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 Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:45 pm
Poe's hand twitched as he stirred awake at Wander's voice, her hand on his head touching him gently. His eyes opened before he screwed them shut again, sucking air in his teeth in pain at the bright lights. "Wander... are, did, what," he murmured, confused. He tried to clench his hands shut, finding his prosthetic didn't respond. He moved his hand over his eyes, pulling himself to a sitting position, leaning forward as he pulled his knees up, curled in on himself. His breath was shallow, near to hyperventilating, bloodpusher pounding.
"I can't, are you, I can't, Wan, I don't, I, did you," his hand went slack at his side as Poe continued to incoherently begin sentences. He wasn't processing, between the recent events, his own injuries, his overstimulation. His leg nerve was distracting him, his head was pounding and he felt like there was no air left in the ice cream shop. His body wasn't working. He couldn't protect his flock, his Wander.
"Wander..." he cried, pitifully.
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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 2:01 pm
"Poe!" Awake, but not okay. Wander had never seen him like this, as far as she knew. The Mahmud thing had been rough, but that didn't involve physical assault or lost limbs.
He sat up on his own, at least. That was a start...
Wander kept petting his hair. "I'm here. I-I'm here, i-it's going t-to be okay. Just b-breathe for me... W-we're s-s-still in the ice c-cream place... I m-made the bad things stop. Here..." She fussed a little with the goggles in his hair, and pulled it over his eyes. Those usually helped when he wasn't feeling good, right?
Getting home would be rough, but he wouldn't be alone. "I'm s-s-sorry about your l-leg a-and your a-arm... I...I w-wasn't fast enough."
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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 4:53 pm
Poe didn't often get so overstimulated that he ended up in such a state, curled in on himself and struggling to put anything coherent together. It had happened before, of course, but he tried to hide these weaker parts of himself from his younger friend, determined to let her know he could take care of her and keep her safe. He didn't want to let her down, for her to stop trusting him. He was afraid...
He nodded silently. Wander was there. Just breathe. Ice cream place. Bad things stopped. Wander put his goggles over his eyes and the dark shielding his eyes helped. It was so bright in here, he thought. It made his head hurt and his thoughts feel fuzzy. He didn't like the light. He exhaled. He needed to focus. Poe let his attention focus on Wander's hands, the softness of her petting him, almost the way he would let his fingers run over his lusus' wool. Comforting, rhythmic motions. His tears subsided.
Poe lifted his head and looked down at his leg, in shambles. His nerves going haywire from a damaged connection, he reached down to detach the offending wires, inhaling sharply. It was better to be numb for that, at least until he could get back to their hives to fix it. His other hand was useless too, but it didn't hurt at least. "Wander, it's, it's okay, I can, I can be this way and, be fine with it," he managed finally. "You, um, wow, you got..." he looked over at the robber, glancing back quickly. "You got, a hold of this, didn't you?"
She didn't need him. She wasn't the same helpless little girl he had known, not the same girl who cried on the floor of a shopping mall while he kneeled down and comforted her. Instead, he was the one crying and in need of her comfort and guidance and protection. How could he underestimate her so, when he called her his friend? His special friend. His... He reached his hand toward her, to hold her hand. "Wander..."
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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 6:01 pm
The orangeblood looked around again, then nodded, chewing on her lip. "Mhm..." Somehow she had achieved some level of damage control. Having Poe there, someone to protect...it stirred something in her. She didn't hesitate. Didn't doubt. Just did. And that's the kind of troll she wanted to be. Hard to believe that she could be that troll, for even just a moment.
"Y-you should've w-waited for me," Wander said in a light scold. "I can h-help. You need t-to let me help..." She took his hand. "I c-can do that now. I want to k-keep you s-safe, Poepoe..."
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Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 7:23 am
Poe squeezed her hand, shaking his head. He didn't regret attacking on his own. He knows he had done the right thing trying to protect her, even if he was hurt. "You shouldn't need to keep me safe, I should, I should be able to do that all on my own, so you don't, have to worry about me... I have parts that can break." He turned her hand over, rubbing his thumb along her soft skin. She seemed so fragile. Stuttering even now, biting her lip. What would happen if her hands were broken, if the paper had wrapped around her? If she was attacked, concussed. If he could do nothing to help her... He looked down at the ground. "I don't want you to break. To be, hurt, or, worse..."
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Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 8:07 pm
Wander grit her teeth, starting to shake a little. He wouldn't relent, even while being the one on the floor, the dummy. "No! Th-that's not fair! Y-y-you can't d-decide something like that for me, P-Poe. You're b-b-broken, and h-hurt, a-a-and if I c-couldn't take care of myself when you went down, th-then what?" she snapped. Right after, she reaized her tone. Her anger. That wasn't nice. Wander sighed.
"I'm sorry. I'm n-not being fair either, I th-think. But... I-If we work together, w-we'll both be okay. A-and sometimes...I-I m-might have to be the one t-to take point. And I-I think that sh-should be okay. Y-You've taken r-really good care of me, Poe! I l-love you l-lots, and it k-kills me to see you hurt. I d-don't want you to get a-all banged u-up for me i-if you don't have to. It just...i-it just makes me feel worse, s-seeing you like this b-because I c-couldn't stop it."
