I'm a little less than sold

ira

The day is gray like most others right now, but at least the rain isn't pouring down. It's more like a light drizzle that doesn't make being outside too awful by Drenak standards. If one looks past the algae, that is. While the water levels are currently low after the ground has soaked up a lot of it, the red hue to it is still worrying enough. However, any extra lasti are unfortunately much needed at the moment and Ira quietly thanks past herself for getting proper boots as she carefully walks out into the ankle-deep water at the edge of the fields that are now like a big shallow lake.

"Hey, at least we're out under the open sky and in the fresh air!" She looks out from under the hood of her waterproof wool poncho and offers Uldren a smile. At least it's way better than in the dark of the Chokes and she can't be happy enough over it right now. Going from being almost too busy to barely doing anything at all for most of the season due to illness had brought her restlessness to dangerously high levels, so finding any reason to get out had been jumped on immediately. She's not fully recovered yet, but she is doing better than she used to thanks to the medicines. Now she can at least move around at a normal pace without almost suffocating and coughing is not stabbing her chest apart quite as bad.

She sets down the plastic container she's carried with her meant to fit whatever suitable plants they might find growing in the water and adjusts the gray scarf wrapped around her neck. "I just hope this eel... Bug... Whatever idea of theirs actually works." She mumbles with some scepticism to her voice and throws Uldren a quick glance before looking out over the water filled fields, trying to hide her concern over there not being any kind of cure out yet other than trying to prevent getting exposed in the first place.

How that goes along with asking people to go fishing for eels and plants living in the water she has no idea and with the tram out of order, there certainly won't be any Platers coming down to help digging around in the mud. She still holds distrust towards this plan with the bugs and holds little hope that the Plates will be willing to share whatever cure they do eventually come up with.

So you can drag me through hell if it meant I could hold your hand

Uldren

Much like on the Plates, Uldren finds the clouds to be almost too bright, wondering if it would have been worth it to bring his sunglasses had he realized it wouldn’t be so stormy and dark. He internally kicks himself over it as he snorts, following her through the squelching sound of the water and the mud beneath it, watching the red hue of the algae almost warily, as if looking at it sparks the itch of the rash that’s begun on his chest and neck, something that’s thankfully hidden by the scarf he remains bundled up in.

“Saints what I wouldn’t do for a lot more of the fresh air.” He groans, hauling his own container alongside hers to plop down into the bit of mud that’s higher than the water level from the wind that tended to push all the sediment over this far. He peers out over the shallow pools while she glances over at him and he seems to be mulling something over before he nods back to her and flashes a softer edged smile. “The bugs are supposed to eat the algae right?” He suggests, as if it were his understanding. “Supposedly it’s done somethin’. Maybe we should go check out the eel bath house and see if the eels are doing alright since removin’ them?” A random thought, one that he doesn’t linger on as he spots the bits of green poking up through the little ripples of rain hitting the water.

He starts to move before he says anything, realizing belatedly that he probably should announce his intentions. “Think we got somethin’ over there?” He nods to it, bending down to grab his little container and points toward the greenery he can see.

I wanna get stuck between your teeth like cotton candy
So you remember me, darling

ira

Usually she's got no problem with the light, but after having been cooped up for so long, what light that comes through the clouds does sting her eyes a bit at first. Not that she lets it bother her when she's just happy to be out. "You should come with me out more often." She offers with another smile. When not ill or at work, she does spend a lot of time out and about and it is not all climbing around exploring abandoned buildings. A lot of times she makes it out to these places graced by the sunlight. Maybe she should add a pair of backup sunglasses to the regular items in her backpack, just in case.

She raised a brow and gives Uldren a bit of a surprised look when he suggests checking in with the bath house, as if not expecting him to be interested in the eels. Perhaps not more than learning if a solution to the issue is within sight. She knows she'd love for it to be over with already, still worrying a lot about Uldren's situation with the disease. "I suppose we can go check later, sure." She agrees, thinking it can't hurt to see how things are going, before his focus shifts to something in the water.

Picking up her container, she follows him over to where he spotted the plants growing and tries to not get discouraged by the reddish water. Remembering the little warning text on her antibiotics basically telling her they might make her body susceptible to other kinds of infections while treating the one she's taking them for, or just generally messing with her immune system. Her hands and arms already having some faint red patches.

