Young Writers Society

Bear looked between the offered ointment and the healing device, trying to decide which one would have a better chance of not killing him. The burns on his arm were not that bad. It was only a trail of scorch marks from the length of the vine and it was only growing worse by the minute.

“How about we try a bit of both, folks? I never minded two partners before.”

Carter had to snort.

There was no way he wouldn’t be snorting as Bear was probably sustaining nerve damage. And apparently the most important thing on his mind at that moment, was to flirt and try for a threesome. Or really a foursome?

To keep his comments to himself, Carter slowly walked away from the scene and started investigating the back corridor. Maybe the torch would be able to shine the light on something.

"Glad you're okay," Fern said, ducking her head down as she looked Taleweaver over. Control over their body was switching - first it was Ollie who was in control, and now it was Fern.

"We can carry you," Ollie volunteered. Even if the words weren't spoken aloud, she knew that Taleweaver would have heard the message. Or, at least, she hoped they would. Not being able to suggested that something was very wrong with them. "Would it help to lay down somewhere? We could find a couple of chairs and move them together, or find an armchair for you to sit down in."

While they waited for a response, Ollie and Fern turned their attention back to the notebook that was still in their hand - the one that the figure had been looking at.

Control switched; Ollie was now speaking instead of Fern. "We should look through this book," she suggested. She placed it down on one of the nearby tables. "I...I think Fern and I could read it, even if it's written in another language. Maybe we could figure out where we are by reading it, and find out how we got here."

"That sounds like a plan," Daniel said. A glance over, and she saw that he was covering his eyes. "But can we wait until after the annoying black mist goes away? My vision's all messed up."

"Mine too," Benji quietly added. Ollie almost didn't notice he was there - he was so quiet and seemed to blend perfectly into the background.

Bear had a penchant for flirting at exactly the worst possible moments. If it wasn't for how much pain Bear looked like he was in, Thytes would've found it entertaining.

"Very kind of you," Thytes said, then gestured to Cathal, "But I would rather that you be tended to by the more qualified person."

"I can not move. Danny, would you mind if I went into you?"

"Nope."

A small dark orb left Tale's vessel and went into Danny. As this happened the shadow mist also went away.

Bear reached out from the chair to take ahold of Thytes’s arm and said, “Will you at least hold my hand then, darling?”

He was trying to remain calm through all of this, but his arm was hurting like a son of a gun. The burns were started to spread across his chest and Bear simply didn’t know what to do. So he would flirt with the differing medical practitioners to somehow get through this mess.

In spite of himself, and in spite of how much pain Bear was probably in, Thytes couldn't help but smile. "It would be a pleasure," he said, moving Bear's hand to the table and setting both of his paws over it.



Well, the garden was a fluke - despite the occasional odd noise, Lunis couldn't smell or hear much past the rain (that and being on another world made what he did smell unrecognizable). Fortunately, he found himself on a path leading into the castle itself.

Wandering down the dark hallways of the castle, Lunis tried to ignore the shaking behind him. Zech had just started to recover his senses, and the angry grunts and slurred words said that the tiger wasn't quite happy about being dragged around.

But the panther didn't have time to worry about that; he'd been smelling something burning, and the torch that flickered in the distance only confirmed his fears. Setting Zech against the wall at the nearest intersection, Lunis put a paw over Zech's mouth and peered around the corner, waiting to see if whoever was carrying the torch would get any closer.

Cathal nervously raised the healing device and hesitated, glancing towards Thytes, and then lowered it. Nauda was chuckling in his head while Cathal tried to figure out exactly what was so funny about what Bear had said.

I don't get it, he muttered to Nauda, and his host just laughed harder.

He's flirting with you, his host said softly, and Cathal sighed.

I should have figured that out...

Nauda gave him the equivalent of a mental smile. It's alright, Cathal. I'll always be here to translate for you.

I wish I did need one, Cathal muttered sullenly, and blinked, glancing up at Bear. The man was staring at him as well as Arryn and a couple others. Cathal blinked slowly and cleared his throat, raising his hand--and the healing device--again.

"Sorry," he said, and gestured vaguely towards where Arryn was sitting. "Um, perhaps you should take a seat? It'll be easier for, uh, me to... reach... your... injury..."

"Oh thank God," Daniel dramatically said in response to the black mist going away. Benji resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the exclamation - it might have annoyed him, too, but Daniel's response was more than a little unnecessary.

...But that was how Daniel did things. Everything was a big show to him. Even as he marched on over to where Ollie was standing with the book, his steps were large and exaggerated - he took up more of the room than he needed to, but not just by physically taking it up. Maybe he was more charismatic than Benji had first realized - he was a moth to a proverbial flame when around him, and something told him Daniel was very much aware of that.

Fern disappeared - almost scared - when Daniel approached, leaving just Ollie. Benji stared at the back of Daniel's head. What had he done to scare something like that?

"Now that the mist's gone," Daniel said, "let's get to some reading - if you read loud enough, everyone should hear it without being right next to you."

"Erm, is there a problem?" Thytes said, looking over at Cathal. Perhaps Bear's flirting had gotten to him. Which would've been funnier in other circumstances, but Thytes didn't want to see Bear keep on hurting. "And I would not mind if you were to read like that," he continued, almost as an afterthought.

Cathal blinked again and glanced up at Thytes. "Oh, no, um, it didn't... I, uh, didn't even realise he was flirting, to be perfectly honest." He offered Thytes a sheepish smile. "Nuada actually had to point that out. I'm not exactly used to being flirted with... Most people run away from me, even when I'm not trying to be all Goa'uld on them--which I definitely don't do on purpose, I swear!"

Ah, he'd figured as much. "That is rather unfortunate," Thytes said. "I can see how your personality and behavior might come across as, peculiar to some. Yet, beneath the surface of what appeared to be a hostage situation, I find you are a rather pleasant individual, if out of his element. As we all are, I suppose."

Bear looked up at Cathal from the chair he had already collapsed upon, brushing off all of the nervous comments the being had made. Thytes stood by in a neutral, slightly protective stance, and still explaining some of the flirtatious comments.

Even though he wanted to listen, everything was slowly blurring out for Bear as the burns spread further across his chest. There were hands on him, some holding him up and others pushing him back down into the chair.

Carter leaned in to gently shake Bear, one second away from slapping the man.

"Look here Lawrence, you better wake up because I am not dragging your dead ass back home."

Whoop, Bear wasn't exactly getting any better. At least Carter had come back to help, albeit with a little less politeness than Thytes wanted (thought the lion guessed that was a coping mechanism on Carter's part).

"I would rather you not die, yes," the lion said, setting a paw on Bear's chest. His voice turned a little choppy. "You just need to sit here and let us take care of you. Cathal's device should work and, if not, we will do our best to figure something out. Does that sound alright?"