Open RP Post (With Prompts)

[americasdirtiest]

TYPE OF SCENE.
① Action → Gun fights, bar brawls, fights to the death are all possible scenarios.
② Angst → Characters suffer emotionally or physically from relationships breaking up, death, injury, etc. Hurt and comfort themes are included.
③ Crack → Genderswaps, super powers, sudden compulsions are all possible outcomes.
④ Fluff → Something that is devoid of angst. It's light-hearted and might have the overtone of romance.
⑤ Gen → General fun, things that didn't fit in the other categories.
⑥ Sex → First times, kinks, even dubcon are all possible themes of sex related scenarios.
⑦ Your choice → Think of your own scenario, choose one of the above or make a combo even!

ACTION.
① Zombies → It's the zombie apocalypse, lock and load!
② Bar brawl → You had one too many drinks, said something wrong, and now you're being asked to take it outside.
③ Chase → You're caught in a high speed chase.
④ Gun fight → You're caught in a big shoot-out.
⑤ Fight with a friend → You're fighting with a friend, all out.
⑥ Interrogation → You're being interrogated for some offense you've done.
⑦ Aliens → Aliens are attacking and you're not going to take your probe laying down!
⑧ Final battle → This is it. The battle that will end all the fighting for you. Will you win? Will you get that peace you want?
⑨ Training → You're not actually fighting, just training for the inevitable.
⑩ No hope → You know this fight has no hope. It's not going to end well for anyone involved, but you can't turn away.
⑪ Sneaking in → You're stealing a diamond or sneaking in to kick some bad guy butt, but whatever it is, you have to practice stealth.
⑫ Blue wire → You're faced with a bomb that needs to be disarmed.
⑬ Fight for honor → You've been disgraced or someone you care about has, so it's time to fight for honour.
⑭ Showdown → Time for a cowboy-style showdown. Whoever draws the fastest wins.
⑮ War → You're caught in the middle of a war here. Remember to keep your chin up and keeping fighting.
⑯ Apocalypse → The apocalypse finally happened and now you're left to scavenge and fight for whatever is left.
⑰ Sabotage → It's time to sabotage someone's plan! How is entirely up to you. Do you set up a bomb in their toilet? Do you double cross them at the last minute?
⑱ Big damn hero → You know you have to handle this one alone, so that means disarming or knocking unconscious the person who wants to join you.
⑲ Fight club → You know the rules... you're in an underground fighting ring and you're fighting with all you've got.
⑳ Threaten → You've just been sent here to rough them up a little, threaten them into behaving.

ANGST.
① Injury / illness → Your character has become injured or ill! To what extent is the mun's choice.
② Last moments → You character has been gravely injured and this is their last chance to say their last words.
③ Depression → Your character is depressed, what actions they take is up to the mun.
④ Betrayed → You character has been betrayed by the other. How do they react?
⑤ Tortured → Your character is being tortured and needs rescuing or at least a sympathetic ear to help him through it.
⑥ Jealousy → Your character is feeling jealous and must deal with it, how will they do it?
⑦ Breakup! → This relationship has gone as far as it can, it's time to breakup.
⑧ Broken → For whatever reason, the character is broken, mentally or or physically.
⑨ Fight → You can't even be in the same room as your friend or lover without arguing anymore.
⑩ Lost → You lost the biggest fight of your life and now all you can do is try to pick up the pieces.
⑪ Worst nightmare → Whatever you fear the most is now real or maybe you're just trapped in a dream together, but whatever it is, it feels too real.
⑫ Addicted → You're addicted to something, alcohol, drugs, sex, whatever. It's destroying your life and you can't do anything to stop it.
⑬ Hurt you → You're being forced to hurt someone you love either by betraying them or even being forced to shout things you don't mean. It's for their own good in the end though.
⑭ Separation → You were forced to leave this person for their own safety and while you've been miserable without them, you really didn't mean to run into them again... maybe it was by accident or you were watching them from afar this whole time.
⑮ Becoming a monster → You are slowly changing, becoming a monster: vampire, zombie, demon, something you can't recover from and no-one can help you.
⑯ Frozen → You are entirely helpless, frozen, to stop some kind of disaster.
⑰ Prison → You were very bad and now it's time to pay the price by turning yourself in or maybe the law just finally caught up to you.
⑱ Fear → You're not sure why, but you are suddenly terrified and you can't deal with it. You need help.
⑲ Hated → You are now hated by the person you loved the most.
⑳ Down and out → You're living on the streets, you've hit rock bottom, and you don't know what to do.

