[PRP] Unjust Virulence (Ganyma + Rasali)

[Sypon]

Friends become closer after reuniting under urgent circumstances.

 

[Sypon]

Ganyma staggered through the woods. His wounds were closing at a decent rate, but he was entirely doused in teal. For a battle he'd emerged victorious from, it seemed unfairly bloodless for the other party. Kursha had taken a severe beating at his hands, but Ganyma didn't think twice about it: he would have been dead if not for his powers. They were unmistakably a god-send. He closed one eye, then the other, to keep from his vision becoming overwhelmed with twisting shapes and teal auras as he walked through the underbrush. If he was any deeper in the woods, he might have been mistaken for a victim of the hunting games. A disturbing thought.

Heavy breaths accompanied Ganyma's trek. Counting his inhales and exhales kept him grounded and distracted until - after what seemed like sweeps - Rasali's hive came into view. Ganyma gasped and rubbed the wetness from his eyes. If she wasn't home, he wasn't sure what he'd do. Break in, probably. Use her recuperacoon. It might look like a murder scene but it would be better than actually being a murder scene if he didn't let himself in in time.

Ganyma gave a rapid knock on her door. His voice was hoarse, and he found himself loudly clearing his throat of blood before he could announce his presence. "R-Rasali! It's Ganyma. Don't panic or anythin'.... But I need your help..."  

[seekingCylem]

Rasali leaned forward with interest. This season of Alternia’s Got Talent was absolutely wild. There had already been three separate knife-throwing accidents and it was only the auditions. Rasali’s long-cold tea sloshed in her mug as she repositioned herself in the pillow pile. This next participant brought a jug of kerosene...!

”…ali! …panic or any… -our help!”

Rasali paused her shifting. That didn’t sound like it was coming from the TV. She turned down the volume just in time to hear several rapid knocks on her door. Rasali jumped to her feet, catching her tea as it leapt out of its container. All but tossing it onto the table, Rasali rushed to the door. Was that..?

The door slid open with enough force to cause Rasali’s hair to billow. She didn’t have enough time to process the situation beyond the fear rising in her bile sac. Ganyma wasn’t the type to drop by unannounced without good reason, and never in such a state. Rasali sidestepped out of the doorway and hovered her hands over Ganyma’s shoulder to guide him into her hive. He was dotted in splotches of dried blood and clearly unsteady on his feet. Rasali wasn’t sure if she could catch him if he fell, but she was certainly going to try.

”G-Ganyma! What..! What…!?” Rasali struggled between trying to ask Ganyma and trying to deduce for herself what had happened as she led Ganyma over to the pillow pile. Exhausted and bloody as he was, Rasali couldn’t see any wounds on him beyond an array of scars in various stages of healing. They were all too far along in the process to have been the cause of such… this.  

[Sypon]

"S-Sorry..." Ganyma sputtered. He lurched into her hive. He reached up to his shoulder - the first zone of the shooting - and realized the sting of the bullet was still present. The others were through and through, and had since healed. He winced. As he was led into her small studio, he almost collapsed into her pillow pile.

"Sorry for intruding... I need... Washcloth, please..." He mumbled. Ganyma took a knee and held onto his shoulder. His senses were shot since the battle. But he had one last push in him. Ganyma focused. His energy was grounded in the floorboards, and soon he began to focus all of his pain onto his shoulder. His limbs felt fuzzy; arms losing sensation. It was not an elegant or painless process. Ganyma grunted. He was trying to control his breathing with very little result. The pain was too great. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and a few deadly minutes passed before his shoulder was isolated. And then, his muscles twitched. Ganyma roared with pain as he flexed his upper body, feeling the twisting of his muscles forming new layers as a protective surface and pushing out the shrapnel. The torturous process came to pass in the warping of his skin, and a moment later the deadly metal head of the bullet pierced through and clattered onto the ground.

Ganyma sighed and closed his eyes. He nearly lost consciousness then and there, but braced himself with his arm before sinking into a wriggler position on the ground. "I wasn't... Planning on showing you like this..." Ganyma muttered. He didn't have the energy to roll onto his back to look at her. "But I'll explain... In a bit..."

He faded in and out for a while, allowing his breathing to stabilize while counting each inhale and exhale.  

[seekingCylem]

With Ganyma on the floor, Rasali knew she wouldn’t have any luck moving him closer to the pillows on her own. She was already switching gears to injury maintenance. Grabbing a stack of clean towels, Rasali swiped the hot water from the stove. She’d be a disgrace to her symbol if she couldn’t provide her friend with this much.

