tushanshu_logs | 'Cause We Could be Immortals

Characters: Initially closed to Cain, Pepper, Tony and Valdis.
Date: January 26th 2017
Location: Tony's lab at the College
Situation: Valdis is concerned about the salt and has asked Tony for help, meanwhile, Cain is also seeking Tony’s aid. Pepper is there to supervise.
Warnings/Rating: Explosions! Fire! Chaos!...and then some death. (Not necessarily in that order)

Valdis’ curiosity and concerns over the salt had not yet been satisfied and her previous attempt to contact Tony had failed. Since then, Yunxu’s announcement had made her even more nervous, and, paired with what Yuri had told her, she knew she had to find some way to counteract the effects of the salt. Today, however, she was hesitant to go anywhere near the door to Tony’s lab. Cain’s scent drifted through the air, fresh enough for her to be certain that he was inside the room. Though she wasn’t certain how long she could wait to talk to Tony.

She took the last few steps to the door and slowly opened it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The dramatics are unnecessary, Valdis. "...Valdis?" The hellhound takes one shuddering breath, exhales... and then doesn't take another. She goes limp and her hand slips off of the gash in her side, which is no longer pumping blood.

"Valdis?" Tony nudges her. Oh, shit. Is this normal? Doesn't her healing magic usually kick in before she dies?

Through the smoke, Jacob helpfully informs Tony that he's immortal. That's convenient, because Tony is not, and he's quickly running out of time to figure out what is wrong with Valdis. Breathing in all this smoke is not good.

"I'm good," he replies, "But there's something wrong with Valdis. She— she didn't heal like she's supposed to." And now she's kind of dead. But only temporarily, right? She'll perk right back up any second now.

Cain's cursory inspection would be able spot the small about of blood coming from Pepper's right ear - her eardrum ruptured in the explosion. It hasn't turned into a splitting headache yet, fortunately.

And apparently Cain is immortal. Uh. Well, that would explain the insta-heal.

"I'm okay," she says, as much for Cain's benefit as her own. The very vague description of Valdis' plight causes a sinking sensation in her stomach. Very not good. "Help Valdis," she says as firmly as she can. "I'll get out with Tony."

Pepper can't be the rescuer here, and while that rankles, she's smarter than trying to pretend otherwise.

It was something Cain would likely have to talk about more later. His immortality wasn't exactly a secret and there wasn't a whole lot to hide... but sometimes it didn't catch everything. Like someone else's injuries. He remembered the bauble he had been practicing with, before all this fog and interference, and now he found himself almost glad he didn't have to make the decision between someone's life or death in a place where the meaning was so obscured.

Seeing the injury for what it was, Cain automatically swiped some of the blood away before shifting to stand. "Your ear looks busted," he informed her. He'd already intended to go to Valdis while the relatively-unharmed ones got to safety, but her urging didn't hurt. "Balance is going to be the big thing, so wait for Tony and get out of here."

He turned his head and waved Tony over. There was plenty of debris in the way, but it looked like Tony was whole enough to make it if he could spot them through the smoke and dust. "Over here! We're swapping places. Get yourselves to safety, okay?" That said, he started to move, back already close to perfect with nary a drop of blood in sight, toward where Tony's voice had been originating. His own lungs could only last so long before temporarily giving out, yet he was willing to wager his endurance under such conditions would last much longer than theirs.

It goes against all of Tony's instincts to leave Valdis behind - but his lungs are burning and the smoke is starting to make him light-headed. He's strong enough to carry her out, but if he passes out before they're in the clear, Jacob will just have to rescue both of them.

With one last, uncertain look at Valdis' unmoving form, Tony staggers to his feet and starts picking his way through the rubble.

The first few moments after the blast had been extremely disorienting, but now Tony has gotten his bearings back, and he makes his way for where the door should be.

He crosses paths with Cain (who looks as fresh as a spring daisy, the lucky bastard) a few moments later, and points to where he'd left Valdis. "Behind that table," he says, between coughs. "She— you'll have to carry her."

With Valdis taken care of, Tony turns his focus to Pepper. He sees her sitting on the floor, and she looks beat up but not too seriously injured. "Pepper!" He stumbles to her side, and heaves her up off the ground. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Like Tony, Pepper is loathe to leave, but she can't exactly help Valdis if she can hardly stand up straight. That, and her lungs are informing her that she's about to lose the battle with staying conscious if she sits here any longer. Although the stinging smoke is making her eyes stream with tears, Pepper can still see that Cain's back is no longer the charred mess she had seen.

"Wha -!" Pepper catches what Tony says, and she's about to demand an explanation when he yanks her off the floor. The vertigo immediately gets worse, but having Tony next to her keeps her from falling again.

Pepper glances over her shoulder as they duck out of the flaming room, hoping against hope that Valdis and Cain are following behind them.

'Cause We Could be Immortals

what's wrong with Valdis is that she's DEAD, TONY

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