((FR03 Keegan Garcia continued from With Friends Like These...))
So this wasn't as nice as the pool, but Keegan supposed it would do. There was a certain classic appeal to the cars, like it was in the 1920s or 1950s or one of those long-ago eras, and it was like Call Of Cthulhu in that there were hideously mangled corpses lying around, torn partially apart and reeking of death, but hopefully things were going to be a little less racist than all the old-timey Lovecraft shit otherwise suggested.
At least there was a start on cleaning up their personal acts. Keegan had been trying to explain the t-shirt mask thing, demonstrating how to tie them right, settling them just so over his glasses such that nothing fogged up, extolling the virtues of better vision and a tighter fit and looking actually kind of decent. He was wearing one now, a black shirt pilfered from some closet, fresh and clean thank goodness because he'd probably actually take a rank and dubiously-tasteful pillowcase over stinking of somebody else's sweat. But this was nice. It was like having his head hugged, and it was easy enough to breath. And also, best of all, it largely hid his face. He wanted to be inscrutable.
It wasn't like he was ignoring Verity. It was just, after going to bat for her and stuff, things had settled down in terms of the violence but nothing whatsoever had actually been sorted out as far as Keegan was concerned. Probably he should talk to her and shit—like, you didn't get to be friends this long and never get mad at each other—but he just couldn't really get into the frame of mind for it. He walked around leaning on the narwhal horn, tried and failed to forget why he was doing that, and became mysteriously busy every time there was a moment that might otherwise lead to conversation.
In this respect, the Danger Zone had been a blessing, though the exodus had been rather emphatically unpleasant. But as it was, he felt like some kind of ninja sentry, leaning on an old Ford pickup truck and looking out over the rippling waters, watching for movement.
They were by one of the stairwells to the upper deck, at a point furthest from the torn-up bodies, and here it smelled mostly just like ocean. The others were behind Keegan, still settling in. Probably in the morning they'd be headed right back to the cruise ship, he supposed; he was no super-fan but he figured that eventually they'd all be forced into that vessel as the final battleground, so why beat around the bush and arrive late to the party? But that was for later, if any of them were even alive.
Right now, his focus was just on trying to enjoy the evening air, not thinking too hard about the companions he wasn't talking to.
Hi Friend!/Bye Friend!
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MurderWeasel
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Primrosette
- Posts: 896
- Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2018 1:59 pm
- Location: In Her Dark Abyss
((Bacchia Rubus continued from With Friends Like These...))
Bacchia was feeling like crap.
Not that she wanted the others to see her like that. But she was feeling the pressure a little from everything and not just the Respects as a whole. One of the corpses had made her doze out a little as she had been staring at her for about a minute or so now and it felt so much different than from seeing Jasper dead. Virginia. The red hair was so familiar. When was the last time she had actually had a friendly conversation with her? God, was it back when Mary had her hurricane party? That really did feel like it happened like a million years ago. She honestly wished she was back in that time again.
But this was the present now.
She glanced at the others that were there and she was kind of missing James' presence even if he was a fuck-up. Being able to have someone to talk to for a while had helped her a little and she was trying to keep herself calm for the time being. She also couldn't stop thinking about her.
Emmy...
Bacchia knew that she should be more worried about herself. But she couldn't help it and she was starting to pace back and forth a little, mumbling softly under her breath.
Bacchia was feeling like crap.
Not that she wanted the others to see her like that. But she was feeling the pressure a little from everything and not just the Respects as a whole. One of the corpses had made her doze out a little as she had been staring at her for about a minute or so now and it felt so much different than from seeing Jasper dead. Virginia. The red hair was so familiar. When was the last time she had actually had a friendly conversation with her? God, was it back when Mary had her hurricane party? That really did feel like it happened like a million years ago. She honestly wished she was back in that time again.
But this was the present now.
She glanced at the others that were there and she was kind of missing James' presence even if he was a fuck-up. Being able to have someone to talk to for a while had helped her a little and she was trying to keep herself calm for the time being. She also couldn't stop thinking about her.
Emmy...
Bacchia knew that she should be more worried about herself. But she couldn't help it and she was starting to pace back and forth a little, mumbling softly under her breath.
((FR01: Fisk Bateman continued from With Friends Like These... ))
Yeah...
Still didn’t like this. Sure, Verity was a killer, and could do it again but... she shot Keegan, and could also do that again. Fisk wasn’t really sure what task to send her on. If he told her to shoot someone, she probably would, which wouldn’t mean because he already knew she would. He could tell her to shoot whoever was with her when she shot Keegan, but Fisk didn’t know who she was, so for all he knew, Verity could shoot some random girl. Couldn’t send her after Rhonda or Eric, they didn’t know where they were at. Couldn’t send her after Ivan or Akeno either, she’d just get herself killed and everyone would be mad at Fisk for that.
Couldn’t send her to do anything else, he didn’t trust her with one of the other members besides Keegan, let alone him, so that just left her to malinger aimlessly until Fisk figures out a use.
This sucks.
And then they couldn’t even sleep in a nice room on the cruise ship. Couldn’t take a shower... they were forced to meander around like some... zoo animals. He’d have to sleep in the back of a jalopy or some piece of shit van from a 1970’s hippie commune like he was Charles Manson or some shit.
On top of that, bitch Ivan was nowhere to be found, and those geeks at the clipper ship were probably getting froggy and preparing to strike back so they had to be on guard and sleep in shifts. Then add on everyone still being pissed about Jasper like he’d have been any easier to deal with later on when everyone was even more tired and fucked up, and everyone blaming him for literally everything, and it just made shit so difficult to deal with.
