snowblindrpg | [network] @ADMIN; Obituary [DAY 164]

[They'd known. They'd wondered thirty seconds after they tried to call her on the tablet and gotten no response. They'd known when she never said anything in the next twenty-four hours, when she should have gotten a new tablet.

They lost her. Again. And they'd never been able to even realize it happened until it was too late. They'd say they want to go home, but how could they face everyone now, without her? They aren't even sure they have enough strength right now to believe she'll come back. In a day, maybe. A week? It won't matter then. But right now? No.

They're too tired.]

[He sends a message a little after the obituary is posted.]

Hey, kid. You there?

[Frisk can't bring themselves to respond in kind. Not in voice. Not when they're not sure if the first sound out of their mouth won't be a sob or a scream.]

yeah

Are you going to be okay?

[He knows the answer probably feels like no.]

Are you with anyone right now?

[The answer to both those questions is in fact no. But they also know one of those "no"s is not going to sit very well with anybody.]

Im going to where she woke up last

[Truthfully they'd already started heading that direction, as soon as they split up from Enoch (reluctantly, on his part) to search.]

You shouldn't be alone.

[That lack of answer definitely causes concerns.]

Were you traveling with anyone else recently?

Mom n Enoch

We split up to look for her

my idea

[Because they're not letting him or anyone take a fall for them, no matter how bad they feel.]

Contact Enoch again. I think it's better for both of you.

I'll stay on, too. You should stick with someone for the time being.

why s

sso

[The tablet screen must be broken, shaking too bad for their fingers to even connect with the keys they want. Some stupid prank of the town's and certainly not their everything- especially their hands - shaking too badly to do hardly anything requiring dexterity.]

So people can tell me that it's all right? That she'll be right back?

[They don't know that. Nobody does.]

Or that it doesn't matter that she's gone? That she loved me and she always will and she's proud of me for being so strong? That she'll always be there to help me, even if she can't make pie on bad days or help with my homework or make the news people go away, or sing when I can't sleep or any of that stuff? That it's not my fault? That it'll be okay?

[Every platitude they heard and hated and vaguely remembered when they were five and their first parents died comes spilling out of them, every empty word that couldn't fill the hole they felt.]

Aw, kid...

[Damn. He knows how hard it is, maybe not personally, but he knows it's hard. He's lost friends and family, and Frisk is right. Nothing said can actually replace a person.]

It does matter. Of course it matters. That's not why I'm saying you should be with someone. Your friends are there to help. They worry too, and being on your own just isn't a great plan.

Because it's not okay to suffer like this alone.

Frisk? Are you alright? I mean obviously you're not alright emotionally but you aren't hurt or anything, are you?

[They think they can manage this much audio.]

No, I'm fine.

[No hurts, except their heart in pieces on the ground.]

[ Well that's a start, at least. ]

Is there anyone with you? Anyone nearby you can meet up with? [ She understands the desire to be alone after losing someone you love, but. ] You know it's dangerous to be alone in this place.

[They want to say so many things. They want to shout and scream about how little they care right now. They don't die. They never die, not really. Even if they wanted to, they probably couldn't.]

I know.

[It shouldn't have been her, it should've been anybody but her.]

[ She resists the urge to sigh, and rubs at her face with a hand. Yeah, that's pretty much what she expected. ]

Take care of yourself, Frisk. Please.

[John's message comes in the early evening. There are too many things happening, but he made a promise to Toriel, and now he's worried.]

Frisk, I'm so sorry. Are you still with Enoch?

[The passage of time hasn't done much to dull the pain. Just make it sink in. They would say the shock was past, except it hadn't really been a shock, had it?]

why does everybody keep asking that

Because you've just lost someone very important. I can't be there for you physically. I'm hoping someone else can. I know you were in a very bad way the first time she passed.

[Enoch had held on to hope a little longer; he'd taken two days to find a new tablet when he'd lost his the first time. Just as well they didn't get another day to wait. He's too far away to turn back, heading vaguely northeast when he sees the obituaries. He'd forgotten they were today.]

Frisk...

[He's started speaking before he even knows how he's going to finish that thought, so that one word trails off into uncertain silence.

What should he say? What can he say? "I'm sorry"? At this point in the day, they had to have heard it from nearly everyone else who knew them. "She may come back"? That's not going to ease their pain and he knows it. It may offer some hope, but it doesn't change the fact that she's dead now, nor does it erase the high probability she won't.]

[network] @ADMIN; Obituary [DAY 164]

(not here)

@IAmLegend; audio; private

@determination, text

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@determination; text -> audio

audio

@Spoiler ; private audio

@determination

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@jwatson; text; private

@determination, text, private

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@Enoch, private audio