ArchivedLogs:In Which A Horse Is Groomed And Worry Is Shared

In Which A Horse Is Groomed And Worry Is Shared
Dramatis Personae Jack, Paras, Taylor
In Absentia	2015-11-18 'Happy hard?' (Part of Flu Season TP.)
Location <XS> Forest
Quiet and shady, the trees rise all around here high and thick. In stillness, woodland creatures make appearances, though sudden noises scare them back into the cover. Dappled sunlight filters down between the thick foliage, and the ground underfoot is heavily overgrown, though here and there paths have been worn, by deer or years of students wandering familiar trails. Dinnertime has come and gone -- larger and more meat-heavy, these days, than it sometimes is, with the population of the school whose appetites have been... bigger, lately. Taylor wasn't there at dinner, hasn't /been/ there at meals for a little while. Instead he is out in the woods, quietly talking in low Japanese to a tall sorrel mare whose coat he is currently brushing out. He still has bandaging covering up one side of his face, though any other injury he might be hiding is concealed beneath oversized sweatshirt, baggy black jeans. The mare is quiet, tail swishing lightly behind her as the currycomb works over her coat. If she has any response to the soft stream of conversation Taylor is keeping up, it is only to occasionally nose at his nearby backpack in hopes of treats. Paras has been at dinner, though she's squirreled some of it away and brought it out with her, a long skewer of grilled kebab meat on a stick that she's hungrily (guiltily) devouring, her mind filled mostly with the thought that she hopes her little sister does not notice her out here tearing through the stick of meat. She stops short when she sees Taylor, a greater spike of guilt in her mind as she lowers the kebab to her side. "... oh." Then a sudden rememberance, switching from English to Marathi: "{Hello. I haven't spent much time with the...}" She checks herself, mentally, sheepish and also Marathi: "{... who here is going to know that language? Stupid.}" Sneakers, worn jeans, a school hoodie, and a backpack can be seen before they're heard but Jack's not making a lot of effort to hide that he's out in the woods. He skipped out on dinner tonight but he's been showing up at more meals than he had been at least. Drawn by the sound of the voices and thoughts split between wondering who else is in the woods and reminding himself to keep an eye on the surrounding area, Jack lifts an empty sleeve to wave when he gets closer. "{Hey.}" he greets in quiet Spanish. Taylor looks up, still brushing the mare with one arm as he glances over at the others. "{The horses are pretty relaxing company.}" There's an awkward muffled tone to his voice, only half his mouth really moving properly with all the bandaging. Though the words he speaks are quite audibly in Spanish, now, a strange mental dissonance forces understanding /anyway/, psionic interpretation pushing his intentions through regardless. "{This is Zenith. She's.}" He shrugs, though, instead of finishing. Zenith is, meanwhile, triumphant in her quest into Taylor's bag, extracting a bag of apple slices that she starts crunching her way into. Paper bag and all. "{Are you not allowed to eat or something?}" Paras's cheeks colour darker purple. A small surreptitious flick of her wrist discards the remainder of her food into nearby bushes; when she lifts her hands again they're empty. "{I -- uh -- no, I'm -- allowed...}" Though the guilt in her mind over eating the meat hasn't really faded, among thoughts that this is Really Not In The Spirit of not doing harm to any creatures. "{You speak Marathi? I don't... speak... Spanish...}" Even as she says it she's just /confused/: clearly she understood his Spanish just fine. Her brows have furrowed deeply as she looks between Taylor and Jack, waving to the latter. The empty hood tilts in confusion when Paras just throws away her food. He glances to Taylor to see if he makes any sense of it but doesn't ask. "{Yeah, I've heard that about the horses,}" Jack murmurs, moving closer to watch the brushing. "{Haven't spent much time around them though.}" he says. After a little quiet, Jack hums. "{What brings you out here tonight?}" he asks both of the others. "{Zenith's coat needed brushing. Haven't been the usual people around to --}" Taylor shakes his head, one arm gesturing towards the horse. He gently pries some of the paper bag out of her mouth, though half of it is already being chewed up with an apple slice. "{I don't speak Marathi. And I don't think you need to feel bad about...}" To Paras, there's a flicker of mental suggestion of the discarded food. "{Everyone's been sick. Better than eating faces.