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[sime_channel]

There is a moment of disorientation for both of them.

It lasts longer than a moment for Suzi, however, who spends almost a quarter of an hour throwing up helplessly.

That's plenty of time for Deitmar to get his bearings and look around the countryside. The only thing she managed to say before throwing up was; "51.533333, -3.266667." which...

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[hatchingviper]

Oh yeah. More than enough time; enough time, in fact, to wonder if she's ever going to stop.

He sort of wanders around a little, looking for water, shelter, and a direction in which to go. . . although that last one? Not as important as the others. Especially since Suzi is likely to end up very dehydrated.

He moves in a giant circle around her, returning in between trips. If he sees anything else to do--scraping away the topmost layer of ash so that there's a depressed area to vomit into is one--he'll do it, but. . . Birkin's the one with medical training. He works with cells.

[sime_channel]

There is, in fact, a river fairly nearby. Isn't that a lucky thing? It flows right along what used to be a town, and is now burned-out chunks of building at least a decade in ruin.

The water is greatly appreciated, and when Suzi finally stops she stares up at him blearily and says, "We're in...Wales. In..." mental number crunching is going on here at a rate faster than a calculator, "Quinn's time. We need to get to the North East. And then I'm going to find out what Quinn did, and murder him."

She's not trying to stand up yet.

[hatchingviper]

She stopped. She actually stopped throwing up. He was starting to be unsure if that were possible.

"Who's Quinn?" This second look around is a good deal more cautious. "What happened here? I've never seen damage like this, it," he pauses, "it's like everything organic was stripped out." He holds up a hand, dirt and ashes sifting through his fingers. "What world is this?"

[sime_channel]

"Quinn is an Ancient. This is Earth. Wales, it's in the United Kingdom? This, um." She shrugs, "Probably the dragons. That's what they did? Are doing? Something. We're in the past." Suzi? Is somewhat offended by this, really.

Mostly because the only reason she stopped throwing up was because her stomach was literally emptied of everything in it. Including bile. And she's faintly afraid that the squishy-sponge feeling in her mouth was part of her stomach.

[hatchingviper]

"Are-" Deitmar reassesses, in a way that's just as fast as Suzi processing math, but not nearly as impressive because it's the same elemental calculation that hits everyone's hindbrains when strange world and dragons are accepted facts.

"We need to get to cover," he says, "we're the only moving things in the open. I'll get us. . . something to help us blend in. . . and check the town for anything that might be salvaged." He's got an idea it's been picked over a few times, but they have nothing. "What are you carrying?"

[sime_channel]

"I have..." she pats her pants legs down, "A months worth of my tea...um. My wallet. My jewelry making tools. Two dog treats. And a book? How about you?"

[hatchingviper]

"Firestarter tool, jackknife, spare pair of sunglasses, and change." He will now begin carrying a lot more items with him as standard practice. "If all else fails, there's a river and the water smells acceptably clean. Dog treats can work as bait. . . tell me about this world. When are there dragons and how do the people deal with them? Will anyone be back for the town?"

[sime_channel]

"I don't know anything about it, Deitmar." Suzi says quietly, "Just that there are dragons, they destroyed almost everything, and sometime between now and when I'm born nearly three thousand years from now Sime show up."

[hatchingviper]

"Right." It's not enough to go on, but maybe the town will offer more--a newspaper, a. . . a something. "Can you walk?" If he can get her out now, he won't have to make the trip back over exposed ground on which he's the largest moving object.

He thinks of carrying her, but his balance is nowhere near good enough for that.

[sime_channel]

"I don't have a choice." Suzi points out, "I'm going to have nightmares for weeks." This is a statement of fact, not a complaint, "I'm almost completely psychospatially disoriented. I'm catching up to myself, but you don't want to know the number of miles we are from Milliways."

She stands up, as shaky as he is, and takes a few experimental steps.

It ain't going to be fun, but she can do this.

[hatchingviper]

"How long would it take you to say?"

Since Deitmar could probably be sent over by a good stiff shove from a little girl, that's pretty shaky, but he's still wary of reaching over to her. "Let's get you under cover. I'll have a look around to try to turn up something we can use--how many days worth of travel?"

[sime_channel]

"Probably six minutes." Suzi says, "Talking at my normal rate of babble." She's talking more carefully than that right now. Afraid of throwing up again, you see. "Cover is good. I'll keep getting better. Assuming we can manage eight miles a day..." she's silent for a moment, then her voice gets somewhat brittle, "You'll get there in forty-five days. I'll go with you as long as I can."

[hatchingviper]

Excuse him for a moment. Deitmar is just going to stare at her for a long moment, and then walk away.

He's not going to break things while they're out in the open; common sense and this hush and vast expanse around them forbid it. But he can swear, softly and bitterly, and pitch rocks and dirt clods hard into the distance.

"I sleep more often, but not for as long put together," he says, when he comes back, "and if we put something together for you to rest in I can drag it while you sleep. If we find a waterway, boat travel will be faster, too."

[sime_channel]

"Alright." Suzi says, nodding, "It is possible, and I don't want to hold out too much hope, but it is possible that we may find a Gen. If we do, we'll go and talk them into letting me take Transfer. I only need about two hours of sleep a night."

Then, (yes, she knows he doesn't like touch terribly much, but) she hugs him. "I'm not going to give up. I'll go as far as I can, as long as I can. You'll have to do all the heavy stuff, though. I can't afford to augment even a little bit."

[hatchingviper]

He's suspicious--this had better not be a goodbye, he hates goodbyes--before carefully reaching up and patting her shoulder.

He wishes he could get her Whistler, or, failing that, even Joy.

"We'll talk him into it," he confirms. (The options are going to be let the nice woman hug you, or I remove your bones one at a time.) "I'll match that, but you'll need to wake me. I don't know what I'm capable of, but given this strength, I have to have limits I haven't pushed yet. I've been sleeping a lot, anyway." Mostly so his body can recover from what it's already done, but never mind that detail.

Forced march across the ash lands, hoorah. "We'd better get supplies and start. There's no sense resting here, and we should cover as much ground as we can."

[sime_channel]

This is not a goodbye. This is her attempt at reassurance. "Alright." Suzi says, "We'll do that. I wish I knew anything about the area, but I don't." She lets go of him and starts off toward the town grimly.

There's going to be a lot of grim for a while.