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IC CONTACT
"Yo, there's no beep on this thing."
[ VOICE, VIDEO, ACTION ]
"Yo, there's no beep on this thing."
[ VOICE, VIDEO, ACTION ]
[Sarah takes a deep breath.]
No, it's alright. [Better her than her dad, though he would know more than she does.]
There's this sickness that was going around. Made people act crazy-- violent, aggressive, not thinking straight. At first, most of 'em were in the hospitals getting treated. But they escaped.
[Another deep breath and a pause. She remembers the city burning, the monsters pulling people out of cars...]
Everyone panicked. People tried to leave and get somewhere safe but it was hard. Not a lot of safe places left.
No, it's alright. [Better her than her dad, though he would know more than she does.]
There's this sickness that was going around. Made people act crazy-- violent, aggressive, not thinking straight. At first, most of 'em were in the hospitals getting treated. But they escaped.
[Another deep breath and a pause. She remembers the city burning, the monsters pulling people out of cars...]
Everyone panicked. People tried to leave and get somewhere safe but it was hard. Not a lot of safe places left.
[ Oh, hell. He chews on his thumbnail while he listens. More descriptive than Joel's explanation, and it puts things into a fuzzy sort of context. Fuzzy and terrifying. ]
Sounds, sounds pretty freaky. [ No shit. ] It never got safer? There's no, like, treatment for it?
Sounds, sounds pretty freaky. [ No shit. ] It never got safer? There's no, like, treatment for it?
[ a little sigh before she begins betrays her bone-deep exhaustion. it's the only tell in vanozza's otherwise unshakeable poise.
many of her hours have been spent looking in on sarah and ellie and the rest with lucrezia. it's wearing in a slow, relentless way that she only feels when she is alone. she has no hours left for herself, though she tries to spare a few minutes for others. like jesse.
friendships are dangerous things to forsake. ]
If I ask if you are well, will I receive an honest answer?
many of her hours have been spent looking in on sarah and ellie and the rest with lucrezia. it's wearing in a slow, relentless way that she only feels when she is alone. she has no hours left for herself, though she tries to spare a few minutes for others. like jesse.
friendships are dangerous things to forsake. ]
If I ask if you are well, will I receive an honest answer?
[ She's not around most of the time, looking after her kid he assumes. Lately she's been gone even more. But when he does see her, Jesse tries to be nice, a much more polite and accommodating person with Lady Vanozza than he is with the majority of Haven.
she fine as hell
The truth? He clears his throat. The truth. ]
Is anyone? [ It's Haven. He'll be out of supply soon. Can't tell anyone about that. He can read through to her exhaustion and returns the inquiry. ] Are you?
The truth? He clears his throat. The truth. ]
Is anyone? [ It's Haven. He'll be out of supply soon. Can't tell anyone about that. He can read through to her exhaustion and returns the inquiry. ] Are you?
[ Tapping the side of his hand to his forehead, he sighs. He doesn't know what to say to this little girl, what to offer besides an awkward apology. ]
Sorry. You guys have been through some -- [ no cursing, Jesse, ] rough stuff.
Sorry. You guys have been through some -- [ no cursing, Jesse, ] rough stuff.
Edited 2014-03-25 18:56 (UTC)
[ We call those ones freaks. Freaks and weirdoes. Jesse picks at a loose thread on his tattered hoodie while he listens, carefully.
Wait, wait. ] You knew one of the people who got hurt.
[ That's his guess, anyway. He doesn't know much about her relationships outside of Lucrezia. ]
Wait, wait. ] You knew one of the people who got hurt.
[ That's his guess, anyway. He doesn't know much about her relationships outside of Lucrezia. ]
[ An audible sigh, shaky. How long is this supposed to take? What if they don't come back? Fuck. ]
They say everyone comes back, eventually, but kinda difficult to believe until you see it. [ Pause. ] And it doesn't make them bein' gone much easier. Sorry.
They say everyone comes back, eventually, but kinda difficult to believe until you see it. [ Pause. ] And it doesn't make them bein' gone much easier. Sorry.
[A pause, more as if she's debating telling him something else.
She decides to, if only to make things clearer for Jesse.]
My dad's been through more of it. Y'know how sometimes people come from different times? He's from the future.
[Not a lie, just an omission.]
She decides to, if only to make things clearer for Jesse.]
My dad's been through more of it. Y'know how sometimes people come from different times? He's from the future.
[Not a lie, just an omission.]
[He does not remember the walk home. He does not remember meeting Doctor Impossible and speaking with him, he does not remember these things because his brain is too saturated with blood. With blood that is not his own, warm and wet and pooling across the ground in a message even vocal than Cecil's usual messages were.
His laboratory coat, his face, his hands, his entire self is baptised in blood. But he does not take a path to the bathroom, to a place where he can wash the night away from him, he instead halts his footsteps in the lounge. He looks, and feels, lost.
His hands seek out the radio and fiddle with the knobs, until the silence and static fill the air around him. Until he is suddenly sat with his head resting against the speakers, letting that static fill his world as he waits. As he waits for a voice that is familiar, that is normal, to come onto the air and reassure him that everything is okay.
But it is not okay.]
His laboratory coat, his face, his hands, his entire self is baptised in blood. But he does not take a path to the bathroom, to a place where he can wash the night away from him, he instead halts his footsteps in the lounge. He looks, and feels, lost.