Day one was going so great and day two just did a 180 like they had it too good or something. Fisk was exhausted, but restless. He wanted to be on his own, but he needed someone to talk to, he needed to vent or for just someone to listen to him, but everyone only wanted to judge him like they didn’t choose to do this too. He was supposed to be surrounded by his friends but he never felt more alone in his life.
The only thing who would listen to him now and play therapist with him was Dr.Rockso. Fisk pulled the mask down from his new t-shirt shemagh, courtesy of Keegan, and did a line from his thumb.
He wanted to talk to Giselle, but she wasn’t here.
Yeah...
Still didn’t like this. Sure, Verity was a killer, and could do it again but... she shot Keegan, and could also do that again. Fisk wasn’t really sure what task to send her on. If he told her to shoot someone, she probably would, which wouldn’t mean because he already knew she would. He could tell her to shoot whoever was with her when she shot Keegan, but Fisk didn’t know who she was, so for all he knew, Verity could shoot some random girl. Couldn’t send her after Rhonda or Eric, they didn’t know where they were at. Couldn’t send her after Ivan or Akeno either, she’d just get herself killed and everyone would be mad at Fisk for that.
Couldn’t send her to do anything else, he didn’t trust her with one of the other members besides Keegan, let alone him, so that just left her to malinger aimlessly until Fisk figures out a use.
This sucks.
And then they couldn’t even sleep in a nice room on the cruise ship. Couldn’t take a shower... they were forced to meander around like some... zoo animals. He’d have to sleep in the back of a jalopy or some piece of shit van from a 1970’s hippie commune like he was Charles Manson or some shit.
On top of that, bitch Ivan was nowhere to be found, and those geeks at the clipper ship were probably getting froggy and preparing to strike back so they had to be on guard and sleep in shifts. Then add on everyone still being pissed about Jasper like he’d have been any easier to deal with later on when everyone was even more tired and fucked up, and everyone blaming him for literally everything, and it just made shit so difficult to deal with.
Day one was going so great and day two just did a 180 like they had it too good or something. Fisk was exhausted, but restless. He wanted to be on his own, but he needed someone to talk to, he needed to vent or for just someone to listen to him, but everyone only wanted to judge him like they didn’t choose to do this too. He was supposed to be surrounded by his friends but he never felt more alone in his life.
The only thing who would listen to him now and play therapist with him was Dr.Rockso. Fisk pulled the mask down from his new t-shirt shemagh, courtesy of Keegan, and did a line from his thumb.
He wanted to talk to Giselle, but she wasn’t here.
Catche thinks my squirrel is Fisk so here's my daily reminder that he is not.
He didn't really say anything.
Still preparing for that shovel talk with Verity.
Kept on walking with the group.
Still preparing for that shovel talk with Verity.
Kept on walking with the group.
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Wham Yubeesling
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Nura’s corpse got pressed against the railing. The hands below kept pushing. Bones creaked against body as Nura slowly moved up. She didn’t push back. Didn’t go through the railing like Timothy did. She kept going. She kept going. She went up and up and up and-
Down. Back onto the deck. Verity went from kneeling to sitting to breathing. In, out, in, out.
((Verity Stewart, continued from Join Us (And Die)))
It hadn’t taken much to get back to the rest of the group, surprisingly. Vasily had gone shopping. Keegan had been shot in the stomach only a day ago. Verity popping off elsewhere to tell Shiva not to blow this had really been the deciding vote that made ‘not getting out of the danger zone immediately’ apparently the popular thing to do. She’d made it to one of the ladders connecting to a jetty, and there was Keegan, getting helped down off the ship because someone had happened to cripple the set of muscles which, as it turned out, were pretty useful when using ladders. They’d gotten down, then Verity took the goldilocks spot in the line — far back enough so that someone else could take the lead to the ferry, up front enough that nobody would have to worry about Verity being behind everyone. Then they’d made it here. To the ferry. Everybody had set up shop in their own specific place. Verity’s was here.
…
Nura’s corpse got pressed against the railing. The hands below kept pushing. Bones creaked against body as Nura slowly moved up. She didn’t push back. Didn’t go through the railing like Timothy did. She kept going. She kept going. She went up and up and-
Down. Back onto the deck. Verity went from kneeling to sitting to breathing. In, out, in, out, in, out.
Nobody had talked to her since the pool, which was to be expected. Keegan was one of the people in this group. This group was all made out of Fisk’s friends. It didn’t take a lot to guess that all the people who were friends with Fisk were all friends with each other as well. It also didn’t take much to guess that when you shot someone in the stomach and nearly killed him all his friends wouldn’t really like you all that much. It’d still only been half an hour, at most, since Verity had become something more than ‘that bitch who shot Keegan.’ She still needed to get used to it. She was pretty sure they would too.
So the fact that nobody was talking to her was whatever, honestly. This game had changed her. She was long done with really caring about what the people who weren’t her friends thought about her.
(you know what else changed?)
(‘oh he’s a bit slow because someone shot him in the stomach’)
(‘oh now he can’t go down a ladder quick because he doesn’t have the muscles anymore’)
(‘oh now everybody’s pissed at me because Keegan got shot’)
(you’ve become so blasé)
...
