teaism | pls don't judge me I have so many injured guren icons okay

pls don't judge me I have so many injured guren icons okay

[Compared to this, the talking furniture from ages ago seemed almost pleasant. The door clicks shut behind them, and Guren almost wants to drop down right here. It's the first building they've come across in a while now— some sort of cabin in the woods that's falling apart just like the rest of the town they'd started in. Guren was bleeding from a variety of areas— a number of spots on his torso, his head, his face, his thigh— and that doesn't even start on the broken bones he's sporting, but he had a demon to take care of those injuries.

The man he was trying to support next to him was a different story. Hadn't they said something about not wanting to test if he could die and come back...?]

Look at me, Dex. [Guren wasn't trying to hide his worry now. He'd arrived too late, or at least that's his perspective. He shows up and something is nearly finished toying with Dextera like he's some sort of doll— something grey, with wings. Guren couldn't grasp what was happening, but interrupting had shown him that he was nearly outmatched. Nearly. With some biting words, he'd slain the creature(?) just before he was about to be offed himself. It was risky, to say the least.

But they're indoors now. Indoors, and there have to be supplies they can make use of somewhere. He staggers his next step forward as he tries to lead Dextera in, coughing blood against the back of his own hand. He's noticing that even his own injuries are staying longer than usual, somehow...]

Damn it...

[But he needs to know how Dextera is doing. How much can he handle? Guren doesn't want to find out his limit right now. One hand grips at Dextera's shoulder. They've been supporting each other the whole walk here, and he's trying not to weigh him down. His other hand, though the back of it is bloody now, rests against Dextera's chest carefully.] Sit down here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ guren is right about dextera not liking it, and he dislikes it with a quickness that might be a little unexpected, even for guren—he forces himself to sit up, as if he’s completely planning to go out with guren and hunt for whatever’s out there to help him heal up.

they’re his wounds, his fault. he shouldn’t be relaxing in bed... but as soon as he moves, a grimace crosses his expression. even so, it’s because they got split up that this happened in the first place—dextera is reckless in this particular way, unwilling to just let guren go without a fight. ]

Hey—!

[Dextera is going to give him a heart attack. Guren tenses at that movement, hands hovering like he's not sure if gripping at his arms to keep him still will help or hurt. Eventually, he decides to rest them there anyway.]

I said stay put! How are you going to follow me in this condition? It's too dangerous!

[Why can't people ever just LISTEN to him, gosh.]

I—

[ well, his voice is still there, but now he's feeling sorry so he's a little quieter than he was the night before. not to mention the fact that he almost certainly pulled something open with that little stunt. ]

I can move. You shouldn't go by yourself.

[ he was better at listening when they first met... now he has, like, opinions and feelings. ]

[Ugh... He would have gone while he was still asleep, but waking up to no one after a promise about not leaving... that would have been too much. Now, though, how can he trust that Dextera will stay put and be okay back here? Should he take him with him...?

But he can't move at all!!]

You can't move. Look— [He takes Dextera's hand, suddenly, sliding it under his own shirt and jacket to where one of his many deep wounds had been. Not the one Dextera had healed, specifically, just to prove a point.]

I'm completely healed. [There's not even a scar or a cut to feel under there, and it's that way with all of his injuries now. As if he hadn't been hurt to begin with. If the blood weren't there, no one would know better.] But moving for you is only going to make those wounds bleed.

[ oh... he is healed, which is incredible. he's as good as new, and dextera's hand lingers a little longer than is necessary just to marvel at it. it's not new knowledge that guren can regenerate himself, but it's strange to see evidence of it when he was so damaged just the night before. ]

...

[ this time, his silence is a choice. he's going to sit here and worry if he lets guren go out there on his own, but he's also painfully aware that he's a liability like this. ]

Bring me back an animal. It'll help.

...An animal?

[That's... not what he expected to hear. His fingers brush over Dextera's wrist as he pulls his hand back and straightens the collar of his shirt.]

Like a pet? [...

He doesn't get it, but he doesn't have to, either.]

That's fine. Here... [Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a stopwatch he came across, tapping at the screen a few times to make sure it works before holding it out to Dextera.] Two hours. If I'm not back by then, then you can come after me. That way you'll know I'll be back by then for sure.

[ he's going to eat it but that's fine because he's definitely not going to let guren get a load of that one ]

Two hours... I hope it doesn't take that long.

[ it's a while to wait and hope that nothing goes wrong, especially with how unpredictable the area can be, and the monsters that are twisted and grotesque and occasionally too aggressive. dextera takes the stopwatch, but he's frowning. ]

Don't die.