"You know anything more about those tests, by the way? Like, they're not gonna to lock you up like some lab rat for the rest of your life?" She asks cautiously, trying to keep the distrust about that whole thing away from her voice. She tucks the ends of the scarf Uldren gave her in under the collar of her poncho to keep them from falling into the water and rolls up the sleeves of her shirt, before crouching down for a closer look at the plants growing just under the surface.

So you can drag me through hell if it meant I could hold your hand

Uldren

“I should,” Uldren agrees, flashing Ira as sunny of a smile as he can despite the way it’s hard for him to see anything while his eyes get adjusted. He does his best, though, and as he mentions checking in on the eels, he wonders if she knows how much of a soft spot he has for animals. It’s hard to tell based off of the surprised look she gives him, but she agrees nonetheless and the jeweler nods before stepping out further toward the patch he’d found, frowning at the water.

He pauses to reach for his little backpack, hooking it around the front of his arms as he digs into it so that it doesn’t get wet – pulling out some arm length gloves to hand her before he puts a pair on himself and readjusts the backpack in the correct spot. “Nah, haven’t heard much yet ‘side from the basic tests to see how bad I got it.” Which, he obviously doesn’t know the different stages of it yet, but from where he’s standing with the cough and the rashes already spreading… Well, he’s hazarding a guess to say it isn’t great.

Once he gets his gloves on, he’s able to reach in and pull out a plant that looks halfway decent, dropping it into the bucket as he frowns at the red stain left behind on the gloves. “Shit’s so gross.” He complains again, scrunching his nose slightly before exhaling a sigh to return to seeking out any other plants in his arms reach. “You’d think they’d be able to make some crazy water purifier and just dump it somewhere to clean it all, with how much they talk ‘bout their tech bein’ so grand.”

I wanna get stuck between your teeth like cotton candy
So you remember me, darling

ira

She isn't very aware of the soft spot he has for animals, but she doesn't mind them either. Even if her interaction with animals have been very few, they have been good experiences so far (soft squishy cheetah face...). While she doesn't mind the eels, or have that much opinion against them, it might be mostly the fact that the bath house is probably filled with scientists from the Plates as well that makes her hesitant. Still, checking so the animals are not being mistreated is a good thing, or she might just have yet another thing to add to the list of why Platers suck.

Looking up at him, she nods slowly with her lips pressed together and accepts the gloves he is offering, refraining from making any more comments about those tests. She's made it clear that she doesn't like the idea, but she won't try to tell him what he should or shouldn't do. Trusting that Uldren won't let himself get into any trouble with it, or she can add that to the Why Platers Suck-list as well. Most she can do is to try and reassure herself that it can lead to them figuring out a cure and she does care a lot about preventing Uldren from getting any worse.

She can feel that there's a lot of annoyed tension in her today, most of it directed towards anything Plates related. A small part of her doesn't even want to help them further with their projects, but money is needed and she holds onto a tiny hope that the Drench will be helped in the end as well. "Yeah... Wouldn't surprise me if they've got that for their own water up top and are flushing the rest down here. Like, why'd they care about sharing any of that tech with us?" She mutters as she pulls the gloves on, then sticks her hands into the water to dig some of the plants free from the mud.

"Didn't see many of them help cleaning out trash filled pools or risking their health digging through mud to help with this idea of theirs." She puts another plant into her container and gives the algae clinging to the gloves a disgusted glare. With a deep sigh, she shakes her head briskly as if trying to get rid of the annoyance to not let it ruin her day too much. At least they get to be outside.

So you can drag me through hell if it meant I could hold your hand

Uldren

His Why Platers Suck list has also grown exponentially long, and even as he drops the comment over the fancy water purifier and why the Platers haven’t done more, he can’t help but to pluck another plant from the rusty water to dump in his bucket, frowning at the thought of it. “I wanna say it’s cause we work for them a lot of the time. S’why I think they should care.” But he heaves a small sigh and uses the back of his hand to rub at his forehead. “Prolly don’t though.”

He doesn’t, however, believe they’re funneling it all down here with the amount of Platers that are still getting sick. At the very least there’s the air quality up there that’s got to be better than the swamp of the Drench these days.

Uldren does bark a hoarse laugh, however, at the comment Ira makes, flashing her a small crooked smile as he looks away from the next plant he tries to pick. “We’re the trash they’d wanna clean up, yknow.”

I wanna get stuck between your teeth like cotton candy
So you remember me, darling

ira

"Wouldn't that be nice if they worked like that." She mutters, yet is still careful as she digs up another plant to store away. "Dunno... Maybe some care, but whoever decides things don't." She shrugs and then shakes her head again with a sigh, trying once again to shake some of the lingering annoyance off her. They are outside in the somewhat fresher air, doing something that can hopefully help towards dealing with the plague and they are getting some much needed lasti for their trouble. She will try to not let the disgusting water and the thoughts of unhelpful Platers ruin her mood too much.

