Do you see all this weird fucking shit going down? I'm not going mental, am I?
[It's an innocent enough question to ask. Nathan looks tired and, for once, not even all that amused. If it was just somebody doing something stupid or being an ass, he'd laugh, but all this stabbing and dying and shitting all over each other? It's kind of fucking creepy. It's not that he necessarily wants to make sure she's okay, he just wants to...know that somebody around here hasn't lost their head.
Unfortunately, this message isn't the one that Tifa gets. Instead, she'll see Nathan on the floor, his arm outstretched for the tablet like he was barely able to reach her inbox in the first place. There's a look of panic on his face. A slow realization that something is happening to him--something out of his control--something that a quick death isn't going to fix for him. He opens his mouth to say something to her, maybe a cry for help? But his throat locks up. He makes some sort of barely audible, wet clicking noise as he struggles. And then his mouth foams. His eyes grow watery, and then the brightness in them that signifies an active mind begins to dull.
Is there anyone left in there? His movements become slack. It would almost be peaceful, if it weren't for the abnormal pace of his breath.]
[Everyone is losing their minds, she thinks. Everyone except the people she's with. When she sees the notification for Nathan's message, she's equal parts hopeful and terrified. Maybe he's fine, and checking in? But he wouldn't check on her, would he?
But of course, of course he isn't okay. The video begins and suddenly Tifa can't breathe. The look on his face is heartwrenching, and she finds her throat tightening as his mouth foams and his expression turns to something worse, something empty.]
Nathan?
[There's something wrong with her voice, a high note of strained panic.]
Nathan, can you hear me? Nathan!
[What he sees, of course, is different. Tifa looks very small on his screen, her shoulders hunched and her body shivering violently. Her face is disturbingly pale, a shocking white against the bright blood pooling in her eyes and dripping from her nose. There's too much, far too much, and it's coating her lips and sliding off of her chin in a steady drip, drip that she doesn't seem to notice.]
Nathan?
[Her tone is soft, oddly calm and detached. Her eyes aren't quite focusing on the tablet, and she pauses, blinking rapidly.]
[Nathan brings a hand up to his forehead, alarmed and immediately overwhelmed. She was supposed to be okay. She was supposed to be normal.]
I'm not being funny, I don't know what I can do. Shit. What's going on with everyone? Nevermind! What can I do? What the fuck do you need me to do?
[He's not a big enough asshole to not try and help her when she's bleeding out in front of him, even though he knows there's nothing he can do. There can't be anything he can do. He's so fucking far away and he's not a goddamn doctor. Not that it matters, because none of that message makes it through.
Instead, Tifa gets a weak, desperate gurgle and a strange convulsion from his chest. Like he hears her, he recognizes her voice, but he can't escape his own brain. He has no control over his body. He's a shell. And maybe even that recognition won't last forever.]
[Tifa covers her mouth, setting her jaw as she fights against the tears burning the back of her eyes. Angel, Rhys, and now Nathan... And there's nothing she can do. Nathan might as well be a million miles away, and even if she weren't trapped in this house, there's no way she can reach him in time to do anything.]
Please say something, please.
[He has to be okay. She can't even tell what's wrong with him, but he can hear her, can't he? And he's alone, she's almost positive. There's no one there to help.
On Nathan's screen, Tifa's head dips as she takes in a strangled breath.]
My stomach hurts. I think--
[She doesn't finish. Instead, she cuts herself off with a choked retching sound, gagging for a moment before she vomits, a dark venous red, thick and congealed. She gasps, shuddering, as fear finally enters her eyes.]
I don't know. Nathan, help me, please.
[That sudden desperate, pleading tone matches her real message, if nothing else does.]
[An extremely appropriate and thoughtful reply. Nathan thinks rapidly. He's trying, trying to find some solution for her, because what else is he supposed to do? What else can he do but panic?]
Okay, listen, you're not alone right? I know I'm the one you're asking for help right now, love, but I'm on the other goddamn side of the city! Maybe one of them has a bandage for...all of your face.
[It almost sounds crass, but the distressed, frightened look on his face makes the sincerity clear.]
[Of course, again, all Tifa's offered is the same alarming lack of character. He rolls over onto his side--if you can call it a roll, the way his arms flop as if they don't contain bones. He's still facing Tifa, but his eyes are lost as he stares at her. His mouth hangs partially open, and the frothy saliva begins to pool against the ground.]
[She doesn't know what to do. She's helpless in all of this, like with Nibelheim, like with Aerith, and she feels sick with it. But... if he can hear her, if that movement was a response to her voice... Maybe she should just talk to him? It's something, even if it's wholly inadequate and desperate. If he hears her voice, there's a chance it might comfort him, right? She sighs shakily, trying to keep her voice low and comforting, although the tremble in it betrays her.]
Nathan, you can hear me, can't you? Everything will be okay.
[It's a lie, and she feels worse for telling it. Tifa hesitates for a moment before forcing herself on.]
I'm sorry we... we haven't been getting along.
[Sincere or not, Tifa apparently takes it the opposite way, because she looks stricken for a moment before her shoulders begin to shake again. This time, though, the reason is more obvious -- a choked sob escapes her, and tears begin to cut grisly tracks through the blood on her face.]
There's no one else here! I'm asking you! I knew you didn't care about anyone but yourself. You've just been lying this whole time to make yourself look better!
[There is no response aside from tears beginning to roll from Nathan's eyes down his face. Is it a direct reply? Is it an automatic bodily function? Hard to say, since he doesn't seem to be able to speak. Doesn't seem to be able to do anything.]
Holy shit. Look, I'm trying my best, okay? I'm not there. I'm not a goddamn doctor! I'm the opposite of an expert at fixing problems I literally only ever make them worse it's like a special talent of mine. Where the fuck is this coming from? How can you fucking look at me right now and tell me I'm being selfish?!
[He honestly doesn't know how to feel. The whiplash between distress and insult is astounding and leaves him stuck somewhere in the middle.]
[Are those tears? They're definitely tears, and suddenly Tifa is finding it hard to breathe, like there's something sitting on her chest. She's still not sure if that's a direct response. Is he in pain? What can she even do if he is?]
I'll figure out a way to help you, I promise.
[They're under lockdown, though, and even if she could get a message through to someone, no one is getting to him until morning, at least.]
Hold on, okay? Just a little bit longer.
[She wipes the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, or tries to, at least, although all she really accomplishes is a smear. There's pain entering her voice, making it strained and rasping.]
You're right. You do make things worse. I thought-- I thought I could count on you, but I can't. Do you make everyone this miserable? Why do you even bother?
Jesus Fucking Christ! I want to help you! What the fuck do you expect me to do when I'm behind a goddamn metal wall halfway across the town? Give me a fucking break, would you? I don't want you to--you're--if you're gone, who else do I even have in this fucking hellhole keeping me halfway sane?
[His voice breaks, just for a second. Just for an instant. He wants to be mad, be furious, but how can he when she's looking at him with that accusing, desperate face? Nathan knows he did nothing wrong but fuck if he doesn't feel like complete scum right now.]
You have to tell me. You have to tell me what to do!
[Nathan gives no response, and the life does not return to his eyes, but he continues breathing. Sometimes he makes a weak noise in the back of his throat, but otherwise his state remains unchanged.]
@captaininvincible; video; Night 91
[It's an innocent enough question to ask. Nathan looks tired and, for once, not even all that amused. If it was just somebody doing something stupid or being an ass, he'd laugh, but all this stabbing and dying and shitting all over each other? It's kind of fucking creepy. It's not that he necessarily wants to make sure she's okay, he just wants to...know that somebody around here hasn't lost their head.
Unfortunately, this message isn't the one that Tifa gets. Instead, she'll see Nathan on the floor, his arm outstretched for the tablet like he was barely able to reach her inbox in the first place. There's a look of panic on his face. A slow realization that something is happening to him--something out of his control--something that a quick death isn't going to fix for him. He opens his mouth to say something to her, maybe a cry for help? But his throat locks up. He makes some sort of barely audible, wet clicking noise as he struggles. And then his mouth foams. His eyes grow watery, and then the brightness in them that signifies an active mind begins to dull.
Is there anyone left in there? His movements become slack. It would almost be peaceful, if it weren't for the abnormal pace of his breath.]
@lockhart; video
But of course, of course he isn't okay. The video begins and suddenly Tifa can't breathe. The look on his face is heartwrenching, and she finds her throat tightening as his mouth foams and his expression turns to something worse, something empty.]
Nathan?
[There's something wrong with her voice, a high note of strained panic.]
Nathan, can you hear me? Nathan!
[What he sees, of course, is different. Tifa looks very small on his screen, her shoulders hunched and her body shivering violently. Her face is disturbingly pale, a shocking white against the bright blood pooling in her eyes and dripping from her nose. There's too much, far too much, and it's coating her lips and sliding off of her chin in a steady drip, drip that she doesn't seem to notice.]
Nathan?
[Her tone is soft, oddly calm and detached. Her eyes aren't quite focusing on the tablet, and she pauses, blinking rapidly.]
I think something's wrong. Can you help?
no subject
[Nathan brings a hand up to his forehead, alarmed and immediately overwhelmed. She was supposed to be okay. She was supposed to be normal.]
I'm not being funny, I don't know what I can do. Shit. What's going on with everyone? Nevermind! What can I do? What the fuck do you need me to do?
[He's not a big enough asshole to not try and help her when she's bleeding out in front of him, even though he knows there's nothing he can do. There can't be anything he can do. He's so fucking far away and he's not a goddamn doctor. Not that it matters, because none of that message makes it through.
Instead, Tifa gets a weak, desperate gurgle and a strange convulsion from his chest. Like he hears her, he recognizes her voice, but he can't escape his own brain. He has no control over his body. He's a shell. And maybe even that recognition won't last forever.]
no subject
Please say something, please.
[He has to be okay. She can't even tell what's wrong with him, but he can hear her, can't he? And he's alone, she's almost positive. There's no one there to help.
On Nathan's screen, Tifa's head dips as she takes in a strangled breath.]
My stomach hurts. I think--
[She doesn't finish. Instead, she cuts herself off with a choked retching sound, gagging for a moment before she vomits, a dark venous red, thick and congealed. She gasps, shuddering, as fear finally enters her eyes.]
I don't know. Nathan, help me, please.
[That sudden desperate, pleading tone matches her real message, if nothing else does.]
no subject
[An extremely appropriate and thoughtful reply. Nathan thinks rapidly. He's trying, trying to find some solution for her, because what else is he supposed to do? What else can he do but panic?]
Okay, listen, you're not alone right? I know I'm the one you're asking for help right now, love, but I'm on the other goddamn side of the city! Maybe one of them has a bandage for...all of your face.
[It almost sounds crass, but the distressed, frightened look on his face makes the sincerity clear.]
[Of course, again, all Tifa's offered is the same alarming lack of character. He rolls over onto his side--if you can call it a roll, the way his arms flop as if they don't contain bones. He's still facing Tifa, but his eyes are lost as he stares at her. His mouth hangs partially open, and the frothy saliva begins to pool against the ground.]
no subject
Nathan, you can hear me, can't you? Everything will be okay.
[It's a lie, and she feels worse for telling it. Tifa hesitates for a moment before forcing herself on.]
I'm sorry we... we haven't been getting along.
[Sincere or not, Tifa apparently takes it the opposite way, because she looks stricken for a moment before her shoulders begin to shake again. This time, though, the reason is more obvious -- a choked sob escapes her, and tears begin to cut grisly tracks through the blood on her face.]
There's no one else here! I'm asking you! I knew you didn't care about anyone but yourself. You've just been lying this whole time to make yourself look better!
no subject
Holy shit. Look, I'm trying my best, okay? I'm not there. I'm not a goddamn doctor! I'm the opposite of an expert at fixing problems I literally only ever make them worse it's like a special talent of mine. Where the fuck is this coming from? How can you fucking look at me right now and tell me I'm being selfish?!
[He honestly doesn't know how to feel. The whiplash between distress and insult is astounding and leaves him stuck somewhere in the middle.]
no subject
I'll figure out a way to help you, I promise.
[They're under lockdown, though, and even if she could get a message through to someone, no one is getting to him until morning, at least.]
Hold on, okay? Just a little bit longer.
[She wipes the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, or tries to, at least, although all she really accomplishes is a smear. There's pain entering her voice, making it strained and rasping.]
You're right. You do make things worse. I thought-- I thought I could count on you, but I can't. Do you make everyone this miserable? Why do you even bother?
no subject
[His voice breaks, just for a second. Just for an instant. He wants to be mad, be furious, but how can he when she's looking at him with that accusing, desperate face? Nathan knows he did nothing wrong but fuck if he doesn't feel like complete scum right now.]
You have to tell me. You have to tell me what to do!
[Nathan gives no response, and the life does not return to his eyes, but he continues breathing. Sometimes he makes a weak noise in the back of his throat, but otherwise his state remains unchanged.]