Ky thrashed, then clung to the edges of her stretcher for dear life at the change of angles. She was nowhere close to in danger of falling, and yet felt in eminent danger of doing just that. Where was she-- why were they-- up? This was the wrong kind of up. She was down going up. Very confusing.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"The stairs," Bay informed her. "We've got one more flight after this one and then you're nearly to the infirmary. How are you other two doing?"
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
"F-f-fine," Tadaaki managed, but his head was angled towards Ky and his brow was furrowed in concern as he watched her toss her head fearfully.
"O-okay, sir," Aleth said. He was focusing on forcing his breaths to be deep and slow. To maintain dignity. Remain worthy of respect.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Glad to hear it." He walked on. "What are your names, gentlemen?"
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
"Al. Sir," Aleth said. He had the advantage of it being a single syllable. Tadaaki had no such benefit.
"T-ta-d-k-i." Tadaaki huffed and shook his head. Why were those particular sounds so hard to string together right now? "Ta... daa...ki."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Tadaaki," Bay repeated. "Thank you. Where are you coming from?" They were nearing the next flight of stairs.
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
He genuinely couldn’t remember at this point. He was fairly certain his entire life had consisted of walking in the snow. There was nothing before it.
“Down!” Ky protested, then got confused and wasn’t sure which way she was supposed to want. But it was very much not whatever was happening to her right now. “…up? … bad… stop.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Soon," Bay promised her. "We're going up some more stairs and then it will be flat."
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
“Bad,” she repeated, but her voice was weaker that time. She hooked her arms under the edges of the stretcher, deciding she was going to… to… fix this. This bad. Some reason. Bad.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
They started up the next flight. Bay kept close to the little one, making sure she didn't roll off the stretcher.
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
She was breathing too fast again and squeezed her eyes shut tightly as if that would make this less scary and confusing. But it did nothing to make the swaying stop. “…bad.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Ky, listen to me. I need you to slow down your breathing. Count to three for me and try to slow down." They were about halfway up now.
Last edited by Ljungtroll on Tue May 24, 2022 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
“Bad,” she whimpered, breathing shaky, but she did hold that breath ever so slightly longer, doing her best to obey. She took another deep breath. That one hitched in her chest and made her start coughing.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Easy." He glanced toward the other two. They seemed much better off.
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
Tadaaki’s gaze was still locked on Ky. His body hurt and trembled and he was as confused as she was. But he was mostly just scared. And mostly for her. Ky wasn’t one to whine like this. She usually clammed up when she was in pain. This seemed serious. Was she okay? Would she be okay? Was… was…?
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
I wondered why we put villains in our stories when we have plenty of them in real life; then I realized that maybe we wanted stories where the good guy wins. — nogutsnoglory
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