And the people that you meet want to open you up like Christmas

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

~ There's a point in Seven where the trash field stops - sewage, mouldering rubbish and unfortunate shades alike tumble across the brim and take a steep fall into the smoke obscured pit of Eight. The edge is fittingly subtle and nearly impossible to spot - a fact both Barty and Reg have plenty of time to ruminate on as their next step is suddenly unsupported. ~

Comments

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

*Regulus, who has spent that last hour violently shushing Barty for being too loud and alerting anyone who may be nearby to their presence, breaks his own rule with a yelp as they topple down into Eight*

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

*falling, as often portrayed in muggle films, should rightly happen in slow motion with plenty of dramatic angles, falling in Hell, however, is just confusing - the smoke is too thick to judge how fast the ground is catching up and that's just as well because it happens to catch up with Barty far faster then he has time to judge*

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

*Barty crunches and Regulus slaps wetly onto the hard ground, the shock sends Regulus into one of his fits and he is forced to spend the next minute coughing up mucky self-produced water into an oozing puddle*

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

*being completely frozen has its advantages, pain is deadened and the hotter levels are laughably ineffectual, however it makes up for this by rendering Barty terribly, terribly brittle and so he lays in an angular little heap, broken bones jutting out from his skin here and there, reluctant blood freezing it in place as it attempts to gush and ultimately fails*

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

*he hacks as hard as he can, finally getting the drowning under control but all relief about this is ruined by the disgust of a thin slimy tendril of swamp weed left dangling from his throat, he pulls it out like a magician doing a scarf trick and flicks it away into the smog before turning his attention to Barty*



That was unexpected.

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

*hands him a piece of his shin*

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

*his arm looks alarmingly like a jenga tower as he reaches out for it, fingers bent in unnatural directions*

I don't even know what this piece IS. I hate puzzles.

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

Sit up, I'll help. *grabs him by the shoulders and tries to pull him upright without doing any further damage*

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

*wobbles, even under his tattered shirt it's clear his ribcage is dubiously lumpy*

THERE IS NO HELP. I'm crunched. You may as well finish the job and grind me up then market my bone shards as crisps.

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

We've discussed this, I am not turning you into crisps so you can give up now. *tries to push him back together and quicken the process of healing but it goes rather slowly when taking into account Regulus' need to look away from his task in squeamish modesty as well as the fact that he has to work in quick touches so they don't stick together*

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

*Barty groans and flops forward, his wobbling finally sending him off-balance, his forehead now resolutely melding to Reg's wet shoulder*

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

You're not going to lose, you still have all your pieces, we'll just fit you back together, it will hold.

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

I've not been losing - sit up, lift your head.

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

...

It's stuck.

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

Oh not again.

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

We're going to have to salt ourselves. It's the first step to inevitable crisphood.

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

After stepping on that crisp bag full of bugs back there I really don't fancy becoming one, thank you.

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

You're full of bugs anyway. Remember the throat leeches?

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

*stops trying to poke a bone back into place and covers his mouth, closing his eyes in obvious disgust*

The memory is all too clear...

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

*the memory is all too clear for Barty too and his off-kilter shoulder begin to shake with laughter, which doesn't bode well for several organs as the movement causes sharp, misplaced bones to nearly puncture them*

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

Stop laughing, it was disgusting.


Oh DO shut up.

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

*Barty obliges very suddenly as his pancreas acquires a sun roof*

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

What's wrong, why did you listen?

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

*as Regulus opens his mouth to reply, there is a scrape of metal through the thick, polluted air and a billow of smoke pours out of a chimney high above their heads* -You don't suppose anything's watching for us, do you?

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

*much to Barty's discomfort, Regulus moves into a crouching position and backs up away from where the smoke seems to be coming from, finally giving in and putting his hands on Barty for longer than a second so he doesn't end up dragging him along by the head even if it means his hands stick to Barty's icy clothes*

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

Nonono, it wasn't... that far of a fall. You've seen worse. You're going to be just fine.

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

Tell them to stop that. This happens too much, I don't like it.

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

Just stay still with me.

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

Would you like to lose faster? Because then by all means, take a run around the yard.

[horrorshowveck7.livejournal.com]

*Dragging himself along, Alex peers through the thick smoke at the source of all the noise, hiding himself behind a small mound of trash fallen from Seven until he sees that the people he's been hearing look like unfortunate denizens like him, and calls out from behind the trash heap*

Greetings, brothers; a baddiwad situation thou seem to be in.

*Having not spoken in a long stretch of time, the vibrations irritate the insects in his chest cavity and Alex spends a minute gagging on the irritated bees crawling up and down his throat*

Yours truly is in similarly dire predicaments.

*He gestures to his left arm hanging limply at his side, what he's sure is dislocated at the very least*

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

*frozen together as they are, Regulus attempt to duck at the voice looks more like an awkward dance move than escape, with nothing to hide behind but smog it's clear to even someone as excellent at denial as Regulus that they have indeed been caught*

...Actually everything is quite alright, carry on.

[madlymirthful9.livejournal.com]

*a yell of pain contradicts Reg's assertion as Barty, with a practised reflex, snaps his head up in attention, ripping away the flesh of his forehead neatly - a patch of it lingers behind on Reg's shoulder*

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

*hisses his concern at Barty, hoping their observer can't hear* Careful!

[horrorshowveck7.livejournal.com]

*Stepping out from behind the trash mound, and tripping himself as he does, Alex tries to peer through the smog for anybody else, but eventually gives up*

Worry not, little brothers; thou has nothing to worry about.

*He coughs hard, then uses his good non-dislocated arm's hand to pick an angry, writhing bee from under his tongue*

You are in horrorshow good company...unfortunate as that may be. You...look to be in a malenky bit of a...predicament.

[wetandbothered5.livejournal.com]

*the bee flits past Regulus' ear, getting dripped on as it passes his sopping hair* Actually we're doing rather well for the circumstances, just lost our footing for a moment. He'll be fine soon enough.