the wilderness has ceased to run (ota)

[rangerbecket]

WHO: Raleigh Becket
WHERE: village road; river
WHEN: 17 March
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: TBD
STATUS: Still open. Feel free to catch him before the fireflies sting him or afterward.

---

The fog's really been putting a cramp on Raleigh's ability to check the lines and fish along the river and with the addition of the fireflies, he's both worried about himself and the rest of the villagers. How are they supposed to keep from getting stung when the things start swarming? He's tried to stay indoors as much as possible but that's not going to be sustainable for very long; the people in the village need to eat and he contributes to that as much by fishing as the hunters do with their bows and traps.

He's down by the river this morning. It's hard to tell if it is morning, considering he hasn't seen the sun in days and the fog hasn't lifted in what feels like weeks but it's after a long stretch of sleep so Raleigh's going to consider it morning even if it isn't. He's got a line set out to fish, lure set, and he's slowly tugging it back. It'd be easier with a proper reel but that's not something he's rigged up yet. The tackle box he'd gotten a couple months ago has gotten plenty of use, though, and he's learned how to improvise and use it along with the long, supple branches he favors for poles.

The trick with fishing poles is something that's sturdy, yeah, but has more give than break. He doesn't want it to snap with a fish on the line but he also doesn't want it to be so flimsy that it just whips back and forth. Striking that perfect balance is a pain in the ass but the other fishermen have helped him in that regard; Raleigh definitely knows when to look to his betters.

When he spots the flicker and flash of the fireflies he starts packing things up as quickly as he can to avoid getting stung but he doesn't quite manage, fireflies finding every available bit of skin. He wishes he'd worn his jeans and long-sleeved shirt instead of the scrubs he'd come in but with the weather slightly milder, he'd saved the jeans for if the cold came back.

"Shit," he mutters, stripping down and jumping in the river in a vain attempt to get the bugs off him. Maybe he's saved himself a couple stings this way. It works for bees, doesn't it? There's no reason it shouldn't work for fireflies.

Comments

Starting evening of the 16th

[turned_to_steel]

Sansa hadn't been sure what to expect when the two boxes with her name on them arrived on her front porch again. She had been further confused by the contents of the one box that appeared to be food of some sorts. It was easy enough to recognize the little chicken wings but she had been confused by the pie and the bottle.

The other box had contained clothes that she had seen other people wear but had never worn herself. The jacket-like top with the zipper was pleasantly warm when she tugged it on and she especially felt like she needed it over the smaller top that had come in the box. She recognized it as a tank top but this one was made of velvet and had very thin straps that felt like they were in constant danger of falling down. They also did nothing to cover the straps of her red bra that made her blush a little when she put it on. Though maybe not as much as the matching underwear that she wore under her new jeans. The wool socks were warm and the new shoes that she wore were lighter than the boots she had gone clunking around in over the last few weeks.

Once she was changed, she zipped up her jacket, picked up the box of food and took it to the one person she figured could explain the pie like food to her. Reaching Raleigh's door a few minutes later, she set the box down with a little grunt and straightened to knock. Stepping back, she tugged at the waistband of her jeans and straightened her jacket. Then she waited, nibbling on her bottom lip.

Re: Starting evening of the 16th

[rangerbecket]

Raleigh doesn't bother putting on a shirt when he goes to the door because the only person who ever visits him is Sansa and he really, really doesn't mind if she sees him in less than full clothes. When he swings the door open and sees her face, he grins, happy to be right.

"Hey, gorgeous. I was hoping you'd turn up sometime soon. You wanna come in? I don't want you lingering around outside in that fog."

[turned_to_steel]

Even though she knows to expect it, it still sends a pleasant little jolt through Sansa whenever Raleigh opens the door without a shirt on. True, she doesn't blush like she used to but her eyes darken a touch at the sight of him and her smile grows.

"I don't really want to linger out here any longer than I need to." She says by way of agreeing with him, thinking not so much about the fog but the lightning and the scar the still marks her hip.

"But I brought something with me if you can carry it inside?" She motions at the box.

[rangerbecket]

Raleigh sees that her hands are full and he reaches to take the boxes from her, wanting to carry them inside so she's free to just walk in. He knows she can carry them and had carried them all the way from her own place but still, it's the gentlemanly thing to do.

