[PRP] Needs More Explosions (Lily & Preacher)

[The Semblance of Unity]

Once Preacher's ears had calmed their ********' tits (she laughed at that mental image), she had scooted over to the gym. Working out was relaxing, made her feels less jittery. She could hit a punching bag, feel the thud of her fists into something without having to feel bad after. It was great. And, as luck would have it, she could also see a certain someone near the balancing balls doing crunches - or something fancy and ab-related; Preacher didn't really pay attention.

"Hey, Armageddon 3000." She crouched down beside Lily. "Can I ask you somethin'?"

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

The best foundation for any sort of exercise was core work, or rather, it was the 'core' of any program. Lily got to use that line every couple of sessions at class, and she replenished herself on the sound of exasperated student sighs. The exercise in general was a good distracting from her full-moon instincts, and she was starting to reach that nice comfortable state where people had stopped questioning why she had a tail.

"Sup, Apocalypse Mark II," Lily grunted, finishing her set of crunches. With a heave, she pulled herself up to standing, rubbing at her eyes. "Sure, man, what's up?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

The nickname sounded really funny punctuated by the grunts of Lily's workout. While her ears had calmed their tits, mostly, she was still sensitive to most noises. Preacher frowned as Lily stood - everyone was so ******** tall. She untwisted the strap of her sports bra.

"So, first, ya gotta promise not to poke fun at me for askin'."

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

"I think we're a little past the part where I'd poke fun at you," Lily said with a quirk of her eyebrows. She took a drink of her water bottle and then toweled off her face, taking a moment to sit down on one of the exercise balls. If it was anything like their last encounter, then she was going to be here a while.

Not that she minded. It was better company than the meatheads that usually were there at this hour.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

In Preacher's experience, there was not a point at which poking at her ended. So she just shrugged off Lily's words and dragged over an exercise ball to sit on herself. She bounced on it a few times, almost toppling.

"So... in rainy s**t other Ashdown land, can you catch stuff? Like-" She paused. "-I dunno, diseases. Because maybe I caught something?"

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

"Well s**t, I dunno," Lily shrugged, leaning back against her ball-chair. "I mean, I guess it's possible that there's some kind of spooky flu bug going around, it's definitely not impossible." At this, she frowned, covering her mouth in plaintive thought. It felt a little too mundane for the hijinks of the otherworld, but Lily wasn't about to rule out the idea entirely. She'd been surprised before, and she was going to be surprised again.

"Why, did you share spit with an otherbeing or something?" Preacher looked okay, for all intents and purposes, but Lily had no real way to measure how the other woman was feeling. Medical care wasn't really her thing, but most of her classes had at least a few pre-med students, so she tried to think of the right questions to ask. "It's also just flu season, too, you could have picked something up from anyone. I know this place is a cess pool." It might have been dismissive, but a normal cold was easier to stomach than the possibility of a magical one.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher frowned and crossed her arms. She didn't like the idea of what
was happening to her dismissed as a simple case of the flu. And the idea fo swapping spit with a weird creature was kind of... gross.

"You think I go 'round kissin' every gunky mess I find in rainy shitland? Gross. And it don't feel like the flu. I know what flu feels like." She huffed irritably. It wasn't bad now, but her hearing ebbed and flowed. "It's my ears. Like the hearing is all messed up - it come and goes but... I could hear like bugs in the ground. It was weird as ******** and I dunno what else coulda caused it."

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

"I mean, I was thinking more like drinking from the same water, but whatever floats your boat," Lily nodded, taking the opportunity to reach for the thermos nearby and take a swig. She listened to Preacher describe her symptoms, the line of her mouth running thin.

"And all of this started after you went to spookville?" It sounded like were business, but then again, most of what Lily knew about the otherworld came through the clouded lens of 'were business'. But the timeline was off if that was the case--Lily didn't visit the otherworld until right before the first full moon, and given that they were currently in full-moon-mode, the transformation should have been triggered. Would that make Preacher...a warg? Falco had mentioned something about a sensitivity to smell, it was certainly possible.

She frowned and her ears flickered, considering Ashton. "Weird question, did anything bite you there?" Lily wasn't sure how to check for wargness, but she did know how weres were made, and needed to make sure.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Oh. Well, Zac told me to take m'own stuff to there, not eat anythin' there." She'd assumed that has translated to water, too, and added her own bottle to the pack he'd made up for her. The umbrella, however, was left - it hadn't rained there since she'd gone.

She bounced a little again. "Yeah, after I went. First time it hit me I was at my t- home... n' my ears were so messed up I horked up everywhere. And nah, nothin' bit me. Not that I recall at least." Preacher paused. "I just want it to lay off." The last bit was said with a decidedly sulky tone. She could feel it ramping up again, kind of like the weird tightness before a bad headache.

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

"That's probably smart," Lily said with a thoughtful nod. She'd had similar ideas at the fairy ball, but had thrown them all out of the window pretty quickly once she'd seen everyone else eating. Given the oddities of the otherworld, however, it was probably just a safe practice in general.

Her expression faltered when Preacher began to sulk, leaning forward. "That sounds shitty. Wish I knew what to tell you."

She pondered for a minute, and then her ears flicked up as an idea struck her. "It's, um, not really the same thing, but right before the full moon, I get all sorts of stupid symptoms, and the best thing I can do is kind of just...cater to them. Means I climb a bunch of trees, mostly."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Well, I haven't had any other weird stuff - just the hearin'." She gave Lily a puzzled look. "What happens if ya resist? Like no climbin' trees n' stuff."

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

Lily put a finger over her mouth as she considered Preacher's question, then shook her head. "I , uhhh, I haven't really tried to resist after the first time? But it feels uncomfortable, like my skin's crawling or someone's about to jump out and get me."

She shrugged, stretching back over the curve of the exercise ball. "I didn't really think much past it. It feels good to climb, it feels bad to not climb, and nobody's really stopped me, so I just kind of do what I need to do. If I can't climb, I come here, work my arms until they're too sore to think about it."

"Not sure there's a way to work your ears to just hear less, though," she said with a frown. "At least, nothing temporary. But an otherworld bug probably isn't worth listening to rock until your eardrums bleed."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She nodded, but the idea of an urge near uncontrollable was discomfiting. Preacher supposed she should be glad her ears were just making her sick. Her head was starting to pound again.

"I dunno, if it stopped, maybe. But I think loud music would just make me sick enough I'd never move again." She sighed. "And you've never heard of any kinda other Ashdown-ish flu?" She had to ask one more time.

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

"It's nothing I've heard of," Lily shook her head, glancing at Preacher with a sympathetic frown. "Might be a question for Eve? Or the, umm...the healer chick with a flower crown...ummm...Zac Bantock's buddy." She'd seen Autumn do some pretty incredible things when everything at Blackfriar's, but in the whirlwind of violence Lily had never bothered to get the girl's name. She seemed like she might have an idea or two as to an otherworldly flu. The recommendation for Eve was for simpler reasons: Eve was pack-mom, and had an approximate knowledge of many things. Lily trusted Eve.

"If you can't work it off, maybe you can sleep it off," Lily suggested, swiveling around slowly. "Take some Nyquil and hope it resets whatever's going on. I used to do that for migraines--can't avoid 'em, so I just slept through 'em when I could."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher sighed and seemed to melt bonelessly off of the exercise ball and onto the floor. "I know Zac - not his buddy though. He's a worrywart." She sighed again.

"Thanks, Lily. I think I'mma just lie here a sec. Then I gotta go to work." Preacher groaned, the sound grating on her ears.

amitotic