CRACK.
① Sexswap → Uh-oh, you're suddenly the opposite sex!
② Forced confessions → No matter what it is and no matter how hard you resist, you're going to be compelled to spill some deep dark secret!
③ Mind-reading → You've suddenly got the ability to read minds!
④ Animal → You're suddenly part animal or transformed into an animal!
⑤ Awkward pick-up lines → You're compelled to use bad pickup lines on whoever is closest!
⑥ Back in School / Graduated → You're suddenly back in school! Or if you were already in it, you've aged and long since graduated!
⑦ Vampires, werewolves, and zombies, oh my! → You're suddenly a vampire, werewolf, or zombie! Maybe even a demon or a devil, whatever creepy crawly you can think of. What do you do now?
⑧ Ghost → You're suddenly a ghost or at least invisible. What are you going to do with this new ability?
⑨ Awkward conversations → So did you just fart or what? Any conversation goes, as long as it's embarrassing and awkward.
⑩ Crossdressing → For whatever reason, you're suddenly dressed in clothes of the opposite sex.
⑪ Suddenly naked → Oops! Your clothes are suddenly gone.
⑫ Suddenly a kid → You're a kid again! Have fun with that second childhood.
⑬ Fortune cookie → You've suddenly received a note with something that will happen in the future, either precise or vague.
⑭ Super power → And suddenly you're like Superman! Any power goes.
⑮ Bodyswap → Somehow you've changed bodies with the other person.
⑯ Back in time → Somehow, you wound up in the past again. Do you try to correct something or just sit and wait for time to jump? Maybe it jumps to various points in your life or maybe you actually think you're back in the day. Have fun, run wild with the idea!
⑰ To the future → Is it everything you've dreamed? Is it horrible? Whatever happens, you're here to witness what happens to you in the future. Either you take the place of your future self or you're just there to watch. Might cause some confusion if people start seeing double though...
⑱ Angels, mermaids, and fairies! → You're not necessary something dark or evil. You're just something different. How do you deal?
⑲ Locked in a closet → For some reason, you're locked up in a closet with someone else. Do you make nice and try to figure your way out or what?
⑳ Finger trap → You're caught in a Chinese finger trap... with somebody else! You can't figure out how to get loose either... have fun with that.

FLUFF.
① Cuddling → For whatever reason, characters feel like being close and cuddling.
② Pillow talk → After the main event, characters are up for some pillow talk.
③ Celebration → Anniversary or some other big event is taking place and characters want to celebrate!
④ Love confession → Someone has finally decided to confess their love and today is the day!
⑤ Appreciation → You feel the need to show appreciation for that person closest to you, even if it's just a pat on the back.
⑥ Apologies → You made a mistake and now it's time to make it up in some way you know the other can't refuse!
⑦ Get back together → Why did you break up again exactly? Whatever the reason, it was a huge mistake and you both know you can work through it.
⑧ Date night → You've planned for a wonderful night together and you can't wait to get it started.
⑨ Family → You've either found out you're pregnant or you've already got that addition to your family.
⑩ Marriage → You're just about to get hitched or maybe you're enjoying your honeymoon. Maybe you've been together for years now! Whatever the case, it's time for that next big step.
⑪ Meeting again → It's time for that happy reunion finally!
⑫ Love at first sight → For whatever reason, you are now insanely in love with the first person you set eyes on.
⑬ Flirtation → You can't resist to do a little bit of harmless flirtation all of a sudden.
⑭ In the snow → Look outside! It's a winter wonderland, so why not go out and play in it?
⑮ Engagement → You've planned it all out and now it's time to finally pop the question.
⑯ Friendly games → You've set up the game station or board games for a friendly competition!
⑰ Gift → Time to give that special someone a gift just because.
⑱ Recovery → You're taking care of someone who's just recovered from some illness or injury.
⑲ Healing → Time to help mend that someone who's been through hell and back.
⑳ Better than ever → You've finally got everything you've ever wanted here. What is your ideal life and who does it include?

