đđĄđĄđŚđ˘ đđ˛đŤđ°đŹđŤ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
satanicpanics) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
abraxaslogs2024-01-15 11:05 pm
satanicpanics) wrote in abraxaslogs2024-01-15 11:05 pm
Entry tags:
closed
Who: Eddie & River
When: January
Where: Nocwich
What: Questinâ
Warnings: Corpses, maybe more TBA
[ Most of the jobs Eddie has been accepted here in Abraxas have been simple: toss a few fish back into the sea, cheer up some kids with some musicâitâs always things he can complete in half a day without breaking too much of a sweat, and heâs happy to help. But this? This is a big job. An incredibly heavy, incredibly somber job.
Eddie would normally lean into the more comic side of his personality in cases like this, telling jokes to keep things light, but he doesnât feel like thatâs a particularly valid option here. Heâs happy to joke at his own expense, about his own death, but this is different. The humor helps him cope, but unlike Eddie, these people died and are still dead. They arenât even here to cope, so he makes a mental note to turn off the jokes until they figure out who these people were.
The more he dwells on it, the guiltier he feels about involving River in it as well. Ordinarily, heâd try to rope Steve in first, but Steve had actually been there on the island along with these people and still doesnât seem to want to discuss whatever happened there. Afterward, he just happened to pick River at random considering how well they immediately seemed to get along. Sheâs so new, though, and when they meet up in Nocwich, Eddie vaguely wonders how much she actually knows about this entire thing. ]
Hey, so, you werenât here for the wholeâŚisland thing, were you? Anyone catch you up on what went down?
When: January
Where: Nocwich
What: Questinâ
Warnings: Corpses, maybe more TBA
[ Most of the jobs Eddie has been accepted here in Abraxas have been simple: toss a few fish back into the sea, cheer up some kids with some musicâitâs always things he can complete in half a day without breaking too much of a sweat, and heâs happy to help. But this? This is a big job. An incredibly heavy, incredibly somber job.
Eddie would normally lean into the more comic side of his personality in cases like this, telling jokes to keep things light, but he doesnât feel like thatâs a particularly valid option here. Heâs happy to joke at his own expense, about his own death, but this is different. The humor helps him cope, but unlike Eddie, these people died and are still dead. They arenât even here to cope, so he makes a mental note to turn off the jokes until they figure out who these people were.
The more he dwells on it, the guiltier he feels about involving River in it as well. Ordinarily, heâd try to rope Steve in first, but Steve had actually been there on the island along with these people and still doesnât seem to want to discuss whatever happened there. Afterward, he just happened to pick River at random considering how well they immediately seemed to get along. Sheâs so new, though, and when they meet up in Nocwich, Eddie vaguely wonders how much she actually knows about this entire thing. ]
Hey, so, you werenât here for the wholeâŚisland thing, were you? Anyone catch you up on what went down?
no subject
[ âI guessâ isâŚsort of an enormous understatement. He and Steve werenât friends back home. In fact, the circles they ran in should have never logically overlapped, but they didâall thanks to a couple brainiac freshmen and the weird, fucked up world of Hawkins, Indiana. Eddie doesnât have many regrets, but sometimes he finds himself thinking that if he could go back and do it all over again, he would like to fix that. He misjudged Steve without ever knowing him, and this friendship theyâve forged here is big and important, at least to Eddie.
But itâs lonely in the dark. He knows that, knows how he felt trying to handle things on his own back home, and the relief he felt when someone showed up, listened, and offered him a hand. He hadnât wanted to flounder in the dark alone. He had just been panicked and scared and didnât know who to trust.
And now he wonders if the situation with Steve might not be too dissimilar, maybe it's not something he's talking about because it's just too frightening to relive, but Eddie knows that you can only hold onto something like that so long before it starts to consume you. ]
I know.
[ Sheâs given him something to seriously think about, something to pry into later, and he will, but for now, he tips his shaggy head towards the morgue. ]
But hey, enough about me. How about these guys, huh? Apparently they're feeling chatty.
no subject
Yes. They were in the dark too. But we dug them out so they could feel the sun on their bones one last time.
