There was one thing on Flora's mind and one thing only. It was that she needed to get to the shipping container as soon as she possibly could. She had realized with a start that what Trace had said about Crypt locking Tox and Brain in there was a little bit alarming. How long had they been in there? Did they have food? Water? Her mission had changed to potentially saving three lives instead of just one. She moved at a fast pace, still not running so she could maintain her bearings and sense of direction.
The sun was continuing it's rise into the sky, and Flora was taking a second to appreciate the picturesque view when Necro came running up beside her. She nearly leapt out of her skin and let out a startled noise. Without stopping, she gave Necro a fleeting glare. He, of course, seemed not to notice as he simply kept pace with her and started asking her about paints kg all things. She didn't think she would ever understand the way his mind worked, but she continued to find herself curious about him.
"I'm a little busy right now, Necro," she said to him, taking a turn as the trail forked in the direction of B lab, "Also I rather depends on what kind of colors you were hoping to work with." She stopped briefly to glance around and then kept going.
The way that Flora's life had been while growing up she had not had much opportunity to meet a huge variety of people. Perhaps that was why she had such a hard time understanding and relating to Necro, but she kind of thought she wasn't the only one so maybe that wasn't it. She scolded herself internally since this was certainly not the right time to be pondering such things. She was starting to worry that she hadn't heard or followed Trace's directions correctly when suddenly she saw it. Her relief was palpable, and without really thinking she grabbed Necro's arm in excitement.
"There it is!" she shouted, pointing at the shipping container which looked as though it had been dropped down a steep cliff, "Oh, I sure hope they're alright." She could only imagine what could have transpired here this whole time.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 9/26/2018 at 11:49 PM
Post #162
It was true that, in his life, Necro had never been the most focused individual. It was a challenge he had often struggled with as a child, though in his adulthood, he had developed a better grasp on. It was musical theater that taught him how to focus better, how to remember and how to pay better attention than he had when he was younger. His chosen profession was something of a blessing, and he longed to get back to it.
However, he was not stupid. He knew how to put two and two together and end up with something that at least closely resembled four. In spite of his lack of observational skills and mental focus, when the beaten shipping container came into sight, he knew that Flora had led them there on purpose. That she wanted to rescue Tox and Brain.
He wasn't pleased with his question being tossed aside, as the sensations he had experienced that morning pressed ever more urgently in his mind. "I don't quite know the colors right now," he admitted. "But it's usually on the darker shades of the spectrum."
When Flora grabbed his arm outside the shipping container, he paused and cocked his head to the side a little, examining her hand. The caramel tone was so much more vibrant against his half-deceased pallid color. He was intrigued by the sight for a few moments, not even bothering to bother with the shipping container.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 9/27/2018 at 10:57 PM
Post #163
Tension was building up in Flora's muscles the longer she stood there staring at the shipping container, and with each passing second she was finding it harder and harder to get moving. Scenarios were playing inside finger mind at lightning speed, each more horrific than the last. Tox and Brain had been in there for almost twenty-four hours, they could be hurt...or worse. The thought that she might find them dead upon opening the container is what had frozen her in place.
Ironically, not that Flora was in the mindset to notice or appreciate said irony, it was the almost deathly cold temperature of Necro's forearm that snapped her back to her senses.
"Tox, Brain!" she shouted, letting go of Necro and jogging forward to start banging on the door of the container, "Are you guys in there?" She waited with bated breath for a response and when she finally heard one her heart felt like it would burst with relief. "Hang on you guys!"
Taking a step back, Flora examined the shipping container thoroughly and quickly. Trace had been right, as she'd noticed earlier, it was considerably beaten up, with long tears in the sides. She went to look at the door latch and noticed it was rusty and slightly bent, probably from being slammed shut yesterday. She tried giving it a push but it didn't seem to want to budge. With a defeated sigh she thought about the options for a moment. If Tox and Brain had been able to fit through one of the holes in the container they would have done so by now, but perhaps if she could apply a little more force on this door latch, she could get it open.
"Necro?" she called over her shoulder, "Could you come help me with this please?"
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 9/28/2018 at 12:04 AM
Post #164
Warmth was one of the many things that Necro had come to value very highly in life (the pinnacle of the list being life itself, of course). When one was in a situation to have almost not experienced such wonder, one came to appreciate it more. Not that he thought death was a bad thing. No, he did not fear death, nor did he think he'd hide from it when it finally came for him fully. He enjoyed both worlds, from this delicious Paradise of the living to the hidden, dark, complex Nether.
