need the sun to break

[resistivity]

Who: mako, ota otherwise! please bring me your babies c:
Where: various places
When: throughout the sickness event, the last prompt can cover any time period in it as mako won't progress past the first stage.
Rating pg for now! will update if it changes. some mention of a lightning-based injury tho!
What: settling in and maybe trying to mother-hen other sick people who need it. please toss me a pm or hmu on discord (violynnist#8733!) if you would like something custom for you, or to try another situation/scenario also! This was my intro post on the CR meme as well if that's easier to poke at c:

𝐏𝐑𝐄-𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒;

𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚;

( he's no stranger to the fey and fantastic. being friends with the avatar has meant years of encountering things that might have otherwise been beyond belief. he has a healthy threshold of tolerance for the scope and scale of strange than most people would probably expect of a no-nonsense cop.

his first thought is spirit wilds. even astoria herself sort of seems like one, though she looks human (he's heard stories of koh) and the misty phantasms that roam the temple grounds certainly don't disabuse that notion. mako is. quiet. taking it all in, listening, learning. he jots down notes, which is difficult to do when one arm is an out-of-commission ruin, strapped into a sling that pinions it to his body. he sort of rests the notepad in the hollow of his wrist, over the fabric of the sling and scribbles everything in police short-hand.

thrown into a new situation? doesn't know anyone or anything beyond astoria's welcoming spiel? time to wander the grounds of the temple. when he runs into other people, he'll approach them politely and introduce himself, )

I know it probably doesn't matter here, but I'm a Detective with the Republic City Police back home. My name's Mako. I'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's all right?

( he gestures with his notepad, obviously intending on writing things down. feel free to talk with him, refuse a statement, agree but only off the record, etc. he's a mostly-amicable (if. sometimes humorless) guy! )

𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛;

( he can't feel the sun. it's there, visible, a low-hanging presence on the cusp of dawn. it's a slightly different color than the one he's used to, and he can feel its rays on his skin, but there's. nothing. no energy, no... deep, abiding warmth that sinks down into the bones and drags the life and breath of fire to life through the conduit of his physical body.

it lends further credence to the thought he must be in the spirit world, or something very like it. he finds his way to the fighting ring and, still with his left arm in its sling, he tries a few right-handed jabs at one of the training dummies. nothing. nothing. he's stayed calm through everything else, being recruited — kidnapped, essentially — to someone else's fight, the whole thing. but this? it reminds him too much of amon.

out of frustration, he kicks at the air, the sort of slicing motion that would have swept fire away from him in an arc. and.

to his complete and utter surprise, a column of rock juts up out of the earth and launches the dummy several yards away. mako, instinctively, turns to look for bolin or korra or even beifong, the earthbenders whose company he spends the most time in, but. he's alone.

except, perhaps, for your character. mako looks a little sheepish at having been caught unawares — he's usually a little harder to sneak up on, so he's rubbing the back of his neck as he asks, )

Did you do that?

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐗𝐓𝐀'𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒;

( he hates getting sick. firebenders are pretty hardy, all things considered. they tend to run hot. mako isn't used to feeling ill, it's only happened a couple times in memory, and. his default state is ignore all physical discomfort. he doesn't seem to be badly off, either, given what everyone else is going through.

so. a case of the sniffles. he sucks it up. pitches in around the kitchens, makes himself available to anyone who seems to be suffering. he even tries to go out into the forest of the fey to see if there is anything out there, some plant or herb that can be used as a remedy.

if your character needs some looking after during the event, mako's your guy. he will dutifully help total strangers, tuck people in, carry them off to a bed and help them through the loss of their senses should it come to that! let him big-brother you. it's the squishiest you'll ever see him. )

Comments

[beyondthegreen]

I'm pretty sure it's too late for that.

[Tefé says as if she's an authority on the subject -- which, considering the trees she's known... well. The plant world is not so fond of humanity, not unjustifiably.]

They're already sick, they don't need someone exposing the roots to air, too.

[resistivity]

( he's about to open his mouth with a sharp retort, but. this is reminding him almost uncomfortably of korra's rapport with the spirit vines, and his jaw clicks shut, choking off whatever else he might have said. )

Look. I'm trying to see if there's any identifiable source of the infection. If we can save the rest of the forest by cutting down a few trees, that's what I'm going to do.