GEN.
① Nice meeting you → It's your first time meeting this person! You bumped into each other on the street, in a bar, at work... whatever!
② Drinks → You're out for drinks! Or just chilling at home with some beers. Wherever!
③ Lost → You're lost and you kind of need help finding your way to where you're going. A little help with directions?
④ Costume party → You're at a costume party, both of you are wearing masks. Do you keep the anonymity or take it off and see whose company you've been enjoying?
⑤ Wrong number → Oops, actually you didn't mean to call that person...
⑥ Drunk → You're already drunk! Drunk dialing, stumbling into someone, showing up unexpected... what type of drunk are you anyway? Aggressive, loving, happy? How does the other react?
⑦ Old friends → you haven't seen this person in a long time!
⑧ Rivals → you're suddenly rivals! Or maybe you have been all along...
⑨ Problems → you've got a problem with each other, just got in a huge fight, whatever. Try to work it out!
⑩ What are your intentions... → This person? They're dating a close friend, family member, etc. You need to find out if they're going to hurt them! Or you need to discuss your friend/family's dating choice.
⑪ I saw you → you saw the other person doing something bad and you need to confront them about it.
⑫ Sorry but no → the other person has feelings that you just don't share. They don't necessarily have to be romantic... maybe you just don't agree with their sudden desire to quit their job and start a business making tiny, fuzzy teddy bears.
⑬ My hero → you need to tell this person how much they mean to you. They've been your best friend or your role model your whole life and they need to know.
⑭ Enabler → you're enabling the other (or each other) to do something bad, really bad. Addiction, stealing, killing, or just any other self-destructive behavior.
⑮ Cooking → Time for an impromptu cooking lesson!
⑯ Oh, sure, I remember you... → It's that awkward moment when someone comes up and seems to know you, but you have no idea who they even are!
⑰ Rescue! → One of you was in trouble, but you came to the rescue!
⑱ Boss → One of you works under the other. Is your relationship good? Are you scheming things? Or do you hate each other?
⑲ Perfect crime → You and the other person have just pulled off the perfect crime... or you're planning to! What are you doing? The heist of the century, an assassination?
⑳ Movies → movie night! Maybe it's a sleepover. Whichever the case, it's time to eat a lot and have fun.

SEX.
① First time → it's your first time together or your first time ever! Enjoy the awkward times!
② Bondage → You and your partner decide to experiment a little with ropes or handcuffs or whatever you'd like to tie your partner up with.
③ Rough / Aggressive → Your characters want it rough.
④ Romantic → Slow and gentle, meaningful, that's how characters want it.
⑤ Dubcon → Character A wants Character B and it doesn't really matter if Character B wants it as bad or not.
⑥ In public → Characters feel like taking a risk and doing it in a public place.
⑦ Roleplay → Naughty nurse fetish? Pirate kink? You and your partner decide to try it out now!
⑧ Healing → You've both fought hard or gone through a rough time and it's time to get some R&R in.
⑨ Last time → This is the last time you're going to this because you're breaking up or maybe your lover is running off to sacrifice their lives in some heroic way. The possibilities are endless, but you better make this one count.
⑩ No strings attached → You're just friends with benefits. Nothing wrong with that, right?
⑪ Anonymous → You met in a restroom or bar, any location of your choosing, but you don't even know each other's names.
⑫ Toys → You're eager to try something new, so why not toys?
⑬ Aphrodisiacs → You've been slipped a strong aphrodisiac somehow and now you absolutely cannot control yourself.
⑭ Show → You're putting on a show by either doing it right in the club or filming it for a bunch of people.
⑮ Ménage à trois → It's time for that threesome you've always dreamed of.
⑯ Non-penetrative → Frottage, handjobs, whatever you want to try out.
⑰ Controlled → You are under mind control and must do whatever your lover asks of you.
⑱ Hate sex → It's not just rough or aggressive, you absolutely cannot stand each other.
⑲ Extreme → Fisting, knife play, whatever you can think of so long as it tests the boundaries.
⑳ Fantasy → This is just a fantasy, a dream, and you know it, but what is your ideal fantasy and how willing is your partner?

Comments

[kissthatgoodbye]

Leck lost his family a long time ago, and if he were the kind that was willing to give in to it, if he could afford to, he would admit to hating the other war boys a little for that; for having each other when his entire unit is gone, when everyone that would have understood him if given a chance is gone. He's sure there's at least one other out there somewhere, but they won't expose themselves any more than he would. If he's a little mad, it's not that.