Although he did not require warmth, and didn't feel cold ever - it was just how he naturally was - he constantly found him astounded by how wonderful warmth could be. He knew his natural body temperature was far lower than the average human's, but it had never affected him before.
He was brought out of his reverie when Flora detached from him, calling for Brain and Tox. She turned to him desperately, but he felt zoned out, still affected by the strange sensation he felt he could never get used to - touch. Human touch. Just another precious aspect of life he cherished.
After a minute, he understood what she was telling him to do. He blinked once. He had never been a physically athletic person, and his muscles were somewhat lacking as compared to someone like Tox. But he figured he had nothing left to lose, and so he walked over to where Flora was pushing on the latch. He placed his hands beside hers, close enough to be touching, and applied as much force as he could muster.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 9/28/2018 at 5:17 PM
Post #165
Time had become meaningless to Tox. He didn't know for how long he had been sitting by this crate, and he no longer cared. It was as though all of his feelings had been leeched from his body and the color had been drained from his world until there was only him and his despair and self-loathing. Even at his previous worst, after his sister's death, he couldn't quite remember being this emotionally traumatized, but he knew he only had himself to blame. He had screwed up, he had screwed up big time, and this time he had a feeling he wouldn't recover this time.
Not that Tox even thought he deserved to recover...
Silence was deadly, another quote from his grandfather, and one Tox had always found rather absurd. In the last hour or more, he truly didn't know exactly how much time had passed, understanding of what his grandfather had meant had dawned on him quite painfully. Neither he nor Brain had said a single word out loud this entire time, but there were things they both wanted to say that seemed to hang in the air like a thick cloud. It was this reason that made the silence between them feel so suffocating.
Maybe...maybe if...if he could just tell her...
"Hey!" he shouted, jolted out of brooding by the sound of someone calling their names from outside the container, "We're in here! Brain, someone's here." He stood up rather quickly, hissing at the pain in his shoulder but ignoring it for the most part as he made his way towards the door.
Relieved is how he should be feeling, Tox knew, and he did feel a sense of relief that they were getting out of this shipping container. However, he also felt saddened, and he didn't understand why until he realized that getting out of here and back to the compound meant that this whole ordeal hadbt just been a dream gone wrong. He really had foolishly convinced himself he could be allowed to have an emotional attachment to another person, and he had really said those awful things to Brain when it had all spiralled out of control. How was he supposed to go on with his life when they got back? How was he supposed to live with himself? He supposed be would simply have to find a way...
-----
Every nerve in Flora's body was zinging woth adrenaline. She felt elated to have found the shipping container, relieved that it sounded like both Tox and Brain were mostly alright, but she also could still feeling though there was a timer slowly ticking down to zero. They had to get Brain back to the compound so she could help Wire. She could just picture Reach back in the infirmary, fretting over Wire's prime body, trying to remain calm. They could suffer no more delays, but of course, the door to the shipping container had to get in their way.
"Alright," said Flora when Necro came over to help her, "If we just push up together, I think we can do it." She took a deep breath and heaved up with all of her might.
The latch moaned, and it groaned. For a horrifying moment, Flora thought they still might not be able to do it, and then she felt the latch inch upwards ever so slightly. She pushed harder the muscles in her arms straining and her teeth gritted. At a pace that made her want to scream, the rusty latch continued it's progress until finally they got it up and swung to the side. Not wasting anymore time, she grabbed hold of the door with Necro and pulled it wide open. She stood in the doorway, her chest heaving, and looked inside at the two people she had set out to find.
"Are you guys okay?" she asked, her inherent nature briefly overriding her sense of urgency, "Brain we need you back at the infirmary, it's an emergency."
Edited By Britters on 9/29/2018 at 4:02 PM.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 9/29/2018 at 4:23 PM
Post #166
After some time, Brain had decided to try to ignore the whole situation. She had her arms crossed around her, and had found a resting position leaning against the wall, eyes closed and pretending she was out at her table, thinking about how she'd move on in her Theory of Everything.
But she was so tired of it. She felt obligated to write it - she had such an advantage, she could know the aspects of the universe and connect them without forgetting a single part. But the truth was, she didn't want to. It was her work, her life's work, and she hated it more than she hated this tension in the shipping container. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't, at least three times, considered throwing the entire thing into the trash can. But her obligation kept her from doing so.
When she heard a voice calling from them outside, she opened her eyes, which were raw from holding back tears. A glimmer of hope tried to force its way into her heart, but hearing Tox address her ruined it, reminding her that this was real, that he had stuck a knife deep into her darkest insecurities and twisted it.
