#frcmscratch.

[overthevale]

it was close. we made it out.

@frcmscratch | kattigan and babel | answered ask! it was close. we made it out.

he nods briefly, a faint grin on his face. "alright...good. s'all that matters, i guess." his eyes are half-lidded, somewhere between exhaustion and pain. every muscle in his body aches, and his head falls back against the rock behind him. it hurts, but not enough to worry about. good. he doesn't need to add concussion to the list of injuries. the stab wound in his thigh is enough to deal with, at the moment. kattigan sucks in a breath, squeezing his eyes shut for a second. the tourniquet isn't doing much for him anymore – he needs to get back to camp; he needs a real healer. "i'm, uh– i'm gonna need a hand, here, babel," he says evenly, staring straight at them to avoid looking at the bleeding hole in his leg. "but we gotta get back. 'fore they decide to come back for seconds. yeah?"

[overthevale]

“who did this to you?” for @frcmscratch to find Kattigan injured and demand to know who did it

@frcmscratch | kattigan and babel | answered ask!

he sighs, lifting the rag from where it currently sits over his left eye, revealing the ragged gash in the thin skin above his eyebrow. it's deeper than it looks, judging by the amount of blood already staining the fabric – it's definitely going to scar. "two assholes outside of tybry's lea got the jump on us. it's fine, they're gone now." a one-eyed glance toward babel, keeping his other eye closed to avoid being blinded by his own blood. "...n' by gone, i mean dead. in case it wasn't clear enough."

[troublemqkers]

“who did this to you?” for @frcmscratch to find Thjazi injured and demand to know who did it // braces for impact

@frcmscratch | thjazi and babel | answered ask!

he freezes mid-bandage, slowly glancing up to babel like a guilty dog. for a moment, the silence stretches between them; tentative and taut, like something that could be snapped. then, quick as it came, the tension vaporizes, thjazi forcing a half-grin as he continues to wrap the bandages around his arm. "i'm fine, babel, don't worry about it." thank the gods he'd already wrapped the (much worse) gut wound – he doesn't want this to be a whole thing. it's four in the morning and he's had a long night; thimble's already asleep, curled on the table next to him. it was just supposed to be a quick recon mission, get in and get out. the duo hadn't told anyone they were leaving; they'd just slipped out under the cover of the sunset. and, to their credit, they had found where the stone was being held, but it seems the guards had also found them. he bites off the end of the bandage, sticking it down as best he can. a bit messy, but he's had worse. "just ran into some guy who didn't know how to hold a sword." whispers, almost conspiratorially, "he needs to learn to aim the pointy end; that would do more damage. y'know?" if babel didn't know better, he would almost seem drunk. but no alcohol here – just the waning effects of adrenaline, and a secret he didn't want to tell.

[troublemqkers]

“Tell me how to keep going.” @frcmscratch

@frcmscratch | thjazi and babel | answered ask! "tell me how to keep going."

he pauses mid-movement. glances up at babel, somewhere between surprised and concerned – gods, if only he was better at disguising his expressions. not only had they crept up without him noticing, but of all the things they could've said, that's the last thing he'd expect. blinking the surprise away, he finishes washing his hands, giving him a moment for the out-of-the-blue ask to sink in. "...war is hard," he says finally, drying his hands on a towel as he turns to face them. "it's...not fun battles all the time." suddenly, he feels a million years old; like he's watching a younger version of himself standing in the tent flap staring at him.

"find something to fight for. and– and i don't just mean our cause – you should be doing that anyway, yeah?" a quick grin, one that doesn't feel very funny at that moment. "no, i mean something personal. something, someone that you're dedicated to. someone to make it back to, to make the world better for." he shrugs slightly, tossing the bloodstained towel back to the basin. "for me, it's my brother and his kids. it's thimble. it's all the friends i grew up with whose families went from being ruled by one tyrant to another." he shakes his head. "but if it wasn't for hal and thimble, i would've quit fuckin' ages ago." fixing them with a stare, "it keeps you sane. you hearing me?"