[I knew he was going to fucking eat it.

He smiles a little, now that Dextera has finally given in to this point. He'll make it faster to gather what he can, hopefully. The fog is worrying but he's rested, so it should be fine.]

I won't.

[Leaning down, he takes Dextera's chin gently and kisses him. It's a longer one this time, slow and full of emotion and maybe too much like a farewell kiss. He does intend to come back, but there's always risk, of course...

When he's done, he pulls away, his own hand lingering for a minute before he's moving to step back.]

Only leave that spot if you're in trouble. I'll be right back.

[ dextera likes to be kissed. he doesn't like that guren is treating this like a last kiss, though he tries not to dwell on the could-bes and what-ifs when guren hasn't even left yet. he's resilient. he probably wouldn't have even gotten so hurt if he hadn't been trying to protect dextera yesterday.

dextera starts the watch, before guren has even gotten a chance to get out the door. ]

You'd better be.

[Guren gives a smile to those words, that face, and that watch all before he steps out in a hurry. That cheater... but it's fair, he thinks, to lose a minute or two to a goodbye. He spends another minute downstairs gathering items he could use, and then at the door to the cabin, applying fuda that will mask its presence. You know, just in case.

He plans on being gone for only an hour, but various scenarios keep him away for nearly two. He's pushing the time on that stop watch by the time he gets close, and while he's trying to wrangle some sort of animal back with him, two hours has passed. He only has feeling to go on, but he knows that it's about now, that Dextera must be worried sick, moving—

The animal is some sort of large... rat, or something. It has an extra set of legs and a third eye, and Guren is sick and tired of its stupid prehensile tail trying to grab the supplies he's gathered in a basket in his arms. Arriving back at the cabin is a little loud, thanks to all of this. Guren drops the animal in the door, watching it immediately scurry away.]

You little—! [Augh, whatever!! It's in the house, he'll deal with it later. For now, he needs to see where Dex is, and so he steps further into the cabin, calling out.]

Dextera? [He's got a basket full of plants of various types as well as a big jug of water strapped to his back, so it looks like things were successful. But he's also got a deep cut on his cheek that wasn't there before, and his hands are both covered in smaller cuts, like frown a rose bush. His hair is messy, too, the biggest sin.] Hey, Dex!

[If Dextera is in too much pain to have gotten far, Guren is heading straight up to where he left him, anyway.]

[ dextera was already mobilizing around the one and a half hour mark, but he knew that if guren followed through on his promise he would be furious to find dextera seeking him with another thirty minutes to go. when the watch hits two hours, his stomach curls unhappily—worry sinking its tendrils into every nerve, until he’s willing to push past the pain to find guren.

guren finds him first, though. dextera is ready to head out the door when guren reaches the bedroom, and all at once, the fear drains out of him and he ignores the pull of his injuries and the supplies in guren’s arms to hug him around his neck.

a dramatic reaction for guren, perhaps, who has known exactly where he was all this time... but dextera has only had the worry and the silence to deal with. he’s not used to waiting, and he’s discovered very firmly that he doesn’t like it.

when he pulls back, he touches the cut at guren’s cheek. ]

You’re bleeding.

[ he’s not thinking about the animal that guren may or may not have brought back, but he does hear a terrible scratching from further in the cabin. ]

[It's not dramatic. He knows what he just put Dextera through. So, he moves the basket to the side so he can properly accept this hug.]

Yeah, I tripped and fell. [The biggest lie he could ever make, and he's hoping that even if Dextera isn't so gullible, he'll think that the light way he says it means that it's not a big deal. It's just a single cut, after all, deep but not serious.]

But you're probably bleeding again, too. I found plenty, so let's get you somewhere I can look at your wounds. [He covers the hand on his cheek with his free one, a silent "Sorry I was late" since he won't say it aloud.]

[ stupid, dextera wants to say, surprising even himself with the vehemence he feels it—but it doesn’t actually make it out of his mouth. guren is almost certainly lying about tripping, but it doesn’t seem like he’s hiding anything severe. ]

Did you find...?

[ he trails off, his fingers twitching as if to gesture for some kind of animal, but he doesn’t actually know what kind of thing he wants to describe.

not that the creatures here really match up well with normal animals, but that makes them easier to depersonalize. ]

[He ran into something dangerous out there— but it was that same thing that led him to what he needed as far as plants went. He'd gotten away, anyway, with only a small scratch!! For now. The fog made him feel even more disoriented than usual, and he could swear it was bringing out more dangers.]

Oh, yeah. [The animal, right? He sets his basket down and turns to look at the door he walked through.] Stupid thing was giving me hell. It's somewhere around here.

