[open] if you could only see

[exsoldier]

Who: Zack & YOU, plus some closed prompts!
When: Throughout Aguril
Where: Throughout Aefenglom and the Wilde
What: August catch-all: quests, Zack going feral, red string spell stuff
Warnings: Violence due to going feral

[ prompts are in the comments below! if you want a specific starter for anything, you can pm me or hit me up over at demonology! ]

Comments

[whomthebelltolls]

[She's actually about to suggest the same thing, but she barely gets her mouth open before he speaks. With that, Maria nods, and steps forward.]

Try not to get scratched again.

[She isn't being altruistic, shut up. Regardless, she has to basically lay on her stomach to fit her large frame under the bush, and she slowly starts to poke her hand under there.

She should've seen the bite coming, really. She is sticking her hand into a creature's den, but she can't think of too many other ways to get under the bush, get the fox out, and also get at the flowers.

Luckily, she's still pretty well covered, and the fox's teeth don't quite get through the thick leather of her gloves, but the pressure from it makes her jolt and back away, and curse in a language that doesn't get translated by the passive magic.

It only lasts a moment before she dives right back under the bush. There's a bunch of snarling and yelping and a few more curses from Maria, and a moment later, she's wrangled the fox out of its den, holding a squirming ball of white fur in her hands that she promptly pushes to the side and shoos off.] Gods damn it that thing can bite.

[Honestly, it should be glad Maria didn't kill it.]

[exsoldier]

Yeah, yeah...

[ It's not like Zack can be that bothered that Maria isn't letting him forget his blunder from earlier. The dead weight of his arm at his side won't let him forget it either, but he's still able to angle himself so that he can pull away the branches while Maria gets belly-down on the ground to dig into the fox's nest.

Yes, both of them should have known this was going to be the outcome. Zack winces, gritting his teeth when he realizes that he's put Maria into a position where she's getting injured, even if it's nothing more severe than some nips from a fox. He imagines she's had much, much worse, but it's hard not to feel a little guilty all the same.

She doesn't give in so quickly, though, and drags the fox out by the scruff and shoves it away. Finally, the little guy relents, darting off into the snow with its tail between its legs. ]

Look, we just need to grab something and then you can have your spot back! Man...

[ After that, Zack turns his attention back to Maria, wearing a concerned frown. ]

Sorry about that. Are you all right?

[ He seems to be more interested in her well-being than whether or not there's more flowers to be harvested. ]

[whomthebelltolls]

I'm fine. [That comes perhaps a bit too quickly, gritted out from between her fangs, and then Maria sighs, and shakes her head. Calm down, it was just a bite. It was just a fox.

And it's not infected.] ... I'm fine. The creature doesn't look to be affected by the blight, so it should be alright. Nothing a healing spell can't take care of, later.

[And with that, she ducks back under the brush, reaching for a few more handfuls of those flowers. There's about as many under this as there were under the first, so between them both, they have a couple handfuls.] ... There, that should be enough for a decent paycheck.

[exsoldier]

[ The defensiveness from Maria would normally have Zack holding his hands up in a disarming gesture, but it's not quite the same with one arm, so he leaves it alone. It's not like he meant to cause any offense by asking after her, but she's just sort of prickly that way -- should've known.

The good news is that there's no serious injuries or infections to worry about, and they even found some more flowers, which means that disturbing the fox and paying the price for it hadn't been for nothing. ]

Hey! Guess we make a pretty good team. [ He nods to her, then looks to see if he can spot where the fox went. It probably won't wander back until they've vacated the area, though. ] Do you know any healing spells? Or will you need to head to the Coven for that?

[whomthebelltolls]

I will be fine, but I know some healing. Would you like me to try it with you?

[It probably won't work, but she can try it.

Otherwise, she's just going to have some nasty little bruises on her hands. It's no big deal. She's been attacked by far, far worse.]

[exsoldier]

[ At no point had Zack referenced that he would need her help, mainly because he'd been hoping that this paralysis would fade away on its own. And if it didn't? Well, then he'd go to the Coven for help.

In all honestly, he wouldn't have expected Maria to know any healing magic. It just doesn't seem like it would be her thing, but now he is a little curious to see what she can do.

So he glances down at his numb arm, shrugs with his good shoulder, and then nods. ]

What's the worst that could happen?

[ Don't answer that. ]