[ Shit, to Varian? That's definitely bad, Varian is, as far as Mako knows, pretty clever. Maybe his tendency to run into things for the sake of knowledge caught up with him? Either way, Mako's already pushing himself up from his desk to grab a coat. ]
On my way. Where are you? What else can you tell me? Is he hurt?
maybe a little i tried cutting the veins and i think that hurt him
Peter's pamphlet says something about this happening to people sometimes but i'm not sure if this is the same thing or if he's like dying
[He's probably dying, or gravely injured, or going to die, because that's how life works. It's never just one bad thing, it's a million bad things piling on top of each other over and over until the worst possible outcome happens.
[ Naga is fast when she wants to be, which, in this case, is very useful. She comes skidding to a halt outside the house and immediately heads for Max as soon as Mako's dismounted and patted her nose. Safer than his bike, with all this ice still around.
He doesn't bother to knock, just pushes open the door, frowning, his hand already clenched and ready. ] Fern? I'm here, where's Varian?
[Thank you for being speedy, Naga. Fern is still pacing when Mako walks in, absently reaching up to anxiously rub at his upper arm, where his antler tattoo is. Hazel launches at Mako's feet, yapping like crazy.]
Up in his bedroom.
[He'll lead the way up there, skipping a few steps on the stairs and stopping in the doorway when they reach Varian's room, folding his arms tightly. Hazel will follow them too, whining as he approaches the bed. That's where Varian is, completely covered in veins. There's a little band-aid on one of them, too.]
[ Wordlessly, Mako passes a hand over Hazel's head, trying to get the poor thing to stay calm as he follows Fern up the stairs, frowning.
He stops as soon as he sees the cocoon. ]
...oh.
[ No wonder Fern is worried. That doesn't look good. Like the people trapped in the spirit world, only Korra isn't here to meditate them back out again. Shit. ]
When did this happen? What else can you tell me?
[ He's already skirting around Fern to go hover near the thing, near Varian, holding a hand a few inches over the surface. ]
[Hazel's whining abates somewhat, though the fire wolf is still pretty distressed. Nowhere near the amount Fern is, though, especially when they reach Varian's bedroom.]
I woke up this morning and he was like this. He was fine all yesterday! The only time he's responded was when I - I tried to cut him out!
[He waves a hand at where the band-aid is, sounding more frantic.]
That's what the bandage is from. You cutting it? What happened when you did?
[ Mako isn't surprised—cutting those spirit cocoons back home would've made things a lot worse—but he is a little disheartened, letting a hand drop onto the thing as he inspects it. ]
When this happened back home, Korra had to fix it in the spirit world.
[ Mako's way of saying calm down without actually saying calm down. It's a strange texture, kind of bad to touch, and it certainly looks different than the spirit cocoons back home. ]
He's definitely alive. You can see him breathing, look.
[ It's kind of creepy, actually. Mako waves Fern over, noting the clear concern, the restless fingers. ]
[He makes a soft, anxious noise. What if they don't figure it out? How are they supposed to figure this out? Those thoughts keep dancing around his head as he takes several reluctant steps towards the cocoon.
He looks down at Varian, seeing him breathing. But he doesn't focus on that, he focuses on those veins covering him, and how he's trapped in there, for hours now, maybe it'll be days. Weeks. Months, like he was when he was the broken Finn Sword -
His grass has started twitching as he tenses up, staring down at Varian, horrified.]
He's gonna be stuck in that thing forever. He's stuck and there's nothing I can do!
Look at me. He's not going to get stuck forever. We're not going to let that happen, and panicking about it isn't going to help him get free.
[ His eyes are fixed on Fern, his face and voice both level and even. This is how Mako responds to a crisis: with a cool head and the knowledge that figuring it out is his only option. He's spent enough time talking Bolin down from ledges over the years, really.
For now, though, he rests a hand back on the cocoon, pushing a little heat into it to see if it reacts. ]
He's breathing, he doesn't look like death, he'll be okay while we figure this out. Can you tell me what he was doing just before this happened?
[The sound of Mako's voice makes him glance over tensely, and he gives a shaky nod. His calmness is reassuring, though he has no idea if most of that is actually true. Panicking, though, he has to be right about that. Panicking isn't going to help anyone.
