☆24

[dragony]

[Unknown user ID#]
[Audio: feminine voice, breathing loudly, with concentrated effort. Several false starts for speech—a consonant, a syllable—before a long, shaking inhalation, silence, and a slow release. Then,]

Where did I go?

[It's a child's voice, which may ping some recognition.]

It was... night, wasn't it? I fell, I think, I remember falling, then...

... and I woke up, here, I—

Did I die?

[Noises in the background: something solid clatters against the ground, a thump. Shaky breathing.]

[Video: some fumbling, strange angles, ceiling-window-child. A young girl, somewhere between ten and thirteen, sits on the floor. She's a mess. Her face is smeared with dirt, and there are small clumps of dirt and rocks caught in her pigtailed greenish hair. Her clothes haven't fared any better: aside from the dust and grime, there's more than a few tears in the fabric. Her breathing is a little more even now, but she's still having a hard time of it; she looks like she hasn't slept in weeks.]

Rua?

I want to go home now.

Comments

permavoice!

[dragony]

... Jaime?

[scarabsuited]

[hhHOOMANSIGH.] Ruka, hey. Where are you? Are you okay? [CAUSE YOU LOOK LIKE HELL...]

[dragony]

[POSITIVE SIGN INDICATING A LACK OF AMNESIA/ALTERNATE SELVES, YES.]

It's the Porter building. I'm... Yeah, I'm alright. [LIES LIKE ALWAYS.]

[scarabsuited]

Nice of you to drop in, [this'd be totally funny ha ha but he's not even making that much of an effor to be funny ha ha.] but, uh. Got a favor. Mind...staying there until someone can get you? On account of zombie invasion two-point-oh?

[dragony]

Yeah, I'm not going anywhere. [Let's not mention having a hard time walking off the damn platform...]

Are you alright?

[scarabsuited]

[lightly. a bit winded, but lightly:] Oh, you know. Punching zombies in the face, getting punched in the face by zombies...After a whole almost-week of no major crises? I'm actually not utterly shocked by this at all.

--Someone say they were coming to get you already, by the way? I can be at the lab in like, three minutes if not.

[dragony]

... I think it would be best if you came, if it's this crazy. I don't want anyone getting hurt, because of me.

[scarabsuited]

Hah--yeah, no prob. Just hang tight and I'll be there in three.

[beat.]


...Or five.

[dragony]

... Jaime?

[scarabsuited]

[after a nice little moment of a woman screaming in hysterics and Jaime trying to get a word in edgewise and the following rush of wind to get away from the noise.]

Hi! Yeah? What?

[dragony]

Nothing. I was just worried for you, is all.

[scarabsuited]

Don't you know better by now? C'mon, girl. Now hold up, I'm on my way directly. [does you wan' an action log here :V]

[dragony]

Not yet, I guess.

[MORE TIME WITH JAIME LET ME THINK HMM if'n you have the time for it, that would be lovely :V]

action!

[scarabsuited]

[fwoop. down to the lab! no worry about getting into civies at the porter cause all kindsa hella crazy people pop outta here. montage sequence of walking inside to the porter room--beepbeep detecting heat readings...]

Ruka-?

action!

[dragony]

[And there's Ruka, still sitting, and leaning against a short way from the communicator-dispenser machineamabob. She doesn't look as out of it as she did in the initial video, but still beat up. At the sound of her name, she looks up with an exhausted smile.]

Jaime!

[Slooooooooow standing action with lot of hands-to-wall bracing action.]

action!

[scarabsuited]

[Scarab's already scannin' you for srs damage, gurl, as Jaime trots over and kneels next to, losing the head armor.] Ruka--jeez, hey. You sure you're alright?

action!

[dragony]

[No serious injuries, thank goodness; most is just surface scratches and bruises, but there's also some weird stresses on her muscles and tendons and junk — pulling in an eleven-year-old and stretching her back to the same size of the twelve-year-old who left will do that, you know.]

[Also has one of those weird hologram-producing duel disk machine thing latched onto her arm.]

Yeah... just tired, is all.

action!

[scarabsuited]

[a relieved exhale, a vague smirk. he reaches out and sets a hand on her head in that big brotherly kinda way.] You need to stop getting thrown around in danger, you know that? Gonna give us all a heart attack.

action!

[dragony]

[She bows her head a little under the weight of the hand, smiling.] I know... but I can't let you all get hurt, trying to protect me.

action!

[scarabsuited]

Well, hey. Some of us totally got the gear to handle that? So I wouldn't worry too much about that part. [a broader smirk, moving the hand.] Now...Can you get up and walk? Or are you too tired? 'Cause don't worry if you are--I been lifting weights.

action!

[dragony]

Not everyone is you, Jaime... And I can walk.

[She pushes away from the wall to stand up straight, wobbles a little, almost topples, but catches her hands on the wall again before she loses her legs beneath her completely.]

[Ooookay maybe she can't. She scowls at herself and tries again, but that attempt is even less successful.]

action!

[scarabsuited]

Oop--[standing up and holding out an arm to keep her from falling on her face.] You won't be too offended if I carry you, right?

action!

[dragony]

No, I won't be offended. [Disappointed in herself, maybe, but she won't hold it against Jaime or anything. Adjusts her stance to be easier to grab.]

Thank you for all this.

action!

[scarabsuited]

Don't worry about it. [scooping her up, easy as pie! and we are walking.] Not afraid of flying, are you? I don't think I ever flew you before.

action!

[dragony]

[Whee walking.]

No, I'm not. I went flying a couple times, with Bizarro.