vermini encounters

[theearth]

Who: Characters picked for encounters with Vermini and anyone accompanying them
What: There are swarms of Vermini in Las Vegas - some have infested and altered animals, and others are simple swarms.
Where: Las Vegas
When: Any time between May 19th and June 4th

[ The Vermini clusters are most commonly spotted near water and large patches of grass, but they have begun spreading out, seemingly on the prowl. As always, non-reincarnates overlook Vermini. These groups of Vermini do not immediately flee when they near a reincarnate, but they are not aggressive until attacked.

As a refresher course: Vermini infested animals appear as real animals with suspiciously humanoid features: birds with teeth, dogs with thumbs, fish with hair, and so on and so forth. If an infested animal is captured, the Vermini will abandon the animal and attempt to flee, turning the animal back to normal. This happens even if the animal has died. Vermini turn into steam when destroyed, and chirp, but do not speak. ]

Comments

[jasminebloominginshadow]

"There are these things called Vermini all around," Jasmine replied, taking a turn a bit more sharply than was probably best. But she did her best to remain calm.

"We were trying to scout around for them... find out where they all were. I guess... we found out where."

[pianistofraielin]

"Okay." Satisfied by the reassurance, he lets his hand fall away from Jojo's very expensive, very bloody shirt. Luckily he has a copy of his insurance card in his wallet, so that shouldn't be a problem. His parents made sure of that. You never know, right? Never know when you might need to rush yourself to the ER after getting stabbed by a fish...

Jasmine's explaining about the Vermini, Russel's focused on the 'yo, driver' and the name he was given. "Jasmine," he says, gesturing slightly toward the driver's seat. "She's Jasmine. I'm Russel."

[shineonyou]

"Vermin-- Aw shit, I know that word. I've heard it before. This is network shit, ain't it?" Sighs. Sigh sigh sigh yawn sigh. He had tried so hard to not get involved. He had reached, but he fell, and the stars were black and cold. He was metaphorically staring into the void of a world that cannot hold. etc etc etc jumps off a bridge etc

"Alright, Jasmine. Russel. I guess we're all super heroes together. Go team, and all that jazz. Nice to meet you, I guess. There's a right up here, next street we pass."

While Russel won't be pain-free, his wound is no longer bleeding at the very least.

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Jasmine, meanwhile, has absolutely no idea that Russell is even being healed at all.

"Yeah, heroes," she mutters as she makes the turn. "Sure. How's he doing back there...?"

[pianistofraielin]

It hurts a hell of a lot less, at least. Though, considering how much it hurt before, 'a hell of a lot less' is still excruciating. He doesn't want to look at it. He doesn't want to check because if he looks and it still looks awful that's going to be really upsetting and he'd rather just keep pretending it's not as serious as it is because that's very uncomfortable for him to acknowledge.

So he just tells Jasmine, "Don't worry, okay? I'll be alright." His voice is weak, but he sounds sincere enough that he hopes it's reassuring.

And to Jojo, he says, "That's great. Every team needs a healer, right?" He's trying to be lighthearted, but IT'S ACTUALLY KIND OF A SINCERE STATEMENT.

[shineonyou]

Jonas is tempted to answer Jasmine's question with wow, I don't even want to look, but then Russel's kinda complimenting him, and... Well, someone considering you somewhat competent with something is a nice feeling.

"Haha, I guess, man. I dunno how good I'll be, but... I'll do my best?"

He's trying to figure out how to ask Russel if it's alright to take off his shirt and look at the damage when he sees a familiar road up ahead. Thank god, because that would have been a really awkward question.

"Oh! Right there-- the hospital's down that road on the right. I can chat with the peeps in the E.R. to see if we can't get Russel in there faster. They know me; I know them. Connections, yo."

[jasminebloominginshadow]

That... made Jasmine a bit concerned. She made the turn, and looked back over her shoulder. She kept driving, despite the warning she was now prepared to give.

