the med tent is the hoppin place to be

[atouts]

Who: Childermass & open.
When: D90-D91
Where: Back at the carnival, in the medical tent.
What: Childermass had a bad time with a bear's claws and now he's stuck on bed rest.
Warnings: Mentions of violence, injury.

The tail end of the entire Eden fiasco is a blur to Childermass. He made a very poor tactical choice when dealing with Bezaliel, one of the Architects with far more power of the shadows than the magician could have ever imagined. One set of iron claws later and he only vaguely remembers being found by Syrlya and Lambert, bleeding to death in the forests of Eden. They brought him... somewhere.

The temple? He imagines it must have been, the one the healers kept, or else he doubts he'd yet be alive. Who and how he was brought back out of Eden is a mystery and one he hasn't inquired about. Someone carried him or the Ringmaster whisked everyone away, most like, and now all that's left is for him to lay still as can be in a cot and dwell on all the 'should haves' running through his head. In fewer words, sulking, although with his usual lack of emotion, it'd be hard to tell as much.

With his left side and chest all stitched up, along with deep scratches across that same side of his face and what's bound to be a brand new scar across his sharp beak of a nose, there's not much for him to do but wait. Eventually he'll be free to move without worry of popping a stich or two but until then, if he spots anyone approaching by foot he'll eye them and ask in a hoarse, gravelly voice:

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to help me escape back to my own trailer..." It's a pointless request. They wouldn't make it very far. "Or at the very least bring me something to read?"

Or if it's only someone else stuck there with him, well, he clearly can't ask them for aid. They're in as much a bad spot as he is, meaning the best he can offer is a curious look and then a somewhat pained shrug.

Comments

[kingsroads]

Surprisingly, it's Strange walking in instead of using his magic or being a show off. Once he enters the room, Strange almost instantly down on a nearby bed. He's upright and not wounded but he still winded add hell. The magician looks like he shouldn't do anything more intensive than picking up anything larger than a small suitcase.

"If West wants you to stay in the medical tent, then I'm not going to say otherwise." West may be a creep but these past few days have raised Strange's opinion of the man with regards to medical matters. Looking over at Childermass, Strange gives him a weak smile.

"Between the three of us, I think in the one who came out of this the best." Says the person who had to be literally reformed by the Ringmaster. "How are you feeling?"

Yelling can happen later. Right now he just wants to talk (while also not moving or doing anything too strenuous.)

[atouts]

It isn't even something to question. After spending a few days trapped in a mirror, Childermass wouldn't be surprised to hear Strange avoiding those for, at the very least, a day or two. He does give the other magician a fairly unimpressed look, par the usual course, for claiming he came out the best.

"Depends on how you got out of that mirror in the end," he says, as though withholding judgment on who's worse off until someone actually tells him. He expects Strange will, so it shouldn't be too long, but to answer the actual question here, he adds, "I feel like shit."

Very straightforward of him this time. For once, there's no way to just shrug this off.

[kingsroads]

"If I knew how, I'd tell you," Strange admits, with a shrug. "I was focused on trying to stop Lilith, I must have blacked out. When I came to, I was with the Ringmaster."

There's more to the story that Strange isn't telling Childermass. He knows that the Silver Mirror was shattered because that's something people were talking about, but he's got no idea how that affected him or what the Ringmaster actually did to fix him, revive him, or what have you.

As for Childermass feeling like shit...

"What happened to you anyway? When I came to, you were already in the medical wing." Strange has a feeling it's something iron mostly because Childermass is still laid up, but better he hear it from him directly.

[atouts]

"Hm," Childermass makes a fairly noncommital noise, not really sure what to make of the entire blacking out and waking up to the Ringmaster part. That could mean anything, could mean nothing at all. "Well, you do look to be in one piece, so I imagine she did something... As for myself, I'm afraid I decided to have a go at that bear. It wasn't the best idea."

[kingsroads]

Strange manages to hold his tongue before he says the first thing that's on his mind: of course this was a bad idea, did Childermass even stop to think before going to fight that bear, why even go after him in the first place? There's a suspiciously long pause before Strange sighs a little and tries to hide his emotions while forcing a neutral tone in his voice.

He can argue with Childermass later, when he's not confined to a hospital bed. Still, Strange isn't the sort of person to try and brush past something like this. He's going to be a little judgmental.

"Obviously," he remarks, with a little frown. "Were you still a dog at that point?" Maybe that could explain the severity of some of the wounds...but then again, why the hell would Childermass fight the bear if he was a dog, that didn't make any sense.

[prazerbutterfly]

When Tyki heard that Childermass had been mauled by something and sent to the temple in his rounds around Eden, he had only briefly checked in to see if it was true. He hadn't asked why, if he was alone or with someone, or who he was up against. He could take a pretty good guess given the size of those wounds. Information spread quickly, even in a chaotic place that battlefield was, and if he knows the reasons for his injuries, he doesn't mention it. It's pointless now. This is how he was, how he was injured, and bringing it up seems to do little good in carnival. People are far too stubborn.

