[open] For science! ... or something like that.

[itmeanstruth]

Between daily workouts in the holodeck, sparring sessions with Kaylin and teaching chakra classes, Minoru finally resumed his studies on everything snakelike. A handful of very patient ensigns helped him set up his own workstation in one of the astrobiology labs, taught him how to use the instruments and the computer, etc. His 'science' is crude at best, so a lab partner (especially someone who might actually know what they're doing) is always welcome!

[option A - cataloging]

Focusing a particular amount of chakra, pricking his finger and tracing a thin line of blood over the tribal tattoo on his wrist is all that Minoru has to do to summon a snake. He's going through his summons, one at a time, milking them, letting the computer analyze them and their venom. For him, it was a new way of thinking about things, but for the computer, it was one easy match after another. Until he'd summoned something the computer couldn't identify.

The snake is small and white, its scales giving off an almost crystalline appearance. He knows this snake well, remembers its fiery bite fondly and the Sage Mode transformation it produced. But no one here has ever made a record of it before.

Are you the curious sort? What could be learned from this?

[option B - new species]

For all the snakes he'd come in contact with, there were many entries listed for species he'd never worked with. Draxxan cloud vipers, arboreal needle snakes, fire snakes... the list went on and on! When you walk in, Minoru has a living specimen of some kind on the table - a dangerous one at that - and he's handling it without any kind of protection.

Do you dare approach? And if it bites, what will you do?

[Option C - crazy chemistry]

Minoru is used to testing things on himself, on mixing substance A with substance B and observing things with the naked eye. But now, the computer can break venom down to its component parts. It could even simulate what would happen if he mixed and combined those.

He wants to know if he can create a venom that heals tissue rather than destroys it, whether he can breed snakes that produce it, and whether he can use the same serum on himself to boost the healing abilities he can channel through his Sage Mode.

Can you help Minoru answer these questions? Are you there to celebrate a lucky breakthrough? Or are you simply a witness to something going horribly wrong?

Comments

As plotted and planned >.>

[kaylinneya]

Late Kaylin was used to. She lived in a perpetual state of late. She was pretty much always late. For everything. So when someone left HER waiting for hours after she finally showed up, she was confused as ****. The first half hour she just worked out on her own while she waited. After all, maybe he had figured she would be late so was catching some extra sleep. She knew that Lord Sanabalis regularly showed up an hour after they were scheduled so as to not waste his time longer than necessary.

After that half hour, she began to worry that he had waited so long that he had just left. But she hadn't been THAT tardy to training. Not enough to win anyone money in the betting pools. At least, she didn't think so. Of course, no one here would confess to being in a betting pool, which just weirded Kaylin out.

By two hours in, she had used up most of her useful frustrations in a workout, and had decided to toss him out of his bed, as Teela had done to her so many times. She wondered if this was how people felt waiting for her, and shoved the thought aside since it was uncomfortable, and for once in her life, she wasn't being forced to face the hypocrisy.

She went looking for him, and she wasn't bothering to be quiet or subtle. She was irritated - as much with herself as with him - cranky, and hungry. He made such a big deal about her wound, then blew her off. Not going to happen.

Of course, she had been heading for his quarters. Which is how she found him in the lab. She had gotten lost, which had done nothing good for her mood. She saw everything in a glance, as a Hawk did, even off duty, but was Kaylin enough that her mouth engaged before the danger of the situation caught up to her. And why should she think it was dangerous? He wanted to have a snake bite her as a healing, after all....

"When I'm late, it's usually because I am too ***** tired to get the *****S out of bed. What's your excuse?" she asked, hands resting on the pommels of her daggers as she stood in the doorway.

Now to see if anything goes according to said plan. Lol

[itmeanstruth]

In all honestly, when he'd discovered that summoning simple snakes (not the ones at Ryuuchi Cave) could bring in species from surrounding worlds, he'd lost complete track of time. Each subtle variation in his chakra during the jutsu could offer something completely new to milk, analyze, and perhaps even use. So, of course, he was completely absorbed in his work.

When Kalyin came in,Minoru had his hands right at a large viper's head. This wasn't a snake species that he was familiar with, or a snake he had an ongoing friendship with, so he was being slow and gentle. But that booming voice changed everything!

It bit, and it bit hard. Minoru instantly felt the familiar burn of snake venom, but tried to shake it off. He'd intended to do that eventually anyway. Just... not that much at once...

"...I haven't been here that long, have I?" He winced with a shrug. "Telling time is so much easier with a sun."