[ that's what kyle said and it's stayed with her. still, she hesitates. ]
But it's not just bones. That's why I asked, how much you know. I want you to feel ready.
[ because she sure as fuck wasn't. ]
Do you close your eyes and dive right in, or do you want me to spoil the surprise?
no subject
But yeah, he can only assume itâs not just bones. Itâs been awhile, enough for a corpse to begin to break down, but not âfully skeletonizedâ levels of time. He doubts theyâd have any chance of identifying them if that are the case. ]
Truth be told, Iâm not really the most âdive right inâ sort of guy when it comes to this stuff, but you telling me beforehand is gonna give me more time to back out and totally abandon you, which I really don't think either one of us is gonna be happy with, so, uhâŚprobably best if you donât spoil it.
[ He offers a wry smile. He has no intention of backing out; heâs come a long way from where he started when he arrived, but he knows how his brain works. Heâll whip himself into an anxious spiral and get scared. But if heâs forced to think quicklyâwell, then he doesnât get the chance. And as much as theatrics and jokes have no place here, he still bows and makes a sweeping gesture toward the morgue. ]
Ladies first.
no subject
Be brave, go slow. We can do this.
[ as they enter the building, there are a few people they need to talk to first to be directed where to go. river hears them but doesn't listen, the meaning of their words drowned out by the things that aren't being said out loud.
hopefully eddie is paying more attention, because as the mortuary surgeon leads them to the section they'll be sorting through, river grows increasingly visibly anxious. her eyes are wide, darting all over as though seeing things beyond the walls that surround them, the overflow of grotesque bodies that this facility can barely manage to contain.
there's so much death here. so much violence and pain and sadness. all of it floods her mind and she winds up half a step behind eddie, head ducked slightly even as she pushes herself to move forward. when they stop at the entrance to the room they'll be working in, river doesn't say anything as grabs a small part of eddie's sleeve. just something to hold onto, an anchor of sorts, before they open the doors and see all the horror that lies within. ]
no subject
As he takes it all in, pale-faced and wide-eyed, staring a little more intensely than he probably should for the sake of his stomach, he feels a tug on his sleeve that pulls him out of it. He turns to peer at his companion, and when he sees the fear and anxiety written all over her face, embedded into her body languageâŚhe sees himself. He knows that feelingâheâs feeling it now, but somehow over the course of a year, heâs learned to not let it control him. It doesnât mean he canât empathize. ]
Heyâhey, remember what you said? Be brave, go slow? Weâve got this, right? Letâs just pace ourselves and, uhâŚno shame in taking breaks. I think Iâm gonna need plenty of them.
[ The entire thing is pretty heavy, and he seems to be looking for more comfort than just words to offer her. Sometimes, people just need something a little more concrete to help them through, like some sort of talisman. ]
So, listenâ
[ Eddie wears rings on every finger. The cheap nickel ones he owned back home are long gone; they didnât even make it to Abraxas, but heâs purchased chunky stone ones from vendors in Nocwich to replace them. At the end, theyâre all normal stones with no magical abilities, but they all have stories behind them, things that drew Eddie to them to begin with, whether he believes them or not. He pulls one of those rings from a finger and slips it into Riverâs hand. ]
You see this right here? Apparently the stone was like, imbued with the very essence of bravery or something? Or at least, the guy who sold it to me said so. Do I know if it works? Absolutely not, but just in case it does? I want you to carry it today while we do this, alright?
no subject
when eddie places the ring in river's hand, a different type of memory comes to her. soft and warm, the gentle firelight of nocwich under a dark sky as he listened to the merchant's sales pitch. it wasn't as fanciful as eddie's already roughshod tale but it makes it that much sweeter, that he would give this to her as a good luck charm of sorts. 'the very essence of bravery.'
it's a little corny and she loves it. river eventually smiles, fraught though it may be, and clutches the ring close. ]
Xièxiè nÇ, Eddie. It works.
