I need new clothes, I need somewhere to stay

[salamanca]

Who: Lalo Salamanca and YOU.
What: Lalo comes back from his travels with Methuselah badly injured.
When: January 29th thru the next week or so after
Where: Around town. See individual prompts.

Content Warnings: Description of injury, blood, and infection; others tba.

See individual prompts in the starters below.

Comments

[bigbaddy]

Yeah, yeah. Don't make me rethink this one.

[ Because he will, Lalo!

.. well, not right now, but maybe if he's pushed. Right now he's definitely planning on going ahead and helping out, regardless of his own grumbling about the entire thing.

Though there's one thing he can't help but feels he needs to make very clear: ]

And don't get any weird ideas about the wingman thing. I'm not interested in anyone here that way. [ Especially not any way that involves.. well, the weird sexual games Bigby now assumes Lalo and Chloe are having. ] And I'll never be.

[salamanca]

Suit yourself!

[ Lalo shrugs, happy to let the wingman thing go. But hey, Bigby... if you ever change your mind about that... you clearly know where to find him!!

With his new "friend's" assistance, Lalo starts to get a foot snare set up. Of course, he's more than willing to listen to Bigby's expertise here. ]

Hey! I didn't forget, you know. I said I'd tell you what the old guy told me, didn't I?

[bigbaddy]

[ Granted, this stuff isn't.. fully Bigby's expertise, given that his own style of hunting doesn't really rely on traps or anything of the sort. But as a creature of the forest, he has seen enough traps that he's able to give some guidance here and help Lalo set up.

He actually gets kind of into it. Enough to forget for a moment why they're doing this - or why Bigby assumed they're doing this, anyway. Instead he's just focused on the snare itself, until Lalo speaks up with those words.

There's a little bit of surprise in Bigby's eyes when he looks over at the other man. ]

.. right. [ He even forgot about that part for a moment, apparently. Even though Bigby actually wanted to know! ] So what did he say?

[salamanca]

[ Hey, Lalo doesn't forget a deal. He makes good on his promises. ]

To the East, past Milton - Methuselah told me there lies the Timberwolf Mountain and Bittermarsh Muskeg, even further past that lies Keeper's Pass — and then the wilds of Blackwood and the nameless places. There are wilder areas of the Northern Territories than the wilds of Milton.

He told me about the Darkwalker, too. He says the call it the Devourer. The "end of everything". Kids used to scare each other with stories about it.

[bigbaddy]

[ He seems to take in the information for a moment. Bigby isn't sure if he'll be able to remember all those names of places at once, but-- hey, he'll try.

There's something about that last point that sticks out to him more than even the rest, though. ]

You can find legends about that stuff pretty much anywhere. [ He points out. ] They just call it different things. The Boogeyman.

[ Or, more importantly, and what Bigby is definitely thinking of-- ]

The Big Bad Wolf.

[salamanca]

"The Big Bad Wolf?"

[ Lalo's amusement is obvious. He lights up like a child. But he's wary, too, uncertain. He was just attacked by a wolf, after all, and while he's not afraid of them, he's very aware now of what claws and teeth can do. ]

So, now I gotta know. What do they say the The Big Bad Wolf does where you're from, Officer?

[bigbaddy]

They sent entire armies after him. [ It might be strange to anyone else, talking about yourself as if you're speaking of a different person entirely, but.. It's not so strange to Bigby anymore when it's been centuries since that time for him by now.]

But he killed them all. They couldn't even get a scratch on him. Even ate most of them, they say.

[ You know, Lalo.

A very normal story.

Bigby sure seems to share it relatively casually, anyway. ]

Considering that Darkwalker only took once of us, it seems like it's working way slower than that.

[salamanca]

Entire enemies? Wow. That's amazing. [ Something about the way Lalo says that almost feels like he's reading from a script, but his eyes light up with genuine fascination and interest.

The thing about "eating" entire armies is even more fascinating. Lalo nods slightly, absorbing that. He takes a small swig of his whiskey, relishing the burn as it slides down his throat. Only a small swig, though. As much as he likes talking to Bigby (sorry, Bigby), he's not trying to get blackout drunk around somebody who just told him something like that. ]

Maybe it's not working slow on purpose. Maybe it needs to build up its strength before it can do anything else.