[Day 3, Public]

[anti_nonsense]

[Oh hey, Rita's actually using the network today. Her voice sounds weak and raspy, but she's got some water handy, so she should be able to make it through talking without hurting her throat too much, at least for a while. Besides, this is important.]

Right... so, apparently, I'm not supposed to do anything too strenuous until I've recovered more... which is fine and all, but the thing is... I've already read every book in my trailer three times over.

Anybody got any books I can borrow? Nonfiction is preferred, but frankly, I'm getting desperate.

Comments

[whattaprick]

As good as it can get, for now. [ The lacerations and bites he'd gotten from Sans are healed over now, and the bruising at his throat is at that ugly stage which means they're almost better. ]

Here. [ Annnd he unceremoniously drops the books on Rita's lap. They're not the heaviest things in the world, but they're still a not-inconsiderable weight, that's for sure. ]

[anti_nonsense]

Oof-- [Rita grunts when they land on her, which prompts her to finally set the notebook aside and try to sit up.] Hey! Watch it!

[She finally turns herself over to sit up properly on the couch, picking up one of the books and looking over its cover. Yep... looks like typical Strange.]

[whattaprick]

[ Sure does. Horribly tight typespacing and everything. It's military maneuvers in the peninsula, and includes some information about what Strange contributed to the peninsular war (as well as a map of the actual damn peninsula). ]

Wish I could say 'enjoy,' but I'm not really sure it's your taste. You really that hard up on reading material?

[anti_nonsense]

Well... yeah. [Is it obvious? It's probably obvious. She nods to the short piles of books on the trailer floor. There's less than ten in total, though most of them are quite thick.] Only brought two from home, and since then we've only stopped in two worlds I could get new books from.

[Maybe she could have tried harder to find something in the Summerlands, but she was kind of avoiding the fae for most of that visit.]

[whattaprick]

Must not seem like much when you're used to having a whole library to choose from.

[ Having deposited his books, he'll take a moment to idly peruse the titles of hers, frowning slightly ]

Don't suppose you've picked up anything to do with healing, have you?

[anti_nonsense]

[There's a thick spellbook with a black cover, a thinner book written in some kind of cryptogram, books about magic and science from Greysol, and even a cute-looking book about Littens, but nope, there is definitely nothing about healing.]

[In fact, Rita gives a light snort at the suggestion.] No. Healing magic never interested me. Even back home, whenever I got my hands on a book on the subject, I'd just use it for bartering with other mages. Or I'd pass it off on Estelle.

[whattaprick]

[ Lambert snorts back. Well, he's not in a position to criticize anyone else for having a one-track mind, he supposes... ]

Too bad. Might've been useful right about now, considering we're down a doctor. [ He pauses, cocking his head. ] Who's Estelle?

[anti_nonsense]

A friend from home. She's got a talent for healing artes.

[It's not a very revealing answer... except, perhaps, for the softening of her expression, and the part where Estelle's about the only person Rita calls 'friend' without hesitating.]

[whattaprick]

You have friends? [ Lambert grins. Never mind that people could ask the same question of him, really. He ends up settling on the one book he can't read out of curiosity more than anything else, flipping through it absently as he speaks. ]

Is that what mages back home do? Pick one thing and stick with it?

[anti_nonsense]

[Rita gives him a pointed sour look.] Yeah, real funny. Jerk.

[And she sighs.] People have their specialties, of course. I specialize in blastia formulas and offensive magic.

If you mean Estelle, though, she's not a mage... that is, someone who studies magic rigorously. She just happens to have a gift when it comes to healing.

[whattaprick]

Had to check. For all I know, you were talking about another chunk of rock.

[ Yeah, he knows they're called 'blastia,' but it's fun to annoy Rita. He steps back to the couch, book still in hand, and nods at her. ]

Move your feet over, I wanna sit down.

[anti_nonsense]

Blastia aren't rocks. And I talk to people too, you know!

[Added quietly, as if remembering how that hasn't always been true:] These days, anyway.

[...But she does move her legs over, shifting into sitting cross-legged on one side of the couch. The borrowed books are set on her lap, and she flips one open to peruse.]