Nura’s corpse got pressed against the railing. The hands below kept pushing. Bones creaked against body as Nura slowly moved up. She didn’t push back. Didn’t go through the railing like Timothy did. She kept going. She kept going. She went up and-
Down. Back onto the deck. Verity went from kneeling to sitting to breathing. In, out, in, out, in, out, in, out.
Verity was the only one on this side of the boat. Everybody else was over there. Keegan was sitting on a car, looking out into the ocean. Bacchia and Vasily were roughly in his general area, pacing around and looking at everything but her. Fisk was by himself, doing… something that Verity wasn’t going to investigate or double check. James — the fifth one — was nowhere. Giselle was already dead. Now was… unideal for honey, terrible for indigo. She was exhausted. They were all — bar James — together. Were she to start something they’d catch her. Were they to catch her, they’d kill her. If she were going to activate this quickly, then she should’ve just done it back at the funeral. Way more cover. Way less effort put into things that could way more easily gone wrong. No. Shooting them back there wouldn’t have been an ideal plan, but it was better than immediately waking herself up.
No. She was stuck here. At least for the night.
Least she didn’t have to find a place outside the cruise ship all on her own, she supposed.
...
Nura’s corpse got pressed against the railing. The hands below kept pushing. Bones creaked against body as Nura slowly moved up. She didn’t push back. Didn’t go through the railing like Timothy did. She kept going. She kept going. She went-
Down. Back onto the deck. Verity went from kneeling to sitting to breathing. In, out, in, out, in, out, in, out, in, out.
Down. Back onto the deck. Verity went from kneeling to sitting to breathing. In, out, in, out.
((Verity Stewart, continued from Join Us (And Die)))
It hadn’t taken much to get back to the rest of the group, surprisingly. Vasily had gone shopping. Keegan had been shot in the stomach only a day ago. Verity popping off elsewhere to tell Shiva not to blow this had really been the deciding vote that made ‘not getting out of the danger zone immediately’ apparently the popular thing to do. She’d made it to one of the ladders connecting to a jetty, and there was Keegan, getting helped down off the ship because someone had happened to cripple the set of muscles which, as it turned out, were pretty useful when using ladders. They’d gotten down, then Verity took the goldilocks spot in the line — far back enough so that someone else could take the lead to the ferry, up front enough that nobody would have to worry about Verity being behind everyone. Then they’d made it here. To the ferry. Everybody had set up shop in their own specific place. Verity’s was here.
…
Nura’s corpse got pressed against the railing. The hands below kept pushing. Bones creaked against body as Nura slowly moved up. She didn’t push back. Didn’t go through the railing like Timothy did. She kept going. She kept going. She went up and up and-
Down. Back onto the deck. Verity went from kneeling to sitting to breathing. In, out, in, out, in, out.
Nobody had talked to her since the pool, which was to be expected. Keegan was one of the people in this group. This group was all made out of Fisk’s friends. It didn’t take a lot to guess that all the people who were friends with Fisk were all friends with each other as well. It also didn’t take much to guess that when you shot someone in the stomach and nearly killed him all his friends wouldn’t really like you all that much. It’d still only been half an hour, at most, since Verity had become something more than ‘that bitch who shot Keegan.’ She still needed to get used to it. She was pretty sure they would too.
So the fact that nobody was talking to her was whatever, honestly. This game had changed her. She was long done with really caring about what the people who weren’t her friends thought about her.
(you know what else changed?)
(‘oh he’s a bit slow because someone shot him in the stomach’)
(‘oh now he can’t go down a ladder quick because he doesn’t have the muscles anymore’)
(‘oh now everybody’s pissed at me because Keegan got shot’)
(you’ve become so blasé)
...
Nura’s corpse got pressed against the railing. The hands below kept pushing. Bones creaked against body as Nura slowly moved up. She didn’t push back. Didn’t go through the railing like Timothy did. She kept going. She kept going. She went up and-
Down. Back onto the deck. Verity went from kneeling to sitting to breathing. In, out, in, out, in, out, in, out.
Verity was the only one on this side of the boat. Everybody else was over there. Keegan was sitting on a car, looking out into the ocean. Bacchia and Vasily were roughly in his general area, pacing around and looking at everything but her. Fisk was by himself, doing… something that Verity wasn’t going to investigate or double check. James — the fifth one — was nowhere. Giselle was already dead. Now was… unideal for honey, terrible for indigo. She was exhausted. They were all — bar James — together. Were she to start something they’d catch her. Were they to catch her, they’d kill her. If she were going to activate this quickly, then she should’ve just done it back at the funeral. Way more cover. Way less effort put into things that could way more easily gone wrong. No. Shooting them back there wouldn’t have been an ideal plan, but it was better than immediately waking herself up.
No. She was stuck here. At least for the night.
Least she didn’t have to find a place outside the cruise ship all on her own, she supposed.
...
Nura’s corpse got pressed against the railing. The hands below kept pushing. Bones creaked against body as Nura slowly moved up. She didn’t push back. Didn’t go through the railing like Timothy did. She kept going. She kept going. She went-
Down. Back onto the deck. Verity went from kneeling to sitting to breathing. In, out, in, out, in, out, in, out, in, out.
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Catche Jagger
- Posts: 741
- Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 7:40 pm
- Team Affiliation: Ben's Crabs
((James Highchurch and Sofia Kowalski continued from SSSS (Sofia's Seaweed Salad Surprise)))
“...and yeah, that’s why Ella doesn’t come out on the boat anymore.”