[beyondthegreen]

It's going to be... [She sniffles back another snot drip. Being sick is an awful human experience that she sure could have done without.] ...harder than that if what people are suggesting is true. The robots didn't think it was important enough to record much about what killed all life on their world.

[Sullen, she places her hand on one of the other trees in the grove, lightly touching the bark. It's almost imperceptible, but yellowing leaves get a little bit of green back and a few new leaves sloooowly unfurl here and there.]

[resistivity]

( he watches as she. what, heals the tree? with a faintly curious expression. but even that little bit of goodwill doesn't stop him from annoyance at the lecture. )

Sorry if I don't trust a bunch of robots ( what even is a robot?? ) on a world I didn't go to. I'd rather conduct my own research.

( it's a detective thing. mako is nothing if not unerringly precise in that regard, he doesn't like relying on the preconceived notions of others. )

[beyondthegreen]

Well I was there, and I'm telling you that there wasn't even a single blade of grass left.

[As depressing as that was... someone here has to find a cure. And she'll just do her part to help keep everything holding on until then. It's all she can seem to do here and now, a far cry from her powers back on her own world.

The next-worst tree in the grove, withering branches and yellowing leaves, gets the same treatment, just a little push in the direction of new growth at her touch.

She casts him her own withering glare -- she's really still not sure if this guy even has the foggiest idea what he's doing.]

What exactly are you looking for? Are you a botanist?

[resistivity]

I don't exactly have a reason to trust you, either.

( just pointing that out. her word doesn't mean much to him. )

And no. But I am an earthbender ( that still takes some getting used to, saying that instead of fire. he's adapted pretty quickly, all things considered, but it's still bolin's element more than his. ) and I can sense... things, in the soil. ( bo would be better at it. or toph, if they could have her here. but mako's what they've got, the only earthbender in their party of five. he turns his attention back to the tree, skimming dirt off a tangled network of fine-haired roots with a flicker of his right hand. ) It's at least something I can rule out.

( better than nothing. he's sorry to have upset her, but he's also not going to apologize for doing his job. )

[beyondthegreen]

[Earthbender? Sounds weird as hell, but it's pretty obvious what he means from his actions. Which is, in a strange way, a reminder of the powers she's just... missing here. Her frown becomes more of a scrunched up displeased look. A certain somebody back home probably wishes his shitty magic was half as good at repressing her powers as this place is.]

Well, when you can't find anything, you can stop playing in the dirt and put your own elemental power to good use. Put the tree back where you found it and I might be able to keep it alive a little longer like the rest of the grove.

[She retorts bossily. He can move the earth around, earth bending should be able to take care of it, right?]

[resistivity]

( he twitches a little at that. )

Or, novel thought, how about you stop ordering other people around? You aren't in charge of this place.

( he's tried being civil that is obviously Not Working. )

[beyondthegreen]

Maybe not. But I'm the one who gives a-- a...[Her words are interrupted again by another full-blown wet sneeze. Urgh, getting sick is pretty high up on the list of experiences that humans can keep, right up there with eating. God, she's just so sick and exhausted, and then here's this asshole ripping up trees. It takes some of the arrogance right out of her words, sounding as tired as she does frustrated.]

The one who gives a shit about trying to keep as much of this world alive as possible. This tree doesn't need to die.

[resistivity]

( this time he's prepared for it, and when she sneezes he just slams up a rock wall between them because. absolutely not. )

Fine.

( he stands up, moves away from it. Uses a cradle of earth to lift the tree, angle it back into the ground. he does it all with precision, about as gently as one can move a tree. once it's seated back in its spot, he flips his hand palm-up and reaches into the earth with nothing more than chi and will, and fills in the crater around the tree with soft fresh loam. )

Have fun.

( he's going to just. wash his hands of this entire situation, thanks. )

[beyondthegreen]

[It's probably at least a little satisfying to see her initial surprise at the rock wall going up. Rock and stone... even the way he's able to just move huge chucks of soil around, that's more like the elemental powers that dad picked up than her own, despite the 'earth elemental' moniker.

Try to keep yourself from dissecting sick people while you're at it.

[She remarks snippily as he turns to leave. Because ripping up trees and people are about on par, obviously.

Placing one hand on the tree trunk, she looks up into the branches and sighs.]