He hears Nux ease down to the sand but now that he's down, now that he's out of the sun again, he feels weaker than he did and he just lays there and pants and tries to catch his breath; he could fight if he had to, but he doesn't, and he finds that means he can't do much of anything for right now. Nux seems to be in the same condition and when he rolls his head over and looks, he remembers why.

"I never followed him," Leck admits, and knows it's not much of an admittance. Nux was suspicious of him already. He wasn't the only one. "I followed his resources, his protection. I was gonna try Furiosa. I was gonna go back, see if..."

He closes his eyes and begins to lever himself back up, determined to make it; there's water nearby, and if he stays too long he never will get back up. He may be a little mad but this is his way in, this is how he lives, and he focuses on that instead of the floating, detached feeling sinking itself into him. "I can set that arm. Give me a chance to prove I can help, and I will."

[iamawaited]

It's not really a confession coming from Leck, no. Even if it was, Nux would have no place to judge it, not anymore. Being one of Joe's most ardent sons hadn't stopped Nux from failing him or traitoring him, after all. At least Leck had stood with Joe until the end, a part of Nux still thinks bitterly.

He knows that voice is wrong now. He does, really. He just hasn't had time yet to shed all the old ways of thinking; it's not yet a week ago that he still dreamed of nothing more than being raised to Valhalla by Joe's hand. He's had a taste of something else now -- kindness, forgiveness, redemption -- and now that he's still alive to know it, the cracks in those foundations only have more room to spread. He'd begged the same thing of Capable a few days before and she'd blessed him with her acceptance. He can't turn Leck away when he's asking for it now.

"There's still aqua cola in the tanker," he admits, nodding towards the crack in the hull. "It's good." He doesn't mean the taste. Flavor's not a luxury he's ever had. But it hasn't gone sour like the Mother's Milk has, and it hasn't made him sick, so it's good enough to drink. "And... then we can deal with this." He nods down to his arm.

[kissthatgoodbye]

It occurs to him belatedly that maybe Nux is here because Furiosa rejected him in the end; that maybe he changed his mind and he's only here as a way to try to get back to the stragglers Leck left behind. Maybe it's not that easy for everyone to switch sides, even if Leck remembers catching sight of Nux clamoring over the war rig, helping turn back its attackers, pulling his own allies back up into cover. Maybe after all that the Imperator left him behind in this trap, or maybe he changed sides again like Leck himself might have done.

But Nux is not good at lying; almost no one left alive really is. Their bluffs are all shortlived but there's no real point in being dishonest. Still, Nux is an easy read. Leck nods and, taking a deep breath, heaves back to his feet.

"Gimme a minute," he asks, one sand-crusted hand pressing against the fabric over his side, thumbtip peeling back the edge to take another look at it himself. It'll keep, he decides, at least until he sees how much water there is. He disappears then into the tanker and breathes out when he sees the shallow puddle there; he didn't expect Nux to mean it tasted good. It doesn't even matter to him anymore, and his genetic advantages extend far enough that it doesn't even occur to him to wonder if it really is bad, if this is a trick of some kind. His body will filter it out. He sinks down to his knees and doesn't bother with his hands, he just drinks facefirst until he feels a little more focused.

It's still too hot out here for him, his skin is still too fair to give him any protection from the sun without the war boy paint or clothing of some kind, but there's enough respite that he almost feels steady again. Almost. He has to be careful, he knows, or his body will just backslide on him, but for now it's enough. It's enough that he eases cautiously back out into the open, because he has something to prove now. Nux gave a little ground. It's Leck's turn.

He's careful again to leave his hands open and empty once more as he approaches where the other warboy still is. He crouches within reach, head tilted, looking him over more critically.

"Anything else broken? Anything else hurt?" Leck's medical knowledge is, by his own estimation, completely outdated but some things never change; and anyway by current standards, he's years ahead of the norm.

[iamawaited]

Nux hasn't moved when Leck returns. He's conserving his energy at this point; if they are going to make for the Citadel, he'll need it. He takes stock when Leck asks the question, but he shakes his head after a moment. "Just the usual," he murmurs hoarsely.

Leck will know what he means, he expects. Even if he isn't sick himself, he's lived with them long enough to have a catalogue of the various maladies that go hand in hand with being a denizen of the Wasteland, with being resigned to a half-life. Beyond the arm, Nux feels tired and weak and feverish, his legs unsteady, but these could all be symptoms of his own blood's toxicity as much as any injury. It's a little hard to breathe, and he knows he can thank the tumors for that. He knows what they feel like well enough, wrapped around his throat.