She would have berated Ganyma for apologizing so much, but if it provided a distraction from whatever he was going through, she wasn’t about to complain.

She tore back from the nutritionblock end of her hive only to encounter Ganyma keeled over in pain and concentration. ”What do you think you’re-!” This was hardly the time for Ganyma to do anything but sit back and let Rasali take care of the problem!

And then the bullet fell out of Ganyma’s shoulder. Ganyma finally toppled onto his side and Rasali rushed over, eyeing the lone bullet with fear and disbelief. She avoided the piece of metal like it was cursed and set to work examining the hole it came from.

There was no hole. Rasali had seen the bullet fall out with her own two eyes. She poured hot water on one of the towels and wiped the blood away as quickly and gingerly as she could muster. Beneath the dried blood smears was a scar. She hadn’t imagined the bullet wound. There was a bullet and an injury to show for it, if Ganyma’s moans of pain weren’t any indication. The scar was far too shallow, too smooth for the timeline of the wound. It seemed to be subtly fading away even as Rasali watched. She blinked her eyes to clear them.

Ganyma was mumbling. Show her? So Ganyma knew what this was all about. Rasali huffed both in affirmation and in annoyance at her ignorance. Her irritation could wait. Rasali worked on cleaning the rest of the blood. Like before there were only scars, if that. The scenario was clear: Ganyma had been grievously wounded and then recovered miraculously.

Miraculously was perhaps too strong of a word for something that caused so much pain. Rasali glowered in thought as she pulled Ganyma’s shirt out of the way of her towel. ”What the hell were you doing in the woods, Ganyma,” she muttered, more to herself than her patient. The woods were dangerous. That was practically the first thing her lusus had taught her once the carpenter drones left. Familiar as she was with the land, Rasali knew to keep to her own territory. She’d heard distance pops of gunfire from her hive on more than a few occasions. What business did city-boy Ganyma have stomping through such unforgiving terrain? Rasali had little trust in sweet, gentle, simple Ganyma, but even less so in the hunters. Like she didn’t have reason enough not to bludgeon any marksman unfortunate enough to stray onto her land.

”Tell me who did this, Ganyma. I’ll kill them. I swear it.” The sentiment was probably meant to make Rasali feel better moreso than Ganyma.  

[Sypon]

Ganyma moaned as Rasali cleaned him up. He shuddered and curled up on the ground. He was so cold. Rasali's words echoed faintly in his head, and he didn't quite understand them.

Rasali couldn't kill Kursha. That would be what Kursha would do. Ganyma wrapped his arms around himself and dry heaved, wheezing thin threads of teal as he exhaled.

"I went to meet with... A friend from before OHC. We were on different sides. I wanted to make sure she was okay after I got back... From rehab. I had left the rebel forces... I couldn't handle it. One of 'em set me up to die. Tracked me down... Threatened to shoot her, too, if I didn't take the bait and fight back..."

He winced. Ganyma shivered and tensed against the feeling of his bloodsoaked clothing.

"May I have... A blanket...? And some clothes?" He requested. "Please?"  

[seekingCylem]

Ganyma was mostly cleaned up. What blood remained had soaked into his clothes. Those would have to go. Rasali tossed the towels aside and hurried off to gather some spare clothes while Ganyma curled in on himself. Thankfully Rasali’s wardrobe was one-size-fits-all. She pulled out a tank top and a pair of sweats. When she returned, Ganyma was talking again. She dropped the clothes down beside him and leaned in to listen properly.

Old Hemisect. Different sides. Rasali felt her stomach drop. She knew exactly what Ganyma was referring to. She didn’t know he was there. They were on the same side, no less. Soon enough Rasali was also shaking as she processed Ganyma’s words.

”A-And you fought back? You… You won, right?” Priorities, Rasali! She cursed internally and set to work easing Ganyma out of his blood and sweat-soaked clothes. His muscles were way too tensed to make the job easy. Rasali gnawed her lip as she strained to remain slow and gentle in her ministrations.

Ganyma was in Old Hemisect during the battles. The memories kept Rasali up during the day. Knowing her friend was traumatized enough to straight up leave killed her. Her lovely Ganyma had even managed to make enemies in the process. Enemies that clearly tried to take his life and threatened his friends. Rasali wouldn’t tolerate such things.

Ganyma’s request for a blanket snapped Rasali from her anger. She had more important things to be doing and getting pissed wouldn’t help her with any of them. She murmured an apology and pulled a blanket and several pillows from the nearby pile. She arranged the pillows under Ganyma’s head and tucked the blanket under his arms.

