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[Okay, so. Post-draft, he's given himself a few days of seclusion and bed-rest (apparently being infected with a zombie virus is exhausting), and even Billy can freely admit to himself that he's been pretty depressed lately, a fact for which he feels no shame considering that depression was well and truly earned. One can only spend so much time fretting, moping, and dwelling on one's own misery for so long, however, and today? He's decided that enough is enough. Billy will be going out today, limping around the village and visiting the people who were on the draft whose fate he's still uncertain of. The ones he can't find or has no reason to actually visit, he'll check with a light location spell, and he'll spend a few hours at Seventh Heaven people-watching out the window while he doodles in a book that Teddy had given him containing a series of patterns (much like this) that resemble inkblogs, and bit by bit Billy's turning them into something like this instead. It's been a tiring week, though, so you could always catch him napping on the table, instead.

At some point he'll attempt to find Peter, and when both a location spell and a teleport fails, he tries to teleport to the apartment he'd been staying at instead, finding it almost completely emptied. All he manages to dig up is a small cartridge that, after a moment of scrutiny, he identifies as a web fluid cartridge. His fanboyish glee at the discovery is tempered by the fact that the empty apartment means one more piece of bad news.

After his visits and window-watching is done, he'll return home to make the announcement, along with one more message-]

Hey out there... just wanted to let his friends know that Peter Parker went home. So... sorry. Yeah.

[Locked to Loki]

...We still on for tomorrow, or do you want to take a break? Because... you know. [Draft. Awfulness all around. He wouldn't blame Loki if he wanted to take a week off.

Later on in the evening he'll be over at Ben's barbeque, if anyone wants to bother him while he's there.]

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Tomorrow. I shall look forward to it.

[...Well. He knows that she works here, but he doesn't know her hours, and after last time, he hadn't wanted to risk a location spell again. So today he's entering the shop with trepidation, pausing at the door when he sees that it's her on staff. He could pretend that he's here to shop, but... that's not really fair, is it.

She can see him when he approaches or when he's waving a hand in her face, whatever comes first, but either way he's looking to get her attention.]

[Rogue glances up at his approach. She looks him over immediately. The last time she'd seen him, he hadn't looked so good.]

Hey, it's the man himself. You look better.

[She gets a weak smile for that one; he can't tell if she's indulging him or being serious, though he's not sure which prospect is better; he still looks pretty terrible, bruised and awkward and limping around, but then around, compared to how he must have looked while he was infected - going by what he remembered from the others he'd seen or the zombie population themselves... yeah, he can only imagine how he looked a few days ago.]

I should probably be worried by that, but instead I'll just be grateful. And I'm glad you're safe, too.

[She can't quite muster up any genuine cheer for him. Her relief and residual fear and guilt run far too deep.

One hand reaches up, briefly, to rub the area over her heart.]

Yeah. Me too.

[Teddy's at home by the time Billy gets back, on the couch and leaning against the arm of it with one leg drawn up and one hand holding his head up, a big book open in his lap. He's completely healed of any injuries now, something he was grateful for. But after all that happened, he's decided to try to be better prepared.

The book in his lap obviously doesn't interest him at all, seeing how he's got his eyes closed and seems to be dozing. And upon looking at the book, Billy will probably see why: It's a medical book, a basic one at that.

Looks like he only made it about fifteen pages before his attention span gave out.]

[True to his word, Billy will be knocking on Loki's door at the usual time the next day. He's in a better mood today, which is good, because he has a few things to lay on the table before the real lesson begins.]

[When Billy gets home, he's about ready to sit down and relax for a while- he'd been walking around all day, and with his leg still on the mend, exercise had become something of a chore. He'd definitely flown himself up the stairs once he'd arrived at the apartment. His intent had originally been to flop right on his own bed, but when he arrives and finds Teddy curled up on the couch, he reconsiders, hobbling over to check on the blond. Reading, huh? He's smiling fondly until he notices the title on the cover.

Then, the smile turns into an affectionate grin, and he gently lifts the book off of Teddy's lap, then gingerly sits down beside his boyfriend, setting the book in his own lap to brush his hands over the front. First aid... just like he'd suggested. And in a place where his power is back, too- where he wouldn't need it, due to his healing abilities.

He knows what this is for.

Smile still in place, Billy opens the book to the page that looked crumpled- either as a bookmark because Teddy had let it drop when he fell asleep, he couldn't tell. Leaning sideways a little, he turns until his head lands neatly (and none-too-gently) in Teddy's lap, hands raising the book up to his head so the cover will be at Teddy's eye level when he wakes up.]

I see you've been busy.

