[Visual/Locked]goodluck_kobraDecember 10 2011, 18:48:33 UTC
Kobra had been dealing with a constant headache ever since that last goddamn glitch. Wandering around the woods hadn't exactly done good things for his cold and he spent his time sneezing, sniffling and generally feeling sorry for himself.
He barely glanced at the tablet at first when a text came in, but then squinted and read it again, frowning. Tapping the tablet he started a transmission to Cain, lips still pursed and eyebrows narrowed.
[Visual/Locked]tin_heartsDecember 11 2011, 21:51:22 UTC
Considering Cain's usually prompt in replying to messages directed at him, maybe the five minutes it takes him this time is indicative. Of what, well, that's up to someone else to decide.
The Cain that looks back at Kobra over the link is pale and drawn, jaws clamped firmly together.
"It would seem Glitch is dead. Fell into a crack somewhere in the hedge maze. Burned alive."
He didn't get anything coherent out of the vampire; yelling at him helped even less.
[Visual/Locked]goodluck_kobraDecember 12 2011, 18:37:38 UTC
Well, shit. They had their way of dealing with such things in the zones, but here? Kobra's face showed how out of depth he was for a second or two before he put on a brave facade.
"I'm sorry." Then he remembered something he had heard and licked his chapped lips. "Do you...do you think they'll bring him back? People don't stay dead here, do they?"
[Visual/Locked]tin_heartsDecember 13 2011, 13:50:11 UTC
"I don't know, Kid," says Cain, working his jaw left and right. "Brought me back, but I haven't been here long enough to know if it's common practice."
You'd have to ask... You'd have to ask Glitch or DG, with how long they've both been here. They should know. The thought almost breaks his heart.
[ location: Cain's place ] poisonouspartyDecember 11 2011, 20:18:31 UTC
He has no idea why he's here.
...Well, no. He knows exactly why he's doing this but it leaves a giant question hanging over his head and for a brief moment Party can physically taste it, or so he thinks. Then again, maybe he's just loopy. He's cracked. Not cycling properly.
That explains why he's here. He's simply gone mad from the cold. He tells himself it's because Kobra might be here but it's a flimsy, flimsy excuse because Kobra's not there on the tablet and Party used the tablet to find where Cain's damn apartment was.
No, he's here because he recognizes that text. Maybe he's reading too much into it but that text reminds him of Battery City, of that one question everybody asks when they come down from withdrawal and realized just how stupid they were. How different they were acting.
Party knocks, licking his chapped lips and taking a deep breath.
[ location: Cain's place ] and the icon doesn't do this justice, but...tin_heartsDecember 11 2011, 22:05:55 UTC
For a while, there's nothing. Not a thing. Not a sound, no movement, not even the slightest indication that he's in there but the dot on the map with his name on it.
Then, something comes along in the sound of footsteps, and the ever so slight creak of hinges as the door opens. Cain stands there, and for a moment he just looks at the young man as though he doesn't quite believe his eyes. He blinks slowly, and something like a light switches on at the back of his gaze.
"Party." Clearing his throat (ducks head, looks to side and back). "Would you like to come in?"
[ location: Cain's place ] and the icon doesn't do this justice, but...poisonouspartyDecember 11 2011, 22:13:34 UTC
"Well, someone got into a clap," He announced, and because maybe Cain didn't know the lingo yet, remembered to clarify: "You look like shit," he said helpfully, and began rubbing his hands together for warmth.
He wasn't trying to be rude, but he pushed his way into the house at the invitation instead of answering, looking around, glancing around. Cain's house isn't like Party pictured it. It's sure as neat as he pictured, but he had it in his head that Cain would be full of ranch-y, Texas-style doohickies. It's the cowboy motif.
Eyes flicker to any and all points of exit, and then immediately sweep over anything that could be used as a potential weapon. It's sheer habit, and even though the place is sparse he picks up a few things he automatically categorizes before returning his attention back to Cain.