His hands seek out the radio and fiddle with the knobs, until the silence and static fill the air around him. Until he is suddenly sat with his head resting against the speakers, letting that static fill his world as he waits. As he waits for a voice that is familiar, that is normal, to come onto the air and reassure him that everything is okay.
But it is not okay.]
[ The blood is hard to miss and completely unexpected. His roommate's only been gone a couple of hours, he thinks? But now Jesse's eyes are wide on Carlos, who wandered in drenched in the stuff. Loud static from the broken radio, Carlos crumpled against silent speakers. He remembers doing something similar once before he got here, turning the volume as high as it would go and hugging himself against the outer frame.
The shock of what he's seeing gets him to abandon whatever he was doing, and he skitters closer, frowning with bright eyes. Crouching close. ]
Hey - [ Concerned. Is that his blood or someone else's? He can't spot any prominent injuries, but some bad shit obviously went down either way. ] Hey, Carlos. What the hell happened? Should I get some help?
[ The healer he met when he first got here. Ciel. He could always call Ciel. ]
The shock of what he's seeing gets him to abandon whatever he was doing, and he skitters closer, frowning with bright eyes. Crouching close. ]
Hey - [ Concerned. Is that his blood or someone else's? He can't spot any prominent injuries, but some bad shit obviously went down either way. ] Hey, Carlos. What the hell happened? Should I get some help?
[ The healer he met when he first got here. Ciel. He could always call Ciel. ]
[He doesn't move. His head remains touching the speakers of the radio, leaving sticky and ominously red stains across the front of it, his eyes remain closed, and his ringing ears try to block out everything but the sound of static.
He does not want to acknowledge Jesse, he does not want to talk. He wants Cecil back, he wants to erase the last few hours and make a different decision, make an unscientific decision.]
I killed him.
[It is a quiet confession that seems to echo like thunder.]
He does not want to acknowledge Jesse, he does not want to talk. He wants Cecil back, he wants to erase the last few hours and make a different decision, make an unscientific decision.]
I killed him.
[It is a quiet confession that seems to echo like thunder.]
[ Shit spirals downwards in Haven, too fast. Jesse glances at the ground, at the red trail, brow furrowing. He doesn't know who it is that Carlos killed or why, but it doesn't take a genius to put together the impact it's had on him.
He barely knows this man. They met a week ago and they spend time together because of the chance of proximity, but he knows so little about him and vice versa. That doesn't mean Jesse can't be empathetic. He knows -- in particular, he knows what it means to kill someone, without even wanting to. It fucks with you like nothing else.
There's only one question he can respond with, but his voice is quiet and cautious. ]
Who?
He barely knows this man. They met a week ago and they spend time together because of the chance of proximity, but he knows so little about him and vice versa. That doesn't mean Jesse can't be empathetic. He knows -- in particular, he knows what it means to kill someone, without even wanting to. It fucks with you like nothing else.
There's only one question he can respond with, but his voice is quiet and cautious. ]
Who?
[The question seems too monumental to be only one word, too great to be confined to three small letters and take up only one syllable. It's small and sharp, like the tip of a knife blade, keen and harsh and painful, and it wounds exactly the same. Except not exactly, emotionally and not physically.]
Cecil.
[His head presses further into the speakers, letting the static surround him and comfort him. If he listens long enough, if he waits, surely Cecil will come on the air.]
Cecil.
[His head presses further into the speakers, letting the static surround him and comfort him. If he listens long enough, if he waits, surely Cecil will come on the air.]
[ That name again, Cecil Palmer. Can't forget the guy who knows way too much about Jesse for his own comfort. Or used to know, apparently. He chews on his lip, indecisive about what to say and what to do. ]
You knew him?
[ That seems obvious. He just doesn't have the context, and having to ask these question makes that uncomfortably obvious. He wonders if he can't convince Carlos to move away from the floor and towards the bathroom, where he can clean up and slowly start to piece himself back together. There's a tentative hand on Carlos' shoulder and a look on Jesse's face like the overwhelming presence of the blood is making him feel ill. ]
Shouldn't stay like this, man.
You knew him?
[ That seems obvious. He just doesn't have the context, and having to ask these question makes that uncomfortably obvious. He wonders if he can't convince Carlos to move away from the floor and towards the bathroom, where he can clean up and slowly start to piece himself back together. There's a tentative hand on Carlos' shoulder and a look on Jesse's face like the overwhelming presence of the blood is making him feel ill. ]
Shouldn't stay like this, man.
Edited 2014-05-11 00:17 (UTC)
[Knew.
Knew he says, putting Cecil so casually in the past tense. Knew he says, and Carlos cannot refute it. It is a horrible word, bringing with it a finality that he can hardly stand, a complete end to a life in a single change from present to past tense.
He shakes his head.]
I know him. He is a radio host, and he is an observer, and he is... he is my boyfriend. And he still exists, and he will not be gone for long, he will return in a day or two days or less. He will return and live again, with a beating heart and breath in his lungs and a voice in his throat.
Knew he says, putting Cecil so casually in the past tense. Knew he says, and Carlos cannot refute it. It is a horrible word, bringing with it a finality that he can hardly stand, a complete end to a life in a single change from present to past tense.
He shakes his head.]
I know him. He is a radio host, and he is an observer, and he is... he is my boyfriend. And he still exists, and he will not be gone for long, he will return in a day or two days or less. He will return and live again, with a beating heart and breath in his lungs and a voice in his throat.
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