The snake reared its head in a defensive posture. Minoru held onto his wrist. The area around the bite had already started to swell.

Re: Now to see if anything goes according to said plan. Lol

[kaylinneya]

She swore, seeing it bite him, seeing him swell and was moving FASt, dagger out to slice the thing in half, a throwing dagger coming to her palm from a hidden sheath as she moved. She didn't want to get close enough for it to bite her as well. She set the throwing dagger at the snake.

[itmeanstruth]

He saw her move, saw the beginnings of a throwing attack from her core and shoulders.

"No! You don't need to..." He couldn't finish the words before the dagger went flying. Fortunately for the threatened snake, Minoru had one good hand left. He moved in, catching the dagger long enough to redirect it.

"Release!" He let his chakra subside and the summoned serpent disappeared back where he'd summoned it from.

He turned back to Kaylin. "I'm fine. I'm fine..."

As if anyone would believe that.

No worries!

[kaylinneya]

She sheathed her dagger, the one she still held, and swore at him in a half dozen tongues, too fast for the translator to follow. She grabbed his arm to look at the swelling and then swore some more. Could she get him to the doctors here fast enough? She hesitated, for just that one instant, unsure how bad this was. He had wanted a snake to bite her after all....

[itmeanstruth]

Leave it to Minoru to be optimistic and cheerful even in pain!

"Okay, that's cytotoxic..." He winced, plopping right down on the floor next to the lab table. There was something far too casual about his reaction. But even Minoru couldn't ignore the swelling and discoloration as tissue started to break down in front of his eyes. "He got me good."

He could see the worry on Kaylin's face and tried to ease it by activating his Sage Mode. His poison resistance was far higher in this form, a trait he shared with many snakes.

"Let me try to process this. Then, we'll get a workout in." He gave a thumbs up, for what it was worth. There was still swelling, but the white scales masked any dying tissue. "I'll deactivate it before we fight... But I kind of need to use it right now."

[kaylinneya]

"Then you're okay...?" she asked to be sure. He didn't seem to be, but she didn't know enough. Dragons didn't let her heal them, and the one time she healed a Barrani, she understood why she hadn't been allowed to heal them before. Her hand rested on her bracer, as she watched, tensed.

[itmeanstruth]

"Should be."

He hadn't had a reaction like that since he first started poison training. But he wasn't under the watchful eyes of the Great Snake Lord Elders right now. He was on a spaceship in the middle of nowhere.

"Just need to wait it out a while." He flexed his fingers. They still had feeling. "Ohhh, that burns..."

[kaylinneya]

She swore viciously under her breath. She was thinking, and thinking never went well. Not for her. She needed to stop with the **** thinking. her fingers flew over the gems of the bracer in a pattern she knew so well she had trouble speaking it. Not that she ever had to. Despite having no hinge, the bangle opened. She shoved it in her pocket. If she were home she'd toss it aside, but at home she knew where it would go. It was almost a game, tossing it in water to see if she could mould his apartment, tossing it in trash for the stink. But if it went back to Elantra without her, she was a danger to everyone on this ship.


And there were children here.

"Switch back," she snapped. She didn't know if form made a difference, but she had a feeling it might, and she followed that feeling. When it came to healing, thought was her enemy, it made her doubt, and wonder, and there wasn't TIME for doubting and wondering.

[itmeanstruth]

He watched her, visibly distracted as the bracer came off. He'd never seen it off before, and from its design, it didn't look like it could come off.

"I know you don't like magic... But I can process poison better in Sage Mode... than I can do on my own."

He was reluctant at first, as instinct (born out of training) screamed against it. Were he in Ryuuchi Cave with this much venom in his system, he'd probably have a dreamsnake around his neck ready to force the transformation in case it slipped!

[kaylinneya]

"I don't know if I can fix it like this, so **** you stop wasting time and change!" she yelled, eyes narrowed.

[itmeanstruth]

He paused, listening less to her and more to his own flow of chakra and natural energy. There was a lot of poison in his blood. It would probably take the entire night for his body to process it all. He didn't have enough natural energy in his seal to last that long.

But she was offering to fix it somehow. Could she? What kind of powers was she hiding?

Kaylin may not have trusted him with healing her, but he trusted everybody whether he should or not.

"All right."

He deactivated his Sage Mode. The bitten hand looked like it did before - so at least his powers had held the damage at bay.

[kaylinneya]

She swore viciously then did what she knew she should never do while healing. She crouched. It was that or fall the ****s over. She grabbed his hand and closed her eyes.

