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The ship was burning; Etho noted, almost distantly. Absentmindedly, he fidgeted with his sword, staring at the burnt remains of Joel's build—their base, now a charred husk. His feet burned, both from running to grab buckets of water and from Joel, who had recklessly jumped in to put out as much fire as possible, burning both of them in the process.
Geez. What a mess.
Etho trudged over to Joel, who was sitting at the base of their terraced farms, tossing a flint and steel between his hands. His head was cocked in that way that meant he was considering something, so Etho carefully sat down next to him, not wanting to disturb whatever train of thought that was probably screaming through Joel's head. Unsurprisingly, Joel leaned heavily onto him, still staring off into the distance with fire burning in his eyes.
"Joel," Etho started, quickly shuffling through his inventory to bring out rotten flesh. Except Joel didn't shift forward, that look in his eye as he typically had, nor did he eat it as quickly and hungrily as he usually did. Etho dropped the rotten flesh into Joel's lap and forced himself through the haze of worry and numbness to focus on himself—one of his best indicators of how Joel was feeling without prying too much—and suddenly it was far too hot.
Joel was shivering, his eyes half-glazed as he picked at his skin, watching as it flaked away.
Quickly, Etho stripped away his jacket and placed it at his side, then Joel's vest, trying to ignore the burning, cracking sensation suddenly playing up his legs, around his arms. Etho didn't know what to do, and he stood up, jumping the block down so he could kneel where Joel was sitting, pulling away Joel's hands to study them.
"Joel...what? You gotta tell me what's happening here," he murmured, pushing down the wave of panic that threatened to rise.
Joel's eyes snapped to him, suddenly coming alive, and he laughed, intertwining his fingers with Etho's as he came back to himself, still lightly shaking.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to lose myself," Joel waved one of his hands in the air, the cold soothing the flaring itch as fabric rubbed against skin, and Etho winced, lifting his other hand to ghost over the arm.
"They burned down the Relation-Ship," he sighed, continuing without a care in the world to the sensation. "Are you kidding me?! I spend all that time building the ship and of course they come around the burn the whole thing down—you know what should go do, Etho?"
Etho gently wrapped his hands around Joel's forearms, studying the man in front of him as Joel leaned forwards, face a few inches away.
"Tell me what's going on with your legs and arms?" He pulled up the white sleeves of Joel's blouse, frowning when he barely saw any signs of burns—except his arms were dry and rubbed red like his hands, slowly creeping further like a drought had overtaken him, leaving only the manic blaze of fire in him. "I think I would've noticed this beforehand. Was this the fire?"
Joel blinked as if the word was foreign to him, before he lit up in understanding, flashing a quick grin at Etho.
"Ah. Oh wait, one sec!"
All of a sudden, he threw himself into the closest body of water, which was meant for the crops. Not that Joel really ate of anything from their farm, so Etho supposed it was fine by him. Patiently, Etho waited for Joel to emerge, rubbing at his wrists as the burning faded, coolness washing over his skin.
Joel shook himself off when he came out, throwing his weight onto Etho and hooking his chin onto his shoulder as Joel looked past their base, into the chaos that was the game they were all in. "Oops, sorry, I forgot to tell you," Joel roughly explained, looking the opposite direction of Etho so he wasn't meeting his eyes. "You know I'm a springtail hybrid, yeah?"
"Mhm."
"Fire's pretty bad for me, in close proximity," Joel shrugged. "I burn easily. And dry out—quite literally if there's not enough moisture in the air."
Etho ran his fingers through Joel's hair, water soaking into his gloves as he untangled the knots. "Ahh. I see. No more fire, then?"
Joel laughed, high and excited, the flint and steel now in his hands.
"Nah. We should burn it all down. The ship burns, everything burns!" Then he paused, head shifting on Etho's shoulder. "Maybe if you set the fires, just in case."
"Yeah. Sounds like a good idea."