Meeting Hex

The inside of his home was interesting, to say the least. Once he lit candles around the space, the orange dim light brought into view shelves that lined much of the wooden walls within the vast trunk-space of the tree. Glass jars filled with unfamiliar contents, tied bags and open boxes of herbal ingredients, veggies and mushrooms of different types; all of these things file the shelves in a way that looked organized, but in a way that you really couldn't understand.

A ladder could be seen at one inner walk of the trunk, leading up to a carved-in ledge with plenty of pillows and moss up there, most likely being where he slept. At the center of the room, he has a low table with sewn cushions around it, to which he offers them as a seat for you and Jackal. "Please, lay him down. I'll fix him something to tend to his wound."

The Typhlosion gently lets to lay down onto a series of the pillows, and you grunt to relax the weight off of your legs to finally get to plop a seat on your rear, keeping your back supported up by your arms. "Thank you...uhm..." You realize you don't know his name. "We never did introduce ourselves, did we? I'm Lace."

Your traveling companion bumps a fist at his own chest, "And I'm Jackal."

"Awh, those are cute names~" The Toxicroak muses. With an arm hooking over his own abdomen while the other one splays outwardly, he crosses one leg in front of the other for a very showman-like bow. "A pleasure to meet you both Lace and Jackal, even if it's under unorthodox conditions, crrcrrcrrr~" Rising up to that full tall stance of his, he puts his fingers to his chest to look as delighted as he could. Maybe he truly was that delighted. "My name is Hex."

And with that, Hex turns around and begins to rummage inside of a cupboard, pulling out a hardened glass cup. While he scans the shelves and begins to gather ingredients, you tell him something that was on your mind, "I can't help but thank you again for helping us. If you hadn't shown up when you did, we might not be here today."

"Yes, yes, and sagging the stomachs of two beasties, no less." Hex mutters, still counting through his inventory, collecting an item here and there. "Admittedly, I was tracking the two of you earlier."

"Wait, what?" Jackal grunts. "You were followin' us, and just let those infected get the jump?"

Hex chuckles, "When you put it like that, yes I suppose I did. I certainly didn't expect the Yanmega to arrive when it did however, but perhaps I should have lowered my expectations if any fire-type was incapable to handle a single grass-type, infected or not~" He teases Jackal for letting the Leafeon get to him, something that sparks his mane to flare. "Oh! Forgive me, I merely jest~"

Jackal snarls, gripping his fists. "If that's your idea of a joke, I ain't laughin'."

"Forgive me, crcrr, that was rude of me, wasn't it?" The frog pauses in his gathering to wave a hand at Jackal bashfully.

Something didn't fit right, and it wasn't his tease. "Why did you only intervene when you did then, if you were tracking us most of that time?"

Hex smiles as you seem to ask the correct question, "A good point you make. To be honest, it was tempting beforehand because I don't think anyone should have to be subjected to what the beasties out there want, but I can never be too careful. I live out here for a reason, and avoiding other people is the prime one. There's too many untrustworthy people looking out for themselves in the world now, Lace. I'm sure you know that." The Toxicroak then gets a mortar and pestle, grinding some of the ingredients he had into a powder. "But when you did everything you could to save your friend, even injured and literally on your last leg, I could tell that you genuinely care for others. Or at least..." He smiles over his shoulder with his gaze towards Jackal, "...for your 'friend'~"

"Eh?" Jackal grunts, embarrassed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Hex doesn't answer him and merely asks of the Typhlosion, "Could you pass me a root up there next to you? The gray withered kind with the pores. I only need a small one." The frog then begins to pour water into the glass from a large canteen. The Typhlosion leers at him but confusedly grabs the item that was requested, handing it to the frog. Hex croaks happily, "Thank you dearie."

Plopping the root into the glass of water and adding the powder mixture into the glass, the drink begins to fizz. You ask in the meantime, "You haven't even asked us about why we were looking for you."

