(no subject)
It's been about two days since Syphon has been seen around the island. After the episode with Valkyrie, he kind of disappeared from the compound. Now he has returned to the compound and has made a bee line straight for Toxin's room. He schluffs his steps a bit as he approaches the door, and a cloth bag is being carried loosely in his right hand. If examined, it will be seen that occasionally it moves on its own. He knocks weakly on the door, wiping sweat from his brow that appears to have covered his entire body. His pupils are dialated and his breathing is short.
Taking advantage of the brief quiet to work at her desk, Toxin shuffles some papers to the side. She kicks her feet up on her desk and leans back, eyebrows narrowed. The knock at the door distracts her, and she rises to her feet, kicking the chair aside and heading over. The locks are thrown back, and she opens it, an eyebrow arched. "Syphon, what are you doing?" she asks, reaching out and grabbing his arm with a gloved hand to pull him inside.
Thomas offers up a sickly smile as he allows her to lead him inside. His voice is low and kind of raspy when he speaks. "I brought you . . . a present." He holds out the bag weakly, and if she looks, Toxin will see a large red mark on his forearm with a pair of small holes in the center. His face is drawn and two days worth of scruff is matted down by sweat. The bag slips from his fingers, elliciting a rattle and a his from whatever is inside. A moment later, his eyes threaten to roll back into his head.
It doesn't take Toxin long to realize something is seriously wrong with Tommy. A look at his arm makes her eyes widen, and she immediately slips herself underneath his arm and half-supports him into her room and plopping down onto a chair. "You..." She goes to grab the bag, and upon opening it, catches the rattlesnake that comes leaping out. "It bit you?"
Thomas half smiles, spilling into the chair. "Serves me . . . right . . . for putting my arm . . . in it's mouth." He manages a weak chuckle, but the situation is anything but funny. His head lolls back and he starts to slip in and out of conciousness. His arms dangle at his side and his breathing becomes even shorter. This probably isn't something that will kill him, but it sure isn't fun and games to watch. "I caught it . . . then it . . . caught me."
Toxin can't help but smile at that, grabbing the snake and depositing it in an empty aquarium nearby. She gets bitten for her troubles, but simply slaps the snake on top of its head. The two holes in her arm bleed, but she darts over to a drawer and grabs a sock, wrapping it around her arm and tying it tight. "You should be more careful." she scolds Tommy, digging in a bag through several pills and bottles, and finally coming up with a small vial. Heading back to him, she opens the vial and holds it to his mouth. "Drink."
Thomas lets his mouth fall open and allows the liquid to be poured down his throat. He grimaces as it goes down and his head falls forward. "God that tastes like the south end of a pissed off skunk." He looks up at her through still glassy eyes and smiles weakly again. "What in the hell was that?" His face is already starting to regain color, but its not a huge difference.
Toxin smiles just a little. "A general antivenom. It'll keep you from getting so sick, but I need to find the specific antidote to this snake, otherwise you'll get really sick eventually." She tucks the empty vial away and shakes her head. "I don't make them to taste good. Whatever possessed you to go out and find me a snake, anyway? Not that I don't appreciate it."
Thomas half smiles again, watching her do her thing. "In all honesty, I didn't go out to find you a snake." He brings his arm up and props it against the nearest surface so he can rest his head on his hand. "I had to get away from everyone for a little while, so I went out into the woods. I just happened along that bastard over there and thought you'd like it." He motions loosely toward the snake. "Then it bit me."
Toxin heads back to her bag and pulls out some gauze, then disappears into her bathroom. She comes back and takes hold of the arm that was bitten, gently wiping away dried blood and venom. "So you decided to bring me a snake as a present. Why?" That finished, she takes another section of the gauze and starts daubing his face in the water-soaked material.
Thomas shrugs. "It seemed fitting. That and I believe I owed you something for the guns." He relaxes and lets her play nurse to him. It's kind of nice to have someone take care of you once in a while. "I'll take it back if you don't want it, I'm sure the woods will give me a refund." Yeah, so his funnies aren't so funny when he feels like he's going to die. "Besides, I needed something nice to take my mind off of the other crap."
Toxin stops and heads back to her bag again. This time she comes back with gauze and tape, and properly bandages his arm, taking care not to pull it too tight. "You really should have gone to the infirmary." she chides, perching herself on the arm of the chair and holding his arm in her lap as she finishes the bandage. "What other crap?"
Thomas shakes his head. "I'm /not/ going to that infirmary. I'd rather die than go see that /woman/ again. And she probably would have let me." He watches her finish up the bandage and smiles up at her. "I kept thinking about what happened with the whole Bella thing and I had to go somewhere else. I'm not allowed off Island alone, and I probably would have tried to find them and I don't know what would have happened then. All I know is that I probably would have ended up dead or in jail." His fist has tensed at this point, and the bandage has probably flexed with his forearm.