Since departing the captain’s quarters with Sofia, he’d done his best to explain the whole Respects situation to her, going over their formation at the game’s start, the ongoing situation with Ivan, Giselle’s death, and the kills the group had been directly responsible for.
James also let slip some of his own doubts, about the questionable nature of the Fisk’s plan, and about the distance he occasionally felt between himself and the others in the group.
The reveal within the announcements that all of the cruise ship had been made a danger zone came as somewhat of a relief, as it meant he’d have an excuse for not immediately reuniting with the others, though part of him did fear the possibility of being caught by someone like Ivan without his support around.
Still, the break allowed him to spend much of the day walking with Sofia. Eventually talk moved on to her experiences in the game, before they allowed things to slip into more mundane talk, reminiscing on life before all this.
It was easy going about the game this way. It was dangerous going about the game this way.
That paranoia clawed its way up the back of his mind as the two of them approached the ferry and he concluded a story about his sister.
However, the ship was not quite so abandoned as James had initially thought. There were a number of figures aboard and closer inspection revealed that they were familiar ones.
“Oh, uh, guys! I-” James stopped himself as he noticed Verity among the company of the Respects, seeming trying to move a body.
“Um, are… What’s up?”
“...and yeah, that’s why Ella doesn’t come out on the boat anymore.”
Since departing the captain’s quarters with Sofia, he’d done his best to explain the whole Respects situation to her, going over their formation at the game’s start, the ongoing situation with Ivan, Giselle’s death, and the kills the group had been directly responsible for.
James also let slip some of his own doubts, about the questionable nature of the Fisk’s plan, and about the distance he occasionally felt between himself and the others in the group.
The reveal within the announcements that all of the cruise ship had been made a danger zone came as somewhat of a relief, as it meant he’d have an excuse for not immediately reuniting with the others, though part of him did fear the possibility of being caught by someone like Ivan without his support around.
Still, the break allowed him to spend much of the day walking with Sofia. Eventually talk moved on to her experiences in the game, before they allowed things to slip into more mundane talk, reminiscing on life before all this.
It was easy going about the game this way. It was dangerous going about the game this way.
That paranoia clawed its way up the back of his mind as the two of them approached the ferry and he concluded a story about his sister.
However, the ship was not quite so abandoned as James had initially thought. There were a number of figures aboard and closer inspection revealed that they were familiar ones.
“Oh, uh, guys! I-” James stopped himself as he noticed Verity among the company of the Respects, seeming trying to move a body.
“Um, are… What’s up?”
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Wham Yubeesling
- Posts: 1256
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- Location: there is a man standing behind you
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"Hi.
"I'm one of you now."
"I'm one of you now."
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Catche Jagger
- Posts: 741
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- Team Affiliation: Ben's Crabs
“Oh.
“Uh, okay.”
What else was he supposed to say? Like, Verity had shot Keegan and that was definitely something to be concerned about, but she’d only done that because Bacchia had insisted on attacking her. and James understood that. However, he was pretty sure that no one else had been given that impression.
Suddenly, James’s face lit up. This could totally work for him.
“Hey, actually that’s great! I, uh, actually wanted to introduce you guys to somebody, too.” He began, gesturing to the girl beside him.
“This is Sofia. We were, you know, kinda tight before this.” James wasn’t exactly sure how to put it. She wasn’t like his girlfriend or anything, but it felt like he was underselling things, to the group and to Sofia. He turned to face her.
“Dating. We were dating. And I trust her and I think that, if we are bringing people into the group, that we should bring her into the Respects. If she wants to, of course.” His expression towards Sofia became somewhat apologetic. It was something that he really should have considered or brought up before, but he couldn’t be certain of the possibility until now.
His gaze then returned to the others, specifically Fisk.
“Or like, we should consider it.” His fists tightened.
“Uh, okay.”
What else was he supposed to say? Like, Verity had shot Keegan and that was definitely something to be concerned about, but she’d only done that because Bacchia had insisted on attacking her. and James understood that. However, he was pretty sure that no one else had been given that impression.
Suddenly, James’s face lit up. This could totally work for him.
“Hey, actually that’s great! I, uh, actually wanted to introduce you guys to somebody, too.” He began, gesturing to the girl beside him.
“This is Sofia. We were, you know, kinda tight before this.” James wasn’t exactly sure how to put it. She wasn’t like his girlfriend or anything, but it felt like he was underselling things, to the group and to Sofia. He turned to face her.
“Dating. We were dating. And I trust her and I think that, if we are bringing people into the group, that we should bring her into the Respects. If she wants to, of course.” His expression towards Sofia became somewhat apologetic. It was something that he really should have considered or brought up before, but he couldn’t be certain of the possibility until now.
His gaze then returned to the others, specifically Fisk.
“Or like, we should consider it.” His fists tightened.
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MurderWeasel
- Posts: 3432
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- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
There was some activity over on the other side of the ferry. Keegan wasn't going to label it "commotion"—it wasn't nearly involved or interesting enough for that. He heard voices, took a glance, watched just long enough to make sure that Verity wasn't either getting murdered or murdering somebody else, and then he turned to look at the water again.
James was back, he thought, based on the voices. Neat. That was something else not to worry about, another point in favor of just taking it easy and enjoying the evening. It'd be a lot nicer if he could lie down for a while, but on the other hand, he might never get to hang out in a car again. That should've probably felt weirder or more upsetting or something, but Keegan didn't have the nostalgia or emotional attachment or whatever to vehicles that so many of his peers seemed to. He hadn't bothered to learn to drive—he had his learner's permit, had sat behind the wheel once or twice, but just... hadn't gotten around to practicing it. Didn't seem like he was missing that much. The only place he really would've gone was the game store.
