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 Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 3:46 pm
Quote: Being bitten by a giant spider is uncomfortable enough, but worse than the sharp pain you feel on impact are the linger effects of the bite. Being bitten can cause nausea, dizziness, fatigue and hallucinations. These symptoms can begin immediately after being bitten or can manifest up to a few hours after the toxins are introduced to the bloodstream. These symptoms may only last for a few hours—or up to 72 hours. You, or someone you know, has the misfortune of being bitten; no medicine seems to help this ailment, so you’re stuck weathering this one out on your own.
If those spiders had been youma, he was going to kill whatever agent unleashed them without warning the rest of the agents at the ******** Gardens. Jericho gagged as he forced himself to chug down more water, his stomach rolling uncomfortably. Melinda and David were out, and he'd taken advantage of it to crash down in the living room on the large plush sofa, giving Lace free use of his room without him freaking her out by getting sick around her.
Dizziness, nausea, fatigue... he'd already heard around online that people bitten by those ******** spiders were getting hit with some kind of illness. He'd been lucky enough to get a bite. Hadn't gotten the hallucinations bit at least. Yet. It was another reason he was down on the ground floor, trying to keep the kitten occupied with copious amounts of candy back upstairs where she'd not be at risk if that part of the condition set in and turned him hostile. Rather not mistake her for one of those spiders or something, worse case being his luck.
The TV was a low hum in the background, large plasma screen up on the wall above the fireplace he'd coaxed into cooperating for a while. Some documentary about the history of Halloween played, with commercials promoting upcoming episodes of ghost hunting groups and even amateur groups looking into the happenings around the city. That'd at least gotten a small laugh out of the young man sprawled along the beige sofa, grey sweatpants and black tee shirt only occasionally visible as he fought here and there with the heavy cream down comforter he'd dragged down from a storage closet. One moment he was too cold, the next too hot, the next not comfortable, the next smothered by too much fluff above and below him...
He couldn't sit--or lay--still.
Now and then he tossed out a few texts from his phone, or took a few gulps of the jug of water he'd wobbled out to fill and carry back. A plastic bag lined bin sat beside him in glum waiting. Propped up by the far arm of the sofa was his leg that'd been caught, right ankle bandaged roughly and aching. He was at least pretty sure he'd disinfected it properly, though after the dizziness and nausea set in he'd given up trying to do a clean, proper bandage replacement.
Hell. He wasn't even entirely sure what he was texting to people, never mind the status of his injury or the consideration of maybe trying to eat something. Of course, with how his stomach threatened to protest from just water...
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 7:27 pm
She had texted him multiple times and wasn't happy at the rate he's respond to her with. Cass was a woman who was used to getting what she wanted and when she didn't get her way she took matters into her own hands. In this particular instance, the dancer had decided that it had been too long since she'd seen her favorite tall boy and that was unacceptable. Once she had learned that he was home, she had made her decision and headed straight for his place.
[Text to Jer: I'm coming over. ]
That was the only warning Jericho would receive and if he didn't check his phone, when she arrived fifteen minutes later, he would be treated to the sound of soft knocking followed by the ringing of the doorbell. When he made it to the door, he would be treated to the sight of one Cassadega Bright. Her hair fell across one side in it's usual flippant fashion and her tank top was sheer, bright green sports bra visible beneath the fabric despite the dark jacket she had pulled on. Her shorts were, despite the colder weather, predictably short and sheer tights covered her legs from some of the cold.
While she waited for him, she toyed with her lip ring, silver sliding this way and that while her hands were stuffed in her jacket pockets. Unable to stand still she keep shifting from foot to foot.
"Come on Jer, I miss you," she grumbled, glaring at the door like it would make him answer sooner.
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Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 2:36 pm
He thought he'd been doing well to keep tabs on his phone. That is, actually somewhat registering what was being said, and maybe making some level of sense in his responses. But his grasp on reality was clearly slipping, for he'd missed the warning entirely before the tapping on the door roused him somewhat from where he'd attempted to rest. He'd originally only given a dismissive snort, not remotely interested in getting up to answer for what he presumed to be a neighbor, or delivery, or salesperson... even the ringing doorbell was met with disinterest.
It wasn't until he did check his phone that he clambered to his feet, cussing after he'd checked the time the message was sent, versus the current time, and his groggy brain matched up the difference and probabilities.
