Anders (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
unconfines) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
lifeofpineapple2015-02-08 12:08 am
unconfines) wrote in lifeofpineapple2015-02-08 12:08 am
Entry tags:
'cause you're hot then you're cold
[It's a disaster. There's no other way to slice it.
It isn't that Blue hadn't prepared a suitable plan of attack, it's that the plan had completely fallen to pieces when it came to getting everyone out. Mission objective complete, technically. The backlash had just been more than they expected. They'd been forced to scatter instead of sticking to the intended extraction; he doesn't know what happened to anyone else.
He's sure the CDC won't care about that part.
His blackglass keeps giving him the same generic error message over and over when he tries to check in on the status of his team, because of course it does. The only other option is to cut his way through underbrush, try to make it back to the temporary camp they'd established at the halfway point. Foreign plantlife catches on his uniform, and he finds himself wishing for the old-fashioned way, not for the first time. Crows don't stop working right when you need them the most.
When he realizes that there's someone else in the brush ahead of him, he stops in his tracks. He isn't particularly subtle; there isn't any way he went unnoticed. He doesn't have much left in him, but he does have enough to make electricity crackle menacingly around his open hand.]
Who's there?
It isn't that Blue hadn't prepared a suitable plan of attack, it's that the plan had completely fallen to pieces when it came to getting everyone out. Mission objective complete, technically. The backlash had just been more than they expected. They'd been forced to scatter instead of sticking to the intended extraction; he doesn't know what happened to anyone else.
He's sure the CDC won't care about that part.
His blackglass keeps giving him the same generic error message over and over when he tries to check in on the status of his team, because of course it does. The only other option is to cut his way through underbrush, try to make it back to the temporary camp they'd established at the halfway point. Foreign plantlife catches on his uniform, and he finds himself wishing for the old-fashioned way, not for the first time. Crows don't stop working right when you need them the most.
When he realizes that there's someone else in the brush ahead of him, he stops in his tracks. He isn't particularly subtle; there isn't any way he went unnoticed. He doesn't have much left in him, but he does have enough to make electricity crackle menacingly around his open hand.]
Who's there?
no subject
Maybe it's because he's a planner; strategical to a fault. He thinks of backup plans and more backup plans, but something about this operation had backfired so spectacularly he has to wonder if they were supposed to survive it. The CDC is a large organization, he has no illusions of being indispensable. Quite the contrary– Red team had the highest chance of casualty, just from how dangerous their work ends up being.
Still, this whole mission is a nightmare. It's pushing him to be a little unconventional with things, and he hopes that some of the things he's had to pull won't come back to haunt him. The network being down makes it very difficult to maneuver, but he supposes they've done similar things in the past. Carefully, he picks his way through the crowded and cool underbrush, silent aside from his own breathing and the small sounds around him. However, there's a break in the quiet as he hears unmuffled footsteps nearby. A crackle of something makes the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, but he lets out a soft sigh when he hears whoever it is speak up. ]
Anders, I know you're Blue, but you really are quite loud.
[ He steps out from a darker section, the blue electricity in the mage's hand illuminating the space between them. ]
no subject
Thank the Maker. [His magic dissipates. It takes a moment for his eyes to readjust back to the darkness.] I was bluffing.
[He wasn't supposed to have been that involved in any fighting this time around, but as it happens, that's something else that went completely, awfully wrong. He's not tapped dry, but he's nowhere near at his best.]
Give me a tower, a sewer, or a prison cell and I do just fine. All of this? It was hopeless from the start. [He crunches his way forward, ducking under scraping branches. Good luck with that.] Are you all right?
[He's a healer, he has to ask. His eyes narrow, evaluative, scanning for injury.]
no subject
It proves the mage is more than capable. Something that, of course, he'd known on a surface level. But now that they're being faced with a mission spiraling into chaos, knowing that the other man could keep it together was reassuring. The light flickers out between them and November blinks against the sudden change in lighting. ]
Rough time of it, then?
[ They're all sort of there. He's been conserving as much as possible, but he's starting to feel the early stages of fatigue. ]
Jungles are no one's favorite landscape. It's too easy to turn your hand and even easier to lose it. [ There's a crunch of forest underfoot and November holds in a long sigh. This will be fun. ]
I'm in one piece, mostly. I could use a week's worth of sleep. [ Couldn't they all? ] And perhaps better bandages.
