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darksmokerising ([personal profile] darksmokerising) wrote in [community profile] farsickness2021-04-30 10:07 pm

Like A Hundred Million Suns

WHO: Merlan, open

WHEN: April 20th-30th

WHAT: Merlan being Merlan, selling stuff and getting into skirmishes

WHERE: Around Gazin, The Forge

WARNINGS: Swearing, violence, gross wounds?
 

1. Market Day [OPEN]

Gazin’s Market Day was every fifth day for Merlan, a place where she could sell her wares — magic and not. It was also a good day to chat with people here and there and catch up on what people have been up to in their lives. She’s all bright and sunshine, chatting here and there, her eyes light with happiness.

 

“You don’t look like you need a protection medallion,” she says with a laugh and a smile.

 

2. [Bucky] Monsters In the Night

 

She's late on the road coming back from Gazin, late and laden with the things she bought from market and the trees whisper in the wind. Fresh milk, fresh bread, sugar, some salt, fresh flour (Bucky Barnes making pancakes in her kitchen, the air thick with honey and the scent of cooking cakes on the griddle, the scent of coffee rousing her from bed, his voice all around her), and honey she can almost taste on her lips. A new flat pan. A new tunic folded neatly into the saddlebag.

 

She never bought much, just enough to get them through. The flour, sugar, and salt were staples. The pancakes were a necessity. She'd never been big on them before but the times have changed and she's a fucking angel, isn't she? A strange cry in the woods shifts her mind back to the here and now as she touches the talisman that has become a reminder of him and his security -- a wolf set against a soft, warm, shell of a moon. She speeds up, urging Thunder faster just because she's paranoid and the safe paths aren't always safe.

 

There's no one else out here. It's late enough that the sun's setting, late enough for the spooks to get started terrifying travellers, late enough for the unthinkable. It's late enough but on the home stretch as they race for the Forge and its magical barrier. Something flickers orange and <I>God</i> she remembers that smell.

 

Bog wight. They sure hated her.

 

A pain slams through her head as something blunt crashes into her temple and she's knocked from her horse. Everything blurs as she hits the road and rolls. The creature screams in triumph, letting the horse keep moving. Thunder will find Bucky, will lead him back here. Her sword is out as she rolls back up to her feet but it's not the right sword, it's not silver. Long, slender fingers close around her throat as her wings flare out to knock the creature away.

 

Everything hurts from her head to her toes to something that’s broken and trying to mend. She winces and realises it’s more than one and they’re working together.

 

They lunge and fire blooms along her side as claws find their mark.

Agony immediately follows as she launches herself skyward and the pain in her head blossoms like fireworks, red and black spots clouding her vision as she begins to lose altitude over the Forge. She doesn't even feel it when she hits the earth.

ostavil: (006)

[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-04 07:49 am (UTC)(link)
Bucky had been worried when Thunder had come barreling back home but that worry had turned into full crisis when his girlfriend literally dropped from the sky in front of him. He's never seen anything like that and honestly, it's something new every day with Merlan. This isn't one of those new things he's learned that he loves, though - this is panic inducing for most people.

Bucky isn't most people. He compartmentalizes his emotions and focuses on getting Merlan up from the ground and into his arms. She's unconscious and he talks to her, trying to get her to wake up and focus on him.

"Hey, Merlan," he says, cradling her in his arms to carry her inside. "Merlan, it's Bucky. Merlan. Wake up, all right? You had a crash landing."
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-06 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
Well, fuck. She's the one with all the magic to heal herself and Bucky only knows how to patch up wounds in the crudest ways possible. He doesn't know what to do other than carry her inside and lay her down as gently as he can on the bed.

He doesn't want to leave her but he does to get water and a clean cloth so he can start wiping away some of the blood. God, what is he going to do?

"Merlan," he tries again. "It's James. You wanna wake up for me? Please?"
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-07 08:28 am (UTC)(link)
It's a lot to process all at once. Bucky actually doesn't know how to ride a horse but he guesses there's no time like the present to figure it out. When she insists he take a silver weapon, he grabs a short sword and stuffs it in his belt before going and getting the potion she'd mentioned.

"Take this before I get you up on this horse, all right?" he says, tipping the bottle against her lips. "And I'm glad you got the flour but you didn't have to go and get yourself half killed to do it. I coulda done without for once."

He gently lifts her up and carries her inside, pressing a kiss against her brow. "Gonna go get that healer. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-10 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
There and back takes too damn long is what it does.

It's not hard to find the healer and Bucky tries to explain the situation as best he can. It's a weird one, to be sure - he doesn't think that there's a lot of angels or a lot of crash landings around here but injuries are injuries.