Unfortunately, the veins don't react at all to the heat. Fern will keep his eyes on Mako, not wanting to look at the cocoon, just repeating what he says in his head. He's breathing, he doesn't look like death. That much is true.]
He... sleeping, I guess. We celebrated the new year last night, and - and the only time he'd be up here would be if he was sleeping. Otherwise he prefers holing up in his lab in the basement.
Does he ever do anything related to his lab up here?
[ Mako keeps his voice level, keeps that same even tone even as his mind races. There has to be something that will tell them what's happening. Even in Deerington with its surprise rooms full of blood and eye-moons has patterns. Things have a cause. People don't just end up cocoons for no reason.
Later, Mako will discreetly check the network to see if this has happened to anyone else, but for now he has to keep Fern calm and keep Varian alive.
Still breathing. That's important. He wishes, more than anything, that Korra were here. She knows what to do with things like this. What would she do? Touch it, probably, feel for spiritual energy.
He settles his palm back over the cocoon, flat over where Varian's heart probably is. ]
In order to fix it, we need to know what's causing it in the first place.
[The lab is where all the alchemy science happens. Normally, Varian barely spends any time up in his room. Last night had been a little unusual, mainly because of the new year. Fern is sorely regretting celebrating it.
He fumbles to pull his Fluid out of his pocket, tapping to pull up Peter's pamphlet, and hold it out for Mako to take a look.]
Peter's Sleeper pamphlet mentions this can happen to us sometimes, something about us 'going home.' Dunno if that's what's happening here, I've - never really lived with anyone else here before, so I've never seen that happen to anyone else.
[ Well that's useful. Mako spares a moment to feel dumb for not immediately checking that, and then remembers he had very little information to go on.
Still. That should have been the first thing he asked. He scans over the information about it, the description that certainly seems to match what's happening to Varian. ]
Looks like it.
[ He looks up at Fern when he finishes, his face set. ]
The cocoon, the fact that his eyes are still moving and he's breathing—that's probably what's happening here. Which means that we just have to wait for him to wake back up again, and make sure that he stays safe until he does.
[Once Mako has read the PDF Fern lowers the Fluid and slumps. He should be relieved that at least one of them seems confident that this is the cocoon thing, but he isn't. He still feels scared and nervous.]
What if he doesn't wake up? What if he's stuck like this?
[ It comes out a little sharp, and Mako winces, shaking his head at himself. He reaches out, squeezes gently at Fern's arm. ]
Listen. I know you're going to think like that, and you're going to worry, but asking what-if doesn't do Varian any good right now. If Peter is right about everything, and he has been so far, then Varian is going to wake up from this and it's pretty likely he'll be fine. The best thing you can do for him until that happens is keep guard on his body. You're a knight, right? You know how to do that. Watch him, keep him safe, and if anything changes, we deal with it then.
[ His face softens a little bit after that and Mako shifts a bit closer. ]
Waiting is the worst part. I know. When Korra was taken, I wanted to burn things until it brought her back, but that didn't.... do anything except make everyone around me feel worse.
[Fern unconsciously tenses up in response to Mako's tone. That has him listening, at least, though he's nervous he's going to get yelled at. Or worse - Mako will just get upset and leave.
But he doesn't. His grass rustles when Mako takes his arm (it's probably an unsettling feeling), but he calms down a little at the touch. He... isn't wrong, Fern supposes. Peter's PDF has been right so far, and since cutting Varian out didn't work, doing the knight thing and protecting him is still something he can do. It's what Finn would do, if Finn were here.
Then again, if Finn was here Varian wouldn't be in this situation. Somehow.]
I'm not really good at just waiting. Or protecting people, usually. [He glances down at Mako's hand.] Mostly just getting mad and cutting stuff.
[ It is a pretty unsettling feeling. Mako's eyes dart over to his arm. Like a field rustling under his palm, but it's Fern's arm. It's really nothing like touching a person: no body heat, really.
But that isn't the important thing here. The important thing is keeping Fern calm. Mako squeezes his arm a little, since it seems to be helping. ]
Then this is your chance to practice. Trust me, guarding someone is... mostly waiting around to make sure nothing bad happens. It's a blast.
[ His voice gets a little dry at that last bit. ]
You can definitely still get mad. Just, you know. Hold off on the cutting.
