[audio] @riku; testing recovery limits [open]

[equinoctials]

Hey, this is Riku.

Between the ferry sinking, the loss of some supplies and a bunch of newcomers to get up to speed, I know we've all got a lot going on.

It could have been a lot worse. It wasn't because a lot of you stepped up to help. That's exactly what's going to see us through.

...So, thanks.

[ He pauses to rub his hands together, the resultant rasp could be anything. ]

Not to rain on our parade, but the crash got me thinking. Specifically, about dealing with injuries.

If anybody can teach basic first aid, I think everyone would benefit from learning.

[ There's a soft crackle, wind skimming across the tablet's microphone, a bit of a shiver in his voice: ]

For the ones using magic or other abilities to heal others, knowing what limits being here has imposed on those abilities is hard enough without finding out in the middle of an emergency.

I have an idea how we could test these limits in a pretty controlled environment. Contact me if you're interested.

[ He already feels like he's been talking too much, but there's a little more to say: ]

If no one's heard about it yet, we located an armory to the east over the river. There, you'll find weapons, knives and swords, stuff like that. In the basement is an area for training and target practice.

Aziraphale did most of the work, but there's a bridge over the river now. I left a torch at the armory. Should make it easier to find.

If anyone can figure out how they made that building practically invisible, might be worth putting it around a more central location in case of an attack.

That's all I got.


(Appended to the message is a list of respondents and skills they're willing to teach.)
Rosalind Lutece: first aid (lesson in exchange for 1 hr lab assist)
Soldier: basic field medicine
Jason Grace: first aid, improvised first aid kits
Clarke Griffin: advanced medicine, long term care
Matt: first aid
Daylight: Galateion first aid
Javert: wound dressing, stitching

Other stuff to think about
- everybody should carry first aid kits
- save rags & cloth scraps for bandages & splints
- central medical area?
- (Bruce) ask Will about an alarm for medical help

Comments

[webshoots]

Did it look like it could be tech? Because—. [ a pause. ] I can take a look.

[equinoctials]

It's possible. I know, everyone's got a lot going on right now, but if you could figure it out... what if we could do that to the Invincible? To the church?

1/2

[webshoots]

Yeah, I know. It'd help.

[ is all he says, at first; then— ] At home, there was something that I— [ a pause punctuated by a slight cough and rustling that could be movement. it stops almost as abruptly as it starts, and there's the quiet inhale of breath that could be the start of a sigh, before peter continues: ] A suit. [ beat. ] I made a suit that warped light and sound — functionally, it rendered it invisible. Whatever's hiding your armoury, it could be made from something similar. [ unstable molecules? imagine the possibilities—. ] I'll head out there as soon as I can.

[webshoots]

How're you holding up, by the way?

[equinoctials]

That's crazy. Man, what I wouldn't give to have seen that in action.

[ Ah, the inevitable how are you doing really question. ]

I got through that whole mess the other day unscathed. You?

[webshoots]

The crazier thing was why. I think this is where I get a free pass to slide in a not-in-the-right-context you shoulda seen the other guy, but really: you should've seen the other guy — which I'm going to segue into a so how did you notice the armoury?

[ yes, the inevitable question. ]

Okay. [ beat. ] I mean, yeah, me too — but that's not what I asked. It's been, what, four months? I know I'm tired. All I'm saying is: don't burn yourself out.

1/2

[equinoctials]

We were both lucky.

[ Riku's relief might be understated, but it's still there; he doesn't need to reiterate just how much worse that could have been, not when Peter was there for the mission to connect the Lighthouse. ]

I didn't. It was Ignis who noticed there was something off about the trees. He's got an eye for the details, that's for sure.

2/2

[equinoctials]

You worried about me? Come on.

[ He sounds cocky, except the truth is, he's surprised the warning came from the same guy who said responsibility was kind of his thing. ]

I'm not your responsibility, it's okay.

1/2

[webshoots]

You're right, you're not. But that isn't what this is. If we wanted to make it about responsibility, we could — something about how sometimes, you've got a responsibility to yourself to make sure that that same drive and want to make sure everyone else is okay, takes a backseat to making sure you're okay, because otherwise, you're not going to be able to do that first one.