Bringing the healer back is easy, too, and when he gets back to the house, he helps the healer down off the back of Thunder and goes back to the room where he's laid Merlan down in the bed.

"Here she is, do what you can do, tell me what I need to do too. I can do anything you tell me to do."
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-10 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
Bucky has been through a hell of a lot of pain but he's never been able to stand pain in other people. He hasn't ever handled it well when someone is hurting and he's standing by. He gets the hot water and the cloth because those are physical things he can do and it makes him feel like he's helping.

When the healer says the best thing he can do is help hold Merlan down, he nods. Sure, it's bothering him but he can't wear his emotions on his face when he has to be the strong one right now for her. He kneels down next to the bed.

"All right. You're gonna hold onto me and I'm not going to let you go anywhere. That's a deal, right? Between you and me?"
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-13 06:36 am (UTC)(link)
"Me? I'm not the one who almost got clawed in half here," Bucky says, incredulous that she'd ask. He's seen injuries before, gruesome ones, but it's always harder to see them on someone else than it is to see them on himself. He can bear his own pain - watching another's pain is something else entirely.

He strokes back a bit of her hair as gently as he can manage it. She's like a paper doll to him just now, fragile in a way she shouldn't be, and he wants to be mindful of that.

"I'm good. What do you need from me, huh? You have to rest. Doctor's orders. He sounded pretty serious about it."
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-13 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well, if you want me in here, I'll slide in," Bucky says, grinning at her. He strips off his shirt and pants and does just that, curling around her body so he can warm her up. He loves her and he wants to take care of her - and this is how he takes care of her.

"Get in my arms," he says, opening them for her.
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-14 06:07 am (UTC)(link)
"I know, Angel. I don't know if I settled on a pet name really. I've been trying them out in my head."

This probably isn't the time to go into something so trivial but Bucky just lets her shift in his arms and get more comfortable or at least as comfortable as she can while healing up from so many injuries.

"You find anything you like, you can stop me and I'll stick with it."
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-15 10:23 pm (UTC)(link)
"Hey, tell me if you need anything," Bucky says, voice warm and soft. He doesn't want her to want for anything while she's injured and he can tell she's in pain just by the way she's breathing. It must have been sharp just now and he tries to tamp down the urge to embrace her; it'll just hurt her more.

"I'm here, all right? I'm always just gonna be right here as long as you need me to be."
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-16 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well, luckily you've got someone whose main talent is hauling around heavy shit," Bucky says, laughing softly. "You keep me around for that, I know. You don't even have to lie about it."

He's glad she's feeling better though and he pulls her a little more firmly into his arms, hand stroking her hair so he can comfort her in whatever way he can.

"You need anything right now?"
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-17 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
The kiss lets him relax for a moment. If she's feeling good enough to kiss him then she is getting better and if she's asking for food, that's even better still. He deepens it a little before he pulls away and gives her a slow smile.

"Let me bring you something to eat and we can see about making sure you heal up all right. I want to do everything I can to make it easier."

He doesn't remember the last time he took care of anyone but it feels nice, in a way, to be depended on.
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-17 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
Another kiss makes it hard to pull away from her but he does because she needs water and she needs something to eat. He brings her both, simple things that won't bother her stomach, and settles on the edge of the bed so he can hold the tray for her. He doesn't know if Merlan is going to feel like sitting up just yet.

"You need my help trying to eat this or are you feeling better enough to manage it on your own? I'm not used to taking care of anyone," he warns. "So it's all new to me. I'm not a very good nurse."
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-17 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
"You think you're done with that for right now?"

Bucky feels like she's flagging a little and he wants to make everything as easy as possible for her. Besides, she seems to like having him around for comfort and it satisfies his need to take care of her and make sure that she's all right.

"I can take it back to the kitchen and get back in bed with you if you want? Looks like rest is going to be the best thing for this."
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-17 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
"Hey, you don't look so good," Bucky says, frowning a bit. He'd never expected to see her like this, what with all her powers, and it worries him. Neither of them are ever supposed to be injured like this. It's part of what they are.

"What do you need? Just to be held, you think? Because I can keep doing that."
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-17 08:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"So what are those things anyway? I know a lot of shit about weird things - I'm not exactly normal - but I have to admit that magic isn't something I'm real familiar with."

He's used to super soldiers and people who can fight beyond the limits of a normal man but he doesn't know what to do with angels and magic and these bog wights.

"Would they poison me enough to kill me? Because damn near nothing can kill me."
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[personal profile] ostavil 2021-05-17 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well, for right now I'm going to take care of you for once. Curl up and rest, all right? I'm not going anywhere and you ought to be plenty warm. I put off heat like a furnace."

It's because of the serum in part because his metabolism is so fast but he'd been like that before.

"I heard girls liked that."