[Even while dozing, Teddy's a pretty heavy sleeper. The book lifting out of his lap and the added weight on the couch doesn't wake him from his light sleep, though his lip does twitch a little. He's having one of those dreams, where weird things are happening and you can control it a little due to having some part of your consciousness that isn't asleep. Right now, it's something about Billy as a nurse and getting a cut on his finger that Teddy can only cure with his lips.

But then he's knocked out of that rather quickly when there's a sudden weight in his lap, and Teddy snaps awake and stares ahead, his eyes on the book. Confusion settles as the dream drifts off into the boulevard of forgotten dreams, because how is the book -

Then the comment registers, and Teddy looks down at that weight in his lap. Aaah. Now he understands.

He relaxes again, one hand taking the book so that Billy doesn't have to strain his arms and the other resting on his boyfriend's collarbone.]

Ha... I was kind of hoping I could surprise you with it. [It's more a joke than anything; Teddy's sure he'd go whining to Billy as soon as the book told him a term he didn't understand. He's smiling, though, as he strokes his thumb across Billy's collarbone and muses with the collar of his shirt.] I'm glad you're back.

If that's your worry, consider me surprised.

[Now that Teddy's awake and he doesn't have to be all ninja-careful about it, he gingerly wriggles a bit to get his legs the rest of the way onto the couch, stretching out and getting more comfortable in Teddy's lap. He doesn't care how plush the cushions are, boyfriends are always the best pillows. And they come with free pettings, too.

Once settled, he shifts his focus back to the book, lifting his hand to tap a finger lightly against the cover.]

Looks like you didn't get very far, though... having trouble with it?

[What Billy thinks is definitely true, especially the free pettings part, considering how Teddy moves his hand to start run his fingers through his boyfriend's hair. The question makes him sigh, and he opens up the book to the spot where he left off. It was that obvious, huh...]

Yeah. I got some of it, but a lot of it just assumes you know what you're actually dealing with. I think I need one of those "for dummies" books. This is... well... It's boring.

[With Billy holding up the book, Teddy underlines one sentence lightly.] See, listen to this. "Since normal physiology involves a vast number of applications of electrical forces, ranging from neuromuscular signaling to coordination of wound healing, biological systems are very vulnerable to application of supraphysiologic electric fields."

I don't even know what some of those words mean.

[Billy lowers the book to rest the bottom of it against his chest so that it's at a more easy reading level and scrutinizing the chapter in front of him. Good grief, Teddy, did you dig through the library's science department and find his dad's university textbooks or something...?]

Well. Have no fear, young Padawan, because your boyfriend happens to have been raised by doctors. [He pauses, then adds somewhat mildly,] And before anyone can point out that psychology has nothing to do with medical science, she also has the title of "mom" which makes her equally qualified. Now let's see if we can turn this into English.

[He brushes the tips of his fingers over the words, brows furrowing.]

Okay, you know how your body has its own electrical current, right? Atomically. Static electricity and all that. This is just saying that because your body's full of that current, it's really easy to get hurt when we get hit by more electricity than our body normally produces.

[He pauses for a moment to think again, then smiles faintly.]

So basically we're electric-types, but our weakness is electric attacks.

Edited (wooooord) 2012-11-05 11:02 (UTC)

[Hey now, most of it is understandable! ... Then sentences like that pop up and make Teddy zone out completely.

But the way Billy describes it actually makes sense. He knows how the body carries that sort of electricity; he'd paid good attention during biology and anatomy. So it's no wonder getting hit by more static ends up hurting...

... Then he just frowns and moves to tip the book back, just to get Billy's attention.]

Okay, first of all, that analogy makes no sense, because there's no way Pikachu could lose to a thundershock attack unless it was a low level against a high level, and even then, it's still not very effective. But it still makes a lot more sense than what I just read. And second of all, you, Billy Kaplan, are a godsend and please teach me more.

Edited 2012-11-05 11:09 (UTC)

I think first you, Teddy Altman, need to make up your mind.

[Clearly he should stay the hell away from Pokemon references, because he doesn't see the issue with that comparison- he thought it was rather clever, as a matter of fact, especially since he knows jack about Pokemon to begin with. His tone is playful, though, readjusting his grip to get a look at what's next.]

Um... the rest is basically just expanding on that- since we're so vulnerable to electricity, a lot of electrical burns are internal, because it doesn't take much current to hurt someone. Kinda how all those lightning bolts I shoot off in a fight can knock people out without making them spontaneously combust or something.

Ah. [... And his own tone becomes playful as he rests his palm on Billy's forehead.] So you're the high level Pikachu.

[See, Teddy doesn't mind the Pokemon references, as this just makes the lesson ten times better than anything any other teacher could do. But since it's true that Billy knows jack about Pokemon, he'll go back to stroking his hair and looking at the book. He kind of just wants to skip and see how to help dress a wound like that already, but might as well learn up on it as well.]

