[network] @JPHawkins; Day 74 [open] [death talk]

[rattlingthestars]

[ His feet kick uselessly, catching but unable to get any leverage as he feels himself dragged forward -

- And wakes, with a gasp, in darkness. The monster Jim - Stop! - The others - Don't be an idiot! - He's right there - He's dead -

Not there anymore. There's just Jim, his heart beating so hard in nearly covers up the sound of his ragged breathing as he tries to claw his way out of the plastic encasing him. Some kind of bag, he thinks through the fog of panic.

He's almost free when he flails just a little too far. Whatever solid thing he was resting on disappears as he overbalances and crashes face-first into the ground, jarring his elbow in the process. At least it frees him of the bag. Even with his entire body free, though, he can't see.

Bringing a shaky hand up to his face lets him feel out that his eyes are open. So either it's pitch-black wherever he's woken up, or he's blind, and he doesn't know which.

Tablet.

He needs the tablet, and to - to -

He just needs the tablet. He refuses to think about anything more than five minutes in the future as he gropes around in the darkness until he feels something leather. His bag, and from there he can grasp the tablet. Learning to use the voice-activated commands is a nice, soothing puzzle, and his heart is almost back to normal by the time he decides he's going to have to record a message for the entire network. ]


[ The video shows Jim's face half out of frame: the camera's not quite pointed the right way. His visible eye is unfocused and there's a fresh-looking bruise on his temple. He's silent, though his harsh breathing is audible in the hush of wherever he is, until he takes a long breath in and starts speaking. ]

This is Jim Hawkins. Should be posting as video, but I'm not -

[ He has to stop and take another few deep breaths, fighting down the panic again as he commits to telling the wider network exactly what kind of situation he's in. ]

- I can't tell. Woke up blind. Kinda fell out of the drawer.

[ He waves a hand at the bruise and grimaces. He holds the tablet up in the air and slowly pans it around what's clearly the hospital morgue before bringing it back down and focusing it on his face. He gets a little closer to center-of-frame this time, though it's shaking. ]

If anyone recognizes it I could use an idea of where I am and which direction to start walking in. I don't think I'm going to be able to stay here much longer.

[ This pause is a little longer. It almost seems like he's done, but then he stumbles over his words to add: ] -And I'm-

Nevermind.

Okay, send -

Comments

[rattlingthestars]

Only Tifa, huh?

[ It's easier to banter than it is to talk about this stuff, but there is something he needs to know and he's certain Kunsel would be honest about this. ]

-Did anyone else get hurt? No one's said anything, but...

[ He doesn't think they would, just then, if he doesn't ask. ]

[deus_ex_phs]

Yup. [Totally serious.] You know how men are. None of us care what we smell like. [Yeah, no, don't believe him one bit.

But it is easier, trading jokes back and forth.

Not that Kunsel doesn't know when to be truly serious. Jim can probably hear the shift in the SOLDIER's tone of voice. Some things you can joke about, but this isn't one of them. Not right now. Especially not after what happened.]

We're fine, Jim. Zack and I got Tifa and Zell away before anything else could happen, and then the monster took you and disappeared. No one else got hurt besides you.

[rattlingthestars]

[ The relief to hear it is like a blow to the chest. No one beside you. His stupidity hadn't gotten anyone else hurt. ]

I could hear them trying to come after me. [ Could hear them when he already knew it was too late. ] Anyway, I thought... [ He shrugs, unable to elaborate on the vague fears. ]

[deus_ex_phs]

You thought one of us would rush in to try to save you and end up getting killed by the monster, too.

[It's not hard to guess what Jim's fear was.]

I won't lie. I think we all thought about trying. Zell did, and I think Tifa would have, too, if I hadn't stopped her. And... [His voice is completely sober.] If I'd thought there was a chance I could save you, I probably would have been right there with them.

[rattlingthestars]

Yeah, I did. [ He'd even heard part of it, enough to worry about when he woke up. ] Getting close to those things is no joke, and ... there wasn't any chance. Nothing anyone could have done.

[ As soon as he'd turned around and taken steps toward it, he'd been dead. He's not sure how he knows that with such bone-deep certainty, but he does, and so all he can feel is a fierce gladness that Kunsel had realized that and kept himself and the others out of danger. ]

But - you know. Thanks for wanting to.

[deus_ex_phs]

[It's in that moment that Kunsel wishes for nothing more in the world than to be able to reach out and put a hand on Jim's shoulder. To be able to reassure him through physical contact and through voice how much he means to them.

But he can't. All they have is the tablets right now.

So Kunsel doesn't even try to hide how his voice roughens at the edges.]

Don't thank me for something like that. That's what friends do, Jim Hawkins.