That was Nura over there, lying around dead. Didn't seem worth talking about with anyone else. Either they wouldn't get it, or they'd get it too well. And besides, they had to focus on what was left, after Giselle, right? It was funneling to something much the same for all of them, or all but a couple if they got stupendously lucky.
Just for kicks and giggles, Keegan slowly and painfully levered himself up from the hood, then opened the door of the pickup and pulled himself up into the driver's seat, leaving his bag and the narwhal horn on the ground outside. He rested his feet on the pedals, looked through the windshield, and imagined a road ahead instead of just a bunch of benches and some water. He placed his hands on the steering wheel, ten o'clock and two o'clock, just like the driver's ed class he barely remembered.
That had been a total waste of his parents' money, huh?
James was back, he thought, based on the voices. Neat. That was something else not to worry about, another point in favor of just taking it easy and enjoying the evening. It'd be a lot nicer if he could lie down for a while, but on the other hand, he might never get to hang out in a car again. That should've probably felt weirder or more upsetting or something, but Keegan didn't have the nostalgia or emotional attachment or whatever to vehicles that so many of his peers seemed to. He hadn't bothered to learn to drive—he had his learner's permit, had sat behind the wheel once or twice, but just... hadn't gotten around to practicing it. Didn't seem like he was missing that much. The only place he really would've gone was the game store.
That was Nura over there, lying around dead. Didn't seem worth talking about with anyone else. Either they wouldn't get it, or they'd get it too well. And besides, they had to focus on what was left, after Giselle, right? It was funneling to something much the same for all of them, or all but a couple if they got stupendously lucky.
Just for kicks and giggles, Keegan slowly and painfully levered himself up from the hood, then opened the door of the pickup and pulled himself up into the driver's seat, leaving his bag and the narwhal horn on the ground outside. He rested his feet on the pedals, looked through the windshield, and imagined a road ahead instead of just a bunch of benches and some water. He placed his hands on the steering wheel, ten o'clock and two o'clock, just like the driver's ed class he barely remembered.
That had been a total waste of his parents' money, huh?
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Primrosette
- Posts: 896
- Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2018 1:59 pm
- Location: In Her Dark Abyss
Bacchia would have been pleased about James returning. If he had been alone and not with his ex-girlfriend or whatever. She also wouldn't be feeling more worse about everything with the group and she hated, hated seeing the hopeful look on James' face. She didn't know why it felt like her heart was hurting. Honestly if she really was falling for him, then she was the fucking fool right now.
She had stopped pacing and was now fully focused on James and Sofia.
"Dammit." She murmured softly under her mouth and she was sneering right at Sofia. "Ugh."
She knew that personally Fisk was supposed to be the one who could really accept another person and Bacchia felt uncomfortable with the group getting bigger and bigger. It was going to get more targets on their backs and she honestly didn't want to be a part of that. She was already doubting Fisk's abilities as a leader as is and James adding to the fuel was just making it more chaotic.
She needed to get away.
She needed some time to think about things.
"Good to have you back, James. Hi, Sofia. Just know that James will let you down because he's a hesitating coward." Bacchia said the words that she didn't mean really. Yes, James wasn't good at well, much. But she was just so frustrated at him for dropping another person on them out of the blue and she wouldn't have felt petty about it if it wasn't his supposed ex. God, it would be like if she had suddenly dropped her own ex-boyfriend, Sylvain, on them. She shivered at that terrible thought. "Hmph."
She started to move away from the others with all her belongings.
"Anyway, I'm gonna head up to the upper deck. I need some time to myself and I can keep an eye out if anyone else comes." She said simply with a half-assed wave to the others. "Have fun discussing this. I don't have time for it."
She was then gone.
((Bacchia Rubus continued in With Malice))
She had stopped pacing and was now fully focused on James and Sofia.
"Dammit." She murmured softly under her mouth and she was sneering right at Sofia. "Ugh."
She knew that personally Fisk was supposed to be the one who could really accept another person and Bacchia felt uncomfortable with the group getting bigger and bigger. It was going to get more targets on their backs and she honestly didn't want to be a part of that. She was already doubting Fisk's abilities as a leader as is and James adding to the fuel was just making it more chaotic.
She needed to get away.
She needed some time to think about things.
"Good to have you back, James. Hi, Sofia. Just know that James will let you down because he's a hesitating coward." Bacchia said the words that she didn't mean really. Yes, James wasn't good at well, much. But she was just so frustrated at him for dropping another person on them out of the blue and she wouldn't have felt petty about it if it wasn't his supposed ex. God, it would be like if she had suddenly dropped her own ex-boyfriend, Sylvain, on them. She shivered at that terrible thought. "Hmph."
She started to move away from the others with all her belongings.
"Anyway, I'm gonna head up to the upper deck. I need some time to myself and I can keep an eye out if anyone else comes." She said simply with a half-assed wave to the others. "Have fun discussing this. I don't have time for it."
She was then gone.
((Bacchia Rubus continued in With Malice))
Fisk cocked his head to the side as James and a newer girl appeared with him. Well that’s good, he wasn’t dead. Probably shouldn’t be bringing friends with him but... Verity’s somehow here so they could make room for one more, maybe two to match the size of the other teams if we’re being honest.