But this isn't about that, is it? [ beat, amendment: ] Not entirely. Look, I get it, you need to keep busy — and I'm only saying this because I can see how much you're doing.

[ there's a pause and a sound, like peter's either running a hand through his hair or down his face, or possibly - probably - both. his gut tells him that riku's probably doing this, all of this, because if he stops, he's worried it (he'll) fall apart, but there's another part of peter that says hey, just because that's what you do, that doesn't mean that's what everyone does. the rest of him says that he doesn't know riku well enough to make a call on that. ]

It's not going to get easier. You're okay now, but if you keep it up, are going to be? That's what you've gotta ask yourself.

[webshoots]

Just — keep it in mind. Because trust me, I wish I could come up with something like that on the fly, for the good of my health. And if I'm wrong? If you are okay and I'm just jumping to all the wrong conclusions? That'd be great, actually.

[equinoctials]

[ Riku could count on one hand the number of people who ever managed to give him chills and still have fingers left. ]

Speaking from personal experience?

[ The worst part of it is he's right, Riku can outrun a lot of people, but he can't outrun his heart. So what if it's about holding off the inevitable long enough to they find a way to outsmart or defeat those World Eaters Will spoke of?

Did Peter run himself ragged until he died? ]

Well... thanks. But the ferry sinking really set us back worse than losing all those people after the lighthouse was connected. This stuff isn't gonna get itself done.

[webshoots]

[ there's a huff of breath that manages to be in between a sigh and a laugh: for what it's worth, it's basically the exact response he expected, which is — fine, to be honest. ]

Yeah. I am. [ beat. ] Which — keep it in mind to use as whatever kind of warning you want. [ uttered with an edge of humour, because that's not entirely how he means it. it's there more as a I get it, but repeating the point too much is just a one-way trip to defensiveness.

and peter knows, too, that it's one of those things that you learn through experience.

but also: he's peter "I basically never get my life together" parker, and he's aware that he could have got it together a long time ago. BUT HEY. ]

—And listen, I know we're in a rough place, but we haven't lost anyone. Not this time. [ not yet, so as far as peter's concerned, that is better. ] And despite what the Doc's experiences have been, we've got a pretty good group of people. This stuff'll get done.

[equinoctials]

[ Peter says they haven't lost anyone this time and he's right about that, too.

There's an ugly thought on the heels of that, that Riku's only lost the really important ones and how sharply he feels it everyday. What else can he do but run ahead full-tilt?

Slowing down might mean getting dragged to a stop. ]

We have a good group. I wonder if we'll still be around to help the next batch of newcomers. However the heck they'll get here without the ferry.

[webshoots]

[ s q u i n t i n g. ]

I'm torn on how to answer that. On the one hand, man, I hope not. On the other hand: I really hope so, because if there's newcomers, it means we haven't figured out the solution to this yet and—. [ pause. ] There's no good answer to that question.

But I've got a bunch of questions of my own: why we? You and I planning on doing something that'll mean we won't be? Or just you? Is this the royal we? Either way, I'm not sure if I'm on board, and I don't mean that in the sense that I'm afraid of sinking.

[ hashtag too soon? apparently not for peter. ]

—And as much as I hate all of this with the ferry, I'm kinda surprised it hasn't happened before. Or at least within the last twenty years. Given the amount of magic apparently around in this place, I'd be surprised if the ferry isn't just a conduit.

[equinoctials]

Nothing.

[ Don't read too much into it, he means, or no- honestly, it's just his pessimism rearing its unsightly head, wondering if the ones who have been here longest are just borrowing time until they go the way of Winters. ]

A conduit? What do you mean?

[webshoots]

I mean, a way of connecting places.

—Obviously it helps to connect this world to wherever we come from, but — none of us remember that, right? We remember dying and we remember waking up on the ferry. There's no memories for anything in between, but clearly something happened: we went from point A to point B somehow. So what if, and believe me, I hate the words that are about to come out of my mouth, but for the sake of argument— what if we're supposed to be here, (I mean that in the sense that whatever last happened to us on our worlds directly influenced events), which means that even without the ferry, the first stage of events happens, right?