Leaving the comforter on the sofa, he made his way through the dining room and foyer to the door, grumbling as he fought longer than should ever be necessary with the locks before he could finally pry the thing open. Not even all the way open, at that. Just enough to lean against the doorframe to take the weight off his injured ankle and see her, and make it presumably clear he wasn't keen on visitors. His complexion held a bit of a paler tinge to it, perhaps even a bit of that green-grey of exhaustion and general illness, white-blue eyes glassy as he gazed down at Cass. "I'll pay for you to get a cab back home, or wherever you'd prefer to go," he grumbled, already pulling up a taxi app on his phone, by way of vague greeting. "Did you hear what happened with the Botanical Garden? Giant spiders, one of them bit me. Word going around is there's a bit of an illness associated with the bite, riding it out right now. I'll not be much for company till it's passed."
His gaze did pull from the screen to her attire, a little of the sluggish gloom of sickness easing from his eyes as he took in the sight of her, trailing along the length and curves of her legs, taking in each patch of skin bared by sheer cloth and accented by bright neon green. It'd been a while, and he'd not deny that he'd missed Cass. But having her hang around while he puked his guts out would hardly be anything he'd ask of her--she'd be bored, he'd be miserable.
"Sight of you is nearly enough to bring the dead back to life," he offered on a huff. It was all that it could be called, the mix of a grumbled grunt and wistful sigh. He elbowed he door open a bit further though, stepping back a bit inside. "Where to? You can wait in here if you'd prefer. Whatever this is, it isn't contagious beyond the bite, but the side-effects are similar to a flu or heavy stomach bug."
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Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 4:38 pm
Jericho was taking forever to answer the door and Cass was about ready to ring his doorbell repeatedly until he had no choice but to get up from whatever he was doing. When he finally opened up, he didn't even say hello. Instead he told her that he didn't want to see her.
Well, not outright, but when he told her that he would get her a cab the smile that began to spread across her lips fell and her arms folded across her chest, every ounce of her posture on the defensive.
"Excuse you?" One brow arched and her eyes narrowed when she stepped forward. "I don't get a hey Cass, I missed you? Instead you're...shooing me away like I'm some unwanted visitor?" Irritation settled beneath her skin and she tossed her hair back over her shoulder, hand coming to push against the door.
"That's not how this works Jericho, you don't get to send me off when I want to see you. It's been weeks. I don't care if you're sick. I'm staying." She had come over to see him and while anything fun might have been off the table, it didn't mean she didn't want to spend time with him. At this point, it didn't matter that he was half inviting her inside because she was ready to shove her way in if she needed to.
"You're not sending me away, I don't care if you're sick. I want to spend time with you."
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Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 12:18 pm
That wasn't the response he'd been anticipating. In retrospect, it was the one he should have expected if he was thinking properly and didn't have cobwebs in his skull where his brain should be. "I said it was good to see you," he growled indignantly as the firefly of a woman bristled and snapped at him. "I said you looked good, or are comments about bringing the dead back to life no longer applicable as compliments?" Though he huffed and gruffed, Jericho clicked out of the taxi app on his phone, shoving it into his pocket as he stood back further to fully invite her in.
"I am aware it's been weeks, Cass, but considering I've been puking my guts out and might hallucinate, I thought you would prefer to meet up once this s**t has passed. Clearly, I guessed wrong." His fingers ran through his rumbled hair, grumbling as he began to move away from the doorway and back en route to the living room from which he'd crawled out of. "You can stay as long as you want. I'm not going to turn you away if that's what you want." He had the respect for her to stop near the other doorway into the dining room and turn to look at her, not merely state the facts over his shoulder.
His first instinct was still to shoo her away out of concern that maybe this was contagious outside of the bites, and she could also get sick. Or perhaps, even worse, if hallucinations did hit, that he would lash out at her. Logic told him Cass was capable of fending for herself, especially counter to a guy as sick and out of it as he, but logic didn't have much of a place in the grand scheme when it came to the consideration that he might lose all reason and seek to harm her.
Hands rose up to rub his eyes and temples, feeling his stomach beginning to roll uncomfortably again. Was he admitting defeat against her? For the moment, yes. Why? First, he didn't want to piss Cass off further. Wouldn't bode well when he was well and of sounder mind. Second, snapping and snarling would likely only add stress to his body and worsen his condition. Not ideal for anyone at that point.
"I'm camped out in the living room if you'd be alright in there. Are you hungry at all or want a drink?" Disgruntled he might have been, ignoring her he was set to not do. If she wanted to spend time with him, the least he could do was try to ensure his attention remained focused on her as much as possible.