Speaking of Verity, she was the first to greet James, and his friend, Sofia as she were called. James said what Fisk was expecting of him and asking if she could join. Bacchia did not like that at all and stormed off. Guess she didn’t want competition. Fisk found himself laughing.
There was a lot of ways this could go wrong if Sofia joined, but a lot of ways it could work out in his favor. For one this new girl might not be too enthusiastic about their tactics, she could spread dissent if she got too lippy. Making it harder was that if she joined, Fisk couldn’t just kill her without it negatively effecting James. On the other hand, her existence might be what James needs to set a fire under his ass and man him up. Quite a dilemma there. Maybe she might be down and turn out a capable soldier too.
“She’s good, James.” He shouted across the deck. Fisk didn’t really hesitate to say it. “If Verity of all people gets a chance, so can Sofia, just as long as she pulls her weight she’s good.”
He figured he’d greet her too while he’s at it. “Well Sofia, welcome to The Respects. Don’t worry about Bacchia, she’s just having a bad day, most of us are, really. Probably the safest place to be is with us all things considered, reputation notwithstanding. We take care of our own, we protect each other, and anyone who fucks with us is gonna be turned into an example, so...”
“Smart people don’t mess with u-“
There was a shriek, as Bacchia was thrown overboard.
Fuck...
Fisk turned back to James and Sofia, “Smart people don’t mess with us, as you’ll see in one moment.”
Fisk turned and ran towards the upper deck.
((Fisk Bateman continued in you know where. ))
Speaking of Verity, she was the first to greet James, and his friend, Sofia as she were called. James said what Fisk was expecting of him and asking if she could join. Bacchia did not like that at all and stormed off. Guess she didn’t want competition. Fisk found himself laughing.
There was a lot of ways this could go wrong if Sofia joined, but a lot of ways it could work out in his favor. For one this new girl might not be too enthusiastic about their tactics, she could spread dissent if she got too lippy. Making it harder was that if she joined, Fisk couldn’t just kill her without it negatively effecting James. On the other hand, her existence might be what James needs to set a fire under his ass and man him up. Quite a dilemma there. Maybe she might be down and turn out a capable soldier too.
“She’s good, James.” He shouted across the deck. Fisk didn’t really hesitate to say it. “If Verity of all people gets a chance, so can Sofia, just as long as she pulls her weight she’s good.”
He figured he’d greet her too while he’s at it. “Well Sofia, welcome to The Respects. Don’t worry about Bacchia, she’s just having a bad day, most of us are, really. Probably the safest place to be is with us all things considered, reputation notwithstanding. We take care of our own, we protect each other, and anyone who fucks with us is gonna be turned into an example, so...”
“Smart people don’t mess with u-“
There was a shriek, as Bacchia was thrown overboard.
Fuck...
Fisk turned back to James and Sofia, “Smart people don’t mess with us, as you’ll see in one moment.”
Fisk turned and ran towards the upper deck.
((Fisk Bateman continued in you know where. ))
Catche thinks my squirrel is Fisk so here's my daily reminder that he is not.
It feels like his brain was a sponge, and someone poured cement into it- let it dry, all hard and heavy and full of holes still. Emotions just passed by him. Thoughts bounced right off.
“ I guess I should welcome you, then, if you wanna join, Sof. Feel free to ask any questions, we’re- god I sound like a telemarketer.”
“And,” he muttered, a lot quieter. “Better to have nobody than an inconvenience. Applies to both of us, you know? If you’re uncomfortable with whatever we do…”
It’s better to kill her (applying to both Verity and Sophia), but
“You’re allowed to say it and go off your own way. And I’m not the leader, but I just wanna say… don’t dig yourself into a hole trying to fit in if you wanna fit in, OK? Don’t go crazy. Don’t try to build yourself up all that much. Um, that’s… about it. Just trying to make sure you don’t think we’re all sociopaths or anything.”
He markedly avoided the dead stares of the bodies.
Seo’s work.
Cleaner than he was, at least.
Sometimes, it felt like everything he did was from the view of someone else- like he was playing a first person video game. Like this body wasn’t his, and the voice wasn’t his, and his thoughts weren’t his.
That dissonance hit harder than ever before.
Vasily shook his head, sort of, to get rid of the thoughts. His hair flew into his face and he had to wipe it off, feeling the purple strands stick to his face with sweat.
He was suddenly struck by the realization that he would die before he ever drove a car by himself.
That made him feel sick.
Even sicker.
He wanted to join Keegan, but he couldn’t bring himself to- he couldn’t really bring himself to do anything right now, almost, unless he had to, so he just lept backwards, hands braced onto the cold metal, and settled, sitting down, on the car hood. Sort of sitting, sort of laid down, like that one meme about painting someone like one of the french girls. But not really, because Vasily wasn’t french and wasn’t a girl and this wasn’t the time for memes, but it just sort of popped into his head.
He waved slightly at Keegan through the windshield.
Bacchia’s scream only barely made him flinch.
The time he pulled Calla’s guts out felt like the last time he felt true emotion. Not when Giselle died. Not when Bacchia was calling out a millisecond ago. The raw, visceral kind.
That’s what he wanted, right?
To kill off his empathy?
Why did it make him feel so empty?
Had he just been empty all along? Waiting for something, anything, to fill that hole inside him with little bits of serotonin? He couldn’t really remember his childhood that well- everybody talked about what happened when they were little, but there were so many missing memories of birthday parties and teachers’ names and it terrified him. The most fun he ever had was scrolling through twitter for an hour when he should be raving to the music. He said he liked being touched but he always leaned away from others’ fingers.