[ even if only because he said he would be here every step of the way, and he is. that helps. she can be brave. ]
Go slow, and take breaks. I promise not to throw up on your shoes.
[ pour one out for kyle who wasn't so lucky. river flashes another fleeting smile at eddie before putting the ring on each of her fingers until it lands on her thumb, the best fit between the different size of their hands. she rubs her other thumb over the stone several times, taking deep breaths and letting it ground her.
when she feels ready, she nods her head decisively and looks around the room. it's not just bones, she had said. some of the bodies are virtually goo with spongy bones, others have have growths and lesions and fungi across their desiccated flesh. the ones with roots disturb her the most, or those with small mouths full of thorny teeth that still look keen to devour.
she considers it all for a few minutes before turning away and wiping tears away from her face again. not great for the stomach, indeed. her voice comes small but earnest. ]
Where - where should we start?
no subject
They can both be brave, and they can be brave together. The two of them will handle this with twisted nerves and shaking hands, but theyâre gonna handle it all the same. ]
Well, my shoes and I both appreciate that.
[ He doesnât laugh, not here, but he does smile and dip his head in a slightly less extravagant show of gratitude. He keeps an eye on her for a moment, just to make sure that sheâs with him both physically and mentally as they finally step inside. No turning back now.
Itâs a lot. His head swims, his stomach churns, and as he looks at the poor souls laid out in various states ofâŚnot necessarily decay, butâŚgrowth, he really just has to wonder yet again what the hell Steve and the others went through down there in the pit. ]
Alright. Well, uhâŚ
[ He takes a deep, deep breath and steels himself as best he can. ]
They want us to sort them best to worst condition, and uhâŚthe surgeon guy also said to speak up if we notice anything familiar, but I feel like thatâs gonna be next to impossible. But be on the lookout forâŚanything, I guess?
no subject
this is different. far less intense, as much it's still horrifying, further searing the vision of these ghastly bodies into her mind - but it feels manageable. eddie knows she's scared; he's scared too, she can feel it. and they're still pushing forward.
she feels capable. it's a rare feeling, when so often she just feels broken. eddie is grappling with his own complex emotions by being here, full of anxiety and dismay in various forms, but he's staying strong and helping her stay on her feet.
river doesn't want to let him down. she can do this. we can do this.
so without another word after hearing his explanation, river glances around the layout of the room and starts walking. passing by each of the bodies, eyes wide and head twitching as thought and emotions and memories overlap, tugging her in different directions. there are other people in the space, there to help move and arrange the bodies as they sort them or otherwise working on their own tasks, but river just steps around them and continues her scan of the room.
she worries at eddie's ring the whole time, and by the end of it, she's shivering a little with the energy that boils beneath her skin. but she thinks she has an idea of what they're doing. ]
Hair, nails, skin, clothes, jewelry. Type of injury, severity, potential hazards. The bones - the teeth.
[ all things they should be able to use to identify people, however imprecise. with that high level assessment, a way to rationalize the task at hand, river turns back to eddie to see what he thinks. ]
"Impossible" doesn't exist anymore. If magic is real - if magic can do this -
[ a brief look around the room before turning back to eddie ]
- everything counts. If you see something, you'll say? I - I will too.
[ it's very likely they'll see different things, even if only for the sake of river's third eye. ]
no subject
Alright, wellâŚ
[ He huffs out a nervous breath, and all that shaggy hair gets tied back with shaking hands. It doesnât exactly keep it out of his face. In fact, tendrils fall right back down and onto his face, but it still helps to lend him a little more focus. ]
Iâll definitely say something if I see something.
[ Impossible doesnât exist anymore. Thatâs true; heâs fallen into that same thought process where previously impossible things donât surprise him at all anymore, but it still feels impossible as he begins to observe each bodyâeach personâas closely as his stomach will allow.
