005 - That Itch You Can't Scratch (Audio)

[brokencode]

[[cw: discussions of minor illness (torchicpox)]]



[While normally Angel is thrilled to film herself in and around her home, her current state has made that... almost impossible to do. Her skin is covered in what she can only guess is a rash, though they're fewer and further between that she might have expected from localized irritation.

But the details don't matter. The point is that she hardly feels like showing her marred form on camera. Especially since she can hardly still her hands long enough to hold her camera out.

So, she keeps the video off.]

Hello, everyone. I have a quick question about the flora of the Sevii Islands. I have been here for quite some time, so you would think I would know this. Yet... [She shudders and pauses to scratch at a particularly irritating spot.]

Is there a plant that grows locally that causes a rash? I seem to have broken out in one and nothing I am doing is making it go away.

I suppose it could also be an allergic reaction, my nose has been bothering me the past few days too, and I have coughed from time to time. But I have not brought anything odd into my home or changed any of my usual products, so it's difficult to imagine it still bothering me so.

If you have any advice, please help me. I am... ah -- Desperate.

Comments

CW: allusions to covid I'm sorry

[fingersandteeth]

[Steven, unfortunately, is from 2022 and so has one question he really feels like he should ask in this case.]

I don't know much about Sevii's plants... but, uh, in regards to your other symptoms, you still have your sense of smell, right?

sTEVEN NO

[brokencode]

Um. Yes? [She sniffs the air. Or rather, she tries.] I mean, when I can breathe in, I can smell things. They are muted given my congestion but... there, I suppose?

SORRY BUT WODVERSE IS JUST LIKE OUR WORLD BUT WITH SUPERNATURALS

[fingersandteeth]

Good. Good.

[That's a relief.]

Right. Okay. Where is the rash, anyway? That'll probably help us figure out where you came in contact with the plant.

[brokencode]

Ah, well... It's all over. My arms. My legs. It started on my torso and bloomed out from there. Whatever it was, it was probably on my clothes and got spread all throughout our home without realizing it.

[She looks pretty dang miserable over that.]

I just hope Armin isn't allergic too. Or that if it is a plant, he won't be so drastically affected.

[fingersandteeth]

Oh f-- hell, [he amends at the last second, conscious of how public this is.]

There's, uh, a good chance that this isn't a rash, given how it started out. Especially with your cold-like symptoms. And if you've felt nauseated at all since it started. Or itchy. Especially itchy.

You might have chickenpox. Or, uh, the world of Pokemon equivalent. Which means Armin may or may not catch it too, depending on what childhood diseases he's had.

[brokencode]

[Angel... can't help but laugh at that. She shakes her head, even though she knows that Steven can't see her.]

I haven't been around any chickens, Steven. So that wouldn't make any sense.

[fingersandteeth]

That's the thing, Angel. You don't have to be around any chickens—just children. It's a childhood disease in my world—and I suppose in this one too. I had it when I was eight.

[He remembers being terrified that he would die of it, the same way his uncle had died of his mysterious illness some months before that. But of course he hadn't. He'd just thrown up his tunafish sandwich—he'd never been able to enjoy canned tuna after that—and itched and itched and itched. And eventually gotten better and gone back to school.]

You're going to want to stock up on calamine lotion or the local equivalent. And get plenty of rest and drink plenty of fluids.

[schachmeister]

I think we should call a doctor.

[Armin knows Angel has been feeling a little under the weather the last few days -- coughing, sniffling, but it is January. That sort of thing is normal in January, right? A rash too though? This is starting to sound like a lot more than an ordinary cold.]

Have you been having a fever?

[brokencode]

[Angel makes a face. She knows the doctors here are a far cry from the one's she's familiar with. That doesn't mean she's fond of the idea of anyone else fussing over her.]

I don't know. I have had chills quite frequently and felt a bit warmer than normal but... I haven't checked the number properly.

[schachmeister]

So probably a mild fever then.

[Angel might not be fond of getting fussed over, but Armin for one is going to fuss, fuss and then fuss some more!]

Where is this rash anyway? Maybe that will help determine what you came into contact with.

[brokencode]

[Angel tries her best not to scowl. Even if he can't see her, she still feels the slightest bit of guilt at being cross with him.]

It's all over, at this point. It started on my chest but now it's just... everywhere.

[schachmeister]

That doesn't sound like it would've come from a plant.

[If it was a plant, wouldn't it have started at her hands or perhaps her feet? Armin doesn't think Angel is interacting with plants chest first much.]

What sort of rash is it? It's not bleeding anywhere, right?

[brokencode]

No. At least, not unless I scratch too much. [Which has only happened once, as far as she can tell. That had at least been enough to entice her out of not scratching anymore.]

I don't know the difference between rashes though. All I can tell you is that it's very bothersome.

text;

[shiro2hero]

Not... that I know of? If there is, I've never run into it.

Are there any grass types around who could help?

[brokencode]

That is... less than comforting.
I don't know what grass types could do. If I had a sample of the plant, maybe I could ask them to identify it. But all I have is this awful itch.

[shiro2hero]

I'm sorry. Is anyone else itchy like you are?

Maybe they could tell you if anything in the area might cause a rash.

[brokencode]

Not that I can tell, at this point. Armin seems fine, at least?

[shiro2hero]

Well - that's good at least.

Is it on your legs? That'd probably mean you walked through something.

[brokencode]

Well. It is on my legs. But it is also everywhere else, too.

also audio

[angewiesen]

Try to retrace your steps. If you've got a rash, you would have had to touch the plant where the rash is. Have you been out in the jungle recently?

[He's highly suspicious though, especially if she's been coughing and sniffling.]

[brokencode]

Not really. I have been going out further to begin training my team, though. Never so far as something I wasn't familiar with.

I did run into a fleet of Snorunt? I rolled in some snow that my Snom made with them. Maybe it was that? If drinking water from pokemon can make you sick, maybe the snow can too?

[angewiesen]

I've heard about those little bastards. It seems like they've made the rounds with everybody. If the snow was poisonous somehow, other people would be getting sick too.

I know of a couple of similar illnesses that cause a rash, along with fever, coughing, stuff like that. They're all totally treatable nowadays, but they're not pleasant in the meantime.

[brokencode]

What kind of illness involves being itchy? [There's a level of exasperation in her voice.]

That seems unnecessarily cruel, Jean. Why would something like that exist?

[angewiesen]

[Jean can't help but sound wryly amused when he replies.]

I'm sorry, I'm no doctor. I couldn't tell you why anything happens to people when they get sick. It being cruel is kind of the norm, tho'.

I'd try using ice where it's the worst. There's probably some kind of ointment that would work too. Are you with Armin? Send him out to fetch you something.

[brokencode]

Ice... I can use ice. Maybe Snom can help with that, too. [She trails off for a moment, the slight sound of rustling taking the place of her voice.]

Ice and ointment as soon as possible, then. I feel guilty having to send Armin out but... Hopefully he will not mind?