His hand touches the back of a chair and he drags it over with some finesse. He has minor scratches with minor bandages. Tyki had mostly been on the defense for most of the fight, with two assistances in breakouts of those caught in prisms. He sits down, setting down a carton of cigarettes next to Childermass' bedside and a bottle of wine, "If I'm honest, helping you escape does sound fun and I certainly couldn't deny an order if you gave one," he says casually, maybe serious or maybe not. Childermass would likely get hauled back unless Tyki played watch dog. "I certainly find every means to escape every time I'm brought here."

He looks at his injuries, his brow raising, "Maybe a comb would do you better."

[atouts]

"I can't honestly claim 'help me escape our dear doctor' to be a very valid acquisitions request," Childermass, unfortunately, has to admit. He does give a hint of a smile at Tyki suggesting a comb instead, though, but only a hint, that slight upturn of the edge of a lip. "And I wager that my hair looks about as poorly as it ever does, so no need."

His attention does stray to the cigarettes and the bottle, however, and at those, he raises an eyebrow.

"Maybe a light instead of either a book or a comb?" A hopeful question, even if it's one he dashes all on his own. "Not that Dr. West would be all that pleased with the smoke, I'm sure."

[prazerbutterfly]

"But if you put in an acquisition request to have one Acquisitioner delivered to a trailer, it might work," he jests, giving him a look at his hair. It's true, it was almost always in a mess much like Strange's. Then again, the other was mad. He was beginning to question the England they came from. "I have been known to kidnap as well."

He reaches into his coat and pulls out a set of matches, resting it next to the cigarettes, "As if I haven't done horrid things in this medical tent already. What's the worse he's going to do? Throw you out?!"

[atouts]

One was mad, the other didn't care. Ultimately, England was free of blame.

"Even so, I'm not sure I have it in me to order my own kidnapping," Childermass says, at least finding some humor in the idea. That said, he struggles for a few seconds to prop himself up against his pillows. If he's going to smoke, it won't be laying prone, where ash can fall onto clean bandages and linens.

[whattaprick]

Ever since Childermass was moved to the medtent, Lambert hasn’t strayed far — something that works out well enough, considering he also technically ought to be on bed rest. He lacks the strength to drag over a whole cot, so he’s taken up a chair by the bedside instead, distractedly flipping through a book and worrying something between his fingers. When Childermass speaks up, he straightens quickly, though his voice comes out tart despite the obvious relief in his expression.

“It’s a little late to have an interest in teamwork, don’t you think?” He’s had some time to think about what to say first, but it’s not what comes out. Lambert makes for poor comfort and a poorer nursemaid, and he struggles to tamp down the anger that fear and worry try to push to the forefront. It’s a poor showing to return the grace Childermass showed him during his own fuckups by acting like a shrew, especially when he rationally knows that — much like himself — death theoretically isn’t much of an issue for Childermass thanks to the Ringmaster’s intervention.

But time to think has also been time to fret, and while Childermass may be blessed to have a fuzzy recollection of the events that led to him being here, Lambert will remember seeing him flayed open like so much meat all too clearly — and the struggle to decide the best course of action for something he could do little about.

[atouts]

Well, if Lambert had been doting in his response instead, that would have only given Childermass a cause to worry. He's in no place to find offense at this particular brand of rudeness, after all. Even so, he does end up twisting his face in a scowl, if only a short-lived one. With half his face stitched up, twisting up in any expression isn't wise.

"That it is," he'll give Lambert that much in the end. "But even so, I see you do already have a book." One Lambert isn't like to offer to him, meaning he moves on to ask, "What happened to the Mirror?"

[whattaprick]

It's unlikely to be a book Childermass has much interest in, anyway. It's one of those strategy books Strange got him on the peninsular war, and he hasn't been reading so much as nervously fiddling with the pages. He slips whatever he was playing with in his other hand into a pocket, looking at Childermass with an expression that might be, for once, difficult to read.

"She broke it," he says, simply. Something Childermass would have been able to discern more information about in greater detail had he been conscious to witness it, but that much is incredibly obvious. Alas, he'll simply have to settle for Lambert's shitty, abbreviated version of events. "Then Lilith fucked off."

[atouts]

"She broke it," Childermass echoes faintly, a distinctly ill look flitting across his face. The Silver Mirror, broken and apparently abandoned by Lilith. He'll assume that's what 'fucked off' means for now. "It's gone?"

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya stops and turns to Childermass when he starts talking, and there's a bit of relief. After the initial sight, he's glad that he's up to talking now and will probably survive. Syrlya himself is bandaged at the chest, and a little rougher for the wear, but he's not bed bound and likely won't stay in the medical tent.

"While I could, I think that would only end with a few people coming after the both of us to drag you right back," he muses with a slightly crooked smile. "But I will see what I can do about a book. How is your recovery coming along?"

