[log] Can't We All Just Get a Lung? [closed]

[rubikscomplex]

Characters: Gregory House, Royce Melborn, Alfie Solomons
Location: Downtown
Date: Day 421
Summary: Aftermath of House's anomaly catching Ecks
Warnings: Character death, body horror, cannibalism, dismemberment, disembowelment, broken bones, bone sticking out of flesh, blood, dissociation

[He tries not to chew. It's not so much that House, in his present form, has any issue with raw meat, but he's so desperately hungry and Ecks' face is staring at him in horror. He just wants to swallow the golem down quickly and get her out of the way. Royce and Alfie are still options for dessert. Or at least the things that might be them. Really, he's not too bothered either way. Those guys are assholes, and House hasn't been hungry in close to a year. He's ravenous now and the girl is his first real taste of anything like relief.

The anomaly is hunched over the body, using the sharp bone-ice mix that's protruding from his forearm, disfiguring him, to cut pieces of her off. He breaks bones where he has to, to get the chunks small enough. He'd swallow her whole if he could. House had gone for the soft guts first, swallowed down as much as he could. This isn't really Ecks, he has to keep telling himself that. The one who was in the room. They're the ones with more memories. They're the ones who are real.

And this is what they need to do to survive now.]

Comments

cw: disassociation

[bywolves]

[ However it happens, however he grabs her, however it grabs her - it doesn't matter. It has her, and there's no saving her. The sound, more than anything, takes him back. His breath catches and stops and he stumbles back, catching himself on the cold wall of the tunnels and that's it, there he goes. His eyes go flat and he just stares, lost.

He watches it happen, and he's not there. Physically, yeah, but mentally, he's hidden in a cave, the sound of dripping irregular enough to drive anybody crazy, the sound of laughter high pitched and manic. It's the sound of flesh being ripped into, greedily swallowed down raw. They weren't human anymore, weren't mir, just shallow remains of what used to be a person, and meat was meat.

Royce just stares, unable to do anything else. ]

[devoutish]

[Feeling helpless and useless that Alfie completely detests, and yet here he is, unable to do anything as the House anomaly grabs up Ecks and chomps into her. He tries, of course, but he's old and slow and in pain and his best efforts just aren't good enough - not nearly good enough. And they might, he realizes, not be good enough to save Royce and himself, either.

But that doesn't mean he's going to just roll over and give in. Tamping down on the horror, swallowing back the bile he feels rising in his throat, he roughly grabs Royce's arm and yanks him back.]

Come on, come on, come on with me--

[rubikscomplex]

[He can hear Alfie urging Royce to move.]

Hey, guys, stick around! You'll get your just desserts.

[If he's going to become a cannibal, screw it. He's going all in with the horrifying puns. It's this or sobbing over the far that he just murdered someone he cares about. Someone who looks like someone he cares about.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce doesn't answer, or even look away. He just stumbles back when Alfie yanks him, nearly falling over entirely. There's no response from him or even an attempt to get up, eyes on Ecks' horrified face. ]

[devoutish]

Don't look.

[Though he doesn't take his own eyes off of the anomaly (or his meal). The last thing they need is to get snuck up on. Wrapping an arm around Royce's shoulders, he pulls him up and then pulls him close, propping him against his shoulder as he continues tugging him along.]

[rubikscomplex]

I said stick around.

[House pushes up from the body. He wants her. He wants to eat all of her, but he doesn't want to let the pair escape, either. The anomaly begins walking after Alfie and Royce. There's a sickly slap-crunch of icy bones and frozen flesh as he breaks apart and refreezes with each step. Luckily, he's not the fastest-moving anomaly. But he's fairly relentless... as the trio had discovered.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce doesn't even hear Alfie. It's only when Alfie starts to tug them off that he even reacts, flinching sharply at the touch and instinctively jerking away. There's second where he struggles, and then he looks at Alfie with a confused expression. ]

What? [ Where... hold on, you jerked him out of a flashback, give him a second. ]

[devoutish]

Keep going, come on.

[Still moving as quickly as he can (which is, of course, not very quickly at all), Alfie shoves Royce in front of him, shielding him with his body as he fumbles with one of his bags, searching for something inside of it. Knives and sharp things don't work against anomalies, he knows, but this is no ordinary anomaly.]

[rubikscomplex]

C'mon, Solomons. We haven't gone head-to-head in awhile. I'm feeling like a little payback's in order. Are you chicken? Buck-buck-buckawww!

[A pause.]

I'll let you know if you taste like it, at least, if you hold up a minute.

[bywolves]

[ Keep moving. Right. Alfie shoves him in front and Royce actually startles, shaking out of his head and grabbing for Alfie's arm. He doesn't say anything, but he refuses to let Alfie be behind him. No. If Alfie won't go in front of him, they have to stay side by side.

There's a pause, and then Royce readjusts his grip on his shrapnel stick, eyes focusing. He's pale, mostly because he's in pain, but he's present at least. ]

[devoutish]

Go before me.

[He insists quietly, doing is best to ignore House's-- the anomaly's attempt at banter.]

[rubikscomplex]

Jesus! Tough crowd tonight. [He breaks off one of the grotesque ice sculptures at the end of his arms where his hands should be by smacking it hard against the wall. It's the work of the moment to kick it toward the pair. If they get a look at it as it skitters past or where it stops ahead of them, the face vaguely resembles Ecks screaming now.]

I'm a doctor. I just wanna take a look at you. Inside and out. Consider it a free check-up.

[bywolves]

[ Jesus, dude, like it wasn't bad enough that you ate Ecks.

Royce makes a sharp, negative sound at Alfie's insistence. He swallows hard, mouth wet and stomach churning (he's not sure he could throw up anyway, he can't remember the last time he ate) and ignores the ice sculpture on the floor to the best of his ability. ]

You're not House. [ Royce says, voice low and steady, even as he's pushing Alfie along. He won't let this thing have the satisfaction. ] And you never will be again. You can drop the act.

