Event Log: Flu Season

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters
What: The event log for the Flu Season event
Where: All over the city
When: March 20th-March 30th
Warnings: Gross sneezing, sick people, and paranoia

It starts with a cough, a sneeze, a sore throat - something small and simple, easily ignored. But then your symptoms get worse. It's probably been awhile since you've been sick, that sort of thing doesn't usually happen here. You might be able to raid the shops for some tissues and tea before it gets too bad, and hopefully you've got a friend to help out until you get better. Surely it'll be over soon, right?

Until the fever sets in, and you start to understand why your friend is really there. They don't want to take care of you. They want to make sure this is the last anyone will ever see of you. They want to learn all your secrets. They want to steal your most precious possession. You know they're plotting against you, you know they're keeping something from you. What will you do to find out what it is?

Then, as the sickness fades, you realize it was all in your mind. Let's hope you didn't do or say anything too awful. But that friend of yours... they seem to have picked up your cough. Maybe you should help them out?

► This log covers March 20th-March 30th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If your paranoia ends in murder, please let us know here.

Comments

[evocation]

"Resting when you're sick isn't slacking, Wash. Jesus Christ." It might not be entirely fair for her to be this frustrated at him, but she can't help but think about how awful this could have gone, and how insistent he was on not listening to her, so she rolls her eyes. "Wizard, remember? Your place or mine?"

[hardwearing]

Ugh, she's mad. But she doesn't understand, he doesn't get sick like this! He's just as frustrated by the fact that apparently, despite all the immune boosters and vaccinations he's gotten over the years, he's caught something nasty. Maybe it's an alien bug native to this planet? With all the traveling going on someone could have tracked something back.

"...mine. You shouldn't stick around and risk catching it."

[evocation]

"You're not going to scare me off. I don't care if I get sick. Stay still." She doesn't actually have to touch him to cast the spell, which he'll certainly be happy about. It just takes a few seconds of focus—visualizing every detail she can remember of the new house—and the next time Wash blinks, he'll find himself on the floor, with Kyna still next to him.

[hardwearing]

He cares if she gets sick, but he feels like this argument is one he's going to lose so for now he just holds still as requested, and then suddenly he's back in his room, feeling extremely disoriented. There's another wave of dizziness, then sour heat in the back of his throat.

"--I'm gonna be sick." A slightly different kind of sick. He makes a desperate attempt to get to his feet and out of the room, but doesn't quite make it to the door before doubling over and puking. At least he hasn't eaten anything significant lately so it's not too gross.

[evocation]

She's so used to the teleportation spell that its physical effects don't even register with her anymore, but as soon as she sees the look on his face, she knows she's screwed up. Kyna winces as he throws up, her anger giving way a bit to sympathy.

"Shit, I'm sorry." Is touching him okay? She just sets her hand on his shoulder gently. "Just come lay down, okay?"

[hardwearing]

Wash just groans a little in response, disgusted and embarrassed. But he accepts the touch this time and lets her steer him back to bed, sitting heavily and wiping at his mouth. Just taking a moment to make sure his stomach's settled before he leans down and unlaces his boots.

"Not your fault. I'm sorry I went out."

[evocation]

"It was stupid." She has to say it. "But I forgive you. Stop that and let me help you." And if he does, she'll pull off his boots for him.

[hardwearing]

Yeah, she wins this battle. He goes still again, letting her get his boots off, then shifts to lie down properly. The bed is made but he's too hot for a blanket anyway, and the pillow is blissfully cool under his cheek.

"This sucks."

[evocation]

"I know." Kyna sets the boots aside and brushes her fingertips against his cheek. "Stay here. I'll be back."

It takes her a while to return, mostly because she has to clean up the vomit, and that's not exactly fun, but when she gets back, she has a glass of water in one hand and a damp cloth in the other. She perches on the edge of the bed beside him, setting the glass on the bedside table and laying the cloth over his forehead. "Better?"

[hardwearing]

That's nice -- Wash rolls onto his back so the cloth stays in place, eyeing the glass but not wanting to sit up for it right now. Or put anything in his stomach just yet. Later.

"Yeah. Thank you. I'll be okay, though, you should get out of here and hope you didn't catch it."

[evocation]

She sighs, a little more dramatically than is strictly necessary. "I'm not leaving. If I do, I'm going to find you in a ditch somewhere or something." Kyna adjusts the cloth gently. "Besides, I want to make sure you're okay."

[hardwearing]

"You won't, I'll stay in bed this time. Promise. We can text so you know I'm not dead." He reaches over to the nightstand for a tissue, hating the heavy stuffed-up feeling in his head.

Olympia chooses this moment to hop up beside him, then onto his chest. She kneads at his shirt before settling there, and doesn't react when he blows his nose.

