[CLOSED/OPEN] No words can heal a broken heart

[chronomancer]

Characters: [AU1] Eridan Ampora & [AU1] Equius Zahhak; Eridan Ampora and YOU.
Setting: Meadow floor (closed/backdated to the January event), Floor 64 (open/current)
Format: Starting with action but I'll match you.
Summary: Two logs for the price of one, lmao so I don't flood the comm: closing up aged up shenanigans, Equius is displeased and Eridan is about to learn just how much. Also back in real time, Eridan finds a deliciously tempting slice of home.
Warnings: Violence and swearing for the Equius log. Eridan being actually honest and pathetic and stupid, for the open one.

[Closed: Meadow floor.]

[He wasn't tired so much as he was trying to hibernate. He wasn't entirely sure trolls, undead or otherwise, actually did the whole hibernation shtick, but he could at least try. Save up his energy. Make his last feeding last. He was pretty sure things didn't really work that way but he was lazy and this was a good enough excuse. So there he is, as long as he is, lying on his back and sunbathing in the meadow without a care in the world.

Not that he didn't have cares. He had a lot of them, actually. But if he started thinking about all of them he'd probably implode. Or go on a rampage. Or both. Really, it was for the best of everyone involved, if he just laid there, soaking up sunlight and carefully thinking of nothing in particular.]

[Open: Desert floor.]

[It's so familiar it hurts, really. The heat, the sand, the occasional blast of wind. It's probably a bad idea to head out, and given the last few terrible ideas he's indulged lately, mostly as a result of the experiment last month, Eridan resists the urge to go.

But he wants to, dear god, he wants to so bad.

He's curled up on the sandy floor, barely two steps off the staircase, staring aimlessly at the distance and quietly drowning in nostalgia. He's never really stopped to sit down and miss life before the Game... but now he does and the wave of homesickness is almost entirely too much to handle.]

Comments

[papshooshing]

...So what do we do from here?

[ he is wringing his hands nervously. they're going to die out here. oh god. just fuck his lyyyyfe. ]

[chronomancer]

[Eridan crouched down, digging his claws into the sand a little thoughtfully and studying the marks, trying to see if they changed.]

Normally I'd say dig in for shelter and wait til night drops before we start looking for water, but night here might be worse and I left my rifle by the stairs.

[Eridan took off his jacket and offered to Karkat.]

Throw that over your head, it'll keep you from getting isolated too fast.

[papshooshing]

[ well he's not going to argue with Eridan. not completely. he starts to put the coat over his head when he frowns. ]

What about you?

[chronomancer]

[Eridan shrugged and looked up at the 'sky', one hand over his eyes shielding them a little.]

Fuckers are really gonna need to step up their game to impress me. I'll be fine.

[He shrugged.]

We should try at least to find water, though. Slim a chance as that is. Walk with me, as slow and relaxed as you can make yourself.

[papshooshing]

This is your show, Eridan. Not going to sit here and pretend that I know what the fuck I am doing...

[ he's going to trust you and follow your lead. ]

You sure you don't need something to cover your face?

[chronomancer]

I could fucking use a pair of sunglasses, if you really wanna know, but that's something I've been kind of needing since last month.

[The smile is more of a snarl than anything else. He's pretty damn well adapted to this kind of environment, and even half away from it hasn't taken that away from him. His hide doesn't blister in this lackluster sun, which is hot and scorching but still not as brutal as the Alternian summer. But he can tell, the way they're going, that there's something inherently wrong in this place. He trusts his gut more than he trusts his senses, especially when they're in disagreement over something. They need water, Karkat more than him, and they need shelter, but he doesn't trust the Tower to play fair. It never does. Eridan doesn't want to contemplate what he might have to do, if worse comes to worst. He's gotta try, first, before anything else.]

Don't let yourself get winded up, okay? And if you see anything that isn't sand or sky, lemme know, it might help.

[papshooshing]

...Like what? A tumbleweed? A cactus? Because that's about all I figure we'll see save for something that will, you know, just maim and later eat us.

[ keeps following Eridan. it's hot though... very hot and Karkat's blood already is hotter than usual. still wearing his heavy sweater. probably should ditch that, huh? ]

What're we going to do if night falls and we're still out here?

[chronomancer]

Cacti would be a godsend, actually. Good source of water, food too if we're lucky.

[They haven't advanced much, before Eridan stops by a large dune. He digs at the sand with his claws, trying to hollow out a small dip for them, and beckons Karkat closer. The sand where he's dug out is colder than the one in the surface.]

Let's take a break here, for a bit. If night catches us here, and provided we don't have to fight monsters, we ought to make a fire and try to stay warm. Given the chill in other floors, I bet this fucker gets downright freezing by then.