Andlátkyn; Vandr Sanses unin Alagaësia

Hurt and Hiding

Lust was wandering the camp, searching for one of the skeletons that had arrived recently. Be it those with that village Carvahall, those that came from Ellesméra or Sci and Omega. He wanted to know them better, and he was taking the day off from his.. job.

He certainly wasn't expecting to see Alter alone by the banks of the Jiet River, away from the tents. He recognized the queen mostly by how tall he was. Alter was the tallest Sans he knew other than Reaper, and Reaper was.. well, typically dressed in black and around Geno.

It was strange that Alter would be alone, as he'd heard that the queen was lonely after being away from genuine social interaction for so long. No one who mentioned Alter knew why.
Shrugging, Lust made his way over, picking up a spare coin someone had dropped and tossing it up and down.
He froze when he realized what the other was doing.

Alter was heating the water to boiling and cleaning greyed and red-stained linen that used to be white. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal a bloody snap across his right ulna, dust coating the edges and stained in the blood.

Gulping, Lust decided to creep up and stand behind the retired queen by his right until he noticed.
Alter flinched and hid everything when he did see Lust.
"Hello there. I didn't see you. Whatever are you doing here, my friend?"

Lust sat down beside him before responding, looking into Alter's eyesockets before he spoke seriously.
"Are you okay?"
The queen hesitated, glancing at the milky water. "Why do you ask?"
Lust reached out to tap the broken bone. Alter grimaced, jerking away before sighing. "You saw that, didn't you." He looked away.

"I did. What's wrong? I know you have healing magic, so the only reason why you're not doing that is because you're too weak."
Alter stuttered for a moment.

"Actually, no, not at all. It's just.. it's not working with this wound. I don't think it is infected, but it's still worsening. I think maybe there was a venom? Of some sort? I.. I don't know what to do." His shoulders slumped. "It's not healing. Roran's shoulder healed fine.." He trailed, pulling back the sleeve to peer at it.

"Maybe it just rejects your healing magic." Lust suggested, looking over the other while he was distracted before lighting up his own hands.
"Oh. I didn't realize you had it as well." Alter noted before wincing. "I never got your name."
Lust snorted. "It's not really important…. But yeah. Where I came from, I had to learn it fast when I found I had the talent."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Your world was difficult?"
"...For me, it was."
"My bad."
"S'nothing."

They both focused on the broken arm for about a minute, waiting for any change.
"..I don't feel anything. Please, save your energy. You shouldn't exhaust yourself so."
"Fine. Fine." Lust drew back, frowning at the break thoughtfully. A fleck of dust scraped off as the sleeve brushed against it.

"Maybe spells work." Lust murmured.
"You know spells?" Alter perked up in surprise.
"No." He shook his skull. "But I know some who do. We'd have to find them…. I don't trust the Du Vrangr Gata for shit, though. You probably shouldn't, either."
"What, why? They seem like good people to me."

"I'm sure they are… mostly. I still feel like they wanna take all of us to use for their own good, that's all. But hey." He stood up and offered a hand to the other. "I'm a pretty paranoid guy. Come on. We can get you help together."

Alter hesitated, then took it with his left hand. "Thank you. I thought only Dance knew spells."
"Dance knows that? Where'd he learn it? That village doesn't seem to have magicians or anything."
"No, he learned from a sorcerer hiding in the mountains…. The name still amuses me."

"They're called the Spine, right?"
Alter giggled before nodding. "It's such an irony."
"That is pretty ironic." Lust agreed as they fell in step beside each other.