"Yeah, come on in, Sansa. Make yourself at home. What's all this anyway?"

[turned_to_steel]

"It seems to be food." She figures that he will notice the new clothes that she has on in a moment. Following after him, she tilts her head while fiddling with the sleeves of her hoodie.

"I recognize the chicken wings but not the big pie looking thing." She smiles softly at him. "I thought you might know...and you might want to share the food with me?"

[rangerbecket]

"Uh, yeah, it looks like a pizza. I haven't had pizza in years. Rations, you know. Bread's scarce." So are a lot of things but that's not something Raleigh wants to get into right now, not when Sansa has shown up at his door with food and new clothes.

"I'm guessing you got some more boxes, huh? The clothes look new too."

[turned_to_steel]

"Is pizza any good?" Sansa asked curiously, nodding a little when he reminded her about the rations and how things had been for him in his world. Not that they actually talked about it a lot.

Then she paused with a little smile again, glancing down at herself as she reached up to toy with the zipper. She knew it was silly to feel shy about showing up the top underneath since he had seen her with less on but her motions were still slow as she tugged the zipper down to undo her hoodie. Then, carefully, she peeled the jacket off to reveal the strappy tank top underneath that ended a good inch above the waistband of her jeans.

[rangerbecket]

"Oh, yeah it's, Sansa." Raleigh doesn't really care about pizza right now, not when she's wearing this tank top with all her smooth, soft skin shown off. Resisting her is going to be hard as hell and he isn't really looking forward to trying. Still, he's going to. She's the kind of girl you wait for.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

[turned_to_steel]

Sansa feels her cheeks heat a little more as she puts the hoodie aside and focuses on him again. She can't help but enjoy the way that he is looking at her, the interest there causing her insides to flutter pleasantly as she shakes her head. "No, not really."

Biting her lip, she glances at the box in his hands before meeting his gaze again and hoping that he will understand what she means next. "How long can that food stay good for?"

[scepterschild]

Wanda had been trying to handle a house filled with those who were bitten by the bugs. She had to make sure that there was food and that her patients were staying in bed. She didn't want to be gone long but without Clint hunting they were running low. She'd traveled to the river to see if she could catch a few fish to take home and turn into soup. With the chilly weather soup has been her go to meal.

She was wearing black jeans she'd found with the other clothes provided for her. She didn't hate them but Wanda was happy to have jeans.

She paused at the waters edge when she heard a splash and saw the fireflies. Her hand flicked out and a wave of red pushed the fireflies back. Wanda's eyes didn't leave the flickering lights though she addressed the man in the water. "You alright?"

[rangerbecket]

"What?" It takes Raleigh a minute to register the woman's talking to him and when he realizes she is, he tries to fight through the fog of confusion setting in from the stings and address her. He blinks at her, trying to get her face to focus. She's new, not someone he knows, and she's meeting him like this. Great.

"Uh, no, I got stung," he explains. "Can you help me back to the village? Not sure how long it takes for the symptoms to come on."

[scepterschild]

Wanda cursed under her breath before nodding. She moved with practiced purpose, approaching the edge of the water and offering Raleigh a hand. She's dealt with enough people hallucinating but she also couldn't leave anyone to that fate. Wanda was very aware how awful it could be.

"Yeah. Here." She held out her hand to him though she didn't know how much help he'd need. "It was thirty minutes last time." Wanda's accent thickened momentarily and she had to clear her throat.

She blamed herself for Clint getting bitten. She hadn't been able to protect him, she began to wonder if she could help anyone here.

[rangerbecket]

Raleigh takes her hand and uses it as leverage to help himself out of the water. He's grateful she found him, considering he didn't know how long it took to take effect and he would have been out here all by himself; he could have drowned and not been found until morning.

"Thanks. I'm Raleigh, by the way. Raleigh Becket. I figure I should get the introduction out of the way before I start going insane."

[scepterschild]

Wanda's lips twisted into a smirk as she helped him from the river. "Wanda Maximoff. Let's get you somewhere safe. I have some soup at my home if you want something warm." Since Clint and Sam got sick she'd been keeping the fire going and food constantly ready.

