farsickness | 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.

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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.

Her knuckles brush his cheek and she hums, the sound quiet but warm. It's an easy thing, this, them and there hasn't been a time with him that hasn't been full of care and love. She supposes this is what things are supposed to be like. Safe and warm and right even when there are bog wights and hags and things that go bump in the night to hurt them.

Merlan's not sure what would have happened had he not been there. It probably wouldn't have been good, that's for sure.

"You are," she says softly, settling back on her uninjured side with a little difficulty. She's by no means all healed and she knows it, every line of her body knows it but certain things are a must and they definitely include kissing the man she loved.

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."

"You're doing fine," Merlan says in a quiet voice as she works her way sitting slowly, carefully, thinking it's better to be propped up and trying to eat than laying down. It hurts but in the end it's worth it. Her fingers touch his reassuringly. "Everything aches but I think I can get it down alright." A few fingers are definitely broken from when she's hit the road but she does her best to avoid using them.

Her eyes find his face where she lingers for a while before working to get the food down where it'll do some good. It all tastes good, probably better than it should just because it's been ages since she's had anything. She eats slowly, though, not wanting to fill up too quickly.

"I'm not the best of patients but I'm trying. I keep wanting to use things I shouldn't." By the end of the meal, there's a sheen of sweat on her forehead and she finds she's cold again, really cold and she feels strangely feverish. The water helps a little with the spots that dance before her eyes but she's a little out of breath and shivering. Merlan blinks a few times to try and clear her vision. Maybe too much effort too quickly. Maybe it had been creeping up on her for a while. Articulating it does work so well, so she just keeps her eyes on him and tries to take measured breaths. He's a better distraction than anything she might think up, anyway.

"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."

"Please to both." She nods a little and it makes her head pound. "I guess," she lets out a long sigh, "this isn't going to be an easy fix. I hope that healer left more potion bottles or we'll have to dip into mine."

Her body lets her know it's not happy at all, too, and for a moment her breathing quickens as she tries to keep herself conscious. It's a strange dimming, flickering of a tunnel and she winces as she grabs a handful of blankets as if to keep herself upright. She can't take anything potion-wise for a while. Not at least for another hour. The pounding in her head recedes a little to the point where colours start to wash back in and the rushing in her ears eases. Her eyes flutter back open and she can hear him in the kitchen.

Her colour is a bit grey by the time he gets back, her skin clammy, but at least she hadn't faded right out. Merlan pulls the blankets back for him, listing a little to one side.

"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."

"Feels better when you're close," she says in a worn, soft voice. "Everything keeps going grey and washing out. It seems better when you're holding me, though."

She's not sure why but it is what it is, she supposes. Maybe this will pass quickly and it's just a side effect from being poisoned. Because that's probably the truth. Bog wights are virulent when it comes to scratches more so when the wounds are open. Maybe it's because they're magical.

"Magic is probably the root of the reaction."

"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."

"I don't know," she admitted in a strained voice. "You might shake it off better than I've been doing. Whatever they have in that poison, it sure doesn't sit well with me. It must be magically interfering with my ability to heal somehow or there's more to it than I realise. I've just never felt so ill before."

Merlan pauses to close her eyes as the spots come back and her breathing turns a little laboured. It'll pass. She'll just talk her way through it.

"I'm surprised it's hit me this hard. Surprised enough to wonder if there wasn't some sort of hex in there as well. As for you, I would hope it wouldn't but I just don't have enough information on these particular bog wights to know. The one I fought earlier didn't seem to be the same kind."

She blanches at the thought of him poisoned by bog wights and leans back into a pillow, making a vicious sort of note to research them more thoroughly the next time she had a chance to go into town.

"I could probably one-up the healer with my healing skills if you did get wounded by one. Too bad I can't heal myself any faster, though I think I've reached my limit for today and it's slowed back down some." Her fingers tremble a little as she curls them around a fistful of blanket.

"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."

"Mm, I'll do my best," she says softly but knowing he'll be there keeping her warm helps. "This girl sure does like it. It's a mystery why I'm always so cold but I'll take as much heat as you want to throw my way."

Her lips are cool when they find his temple. He is blessedly warm and she tucks herself against him as close as she can get.

Like A Hundred Million Suns

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