OTA - Let that yawn out;

[20likes]

Who: Heartman and OTA, plus a few closed starters
What: Good News: Heartman knows how to make warding amulets against the Darkwalker. Bad news: he's got Pneumonia because of it.
When: Just after the latest darkwalker attacks + just before the town meeeting
Where: Heartman's makeshift lab + cabin

Content Warnings: TBD

i. closed to Fraser;

[ To say he's grateful to the Mountie once he sees him would be the understatement of the century. To Heartman's credit, he's managed to walk most of the way to his cabin by himself before he has to lean against the nearest wall, out of breath, the room spinning. It's not an unfamiliar sensation but it is a very, very unwelcome one.

He doesn't regret it. Heartman's sweating in the cold, his coughs are painful and his heart feels like it's working overtime despite his issue being a lung infection--he suspects he may still be immunocompromised in Milton as well, considering his condition--but if he just takes a few minutes to rest...

He looks up after trying to stop the dizziness, pushing off of the wall only to see a familiar sight: clean shaven, square jaw, red uniform. He half-waves. ]

Is it safe to presume you're rescuing me a second time? [ His smile is faint, face pale as he fights the urge to fall--best he lean back on the side of the wall again. He's clearly visibly relieved despite his small, tiny joke. ]

ii. OTA - visits while ill;

[ The door to his cabin and makeshift lab remains unlocked as it always does. Courtesy of a few kind people looking out for him, there's a constant fire as Heartman stays underneath thick, warm blankets on the couch. He's no stranger to falling in and out of sleep, although it's perhaps a sign he really is sick when his body completely stops its natural 20 minute cycles and he remains napping for a long, long while, only his own coughing or someone entering waking him up.

He keeps busy: he reads books, some found in his place already and some from the library if he can sucker a poor soul into going for him. He's always welcoming guests, even if he's drifting in and out of it. Dief is curled up at his feet or on top of him at times, clearly a very important part in healing.

That's not to say he isn't bored. Restlessness comes easy when he feels like he can do something--should be doing something--and a visitor who gets him on one of these moments may get him attempting to sit up, speaking after a flurry of coughs. ]

Please, stay--company would be wonderful. I'm in dire need of someone to fill me in on what I've missed. What happened while I've been gone?

iii. OTA - darkwalker warding;

[ When he feels well enough--at the very least when he can actually concentrate on something other than a few pages at a time in whatever book he's got on him--he'll get to work. After the town meeting, if anyone comes in there will be two small piles of stones on the coffee table by where he's lying or sitting down. Heartman, knife in hand as he's in the middle of carving something, will raise it slightly in a greeting. ]

Do forgive the mess.

[ It is rather cluttered. Asides from the two piles of stones and the stacks of books scattered around his spot there is also an absurd amount of scraps of paper strewn about with his handwriting as he theorizes and tries to put together pieces of a puzzle he's unsure if he'll ever solve. Stranger or friend alike, the half-smile is the same. ]

Did Fraser reach out to you about the talismans? Please, have a seat.

Comments

[chuju]

[ The thumbs up is unexpected given their close proximity to each other, but she merely registers it and moves on. It's not important, after all, especially in the face of their current issue. ]

Daisy Johnson. [ She confirms quietly, making another note on the page before she hesitantly follows his line of thinking. ] I'll see what I can do. There's also the possibility there are people here who aren't entirely human who might be willing to volunteer.

[20likes]

[ Heartman looks fairly intrigued, despite his state. ]

There are quite a lot of Interlopers that seem to have a genetic pattern that deviates from a standard human being.

[ He likes where your mind's going, Daisy. ]

[chuju]

[ She's been here for weeks now, long enough to realize that leaving isn't going to be an easy thing to manage, and yet still she hasn't trusted anyone with the truth of who and what she is. Back home, she'd never hesitated to tell anyone that she was Inhuman, going so far as to even be the public face for her kind when testifying in front of a Congressional committee — but here, in this place, without her powers? Some part of her is terrified of what could happen.

But she can't live with that fear, and short of finding a way to get her powers back, the only alternative is to face it head-on. ]

What sort of scientist are you, Heartman? [ Because there's no way he could be anything else. ]

[20likes]

Ah--

[ That's a complicated question here, but one Heartman's finally found an answer to that fits. Mostly. He lifts a hand up, talking with it as he speaks like it's an afterthought. ]

The most succinct answer would be that I've devote myself to studying the veiled space between life and death, although where I'm from it's much less esoteric than most people thing here. For example: [ his next words are incredibly casual. ]

Have you ever died, or had a near death experience?

[chuju]

[ Well, that's... not anything she would have expected. Honestly, it sounds like something a misguided power-hungry scientist turned supervillain would study in her world, likely in an attempt to thwart death entirely. The casual way he asks his question doesn't exactly dissuade her of the idea, but she's reminded of FitzSimmons in the early days, so she tries to curb her assumptions until she knows him better. ]

I have, yes. More than one. [ She's still not entirely sure the last one didn't stick, but that's a different conversation. ]

[20likes]

Fantastic! [ Heartman brightens considerably. This is a perfectly normal conversation. ]

And where did you go during it?

[chuju]

[ Oh yeah, he's definitely reminding her of FitzSimmons with that reaction. It must be a hallmark of the ridiculously intelligent who aren't always the most well-socialized with 'normal' people. ]

I don't... [ Her voice trails off for a moment as she gives it real thought, then she shakes her head. ] I don't remember going anywhere.

[20likes]

[ Heartman twists his wrist, an old habit he still carries with him from back home, but once his Cufflinks don't activate he's swooping a fingerless gloved hand over to a scrap of paper and a pen. ]

What do you remember?

[chuju]

[ It's a weird line of questioning but given that it's still a few rungs below the brand of weird she usually deals with, she goes along with it. ]

Nothing. I was out of it the first time — I don't remember much of anything after being shot. The last time, I was floating in space, freezing to death, and then I was waking up a few minutes later back on our ship. I don't remember seeing or hearing anything, there was just... nothing.

[20likes]

[ Heartman is nodding as he scribbles things down. Perhaps he should be a little bit more cognizant of other people, but she seems perfectly fine with talking about it and that's works for him, as far as he's concerned.

He writes 'freezing to death' and underlines it. ]

Excellent. And how did you end up here? What were you doing?

[chuju]

[ Daisy's quiet for a long moment, silence stretching between them like a great chasm slowly growing wider. She looks uncomfortable, then almost scared, and she twists her hands in her lap before taking an almost violent breath. ]

I lied. I didn't make it back to the ship. Before I woke up here, I was drifting in space, and the longer I'm here, the more I wonder if I didn't actually survive that.

[20likes]

[ Oh, dear. Heartman watches her with the lift of his brows. He’s encroached, probably. Not too many people are open about death as much as he or anyone in his world is. ]

I didn’t mean to upset you. The journey to furthering research can oftentimes be… uncomfortable.