Her green eyes out occasionally scout around them looking for more fireflies. He might have already been bitten but Wanda has no desire for it to get worse. She was tense though she tried her best to appear at ease.

Her attention moved to his tackle box. "Do you have anything else with you?" Might as well gather everything together.

[rangerbecket]

"Just the tackle box but it can be left for a little while if you want to just wrangle me," Raleigh says. He doesn't suspect anyone is going to take it and, if they did, what were they going to do? Fish with it? That's kind of the purpose of it anyway.

"I can get it when I'm feeling better or...if you can find Sansa Stark, she can get it. She has long red hair, bright blue eyes."

[scepterschild]

Wanda nodded her head. "Alright." She didn't know Sansa Stark but she'd keep the name and the description in mind.

Her thin frame moved next to Raleigh as he steadied himself outside of the water. She lightly placed the back of her hand over his cheek testing to see if a fever has already begun to blister the skin. The cold water wouldn't help; he needed to change and sit by a fire.

"Can you walk?"

[rangerbecket]

"I think so. I think I can still walk and at least get back to my house, if you could help me? That'd be appreciated."

It's about all he can do at the moment, wait it out, and Raleigh doesn't like being trapped like this. He prefers situations where he has a choice and can actively affect the outcome.

[womanofvalue]

Peggy has been fishing down the river a ways when she hears the splash. Setting aside the small lure and hook she's been working with, she can't help but be grateful that it hadn't been her who'd taken such a dive. From a distance, it almost looks as if the man is shimmying around, trying to do something, but as Peggy gets closer, she notes that it's Raleigh and he seems to be dealing with the persistently present fireflies.

"Raleigh?" Peggy asks, concerned. "Those things have quite the sting to them, are they all off you?" She can likely help swat at them, but she worries that such a thing will only make them come back at her with a vengeance.

[rangerbecket]

"I think I got most of them by jumping in the river," Raleigh says. He's shivering because while it's warmed up some, it's not warm, and the river is still a hell of a lot colder than the temperature outside.

"Have you been stung by these things? How sick do they make you?" How long is he going to be out for the count?

[womanofvalue]

"I haven't been, but I think it's mainly because I've spent most of my time recently caring for those that are," she says, reaching a hand out to him so that he can take it for Peggy to help haul him out towards dry and safe land. "Here, come on," she says, digging her heel into the ground to get some leverage.

"The ones I've seen that have been stung seem terribly out of it," she warns. "It's far from a pretty picture, with paranoia and fever dominating."

[rangerbecket]

"That doesn't make me feel any better, Peggy," Raleigh says. He doesn't think it's going to go well for him if that's what these damn bugs do to people but he's going to have to just cross that bridge when he comes to it.

"You think you can just help me home and I can sleep off the worst of it?"

[womanofvalue]

"Isn't it better to know reality and not be lulled into a false sense of security?" Peggy says, feeling quite rational and logical about this. "I'm more than happy to help you home," she says, "but I'll feel better if you tell me that I can fetch someone to keep an eye on you," she notes, with a look that implies she won't accept anything else. "Here," she says, extending her arm to him so that he can take it.

[rangerbecket]

"Yeah, you can go find Sansa," Raleigh says. Sansa's the one he's closest to here in this place other than Peggy and if there's anyone he wants with him while he's sick, it's her. The idea of losing his sanity, even if it's temporary, is scary as hell and he doesn't want it to happen while he's alone.

"Look, Peggy, I owe you for this. I really do."

[womanofvalue]

"We'll find her once I'm sure that you're warm, cared for, and fine," she clarifies, because if he thinks that she's just about to wander away without ensuring that, then Raleigh doesn't know Peggy half as well as he ought to, and she knows that he's one of her closest friends here, a man who knows a great deal about her history that she doesn't readily share with just anyone.

"What were you doing, before you had your close encounter?" she asks, aiming to get him to talk, possibly take his mind off things or even just to work through it.

[rangerbecket]

"Trying to fish," Raleigh says. Focusing on the mundane details of his morning before the attack gives him something to do other than dwell on the fact that he's been stung and he goes over the details of it, trying not to leave anything out as he recalls them to Peggy.

"I had checked the traps and I was getting a line ready to cast out and see what I could catch."