[OPEN] you waste your time with hate and regret

[chronomancer]

Characters: Jade!Eridan Ampora('s half dead carcass) and YOU.
Setting: Floor 12.
Format: Action, but I'll match you.
Summary: Nobody told Eridan sleeping in this cold is a bad, bad idea. What did you expect from him? He knows how to survive extreme heat, not extreme cold.
Warnings: Jadeblood popcicles. Jadeblood popcicles for everyone. Also Eridan sliding down the slippery slope of murderously batshit crazy, yay.

[Watching the universes ending and stars imploding and the whole thing... it's rather soothing. Sort of. Eridan was in dire need of soothing things, to put his mind back together. He'd intended to maybe sit there for a couple hours, watching the stars dying, and trying to calm himself down from an abrupt, nonsensical rage that even he could tell was irrational. He'd been pushing down a bubble of hysteria for the better part of four days now, mostly because hysteria meant bad, bad things for all involved, but maybe if he went at it slowly, it wouldn't be so bad. Because meltdowns totally work that way, obviously. Though even he had to admit that he couldn't keep on pretending everything was right and peachy. Putting on a smile and going through the motions was getting almost physically painful, but he didn't want anyone to get hurt. (And of course, being a responsible troll and asking Jade for a feelings jam was not an idea that occurred to him, either, because what is doing the right thing, haha, you must have confused him for someone else, Eridan Ampora never does the right thing unless Paradox Space has him at metaphorical gun point about it.)

Eridan watched the cycles of destruction repeat over and over again, while he tried to put order to the mess that is his head, but it wasn't long before he started feeling sleepy instead. Not really knowing any better, and given the alternative was thinking more about Rei and such, he started nodding off, fueled by the cold.

Which is why you'll find him tucked away in a corner of the room, face buried into his knees, arms around his ankles and limbs already stiff. The sleeves of that jacket have been brutalized already, but hey. At least there isn't a single bloodstain on this floor.

Yet.]

Comments

[puppy_lancer]

[Well, if this isn't the weirdest statue that he's ever seen around here. Lancer is just gonna stand around and stare at the statue for a few minutes. It definitely hadn't been there the last time he checked. He materializes Gae Bolg and gives it a quick poke with the butt-end]

[reddeadvirtuoso]

[Cold and a flu? Well that was basically the exactly last thing that Jade had wanted this winter, and to top it all that she was actually y'know, leaving her room. Half because she was hungry, half because jesus was she bored.

So, sniffling and grumbling as she goes, Jade was just passing through (she didn't really like this floor much at all, to be honest), but-- it was hard to pass through when you noticed something out of the corner of your eye, and it was even harder when that thing was no doubt qualified as her Time Bro looking...disturbingly still at the moment. He wasn't even yelling at her for not having a proper jacket or something!]

Uh... Eri? [She nudged her scarf up over her mouth and nose, making her sound a bit muffled as she slowly stepped closer towards him.] Dude...?

[chronomancer]

[Eridan startles at the poke. Or well, he tries to, his joints are sore and most of his limbs are stiff right now, so all you get out of that is a small jerk of his shoulders and a complaining, miserable moan.]

[chronomancer]

[This quiet rasp of breath was meant to be a snore. Yay. This is all you're getting, Strider, sorry.]

[reddeadvirtuoso]

[Oh. He was just asleep.

Jade decided that gave her full cause to turn down the worry at least a little bit, and so pulled back her foot and gave Eridan a good solid kick in the side of his leg to get him to wake up.

Come on dumbass, this was definitely not the opportune sleeping spot.]

[chronomancer]

[Eridan whines in retaliation to that kick, though rather than flail, he just jerks away, half heartedly swatting a hand at Jade. Yeah, someone's no longer in full control of their body, yay.]

[geometry]

[Cold. Cold, cold, cold.]

[This was going to be the end of him, it really was. Equius' cold wasn't nearly as bad as some of the others going around the Tower, and it was only a matter of time until he caught the damn thing anyway, but Equius had been pretty scarce nonetheless. He was taking his own advice; sticking to his bed mostly, not doing too much, waiting it out. But after the boredom and the odd looks from his roommates started getting to him, Equius ventured out to one of those floors he could never decide if he liked or not. Either way, it was pretty soothing, especially for a Spacey-wacey type such as him.]