...No, no, that won't work. He occupies himself with crossing his arms and looking around, as if just noticing everything for the first time.
"Seen Kobra around here?" He already knew the answer.
[ location: Cain's place ]tin_heartsDecember 11 2011, 22:30:05 UTC
Two windows in the living room area, one substantially larger over the sink; plenty of chairs and tables to smash into kindle or swing about if needed. The pillow cushions would make excellent silencers, and Cain's holster hangs over one of the kitchen chairs, gun and all
( ... )
On his end, Mick is shaking too bad to work the tablet. So instead, in what he imagines is a fit of shock-induced brilliance, switches to audio mode.
"He fell- He, he just, got so mad and he stomped his foot and the ground cracked and--" He shakes his head, sitting now on the same carved bench as before. "I tricked him. I got him, killed and it wasn't a dream."
At first, Gwen's pretty confused. Stomped his foot and cracked the--
Oh. Fairy tale land. Now caught up to speed, Gwen fumbles with a response, all the while thinking that 'Yeesh, Mickey's got it rough.'
"Wow," she starts, fantastically unhelpful. She knows people have died here, but...'wow' still pretty much covers it. "You--you know this wasn't your fault, right, big guy? I mean, he might as well have tricked me into pouring acid on my face, and you almost ate me. We weren't ourselves. You weren't yourself."
Once, she would've been too busy moping over her own humiliation accompanying a glitch. But here, she found herself struggling to comfort Mick, and wanting nothing but to make the big lug feel better and stop punishing himself, for once.
On his end, Mick gives a startled, mirthless laugh. It isn't his fault, technically speaking. There's so much you can say in his defense, but at the end of the day he will still feel responsible. So he wasn't himself, fair enough, but he did a lot of bad things and not just to Glitch. It doesn't matter if his intentions weren't to kill him, that it 'just happened' or that it was 'an accident, just an accident'. Good intentions don't make you less guilty just like not knowing the law makes you less culpable if you commit a crime.
"He's still dead. Gwen, I... That doesn't change anything. I remember tricking him as clearly as if I did it myself. It was my voice, my brain figuring him out, me."
He swallows tightly, pulling his knees to his chest and wraps his arms around them. "I didn't feel out of control. I just felt different."
"Like fuck I am," is Cain's cheerful response - for a value of cheerful, as this is Cain and Cain is grumpy and itchy and achy. "I'm drawing myself a bath. There'll be coffee when you get here, but I can't promise it'll taste right with these," he shows his hand to the screen, all tidied up and bandaged.
"I made the rookie mistake of putting ointment on before I thought of coffee, and dammit I hate this."
Sigh. Breathe. It's just the skin. It'll stop burning like fire ants pissed on them soon enough. Swelling will go down too, and his feet will get better. In time.
He gives his friend a slightly more sheepish smile. "It's good to be back, though."
[Visual - Locked]smeckerDecember 14 2011, 23:23:07 UTC
Paul runs fingers through his hair, and remembers after the fact to tap 'locked' on the tablet.
"Fine, alright. Tryyy to hold off on the scrubbing until I'm there to help, you're just going to make yourself worse stretching to reach some of that."
Slight pause. "Yeah, well, I hope you don't go anywhere anytime soon. You're no fun like that."
Comments 109
He barely glanced at the tablet at first when a text came in, but then squinted and read it again, frowning. Tapping the tablet he started a transmission to Cain, lips still pursed and eyebrows narrowed.
"What's this stuff about?"
Reply
The Cain that looks back at Kobra over the link is pale and drawn, jaws clamped firmly together.
"It would seem Glitch is dead. Fell into a crack somewhere in the hedge maze. Burned alive."
He didn't get anything coherent out of the vampire; yelling at him helped even less.
Reply
"I'm sorry." Then he remembered something he had heard and licked his chapped lips. "Do you...do you think they'll bring him back? People don't stay dead here, do they?"
