[log] Trading Spaces [closed]

[coyoteking]

Characters: Charles, Al, Church, Zach, also Cecil
Location Somewhere around F21, the lake tunnel, then 242
Date: Day 156, midday and Day 157, evening
Summary: Brief meet-up with Al and Co while they travel in opposite directions, then meeting Cecil in the fire station
Warnings: Language for sure

[Charles doesn't like the lake tunnel. It makes him feel claustrophobic and sets his teeth on edge. Unfortunately, it's the only way into the Entrance, and that's where he's decided to go, good life decisions be damned. It's cold outside (duh) but not as cold as it has been, so he's a little less worried about frostbite while traipsing around out here. Actually, being in the tunnel helps a lot with that, cutting off the wind. So, you know, trade off.

He's starting to think 'hey maybe this isn't so bad' when he spots three shapes up ahead. Someone coming from the other end of the tunnel, and there really isn't an option to give them a wide berth. Which he isn't even sure why he wants to bother doing in the first place. It's not like he's fucking scared of these losers or something. Definitely not. He pointedly keeps trudging forward, hatchet over his right shoulder.]

Comments

[staytunednext]

[He cuts off mid squawk and beams over at Charles.]

No!

[He sounds so cheerful.]

No, I am not okay. I am terrified and overwhelmed and alive. I am very much the not okay of alive, and it is wonderful.

[coyoteking]

[Charles opens his mouth and closes it. He squints a little.]

Well I mean... I guess fear can be some kind of life affirmation or something. [He shrugs. He's heard that before, after all. From like... hitmen... but you know, details.]

Um, glad you're alive? How long have you been out here doing that?

[staytunednext]

Only a few hours.

[He's very cold and should probably go inside, but it's so nice to just indulge in a bit of squawking every now and again. He smiles at Charles accommodatingly.]

Would you like to join me?

[coyoteking]

A few hours? [Cecil... just, Cecil.] Nah, I'm good on the... staring at the universe and shrieking front. I've got enough of that in, I think I'm covered.

Speaking of covered, you should probably get inside. We don't have that long before lockdown.

[Please don't die again, Cecil.]

[staytunednext]

I totally understand; it's like, yeah it's relaxing to shriek at the terror of the void once in a while, but it plays havoc on your throat. Right?

[He quite amenably goes inside, though.]

I sometimes wonder if the void that we all see, mostly black and sometimes littered with stars, is the same void our loved ones see if they still exist.

[coyoteking]

Right, yeah. Need some like, lemon tea after that shit.

[He follows Cecil inside. Playing along might help him keep his sanity longer, he thinks.]

They still exist. [He's gotta be clear on that point, because he needs that to be true.] And I mean... if we're all just from different planets out there in space, then I guess it would all be the same sky, technically.

[That's how space works, right?]

[staytunednext]

How do you know they still exist?

Existence is so subjective, just a random series of moments processed by our imperfect brains into memories and emotion. We exist here because we see the world around us, but we no longer exist in our homes. And without us there, do our homes still exist at all? Do the people that we love, who all have perceived existences of their own, exist in a place we might recognise? Or have they moved on to new places, new experiences, where we cannot follow?

[coyoteking]

[... Wow, okay. That's an uncomfortable line of questioning. Charles doesn't want to think about people moving on without him, or his world ceasing to exist when he's not there. It doesn't exist because of him. That'd just be stupid.]

Well, I mean. When I close my eyes and I'm not looking at something, it still exists. I have object permanence, Cecil. That's how I know.