Itâs not fun work. It kind of sucks, actually, but he turns all of Riverâs suggestions into a checklist: take note of hair color, skin color, the clothing, notice any and all jewelry, and so on. It doesnât feel like heâs getting anywhere. If theyâre supposed to sort these bodies from best to worst condition, thatâs gonna be hard too. They all seem to be in a general state of âbadâ.
He makes meager mental notes for awhile, and when he glances over at his companion to give himself a break from the picture of death, his gaze falls upon something and finally feels like he rolled high on a perception check. ]
Hey--
[ He points to the woman River is examiningâand to the half of a bone charm around her neck. ]
Thatâs not a full pendant. So if itâs likeâŚthose shitty plastic friendship necklaces or something, someoneâs gotta have the other half, right?
no subject
like the first body, whose sunken skull used to hold brown eyes and long brown hair before it melted away beneath the acidic creatures that kept them trapped in the pit. on the second, she sees the belts and buckles and buttons that seem typical of fashion in the free cities over the blistering wounds with thorny protrusions that leave her scratching feverishly at her arms. and the third body, when eddie points out the necklace -
the thing about memories is that they can cling to places and objects as much as people.
when she idly reaches out to touch the half of the pendant, river immediately screams and flinches away as though burned by it. she stumbles into the tables holding more bodies behind them, making quite the ruckus as she cries and stares at the body in horror. ]
Get it out, get it out! Not supposed to be there, it's not - they're supposed to be together, not here, not -
[ she shouts again as a phantom pain blooms in her shoulder and back, seeing and feeling the vines and thorns that tore through them as they clung to each other helplessly. she unintentionally knocks into eddie, unsteady on her feet as she begins to look around the room wildly. ]
Where is she? You have to get it out, they can't - they can't take her, they're supposed to be together!
no subject
Whoa, whoa! Hey, hey, hey! River!
[ He wouldnât normally physically reach out to steady someone he barely knows; a quality left over from his attempts to avoid the metric fuckton of shit he got back home any time he so much as breathed at the wrong person, but River is unsteady on her feet and clearly needs some sort of grounding. So he reaches out and barely, just barely touches her arms, just enough to stop her from totally teetering into him or into something else. ]
Hey, itâs cool, itâs cool, itâs cool. Weâre totally cool.
[ Itâs probably not cool, and they might need that break soon than later. Eddie doesnât quite understand anything sheâs saying, but he can only assume the corpses are speaking to her, just as she suggested earlier. A useful skill to have on hand, but obviously something pretty fragile to deal with. Heâll ask for the specifics soon, once heâs calmed her down a bit. ]
They are supposed to be together, and we're gonna make that happen, alright? Cross my heart.
[ He draws an X over his heart with a pointer finger, and now he's just locked himself into a promise. They're not allowed to fail in reuniting this woman with her other half now. ]
We've got time. We're taking this slow, remember? And now we have something to go on.
no subject
it's all wrong. she tries to listen to what eddie is saying, but she hears screaming and crying too and only some of it is her own. so she shakes her head, holds on tight, and weeps. ]
It's not - we're not cool, Eddie. It's - dĂŹyĂš shĂŹ kĹng de, mĂłguÇ jiĂš zĂ i zhèlÇ, it hurts.
[ the memory is vivid and painful and sad, so terribly sad, the way all of the people here suffered as they laid rotting in the pit. river thinks of her brother and despairs for what it would've been like to be trapped so helplessly as their blood slipped through their fingers.
but eddie promised they would let them be together again, so river puts a hand over where he had drawn his x and looks up at him with a powerful desolation in her tearful eyes. ]
We have to get it out. Her face is gone. They couldn't see it in the dark but they could feel it. The roots, oh god, they're inside and outside and tearing me apart!
[ istredd said 'you need to protect your mind' but she isn't any better at it yet. they should probably take that break soon. she won't leave this room until they find the other sister though, her eyes darting around the room as she looks for one of the humanoid roots. ]
no subject
For a moment, he thinks about justâŚending this whole thing and getting her out of here. River is clearly terrified, and itâs a terror that reaches far beyond the general air of anxiety that permeates the room. She says it hurts, and how is keeping her in this situation helping anyone?
