"It really hasn't!! This is faster than I'd be tired or hungry if I were just human." But despite that, she will be a sensible person and sit down in the car's backseat, and have something to eat and drink. Even though it feels kind of wasteful with how these supplies are meant for starving people, but, but. She will not be self sacrificing and stupid, okay, she's seen this sort of thing enough in Zash to recognize the same pattern in herself.

Come on, he was hoping he'd be able to catch her being a hypocrite so he could take care of her, why is she being sensible! Grump. He guesses he will only take care of her a normal amount rather than a self-sacrificing plant amount.

[...but, uh, I'm somewhat concerned. please let me know if you feel any worse so I can kidnap you back to February] Before she dies or something. Conrad didn't even when Nai was away from him but Conrad was a lot more human than Yvette is and less reliant on Nai's gate.

[I am also concerned. This is concerning.]

But in the meantime she's just going to eat until she doesn't feel hungry anymore! ... This involves eating three times the number of ration bars for an adult of her size??? Maybe she should have asked Morgan for pointers, because she's seeing a resemblance.

So long as she doesn't age rapidly and then dies because he will in fact drag Conrad back from the dead to make him fix her if anything like that looks even a little bit like it's going on. It'll be bad enough to lose Morgan to it if they can't fix her, he is not losing Yvette, not after everything.

"I'll be good," agrees Yvette. "There will be no dying, I am going to be so responsible."

Good. No dying. They're meant to be forever, she even has a ring to prove it.

"Yes, dear. I put the ring on and everything, it's official, you're stuck with me."

Okay, she has scarfed down more than her fair share in calories, and no longer feels hungry and weak. She can even demonstrably take a few steps to show how balanced and coordinated she is. Is she cleared to drive a car, husband dearest?

Yes, but only because he has good enough reflexes he could literally take over from her in a second if needed.

(lovelovelovelove)

(worry)

Back to Jeneora?

Yeah. Back to Jeneora.

Where someone they recognize is already waiting for them.

"Heeeeeeeeeey," she says, sounding awkward.

"No. No, no, no. No. Go away." He's still limping a little bit and he definitely looks like he's just been shot a bunch. "You're not making me break my word again."

"Yeah, uh, funny story. Too late. I mean I guess that depends on what you promised but, uh. Yeah. Sorry. Kinda hard to make a trap without bait."

"Couldn't you have gotten us to be bait elsewhere? Away from these people??"

"Would another set of people that you didn't know somehow be better? Because, no, not really. You being present and invested in something is actually kind of important, the fucker wants to hit you where it hurts, not in a deserted open space at high noon six paces apart! And with the Zazi network it really actually has to be true!"

"Had really hoped our Zazi would've been able to eat the other Zazi." Sigh. "Fine. Alright. How much time do we have?"

"You're asking me like I know! I don't, sorry. Not the mind reader here. If I knew where he was, I'd have just thrown Knives at him like a sensible person. But I do know even with the Zazi network he's got a range limit, and I can't help but notice that we have the high ground and a hell of a lot of open space around. This place is hella defensible, it's why I agreed to let Zazi tell him about it."

Sigh. "Okay. I guess we prepare, then. ...and tell the Jeneorans to stay the hell out of it because I'm not losing any more of them and this is not a fight for unaugmented humans."

"Sure. A lot of preparations are going to look like rubble cleanup, though, 'cause we do not want the fucker to have anything to hide in."

"Well presumably he cannot hide from the resident psychics. ...might want to get the plants here sooner rather than later, though, they have better range and attention span."

"... Yeah. If the people here agree, anyway." She thunks her head into the steering wheel; she's tired again, and she doesn't like it. "And if not then... we try to be as fair to them as we can?"

"Yeah. ... You okay, over there?"

"I feel like I need a nap and it's awful," she grumbles, unhappily. "I don't know if it's the distance from Nai causing everything to catch up with me or that I will just literally collapse without him around, or what."

"I will glue my brother to you if that's what's necessary. You're not falling apart on me."

He's doing the psychic equivalent of hovering.

"I know, I know, and agreed. I'm communicating what's going on with me, I'll be good."