fableshards | shard --1

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shard --1

[ Hello island, here's one (1) teenager looking at you from your mirror shards. He waits a moment before admitting, ] Okay, yeah, this is kinda weird.

Hi, for those I haven't met, I'm Lance. I've got a question for basically anyone who can answer.

I know that to the North of the lake area there's snowy mountains. To the East there's a desert apparently. What's in the South and the West? Some of you woke up there, right?

And I guess follow-up from the diving adventures, anyone know if all the weird little cubes got picked up?

[ He scratches his head, a little awkward, but decides to forge on anyway. ]

Also, I learned recently that people who're here might also straight up vanish again, so I just wanted to check if the people I ran into and actually like know by name are still here. Bucky, Saber, Monika, everyone still around?

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[ If you'd rather run into him in person (or literally live with him, hi I see you) you can find him near a house that's relatively close to the lake. There's a clearing of sorts, and he's set himself up for some archery practice with a bow made out of bamboo - it's not great. Practice is slow going and frustrating. But he's going to be here periodically throughout the day, trying not to break his arrows. ]

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[ Lance had considered doing something to cover his arm, but it's too warm for his jacket, and he thinks there has to be a trick to it so the string doesn't hit you in the first place, right? So if he can just figure that one out, it'll be fine. In the meantime, his forearm is red and slightly bruised, because that sure wasn't the first time. But he's not going to complain right now.

By the time Keith finds him, Lance is collecting his arrows, safe for the one that managed to actually stick in the tree. He's gonna need some kind of quiver at some point, but they haven't figured out what to repurpose for that yet, or how to make one otherwise. He greets Keith before he even looks up, tugging another arrow from the forest floor. ] Hey.

[ The praise is nice. He smiles back, but he's rubbing the back of his neck. ] Yeah... it's kind of tricky.

[ He worries about pulling too hard or not hard enough. But he'll just have to practice some more. Approaching Keith, his eyes widen at the stuff he brought. ] Huh. Yeah, that's... probably true, good thinking. [ He smiles back. ] ... Thanks. [ He puts the bow and arrows down, reaching for the cloth. Except, uh. Hand logistics. ] Let's try that. But uh, gimme a hand here?

[Keith nods at the thanks, keeping the smile as he offers the cloth to Lance as he reaches for it-- only to never give it away, because, well. Exactly. He needs his help to wrap this around his arm.]

Sure. [He says, and waits for Lance to extend his arm for him, only to then notice - far more properly - that the arm isn't only red but also bruised. He frowns, at first, raising his eyebrow after and then turning his attention towards the lake. Hm.] ... Come here. [He looks at Lance again and then bends down, to pick up his arm-protector, before starting to make his way towards the water.]

[ Oops. Yeah, that bowstring isn't as powerful as it might be, but it still leaves a mark after a while. Lance raises his eyebrows as well as Keith proceeds to... not do what he expected at all. ] What?

[ Huh? He looks down at his arm. The bruising is definitely already visible under the reddened skin, slowly blooming purple. And, well, he doesn't get what this is about, but sure. ] Uh, okay. [ He jogs the first few steps to catch up with Keith. ]

[Keith only stops when his boots touch the water. He looks at the distance - they still haven't managed to find a way to go to that island... - before turning, looking over his shoulder a bit to see where Lance is, and then taking off the glove of his left hand as he waits for him to approach.

The algae in the lake, he thinks, might have healing properties. But he wouldn't know. He doesn't know much about algae at all. He does know about something else, though. Kneeling down, he gets his hand into the mud around the water's edge, smiling once he picks it up.

It's not sandy, which is perfect. It's the right consistency, too. Letting go of some, he gets up again and turns to Lance, meeting his eyes.] This will help. [His skin. Not so much the bruising, but given how cold it is, it should help ease that, too.

He doesn't move it to Lance's arm right away, though, instead waiting for him to let him know that he can.]

[ Lance isn't all sure about freshwater algae... are they the same as the saltwater ones? Do they have similar properties? Who knows. He can't guess enough to know if anything in there will make a difference, though he supposes it might be worth a shot for minor stuff.

Or he would suppose, if he'd thought about it.

His eyebrows rise again as he sees Keith pick up a handful of mud. ] ... It will? [ He had no idea. Wow. Part of him is wondering if Keith is pulling his leg here, but he doesn't seem to be. At least, it doesn't seem like something Keith would do. So he extends his arm. ] Then sure, go for it.

[It's not completely beyond Keith to pull his leg, Lance's, specifically, just for shits and giggles, but this is not the time nor the moment. He nods at the question.] Yeah. [And then waits until Lance answers and extends his arm for him.