[whattaprick]

But you like blastia better than most people. [ Lambert says, matter-of-factly. That doesn't take great observational skills to suss out, so it's not a deduction he's particularly proud of, but he'll plop down on the seat heavily (the couch protests under the weight of stone) so he can flip through the book in earnest.

It's quiet for few blessed minutes, before he speaks up: ]

Have you even been getting any sleep?

[anti_nonsense]

[Rita doesn't say anything to contradict that. He's basically right.]

[To his question, she gives a half-hearted shrug.]

More than I'd like to, actually. I get tired after only being up a few hours... it's annoying.

... What about you?

[whattaprick]

[ Lambert shrugs. ]

After the first couple of days? I think I slept all I need to. Can't really sleep for too long at a time, so I figured I might as well walk around. Sitting on my ass is driving me nuts.

[ It's hard to sleep when you have nightmares. However, he won't be sharing that. Instead, he'll ask a rather abrupt question. ]

Can you still summon your daemon?

[anti_nonsense]

[Rita shakes her head. She's not necessarily sad that Krios is gone... because he isn't, really. But it sure would be nice to have him around now.]

How come you still have yours?

[whattaprick]

I asked the Ringmaster and I learned a spell for it. [ Lambert shrugs. ] Took a while to practice, but I thought it'd be handy to have another pair of eyes around. A polecat's harder to notice than a grown man.

[ Naturally, that's not the only reason he learned to do it, but it's also the less sentimental one. ]

[anti_nonsense]

I see... [That would be useful, from a purely pragmatic point of view... but if pragmatism were the real goal, there ought to be plenty of other ways to achieve it.]

Looks like you've got a sentimental side of your own.

[She's not going to miss a chance to call him out on it after he did the same to her back in the dungeon.]

[whattaprick]

[ Lambert colors a little at being called out, but he's quicker to rally, smirking broadly at Rita. ]

At least she talks back. [ Shots fired! ] And they can talk for you. Like when you sound like shit. [ That's you, Rita. He means you. ]

I thought they patched everyone up. [ As much as they could, anyway... ]

[anti_nonsense]

[He gets a glare for that retort.]

[When he brings attention to her injuries, she rubs her fingers lightly against her neck, conscious of the bruises once again.]

They did... sort of. The pipsqueak used some weird healing technique on me, back in the other realm. [She doesn't specify which pipsqueak, but it might be possible to guess it's the one who also works at the medical tent.] It's been getting better.

[whattaprick]

He's good at that.

[ Yeah, he knows he means Steven. Kind of crazy, how almost unlimited that kid's power seems to be... ]

Who got you in the end, anyway?

[ It's not like anyone's been hip to telling him who killed who in the hunt. Some of it he's managed to infer -- the awkwardness is too hard to miss -- but in Rita's case, he missed that entirely. ]

[anti_nonsense]

[Rita's quiet at first. She hasn't told anyone who did it. In a way, talking about it feels like blaming him, when they'd both rather put it behind them. But since Lambert was in the same position as her, he probably understands how complex of a situation it is. So... maybe she can tell him.]

... 9S.

[She looks away, her gaze falling on the bunk her roommate normally sleeps in. From the vaguely finger-shaped bruises on her neck (made even more obvious by the current absence of her blastia), it's easy enough to tell how he did it.]

[whattaprick]

So that's why he's so fucked up. [ Lambert says, dryly. Rita's right, in a sense -- he does understand-- but he has no intention of being reverent about it. He tried to kill Childermass and Baker, after all, and then Peridot had set that other gem on him... ]

Got the job done. Guess that's what matters. [ He shrugs. ] You're not thinking too hard about it, are you?

[anti_nonsense]

O-of course not. Don't be stupid. [Yep, she's definitely dwelling on it.]

Somebody had to do it, so... I'm not upset about it, or anything. [Not about the killing part, anyway. That wasn't 9S's fault. But the way he went about it, the things she saw and experienced as a beast... It's hard to just forget and move on.]

[whattaprick]

[ Yeah, that's not convincing in the least, and the look Lambert levels Rita says as much. ]

Not even a little? That doesn't sound like you.