File 02 - Video > Text

[christmaspun]

[For a moment, the feed turns on. There's Kristin, looking at the lens - face pale, eyes puffy from tears that dried up beforehand - but she doesn't speak. She can't bring herself to speak. She was gone, gone back to her home; now she's back, and it's apparent that something has gone wrong. Behind her, her room is a flurry of scattered papers. Dulled green eyes widen a bit as she tries to process information, tries to pull words from the haze and the darkness.

She can't do it.

She casts a darting glance over her shoulder, jumping at a shadow, and with the lift of her chin it's easier to see the fading bruises around her throat. Her eyes flick downward to the preview of her feed and she spots them.

The visuals click off. She switches to text.]


I went back. It felt like weeks, but the calendar here says it's only been a day. Like it was a bad dream.


I don't know what to do now that I've woken up.

Comments

Audio

[restingstitchface]

[The signs are there. Pallid skin and red eyes. The incapacity to speak that necessitates a change in medium. They draw him in to run an investigation. He eyes the micro-reactions and then the bruises on her neck - someone has frayed her nerves. The poor dear is terrified. Lost in darkness and frozen in fear. The colder she becomes, the hotter he feels. And what has he done to patients like this? Frightened them out of their minds.

And what's more intrusive than text at this moment?

His voice of course!]

Boo!

Audio

[christmaspun]

[The response to this comes after a brief beat - the voice that comes back over the line is raspy and cold. A far cry from that last time they had spoken.]

You aren't funny.

Leave me alone.

[resipiscent]

[Riku wasn't sure if he should answer this, at first. But the thought of the way she looked in her video didn't leave, it stuck in his brain and nagged, and he navigated back.]

Are you

[He wants to ask if she's okay, but the answer to that is pretty obvious.]

Would you like to talk about it?

[christmaspun]

I don't know how to wrap my brain around it yet, much less talk about it.


I feel like I should, but I don't know if I can.

text;

[assays]

[She catches a glimpse of the video feed before it changed to text, and well, Peggy didn't like what she could see.]

My name is Peggy Carter. Is there something I can do to help?

Text

[christmaspun]

I don't actually know what would help.

I don't...feel safe anymore.

video

[glitterateur]

[Guess who heard that scary sounding paper-nado earlier? This gal. So instead of actually going to Kristin's door, Mabel checks in via the network.]

...do you want hot chocolate?

Text

[christmaspun]

[Mabel's friendly face is nice to see - but she doesn't respond in video, instead firing back a text. A very cold, detached text. Hooboy.]

...That would be very helpful. I haven't been able to eat anything since I got back, so my blood sugar is probably getting lower than is safe.

text;

[5055034455]

[Man, this does not look good. Saul wonders whether he should respond or not, on account of it being none of his business, but something about her appearance plucks all those silly sympathetic strings in his heart.]

I'd start by taking a deep breath.

Re: text;

[christmaspun]

I'm trying to. I really am.

[What she doesn't say is that breath feels precious right now - like a privilege that she had been given again, more than a natural physical function.]

[enigmaestro]

Welcome back.

I daresay here is better than whatever had just happened to you over there.

[christmaspun]

[She knows, already, that he is not the same Edward. This has been established, this is knowledge that she can feel secure in. Knowledge is her only security right now.

But still his name on her comm makes her sick to her stomach, and it takes her a moment to even find words to respond with.]




it was him

text;

[matadorable]

you dont look well
are you living with anyone?

text

[christmaspun]

[Manolo. She likes Manolo. He has a good heart that he couldn't hide if he tried to. It's honest and she needs that right now.]

I don't feel well, either.

Yes. A pair of very nice twins. I'm a little worried that I scared them when I returned.

[mightthinkthat]

Perhaps you could take a walk. [ If she's feeling jumpy, it might be therapeutic to just put one foot in front of the other. ]

[christmaspun]

If I can bring myself to leave the house, maybe that would help....

Video

[foreshadower]

You don't look well, you know.

Text

[christmaspun]

Thank you for pointing that out.

I may never have known.

[More curt than intended, if she were honest, but...well, this is the worst time for sass.]

video;

[ursawhiner]

[Guess who's too shy to actually go knock on Kristin's door!]

Hey... are you okay? We missed you.

Text

[christmaspun]

[Impersonal as it is, she responds in text - mostly because she really doesn't want to scare him further.]

I'm not okay yet, Dipper, but maybe given time I will be.

That's very sweet. I'm glad to hear from you, too.

text | id reads "karen starr"

[boobwindow]

You still up for that coffee I talked about eons ago?

[ Girl, you look awful. She didn't miss those bruises around her neck either, getting the hairs on her neck to rise. ]

Text

[christmaspun]

...More than ever, I think.

I may need a day or two, though. The...nanites are still working on me.

text.

[glowsferatu]

[ Kanaya at first isn't sure she should say anything, the woman has clearly been through some kind of hell, and someone who can be as abrasive as her could only exacerbate things. Ultimately, she decides that if she does offer anything, she needs to be careful that none of it will make matters worse. ]

it can be like that sometimes
returning to a world that seems to have fallen apart and have to pick up the pieces where youre left
im afraid i have little comfort to offer
to feel that even when whats home is terrible you still have here erases so little of what you might have brought

Text

[christmaspun]

[It's good advice - but what on earth is with all the capitalization? She tries not to think too much of it, but it does make her feel like she's talking to a teenager.]

Exactly. It sounds very much like you understand.

text;

[neatniks]

Bad, huh?

Do you need somebody to talk to? Or to suggest tranquility exercises or something else necessarily dorky but nonetheless hopefully helpful?

Text

[christmaspun]

VERY bad. Very, very bad.

I don't really...know what I need. I've been trying some Tai-Chi exercises, but I can't seem to...quiet enough.

Text

[excitababble]

[ Things never seem to go right for this poor woman from what little he's seen... ]

Pick back up where you left off. If time didn't move on much for you since leaving it shouldn't be too hard.

Text

[christmaspun]

[Story of her life.]

I don't know how I can do that.

I don't feel like the same person anymore.

[orions_shadow]

Hey Kristin.

You okay?

Text

[christmaspun]

[She likes Shadow. She doesn't want to scare him, but she also doesn't want to lie, either.]

No, Shadow. I'm afraid I'm not.

( TEXT )

[abadidea]

It...looks like...are you okay?

Text

[christmaspun]

No.

I don't think I am.