[Thankfully, Fern doesn't notice Mako's reaction, and his hunch is right. He's always reacted very well to physical affection, and the squeeze makes him relax and slump.
Waiting around, great. Loads of time for him to get all twisted up inside his own head.]
Hold off on the cutting. I know this is gonna go horrible.
[He can't, but that isn't stopping him from being afraid of the worst happening. Still, he doesn't argue, and he takes Mako's advice to heart.]
I'll try. [There's more negativity on the tip of his tongue - 'I'm not good at planning,' 'The town'll do what it wants no matter how hard I try' - but he holds off on that this time. At least planning for the worst case scenarios gives him something to do.]
[ Mako flashes him a small smile, hopefully reassuring He's trying to be reassuring, anyway. ]
It always gives me something to do besides worry uselessly. If you need a distraction, let me know. I can stay here for a while with you, make sure nothing changes.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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On my way. Where are you? What else can you tell me? Is he hurt?
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i tried cutting the veins and i think that hurt him
Peter's pamphlet says something about this happening to people sometimes but i'm not sure if this is the same thing
or if he's like
dying
[He's probably dying, or gravely injured, or going to die, because that's how life works. It's never just one bad thing, it's a million bad things piling on top of each other over and over until the worst possible outcome happens.
Fern is freaked out, to say the least.]
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Only one way to find out. Are you at home? Naga and I are on the way.
We'll figure this out.
[ Mako will be heading over as fast as Naga can possibly allow. ]
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thanks Mako
[He'll be pacing down in the living room with Hazel, anxiously waiting for him and Naga to show up.]
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He doesn't bother to knock, just pushes open the door, frowning, his hand already clenched and ready. ] Fern? I'm here, where's Varian?
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Up in his bedroom.
[He'll lead the way up there, skipping a few steps on the stairs and stopping in the doorway when they reach Varian's room, folding his arms tightly. Hazel will follow them too, whining as he approaches the bed. That's where Varian is, completely covered in veins. There's a little band-aid on one of them, too.]
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He stops as soon as he sees the cocoon. ]
...oh.
[ No wonder Fern is worried. That doesn't look good. Like the people trapped in the spirit world, only Korra isn't here to meditate them back out again. Shit. ]
When did this happen? What else can you tell me?
[ He's already skirting around Fern to go hover near the thing, near Varian, holding a hand a few inches over the surface. ]
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I woke up this morning and he was like this. He was fine all yesterday! The only time he's responded was when I - I tried to cut him out!
[He waves a hand at where the band-aid is, sounding more frantic.]
It didn't help, it only made things worse!
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[ Mako isn't surprised—cutting those spirit cocoons back home would've made things a lot worse—but he is a little disheartened, letting a hand drop onto the thing as he inspects it. ]
When this happened back home, Korra had to fix it in the spirit world.
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[And he immediately had a minor freak out over hurting him. Even now he's starting to pull that the grass of his hat.]
We don't have a spirit world here! What am I supposed to do??
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[ Mako's way of saying calm down without actually saying calm down. It's a strange texture, kind of bad to touch, and it certainly looks different than the spirit cocoons back home. ]
He's definitely alive. You can see him breathing, look.
[ It's kind of creepy, actually. Mako waves Fern over, noting the clear concern, the restless fingers. ]
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He looks down at Varian, seeing him breathing. But he doesn't focus on that, he focuses on those veins covering him, and how he's trapped in there, for hours now, maybe it'll be days. Weeks. Months, like he was when he was the broken Finn Sword -
His grass has started twitching as he tenses up, staring down at Varian, horrified.]
He's gonna be stuck in that thing forever. He's stuck and there's nothing I can do!
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[ Mako's voice is sharp. ]
Look at me. He's not going to get stuck forever. We're not going to let that happen, and panicking about it isn't going to help him get free.
[ His eyes are fixed on Fern, his face and voice both level and even. This is how Mako responds to a crisis: with a cool head and the knowledge that figuring it out is his only option. He's spent enough time talking Bolin down from ledges over the years, really.
For now, though, he rests a hand back on the cocoon, pushing a little heat into it to see if it reacts. ]
He's breathing, he doesn't look like death, he'll be okay while we figure this out. Can you tell me what he was doing just before this happened?