But all the sameâŚhe just made a promise, and he canât see her letting that go. Heâs been holding onto a lot of guilt over broken promises, and adding another to the pile doesnât feel quite right. So he just lets her grip at him for a moment, lets her try to work through this to some degree on her own because he doesnât know what else to do. ]
Okay. Listenâlisten, justâŚjust look at me for a sec.
[ He tries to draw her attention again, back to him and away from those poor corpses. ]
I canât hear what you hearing, so youâve gotta help me out here. Wire me in. What are you looking for? What do we have to get out? You have to let me know so I can help.
no subject
eddie says to look at him so she does, stares him in the eyes and tries to remember istredd's calming presence as she forces herself to take deep, steady breaths the way he had shown her. it takes a long moment and she holds tightly onto eddie's arms to stay on her feet as the rush of oxygen and adrenaline leaves her trembling.
be brave. go slow. wire him in. she's still staring as she speaks, seeing beyond him and trying to explain. ]
There's... there's two. This one was left waiting in the dark, waiting for her sister to come back but she came back wrong. Bones cracking, roots growing. From her back, and her face - where her face used to be. Clumps of red hair falling away. Can't make it stop, it's cutting into her too, can't get it out.
[ river stops with a gasp, still crying but not in the same frenzied panic as before. she's trying to channel all of that energy into eddie instead. he crossed his heart. can't make him into a liar. ]
People used to say they looked like twins. But now... I don't know if she's human anymore.
[ the observation doesn't really come from her, more like the last impressions of a dying woman trying to make sense of their grim fate. but river is hoping this helps eddie understand more about the state of the other body they're looking for, one so twisted and grotesque that it might be hard to identify as a former human, if not for the bits of auburn hair still stubbornly clinging to a misshapen skull. ]
no subject
[ Heâs admittedly a little slow to decipher her meaning. Itâs sort of like how he needs an embarrassingly long moment sometimes to fully comprehend what Dustin is babbling about, but he lets himself be slow, lets himself work through the things River is saying phrased by phrase. He made a promise and crossed his heart, after all. Heâs not going to pull away from all of this now.
He already knows thereâs two of themâthe necklace was his clue there. One was left waiting in the darkâso they were separated at some point, and the tother came back wrong. Wrong, like half of the bodies here look now. Itâs horrifying in the aftermath; he can only imagine what it was like to be there and he makes a second mental note to talk to Steve when all of this is over.
People said they looked like twinsâsoâŚsiblings, or mother and daughter, but relatives of some sort. Red hair, just like the woman with the bone charm, but no face to go off of. In the end, he gets it and snaps to attention. ]
Red hairâŚ.red hair, no faceâŚred hair, no faceâŚ.
[ He gives Riverâs shoulder a quick, reassuring squeeze and mumbles to himself as he begins to walk down the rows of corpses, skipping right by anyone who may still be recognizable as human. It takes several moments, but River has helped to narrow down what heâs looking for. In the end, he stops in front of the body of a woman, more plant than human now, with a few wisps of auburn hair laying limp across a grotesque collection of gnarled roots that are no longer recognizable as a face. He frowns, and his stomach turns once more. What happened on that godforsaken island? ]
So, uh, she fits the bill. But sheâs not wearing a necklace. I guess it could have been lost, butâŚ
[ He sure hopes they didnât just hit a dead end. ]
no subject
but she's much slower as they walk through the rows and rows of disfigured bodies, hearing their stories too in an overwhelming tide. her fingers rub across the stone in his ring almost obsessively, trying to stay grounded in the present moment and the task at hand.
when he stops and gestures to the horrifying creature that the woman's sister has become, despair drops into the pit of her stomach and she ends up on the edge of panic again. ]
No, no no no. It has to be here! They're always together, never far from each other.