‘This wasn’t a good idea,’ he wanted to say.
Not about rescuing Bacchia
Or even Sofia
Or even Verity-
This whole thing was bound to crash from the start, wasn’t it?
He did a mental cointoss on whether or not to move and compromised by jumping down the car hood and following Fisk halfway and then stopping awkwardly before he reached the stairs.
If anybody gets shot in here, it sure as hell won't be him.
“ I guess I should welcome you, then, if you wanna join, Sof. Feel free to ask any questions, we’re- god I sound like a telemarketer.”
“And,” he muttered, a lot quieter. “Better to have nobody than an inconvenience. Applies to both of us, you know? If you’re uncomfortable with whatever we do…”
It’s better to kill her (applying to both Verity and Sophia), but
“You’re allowed to say it and go off your own way. And I’m not the leader, but I just wanna say… don’t dig yourself into a hole trying to fit in if you wanna fit in, OK? Don’t go crazy. Don’t try to build yourself up all that much. Um, that’s… about it. Just trying to make sure you don’t think we’re all sociopaths or anything.”
He markedly avoided the dead stares of the bodies.
Seo’s work.
Cleaner than he was, at least.
Sometimes, it felt like everything he did was from the view of someone else- like he was playing a first person video game. Like this body wasn’t his, and the voice wasn’t his, and his thoughts weren’t his.
That dissonance hit harder than ever before.
Vasily shook his head, sort of, to get rid of the thoughts. His hair flew into his face and he had to wipe it off, feeling the purple strands stick to his face with sweat.
He was suddenly struck by the realization that he would die before he ever drove a car by himself.
That made him feel sick.
Even sicker.
He wanted to join Keegan, but he couldn’t bring himself to- he couldn’t really bring himself to do anything right now, almost, unless he had to, so he just lept backwards, hands braced onto the cold metal, and settled, sitting down, on the car hood. Sort of sitting, sort of laid down, like that one meme about painting someone like one of the french girls. But not really, because Vasily wasn’t french and wasn’t a girl and this wasn’t the time for memes, but it just sort of popped into his head.
He waved slightly at Keegan through the windshield.
Bacchia’s scream only barely made him flinch.
The time he pulled Calla’s guts out felt like the last time he felt true emotion. Not when Giselle died. Not when Bacchia was calling out a millisecond ago. The raw, visceral kind.
That’s what he wanted, right?
To kill off his empathy?
Why did it make him feel so empty?
Had he just been empty all along? Waiting for something, anything, to fill that hole inside him with little bits of serotonin? He couldn’t really remember his childhood that well- everybody talked about what happened when they were little, but there were so many missing memories of birthday parties and teachers’ names and it terrified him. The most fun he ever had was scrolling through twitter for an hour when he should be raving to the music. He said he liked being touched but he always leaned away from others’ fingers.
‘This wasn’t a good idea,’ he wanted to say.
Not about rescuing Bacchia
Or even Sofia
Or even Verity-
This whole thing was bound to crash from the start, wasn’t it?
He did a mental cointoss on whether or not to move and compromised by jumping down the car hood and following Fisk halfway and then stopping awkwardly before he reached the stairs.
If anybody gets shot in here, it sure as hell won't be him.
-
Wham Yubeesling
- Posts: 1256
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:15 pm
- Location: there is a man standing behind you
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- Contact:
There were two things Verity, to maybe put things a little less caustically, really did not have much of a reaction to.
Number one: Vasily’s talk. She knew he meant… well, ‘well’ wasn’t exactly the right word for it, but he was trying to be nice about stuff. Kind of really fell apart when literally less than half an hour earlier he was doing the evil smile and circling around Verity when Fisk did the speech with all the King Kong moves, but, y’know, apparently Verity was part of the team now and that meant she was way more human to him now than she was, again, less than an hour ago. Also had already really fallen apart given how, like, Verity was kinda already doing what he just told her to do. She wasn’t going to be like him. She wasn’t going to go full psycho on people just because she was on her favourite show. It always kind of bugged her when her parents told her to do something she was already on the way to doing. This was that.
Vasily wasn’t quite the dad he wanted to be, though. Anything but.
Second thing: Bacchia getting jumpscared and everybody going after her. Maybe if it were Keegan or even (somehow) James or Vasily she’d get her guns and run up and see what was up, but… nah. It was the girl who attacked her for no reason and also killed someone for no reason. She could take care of herself.
And if she couldn’t, well, that made going indigo a whole lot easier.
So she kinda looked and saw Fisk and Vasily start to move, saw Keegan not move, and moved back. Saw Nura. Took a breath.
…
…
Nura’s corpse got pressed against the railing. The hands below kept pushing. Bones creaked against body as Nura slowly moved-
…
nah you know what fuck this. No point really delaying the inevitable. And, like, she and Keegan were basically alone, if there was a chance to actually maybe have that talk she knew had to come eventually, now seemed like a pretty good time.
…
…
There was a knock on the door on the other side from where Keegan was sitting.
Number one: Vasily’s talk. She knew he meant… well, ‘well’ wasn’t exactly the right word for it, but he was trying to be nice about stuff. Kind of really fell apart when literally less than half an hour earlier he was doing the evil smile and circling around Verity when Fisk did the speech with all the King Kong moves, but, y’know, apparently Verity was part of the team now and that meant she was way more human to him now than she was, again, less than an hour ago. Also had already really fallen apart given how, like, Verity was kinda already doing what he just told her to do. She wasn’t going to be like him. She wasn’t going to go full psycho on people just because she was on her favourite show. It always kind of bugged her when her parents told her to do something she was already on the way to doing. This was that.