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Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 12:48 pm
Cass had her arms folded across her chest pouting up at the much taller man. Okay, so he had complimented her but it had been mostly ignored because she was frustrated that he was trying to shoo her away. "I came all the way out to see you," she said, softer this time and her hand had reached for him before he'd turned to make his way towards the living room. "I miss you okay?"
She hadn't moved far from the door and felt a little off-kilter after admitting that she was here because she missed him and meant it. It wasn't like most of her other flings or plaything whom she said she missed whenever she hit them up for playtime. She had genuinely missed Jericho.
"Don't try to turn this around on me," she snapped, gaze sharper and her frown more pronounced. "If I waited until you were 'better' it would probably be several more weeks with our schedules." Toying with her lip ring, Cass pushed strands of bright green from her face before striding after him. "Besides, someone oughta take care of your grumpy a**." Now she was smiling slightly, trying to make the best out of the situation.
"M'fine, you can be a good host for me when you're better, right now you're gonna let me take care of you okay?" Firm but gentle hands pushed him towards the couch he clearly had been laying upon before she showed up. "What the hell happened to you Jer?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 1:23 pm
The soft words had been enough to make him stop, staring in a small bit of bewilderment as her fingers snagged his own. Feelings weren't really something Jericho was great with. Normally, he'd high-tail it the ******** out of any situation where someone started getting sappy. It wasn't his deal, wasn't his ideal to grapple with. Feelings were sloppy and messy and insane and way too complicated even on a good day.
But his fingers gave hers a light squeeze, and the faint clenching in his chest was entirely unrelated to the illness passing through his systems. "I missed you, too, Cass." He didn't growl or grumble or huff. Though likely his voice could never lose the rough edge of its natural state, he still tried to ease it down a bit. Tried to be a little more... kind? Gentle? Soft? Things that weren't in his usual playbook.
He was never good at keeping the peace though, and snorted as she bit back at his presumptions. Cass never made it easy, did she? Jericho's pale gaze was nearly icy as he shot her a glare. Could never make it easy and just let him do what he knew was right. "I can start making more time in my schedule if you want me to," he gritted, arguing on principle more than anything else. Even when something inside him bristled and grumbled that she was right. It was why it'd already been weeks since he'd been able to see her even for a moment.
Of course he'd be sick when their schedules finally eased up enough.
A snort, a laugh, broke from him at her declaration. "Are you going to be playing nurse?" Jericho didn't attempt to hide his gaze as he glanced down at her, taking in her attire and picturing one of those... costumes on in place. It was enough to get a corner of his mouth turning up a little, at least. He strolled through the dining room and back to the living room, not fighting her motions to the couch. He moved the comforter a bit, collapsing into the plush with his back against the arm, one foot on the floor, and the other leg drawn up to sit sideways on the couch to face her and not take up all the sitting space. Arranging the blanket back around him, he shrugged somewhat to her question. "Like I said, spider bite from the Botanical Garden. You weren't at that mess, were you?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 2:21 pm
Reassurance was brief and Cass hadn't expected to feel relief when he responded but she did. In response, she squeezed back and was grateful that her pleased smile was hidden behind his back.
The sweet moment appeared to be short lived because Jericho was back to trying to argue with her and she rolled her eyes at him. "Alright, start making more time for me then." Her tone was dry and her free hand found her hip so she could look sassily at him. "Like, I can distract myself easy enough but it's not the same as being 'round you."
Cassadega Bright was not a gal who got turned down often, if ever, if she had anything to say about it.
"Come on Jer," she laughed, biting down on her lip as she took a seat on the bed where there was some space for her. Knuckles gently ran down the side of his face when she leaned closer. "Admit I'd be a really ******** hot nurse." If there was something Cass wasn't missing it was confidence.
"Nope, had a show that night, didn't bother with it." It sounded like that had been the best choice if the alternative was ending up sick as a dog as her boy. "Anyone else we know there?" Maybe she ought to check in on some of them.
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Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 3:07 pm
It was never easy to face the fact that he wasn't the only person in Cass' life, and the thundercloud rumble in his chest was a minor show of that displeasure. But he'd already figured out that if he tried to put her in a cage, she'd likely fight him at every turn, regardless of if that cage was made of steel or his arms. A nightingale, she made her own choices on where to perch. He had the distinct fortune of being someone she returned to, though. It's not the same as being 'round you. Even ill, his chin lifted a bit in relief, quieting a great portion of his disgruntled grumbles.