[devoutish]

[Alfie catches the look of the ice sculpture, and mouth tightens into a thin line.]

Royce, I'm bigger than you; go on.

[It makes sense for the bigger one to go behind and protect, is his reasoning - though really, it's more that he used to be bigger. They're both pretty well wasted away by now.]

[rubikscomplex]

Words can hurt y'know? I mean, me biting you is gonna hurt worse, though, so I guess that balances out. And you should totally let Solomons trail behind, dude. Just remember, you only gotta be faster than the slowest guy. Promise I'll only eat one of you. Ups the drama and tragedy.

[bywolves]

You're not. [ Royce snaps at Alfie. ] It doesn't matter. All it's going to take is us climbing out of the tunnels. You can't follow us. Can't climb. Can barely move.

[ Royce shoves Alfie forward. Gently, trying not to knock him down. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie glowers at Royce, wrapping his arm firmly around his elbow. Fine. They'll go side by side.]

[rubikscomplex]

Uh... think you missed me catching up with you guys not in the tunnels before, bro. I've got all the time in the world now. You've got lockdown.

[bywolves]

You're not going to waste all your time chasing us.

[ Royce hisses back at the anomaly, holding tightly to Alfie. He turns around and just - keeps moving. ] Come on. We need to lose it.

[devoutish]

My point exactly, mate.

[At least Royce isn't semi-comatose anymore, but he's still hanging on just as tightly, trying to hold him up. He's not at all convinced that the anomaly isn't going to chase them, and he can't resist a glance backward at it - checking to see how close it is, and how fast it moves.]

[rubikscomplex]

I could waste a lot of it, though. You guys have a special place in my heart. Or Solomons does. Ditch him and I won't come after you, Melborn.

[Let's see how protective Alfie is.]

[bywolves]

Don't even think about it. [ Royce says firmly, quietly, to Alfie. ]

[devoutish]

Splitting up would be a bad idea.

[He agrees quietly, though he does glance back at House despite himself. The guy's a good liar, but maybe...]

[rubikscomplex]

Let's make a deal, Solomons! You let me get you now, I won't touch Melborn for however long he manages to survive here. Can't talk about the other people like me, but he'll be off-limits for at least one of us.

[bywolves]

If you make a deal with that thing I will never speak to you again. [ Royce snaps, dragging Alfie along. ]

[devoutish]

I'm not gonna leave you. You don't ever have to worry about that.

[rubikscomplex]

Temporary leave of absence! You'll get revived. You keep coming back. That's half the problem with both of us, ain't it?

[bywolves]

That was not an answer to what I just said, Alfie. [ Royce speeds up, yanking Alfie's arm. Over his shoulder, he tells House: ] Shut up already.

[devoutish]

I'm not gonna make a deal with an anomaly, either; fucking hell.

[He stumbles a little when Royce picks up the pace, but he's keeping up, at least for now.]

[rubikscomplex]

That's just anomaly-ist! [He puts on a tone of mock-affront.] Just letting you know, the options here are you give yourself to me now, Solomons, and I leave Melborn alone in perpetuity or you both run and I go after Melborn only. Every time he revives.

Spite is my main motivating factor, so don't think I'll get bored with it. But hey! At least I'll leave you alone, buddy. You'll be safe as houses.

[bywolves]

Spite is not only it's motivating factor. [ Royce says, determinedly looking forward and not back at the anomaly chasing them. ] If it's going to chase only me out of spite, I'm going to keep myself out of its range out of spite. Not about to be killed by some stupid anomaly that thinks it's a person.

[devoutish]

[Alfie, on the other hand, is still doing the opposite - not talking, not engaging, but still looking, and looking often.

Until now, when he does finally speak up to ask it a question.]

Why don't you go chase down House, eh?

[rubikscomplex]

Already sent Gray along to say hello to other me. I've got other things to do, personally. Like chase you guys and finally give me the revenge I deserve since he can't nut up to kill anyone.

[bywolves]

[ Royce stays silent this time, just moving. He'll keep that way until they find any sort of house to get into, away from this thing. ]

[devoutish]

Could start cutting off body parts again.

[Alfie says to Royce, loud enough for House to hear.]

[rubikscomplex]

[There's an irritating flash of fear that quickly morphs to anger. The sound of crunching ice, bone, and skin grows louder as he speeds up as much as he can. There's more bite to his words and it's accompanied by an extra icy burst of cold.]

That sounds like a great idea. I'll even hold still. Just wait right there. I'll catch up.

[bywolves]

[ Oh, wow, he really hates that sound. Royce gives Alfie a vaguely annoyed but mostly startled look, and glances over his shoulder. ]

Might need to run. Can you run?

[devoutish]

[He immediately speeds up into what's more of a fast walk than anything else. Does that count?]

[rubikscomplex]

Run, run, run, as fast as you can...

[House is just a tiny bit faster, and he's gaining on the pair, but up ahead, they might be able to see a ladder.]

[bywolves]

[ nope nope nope, Royce does not like that. Royce keeps pace with Alfie, gesturing at the ladder. They need to move. Go.

The faster speed hurts, though - Royce is gritting his teeth as they go, and House is gaining on them. ]

[devoutish]

We could take out its eyes. What do you think of that? Or its fingers, one by one. You know--

[He cuts himself off with a cough, and continues feebly:]

You know I'm capable of it.

[rubikscomplex]

You realize you're just giving me ideas, right, Solomons? Also, one of you has to go up the ladder first. Better choose quick, cause I'm gonna grab the guy on the bottom.

[Not that he actually has hands anymore, but by robot spider dicks he will find a way!]