"See? She'll keep me honest. Won't you, girl?"

[evocation]

Olympia is a very good girl, and Kyna leans over to kiss her on the head. "I couldn't pay you to leave if I was sick. I'm staying."

[hardwearing]

"I might sell out if it was really gross."

No, he wouldn't, but Kyna appears to be determined to put herself out on a level he hasn't seen since York. He sighs and it turns into a tiny cough.

[evocation]

He should have expected this, really. He knew how stubborn she was when they started dating. Kyna smoothes her fingers through his hair, frowning at the cough. "Are you hungry? Do you need anything?"

[hardwearing]

"You're not gonna challenge that? I guess we'll find out soon enough." Since with all this fussing she's going to be knocked on her ass within the week. But yes, he should have expected this. She is in fact incredibly stubborn... and the hair petting feels nice, easing the fever headache he's getting. "No. I've never seen medicine here, anyway."

[evocation]

"I'm not calling you out because it's totally bullshit." He's not pushing her away, though, which means the petting is going to continue. "I bet I couldn't scare you off even if I puked on you."

[hardwearing]

"How about we don't test that theory, please?" Not that he imagines it'll be much of an issue, he wasn't actually nauseous until the teleporting. Which was a neat trick even if he isn't well enough to handle it right now.

...though now he's kind of mortified that she just cleaned up his mess. Gross. Being sick is decidedly undignified.

[evocation]

"Okay. But only because I like you so much." Apparently he can't escape teasing even when he's sick. "Sorry I didn't warn you about teleportation feeling weird. I'm really used to it and I forgot."

[hardwearing]

"I think it'd be fine normally. Teleporters back home are way worse, I was just already dizzy and... yeah. Sorry you had to clean that up."

[evocation]

"Would it make you feel better or worse if I said I've seen Tucker throw up like, a million times?" Really, she's seen Tucker and Harlan in far more undignified situations than she's ever seen Wash, so he can hold onto some of his pride. "Why are teleporters back home worse?"

[hardwearing]

"...better?" Not that he's ever going to be happy about Kyna seeing him a mess, but. If she's accustomed to cleaning up her friends' vomit it's not as embarrassing somehow. As for the teleportation question, his brow furrows beneath the washcloth.

"So, it kind of depends on what tech you're using. Aliens have it down a little better, I feel like, since the Covenant had a long time to study Forerunner technology. I've heard they could actually manipulate time, or stop it from passing entirely within a field. But all teleportation is based on accessing slipstream space. I'm not a physicist, but I know we discovered it when we were trying to crack faster than light travel like... 350 years ago. The drive all human ships are outfitted with now is basically a particle accelerator that creates a bunch of tiny black holes, and there's enough radiation energy in those to tear into slip-space. It's harmless if you're in a ship, they're shielded."

He pauses to cough here, before getting to the actual explanation. "Anyway, human teleporters access slipstream space, except because the person traveling doesn't have an accelerator you need to link up with another device wherever it is you're trying to go. Alien tech doesn't need a portal on the other side, they can just use coordinates -- I'm not sure how. Charon seems to have figured it out, sort of? Back on Chorus we got ahold of some of their teleportation grenades, and you can program those to either hold objects in slipspace for later retrieval or transport everything in the blast to coordinates. They're only good for one use. That tech feels... so much worse. A normal teleporter trip is painful, maybe a little nauseating, but the physical strain probably won't kill you unless you're barely holding on already. Those grenades are awful. We never had to use two back to back, but the vitals after a single trip go off the charts. The time we had to take one to a fight we planned in recoup. I don't think it's more radiation than usual, but it's instantaneous. Maybe that's why it's rougher."

[evocation]

Kyna listens quietly, still absently stroking his hair as he explains. "Huh. That sounds... shitty. I guess technology sucks compared to magic, huh? Teleporting with magic can be dangerous, too, but that's usually if you're trying to go somewhere you've never been, or if you accidentally teleport into a wall or something."

[hardwearing]

That's nice. It soothes the fever-headache, at least, and he tilts his head into her hand curiously. "How does it work trying to get somewhere you've never been, with magic? At least even on alien tech without an exit device we can count on coordinates being fairly accurate. But if you're just picturing a place... you could end up anywhere, couldn't you?"

[evocation]

She smiles a little, scooting closer until her hip presses into him. "Yeah, you could end up in some random place, or somewhere that's just kind of similar. Like, uh, maybe I'm trying to go to New York but I end up in another big city, like Chicago or Tokyo or something. If you fuck up badly enough, the spell can even hurt you. But a lot of places have teleportation circles, so if you know its sigil sequence, you'll get there even if it's somewhere you've never been. Most teleport spells are for shorter distances, though, and some of them dump you into the ethereal plane for a little bit."