[atouts]

"Oh, I don't know. I could always drop my trailer into a great big shadow once I get there..." Childermass would not, in fact, drop his trailer into a great big shadow once there but who knows. Maybe he could, just maybe. Still, the offer of a potential book lightens his expression some, so there's that.

As for recovery, well, the answer to that is a half-hearted shrug.

"And I haven't the faintest on that," he says. "It was iron. It's going to take a while. Right now I'm just glad Dr. West is an actual doctor and not some magical healer."

[chronosynthesis]

Since iron is magic resistant, of course. Syrlya nods. "I will take the fact you did not immediately bleed out a positive sigh for your recovery, then."

He pauses as he considers whether Childermass knows his blood is some sort if weird shadow, and how long that's been going on... it probably isn't a surprise. "Can I ask what happened?"

[atouts]

Well, Syrlya did help save his life, so he owes the man that much. An explanation. Childermass grimaces a little, more or less knowing exactly what kind of reaction this is bound to get, but he answers regardless.

"I went after the bear. I hadn't meant to fight him directly, just scare off his followers, but he never gave me the chance to."

[starseedling]

While growing moss all over his iron inflicted wounds had seemed like a good solution at the time, and probably saved him a fair deal of bleeding, it turns out having a bunch of plant material glued to your chest with liquid diamonds is less than ideal. Steven has been spending the last day in the medical tent as well, with Herbert cleaning out the wounds and stitching them closed, though not without significant hassle.

The worse thing, really, is how exhausted he feels. The energy he lost from what the prism was doing still hasn't really come back, and he's feels so tired as a result that all he wants to do is sleep and sleep and sleep. He's mostly been leaving Childermass alone up till this point as a result, but now that he's been awake for a little while, he's getting more restless.

He picks a big-ish chunk of coagulated diamond blood out from beneath his bandages with his claws. It's very sparkly.

"How do you tell what kind of gemstone something is?" Steven asks, theoretically to anyone, but most likely for Childermass as he's the closest.

[atouts]

"You look at it with your eyes," Childermass says in the absolute worse answer he could possibly have offered. Well, one of the worst. The other that crossed his mind was 'ask your bizarre little talking gem friends, don't they know all other gems' but was ultimately dismissed as unhelpful and perhaps too unkind to say to a child stuck in a medical ward.

Of course, that being said, Childermass takes a break from staring bleakly at the tent's ceiling and turns his head to look at St— okay, no, to immediately stare at the shiny gems he's holding in his claws. Yeah, those get his full attention and he hates it. Why in the world does Steven have those, he wonders, the entire 'diamonds for blood' ordeal something he can't exactly make out from under bandages.

Before he can even stamp down on his incessant need to hold shiny shit (not literally, thank god), he's dragging an arm up off the cot and holding a hand out towards what Steven holds.

"Here, let me see that."

[starseedling]

Steven has no particular attachment to the blood diamonds, so he shifts on his bed to hand them over. He cringes a little as he does so - having a wound across the gut makes movement really awkward.

He assumes Childermass wants it so that he can use his spooky Childermass knowledge to discern something actually helpful, so we'll see how that goes.

"I don't want to say what I think it is in case that colours your opinion!" he says, folding his ears back nervously.

[atouts]

He wouldn't be that great of a thief if he couldn't tell a diamond apart from most other gems, now would he? Childermass picks a single stone out of the rest of the 'blood' with his other hand and holds it up to the light, turning it one way, then another.

"Well, they're far from flawless," he, unfortunately, has to inform Steven but, then again, Steven likely isn't thinking of their value. "But as far as I can tell, you have a handful of diamonds." He lowers the gem again, glancing back towards the boy. "Steven, where in the world did you get these? From Eden?"

[periphrasing]

Truthfully, Peridot had actually come to the medical tent to check in on Steven... But, since the boy seems to be getting some much needed sleep at the moment, she has some attention to spare for Childermass. Unfortunately, this is Peridot, so. The first thing out of her mouth isn't exactly kind or sympathetic.

"Wow. You look like dirt," she says blandly, after pausing to look the man over. He might notice that she looks notably different as well; her time spent as a raccoon has changed her legs to a more digitigrade structure, and her tail now striped just as it was in her disguise.

[atouts]

"And you look like you're turning into a giant green rat," Childermass replies with an equal amount of blandness, turning his head just enough to squint back at her. Like, sure, he has his own new changes but they're only fangs.

[periphrasing]

"That seems preferable to getting nearly sliced in half by a giant bear. Besides, one of my extremely valuable new friends from Eden is a giant rat, so I'll take that as a compliment," Peridot counters, folding her arms at her chest and sticking her nose in the air.

[atouts]

Well, she's not wrong there, so Childermass can only shrug rather than be blandly snarky right back. That over with, he instead asks, "You're here to see Steven, I assume?"