"You haven't asked me what you're you want of me." The Toxicroak explains before handing you the concoction. "Drink this." You look at the root inside the glass and the frothy fizzling it caused within the water. Begrudging, you take the drink nonetheless, even if you were unsure of what it did entirely.

"We ended up at a place called Redeemer's Grotto." You tell the frog. "There, the chieftain explained to us that his scouts knew of your home here, and that you're a researcher of some kind. We were hoping you knew something about the infection." Casually, you take a sip of the drink you had, only to instantly regret it. The sourness struck first, causing every tastebud of your tongue to cringe, all before a wave of bitterness floods your entire mouth. How could someone make water completely evaporate and dry out your insides out? You cough and hold your neck.

Hex shakes his head, "At least swallow it before you start coughing. Better for it to taste bad and help you than just tasting bad."

Jackal growls, ready to attack, "What'd you do? Poison him?!"

The frog rolls his eyes, "If I wanted to do that, all I would need to do is inject him with my knuckles." He then gives you a wink, "Or a forceful mouth-to-mouth session~" The Typhlosion winces at the sound of that, utterly bewildered. You shake your head and wheeze, trying to dissuade the Typhlosion that it was just the drink's flavor.

You endure and chug the drink, suffering a worse sensation than the Yanmega ever gave you...but you trusted the frog's medicine would help. "Hh-hhk, khh, ughh...could you at least have had it taste better?"

Hex feigns offense with a hand to his chest, "Oh I'm sorry, did you want a sedative or a refreshment?"

"...What's wrong with both?" You ask.

The frog simply chuckles and shakes his head, "Beggars cannot be choosers, as the saying goes."

Jackal tenses his brow however, "You gave him a seh-duh-what-now?"

"A sedative. Painkiller. It will numb his injury for the time being." Hex explains as he walks around the table, taking a seat opposite of you with crisscrossed legs, setting his hands to his knees neatly. "He has a lot of bruising up the area of his femur and the muscles around it, so I added some muscle relaxants to the mixture as well to help heal the injury quicker. I didn't detect any internal bleeding, so he should be fine. But he needs to be careful from now, especially if you plan on going anywhere within the next few days."

"Hey, we're careful!" Jackal huffs as a retort.

That only got Hex to cock a brow, "Yes, and I am sure the two infected you encountered earlier this evening would agree..."

You wanted to get back on the subject. "You don't sound surprised that's why we're here for. Your research I mean. You do research the infected, right?"

Hex's gaze exchanges from the Typhlosion right to you, with his expression equally changing as well. He looked serious for the first time, without that sassy delight he had about him. "...To a degree, yes. I would not call myself a professional on the front however. I simply took it upon myself to look into the matter the best I could considering that things have only gotten worse over time, and no cure for the infection is in sight." He sighs with his shoulders lowering, and his eyes on the candle at the center of the table now. The look on his face though appears to show he wasn't really there however, recalling something. "I used to take care of children you know, before this entire mess. I was a pediatrician, or perhaps more of a counselor in the bog village I was born in. My medical expertise only went so far, but that all fell apart when the first feral arrived. We simply thought it was some kind of irrational fever, and foolishly, we tried to aid the wandered-in stranger. Next thing you know, the 'fever' spread, villagers were rampant and crazy, and..."

Hex closes his eyes and sighs again. You could see his fingers curl and grip at nothing. "...Regardless, I am here now, and I am making the best that I can out of the situation. I was able to escape my village, so I will take the blessing of my survival to work on what I know and what I hope to figure out. Most likely as you have, Lace." The Toxicroak mentions looking back to you. He gets a faint smirk actually. Something about you pleases him. "So no, I am not surprised that you feel as I do. While I have never been to Redeemer's Grotto, I have come across a couple of their runners before, couriers of deliveries or information from what I gather, but I could only share what I could prove at the time."

Jackal actually begins to inquire "How the hell does the infection spread?"

The Toxicroak doesn't seem like he wanted to answer immediately, or at all for that matter, considering his hesitation to the question. "...They **** you."