just call, we're all connected

[unbr8kable]

[It is a long, long sail to Hachijojima, but at almost 300 kilometers south of the Imperial Palace, it's one of the most remote places within the city limits, making it perfect for both urban exploration and other dubiously wise pursuits. Surely anticipation and boredom from the trip is the only reason for the frisson of nervous energy Nemesis can't shake even after an afternoon on what even in Hell TV form are gorgeous black sand beaches and lush, tropical greenery that verges on overgrowing the buildings of the port town.

That said, soon enough it's time to get to business, and after a dinner of fresh-caught fish and fruit to supplement the food they'd brought along, Hurricane and Nemesis begin setting things up.

The hotel they'd scoped out for the ceremony (thanks Yahell! Maps) was run down and abandoned even by Tokyo-F standards, its bubble-chic French Baroque architecture salt stained and half covered in vines and ferns and established greenery. Its sprawling beach patio opens straight to the sand and beyond that the ocean, though the promenade of graceful statues are now crumbling, and rather than cafe tables or lounge chairs, only moss and bioluminescent mushrooms venture over the once ornately tiled floor.

There is still plenty of space for candles and salt and whatever else one might need to do with the space, and Nemesis dumps her bag of supplies right there on one of the benches carved into the railing; turns to Hurricane beside her.]

Ready to summon an elder god?

Comments

[crossmyheartandhope]

...yeah. Yeah.

[A beat, and then another]

Lemme, uh. Lemme look at your hand first, though...?

[unbr8kable]

It's fine. Yours is way worse.

[Disapproval in her tone, poorly hiding concern]

...It'll be easier to clean it out here; ain't like there wasn't plenty reason for infection.

[crossmyheartandhope]

Goes for you, too, dude. You were front and center in the mushroom bath.

[unbr8kable]

Yeah, and you sliced up your hand like it owed you money. Lemme wrap it up, at least.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Holding it out to her]

You gotta let me do the same for you, though. Kay?

[unbr8kable]

Don't wanna make a mess in the boat.

[She takes it, gently, for a long beat; carefully strokes her thumb over the unbroken edges of his skin]

...Sit down, okay?

[Reluctantly she lets go of him long enough to set down the bag and dig out a bottle of water and a towel; the latter of which she slices into thin strips with the knife]

[crossmyheartandhope]

More worried about you than the boat.

[He sits down, a little unsteady - holds his hand out, awkward, the palm face up]

[unbr8kable]

Worry about yourself before worrying about anybody else.

[She kneels in front of him, holding his hand steady so she can rinse his palm with the water. Then she soaks one of the strips and dabs his palm, attempting to dab it at least clean enough to see how bad the wounds are]

[crossmyheartandhope]

Says the one who's bleeding while she's worrying about me.

[He can't help the wince as she starts to dab at his hand - starts to pull away, and then forces himself to be still]

[unbr8kable]

Like you can say nothing about that. Quit squirming.

[She doesn't get any more gentle as she attempts to clean off the wound, but she does swipe her thumb over his palm again, very soft.

Once most of the excess blood is wiped away, she takes a look at the wounds, careful]

[crossmyheartandhope]

[The first one is shallow; the others, decidedly less so. He went deeper than he meant to in his mushroom panic, and new blood wells up quickly to replace what she's wiped away]

Man, that sacrificial knife ain't messing around.

[unbr8kable]

Yeah... You're lucky you didn't hit any nerves. This's gonna need more'n a bandaid or two.

[Pursing her lips she takes a fresh strip of towel, folds it and presses it firmly into his palm. Then she takes another, and another, winding them tightly to keep the first one in place and apply a bit more pressure besides]

[crossmyheartandhope]

[He winces - holds still for it, but only just]

...thanks, dude.

[unbr8kable]

[She shakes her head and wraps another strip of fabric. Only once it's wrapped tight and mostly immobilized (and she's mostly out of towel) does she tuck in the last bit, frowning]

...That'll have to do for now.

[crossmyheartandhope]

It'll keep till we get back, anyways.

Here - lemme do yours.

[unbr8kable]

I can get it.

[She doesn't stop him from taking the water and towels, though]

[crossmyheartandhope]

I know you can... but I wanna help.

[He does take it, favoring the uncut hand - cuts the towel into strips, and then wets one of them with the water]

Lemme see?

[unbr8kable]

[She bows her head and leans in closer, offering her hand. It's not nearly as bad as his, though the skin is more covered in red than not]

[crossmyheartandhope]

[He dabs at it, careful, trying to clean away the worst of the blood and get a better look at the wound]

[unbr8kable]

[There's the same spores-and-sand grime that they'll probably be shaking out of their things for a while after this, and she hasn't let it be long enough to scab over. But between the keenness of the blade and the care in his cut, it shouldn't scar too badly]

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Fun times, spores and sand. He has to be less gentle before he's done, to make sure it's actually clean - gets the mess off her entire palm, and then the rest of her hand, for good measure. When he's done, he starts bandaging her up, careful]

[unbr8kable]

[Her hand twitches despite how steady she tries to keep it as he works, though at least he's not stitching this time so it's much smaller of a deal. She keeps her head bowed as if watching him work, so it's difficult to completely catch her expression as he does]

...Sorry.

[crossmyheartandhope]

...what for?

[He finishes tying it off, as gentle as he can]

[unbr8kable]

Underestimating this stuff. Even though we've messed with this kinda stuff before, I didn't think nothing was gonna happen...nothing real, anyways.

[crossmyheartandhope]

Yeah, well... I thought we were gonna get what we were asking for, if we got anything.

Shows what I knew.