If it's all internal, then it'd be hard to tell how bad it is, right? Since it follows the current of the body, so it's in a different place than the entry or exit wound. Like a maze where just the start and end points are visible.

'Chuuuu.'

[Billy wiggles his nose, trying to look serious for a moment, but he gives up after a few seconds, brushing his finger over the current page of the book to tap at one of the diagrams.]

Yes and no- because the currents of the body follow pathways, like the veins in your body. We're mostly water, right? And water conducts electricity really easily. Wherever you get hit is what's going to take the most damage, and it'll travel through the body using the easiest path, so if you get hit here- [He pokes Teddy's arm-] It's a longer pathway to the important stuff- [Now he trails his finger up Teddy's arm, over his collarbone, then down to his chest-] Like here. But if you get hit here- [He pokes Teddy right in the heart this time-] -Bam. It's super effective.

[Teddy can't help letting a smile come over his face at Billy poking and touching him, and at the last one, he takes his hand and presses it against his heart.]

Ooh, critical hit. [And yeah. He knows exactly how it feels. But let's not talk about that.] So it's mostly all internal. What do you do about it? [He'll turn a page, moving on to treatments of such wounds.] "An electrically burned patient should not be touched or treated until the source of electricity has been removed", yeah... "Electrical injuries often extend beyond burns and include cardiac arrhythmia, such as ventricular fibrillation."

[He reads on a bit more, then raises an eyebrow and gives his attention to Billy again.] "Cardiopulmonary resuscitation"? Jeff does stuff like that, doesn't he?

"Does stuff", he says. [Billy grins, shaking his head quietly.] He's a cardiologist, he specializes in it. I only know as much as I do about this because of his breakfast time rambling. [He feels a slight pang in his chest at the mention, missing his family (not for the first time) like burning, but refrains from saying so. Teddy's the wrong person to talk about that sort of thing with, no matter how much he wants to see them again.] As for that, though, you don't need to be a specialist to know that stuff. It's just the long form of CPR.

[Remember that thing he did when making out with Jimmy Stidham? And getting coughed on by Nate? Uh-huh.]

In that case, I hope you didn't hurt anyone either. [Jason assures Robin that no civilians were injured during his illness. Robin suspects he might be full of crap, but leading Billy on might lead to interesting information.

Also, things might be starting to burn a little. Robin's not a good cook at his most able-bodied.]

[He pauses at that, lips pursed as if debating something, and then just forges ahead. It'll come out sooner or later.

...Baby steps first.]

I was looking for you yesterday, actually. To check in on you.

I think I'll leave the conjuring up to the more seasoned professionals. It's not really my strong point, if you get my drift.

[She'd recently discovered Goldfish in the grocery store and had somehow smuggled a hefty supply of them into the kitchen. She'd fallen in love with them but she'll take a seat across from Billy with a knowing smile.]

On the lookout for Draftees, then. There's been a few coming in but I think most are staying in bed at the moment. It was pretty bad out there.

[Bucky's been doing his fair share of sulking around in private, but after the night at the bar he knows he has to sober up and keep going.

He's getting out a little more and checking on the people who didn't show up to drown their sorrows. He's going about it the old fashioned way, once again, because he doesn't really know what to say over a network like that, and living with a lot of them makes it easier to catch a glance in the halls. He runs into Billy mostly by accident while he's picking up some takeout at Seventh Heaven. Poor kid's passed out on the table.]

Hey, rise and shine. [Bucky nudges his shoulder lightly.]

Edited 2012-11-05 16:55 (UTC)

[Rogue's eyebrows rose.]

You wanna check in on me? Shouldn't that have been my job?

[Mr. I-Was-A-Zombie-And-Survived-And-All-I-Got-Was-This-Lousy-Headache?]

[Loki is waiting at the appointed time. He's already got a cup of tea in his hand when he answers the door.]

The water is still hot if you wish to make coffee.

[Uh-huh, Billy only gloated about it enough to ingrain it into Teddy's brain. 8|]

CPR, right. I know about that. [And there's an odd little eyebrow quirk as he remembers all those things connected to it. Thankfully Billy's stopped playing on Teddy's jealousy as that is, in fact, not a fun game to play, but that doesn't mean he doesn't look back on it with some slight bitterness.] I don't think I should try learning it, though. I might accidentally break someone's ribs.

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[Action] how many threads do we have now

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[Action] clearly the only solution is to make more

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[Action] Wow sentence-altering typo in the last tag good job sleepy!me. :|

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[action] But of course, Billy, anything for you.

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