[ It's added as an afterthought– he's had a stitch in his side that he's becoming more certain isn't his being out of shape. ]
And you?
no subject
He feels better about their chances now. With anyone else, he might not.]
Tired, though I think maybe that goes without saying. I'll be better once we're out of here. I'm not sure how much help I'll be if something finds us out here.
[Being your own portable medical station helps, sometimes, though having to heal himself is about as unpleasant as it gets.]
But I can do you one better than bandages. [He spreads his hands. Healing he can still do, and that's intentional.] Show me.
no subject
Don't worry about it, princess, I'll protect you.
[ A jest, but only in the way it's delivered. ]
Alright. [ There's no fuss as he steps a little more into a brighter spot, making it easier to see. The harness of his shoulder holster is undone, and gravity tilts the gun there downwards. Gingerly, he tugs the hem of his shirt up, trying not to wince when he raises his arms. His left side has a bruise blossoming in ugly purples, over his ribs. It hasn't been that much more difficult to breathe, but it's been distinctly uncomfortable (blame it on the high pain tolerance). ]
no subject
Not my first choice for a knight in shining armor, but you'll have to do. [Also a joke, mostly. He doesn't particularly like the idea of being a damsel in distress.] Now hold still.
[Because he's pressing gently, palm along the edge of the bruises he can see, checking first for cracked or broken ribs. He tries to make it as quick and painless as he can, but he isn't hesitant either, even where the bruise is darkest (especially there). His touch is efficient, steady, and practiced, even in the low light of the forest.]
no subject
I'd be offended, but I don't think I'd choose myself as a knight either. [ He shoots the mage a quick smile and listens to his request. Staying still seems like a good idea, in any case. For the past few hours, he's been in motion of some sort. Of course, he tries not to flinch when the other man starts pressing on the bruised area. For the most part, he's successful, except for when there's a push against the darkest portion and he lets out a soft hiss. If it's not cracked, he'll be surprised. ]
no subject
His hands light, the faint white-blue glow of his magic illuminating the patch of clearing they're standing in, casting strange shadows across the angles of his face. His brows knit in concentration, and he carefully patches broken capillaries, wipes the bruise away from the outside in, lingering finally on that last, stubborn patch. It takes him longer to repair the fractured bone, but he's careful, methodical, and he manages it.
When he's finished, he lays his hand flat against where the bruise used to be, ostensibly to check to make sure November's ribs are all where they should be.]
Good as new. It would have been a mess to try and walk with that for too long. Maybe you're lucky you bumped into me.
no subject
His expression is something familiar– brows furrowed as he focuses. The bruising fades away and the relief washes through him as the pain subsides, replaced by a strange tingling feeling (like new skin after a scar heals). That is only intensified as Anders lays his hand over the spot, the contact slightly unexpected but not unwelcome. ]
I've done worse. [ Bullet wounds are the worst. ] All the same, I am thankful. [ He means it. And his smile might even be a little genuine. ]
no subject
[He's learned to look for small things like this, evidence of the warmth he knows is buried deep under the surface. He wants to hold on to these little flickers, draw them out as frequently as he can.
It makes the smile easy to return.
—Then he clears his throat, and steps back.]
We should probably keep moving. I have a bone to pick with certain people back at camp, and I don't intend to die before I get the chance.
no subject
Do you now? What sort of bone– don't tell me you're going to mother hen them.
[ It's teasing as he steps in the direction they're supposed to be headed. ]
i was here the whole time
[With dry humor, as he pushes branches up and over his head. He's in survival mode right now, but the anger prickles beneath the surface, simmers until its ready to boil over.
He wants explanations.]
Some of those mother hens know just how to show you what they think of you interfering with their business. I don't think the comparison is too far off, in that respect.
were you though
So you're going to peck them to death, is what you're saying?
[ It's a humorous jab, even though he can see the anger etched in Anders' face. The emotion draws his browline down, lips pinches in a disapproving way. He knows he can't make the other man lighten up completely, but he can provide some relief from the spiraling fury he's seen the other slip into, internally. ]