( the statement has the desired effect, perhaps, in that 4 hesitates. despite his endeavors to be as unflappable as the word, he...isn't. so despite the obvious hypocrisy, he pauses long enough that medicine pocket can indeed get the literal and figurative jump on him. it's unfortunate timing for 4 on all accounts. back from a battery of tests and augmentations at peil headquarters, it's not just that he's weaker; the permet running through his system is still excessively volatile. he can feel the element snaking through his veins with its intolerable heat, and it spikes sharply when his back hits the floor.
to medicine pocket, to anyone, 4 would simply look stunned the way anyone might look when thrown on their back abruptly. what is not the way just anyone would look is the glimmer of red light under his skin, hidden by his clothes everywhere except his face, the soft glow of it a shimmered cast across his skin beneath his eyes, where it's quite thin.
before now, 4 hadn't ever noticed medicine pocket but maybe even if he had noticed them it wouldn't have helped him. )
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to medicine pocket, to anyone, 4 would simply look stunned the way anyone might look when thrown on their back abruptly. what is not the way just anyone would look is the glimmer of red light under his skin, hidden by his clothes everywhere except his face, the soft glow of it a shimmered cast across his skin beneath his eyes, where it's quite thin.
before now, 4 hadn't ever noticed medicine pocket but maybe even if he had noticed them it wouldn't have helped him. )