Speaking of wrapping -- he nods down to the white gauze still twisted and looped around his left wrist. Capable's scarf has managed to stick with him just as well as the shackle on his other wrist. "You can use that," he says. It will hurt to have Leck take it off him, but they'll be hard pressed to find much else out here to wrap a splint with.

[kissthatgoodbye]

Leck does in fact know what he means, and that's in the back of his mind too; he's been out too long to be able to consider doing anything about it just now, which only proves why he has been keeping the company of those attached to the Citadel. But it is an option, if "the usual" looks like it will be more of a problem than it currently is; maybe it will be an option if Leck can get more water, more food, more rest.

Maybe.

For now he focuses on certainties, and when his visual evaluation agrees with what Nux has said - there are cuts here and there, bruises from the crash no doubt, but nothing major enough to register to a warboy, nothing worse than he's ever sustained and healed from before - he nods again. "Alright," he offers, and pushes himself upright again, heads back for the war rig.

He's panting again by the time he returns with a few metal fragments kicked free from the sides where once they kept raiders from climbing up from below, but he has his frame. It would be easier if he had help, someone else with two working arms, or any proper supplies, but he can make this work. If Nux can stay conscious through "the usual" plus dehydration and shock, Leck can make this work.

"Alright," he says again, settles down beside Nux, facing him with the metal beside him and reaches to begin unwinding the scarf because he's right. Neither of them have much to spare between them for wrapping, and there is barely anything in the rig that is not metal or bone. "Tell me what happened," he suggests when his fingers have to wrap around Nux's arm and begin moving it, to make sure of the break, and to lift it to brace against the makeshift splint. His eyes move between his work and the other boy's face often, watching as much out of a professional kind of caution as well as a much more selfish wariness.

[iamawaited]

Nux is familiar with pain: that much is literally written across his skin, in the skeleton scars on his face and Joe's brand on his neck and the exquisitely detailed V8 across his chest. He's bled many times for the Citadel, and that's to say nothing of all the times he's been knocked around on the road or in fights, or the unique pain of feeling choked to near-death by his own body when it's taken too long to get to the Organic.

None of which means that his arm doesn't already hurt a great deal, or that it doesn't start hurting a great deal more when Leck starts to deal with it. Even the simple act of removing Capable's token from his wrist is a sharp blaze of agony. Nux sucks in a breath through his teeth and focuses his thoughts on red hair and green eyes and how happy she'll be to see him again if he can make it through the next few minutes. Still, when Leck starts to move his arm, what little blood remains in his face drains out of it, though it might be hard to tell under the remnants of his war paint. He digs his other hand into the sand and forces himself to stay conscious through the bursts and flares behind his eyes, panting shallowly. It takes him a moment to register that Leck has spoken, but when he understands the question, he nods, almost grateful for it.

"The-- the Immortan had the Gigahorse in front of us," he stammers through the pain, staring out at the ruin in front of them. "Furiosa climbed across to kill him and the others followed. I was supposed to... to throttle the rig down and set it to drive into the pillar on its own, but Rictus ripped the engine out before I could get out. So I let the rig drop back enough to get them through, and then-- then I rolled it. Last thing I remember is the war drums crashing through." He can see the traces of them in the wreckage, too: burnt drum skins, what might be the neck of the Doof's war guitar.

[kissthatgoodbye]

There is nothing Leck can do to make it hurt less, save knock Nux out completely, and that isn't feasible; or rather, there is almost nothing he can do to make it hurt less, and he does the one thing he can to help manage it as best he can. He does not hesitate, he does not stop, and he does not let himself be uncertain. His hands feel weak and unsteady to him but he's never quite forgotten this. He was never meant to. Once he begins unknotting the scarf, once he feels the bones shift and feels them align again, he does not stop.

It is not in him to be empathetic, and it would do neither of them any good anyway, and so he nods to acknowledge what he is being told and does not try. A part of his mind tries to align what he's being told with his own ground-level memories of the pursuit, the last frenetic push, the chaos in the bottleneck that had kept him back; it does not hinder the work of his clever fingers as he lays Nux's arm along the metal shard, lets the pointed end extend out past his hand and fingers, makes sure of the bone straight beneath the skin. Then and only then does he press one end of the scarf into Nux's palm, starts winding the rest around in even, taut circles, watching to make sure it doesn't slip.