”But you’re okay.” Rasali breathed, trying to reassure the both of them. She didn’t know what the deal was with Ganyma’s powers, but she was incredibly grateful for them. Without Ganyma’s regeneration, he would have likely died in the woods back there and Rasali would have been none the wiser. Somehow the thoughts were more distressing than reassuring. Rasali felt her chin wobble.  

[Sypon]

Ganyma sniffed and felt an icy sting in the base of his node and mouth. "You shoulda seen the other guy," He choked wryly. The fabric being lifted off of his chest and legs felt like peeling off a second skin, and his exposed body tingled in the open air. He wiped himself off with as much energy as he could muster and settled into Rasali's clothes, cinching up the large pair of sweats around his waist in a fuzzy daze.

He tucked himself into the blanket with another shiver. The covering was welcome, but in his state felt rough and cold. He balled himself up and felt the residual twitches of his muscles clamping and spreading vibrations throughout his body. Breathe, Ganyma.

The tealblood closed his eyes and committed to regulating his breathing. His head sunk against the pillow. With deep, steady breaths, the tension in his body began to dissolve little by little and his regeneration waned to a complete exhausted stop. Ganyma took hold of Rasali's hand in his own.  

[seekingCylem]

Rasali breathed cool, narrow breaths in and out through her nose. She wasn’t about to be the first one to crack, and Ganyma was handling the situation with admirable aplomb considering all of the bullet holes. Rasali wondered if there were even more that had healed up prior to Ganyma’s arrival.

Rasali was broken from her seething as Ganyma shifted and grabbed her hand. Rasali did her best to stretch her fingers over Ganyma’s wide palm and squeezed reassuringly. He was going to be okay—physically at least. It was still a little early to tell how much trauma was physical versus emotional. What the hell had happened?

”Hey, hey, hey…” Rasali whispered soothingly as she used her free hand to stroke the top of Ganyma’s. ”I have pain meds… Do you need those?”

Ganyma appeared to be finally loosening up, but Rasali was still anxious to be doing something. Sitting still and watching Ganyma twitch exhaustedly was only winding Rasali tighter. She was more than willing to hold true to her promise and kill the one responsible for this mess. Ganyma may have abandoned the rebel cause, but… but she knew Ganyma! He would never do anything to jeopardize the Initiative, much less anything that would warrant this. Rasali was sure of it. Such underhanded tactics weren’t what the rebellion stood for. No rebellion Rasali would stand for, at least.

Rasali huffed indignantly.

”I guess I can’t be surprised the Phoenix Initiative would be bitter about their loss… But to pull such a short-sighted, asinine stunt on one man… I don’t get it.”

At this point, Rasali was mostly whispering to herself—trying to talk herself down from the edge. The more she dwelled on it, however, the more confounded she became. Did Ganyma need some tea? Rasali needed some tea.  

[Sypon]

Rasali’s hand on Ganyma’s felt nice. She was very soft. Ganyma’s eyes squeezed shut as he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, threatening his consciousness. Focusing on his breathing, Ganyma tried to relax his eyelids. “Yes, sure, please,” Ganyma mumbled. He wasn’t sure at this point which word would get him the drugs fastest, but he smiled in her general direction nonetheless.

After everything that had happened, Rasali was there. She was his support. Even if he couldn’t trust Luxara to stay away from Kursha, or trust… Well… Anyone else. He was lucky. So lucky that she was here. Ganyma kept smiling. His hearing and concentration were worse for wear, and as he faded in and out Ganyma focused on the feeling of Rasali’s hands around his.

“I’m lucky I have you…” Ganyma mumbled. He brought her hands to his lips and gave them a peck, relaxing his own on his slowly rising and falling chest. The sight behind his eyelids was static, and the sensation in his skin tingled in thick cold waves. He curled himself up in the blanket, trying to drink in its warmth with a small shudder.  

[seekingCylem]

Rasali nodded curtly and began to gently prize her fingers from Ganyma’s hand so as to retrieve the pain meds. Ganyma stopped her briefly by tugging on her fingers, bringing her hands up to his mouth for a feather-light kiss. Rasali’s bloodpusher jumped up into her throat so fast it almost dislodged a few tears. How could anyone hurt Ganyma!? Ganyma was a good man and anyone who’d purposely try to hurt him was obviously bad. Rasali squeezed Ganyma’s hand in solidarity and stood to go fetch him some pills.