There was a faint light, glowing from under her sleeves as she worked. Poison she could handle. Poison did damage. It wasn't like trying to heal the **** Lord of the West March. And it wasn't - thank the gods - like healing Catti. He was here. She could sense the life in his body, fighting the toxins. She helped.

She couldn't have explained what she did. She failed very nearly any class that started with the words magic or magical. Even if she hadn't, she'd been told that how she healed was unlike how all the other healers in the Empire - all four of them -worked. She followed instincts instead. She pushed were something needed to be pushed. Where she found poison that was doing harm, she burned it. Where damage had been done, she repaired it.

It felt like it took her days, it probably wasn't much more than an hour, and while she worked she was ware only of the battle field the inside of his body had become, she had nothing left to notice what happened to her own. She never did.

When she finished, she let go of his hand and unless he was supporting her, fell on her ***** ***. She would have sworn, but her voice came out as a rough croak. Water. She had forgotten to mention water. And... oh ****s, she had crouched. She could feel the way her knees were locked.

The glowing stopped as soon as she lost contact with him, and now she just looked pale and wan and tired.

And the Blood Pair, bout time you met them

[the_blood]

She had been sitting on her bed, milking the snake tooth when the feeling pulled at her. "Mother Night," she muttered. She needed to finish, but she also needed to follow her instincts. Black Widows learned early in their training to tell what gut feelings needed to be followed.

She finished milking the tooth, because she had to, and mixed her poison. She would have to drink it as she traveled. She had a feeling she knew how well that was going to go, but he could jump in a mountain lake if he thought he was going to stop her. Mixing her usual brew, she stood, trying to ignore how she swayed slightly. Mother Night she hated when the milking and her Moontime came together. But she had been forcing that exact pairing here to limit how much time she had to deal with a fussing male.


He saw her stand and walked over. "Done now? Good, you need some rest. I put your novels by the bedside."


She snarled at him. He was unfazed, and she knew it. She was almost tempted to throw her drink in his face, but her body was crying out for those toxins, and it was painful enough as it was, not devouring the mug of it all at once. She took a sip to ease some of the burning in her veins as she shook her head. "I'm going out, Prince."



"No, you are staying in. The shields are strongest around your quarters, you just milked the tooth, you need to rest." He didn't mention her moontime, they both know she would have hit him if he had. He had yet to meet a witch who took with grace the three days a month when she could not channel her magic without causing herself crippling pain. That pain came with it, even when she didn't use her magic didn't seem to sweeten tempers, and the fact that ever male could smell the blood and reacted the same way also wasn't the best thing from their point of view. But he was male, and the thought of every witch being protected by a large scary overprotective wall of males made him feel comforted. And being the only Blood Male here, he was outnumbered to begin with. One of him, one of her, he didn't stand a chance. But he had to try.

There were reasons that a court was 12 males. It took that many to rotate the things that would ***** the Queen off.



"I am a Black Widow, I do not say this idly, Prince. I need to leave. Now," she said, her gold eyes glaring.


He took a half step back, but no more than that. He was afraid, yes, but for her not of her. If she used craft to move him out of her way, it would hurt her, and there were no healers here well versed in moonsblood. Not that he knew of. "As soon as we get back you are resting, and you'll let me fuss," he said, laying down his terms for allowing her to go. A Warlord Prince learned to be a solid unmovable wall when a Queen was being unreasonable.


She spat curses at him, most of which were either impossible, or given that he was dead, had already happened. Finally she glared. "One hour of fussing, I define what' reasonable."


"As the lady wishes," he said, dipping into protocol with a small bow, noting that it only served to spark her temper more. Which was fine, because if she was irritated at him enough, she might realize that while he agreed she could define what was reasonable, she never got him to agree to only do what was reasonable.



******ed off at males in general, she sipped her poison, forcing herself to take the draught slowly as she stalked out of her quarters. The feeling grew stronger, and she didn't need a web to tell her what she could find. Before long she could smell poisons not in her cup, she felt the presence of another for whom toxins were the lifesblood. She had a sense of snake so strongly that she had to check to make sure the snakes tooth under her right ring finger nail was neatly hidden again. It was warm, after the milking. It would grow cold soon enough, until it was ready to be milked agin.

The thought of a sister sped her feet, despite the low pain in her abdomen. She would drink a healing brew Jaenelle sent when she got back to her quarters, she decided. But to have another Black Widow here, to have someone else for the male to protect sometimes, and someone to talk to... she was almost excited, almost... happy.