Cassadega came back to him on her own free will, of her own volition. His desire to keep her safe might be best shown in his preference to keep her close, keep her in that proverbial cage, but hell if he wasn't as equally aware of the sort of gift that choice was from her. "It'll happen then." His brows creased a bit as his throat cleared, and he forced out simple words he wasn't used to forming on his tongue or lips. "I'm sorry for not making time sooner, Cass. I should have."
On the couch, he made himself face her and not withdraw into a grumbling, prickly rock staring at the TV because he dared to let something like that slip out. Even his fevered skin that couldn't decide if it was too cold or too hot felt eased by the soft contact of her knuckles against his face, and a smile cracked as he eyed her. "You make anything ******** hot... but you'd definitely make people more enthusiastic about physicals."
It was starting to occur to him that having her there, even while sick, might not be the worst situation he could have gotten himself into.
His slightly addled mind had to pause and focus for a few moments as he thought back to that night. "Cabhan, but if he hasn't gotten sick yet he likely wasn't bitten." Cas would have known about that first and foremost, likely. "Not sure who else was there. There's coverage around the news for it, but giant spiders showed up. Theory is that their bite contained a venom that causes this sickness. Just have to ride it out." He grimaced at that, eyeing the thankfully unused trash can beside where he sat. "No idea if it was Negaverse or not."
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Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2017 7:54 am
She was a woman who came and went as she pleased, who did things because she wanted to and couldn't be forced to do anything if she wasn't interested in the outcome in some way. The more someone tried to control her, the more she resisted and the quicker she was to fly from the metaphorical coop. At least, despite being aware he hated it, Jericho understood that.
"Good," she replied. Her grin was fond and she took the opportunity to lean forward and press green painted lips against his forehead. "You gotta stop leaving me so lonely babe." Jericho Cross was an itch she couldn't scratch herself if he stayed away too long. Curling up against him on the couch was easy enough and Cass made sure not to rest too much weight and kept from blocking his ability to move if he needed.
She would play nurse but she didn't want to be vomited on.
"Mm, you know all the right things to say Jer," she purred. The playful teasing almost made her forget that he was sick and that they couldn't do anything until he was feeling better, which sucked but she would deal. At least she was getting to see him this time. "Oh, I bet people loved that." She didn't have an aversion to spiders herself, but she knew it was a common fear.
"I'll have to make sure he wasn't hiding anything from me." She mused, thinking of her cute little 'charge'. "But that can come later, I've got you to worry about first. "I doubt it, being Nega-run, sounds like uncontrolled chaos and not very...trappish. This city is full of weird s**t, it's like we live at the hellmouth or something."
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2017 5:49 pm
One part grimace, one part bemused smile, Jericho found himself unable to hold up that edge of a sour mood for long. Really, the grimace only came at the slight wonder if his forehead now held a slightly green tint to it. Leaving her lonely. Well s**t. "I'm lucky you're as patient as you are." He'd meant for it to be almost a joke, but as the words left his mouth he couldn't help but realise there was a high level of truth in that. How easily could she have just shrugged and left him behind? The idea made his skin crawl and his shoulders twitched a little in a small shudder. ******** arm moved to wrap around her middle as she sat in front of him, turning onto his side in a way that one might think he was almost curling up around her. His argument was the position allowed her more room to sit back, and he'd be closer to the bucket if he needed it.
Plus he liked touching her.
"They were almost neat looking," he snorted at the talk of the spiders. "But that's true. I wonder how many things go on in this city that are just the product of this..." His other hand waved in the air a little as he grappled for proper words, and quickly shrugged and settled for what she had supplied, "Hellmouth region. Or if the same things happen all over the world, even." That might be something to look into, just to satisfy his curiosity on the matter. If they weren't youma, what were they? Uncontrolled chaos... manifestations of something else then..?
He pulled back from that rabbit hole of a thought train, focusing on the woman with him instead. "Catch me up? What've you been up to?" Lame, maybe, but considering they couldn't do much due to his state, he could focus on her in other ways. It wasn't as if she didn't fascinate him with her mind as much as her body, so he was hardly settling.