She wobbled a little upon standing, having just come from kneeling tensely on the hardwood. It was only a few quick steps to the nutritionblock. Rasali rummaged through several of the cabinets, pulling down a container of pills and a glass. Rasali filled the glass under the tap and did the same to the kettle sitting near her arm. Rasali flipped the burner under the kettle on and took a moment to breathe through her nose and grip the edges of the sink. As soon as she was composed, Rasali returned to Ganyma’s side.

Rasali set the glass of water down beside Ganyma’s head as she fiddled with the lusus-proof cap on the bottle of pain medication.

”Here you go,” Rasali murmured as the lid finally popped off the plastic bottle. She shook out a couple of pills and replaced the cap. Ganyma was a big man after all. She took one of his hands and gingerly placed the pills in his palm before offering the glass of water. ”We’re gonna get these into you and then get you into the recuperacoon.” Rasali left no room for argument. It would be a tight fit for the both of them in Rasali’s recuperacoon, but like hell was she going to let her dearest friend suffer day terrors after whatever night he’d just had.  

[Sypon]

((omg lusus proof cap))

Ganyma squinted an eye as he handled the pills, popping them into his mouth. He took Rasali's glass and downed the medicine, breathing a sigh of relief when the deed was done. He didn't acknowledge Rasali's demands, but rather began to haul himself off of the floor. With his better arm, Ganyma grunted to a sitting position. He was still squinting. Being vertical was hard.

Ganyma wrapped the blanket around him, suddenly disoriented. At last, he tipped himself forward and put his legs underneath him. "Coon... Coon..." He was looking around for the recuperacoon, vision staticky and state of mind drifting here and there. "Rasali?"  

[seekingCylem]

”Wh-Whoa there buddy…” Rasali scooted around Ganyma as he shifted and rolled onto his knees. ”Hold your hoofbeasts; Lemme help.” Rasali scrambled to grab Ganyma under his shoulder before he could topple over. ”If I can dance in wheeled shoes, I have the coordination to get the both of us to my recuperacoon, so hold tight.” Rasali slung Ganyma’s arm over her shoulders and heaved upward.

Ganyma was about as tall as her, but almost twice as broad (in the chest, at least). Rasali half-walked, half-dragged Ganyma to the far end of her hive where her recuperacoon sat. The raised platform her designated respite space sat on would prove something of an issue, but Rasali was more concerned with how she was going to get Ganyma into the top of the recuperacoon without, like… throwing him in.

”This might hurt some…” Rasali preemptively winced as she brought Ganyma’s torso to the edge of the recuperacoon and lowered him onto it. Carefully, Rasali slipped out from under Ganyma’s weight, took hold of his legs, and boosted him the rest of the way into the recuperacoon with a dull splash.

”Sorrysorrysorry,” Rasali whispered as she hurriedly made sure Ganyma didn’t land on his arm in a weird way. At least he was in and thoroughly doused in the restorative sopor slime. Rasali heaved a ragged sigh. ”You doin’ okay? I can turn up the temperature if you want.”  

[Sypon]

Everything went fuzzy. Ganyma wouldn’t remember later what had gone on between him getting up and getting into the recuperacoon, except for the bizarre sensation of slipping down something slick.

“HH-UUghH—fffhuhhhhh….” Ganyma burbled as he dropped nearly face-first into the slime. There was a definite, resounding groan as the massive tealblood squished slowly from gravity into the slime, and after Ganyma had shifted just enough to be somewhat less neck-tweaking and arm-stabbing he let out a long exhale.

“Nnnnahhhh…” Ganyma mumbled. Moments later, he was fast asleep.  

[seekingCylem]

And Ganyma was down for the count. Rasali wiped her forearm across her face, leaving her bangs sticking up at an odd angle from the sweat that had accrued during the whole stressful endeavor. Rasali was breathing exclusively in sighs at this point. She shuffled back to the nutritionblock end of her hive to switch off the kettle before the whistling could begin. Sluggishly, Rasali poured herself a mug of hot water and plunked in a tea bag. She leaned back against the sink with her beverage, both too anxious to sit and too afraid that if she did, she’d fall asleep from exhaustion.

”What the hell…” Rasali whispered into her tea, blowing off the steam. What the hell had just happened, indeed. There was no doubt in her mind that Ganyma was going to tell her everything in the morning. The bullet wounds, the healing powers, the rebel hit placed on him, apparently!? Rasali wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Ganyma was a terrible secret-keeper and Rasali wasn’t about to let him start now.

Rasali tossed back her entire mug of tea and clonked it down in the sink with a hiss. God, she shouldn’t have done that. Still chamomile was chamomile, and it was time for Rasali to get some shut-eye.