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Unfortunately, the veins don't react at all to the heat. Fern will keep his eyes on Mako, not wanting to look at the cocoon, just repeating what he says in his head. He's breathing, he doesn't look like death. That much is true.]
He... sleeping, I guess. We celebrated the new year last night, and - and the only time he'd be up here would be if he was sleeping. Otherwise he prefers holing up in his lab in the basement.
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[ Mako keeps his voice level, keeps that same even tone even as his mind races. There has to be something that will tell them what's happening. Even in Deerington with its surprise rooms full of blood and eye-moons has patterns. Things have a cause. People don't just end up cocoons for no reason.
Later, Mako will discreetly check the network to see if this has happened to anyone else, but for now he has to keep Fern calm and keep Varian alive.
Still breathing. That's important. He wishes, more than anything, that Korra were here. She knows what to do with things like this. What would she do? Touch it, probably, feel for spiritual energy.
He settles his palm back over the cocoon, flat over where Varian's heart probably is. ]
In order to fix it, we need to know what's causing it in the first place.
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[The lab is where all the alchemy science happens. Normally, Varian barely spends any time up in his room. Last night had been a little unusual, mainly because of the new year. Fern is sorely regretting celebrating it.
He fumbles to pull his Fluid out of his pocket, tapping to pull up Peter's pamphlet, and hold it out for Mako to take a look.]
Peter's Sleeper pamphlet mentions this can happen to us sometimes, something about us 'going home.' Dunno if that's what's happening here, I've - never really lived with anyone else here before, so I've never seen that happen to anyone else.
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Still. That should have been the first thing he asked. He scans over the information about it, the description that certainly seems to match what's happening to Varian. ]
Looks like it.
[ He looks up at Fern when he finishes, his face set. ]
The cocoon, the fact that his eyes are still moving and he's breathing—that's probably what's happening here. Which means that we just have to wait for him to wake back up again, and make sure that he stays safe until he does.
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What if he doesn't wake up? What if he's stuck like this?
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[ It comes out a little sharp, and Mako winces, shaking his head at himself. He reaches out, squeezes gently at Fern's arm. ]
Listen. I know you're going to think like that, and you're going to worry, but asking what-if doesn't do Varian any good right now. If Peter is right about everything, and he has been so far, then Varian is going to wake up from this and it's pretty likely he'll be fine. The best thing you can do for him until that happens is keep guard on his body. You're a knight, right? You know how to do that. Watch him, keep him safe, and if anything changes, we deal with it then.
[ His face softens a little bit after that and Mako shifts a bit closer. ]
Waiting is the worst part. I know. When Korra was taken, I wanted to burn things until it brought her back, but that didn't.... do anything except make everyone around me feel worse.
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But he doesn't. His grass rustles when Mako takes his arm (it's probably an unsettling feeling), but he calms down a little at the touch. He... isn't wrong, Fern supposes. Peter's PDF has been right so far, and since cutting Varian out didn't work, doing the knight thing and protecting him is still something he can do. It's what Finn would do, if Finn were here.
Then again, if Finn was here Varian wouldn't be in this situation. Somehow.]
I'm not really good at just waiting. Or protecting people, usually. [He glances down at Mako's hand.] Mostly just getting mad and cutting stuff.
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But that isn't the important thing here. The important thing is keeping Fern calm. Mako squeezes his arm a little, since it seems to be helping. ]
Then this is your chance to practice. Trust me, guarding someone is... mostly waiting around to make sure nothing bad happens. It's a blast.
[ His voice gets a little dry at that last bit. ]
You can definitely still get mad. Just, you know. Hold off on the cutting.
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Waiting around, great. Loads of time for him to get all twisted up inside his own head.]
Hold off on the cutting. I know this is gonna go horrible.
[Sorry Mako, he's a negative nelly sometimes.]
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[ No matter how much Mako respects planning for the worst outcome. He keeps his hand on Fern's arm, firm and reassuring. ]
Think it's going to go terribly, plan for that. That way you're ready for it, if it does.
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I'll try. [There's more negativity on the tip of his tongue - 'I'm not good at planning,' 'The town'll do what it wants no matter how hard I try' - but he holds off on that this time. At least planning for the worst case scenarios gives him something to do.]
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It always gives me something to do besides worry uselessly. If you need a distraction, let me know. I can stay here for a while with you, make sure nothing changes.
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