Vasily wasn’t quite the dad he wanted to be, though. Anything but.
Second thing: Bacchia getting jumpscared and everybody going after her. Maybe if it were Keegan or even (somehow) James or Vasily she’d get her guns and run up and see what was up, but… nah. It was the girl who attacked her for no reason and also killed someone for no reason. She could take care of herself.
And if she couldn’t, well, that made going indigo a whole lot easier.
So she kinda looked and saw Fisk and Vasily start to move, saw Keegan not move, and moved back. Saw Nura. Took a breath.
…
…
Nura’s corpse got pressed against the railing. The hands below kept pushing. Bones creaked against body as Nura slowly moved-
…
nah you know what fuck this. No point really delaying the inevitable. And, like, she and Keegan were basically alone, if there was a chance to actually maybe have that talk she knew had to come eventually, now seemed like a pretty good time.
…
…
There was a knock on the door on the other side from where Keegan was sitting.
-
MurderWeasel
- Posts: 3432
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- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
Keegan reached for the button to roll the window down and instead found a crank. He gave it two slow, awkward turns, and it lowered the window on his own side a minuscule, painful amount. He looked over to the other side of the truck's cabin, considered how it would feel to lean all that way over and crank that window about a dozen times, and came to a conclusion: fuck no.
Really, this was Verity's fault anyways. She could deal with the impoliteness. It was a stupid, petty, not-really-actually-revenge sort of revenge, and that felt a ton better than anything else that had happened in a while, so he clung to it.
He looked at her instead, gave a wave, then stretched his index finger out for the best cartoonish come-hither beckon he could muster, like a creepy old witch luring kids into her gingerbread house to bake them alive.
"It's unlocked," he said aloud, though not very loud. "I think."
Then he sank back into the seat, letting the cushion pad his shoulders. The wheel didn't turn, but he could push the pedals some, even if nothing happened when he did. Out the windshield, the waves in the distance rose and fell.
On a whim, he reached down and pressed the horn, expecting an unholy squawk, but nothing came. Right, no power. Even if there was a window switch, it wouldn't have worked.
This was a lot easier than giving much thought to the scream and the splash from a few moments ago. Like, it wasn't that Keegan didn't care that Bacchia could be in danger. Quite the opposite. But he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't go save her, and if everyone else got killed running above deck like lemmings and Ivan wandered in to impale him like a hog on a spit on his own narwhal horn, he couldn't do anything about that either. So why fret more than he had to?
Really, this was Verity's fault anyways. She could deal with the impoliteness. It was a stupid, petty, not-really-actually-revenge sort of revenge, and that felt a ton better than anything else that had happened in a while, so he clung to it.
He looked at her instead, gave a wave, then stretched his index finger out for the best cartoonish come-hither beckon he could muster, like a creepy old witch luring kids into her gingerbread house to bake them alive.
"It's unlocked," he said aloud, though not very loud. "I think."
Then he sank back into the seat, letting the cushion pad his shoulders. The wheel didn't turn, but he could push the pedals some, even if nothing happened when he did. Out the windshield, the waves in the distance rose and fell.
On a whim, he reached down and pressed the horn, expecting an unholy squawk, but nothing came. Right, no power. Even if there was a window switch, it wouldn't have worked.
This was a lot easier than giving much thought to the scream and the splash from a few moments ago. Like, it wasn't that Keegan didn't care that Bacchia could be in danger. Quite the opposite. But he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't go save her, and if everyone else got killed running above deck like lemmings and Ivan wandered in to impale him like a hog on a spit on his own narwhal horn, he couldn't do anything about that either. So why fret more than he had to?
-
Wham Yubeesling
- Posts: 1256
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:15 pm
- Location: there is a man standing behind you
- Team Affiliation: Stephanie's Buccaneers
- Contact:
Keegan waved. Gave a ‘come here’ motion. She was pretty sure that was an invitation. Pretty sure. It was on Keegan if it wasn’t — ‘it’s unlocked’ was generally code for ‘yeah, you can come in’ just, without, like, the emotional capability to come over and open the door yourself. Which was pretty… him, of Keegan. Not much had changed. Needle was still in the same place as it was before they both got put here. He was a shit then and he was still a shit here. That was… kind of a relief, kind of not. There was a little bit of ease in looking at the others here and going ‘well, at least I’m not like them.’ That didn’t exactly work with anybody else. Not if they hadn’t become…
…
…
She opened the door. Took the other front seat.
“Hi.”
Looked out at the ocean. Same way he was looking. Opened her mouth…
…
You know how sometimes you had a ton of things that needed to be covered and each those individual things were so overwhelming that it was impossible to even figure out which one to even begin with, let alone how to even try and get it out her throat?
Verity knew.
She closed her mouth. Breathed out.
“...Hi.”
…
…
She opened the door. Took the other front seat.
“Hi.”
Looked out at the ocean. Same way he was looking. Opened her mouth…
…
You know how sometimes you had a ton of things that needed to be covered and each those individual things were so overwhelming that it was impossible to even figure out which one to even begin with, let alone how to even try and get it out her throat?
Verity knew.
She closed her mouth. Breathed out.
“...Hi.”