Focusing on it, Keith places the mud over his skin, using his hand to spread it and carefully cover all the bruised and reddened areas.] Some people use it as-- You know. [He lifts his head to look at Lance's face. ... How is that even called? A... mask? Mas...cara? Face... cover... cream... thing?] That thing. [...

He lifts his hand from Lance's arm, making a circle motion over his own face to show him what he means, before returning his hand - and his attention - back to what he was doing.] ... That you do.

[ It's all a matter of context after all. It feels nice actually, having Keith spread that mud over his arm. Nice and cool. And it's actually the sensation that tips him off about what Keith is trying to say. ] That... thing. You're uh, gonna have to narrow that down for me.

[ The gesture helps too. ] Oh, the face mask? Yeah, you're right about that, they definitely make those.

[ Wait. There's something here he's trying to put together but it's not quite working yet. Something something skin, safe to apply, cooling, soothing-- nope, doesn't click yet. ] How'd you know about this?

[He nods, when Lance figures out what he means.] Yeah. It's good for the skin. [He finishes up with Lance's arm, turning after, to wash his hand on the water.

Once that's done, he cleans it on his pants and gets his glove back on. The question, when Lance makes it, hangs over his head for a while. When Keith answers, he doesn't really look at him, instead focusing on his arm again, placing the cloth over it.] My dad taught me. [His voice is a little lower than before, as he starts to roll the cloth around Lance's arm.]

Huh. [ It still hasn't quite clicked. Just... seems like a good thing to know and commit to memory, right? Mud, even the regular actual stuff that you don't buy in stores, is good for the skin.

He watches Keith wash off the rest and put his glove back on, then holds his arm back out for the makeshift bandage. What he doesn't expect is how sad Keith looks at the mention of his dad, and immediately his mind is racing to put together what he even knows about Keith's family. He met his mom. He remembers Griffin getting punched in the face for saying Keith got abandoned by his parents, which... is enough to figure out Keith's parents just weren't in the picture at all.

He figures there probably isn't any chance they'll run into Keith's dad somewhere in space.

So all he can think to say is, ] Oh.

[ And how do you come back from that? ] I see. [ There's a stupid quip there about didn't he grow up in the desert and where would there have been any water, but he can't say that anymore. ] Thanks for this.

[Lance doesn't ask anything else and Keith doesn't dwell on it either, remaining quiet and focused on what he is doing. Once all the cloth is wrapped around Lance's arm, he reaches out for the water again, using it to help glue the tip of the cloth in place for the time being. It will be easier to get the arm-protection on that way.

At the thanks, he nods, finally looking up, to meet Lance's eyes.] Sure. [And he offers him his piece of armor.]

[ That silence lingers, and Lance isn't sure he likes it that much. It feels heavy, or at least sad. He's not sure what to do with it, if there's anything to be done with it... probably not.

It gets a little easier once their eyes meet. He offers a small smile as he takes the gauntlet, carefully fitting it over the bandaged area.

And that's when it hits him, basically out of the blue: ] Wait a second, why didn't we do this with your sunburn?! [ There it is. That's the thing he was trying to think of. ]

[He takes in that small smile, eyes wandering then, to watch as Lance gets the gauntlet on. It fits nicely even without the bodysuit, and it seems secure enough. Should be good.

He is about to start moving again when Lance's question - was it a question? - comes and Keith stops, blinking. Huh?]

... [He meets his eyes again. ... Huh.] Uh. I--... [And it's his turn to scratch the back of his neck. Hm.] I-I didn't think of it.

[ The bandages help it stay in place. Also, sometimes Lance wonders if there's some Altean magic at work with how well the armor fits, but that's neither here nor there.

He's falling into step with Keith as he starts moving, but he's frowning at him pretty hard right now either way. ] How did you not think of that? ... Okay scratch that, you were in pretty bad shape. But dude. [ You were in pain for days. And here he is with a bit of a scrape. Lance sighs. ] I guess I better remember stuff like this in the future, huh?

[The frown Keith gets only makes him frown in return.] It's not like I did that on purpose! [Okay? He just. Yeah. Exactly. He was in a pretty bad shape, and even when he wasn't anymore, it just... didn't cross his mind. He was focused on other things.

...

At the last of Lance's words though, Keith snorts.]

I... guess? [And he looks away towards the house, arms moving to cross over his chest again. Honestly? He hopes it won't be needed.] It's not a big deal.

[ He was in pretty bad shape. Lance should probably cut him some kind of slack here. And he does, it's just...

He frowns again as Keith looks away, not sure what to make of the gesture. All closed off, suddenly. He lifts his hand to put on Keith's shoulder, but reconsiders and lowers it again. He looks down. ] I just wish I could've helped you, is all.

[ But-- well.

He gets a move on, walking towards his bow and arrows. ] Anyway, let's try this set-up.

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shard --1

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