woah what a boona log without mer chaos

[broroona]

[Blades slice through the air with a whistle and get batted away easily. disappointing but still effective. The dog was catching on. In a way, that made it more fun. With a faint grin, Baroona follows up, darting under the glaive as it knocks the other blade away–his free hand snaps the cord back so the knife will return. With his other blade he stabs deep into the jackal's thigh and slices out. Tear some ligaments, muscles, something. By the way the creature howls and falters, it seems to have worked.

A snarl forewarns him–he looks up, the other side of the glaive comes down. Baroona leans back just in time. The blade enters his thigh–an eye for an eye–where it would've met his back. Fatal blow avoided, but he still barks in pain as the end is pulled out. It starts to swing down again; Baroona doesn't wait to move. Pushing off his back leg, he shoves the jackal to the ground in a tackle, wrestling and cutting with it until–with a knife buried in its throat–it stops moving.

With a heavy sigh, Baroona sits up straight, wiping the sweat from his brow and fixing the cloth around his face. On the corpse's armor, he wipes his knives clean, draping the cord around his neck as he pushes off its body to stand...

And promptly falls over into the sand. Great.

Frowning, he tries again; fails again. He keeps it up, if only because falling helps him close the distance between himself and the well nearby.]

Comments

[luxuriant]

Whoa, there.

[Though Zelos' approaching footsteps had been quiet enough in the sand of the desert, his voice is something that shoots his personality at any poor soul in hearing range. If that's not enough, he's stepping into view from the side soon enough, just as Baroona is pulling himself up from another fall. He'd been watching the guy for a little bit now-- just long enough to finish that Jackal and attempt to get closer to the well in such a clumsy way.

He knew nothing about the guy, so of course he was guarded, but that didn't mean Zelos was just going to walk away and leave a person in need to struggle like this. Not if he had the power to help it. He'd been like that even before he met Lloyd.

So he turns and takes a few steps backwards so he's facing Baroona properly head on, one hand on his hip as the other extends to help him up if he'd like to take it. Whether he does or doesn't, though, that smooth smirk doesn't leave Zelos' face.]

Looks like you could use some help.

[broroona]

[Saying no is tempting but even pride gives way for survival. He takes the hand after a moment's pause, using it more as a support as he once again stands. It's successful, if wavering, and without permission he grabs Zelos' upper arm for additional support. Mutters:]

Thanks.

[glances back down at the corpse (mildly disappointed it's only a couple feet away after all his hard work), nodding at its weapon.] Can you help me over to that?

[luxuriant]

[Every little motion says something, doesn't it? At least Zelos is lead to certain conclusions by the way Baroona reacts to his offer for help. He doesn't reply to the thanks or react to the use of his upper arm. He simply lets his eyes wander over in the direction of Baroona's nod, leaning just a bit that way (not enough to knock the poor guy off balance).]

Hmm? That rusty old thing?

[The why? is pretty implied there, but he'll shift his attention back down to the stranger's leg.] Hang on, I'll do you one better.

[Why hobble over to it when he can walk, right? That's Zelos' line of thinking, at least, and he doesn't wait for any opinion on the matter before calling up his spell. A magic circle appears below them just as Baroona will notice a warm, soothing feeling taking over his leg and healing the wound.]

[broroona]

[WOW NOPE SHOVING YOU AWAY. Which leaves him stumbling back and–thankfully–out of the circle. Sand gets into his partially... healed cut but he grits back the pain, gripping his knives and watching Zelos with a mixture of fear and anger.]

That's not what I asked.

[Also not what he expected. To see in his life. Ever. He stands with great struggle but manages, biting back the pain as he puts weight on the semi-injured leg. It's easier to do now, but that doesn't mean he's solaced. Readjusting his grip on the knives, he holds them out, glancing at the gash as well as he can before blinking back to Zelos.]

What did you do to it.

[luxuriant]

[The shove gets Zelos to take a few steps (or half-stumbles, really) back and blink in surprise. There's just a bit of a dry laugh at the question though, and he's raising both hands in a casually defensive motion.]

Whoa, come on, what's your problem? I healed it! [There's a pause, and he lowers his hands, staying firmly in place. He'd rather not have to deal with dodging knives right now, honestly. Too much effort.] And I would have finished if you hadn't shoved me away like that. You're standing, aren't you? Take it easy and I can do the rest.

[broroona]

No.

[YOU TAKE A STEP FORWARd ANd HE'LL TAKE A STEP BACK, SWEAR TO GOd. Also cut you. It's pretty likely with how warily he's regarding Zelos. Always facing him, Baroona takes slow steps back towards the corpse.]

How did you heal it? [Still, despite his fear, there's a bit of curiosity tinging the question. Or maybe it's just innocent naivety–something that increases as a thought occurs to him. He takes a moment to consider it before blinking up at Zelos.]