[ the way she and simon had been inseparable once upon a time. maybe that's part of why she feels so bereft on behalf of these siblings. river gets far too close to the body, just shy of touching it with her bare hands, to look around for the pendant.
not finding it there, she turns instead to frantically looking around the other bodies and then starts digging in the box of things the attendants had collected to be tested in a lab later. one of them sees her and calls out 'hey!' since they weren't asked to help with sorting their belongings - but river ignores them entirely.
the necklace isn't here either. but it has to be somewhere. they're supposed to be together. river looks around one last time, eyes wide and searching, then doesn't turn back to eddie when she just leaves the room entirely to go look somewhere else. the morgue assistant turns to him with a disapproving look, probably expecting some kind of explanation. ]
no subject
Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
[ He hisses after her, but sheâs already halfway down the hall, and sheâs clearly not stopping for anyone, because she marches right past the morgue assistant, who fixes Eddie with a questioning and disapproving look.
Maybe he canât fully understand Riverâs dedication to reuniting these two siblings. He has no siblings, and the only family member he feels even relative close to these days is his uncle, but he does know what a horrible feeling it is to be alone. And besides that, he doesnât have to understand. Itâs clearly important to River, and heâs not going to take that away from her.
So he quietly utters shit beneath his breath, and turns to the assistant with his most charming smile. ]
So, uhâŚshe just needs some air. Pretty heavy shit in there, you know?
[ But that is clearly not the way to the exit, and when the morgue assistant mentions it, Eddie know he needs to buy her some time to look a round. Itâs important to her, so itâs important to him. ]
Oh, youâre right. Iâll go get her, justâ
[ He panics, just a little bit, contemplates roping him in with a half an hour of the intricacies of elven politics in Tolkien, but then he remembers that he has powers here, and he relaxes. ]
So, uh, real quickâwhatâs black and white and red all over? [ He doesnât give him an opportunity to answer. ] Well, given how huge the universe is, dude? Probably a ton of items.
[ Itâs not a funny joke, and thatâs sort of the point. Because with a little focus, Eddie has the ability to twist anything he says into the most hilarious joke anyone has ever heardâand it works. The morgue assistant falls into a fully incapacitating fit of laughter, to the point he has to kneel on the ground clutching his stomach as he chuckles, tears in his eyes.
Eddie bows, grinning, and then calls over this shoulder: ]
Hurry it up, River!
no subject
down the hall, just a few rooms away, she finds another one filled with more boxes than bodies, an assorted collection of items retrieved from the island. she knows there are people in the room that are speaking to her, knows eddie followed after her and hears laughter in the hall, but it's all background noise. static fuzz cut through by a ringing that gets louder as she moves from the first box to a second and a third.
it all stops when her fingers finally find what her mind was reaching for; a sudden silence deafens her to the rest of the world as she pulls a necklace out of the box. the string snapped from a neck that grew to the width of a tree trunk but the bone charm is still there, beautifully carved to fit one half of a pair.
they're both caked with dirt and gore now, but at least they won't be alone.
river stares at the pendant for a moment longer before clutching it to her chest, letting the rest of the noise flood back in as she turns around. she notices the room's attendants first and gives them a quick bow in silent apology, then runs to eddie's side and tugs on his sleeve. ]
Eddie. Time to go home now.
[ not for them, at least not yet. but for these nameless sisters who lost themselves in the dark, they can help them be on their way. together, the way they're supposed to be.
although, now that she's next to him, the morgue assistant's forced laughter is much harder to ignore. river eyes him curiously and then blinks at eddie. she seems more focused than before, most of the distress simmered away now that she holds the missing puzzle piece. ]
Is he okay? Did you break him?
no subject
Huh? Oh, heâs fine. I just told him a joke. Guess it was a real side-splitter.
[ He grins, innocent as can beâwhich really isnât innocent at all, but the morgue assistant isnât injured. The only pain heâs going to be suffer is his stomach from all that laughter, but itâs slowly beginning to ebb now. ]
Iâll be here all week, man.