Because believe me, there's no ferry in Central Park. So I — die, in Central Park, I still end up here, in Beacon, but where am I if I'm not on the ferry? The water? It's not going to be a case of I just don't come through, because oy. If the world eaters are attracted by life and light, someone would've just tried stopping the cause of more light.

[ there's a thought there though, one that he doesn't vocalise: if it does mean that no-one else comes through, dead or not, is that such a bad thing? it means no-one else has to deal with thus, any of it. a smaller group is easier in terms of fewer risks, easier in terms of working together. ]

[equinoctials]

I think we need to talk sometime about how you got so familiar with the idea of portals and other worlds.

[ It's unusual, even for their unusual circumstances. Riku is already aware that Peter's no ordinary guy living blissfully ignorant. Maybe that's what links them all. Are they brought here because each of them has experiences that make them a little more ready to accept the challenges they face here?

Rhetorical question, sorry.

More seriously he says: ]

But say these people just pop in and there's no ferry to catch them. That means their bodies, and their lanterns, all end up in the lake. There's no telling if we'd even be able to recover their lanterns.

[webshoots]

[ there's a silence on peter's end, one where his face makes a series of expressions. sure, riku was there at the lighthouse, but peter's never actually made an attempt to explain anything, and riku's never asked. ]

—I don't think the answer's going to be as interesting as you're imagining. [ which isn't true, it's probably exactly as riku's imagining, more or less.

—nngh. ] ...But sure, we can talk about that sometime.

That's the worst case scenario. Either way, we're not gonna know, not until—. [ pause. ] We've got just under a month to figure it out. That's a general 'we', by the way.

[equinoctials]

Hey. I would've given everything to hear about other worlds, once.

[ And, once, he almost did.

So yeah, Peter. Yeah, the answer will be as interesting to him as he's imagining. Because each world is, for all its similarities with others, unique and beautiful for it. He treasures the changeable nature of the multiverse, how there's always something new to seek. ]

I'll talk to Robin, see if she can make any recommendations about what to do about future newcomers.

[webshoots]

[ levelly: ] Everything's a lot to give.

[ THAT IS. very interesting phrasing riku, but he's going to (mostly) skip past it for a second. it's a whole conversation that can certainly, maybe be had another time. ]

Maybe. She seemed pretty uh put out by the incident.

[equinoctials]

[ Sometimes even a short period of silence speaks volumes.



He hums thoughtfully at Peter's remark about how Robin took the news. ]

Which tells me in all the resets before us, no one's ever pulled something like that before.

[webshoots]

I'm going to be honest, as far as ideas go, it was pretty unlikely to work — it assumed way too much about the nature of where we are, and if it had worked, I'd've been more shocked. [ beat. ] I mean, if we can leave, I want to get out of here as much as the next twenty-something with debt, no job and, by now, probably no apartment, but I'm not really for dooming an entire planet and universe to unidentified creatures that eat worlds.

—Which just means that previous groups possibly had less idiots.

[equinoctials]

[ Peter talks about debt, a job, and an apartment, all of these things are so normal that it makes Riku even more aware of how little he'd thought about those. He worried about his friends, about the other guardians, about whether the King is doing okay or if he's running himself crazy trying to find a couple of missing Keyblade Wielders.

Will any of them be able to go back and enjoy something resembling a normal life? Or is this it? ]

No kidding. Where would you go? Besides, there's that thing out in the water. If it got further than the bay, I don't want to imagine what would've happened to the ferry and everyone on it.

[webshoots]

The optimistic part of me says that we need to make mistakes to learn from them, and this could've ended a lot worse, so: mistake made, lesson learned, hopefully. The rest of me says that anyone who thinks stealing a boat and then driving — sailing — it in the wrong direction, straight into a dock probably isn't going to be learning any lessons any time soon...

—How much do we have in the way of painkillers, by the way? Generic, over the counter.

[equinoctials]

[ Got a point there, Peter. ]

I'm not sure.

Part of the problem is we haven't exactly accounted for our medical supplies. Some of it is scattered all over or in someone's possession. There's some in the general store, but I couldn't tell you how much or if it's sufficient.