Uldren's laugh does manage to make her smile a bit, at least, and she throws him a glance from looking for more suitable plants. "Oh yeah, right." Turning her head up towards the Plates, currently more or less hidden in the thick clouds hovering above the city, she raises her voice a bit. "Well this piece of trash is staying right here." At least she's never going to let any Plater try to clean her away without putting up a real fight.

As she turns back to the plants in the water, her demeanor seems to shift. "Speaking of... I've been thinking a bit." She starts, then hesitates and chews on her lip. Seeming almost nervous in a way that is quite unusual for her and she takes a few seconds to poke through the plants under the surface while trying to formulate some kind of sentence in her mind. When she finally speaks again, her voice is a bit quieter.

"I... Wanted to ask if I could stay at your place. I know, I've been staying over the whole season but... I mean like... Actually stay." She throws Uldren a very quick glance, but then focuses on digging up a couple of more plants while anxiously waiting for whatever the response may be.

So you can drag me through hell if it meant I could hold your hand

Uldren

He agrees with that statement. That even though some people living topside actually did care about them down here, it wasn’t enough and mattered little compared to those with the power to change anything. So here they are, stuck as before.

At least he can find some humor in it, laughing a wispy and slightly hoarse laugh, he plucks another plant from the ponds and shoots Ira an amused grin. “The sticky kind, I like it.” It wasn’t like he was going anywhere either, certainly not leaving his sister to the big city alone.

But when Ira continues and it’s with some hesitation, Uldren immediately focuses on her despite how she focuses on the plants instead of him. It’s far more relieving than he’d thought it would be, and there’s a twitch of his lips in an easier smile as he nods. “You wanna move in?” He asks, just to make double sure that’s what she means, even though his answer is going to be the same regardless.

He drifts a little closer to bump her shoulder with his own and a playful smile. “I’d like that Ira. I don’t mind.” It would be so much more relieving to know she didn’t have to go back to that place she despised so much.

I wanna get stuck between your teeth like cotton candy
So you remember me, darling

ira

She picks at the next plants she digs up, carefully removing some dirt from the tiny leaves just to keep herself occupied while she waits, even if the wait isn't very long. When he asks if she means wanting to move in, she nods a couple of times without taking her eyes off the plant. She isn't sure why it all makes her so anxious all of a sudden. Perhaps some small fear of rejection has an easy way of latching onto her when it comes to relations with other people.

It isn't until Uldren moves closer and bumps into her shoulder that she puts the plant she's holding away to turn her attention to him again, and when he responds with that he doesn't mind, the smile manages to make its way back to her lips. "Really? I know the apartment isn't very big, but I guess I don't take up much space. Don't really have much stuff either other than some clothes." A small chuckle leaves her as the sudden anxiety runs off her to be replaced by relief and she shakes her head a little.

"Though I'd really like to save that armchair if possible, or dad will throw it out the first thing he does once I'm gone. And... If you'd like a slightly softer bed we could take mine. It can be directly on the floor." She adds with a small grin, not really feeling like moving the whole bunkbed frame anywhere.

So you can drag me through hell if it meant I could hold your hand

Uldren

Uldren has lucked out in the fact that he hasn’t had to deal with the idea of rejection too often. The closest he got was when a sale fell through – but when it came to people wanting him places, he’d always seemed to be one of those that people wanted around. He was also easy going enough that he hopes it alleviates any worries she has over the question that’s left her lips.

So he nudges her playfully, watching as the smile starts to bloom back on her beautiful face and he can’t help but to forget about the plants for a moment as he wonders if that’s relief he can see zipping through her body. “We can make it work.” And honestly, three for rent versus just the two of them (once Ira was better at least) would make it much easier to try and fix the past years flooding issues in the apartment to prevent it in the future. His sister would just have to deal with it.

“We can take both. I can make a little frame for it just in case it floods.” It’s why his bed was raised just enough, not wanting to wake up in a soggy mess of mattress and blankets. He’d done it the first time he’d gotten here and since then? Never again. “And the arm chair we’ll find a space for.” He’d be lying if he didn’t think that a nicer, softer bed would be exactly what they needed right now after laying on his threadbare one for the past season.

I wanna get stuck between your teeth like cotton candy
So you remember me, darling