[ He dips into another bow and leaves the poor morgue assistant to pull himself together, turning to lead River back into the room with the two sisters. He canât help but be a little proud that she actually found it, especially when Eddie himself was planning on giving up. Partly due to that and party because sheâs so invested, he thinks she should have the honor of reuniting the two. ]
How did you know where it was?
no subject
but this is important to her. and as much as her overall demeanor has improved, the voices are still there in her head. the pressure is just less intense now that this one knot has been unraveled. ]
Sometimes lost things want to be found.
[ it's the best explanation she can offer. river bypasses the humanoid plant entirely to go back to the other body. ]
She wanted it back. The sister. Felt it slipping.l and wanted to give it back, hoping maybe she would escape and take a piece of her back home.
[ but they died together instead. river places the pendant on the body so the bone charm rests next to its other half. together again and irrevocably separated.
not a moment later, the morgue assistant storms right up to them, red in the face ( from laughter or anger or both ) as he demands to know what they were doing. river tucks herself halfway behind eddie, head ducked sheepishly as she says: ]
DuĂŹbĂšqÇ, biĂŠ shÄngqĂŹ. She won't touch anymore, I promise.
[ it's probably better that way, honestly. things only boiled over after touching the pendant. maybe they can take a break and try again? if they'll let them, that is... ]
no subject
He lets River reunite the two bone pieces. Itâs important to her, and important to them. Itâs a quiet moment, but then the morgue assistant barges in and Eddie nearly jumps out of his skin.]
Jesus Christ, man, I already told you my best joke. Youâre gonna have to wait for new material if you want more.
[ Eddie holds up his hands defensively, but then reconsiders. There should be no reason why theyâd be in trouble. After all, they havenât done anything wrong, and whatâs the worst that can happen if they just tell the truth? He shoots River a quick glance over his shoulder, and slowly lowers his hands. ]
Alright, soâŚthese twoâ
[ He gestures between the two women. ]
Theyâre sisters. We just needed to confirm. See?
[ Now, he brings the morgue assistantâs attention to the bone charms. ]
We had one, we needed the other. RiverâŚsaw it on our way in and recognized the other half here.
[ Now, that part is a lie, but itâs going to take significantly longer to tell the truth about River and her ability to speak telekinetically to the dead. ]
Just doing our job, dude.
no subject
maybe a little harder than eddie, though; her voice doesn't change in pitch, still contrite and thick with emotion as she stares at the body and outright lies. ]
They were neighbors. Saw them all the time in the Primary Settlement. They liked to set up at the same booth in the market, next to a plot of flowers and downwind from the bakery.
[ never mind that she's never been to solvunn. if he pays close enough attention, eddie might recognize the description - from the last time he was at the market himself. she isn't reading their memories but his, weaving the story of a life that never was based on what he knows and selling it as the honest truth.
she sounds fond, wistful, and devastated, the way anyone might witnessing the gruesome end of their "friends." ]
Their family was so sad when they were taken. Oh god, what are we going to tell them now?
[ she turns into eddie, hiding her face against him as she quietly sobs. the morgue staff seem to shrug it off at that point; they've seen enough emotional breakdowns over these horrible deaths already. they don't have the time to be moved, so the assistant just tells them not to go out of bounds of their assignment again, or else they'll be asked to leave.
river doesn't respond beyond a nod as she continues to cry. it's only once she's certain they're gone that she pulls away from eddie, her eyes red but dry as she smiles at him like all is well in the world. ]
RĂ oguò tiÄn kÄng, that was close. Thank you.
no subject
He wraps a comforting arm around River as she devolves into tears, shooting the man a look that says âcome on, are you really gonna make her cry?â Between the two, it seems to work. The man gives them a good talking to, leaves, and River pulls away with dry eyes. Eddie bursts into laughter. ]
Are you kidding me? That was all you.
[ And he couldnât be prouder! ]
Alright, why donât we take that break now? I think weâve both earned it.