Toxin tilts her head to one side. "Who her? Ellen? She'd fix you up right enough. She doesn't have much of a sense of humor, though. Try to make friends?" She reaches for his hand and smoothes out the fist, brushing his arm to force him to relax. "You'll just make it bleed more if you're not careful. Bella will be dealt with, my dear." And she reaches up to brush his hair back out of his face.
As much as he'd like to let it, Tommy's not soothed by the words. "They betrayed us, Toxin. They turned their backs on the Brotherhood and on the Cause. I swear if I ever seen any of them . . . " His words are lost to him at this point, as he is still a bit weak. It is quite obvious though, his feelings on the subject. He doesn't even mention what happened with Ellen, as it would just set him off even more.
Toxin nods in understanding. "I know that, Tommy. But we can't just go on a manhunt for them, don't you understand? The stunt that Padraig and John pulled isn't helping our cause any." The steel laced through those words shows just how ticked off Toxin is at those two recruits right now. She pats him on the shoulder, then leans close and sniffs. "Boy, how long has it been since you've showered?"
Thomas sniffs himself. "Yeah I do kinda st-" He stares straight at her with a flare of something in his eyes. "What stunt that Blitz and Pyro pulled?" Man, two days in the woods and all hell breaks loose. He stands up, not completely sure of his footing yet, but up none the less. The gravity of the situation has just increased again.
Toxin glares at Syphon as he stands up and rises also. Using both hands, she shoves against his chest, hard. Probably enough to knock him back down to that chair. "They went to the mainland and got themselves on the news, and that's all you need to know. -I- will deal with them." Hopefully her sharp tone will bring him back to his senses.
His senses have long since gone as far as all this goes, but he does fall back in the chair. She's either stronger than she looks or he's still pretty damn weak from the venom. "God damnit, Toxin. We don't need this shit right now. I understand they consider us the bad guys and bad guys get in trouble, but Christ. These kids need fucking discipline. They don't even realize what they've done, and they won't until either the military or the cops come down on us in assault choppers or until someone beats something into them." His face is bright red now, but he knows that he's in no position or condition to do anything about it, and it kills him.
"I said I would handle it, Syphon. You need to learn to respect my ability to handle the breaches of discipline that occur here. It's my job." Even if he was at a hundred percent Toxin wouldn't be likely to let him help her discipline fellow recruits. She places one hand on either arm of the chair and leans down close to him. "You have got to learn to control your temper."
Thomas stares hard at her for a moment, then caves. Of course, it's not lack of respect for her ability to handle it that upsets him, it's his lack of any kind of ability what so ever to do anything. He looks down away from her. "I-I'm sorry." He looks back up at her. "It's just been one thing after another around here and no way to vent. It's like everyone needs to bottle up everything because if something is said, someone will get offended." He looks down into his lap again. "Trust me, some of these people should never be offended."
Toxin lets out a soft sigh, deciding for once to allow him some leeway. "Everyone is wound up right now. We desperately need something to do that will let everyone cut loose for a little bit. I'm hoping that will lessen tensions around here." Tilting her head to one side, she reaches out to tilt his head upwards again. "Who was it that has made you so angry?"
Thomas shakes his head. "It's nothing really. Though I definitely think something to get everyone thinking in a group mindset would be good for us all. Right now we need to be strong as a team, not just a bunch of people thrown on an island to see what happens. We're not reality TV here." Yeah, he's not really wanting to get in to the whole thing with Ellen. That is more embarassing than anything. He glances down at his arm. "Thanks for your help with this, Toxin."
Toxin chuckles softly. "You're right about that. We need something to do that will keep everyone from their daily routine for a while. I think that's half the problem here." She reaches out and checks the bandage, her hands surprisingly gentle. "Be careful, Tommy. I'd hate to have to give those guns to someone else if you can't use them again." She gives him a soft smile.
Thomas smirks as he looks at her, patting her gloved hand that is still apparently on the chair. "Sweetheart, you'll have to pry those things from my cold dead hands before I ever give them up." He goes to stand again, this time alot calmer and more in control. "I'm sure you've got something important to do, so I'll get out of here before you lose the time to do it." He stands in front of her, (or is it towers over her?) and smiles. "Really though, thanks . . . for everything."
Toxin straightens up as he stands, but he is a lot taller than her. She smiles up at him and backs up so he can get to the door without stepping on her. "Not really, but I'll let you go anyway." she says, shaking her head. "You can come by anytime, of course. And come back in a couple of days so I can change that bandage."
Thomas reaches out and takes Toxin's gloved hand and kisses it lightly. "I most certainly will. Wouldn't want my trigger finger falling off. Thanks." He turns and walks toward the door, reaching out to open it with his left hand.
Syphon brings Toxin a present she finds sweet. Most people would think she's just weird.