... Are you a god?

[Not that he believed in them but the jackals pretty much proved that this place was insane. Gods were the only ones able to use magic–what's to say a land this crazy didn't have any wandering around? Baroona lowers his weapons slightly at the prospect. Threatening a god probably wasn't a good idea by anyone's standards.]

[luxuriant]

[Over the time that Baroona is talking, there's a slow shift in Zelos' way of holding himself. By the time that question comes out, it's something of a radical change for the observant. The way he settles all of his weight onto that leg of the hip where his hand is resting and lets his mouth settle into a frown. The pause is brief after the question, but it's heavy enough.]

No. [And it's quickly shot down. Firmly, without any sense of joking, unlike the tone the rest of his words so far had carried.

Still, he stays put, free hand lifting in something of a conversational gesture. His tone lightens up along with it, but it's still not messing around in the way he had been before.] I'm a human. I've just had magic injections with the latest in Tethe'allan technology. ...It lets me use magic.

[broroona]

[The severity of how he says it is probably the most comforting thing he's done, to be honest. It erases any doubt of lying, gives him a solid answer and a small glimpse at what he was truly like. A basis to feel more grounded.

Not that the rest of his explanation shares that. Baroona's expression remains largely neutral but there is the slightest tension between his brows. Like Zelos, a clear sign for the observant at how lost he really is.]

That doesn't make sense.

[luxuriant]

Neither does showing up off of a train to another universe, or a desert cavern with its own sun under the museum.

[Just saying. His eyes move from Baroona to the jackal on the ground beside him and then back again.]

Are you gonna waste our time arguing about how it doesn't make any sense or can we call things fair and keep moving? I mean, it's up to you if you want to keep trudging along with some beat up leg like that. It just means you're going to have to rely on help again at some point.

[broroona]

[The words are true enough–(the moving on, bit. To hell with believing he actually was brought somewhere. denial is a land that suits him fine.)–and Baroona agrees with them, crouching down with a grunt and grabbing the glaive. He uses it to stand back up, turning it from a weapon into a walking stick, albeit a deadly one. When he relies on it to take his weight, walking becomes easier. No less painful, but it's not the worst he's felt.

Leaning on both staff and injured leg, he uses one of his knives to cut a long strip from the bottom of his shirt.]

"We"?

[The wound is big enough to need a significant amount of cloth. His shirt starts to become a belly-shirt, the majority of a large stomach scar now visible. He breaks off the strip when it looks long enough, padding and wrapping the wound while he speaks.]

You don't need to stick around.

[luxuriant]

[So he's going with the trudging on route, huh? Zelos huffs out a laugh, breaking from his standing still the minute Baroona relents to take a few steps closer and kick at the lifeless body of the jackal, observing it. His observing of Baroona is just as shamelessly obvious with the way his eyes trace over that scar, but at the very least he manages to stay silent as he looks out over the desert.]

Don't get all touched, now. I'm just saying that it looked to me like we're going in the same direction. [He shrugs like it's a normal thing to suggest, waving out towards the well and beyond it.]

Unless you've had enough, that is.

[broroona]

I've had enough of looking at your hair.

[He could be serious by the way he says it (he's not), tying the wrappings and looking up.]

You know the way out?

[Although Baroona's conflicted he wants to leave. The city he was brought to is new, confusing, and boring all at the same time. Here–however strange it is–he at least has the comfort of fighting.

Although his leg might make that a bit hard.]

[luxuriant]

[Rude. Then again, Zelos gets rude most of the time (and brings it on, in fact) and so he doesn't reply verbally to that first comment. He does, however, bring a hand up just to flip his gorgeous locks over his shoulder more properly.

Too bad, this hair isn't going anywhere. As for the question?]

More or less. [He mainly says that to be a jerk, shrugging lightly along with it. It's half true though. He knows the general direction, but he's been down in this desert for a while, and it's not exactly close.]

Have you just been down here wandering lost or something?

[broroona]

[It was hard to pinpoint whether traveling with the stranger was worth the annoyance. The fussing every time he injured, the insistence over asking questions, the constant need to say stupid things. Baroona wouldn't mind it if he wasn't so smug about all of it.

But even Baroona had to admit that he was useful. A good enough fighter, having him around made their encounters go faster. And–even if most of the words out of his mouth sounded like prying, overcompensation, or a blatant facade–there was something comforting to the amount of which he talked about nothing.

In the end, Baroona decided he didn't mind.

It made the idea of camping with him for the night easier to settle with. They pick a spot within view of the river, under a small outcropping of rocks. Just guarded enough to be safe, open enough to keep an easy watch–it was ideal. Baroona's just managed to get the fire started when he looks towards Zelos.]

Can you go get some food?

[luxuriant]

Me?