[As if on cue, it sounds like a number of cans topple over downstairs.] Want me to go grab it?

[ dextera would grab it himself if he thought he could, but he can’t move like he wants to. as things are, the creature could probably kill him before he got ahold of it.

he nods, and slowly picks his way back over to the bed to sit down before he keels over. ]

I just need it for a second.

[ ominous ]

...Okay.

[He's slowly pieced this together by now, and he's not even sure how to react. It's a good thing he didn't have any time left, since his original thought was that he'd have to find something cute. This was just an abomination.

He takes the water jug-thing off his back and sets it down with the other stuff, stretching his arms.]

Hold on.

[And off he goes... There's some yelling from downstairs, because this thing is getting into things it shouldn't be, but ultimately it doesn't take long for Guren to grab it by the back of the neck and carry it upstairs. He holds it out to Dextera...

And once he takes it, he just kinda stands there, staring. Is he really gonna eat it.]

[ well... don’t stare at him!!

dextera has a firm grip on the creature despite its wriggling, but to save both of them—all three of them?—some effort, he holds it slightly out of guren’s direct point of view and kills it with a surprisingly efficient twist of the neck. ]

...

[ he should eat it, but this moment is... a lot. he looks back at guren, his mouth twitching in a frown. ]

You don’t have to watch.

[It's just a shitty animal that was a shitty pain in the ass, but somehow Guren is a little sad. It's a tiny sting at his heart, but he still hates himself for it. What is he, a kid... Kureto would laugh if he saw this. He bets some twitch of his finger gave it away, even with his blank expression.]

Right. I'll start with some of the medicinal plants I brought back.

[He turns, moving over to the door where he'd left them, and keeps his back on Dextera as he works. His hands are all cut up, but that doesn't matter. He can work with these to make them what he needs them to be. It looks like the first one he's dealing with needs to be crushed, so he's using a makeshift bowl to do that... He's over here playing doctor, basically, making some Convenient Meds.]

[ it’s not that dextera likes killing things, or even eating them, but they’re a necessity of survival. the way that some people have healing potions or magic or demon-regeneration... he has this.

he’s going to be very quiet about this, as quiet as he can manage by timing himself with the sound of guren’s work. ]

...I’m done.

[ for what it’s worth, it tasted bad!!! dextera hides any fresh blood by wiping it off on his coat or old bandages, and the worst part of it all is that he really does look better.

it’s not just that he was hungry—it has, actually, helped him heal up. ]

[Guren glances back, and he's surprised to see that Dextera actually does look better.]

You look like it actually helped. How are you feeling? [He doesn't know how any of that worked, but he still has plants and junk to help in the meantime! One for pain relief, one for accelerated healing properties... plenty to save for later.]

[ haven’t you ever felt alive after eating something raw, guren ]

Better. I can move, but...

[ it was small—which is for the best, in this case, since he would extremely rather not have had a big creature to deal with right here in the same room as guren.

his wounds haven’t closed completely, but they are... more all right, than they were. ]

I think I’d prefer the plants.

Haha, good. I'll make tea with one of them in a minute, but...

[It won't taste better, anyway. And first, he has weird alien plant paste.] Get your clothes out of the way. I'm going to clean you up.

[The sexiest way he could possibly say that, of course. He's gathering whatever he can carry and bringing it over, now, including his bowl of what looks like... mashed leaves and water. It is. All of this is going to be a type of leaf with water, but that's what they've got!!]

[ hot!

dextera obliges, though, glad to peel out of his clothes when it’s stuck to him in odd places from the dried blood. he winces, pulling at the wounds that the fabric of his shirt has dried against. ]

Are you sure this is going to work?

[ leaves and water... it’s so holistic. ]

No. [ At least he’s honest. He sits on the bed next to Dextera, a wet washcloth in one hand and his dumb bowl of plant paste set nearby. ]

But it’s not poisonous. [ Don’t ask how he found out. ] And even cleaning them off will help you in the long run. Let me see.

[ He places one hand at Dextera’s stomach, the other pressing the wet washcloth to wounded skin, trying to dab at it so the shirt can come loose easily. This is going to be a lot of touching. ]

[ dextera doesn’t ask how guren found this out, though he does wonder for a moment if guren has any room to judge him for eating anything that’s handed to him.

he draws in a sharp breath, but guren’s touch is gentle, even soothing—and the water is quick to rehydrate the wound and free his shirt. ]

...

[ he goes quiet now, transfixed by guren’s hands cleaning him up, dabbing gently at his cuts. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject