[012] the awful edges where you end and I begin

[notafuckingnut]

[Accidental!Video to the masses, Spam for Lua]

[The feed flips on, revealing a dark gray that shifts around with the sounds of motion, although voices can be heard, one clearly agitated and just as obviously male, the other more hushed and female.

Note for ease of following: regular text is Richie, bolded text is Lua]



I don't like it here.  There are people following me but I can't fucking see them, and I swear somebody grabbed me earlier.   I've got marks, I can prove it.  I'm going on record saying that there is something very fucked up going on here.  And...don't tell me to go back to my room because there is something.in.it.  

I can hear it breathing in the walls.

[There's a worried "tsk"ing sound, and when she speaks, it's with a little more shake in her voice than usual.]  It follow you here?

...Maybe?  I heard it for a while and then I couldn't anymore.  You believe me, though.  You heard it too?  [Desperate for confirmation; he'll accept it if she says no, but he reeeeally needs her to say yes.]

...yeah.  [She may just be trying to reassure him, or it might be the truth; either way it's as if she's trying to say as little as possible.]

Are you sure?  I mean, you're not just saying that, you're serious.  [The fact that she's not being overly verbose doesn't seem to encourage him very much; he's wheedling now, and the grey shifts with the sound of footsteps; he's pacing.]

 [Her pitch shifts upward, and there's a rustle as if she's reached out to settle him down.]  'm serious, Richie.  

...Okay.  Good.  [Inhale.  Exhale.  Inhale.  Exhale.  The footsteps stop and there's a second rustle of fabric that's closer than the previous one, and more constant, like the originator can't keep still.]

D'you think I could stay here?  Not for forever or anything, just...a few days.  I don't trust what's in my room.  Or what's out in the hallways.

[The start of a quick breath in, but she recovers.]  ...you sure?  [This Isn't All Right, to anyone who's less nervous and afraid.]

Safety in numbers?  [So hopeful.  Worse than not trusting nameless shadows in the corners is not trusting that you're right about them after you've seen them; he figures if he sticks around her he'll at least know for sure.  Not to mention maybe they'll leave him alone finally.]

[She's fishing for some kind of excuse, surprised that he's serious.  But she can't just tell him no, not after everything else she's done for him.]  ...can't always be here. I work, remember?

So I'll stay here when you're at work.  Or I can go with you; I won't cause any problems, I swear.  [None that he can think of having at the moment, anyway.  His tone is nothing but innocence, and his expression likely would match if it could be seen.]

 ...if you calm down a little, we'll go get your stuff.  [It sounds like to her, that's only a small possibility, like he'll forget about it if she can distract him long enough.]

I AM calm.  [And now he sounds vaguely offended.]

So that's a yes?

[A quiet noise that could be yes or no depending on what you want it to mean.]

[He's taking that as a yes.  Now that he's gotten his way he's much less twitchy and much more tractable.]  You think it's okay to go out there?


[A/N: in light of new Barge developments, Richie, in a rare moment of intelligent insight, has decided to attach himself to someone a bit more steady in the perception department than he is.  In this case, Lua.  Same rules as last post apply -- seeing as how Lua's there she may interrupt the posts without warning or prompting unless otherwise indicated since she is in fact there and it IS her room.]

Comments

Re: [spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

[ wow Richie she's totally doomed isn't she. If this is a horror movie, which it isn't. She shrugs one shoulder like "could be true". ] Always better.

...it's going to be all right.

[spam]

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[...If he'd thought a little more he might have realized that was NOT helpful to say. Although in all honesty he probably would have said it anyway.]

You don't know that. This is some seriously fucked up shit.

[spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

[ She's just come to expect that from him by now. ] ...yeah, but. If you're not alone.

[spam]

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

You've got a better chance. I know, I know.

[spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

[ She tries to shut out the sense that something's watching her from the other direction as Richie. Might be wrong this time, her senses haven't been the best. ] Ever see something like this?

[spam]

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[Pace pace, and he'll settle in whatever furniture's closest, making himself at home.]

What's going on here? [Headshake] Nope. I've seen a chick turn into fucking Nosferatu, but nothing like this.

You?

[spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

[ it's very much a man's room that's had a little space made for a girl - you probably get the bed, because that tiny dressing table chair does not look like something you could settle in

so she takes it because she hates looking down at a guy, and looks at Richie like of course he can handle this. ] Seen more than I have.

[spam]

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[...And here he was hoping at least ONE of them had actual experience with this kind of thing.]

...Oh. So how do you know it'll be okay if you've got two people?

[Richie: incapable of dropping anything ever]

[spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

Bad stuff's only happened to people by themselves, right? [ She hopes he's forgotten about the nightmare creature, though she doubts it, so she's going to have to mention it. ] Thing in your room ran away when it saw two of us.

[spam]

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

...But it's worse now. They're everywhere, they're always watching, even when you can't see them. And they can touch you now. Maybe the rules changed.

[Worlds of uncertain.]

Re: [spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

What can you do, if they did? [ Come on, Richie, you're a guy, you can handle this.

She wants to go call up someone who'll let her hide with him, a guy who would take care of her, if she let him. But she's got to get him believing he can take this on first. ]

[spam]

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[Reluctantly, like a child repeating reminders the parent just gave.] ...Adapt.

[Evidently she's done humoring him; he can tell. And like that, the flip switches. Gone is the twitching, worried guy jumping at shadows, to be replaced with a calm(er), more in-control demeanor. ...For now, anyway.]

I'm just saying. It's a shitty situation and you can't count on the rules to be right anymore.

[spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

[ Maybe he can calm back down to how he was when they first met, and she can get him to handle himself. ] You always have to watch out here, Richie. It's just like always. ...just different.

[spam]

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

But there weren't guys running around you can't even fucking see before. It's not "the same but not," that's a bullshit cop-out. There wasn't something breathing in my wall before, that's not...that's not even on the same fucking page as "like always just different". That's fifteen steps above Barge normal. At least.

[...nevermind that the thing in his wall isn't related, it's just stress exacerbating his normal issues; he can't tell the difference, and that's the whole problem.

But he's calm. For him, anyway. Agitated, yes, but not to the point where he'll cause problems.]

[spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

Telling you what I'd tell anyone else. [ Anyone she'd have to calm down, at least. ] Let's go get your stuff and we can see if it's still there, okay?

[spam]

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[Nod nod, and he gets up from his seat.]

Yeah, sure, okay.

[spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

[ When they go out, she makes sure to stay close, though whether it's so she keeps him safe or stays safe herself, who knows? ]

[spam]

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[The trip there's surprisingly uneventful; the buddy system seems to work out well, and they're unaccosted by the phantom Barge occupants the entire trek. Surprisingly enough. And then they're there and walking through the door. Richie heads off to grab some things. Not many, since he doesn't have a lot of things to begin with, but the important ones.

A few minutes in and he gets a little more on edge, but he doesn't say anything, just keeps doing what he's doing; she said everything was fine, so it's fine.]

Re: [spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

[ She's looking around for anything he might need that he's missed, but even so can tell something's wrong. Might just be in his head, but she needs to make sure, so she looks back at him like you all right?. ]

[spam]

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[A questioning look; he knows he's being a bit shifty but he thinks he's covering it up pretty well. Evidently he isn't. A shrug, like "same old", and one more glance over the room and he's finished.]

Good to get out of here when you are; I don't think the travelling in packs thing is working out too well.

[spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

Could just be your place. You hear anyone in mine? [ He's hearing the walls again, isn't he? It's probably just his own head, and that worries her even more - she knew he was crazy, but not this bad. ]

[spam]

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[They might be whispering; he's trying not to listen.]

Nah, your place is okay, I don't think they like it there.

...Or they haven't found it yet.

[Pause, and then a questioning head tilt.]

You don't hear it?

[spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

[ She shakes her head. ] Not in here. [ Not anywhere, but she told him she'd heard it in her room, right? ]

[spam]

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

...But you said you heard it before.

[Somewhere else. But he's not putting the pieces together; she said she heard it, so therefore she did, and he's not sure why she's saying she doesn't hear it now.]

[spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

My place, remember? And it left. [ She tilts her head, thinking through why it might be that way (except not). ]

Maybe you only hear it in your place.