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 5:01 pm
Poe flinched at Wander's words. Harsh but not undeserved, especially when he thought about them for even a moment it became obvious. She wasn't the helpless little girl. It wasn't right of him to force her into the roles he needed, to make her be helpless in order to feel validated as her protector. And who had he protected that truly needed him? What sacrifice had he made with a lasting impact? And if he had gotten hurt and Wander hadn't been able to defend herself, his vain sacrifice would only make her worse off, not better.
His eyes wandered to the ground, hand tensing as he seemed to be processing what she said. "I, um. I love you too. But, wow... yeah. You're right," he said quietly. He was putting so much on her, things she didn't deserve and didn't ask for. She wasn't his to use that way. "I think, that, I would rather have you at my side than behind me, actually."
He looked up at her again, giving her a small smile.
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 7:41 pm
Wander's pumpbiscuit fluttered, and she hugged him. Clung, really. She didn't expect to get through to him, but she did. And that meant so, so much. "Th-thank you, Poe," she mumbled into his shirt.
A moment later, she pulled herself back. They still had to get out of there... She looked around to see what the current situation was.
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 2:40 pm
It only took one cursory glance to tell that I.C. Licks was emptier than it had been before the scuffle. A large handful of patrons had booked it as soon as things calmed down, some because they were genuinely afraid and others because they didn't want to deal with talking to the drones that were surely on their way. In fact, both front-end employees had run out to alert the authorities, while the yellowblood who'd been in the back the entire time finally showed his face behind the counter and looked considerably ruffled. The drones, at least, had managed to catch the would-be thief in an alley nearby. They had him handcuffed and back outside the store where a small group of drones had gathered and were speaking with the redblooded employee to the left of the door and the tealblooded employee to the right. The thief, meanwhile, had his hood pulled back up to obscure his mutilated face and his shoulders were notably shaking. Copper colored blood had soaked into the fabric near his collar and all down the front of his hoodie, making him look like quite the mess.
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 5:33 pm
Poe liked the pressure of Wander, tight against him. It was comforting, and god he could use the pressure right now, to wind himself back in and keep his senses. He couldn't ask her to stay like that, though. Not when things were... like this. He looked around, and leaned back close to her. "The-the authorities, are gonna come, soon, so..."
Poe reached to try and pick up what chunks of his leg he could get, putting metal bits and screws into his many pockets. Couldn't grab it all, and it would suck to try and replace it with his limited resources. He groaned a little. His dart was around here somewhere, too... "We, probably don't want to be here much longer, you know," he muttered. Even if he was cleared, and Wander wasn't registered in the first place, they were rebels. It wouldn't do to talk to them, or get interrogated. Even for this.
He tried to stand, grunting a little. He wished he had his shears with him, he could have used that to get himself up. "Wander, can you help me get up?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 5:48 pm
She didn't think about their time window until Poeias mentioned it. Now she felt it like a heavy burden. And he still needed help.
"Um... Y-yeah." Wander had never had to help Poe up without a leg before, so it frazzled her for a moment. She had to figure out how to get him up, stay up, and move along. That was a lot in the moment, with everything else going on.
"Okay, um..." She couldn't pull him up by the one hand, or expect him to hop along...
After a moment, she hesitantly tried the one idea that made sense to her. Wander had one of Poe's arms go over her shoulder, while her own other arm went around his side. With him poised to lean on her, she got up. It would still be awkward with only his one leg, but her own legs would well make up for it, right?
"W-will this work?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 6:07 pm
Poeias leaned on Wander, the weight awkward on his one leg. He held on, nodding beneath his darkened goggles. He could do this. If they just got far enough away they could figure out a longer-term solution until they got to the swamp, since he couldn't ask her to carry him all the way there. "Yeah, this is good," he said.
Although... he felt suddenly, that if he had asked her, she would. If he asked her to carry him further, or even to hold him tight, compressing his body until he felt normal again, she would. He could rely on her that way, the same as he could trust her to protect him when he was unconscious. He hopped lightly, weight on Wander as he moved his leg. It took a few seconds, but he was in a groove soon enough.
They worked well together, like two parts of a machine, gearing into one another to move them perpetually. At that thought, he flushed green, just slightly. She was really more than a friend to him. His special friend, who he was sure he'd protect always. He was glad to have her at his side, literally and figuratively. "Okay, you good?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 6:35 pm
"Mhm..." She needed to be, so it was going to be so. The height difference wasn't too bad anymore. Wander pushed forward, though it took a few steps to adjust. But she could do it, and that's what mattered. They came out of a bad episode in relatively good shape, and she was the one to take point. Both to defend them, and to get Poe to safety now. She wasn't a child anymore, and she made Poe understand that.
Wander was capable. Something that almost terrified her with how unbelievable it was. But she would have to keep pushing, and prove to herself that she wasn't just a load for her friends to deal with.
They left the establishment, together. Wander looked over at the aftermath. The robber lost plenty of blood from her own hand, and looked worse for wear considering his demeanor. The Outside system likely wouldn't be kind to him, someone the same hue as hers. But he made his choices, and she had to make her own. And she would protect her own every time.
Wander turned her attention to the path again and continued on. Soon they would be home.
Soon they would be safe.
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