If Nux survives this, if he survives long enough for the bone to knit, it won't be because of Leck that it heals crooked. As he works on tying off the last of his own knots, as he looks up and sees Nux staring glassily out over his shoulder, he reaches up to snap in front of his face.

"The rest of them are okay?" he presses, and if it's also a kind of test, well. Leck doesn't see a problem with that. "The last you saw them, they were?"

He ignores the part of him that is always coiled with suspicion that twists in on itself with proxy bitterness for Nux, whose friends did not come back for him, who was left alone behind them to cover their escape, and who would have been content to die there for them. It is, in his estimation, only marginally better than dying for nothing for the Immortan; it is, by a slightly different estimation, even worse because his allies let it happen.

[iamawaited]

Nux has no room to keep up his suspicion of Leck right now. Everything is bright hot agony, shooting up from his arm and into his shoulder, down his side, everywhere. There's a sort of a shine creeping in at the edges of his vision, but not the way he would ever want it to -- it's like the other side of chrome, somehow. He can feel what's left of his war paint dripping away as sweat beads on his head and runs down his back.

He tries to bring his eyes back into focus when he sees Leck's fingers snapping in front of them, manages to turn them back to the other War Boy. "Yes," he says in a ragged exhale, and somehow he knows before looking down that they're through the worst of it. He sags a little when he does anyway and sees his arm bound to its ungainly shackle. Could've used the rest of the chain, too, he thinks belatedly. There's still a little left on his right side. Could've used the real shackle, if they could have gotten it off him...

Shackle. Blood bag. He blinks dazedly, revisiting Leck's question in his mind. Does he know that the others are okay? "Three of the breeders," he says with certainty. He doesn't bother with names. Leck wouldn't know what Cheedo and the Dag and Capable mean. Least of all the last one. But was Toast alive when they drove away? "Four," he hedges, hoping that's the truth, even though Toast had always kept herself the furthest from him. "And my blood bag." And Furiosa, dying.

[kissthatgoodbye]

There were chains in the wreckage of the war rig; Leck left them behind, because the splint itself is heavy enough. The awkwardness of it can't be helped - it must be long enough to brace both sides of the break - but he can make this work. His bid for Nux's attention works, and he is satisfied by the answer, although he knows what the uncertainty of the number means. He thinks he knows what the exclusion of Furiosa's name means. It's enough, though - three breeders and the blood bag. It's enough. Leck settles the splinted arm across Nux's lap and takes a moment to breathe, himself.

Only a moment, though, he can feel himself wanting to relax into longer and he pushes it back. He produces his knife from its seat in his boot, still watching Nux from the corner of his eye, but confident in his ability to react first if it becomes necessary. They are in sorry shape, the two of them, but Nux is in sorrier. Nux started out sorrier. Leck produces the knife and bends down over himself with the grind of teeth and a slow, careful, constant motion until he can manipulate the edge of the dismantled vest wrapped tight around his own waist, until he can cut through with the tip about an inch below the edge, until he can start tearing in a long line around himself.

"And they were headed back to the Citadel," he doesn't need to ask. He concentrates a few moments more, tries to do math, tries to judge the distance, their supplies, their strength between them. Leck will recover first. Can he carry them both if it becomes necessary? Nux is his best bet of being accepted back at the Citadel. He decides, just before he speaks again, that he will make it necessary, and then he will do it. "We just need to sling this, and then I'll help you back into the tanker. You'll rest, and when it's dark, we'll move. No one else is coming over that pass."

And if anyone else is coming at all, better to stand their ground here, where the spectacle of the battle fringe will give them what advantage and resources it can. Without thinking, he smiles and lets a hand fall heavy on the right side of Nux's neck - "Victory." - and then reaches to double up the strip of his former vest to fashion into a bare bones sling.

[iamawaited]

Nux is definitely in no shape to do anything that Leck would need to react quickly to. He sits and catches his breath and watches him work at his vest, saving up another burst of strength for when they have to sling the arm. He'd noticed the blood on him already, of course, but now he notices the stiffness in his movements, too. More injured than either of them thought at first, maybe, or just as intensely dedicated to moving past it as Nux would have been if his injury hadn't been so extremely obvious. Even he, with his arm, has no intention of wasting too much time at rest, or being seen to do so.

