in the condition for moving that quickly... ]

[transmit]

[ that long?

nothing gets him to rise to his feet faster. pain shoots through his body, but now isn't the time for that. like it's something he can just command away as he wills—and to an extent, he can, after doing it so many times in the past. ]

… I'll take the medicine and we can be on our way. I should be good for a while longer.

[ 'sorry' sits at the tip of his tongue, but saying that aloud will only make everything worse. they'll power through this—they have to. ]

[oversea]

[ he's not sure how true that last part is, but they really can't afford to stay put for too long. they got rid of the tracker, but it doesn't mean they're entirely in the clear yet.

he hands the medicine over. ]

... We're stopping at the first town we see.

[transmit]

[ they also aren't that far from where their minions last saw them, so they really aren't in the position to rest for any longer than they have. more importantly, thorns wouldn't be comfortable enough to.

he downs the medicine raw and picks up thorns' hand. ignore how clammy his own is. ]

Being generous with pacing, the closest one is about a three day trip. Depending on how the situation has developed, we might have to come clean about who we are and rely on Rhodes to vouch our identities.

[ … ]

What do you think?

[oversea]

We'll do that.

[ there's no hesitation to how quickly thorns agrees; the moment it became apparent that elysium's health made a giant plunge, thorns decided that he will do whatever he can to make sure he gets the care he needs. ]

... It'll probably take us longer than three days.

[ they'll likely have to stop more often than they normally would to rest. ]

[transmit]

[ i see this is how we get our arranged marriage. it's bc even after 10k comments they can't even manage a normal marriage. okay.

but with the likelihood of it taking a nosedive, elysium falls quiet. ]

Is this really how you want it to go? There'll be no turning back.

[oversea]

[ ...

he rubs his face with his hands, trying to collect his thought. as it currently stands, they need to get elysium to a medical facility. thorns is fully aware that elysium isn't going to prioritize that though–after all, any chance they had to get him properly looked at, he refused. ]

We leave in ten. Try to eat or drink something and I'll get the Doctor ready.

[transmit]

They're going to put me into high security. I don't think that's how either of us want it to go.

[ he stays his ground, grip firm.

it's a combination of his condition and the nature of his arts. it's possible for them to get it to a stable state, but even if mantra has yet to tell anyone about what she suspects, his behaviour has likely been too erratic to allow him to roam unchecked once in their custody.

… ]

We're supposed to see the world together, Thorns. One of their early drugs… I'm pretty sure it was a stimulant of some kind.

It'll be faster if we tap one of their bases.

[oversea]

[ he doesn't like this.

thorns doesn't say anything right away, instead just trying to pry elysium's hands off of him halfheartedly before giving up. ]

I'll do it.

[ the idea of sending elysium in is terrifying. it seems like any overexertion is enough to do irreparable harm at this point. ]