The door opened to reveal Flora and Necro, and Brain found herself blinking against the sudden amount of light as compared to the dim lighting through the cracks in the container. She didn't say anything to Flora, Tox, or otherwise, as Flora told her urgently of the need for her help, just gathered her dignity as best she could and stalked out of the container, heading towards the infirmary.
-
Today was just like all of the others, with the same assignment as always: investigate on his own and try to make a breakthrough towards recreating the Abilities. Jabber didn't mind, though. He had never been one to mourn the events of his life, the kidnapping by Mantis. If anything, he accepted the opportunity to have his vocal chords restored, to speak for the first time in his life without using his hands.
There were many others with Abilities here, he reflected as he ate a taco in the lab cafeteria. Off to his right, Hydro was discussing with Silver a recent experiment he had completed with DNA, which was unfortunately a fail.
Jabber had many friends here, but no one that he was particularly close with. It was the same as his school days, though he hadn't ever really minded.
The new task list was being put up today, but he hadn't looked at it yet. Naturally, he assumed that his would merely be to "Continue Genetic Research", as it always was. He had been a part of the team that, two years ago, successfully discovered what it was that gave them all their Abilities. Now, the goal of the laboratory was to recreate them. If he did that, they would fix him, and that's all Jabber could hope for.
He finished his dinner and leaned forward on the table, thinking about the idea he'd had that he needed to try regarding his research. His notebook was running out of room because of all of the failed experiments, though, and he needed a breakthrough.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 9/29/2018 at 11:56 PM
Post #167
By the time night began to fall at the compound, Tox felt exhausted both mentally and physically as well as emotionally. His shoulder ached, and his head hurt from a headache which had developed in the afternoon, but he had avoided the infirmary at all costs. He wasn't sure if she'd even be there, fussing over her patient in her own unique way and being amazing, but he didn't want to risk it. This was probably a bit childish, he just couldn't bring himself to be in her presence...the wounds were still too fresh.
When they all had returned to the compound early this morning, after Flora and Necro had rescued them, Brain had gone straight to the infirmary, not sparing him a single word or glance. He'd been almost grateful for this, despite the fact that it broke his heart still further. Her ignoring him allowed him to try and focus on other things. He had proceeded to distract himself by getting things back in order around the place which had become disorganized in his absence. Nothing had caught fire or blown up, so that was something.
At one point Tox had even seen Crypt sitting on a bench in a far corner, boldly flirting with some other guy that he didn't recognize. For a moment, a fire sparked in his chest at the sight since she had been the start of the events of yesterday. He clenched his fists, but almost as quickly as it began the flame of anger sputtered and died and his hands hung limply at his sides. There was no point in getting mad at Crypt for anything. She had locked them in there, but it was his fault that Brain despised him now. He simply heaved a great sigh and walked away.
Heading to his room now to change before dinner, maybe get a shower, Tox could feel the fatigue all the way down in his bones. He tried not to, but his mind kept wandering to thoughts if Brain. Part of him was still wanting to consider the possibility of confessing his feelings, but he just couldn't allow himself to be led astray. He had chosen his path and now he had to walk it. Besides, he doubted Brain would ever stop hating him, and he didn't blame her. Reaching for his doorknob with another sigh, he noticed something hanging there.
"I can't believe it," he murmured as he grabbed the shoulder sling from the knob, "Oh, Abigail, I wish you hadn't..." He held the sling close to his chest, feeling the terrible ache there renew itself as he pictured her swallowing her pride just enough to leave it there for him. He wanted to thank her, he wanted to hold her, he wanted to...
Tox cursed out loud, running his hand through his hair and then stomped toward the showers.
----
Of all the vegetables in all the world, potatoes were definitely Flora's least favorite. However, she was certainly not going to complain about having to sit here on this crate peeling many pounds of potatoes into a plastic container. Complaining was not her style anyway, and she peeled her spuds with a smile on her face and a hummed tune on her lips. The sun was starting to make its languid journey below the horizon, and as far as she was concerned today had turned out perfectly. Which was a surprise considering how it had began...
"Pearly shells from the ocean," she sang softly as she peeled, "Shining in the sun, covering up the shore..." She trailed back off into humming as she grabbed another potato from the box.
Earlier, after she had followed Brain back to the infirmary, Flora had felt so content at having been able to be a part of the whole event. The redhead had been able to find some medicine which had brought Wire off of the teetering edge of critical condition. Seeing the look on Reach's face made everything worth it, and Flora was grateful she'd been able to help. She was also very glad to have gotten Brain and Tox out of that shipping container. There had been a good deal of tension between the two of them, but she knew that was there business and they both seemed relieved to be able to get some distance from each other.