They're trusting each other now in a way they might not have before, surrogate family or not, but old habits do die hard. "I can make it back," he insists stubbornly. He doesn't shake Leck's hand off, though. Larry and Barry pulse beneath his palm, overheated and gorged on their host's blood, but Nux just sighs and braces himself for the next round of pain. He even leans into the touch a bit before Leck pulls away -- it makes him think of his brothers... and now maybe his sisters, too.

He fixes his eyes on the rig again and presses his scarred lips tight together. "Go on. Best get it over with."

[kissthatgoodbye]

It's a little of both, where Leck and the wound in his side are concerned; his climb over the pass opened it again, he can feel that much, the torn muscles around it aching and painful but there's nothing for it. There's no way to keep it any cleaner than it is. There's nothing to use for thread. There's nothing to take against the pain, no blood available to replenish what he lost before he got it sealed off. It's heal or die, now, and trust to his physiology to make it the former rather than the latter.

"Alright," he agrees, and pulls back to work.

Acknowledging his side only makes it hurt more, so Leck doesn't allow himself to do that; he knots the strip of fabric around the metal splint as secure as he can before he moves it at all, loops it up over Nux's neck and opposite shoulder before easing around to find a place to tie it to help him balance it and hold it against himself. More things that can't be helped or avoided, so he does the best he can, and does not hesitate in this either.

"About half the militia wasn't close enough to catch the blast," he murmurs after a few moments. Nux already answered his questions through the harder part. Leck can give him something to focus on through the rest. "And all the leaders are dead now, so everyone turned on each other. Hard to say who came out on top. Bullet Farm, I think: not as attached to the colonel, more ammunition. Gas Town will play the long game, choke everyone off. The Citadel group is in shambles."

He's quiet for a moment when he actually has to move, checking his work before he's satisfied, brushing sweat back out of his eyes with the back of his hand. Dirt and grease and blood smear with it, but he's gotten used to that. "Some of them will circle back around eventually, but most'll die on that side of the mountains. We've got a little, if the Citadel doesn't fight Furiosa. I'm done. Let's go."

I can make it back, Nux had said, and Leck is inclined to at least let him try. He was never a particularly kind person anyway, and now he can't really afford to be. He focuses on himself, on making it back up to his feet one more time, and stands nearby to catch his breath and see how well Nux's legs are working out for him now.

[iamawaited]

The words come to Nux a little distantly. Politics were never exactly his strong suit, and it's hard enough to focus on anything as it is as Leck winches his arm into place. He catches what he thinks the salient point is, at least, which is that none of the three war parties are in any shape to attack yet. If they can avoid the Buzzards, their passage should be relatively safe -- at least from other people. The rest can be reported to Furiosa.

If the Citadel isn't fighting her. If she didn't die on the way. If they made it back at all. It may be a long shot, but he wants to believe it isn't. It may not matter, when it's the only one they have.

Let's go, Leck says, and Nux nods tersely. He knows Leck only means to the tanker, but there's a part of him that doesn't even want to wait for dark anymore. As suicidal as he's been in the past, though, he knows exactly how to survive now, for all that time spent waiting to die the right way. He knows Leck is right: that to wait it out would be better.

It takes him a moment to stand, but he shoves his good hand down into the sand and pushes himself slowly to his feet, grimacing but not faltering as his arm shifts in its sling. Once he's up, he's okay. His step still isn't the most even, but his legs carry him as far as the tanker, far enough for him to climb inside and slide down into the shade of it. He leans his head back against the relative coolness of the metal and feels the remnants of the damp on the rust soak into his BDUs. "Toast said we could have all the water we want there," he murmurs softly to himself, almost a little deliriously.

[kissthatgoodbye]

It is a long shot - that they can even make it on foot with what little they have and injured as well is one hell of a long shot - but it's the best option both of them have. If they're smart about it anyway, and if they're tough. If they play what few cards they have right. Leck can't do anything about the external threats, but those particular obstacles are just within their reach to manage, he thinks.

They have to be. He watches as steadily as he can as Nux makes it upright, paces him back to the tanker; that's as good as it gets. Okay once he's up is as good as it's going to get and Leck leaves off watching him for a moment to scan their surroundings once more to make sure no one has moved in while they were focused on themselves. It gives him a headache - no, it makes his dehydration headache worse - to zoom his vision so he does so judiciously, only uses it to check the furthest nooks and crannies of the rocks around them; his sense of smell is all but useless with the greasy scent of wrecked engines and the heady fumes of gasoline around, but he tries for a moment anyway, coughs as he finally eases down across from Nux.

