(voice)

[hexrot]

—This is Jayce Talis. [ that's not going to mean anything, to anyone. this man's voice is rasping, dragging, in between sounded exhausted, heavy and ill. ] I'm a scientist. I researched . . . The Arcane, with my . . . With my partner, Viktor— most of my life.

[ frequent pauses are a must. he almost feels out of breath if he doesn't, and that puffs through the radio, ragged and sluggish. ]

All of us— seem to have a symbol. A rune, on our bodies. If you've been to the Shrine, then I'm sure . . . You have something else, now. Maybe a message. Please, if you could show it to me. I'll be . . . [ another hushed pause, ] Outside the Common Room. There's a truck, with . . . Butterflies, [ the irony in his voice is dry. ] That's— Where I'll be.

If it helps get us anywhere, I . . . Need, to crack it, I . . . [ i promised, he mutters, before swiftly adding, through a strain that's tight in his throat: ] That's all.

(action/flavor)

[ jayce is rebounding hard on his magic sepsis as his first symptom to becoming undead! so he is not visibly well for anyone who wants to come see him, but he is trying deathly hard with the symbols and trying to fight the clock with obsession. the iridescent pick up near one of the camp lights is a mess of papers in the front seats as much as the flatbed behind it, spread out and held in place with pebbles or stones, littered with those very symbols as well as formulas he's trying to link and complete like a map.

it's what keeps him from giving into sleep. ]

Comments

[hexrot]

[ jayce doesn't like this. would anyone? no. and the fact that he had a mark that looked like death and possibly could align with what blake says—

he has to string down the other marks, but he's . . . not feeling good. his vision is swimming around, buzzing and fogging at the edges. jayce's silent could be read as deep thought. his face is strained and he staggers for the side of his truck. front seat. ]

We'll have to— see the others. Later . . .

[andnevermore]

[ Oh jeez, Jayce really doesn't look good. Blake watches him stagger to the front seat of his truck, face creased in sympathy. If her logic is right, and he is turning into something undead, then this sickness might be part of it.

She has no idea what she can do to help. But she has to do something. ]

Jayce-- I'll be right back.

[ The dining car isn't too far off. Blake's only gone for a couple of minutes, and when she returns, she stands in the doorway of the truck, worried, holding out a bottle of water and a chocolate bar. It's the last of the candy she foraged from the garage they all woke up in, but this is a worthy cause. ]

Here, you should drink something. Are you hungry at all? Even if you're not, you should try to eat at least a little.

[hexrot]

[ by the time blake returns, jayce has his forehead resting against the steering wheel, frame slumped forward. a little shift of his head goes sideways, the chocolate bar—

god damn it, it gets his attention. he's too weak to his own hunger to say no, and after casting a couple of hesitating gazes, her way, he reaches out and takes both offerings. food goes first, wolfing it down in a matter of only a few sorry moments— he barely chews. he just wants it in. ]

I'm starving.

[ but from the look of things, that helped near instantly. like helping blood sugar up. jayce knows his alertness isn't going to last, but he does . . . nod. she could've just let him rest.

his guard doesn't fall completely, but he has his eyes on her. ]

You didn't have to do that. [ . . . ] Thank you.

[andnevermore]

Yes, I did.

[ Blake's tone is gentle, but brooks absolutely no bullshit. Last year she was in training to become a Huntress; a protector of humanity, and that never just meant fighting the Grimm that plagued their world. It meant evacuating towns, and helping people when they needed it, and giving her last chocolate bar to someone that looks like he's on his last legs. She couldn't not help.

She hesitates, and says: ]

I'm... starving too.

[ Blake hasn't told anybody this yet. Part of her just wants to ignore it and hope it goes away, but it hasn't. ]

But I haven't been able to eat at all. Everything just tastes-- wrong. I look at a stack of pancakes and my stomach reacts like I'm looking at a plate full of cardboard. Or poison.

[hexrot]

[ jayce's attention perks to her immediately, watching her expression contort and the words that follow. should he write that down, too? it's the first time someone has come forth about a similar hunger to his.

he swiftly grabs for a page and writes: blake: hungry. dietary interests changed? ]

When did this start—?

[andnevermore]

Right around when we stopped the first time. It... started pretty mild, and got worse. I can ignore it if I'm distracted, but...

[ Blake trails off, shoulders hunched uncomfortably, gaze cast off and to the side. She can't help but be embarrassed by this -- she's normally so in control -- but there's a little bit of relief in being able to tell someone. ]

I feel like it's getting worse a little bit at a time, but I don't know what to do about it. Food didn't help. It kind of just made me feel sick, actually.

[ Her gaze flickers to Jayce; curious, concerned. ]

When did yours start?

[hexrot]

At . . . Around the same time.

[ that deserves some joyting down, for the both of them. correlations. ]

I could still eat. I do when I can. [ especially when it starts to mess with him, either his psyche or with his deteriorating health. ] A few minutes to an hour afterward, it's as if I'd never eaten.

[andnevermore]

So, you've got a different kind of hunger, I guess.

[ Blake just wishes they had answers. She's always been okay at figuring out mysteries, but this is on a whole new level, and not everything's laid out neatly like it is in her favourite novels. ]

Do you think... it would be too much of a leap to say we're turning into something undead? Between the message I got, and the skull symbol you got, and this hunger...

[ Blake trails off, ears drooping. She can't help but search inward for her own heartbeat for a moment; she can still feel it in her chest, thumping away. So, she's not dead. Yet? Is she really going to acknowledge her paranoia that she might be turning into a vampire? ]

[hexrot]

[ the more you dig, the less answers you actually have. at least for a little while— jayce was used to it. most research end up failures. ]

It's as much of a leap as what I'm doing now, so, [ jayce shrugs through a final chunk of chocolate, ] yes.

[ they don't have proof, they don't have a good number of subjects for a favorable sample size, even. just two? it's hardly enough for data to look concrete at all. they're already very different from each other in terms of symptoms, even if . . . they seem to meet at the same end point. seem. ]

It's a hypothesis. The more data, the closer you are to proof, so— if anything else changes, Blake, be sure to come find me.

[ something occurs to him, though. ]

And if I'm not around, look for Viktor. Or Serph.