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[hairington]

Who: steve harrington and ota
When: may
Where: around the primary settlement, horizon, solvunn in general.
What: various starters, tls, etc for the month.
Warnings: trauma response from last event, talks of pit time, probably a lot of emotions.

Comments

[ofthesword]

[This is absolutely not how he saw this thing going. Now he's halfway convinced Solvunn's bear population's been inflicted with rabies or something. A rabies that Steve just made magically worse. Nero spares a glance at Aloy, but -- unsurprisingly -- she's taken care of herself fine.

Which means Steve.

And Nero is not letting anything happen to Steve. What the hell kind of teacher would he be if he did?

But he's still -- fuck, that thing already chewed his arm down to bone, and though he can heal from anything (probably), it's not as instant as it was back home -- or the shit from the pit's still infecting him. Skin is knitting, but he's still got muscle and bone exposed, and he's pinned his arm against his stomach to not make it worse.]

Shit.

[This is absolutely not how he wanted to do this. He didn't want to -- expose this, at all, in front of people who might not understand. With people who might question it. The pit was different; they didn't have anyone else who could do what he could do. Who could help them get off the goddamn island.

And Aloy's good, but he doesn't want her getting ripped open, either.]

Hold on! [Luckily everyone who was enjoying their particular pole has run off after seeing Nero get attacked. The last thing he needs is more Solvunnites treating him like a goddamn god. Nero kicks off the ground hard enough to leave indentations of his boots, running across the space the bear and Steve have tracked between them.] Aloy, get off!

[He's got enough time. His tail slams into the ground when he slides in front of the bear, anchoring him down, and then both wings flare up from his back. With Aloy off, both demonic hands grab the bear, claws gripping hard as it roars and flails, and the wings roll back like arms and throw the bear even farther than the first one, knocking trees down from the speed of which it lands in the woods.

Nero sucks in a breath, then releases it. The wings dissipate.] That's not how I saw today going. You guys okay?

[hairington]

[ here's the thing: steve hasn't really had a ton of opportunities to use this ability, or whatever it is, in real time. his combat situations, despite his and nero's near-constant training, have been limited and generally around others. the moment never really called for it, and while this isn't the first time steve's used this, it's the first time the stakes were...actually there.

the bear swipes at him, and steve actually does block it - though whether or not that deters the bear or angers it more is hard to tell. thankfully, since steve is still face to face with the bear as he continues to walk backwards, he has a pretty great view of watching aloy just. launch herself through the air and land on the back of the creature.

which is really freaking cool. how is she always so cool?

she gets her arms around its thick neck, and the bear rears back, roaring out with anger and confusion and...well. a lot of anger. steve resets his feet to get ready to dive back in if things get bad, but he can't get too close - not with how those claws are being thrown around. but he's ready, and his decision is already made, if aloy needs help...

which is, as if on cue, when nero slides into the picture. it also means that he has a front row view of the wings as they flare out from nero's back, and all steve can really do is watch as the wings do their thing. it's wild, probably one of the most insane things steve has ever seen, and he's pretty sure he's not even breathing as the bear goes hurtling through the trees.

and just as soon as they flared, they're gone, and nero is checking in on both of them. steve's eyes are still wide, his face brightening. ]

Dude! What the hell was that? Those wings are sick- [ and then, because nero did ask a legitimate question, he sheaths his sword. ] I'm okay, Aloy? Are you? Is your arm getting better? Holy shit- Aloy, you were riding that thing for a sec there!