She followed the feeling into the doorway and stopped short. Saw the hair, smelled the poisons. But the psychic scent of male was over all of it. The first he would probably be aware of them, she was letting off an irritated and pithy phrase, and he was behind her, howling with laughter.

They looked enough alike to be related, at a glance. Both with sun-kissed gold skin - though his had a slightly paler undertone. Both had jet black hair, and flashing gold eyes. Both were lean though hers edged more towards slender. She looked ticked off, knuckles paling as they clenched a mug of poison, and his gold eyes shone wth amusement, though the way he stood so close to her spoke subtly of protection.

Yay! Doing scenario A this time.

[itmeanstruth]

It was an unusual sight. There were a few snakes on the table, resting contentedly under heat lamps. There was a large one that circled the entire workstation resting its head in Minoru's hand. He had just finished milking that one, getting a sample for the strange machine the lab assistants had been helping him use.

"Go ahead. Gentle now. You've got a little bit left, right?." He whispered to it, and it's large fang pricked him. At the same time, he turned his head to an entirely different snake, as though he were listening to it. "Don't worry about me. I can absorb natural energy whenever the ship lands on a planet. Not the best scenario, but so far, I haven't run out."

When the little snake moved, Minoru turned around. He didn't expect to see people there.

One seemed angry. The other was still laughing, though Minoru wasn't really sure why. None of the snakes moved. They all knew Minoru like a brother, and felt completely safe in his presence.

"...Did you need to use the lab too?" He asked as the large snake released his bite. Minoru sent it back to make more space.. "...what's so funny?"

Re: Yay! Doing scenario A this time.

[the_blood]

There were exactly TWO male Black Widows in the history of the Blood. Two. They were father and son, and he looked nothing like either, smelled nothing like either. Her gold eyes glared. "You? You're who I was sensing?" she almost spat the words.

Theiorn reached up and tipped her mug closer to her mouth.

She sipped even as she glared back at him. "I can take care of myself," she snarled. She was not pleased.

[itmeanstruth]

The smallest snake curled up Minoru's arm, resting on his shoulder. With the largest one back at Ryuuchi Cave, there was nothing blocking him from getting up and being polite.

"I suppose so." He grinned, swinging around in the chair and hopping off. He nodded his head in a polite bow. "My name's Minoru."

There was something compelling about those two, something his little dreamsnake seemed to sense better than he did.

"Pleased to make your acquiantence."

[the_blood]

Her eyes narrowed but she replied as protocol dictated. "Greetings. I am Ailyshia, this is Theorn." She was not pleased. She was in pain, trapped between two males, and still a bit woozy from the lack of poison, which made her less pleased.

"A pleasure," Theiorn said, and he at least meant it. He seemed quite amused.

[itmeanstruth]

"Are you all right?" He asked Ailyshia, but glanced between the two, in case her partner answered for her.

He didn't know what was afflicting her, or anything about her kind, but he knew the look of pain. If he had a means of alleviating said pain, he would always find a way to help someone feel better.

[the_blood]

She glared as she sipped her poison, that's all she needed. One more fussy male. "I'm fine," she snapped. A clear lie, but the look in her eyes did not welcome him to call her on it.

[itmeanstruth]

He shared a quick glance with Theiorn and a gentle shrug. He rocked back and forth on his heels, incapable of staying still for very long.

"Can I ask what you sensed, then?" He spoke with honest curiosity. He had the feeling there was a lot he could learn from them, and from her especially. "What brought you here?"

[the_blood]

She looked away, glaring at the wall, not wanting to answer. Finally the words left her, grudgingly. "Another. A kindrid. I thought a sister of the hour glass." She thought to not be alone.

[itmeanstruth]

He scratched his head.

"I'm not a sister of the hour glass." He'd never heard the term before, but treated it as though it were a title like his own. "I'm a Dragon. A Snake Sage. I am definitely another, though."

There was a laugh. That was true in meaning, if not in spirit.

"And I'm always willing to be a kindred."

[the_blood]

"You are not a Dragon, and you are not Kindred," she all but spat. "You are a human male," she said with some disgust.

"The lady lacks an affinity for males, which makes it all the more unfortunate for her that her caste draws us to her, like plants to sunlight," Theorn said, amused.

"Then go stand in the sun!" she snapped, feeling trapped between them. The way she said it made the sun seem almost like a threat.

[itmeanstruth]

The more Minoru traveled, the more he realized how rare Snake Sages were. No one hears the term Dragon and thinks title. It's always species. Being male, though, was pretty universal.

"We're not all bad." He shrugged. "Or you wouldn't have come looking, right?"

He meant that in a philosophical, platonic sense.