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[forestcrap]

After the hole is sealed and Ninurta's done away with, your entire party is bippity bopped to the other side of the forest. If there were stragglers that got separated, you're all in one place again. If you lost gear, weapons, phones, whatever, it's back on your person, functional again. If you lost any organs you're on your own though. No but basically you've been bewitched to safety out of the forest and the evil noises have stopped, you're homefree, homies. There's a crow perched on a rundown fence post along the road watching you with beady little eyes before it takes off back into the forest.

The map takes you to a rundown little bed and breakfast not but a fifteen minute walk out that looks like it was abandoned a while ago. No foul play, just closed for business, the economy is rough when you're located next to a haunted forest. Feel free to avail yourself of its beds, there's no room service but least you don't have to pay.

[Mission: get your bearings, make sure all your shits there, do a headcount, follow the road. call dibs on a room. rest up]

Comments

[recurred]

[shakes her head slightly like she's about to rear up and say something along the lines of 'no i dont care' stops, swallows back. itches at her temple a bit]

I know, I mean I figured. [smiles a little. trying to shrug it off like 'of course, duh' but one of those masking smiles that gets a little creaky. pushes herself away from the counter again because what else is she going to do there, and starts forcing herself away step by step.]

You know I hardly know a thing about you, but I feel like I know you so well. And even though I know what's missing, it's still so shocking that it...hurts this bad. That I can't make you happy. I don't want to be a ghost anymore, all I want to do is make it all better but I can't..can I?

[sawedoff]

[chews the inside of his lip and looks down instead of answering. there's a big resounding no hanging there that probably just doesn't need to be said after all that]

What it was like for me to lose you like that, I can't. [another shake of his head. at least he looks up at her again. feeling like a shmuck.] Can't do it again.

[is that what u wanted. are you happy you beat it out of him now. no.]

[recurred]

[no. no this sucks she didnt ask for this once. and she's stopped moving. knowing he was going to go somewhere along those lines, but still somewhat floored by hearing it out loud. leaving her just standing there feeling helpless at him. trying to convince herself to keep moving away because it's done, it's over.]

[but she just stays there until his lock on her gives up again. her jaw steels stubbornly as she drops her bag, scampering forward onto the stool and across the bar and grabbing him by his coat into a tight hug.]

[sawedoff]

[holds his hands up while she scrambles like he's not sure what she's about to do i mean she's slapped him before it's not out of the realm]

[still kind of straight-backed when she's hugging him instead of slapping him around, but he lowers his hands after a pause to rest at the back of her head and her shoulderblades]

[recurred]

[flexes fingers into the fabric across his back and keeps herself burrowed into his neck for a good moment. trying to pull herself together mostly]

I'm sorry. [sighs it out like she's just defeated. slowly releasing him with at least one hand, running it to graze atthe side of his face as she pulls back enough]

I'm so sorry I let you down.

[sawedoff]

[catches her hand and gives it a squeeze as he lowers it, offering her a bracing kind of smile. i mean that's not familiar or anything. definitely not what she was saying as she was croaking in a bloody pool on the ground]

Okay, stop. You're not- you're here. Somehow. Maybe a few fries short of the value meal but you're pretty much all in one piece. And you got a good thing going, you got your friend, you got a life to go back to now. So we're gonna get you home and you're gonna live your life, okay? You haven't let me down nothin. I couldn't ask for more.

[recurred]

[there's a protest somewhere in her that starts her by opening her mouth but she steels herself and closes it, slowly letting go of him to sink back onto her knees]

There's something inherently flawed with that plan. [uses the back of one hand to wipe at the corner of her eye.] You shouldn't expect me to let it go. [you know me. ill try but stubborn]

[sawedoff]

[the sort-of smile hasn't dropped away yet, but it's definitely not hitting the eyes like he knew that was coming and it's more of a punch to the gut than anything else]

[sighs through his nose and leans in to press a kiss to her forehead]

You gotta.

[pushes away from the bar]

[recurred]

[closes eyes when he does and looks down at the recorder in her hand in her lap once he's pulled away]

I know.

[sawedoff]

[follows her look down with a set of his jaw before taking up another beer for the road and heading outside for some air. just got a ton of crap dumped on him. time for some good old staring off into nothing while he thinks a lot]