023 - Out in the darkness the whippets will cry

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She's at the batting cages, setting up one of the machines. There's something off about it, though--in the way she moves, so tense it's almost jittery. In the way she looks--pale and drawn, only her cheeks flushed with feverish color. She nearly drops the bucket of balls when she goes to fill the machine.

Swing, miss.

Swing, miss.

Swing, swing, swing. Missing every time.

Eventually the machine runs out of things to throw at her. She leans on the bat for a moment, eyes closed, and then thumps back against the side of the cage, sliding down into a sitting position. Knees to chest, arms crossed over them, head resting on her arms. She's chewing her lip now, thoughtful and still so tense she looks like a spring about to snap.]

Comments

[itsthecoat.livejournal.com]

[smiles, wrapping an arm around her shoulder] Who says I was going to ask?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

You would be the first not to.

[itsthecoat.livejournal.com]

I know better. [gives her shoulders a soft squeeze]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

There was a blackout. I was reading, and then everything went dark--a whole chunk of the city. [He movements turn jerky, making the handwriting difficult to read.] I don't understand it.

[itsthecoat.livejournal.com]

Was anyone hurt, or did the lights simply go out?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

The lights went out.

[itsthecoat.livejournal.com]

Anybody figure out why yet?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

It was just an ordinary outage. No Contractor involvement, no intentional sabotage.

[itsthecoat.livejournal.com]

Good to hear it. [He doesn't ask the obvious question, simply hlding her close]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[She tensed and waiting for it, though. It takes her a while to realize he's not going to ask.]

...I panicked.

[itsthecoat.livejournal.com]

Was it the chance something might've happened, or the darkness itself?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Squiggly] The dark. It hurt, Jack. I swear, it hurt. But it didn't. Not really. I can't explain it properly.

[itsthecoat.livejournal.com]

That might have been fear, Misaki.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

I know what fear feels like.

[itsthecoat.livejournal.com]

Just how scared have you been Misaki? Not just a scared for your life sort of fear, but when terror is the only thing you fell and it's like your whole body's vibrating but you can't move, can't think, can't do anything but wait and watch, even when you can't register anything around you.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Goes to write something, but her stops just above the paper. She's shivering slightly, and she gulps, chews her lip, gulps again. She seems to be getting irritated with her own inability to write anything coherent down.]

[itsthecoat.livejournal.com]

[Jack shifts closer, hugging Misaki protectively] We can discuss it when you have your voice back, if you want. Might make things easier.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

Don't know about that.