snowblindrpg | [log] Nothing from nowhere, I'm no one at all [closed]

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[log] Nothing from nowhere, I'm no one at all [closed]

Characters: Stephanie Brown and Shiro Fujimoto
Location Building 40
Date: Day 79, evening
Summary: Steph loses her friends, but regains a straight nose
Warnings: Broken nose squick?

[ Steph was really starting to hate bats. They had come out of nowhere, silent in the snow except for the flapping of their leathery wings. They all knew they couldn't fight the beasts, and the four of them had no choice but to turn and run. They tried to go back in the direction they had come from, the nearest building they knew of, but the bat-things cut them off.

After that things got a little confusing. They kept changing directions, slipping in the snow, shouting directions to each other over the sound of wind and flapping wings. Before Steph knew what was happening she was being shoved hard in the direction of the house. She heard all three of the boy's voices telling her to run. So she ran.

Glancing back, all she could make out of her friends was a couple of limbs: a leg, an automail arm, Al's helmet, all being drawn into the black maws of the bat monsters. She opened her mouth to call out to them, but could only gasp.

She thought she could hear Al telling her to go, but the light of his red eyes had already faded.

The bats were distracted by their meals, giving Steph the time she needed to turn and run. She didn't look back again, not even when she ran (almost literally) into Shiro. She grabbed his arm as she passed and pulled. ]

Go go go go go!

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[He had heard the screams and the flapping and a bunch of other noises he didn't care to identify at the moment, which was why Shiro had started to head in that direction in the first place. As he ran, he felt dread settle uncomfortably in his stomach. While it's true that he had wanted to find monsters, he hadn't wanted that to come at the expense of anyone else's safety. Or their life.

Running into Steph startled him, but he stayed upright as he stepped back a half-step to steady himself.]

Why, what's going-

[He doesn't even finish his sentence, as he looks up again and sees the bats flying in their direction. He even has enough time to notice a suspicious bit of cloth stuck between one of the bat's teeth, and it takes him only a second to figure out what had happened, and why Steph is suddenly alone.

Fortunately, Steph doesn't need to tell him again. Shiro turns and runs with her, keeping pace with her pretty easily.

The house is not far away, so hopefully they can make it.]

[ Steph has seen more than enough to keep her running for days, but fortunately the house is more like seconds away. She slams into the door before getting a good enough grip on the handle to pull it open. She throws herself inside hard enough that her butt skids across the floor, but she manages to turn at the same time to watch the door.

Part of her is waiting to see Ed, Al and Green dive in after her. Part of her is ready to get back up and run right back out there to get them. ]

[She is waiting for the wrong men, then. Because Ed, Al, and Greed don't come rushing in after her. Only Shiro does.

His entry is a bit more graceful, but he is still well into the room before he even thinks about turning back to close the door behind them. This house is a little unstable, and he is worried about the bats knocking it down around them, so it's best if the bats don't figure out where they went.]

No--

[ She can't help herself for a second but to think he's locking out her friends, the three people who've stuck with her for the better part of three months now in this terrible place. But the protest dies in her throat as she remembers her last sight of them, of kicking feet and reaching arms and hollow eyes.

She starts to shake first, then she starts to cry. Still, she pulls herself up off the floor and looks around to make sure there aren't any other openings for the monsters to get in through.

Either way, the bats have gotten what they came for. All three of them give up pretty quickly. And so does Steph, once her own tears make it impossible for her to see clearly. ]

No...

[Shiro doesn't immediately go to Steph's aid, even if he can see that she is suffering quite a bit. He's more concerned with the bats and holding the door shut if they actually find them. There's no time to be sad when you might become monster-chow in the next moment.

But soon enough, he can hear the sounds of the wings flapping getting quieter, as the bats fly away. Once he hears that, Shiro takes a moment to let out a sigh of relief.

Then he turns his attention to Steph. He goes over and squats down near her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.]

Shhh, it's okay, everything's going to be okay. You're safe now.

[ The little sob-like squeaks she makes come and go, but the shaking doesn't really stop. She keeps replaying it all in her mind, what she should have done, what should have happened instead of what did happen.

She doesn't even look at Shiro until he says she's safe. Then her head drops and her shoulders shake with proper sobs, because she is safe. She's safe, and her friends are dead. ]

How is that fair? How is any of this fair?

It's really not fair.

[He doesn't know Steph too well, but from the few conversations they have had he has figured out that lying to her won't help much. So he'll go for confirming + validating how she feels.]

Unfortunately, we don't get much of a choice in the matter.

[ That's true, at least - she wouldn't believe any placating lies he could tell her. She tries to rub the tears from her eyes and ends up poking her broken nose. It's much better now, but it still hurts to be poked at. She curses. ]

I hate this stupid place.

Your sentiments are shared with most of the people here, if not all.

[He will go ahead and actually sit down next to her, instead of just kneeling.]