Reply
You'd have to ask... You'd have to ask Glitch or DG, with how long they've both been here. They should know. The thought almost breaks his heart.
"All we can do is wait."
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...Well, no. He knows exactly why he's doing this but it leaves a giant question hanging over his head and for a brief moment Party can physically taste it, or so he thinks. Then again, maybe he's just loopy. He's cracked. Not cycling properly.
That explains why he's here. He's simply gone mad from the cold. He tells himself it's because Kobra might be here but it's a flimsy, flimsy excuse because Kobra's not there on the tablet and Party used the tablet to find where Cain's damn apartment was.
No, he's here because he recognizes that text. Maybe he's reading too much into it but that text reminds him of Battery City, of that one question everybody asks when they come down from withdrawal and realized just how stupid they were. How different they were acting.
Party knocks, licking his chapped lips and taking a deep breath.
He still doesn't know exactly why he's here.
Reply
Then, something comes along in the sound of footsteps, and the ever so slight creak of hinges as the door opens. Cain stands there, and for a moment he just looks at the young man as though he doesn't quite believe his eyes. He blinks slowly, and something like a light switches on at the back of his gaze.
"Party." Clearing his throat (ducks head, looks to side and back). "Would you like to come in?"
Reply
He wasn't trying to be rude, but he pushed his way into the house at the invitation instead of answering, looking around, glancing around. Cain's house isn't like Party pictured it. It's sure as neat as he pictured, but he had it in his head that Cain would be full of ranch-y, Texas-style doohickies. It's the cowboy motif.
Eyes flicker to any and all points of exit, and then immediately sweep over anything that could be used as a potential weapon. It's sheer habit, and even though the place is sparse he picks up a few things he automatically categorizes before returning his attention back to Cain.
...No, no, that won't work. He occupies himself with crossing his arms and looking around, as if just noticing everything for the first time.
"Seen Kobra around here?" He already knew the answer.
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"He fell- He, he just, got so mad and he stomped his foot and the ground cracked and--" He shakes his head, sitting now on the same carved bench as before. "I tricked him. I got him, killed and it wasn't a dream."
Reply
Oh. Fairy tale land. Now caught up to speed, Gwen fumbles with a response, all the while thinking that 'Yeesh, Mickey's got it rough.'
"Wow," she starts, fantastically unhelpful. She knows people have died here, but...'wow' still pretty much covers it. "You--you know this wasn't your fault, right, big guy? I mean, he might as well have tricked me into pouring acid on my face, and you almost ate me. We weren't ourselves. You weren't yourself."
Once, she would've been too busy moping over her own humiliation accompanying a glitch. But here, she found herself struggling to comfort Mick, and wanting nothing but to make the big lug feel better and stop punishing himself, for once.
Reply
"He's still dead. Gwen, I... That doesn't change anything. I remember tricking him as clearly as if I did it myself. It was my voice, my brain figuring him out, me."
He swallows tightly, pulling his knees to his chest and wraps his arms around them. "I didn't feel out of control. I just felt different."
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He reaches for the button to transmit, offers a scowl over it which is an expression of worry in Paul-world at any rate.
"Get the fuck back to bed. I'll be over in a bit."
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"I made the rookie mistake of putting ointment on before I thought of coffee, and dammit I hate this."
Sigh. Breathe. It's just the skin. It'll stop burning like fire ants pissed on them soon enough. Swelling will go down too, and his feet will get better. In time.
He gives his friend a slightly more sheepish smile. "It's good to be back, though."
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"Fine, alright. Tryyy to hold off on the scrubbing until I'm there to help, you're just going to make yourself worse stretching to reach some of that."
Slight pause. "Yeah, well, I hope you don't go anywhere anytime soon. You're no fun like that."
Reply
Then he nods, tilting his head to the side for an emphatic nod. "I know. Just get over here, all right?"
This is of course Cain code #34 for 'I missed you too'.
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