}" His eyes have focused back on the mare, here. Paras's look of confusion continues as the others speak -- both for the Spanish she /does/ understand from Taylor and for the Spanish she /doesn't/ understand from Jack. She folds her hands behind her back, shaking her head as well. "{Who usually takes care of the horses? Is that -- are they -- did they...}" << {Die} >> her mind finishes, uncomfortably thinking about the many sick and handful of zombified around the school. There's a pang of concern that floods her at the mention of eating faces, looking to Taylor's bandaging automatically. Then looking away, somewhat self-conscious. "{I don't. /Usually/. Eat... faces.}" Jack frowns slightly at the confusion he finally notices in Paras, not that anyone will know. He digs into his hoodie's pockets, pulling out a pair of crumpled gloves he's got general feelings of annoyance and distaste towards. He pulls them on carefully as he asks a question. "{Are you healing alright?}" his question is directed towards Taylor as he stretches his hands a little. Turning towards Paras, Jack takes a breath before he starts to sign a message. 'Sorry. Are you feeling okay?' he asks, his signs a little awkward and using a bit of finger-spelling. The mention of face eating has his shoulders tensing but he resists the urge to comment. His thoughts just flash back to the night he, Lyric, and the other Taylor got attacked by their zombified former classmates. "{I don't think anything around here has been all that usual lately. You could. Probably be forgiven.}" Taylor pats Zenith lightly on the neck, dropping the currycomb back atop his backpack. "{A lot of people do. But Cassy's dead and half the teachers are sick and Jax --}" He exhales sharply. "{Anyway she could use a little love.}" One of his arms lifts, rubbing at the back of his head after Jack speaks. "{Got medicine,}" he finally answers. "{Think it worked.}" A small bit of the confusion in Paras's expression clears up when Jack starts signing, though now her mind is mostly occupied trying to muddle her way through the small amounts of sign she has learned so far. 'Medicine also,' she answers. 'Feel sick. But angry no. You?' Her weight shifts to one side, red eyes drifting back towards the horse. 'I learn maybe?' She mimes the brushing motion Taylor had been using. 'To C-A-R-E' -- Horse she doesn't know yet. She just points at Zenith, though her mind is generalizing this to 'all the horses'. "{Poor horses. I didn't think about how this all would effect them,}" Jack murmurs, watching Zenith for a moment. When Taylor mentions a death, Jack looks down but eventuallys shakes it off and begins to sign again. 'I didn't get sick. Just happy people are feeling better.' Even if he isn't particularly giving off the impression of 'happy'. "{Better.}" Taylor repeats this with a deep furrow of his brow. One arm curls gently around the horse's neck; another lifts his bag, repacking it and shouldering it. "{Yeah. I guess. Well. Less fighting will be good, anyway. And maybe... maybe less...}" There's a small pause. "{There's still time.}" He sounds a little bit dry as he says this to Jack. "{To get sick. Not out of the woods yet. Things in the city sound pretty awful. Hard to know how they're really going to keep it in any kind of check.}" 'Happy.' Paras repeats this sign with an uncertain expression. 'Now time for happy?' She shifts a little awkwardly again, distinct hesitation both in the settling of her posture and in her mind before she finally asks Taylor: 'You friend...' There's a pause as she searches for vocabulary, though mentally her thoughts have already filled in memories of Hope, filled in << {dead} >>, 'Gone. Happy hard?' Jack just gives a quiet, forced chuckle. "{I know.}" Jack replies sadly. There's fear coming from Jack at the thought of getting sick but he's trying not to let it show. "{I heard its bad down in town too.,}" he sighs. His shoulders slump a little at the uncertainty. 'Best word I could think of. Just want people not sick.' he signs. When Hope comes up, Jack looks towards Taylor. He has no idea what to say if anything so he just stays quiet for the time being. "{Shane's house burned down. Last I heard they were trapped by an ocean of zombies. I think the city's -- not good.}" Taylor /sounds/ matter-of-fact about this, but the psionic translation that his ability provides here betrays him, letting a rather stomach-clenching amount of dread through with the words. He swallows, head bowing, and curls a hand around Zenith's lead. "{It's hard,}" is all he agrees, softly, muscles still tense as he starts leading the mare back through the trees towards her home. Paras's eyes just widen at this news, hand coming up to touch against her lips. She takes a steap back out of Taylor's way; the concern rolling off her is likely easy to /feel/, but words just -- do not come. There's no words from Jack either. Just a mix of dread, worry for Shane and the others, and anger at the people who caused the fire. He steps out of the way as well, glaring down at the ground.