How long does it take for people to come back?

[ She shifts so that there's room. ]

It was four days for me. They could revive in the morgue, the funeral home, the hospital... anywhere, just about. [ How is she supposed to find them? Just check her tablet and hope? ]

Four days is enough time to get the word out, and have people near all of those places. No matter where the revive, we'll find them.

Yeah... if they revive.

[ She's been keeping track of the numbers. They've lost so many who never came back... so many that she knew, even. She has to believe they will return, but at the same time it's exhausting. She's just so tired all the time these days, and now she's alone again.

Well, alone except for Shiro. She tries to rub some more tears away without hurting her nose again. ]

At least we- I made it.

[Oh right, crying.

Shiro slips off his messenger bag and goes digging around in it for a moment, eventually pulling out a box of tissues. He pulls a couple of the tissues out of the box and holds them out to Steph, so she can dry her eyes.]

Exactly, you made it. And when they come back, they'll be happy to see that.

[Gotta focus on the good here.]

[ She takes them, and sadly dabs at her face wherever it feels wet. She's going to have nightmares, she can tell. At least she's done moving around for the day. It's just so tiring. ]

Thanks. Guess we should... take care of my nose now, huh?

We can. Or do you need a little longer?

[To calm down, he means. Because yeah that was a pretty traumatic thing to experience, he will totally understand if she wants to wait a little longer.]

Not like waiting will make anything better.

[ She slides down the wall into a sitting position and glowers at the floor. First with Angel and Rhys, and now Ed, Al and Greed are dead. Life sucks. Everything sucks, and her nose hurts, and she just wants to go to sleep and forget about everything for a little while. ]

Here, take this first.

[Out of his pocket comes a half-pill of Vicodin. He brought a couple more too just in case, but he figures one at a time would be better.]

By the time I'm done, it should be kicking in.

[ She eyes the pill sadly. Yes, she recognizes it. Hard not to, when the last week or so was based on obtaining these pills. But she sighs and pops it in her mouth, then takes a swig from her water bottle to down the tablet. She sighs, mentally preparing herself. ]

Alright. Ready when you are.

Right, I'll be as quick as I can with it.

[And he just. He holds the side of her head with one hand, takes her nose between the thumb and index finger of his other, and does a quick movement to snap it back into place.

He kept the tissues out by the way, in case there is bleeding. Which there probably will be.]

[ She tries really hard, but ends up yelping loudly anyway. Her hands come up instinctively to protect her nose, but she knows better than to get in the way. They just hover uselessly to either side of her face as a slow trickle of blood comes out from her nose. ]

God that hurt worse than I remember.

That's the funny thing about pain, the memory of it dulls in our brains.

[Don't mind him, he's just twisting up a couple tissues to stuff up Steph's nose, to stop the bleeding.]

Do you want to do this next part, or leave it up to my medical expertise?

[ She starts wiping blood from her lip, remembering the boys coming in and finding her like this a few days ago. They had all been so worried about her... Worried enough to die to save her. God, she hates herself right now. ]

I can do it. Thanks.

[ As promised, a sense of numb calm washes over her. It makes her tired, but she doesn't want to sleep. Her nose hurts less and less. ]

Is that the... Vicodin? That Angel stole from house?

[Shiro shrugs.]

Dunno whose it is. I found a bottle in the clinic, and I took some of it. They were pretty big, so I cut the ones I took in half.

[Mostly true. Technically he asked Clayton for them, but he knows way too much about that drama, and decides not to bring it up right now.]

Probably stolen.

[ She doesn't really care if it's stolen, it's the ridiculous shenanigans behind the theft that bother her. She holds the tissues to her nostrils and makes sure to breath through her mouth. Then she starts crying again. ]

[Oh no more crying.

Shiro sits there for a moment, awkwardly considering what to do. After a couple seconds, he leans over and pulls Steph into a loose hug, so that at least she can cry on someone instead of crying on her own. That is usually helpful in a situation like this, where people have died.]

[ She can't decide what to do for a second, but finally props her chin on his shoulder. At least this way she won't get any blood or tears on him. She feels so pathetic. So useless. ]

Sorry. I'm sorry.

[Hey, if it's helping, he won't complain. Blood and tears can be washed out later.]

Don't apologize. A very traumatic thing just happened, it's normal to be upset.

I just--

[ She sniffles, making her head swim with a combination of dull pain and narcotic pain killers. ]

I keep losing people. I'm so sick of it.

I know. It never gets easier, even if you know they're coming back soon.

[He's had way too many people die in front of him, and that was all without the promise of coming back to life.]

That's the one good thing about this place. People coming back.

[ Not that she's had a lot of luck with that. Still, it's more hope than she has for her father or best friend. ]

I'm really starting to hate bats.

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[log] Nothing from nowhere, I'm no one at all [closed]

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