[With an exaggerated groan, he flops down to a sitting position on the opposite side of the fire, palms on the ground and legs crossed casually. He can't help but reflect on all of this, himself. He wouldn't have been caught dead buddying it up with some stranger in the middle of all this before, but he'd learned a handful of things from Lloyd, and those things had changed his views a bit. ...No, maybe they'd just given him more confidence to try for what he'd always thought.

Things like never finding it okay to abandon someone in need. That people could be good. That everyone was different and deserved some attention. Things like that.

It was dumb how much Lloyd's disappearance from this place had really struck that into him, too. And here he had still been sitting around with that self-pitying attitude. He really needed to cut that out. All he needed to know was that his friend thought his life had worth.

It surprised him how innocent and optimistic all of his interactions with people in Zelien were, these days.]

You expect me to go looking around this dump for something edible? I'll pass, thanks. I'm tired. Why don't you go get us some?

[The whining is heavily exaggerated, but he has fun like this. Effort's annoying anyway. That's just the kind of guy he is... Why do what he doesn't have to?]

[broroona]

[Why do what he doesn't have to? Because Baroona in front of him, looking down and casting a deeply disapproving look with it.]

I made the fire.

[AKA get off your ass and do something. And if that wasn't enough incentive, he takes a carefully measured pause–disguising it as a sudden realization. He blinks, expression turning more innocent as he pats a closed fist over his open palm.] Oh!

[Bending over slightly, he continues:] Could it be that you don't know how to do it? [Straightening again, glancing away.] I guess everyone has their uses. Maybe one day you'll find yours.

[He mutters the last bit just loud enough for Zelos to hear.]

[luxuriant]

I heard that, you asshole.

[He has a feeling it was on purpose, too. He straightens out his legs in front of him, shifting a bit but not quite getting up.]

Of course I know how! Just because I've grown up with all the finer luxuries of life doesn't mean I don't know the basics. [Huffing, he finally does push himself up, dusting off his hands and then his pants.]

I bet I could do a hell of a lot better than you could. We'd have had a fire minutes ago if you weren't so freaked out by magic!

[broroona]

[In an instant, the feigned innocence disappears and he's back to his dry self giving Zelos a flat look.]

It's devil's work. How am I supposed to like it?

[Turning away from Zelos, he shoves his hands into his pockets. Walks around the fire.] If you think you can do better, prove it. Go catch some fish.

[Jabbing a finger over his shoulder towards the river as he sits down, leaning back against the small rock wall that's protecting them.]

[luxuriant]

Tch. First I'm a god, and now I use the devil's work? Make up your mind already.

[He's getting sick of these comparisons, to be honest. Waving off that last part though, he scoffs.]

That's not gonna prove anything. Why don't we have a real competition, huh? Man to man?

[broroona]

[Not moving. Closing his eyes, actually, while placing his hands behind his head.]

Isn't that hard when one of us is a woman?

[luxuriant]

What the hell is that supposed to mean?!

[He knows exactly what it's supposed to mean, of course. Which is why he's going to be summoning up a 'healing wind' move. The ground between and around them sways with a soft wind, and the sensation of being healed will run up Baroona again.]

[broroona]

[The change is instant–from casual to panicked in record time. Without his usual grace, he scrambles away, eyeing the circle suspiciously before turning the look towards Zelos.]

Cut it out.

[His words are sterner than usual. Reluctantly, he stands.] Just go get the food.

[luxuriant]

[...Interesting. Much like Hellboy, he was curious enough to want to push this further. But because of Hellboy, he's also realizing that he should be more aware of the lines that are drawn.]

What's the matter? You scared or something? Take it easy, I'm going, I'm going.

[That's what he settles with. A light jab (that doesn't really sound so light, does it) before he's waving it off like it's not a big deal at all and turning to head to the river.]

[broroona]

[Baroona watches him leave, settling back down only once he's left.

And getting back up a few minutes later.

As satisfied as he is with watching the fire, it's boring compared to the thought of watching Zelos attempt to be competent. He's curious to see if he can actually manage it and it's that curiosity that leads him to follow Zelos' footsteps and settle down by the banks of the river, legs curled up to his chest.]

[luxuriant]

[The first few attempts were sure to bring at least a bit of amusement, what with the way Zelos tried to go about things. First it was the way he rolled up his pants and tiptoed in like getting wet would kill him. Goofy swipes at fish went nowhere, and even when he did manage to get one, it flopped out and back into the water, leaving him howling and whining about how it had cut him as he hopped on his feet.

After a few minutes of him goofing around, though, he actually seems to settle into a completely different mode, swinging his sword out and watching the water for a few moments before his hand cuts in quickly with the blade. When he brings it out again, there's a fish stabbed into it.

It's then that his face earns a goofy look again, and he waves over to Baroona.]

Heeeeeeey! I got ooooooooone! [Super cool right???]