"You're not some official, are you? ... You're not the son of some kind of official, are you? Because if you plan on turning us in..."

[pianistofraielin]

Russel should probably just stop talking. He doesn't want to. Attempting to carry a conversation is pretending everything's normal; the last thing he wants to do right now is mentally acknowledge that he could have died and probably would have if Jojo hadn't turned out to be a surprise healer. So, talking. Both as a distraction from the injury and as a denial that anything is seriously wrong. His voice is quiet and breathy, though. A strong voice requires speaking from the diaphragm and no amount of denial can make such a serious injury not hurt when he tries to do that.

"I'm the son of an official. You shouldn't worry about it." It's only tangentially related to what Jasmine was actually saying, of course. And it may not be entirely comforting for Jojo to hear that all that blood staining his expensive clothes belongs to somebody's important's son. But come on, it's hard enough just following the conversation, you can't expect him to be on top of his game here.

[shineonyou]

"Uh. Eyes on the road, yo."

wow

"I just, uh, volunteer at the hospital. Been doin' it for years; everyone knows me." He's jittery though, despite his attempt to clarify, "I ain't some fancy shit, promise. Also ain't gonna report anyone. I mean, seriously-- who would even do that? 's just rude. ...So please don't report me either? Thanks."

The last thing he needs is some legal attention, thank you very much. It would probably ruin his already pathetically boring life.

With a few quick directions, they pull up to the ER part of the hospital. Jonas, carefully so goddamn carefully, pulls Russel out (with a careful "gotcha, bro. don't let your parents sue.") and carries him to the curbside.

"Jasmine-- if you just idle the car right there, we can get this bro in, and I can come out and park it after. 'cause the last thing you need to do is leave your boyfriend's side, yeah?"

[jasminebloominginshadow]

That earned a glare from Jasmine. A glare that she quite nearly bent the steering wheel with her super strength.

"He's just a friend," she said with a heavy frown. "I'm into girls."

But she'd do what he asked, and waited for him in the car, hoping no one came and inquired about her being in the driver's seat, because again... no license.

[pianistofraielin]

Jonas is careful but it still hurts. Russel does his best to cooperate but in the end he just kind of has to let himself be dead weight to let it go smoothly. (He assuages Jonas's concern with, "They can't sue you, they're not gonna know." Which is...probably concerning when it's coming from a minor who just sustained a life-threatening injury.)

And then...'boyfriend.' Cue immediate nervous laughter (which chokes off shortly with a wince and an "ow"). "We're not--I mean--She's my teammate, not--aah--" Wince, again. He really needs to stop talking, basically.

[shineonyou]

"Well, then." Whoops, that's embarrassing.

"Sorry, sorry-- not trying to cause added teenager drama here, my B. It's rough enough being in high school as it is; I ain't gonna add on to that stress." He'd be doing one of his pacifying gestures if his hands weren't full of Russel. Instead, he takes a step over the curb and almost trips over it. Sorry, Russel-- there's only so much jostling Jonas can shield you from. It doesn't help that for some reason, his legs feel heavier than usual, and he can tell that this lightheadedness isn't a symptom from standing up too fast or adrenaline.

Almost in a rush, he says: "Alright, I'll B-R-B, Jasmine. Don't let my baby get towed, y'hear?" because he knows he's only got so much energy in him, and it won't last long. So without waiting for an answer, he's off, jogging into the ER. By the time he makes it to the front desk (it isn't far), he's out of breath and he can feel a blackout coming on. Thankfully, there are advantages to being covered in blood at a hospital and one of them is fast fast service. They take Russel away pretty quickly (only to discover that the wound is no where near as dire as it should have been). Meanwhile, JoJo weasels out of paperwork on the account of him only knowing Russel's first name and literally nothing else about him.

Regardless, it takes about twenty minutes before Jonas returns to Jasmine. He crawls in through the back door of his car, mutters a "park it, sister. Then check up on your bro. Peace," before passing out in the back seat. Whoops.