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Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:46 pm
"Mhm," she agreed, fingers running through his hair as she diverted her attention elsewhere. Jericho shifted and curled more around her with Cass shifting to lean against him while still being conscious of the fact that he was ill, supernaturally affected or otherwise. Despite the circumstances of their time spent together the dancer would have to admit that it was nice, even if it could be better.
"You're lucky you're one of my favorites." she teased, adjusting her hand so that her knuckles ran down his cheek before stilling with her forefinger lightly pressing against his jaw. Green eyes flicked to meet pale eyes and she sighed.
Cass wasn't used to having to give this much leeway when she wanted something. It was aggravating, almost, but she seemed rather resigned about it.
"Bet we're not the only place, not with how big the states are or with places like Australia existing." Cass said, attempting to lighten the mood a little. "I know it's cheap to live here and there's like family and junk..." Not that she had much of a relationship with her own, but she knew that Jericho at least talked to his parents. "But sometimes I wonder why we stay here when it seems like it's one thing after another."
She didn't have a true desire to move, but it seemed like good conversation.
"Been dancing, going to class, playing with toys." She wondered if that would make him jealous or not. "Got a new job, secretary for some hotshot head of that media company that's around. What about you Jer? You gonna tell me all about how much you've missed me while you've been busy?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 11:37 am
This actually was kinda nice, even if his stomach was picky as hell and not exactly thrilled to cooperate. Still, his eyes closed as she ran her fingers through his hair, and his hand rubbed absently against her far thigh. The light touch tightened briefly and one eye cracked open to glare up at her though when she said one of her favorites. Again, not the best thing to be reminded of, but he stayed quiet and both eyes were open when her knuckles grazed against the bit of stubble on his lower cheek and jaw. He met her gaze evenly, in silence for a moment before a smile flickered and he gave a snort. "I'm lucky you like a fight for who's on top. Gives you plenty to come back to." He meant it as genuine banter, nudging her with his shoulder as his hand continued to rub against her thigh again.
The mention of Australia made him grimace a bit. "I don't want to see the creatures affected by Chaos there. They've already got enough ******** up s**t normally." Though it could be neat to see so long as he wasn't the one getting chomped. But there was a whole other point when it came to the fact so many people were still in the city. After all the disasters? Deaths? Injuries? Property damage? "Cheap cost of living like you said, nowhere else to go for a lot of people, probably. Wonder if the Negaverse can arrange transfers to other places, though." Would that even be necessary? Or did they want more agents there in the city?
"Is there anywhere you'd go? If you could, vacation or full move." More questions because he wanted to fill the time as much as he could, and hey. He was gonna have to make it up to her for her patience with this s**t. Best to start getting more ideas about what sort of stuff she liked.
Plus he could try to ignore the toys comment--which yes, did make his jaw clench and a scowl slip across his features. He might have moved his hand to give a swat to the side of her a**. "How're classes? But hey. Congrats on the job. Hot secretary sounds fun. Might have to stop by some time to check out how sturdy the desk is." He paused before lifting a free hand to wiggle his fingers. "Handyman style." And see who the hell this boss of hers was. s**t, was this another of her... toys? Ah hell.
The thought made him cross for a moment and it took him a bit longer to give a disgruntled shrug before he snorted up at her. "Of course I missed you. Nothing remotely neon in my life between patrols, work, random s**t around here." He gestured to the house. "A guy can get withdrawal pretty damn fast without a fix of you around."
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 11:55 am
"Mhm," she agreed, settling more comfortably against him and nearly purring from the gentle rubbing. "I mean, there are a few other reasons, but that's definitely a benefit." Among so many other things that kept her coming back even when she hated the length of time he made her wait between playtime.
"You owe me so many dates for this," she reminded him when she pressed green painted lips against his temple. "You wouldn't leave anyway," Cass stated, fingers slipping to toy with his ear instead of his hair. "It'd mean leaving behind Ilian, your parents, everything else that keeps you here."
The teen felt like she knew enough about her boys's relationship to know that they never wanted to be too far away to take care of each other if they needed to. "Back to Ecuador, got some family over there I'd like to see. Y'know the ones I still talk to anyway." Her family was large and complicated and she'd made mentions but never really got into it. And, from the way she breezed on to the next topic she had no intention of getting in to it now either. "School's fine, got a show soon. You should come."
She'd get him details later if he wanted, but she was more occupied with other things for the time being. "You can treat me to lunch, among other things." Cass's head bent afterwards, nose pressing against his throat as she nuzzled. "Get better, then we can work on sating that 'fix' of yours okay?"
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