[As such, he was a little busy with appreciating the scenery. If he didn't think too hard about the fact that planets were exploding, it was actually a very nice experience... and so, leaning against the wall, he more or less completely missed Eridan's presence for the first few minutes. Though there was a lot of sniffling and coughing from his corner of the room, which kind of broke the mood, but whatevs.]

[puppy_lancer]

[He frowns when he sees it move. It seems that it's alive. He remains still, wondering if it's some new sort of monster.]

[reddeadvirtuoso]

Eri, come on...!

[Her only slight inflection made it sound like she was getting annoyed, but really it was more worry again.] If you need to take a doze, you'd be better off sleeping in an oven at this rate.

[chronomancer]

[Eridan registers the little - or not so little noises - but it takes him a while to react with more than a little whine in the back of his throat and further curling up around himself. He was supposed to be doing something here, but he's tired and sleepy and everything's heavy...]

[chronomancer]

It can wait.

[What can wait? Your guess is as good as any, he's just going to go back to curling up and trying to sleep. Yeah, this is some terrible monster alright.]

[chronomancer]

...five more minutes.

[This is, legit, a thing he just said. Excuse him while he tries to go back to sleep.]

[reddeadvirtuoso]

[Oh fuck you man. She stared at him for a moment as she sniffled.]

Fuck no man, get your ass up before it freezes to the floor.

[chronomancer]

Do I have to?

[Behold, a face without sunglasses and all the sleepiness in the world on it. Pause.]

You're sick.

[Because this is the important thing right now.]

[puppy_lancer]

[It talked. Guess it isn't a monster after all. Lancer walks up to it and sniffs at it. It's got a scent, so it's living. He can't really see the face very clearly, but from the horns, it might be a troll.]

...Kid?

[chronomancer]

Not now!

[Have a sluggish wave of his arm as he tries to shuffle into a more comfortable position.]

[reddeadvirtuoso]

[She'd insult you're priorities, but she's also thinking about how weird you look without your sunglasses, so that'd just be hypocritical at this point.]

It's just a cold. My immune system couldn't handle the cool combination of my sweet nuances and the icy temperature.

[Whatever that totally wasn't the point right now, so she's gonna step over and start yanking on his arm to get him to stand up.] Yes you have to.

[chronomancer]

Ow, ow, ow, okay. No need to try and tear it off.

[Never mind that she wasn't really pulling that hard, it just felt that way. He frowns, moving sluggishly as he tries to stand up again.]

Done with the fucking armless thing, honest.

[Muttering to himself, don't mind him if he doesn't make much sense.]

Plus, you wouldn't shoot me.

[reddeadvirtuoso]

[At least she was willing to stop pulling and make sure he was standing up soundly and not falling back over or something like that. So that was good!

Though there was a good bit of staring at him while he was muttering like a mad person.] Dude. You're not a werewolf nor an actual zombie. What's up with you?

[puppy_lancer]

[He pulls away a little.]

You okay there?

[Because being statue-like in this weather doesn't seem very healthy.]

[geometry]

[When he finally heard the little noises from the corner of the room that weren't coming from him, he was able to snap out of the trance that he always seemed to take in this floor. He could recognize the shape of the horns (he'd have to be an idiot not to), and so headed over immediately. You'd better bet your ass he's been worrying.]

Eridan?

...Eridan!

[chronomancer]

Just fine!

[Cranky, cranky. Also a little snarly. Which usually isn't much of a problem, but with teeth like his the snarling always end up looking like prelude to aggression. And just this once, it is.]

[chronomancer]

If it doesn't need fucking shooting it's not my fucking problem.

[Putting his arms over his head and refusing to look up? Yes, yes, he's doing that. Also growling a little.]

[chronomancer]

Nothin'.

[This is the worst lie he's ever told. Not just because just about everything is wrong with him right now, but because most of his lies are usually even a tiny bit convincing. Excuse him while he leans against the wall a bit and scowls.]

Jade popsicles are my favorite!

[iron_infidel]

[Signless wasn't one for visiting this floor, the idea of his world ending, his dream destroyed and his hope lost was not something he enjoyed thinking about. However, being that he was a traveler exploring the tower was something he enjoyed doing. It is only when he sees the jade blood upon the floor that he immediately switches to worrisome mode.

He runs towards the troll and drops to his level. The older troll is quick to remove his outer cloak and place it over the younger troll. A gentle hand is placed upon Eridan's shoulder and a calming nudge follows.]

Eridan sleeping here is not a wise choice. Are you alright?