un: karma (video)

[torpour]

[the view is not of nehan as the username attached to this video would imply, but of two different plants preserved in jars on a countertop. no erune on your screens today.]

I have a request-- more specifically, an offer for fair trade. If you have an abundance of unwanted plants in your house, please bring them to me. Or I can visit your dwelling and remove them myself. Name your price. [a pause, then his gloved hand comes from the top of the camera, pointing at the plants from left to right.] In particular, I'm interested in these. Lacrimosa, which only blooms in dark areas where no sources of light reach, reeds from an island from my world for healing.

[no one asked him what the plants do, but he rambled anyway because he's a nerd.]

But any plant you don't want will do. They'll be useful, in one way or another.

Also, Flynn, Richie: this is the best opportunity I can give you when it comes to learning and making your own medicines.

Comments

video; un: scifo

[thinkfirst]

[ Flynn looks bad.

Worse, actually, than the last time Nehan saw him. He is pale and shadowed, and strange little rings of bruises are just visible on his throat. This would be alarming except the cause of them is pretty clear: dark tentacles trail over his shoulder and up into his hair, and visible just on the edge of the screen is a large cephalopod eye. This would make more sense if they were by the sea or any water at all, but Flynn is at his desk, with his bedroom bright behind him. ]

We have an abundance of plants, and I believe I saw some of those reeds growing in the backyard—they're medicinal? Is the process straightforward?

[torpour]

Hmm. [nehan moves the camera's view from his jars to himself, looking unimpressed as he sits in his armchair, legs crossed and displeased with flynn's appearance.]

Perhaps if they can make salves, they can deal with some of those bruises on your throat.

[thinkfirst]

...ah.

[ Flynn's hand comes up absently to brush them. There are more of them wrapped around his wrist, just above a small hand-shaped mark. ]

You... heard about the Leviathan, I assume?

[torpour]

[nehan's eye narrows even further when he sees the extra bruises, and the handprint. not just tentacles, but also a person?

perhaps if he plays his cards right and gets the right information out of flynn, someone will be finding a knife in their chest tonight.]

By word of mouth. In your own words, what was it?

[thinkfirst]

[ Flynn's demeanor shifts all at once. Nehan may as well have asked him to report, for all that his back straightens and his chin goes tight and he responds, in crisp tones like he's reciting lesson: ]

A massive monster from the sea, larger than anything I have fought before. Raleigh Becket, who has fought such things before, called it a kaiju. It existed in many realities at once.

We fought it off.

[ Flynn swallows. The bruises on his throat shift with the movement, and a dark tentacle winds its way over his shoulder, up against his cheek. Oddly, Flynn leans into it. ]

But not without the valiant sacrifice of many of our fighters, including several children, the man [ also a child, Flynn's mind supplies, he has so much to make up for ] who predicted its arrival and marshaled our forces, and... Yuri.

Who is currently wrapped around me.

[torpour]

[nehan squints as if he is having trouble seeing what flynn is saying, what he's doing. or what's doing what to him. and his nose wrinkles with the way the tentacles wrap around him.

yuri, his... partner.]

Did he transform, or... is this his squid form?

[if it's the former, how can he help, he has to wonder.]

[thinkfirst]

[ Flynn glances away, his face falling despite his best attempts to keep his expression smooth. ]

He died during the battle, saving my life in the process. I... wasn't even sure if he would return. There was no body left behind. Since then, we've been recovering at home, and Blue needs us here. He was alone for much of February while I was getting our fighters ready for the Leviathan's arrival.

[torpour]

[nehan's usual response to this is "dunk him in water, he'll be back to normal in a few days or so"... but he thinks that wouldn't be welcome right now? perhaps.]

And those bruises? From the battle, or from something else?

[thinkfirst]

From the battle.

[ Flynn confirms quietly, and then, finally, offers Nehan something like a tired smile. ]

From Yuri. He won't spend any time in the water, and has been wrapped around me like this more or less since he washed up. I... don't know when he'll come back to himself.

[ Soon, he hopes, because Yuri being a squid and therefore mostly unable to communicate is... hard. ]

Can any of the medicines you want to teach us do something about bruises? They would have been useful to have at the training camp. I tried to take your teaching into account, but after the battle I mostly relied on my healing artes to help in a pinch.

[torpour]

Yes. I know a number of recipes for salves. But because you're incapable of leaving the house right now...

[nehan looks at something off-screen-- his stash of ingredients.]

I'll send the written instruction and materials to you. But if it's all the same, I prefer to keep an eye on your work because it would be your first time.

[thinkfirst]

For Blue.

[ Flynn explains quietly, like that makes it any better. He thinks a moment, watching Nehan look away and back on this tiny strange screen. ]

We could conduct lessons this way, if you think you'd be able to see enough of what I was doing. Over the Omni, that is. I'm sure I could place it high enough to show you my workspace and Yuri's always saying I can change the angle.

[torpour]

As long as your body doesn't block most of the Omni. [meaning, yes, he would prefer to have lessons like that, even if it's not in person.] And as long as your work is not interrupted by anyone else.

I cannot stress this enough-- you cant be distracted when you start.

[thinkfirst]

[ This is a good callout, Nehan, because most of Flynn's pictures are terribly-focused and have a finger over at least part of the camera. Technology is a little difficult for him. ]

It's delicate work, then? Making something like this?

[torpour]

Bruise pastes? No.

But it's best to have good habits right when you begin, or else you start to become complacent when you advance to more difficult tinctures. Good habits and discipline start at the beginning.

[thinkfirst]

[ Strangely, Nehan's words are enough to make him crack a smile. It's so much like what he's been told at every lesson, this fussy (but necessary) insistence on doing things the Correct Way, every time.

It's nice. It's a little hint of normalcy after a chaotic and guilt-ridden month, and Flynn is grateful for it. ]

I wouldn't dream of deviating from procedure, even in an unfamiliar location for tests. I won't let you down. If only Yuri would listen to those same words. His form is all over the place. He knows so many artes and he's an excellent fighter, and then he adds in this unnecessary flair that gives his opponent an opening—I'm always trying to convince him just to get the basics right again.

[torpour]

[nehan grumbles in his throat-- soft, but loud enough that the omni would still be able to pick it up.]

Tell him to fight bare-handed then, and enjoy how much he suffers. Swordsmen think they're so untouchable just because they have a bladed weapon in their hands...

[thinkfirst]

[ The squid wrapped around Flynn makes a squeaky noise of protest, waves a tentacle around, making Flynn snort. ]

He does fight bare-handed! For his eighteenth birthday I got him gauntlets and he never wore them. He said it ruined his grip.

[ And because Yuri is only a squid right now, Flynn lets himself roll his eyes. ]

Even wearing armor doesn't make me invincible, but Yuri isn't a defensive fighter. He simply moves faster than most of his opponents. I tease, but he's an incredible fighter.

[ Sorry, Nehan. Once he gets started talking about Yuri it's a little hard to make him stop. ]

[torpour]

[nehan just stares at flynn, dead-eyed. he should have expected this, flynn rambling about his lover like this. then he sighs. save him from idiots who have nothing but their partners on their brains.]

My point still stands. Put the squid in the tub when you're working.

[thinkfirst]

[ Flynn at least has the understanding to realize he's been rambling and go pink at the cheeks before he dips his head in a sharp nod. ]

Yes, sir. I will do that. I'll start gathering any of the ingredients you outlined above right away.

[torpour]

No. I'll send them to you. I haven't even taught you how to gather your own, and choosing the ones with the best quality is part of it.

[fussy? of course. if he wasn't fussy, he'd end up with an accidental poison rather than a cure.]