He's so tired. Tired enough that though he hears what Nux says, he doesn't really want to respond. He wants to sleep until he catches up to himself, wants to escape the dryness of his throat, the way his skin and muscles feel like they're on fire both inside and out, the unsteadiness limning his joints if he searches for the symptoms of anemia; it's dangerous though. For both of them.

After all of this he refuses to just not wake up. He may not be interested in ascension to Valhalla to sit at the war tables of Joe and all those who went before him, but he's certainly not interested in falling asleep and slipping away either.

"Where? Where were you even headed?" he asks, a bit too vague to be pointed, but firmer than Nux's trailing thought anyway.

[iamawaited]

"The Citadel," Nux murmurs at first, too weary to be incredulous that Leck appears to be asking a question he already knows the answer to. Then he realizes what he meant and shakes his head slightly. "Green place," he says, glancing out at the corner of his eye at the arid red and yellow sands. "They said there's green at the top of the Citadel. All sorts of... seeds and plants and... and trees and things."

None of which Nux has ever seen -- not living ones. He still barely even knows what they are. He believes it, though, or at least thinks he might. They had managed to convince him, the night before -- or the night before the battle, anyway, however much time has passed since -- that aqua cola addiction wasn't real. Bit by bit, he's learning true things.

"Did you ever see that stuff?" he thinks to ask suddenly, turning his gaze back to Leck. He cocks his head, then lets it loll on his shoulder. "Where you were before."

[kissthatgoodbye]

Leck frowns at the answer, first the initial response he gets and then the one that comes after as he draws a breath to correct the miscommunication. "Green place" is too vague, could mean anywhere, but actually means nowhere as far as Leck has seen. Green places don't exist anywhere the Citadel can reach them. It's why anyone tolerated Immortan Joe, he's pretty sure.

That and the old bastard was canny in his madness. He must have had charisma before the world ended, must have been an excellent leader, even if Leck suspects he was always something of a jackass. Doesn't matter anymore. Didn't matter when Leck took his brand and matters even less now. "There's..."

But he doesn't finish, doesn't tell Nux about how he can confirm that rumor because he could smell it every now and then when the wind shifted just right, though he never tried to find it. He could have, he thinks. It just wouldn't have mattered either.

So little matters anymore. "Yeah," Leck answers, mildly surprised by the abrupt question, by their eyes meeting where Leck has the back of his skull leaned against the metal of the tanker shell. It's a vague enough question he finds himself willing to answer. Nux isn't asking where before was, yet, and Leck doesn't let himself think about it. There were trees there. There was water, until there wasn't.

"They were called forests. Trees so tall you couldn't see the tops of them, so close together they crowded out the sun," he supplies, and he's not sure if it makes him feel better or worse. "Or pastures. Thick grass up to your knees, threaded through with weeds and wildflowers and shrubs..."

The corner of his mouth twists, a crooked smile. "Funny. I was never one for plants before, but now I miss 'em."

[iamawaited]

Nux isn't sure what answer he had been expecting, but that's certainly not it. That sounds even more green than Furiosa's Green Place. That sounds like something from before the world died. Forest, pastures, weeds, shrubs; those aren't even words he knows. He only learned trees a few days ago.

He sits forward, props his knees up and rests his good arm on them, just curious enough that it wakes him up a bit more. He knows Leck is older than he is, but it hadn't occurred to him that he might be old enough -- or come from far away enough -- to know, like Furiosa, like the Vuvalini, about things beyond the sands. "What changed?"

[kissthatgoodbye]

"The world," Leck says, bitterness twisting through it, unusually honest. There was a time that he would have seen a warboy fixing him with that kind of interested stare and been more wary, been more suspicious and buried whatever of himself is left from before even deeper still. Now, though, everything has upended again. Now whatever he can bring with him from his old life is how he survives, not what might get him cast out and killed.

He still can't really answer for why he's fighting so hard to stay alive, but the fact remains that he is. "I don't have a good answer," he admits, even though he does. But he'd seen the way Nux hadn't even understood the basic intel he'd been listing off about the skirmish on the other side of the pass; Leck highly doubts climate change and nuclear war are going to mean much more to him, especially right now. "Everything started to die. Everyone went mad. Here we are."