Of course, Flora chided herself, it hadn't quite been all her own doing. She glanced up at the person sitting across from her, peeling potatoes just as she was, and thought about Necro's part in the rescue. It had been minimal in that he hadn't actually intended on being there in a helping capacity, but she might not have been able to get the door latch open without him. He was still such a mystery to her, but she felt different around him after today. She could feel herself warming to him in a way she hadn't considered before.
"Necro, be careful," she said to him, pausing in her own task to try and rouse him from his seemingly unending daydreams, "If you don't pay attention you could end up peeling the skin right off your fingers. We've had enough medical emergencies for one day." She smiled at him, and then resumed her hummed song.
When I see them
My heart tells me that I love you
More than all the little pearls shells
Edited By Britters on 9/30/2018 at 8:25 PM.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 9/30/2018 at 11:14 PM
Post #168
Necro was enjoying peeling the potatoes. It gave him something to do, something to keep him busy, and at the same time, he was able to let his thoughts wander, which was, coincidentally, one of his favorite pastimes. He was practically ignoring Flora at this point, just thinking about his daughter, wondering idly if he'd ever see her again. Cordula was a difficult subject to discuss, but some part of him knew that he'd see her again; a father deserves to see his daughter. In his own mind, he felt no pain, or in his case, numbness for her.
He heard Flora give him a warning and merely flashed her a cheeky smile before returning to his work. He felt the familiar sensation of another soul tugging at his lightly and the smallest hint of a frown crossed his features. Why would someone be contacting him?
He set his hands in his lap and, without any regard to Flora, let his soul detach into the Nether.
Immeasurable was his surprise at sensing the soul of an old acquaintance, old friend, old lover, and old heartbreaker. 'Erwyn,' Elvira cried at him. 'We do not have time to go into details. I was just killed. Please, if you do not show up, if you do not lay claim as a parent, Cordula will go to my sister. Annelie is not good with children. You know Cor. Please, go get her before Annelie ruins her childhood!'
Wasting absolutely no time, Necro returned to his body, the urgency in his ex-wife's soul having affected him. His hands were shaking as he placed his potato and tool on the table and stood up. His eyes laid on the high wall, not a hundred feet away.
"I... I have to go," he muttered in a trembling voice, and briskly began walking in the direction of the wall. He didn't have a plan, but his daughter needed him, and that was enough.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 9/30/2018 at 11:51 PM
Post #169
Once Flora was in such a cheerful mood, it was hard to shake herself from it. Her life had it's struggles currently, not the least of which being held captive here, but she knew she had to make the most of it. This was something she had decided on many years ago, it was her atonement for her mistake, for angering the goddess, Pele. She must live her life with a smile on her face and lend a helping hand where ever she could. If she did this, then perhaps it would lift the curse that had been placed upon her...
"For every grain of sand upon the beach, I got a kiss for you, " she continued singing her her low, melodic murmur, "And I've got more left over, for every star that twinkles in the blue..." She looked up to tell Necro she thought theybhad probably peeled enough potatoes for the time being, but as soon as her eyes landed on his face the words died on her lips.
There was no other way to describe it, Necro looked as though he'd seen a ghost. Something had shook him, and Flora could feel concern for him grip her hard. She watched him put his peeler and potato down on the table, listened to his trembling words, and followed him with her eyes as he walked off. She warred with herself for a moment, because clearly whatever had just happened to him was deeply personal, and if he simply wanted space then she had no trouble letting him go. That was when she noticed where he was heading.
"Woah!" she cried out, tossing her peeler and spud on the ground as she got up and bounded after him, grabbing his arm firmly, "Necro what do you think you're doing?" Her question was full of alarm and other emotions she didn't dare investigate, but mostly she was worried about him. He didn't seem at all himself.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 10/1/2018 at 12:00 AM
Post #170
Although he felt worried, Necro knew that his body wouldn't react to the sudden anxiety, the sudden mission. He had once spent hours researching adrenaline only to come to the conclusion that he had never felt anything quite like it was described. He had experimented with horror movies that night to no avail.
His daughter needed him, though, and that was enough to concern him. He didn't care about not having a plan, about how meticulous he had always been before about his escape attempts, how he had always failed but remained under the nose of the guards that patrolled the compound, ready to shoot at whoever tried to escape. All he cared about was the fact that his eight year-old daughter was about to fall into the wrong hands, and he needed to protect her.
He felt Flora grab his arm, but yanked it away from her. "I said I have to go," he stated with more confidence this time. "There's something I need to take care of," he explained vaguely, not even turning to spare her a glance as he continued his journey.
The wall was so close now... He could make it. He could climb it and escape and find his daughter and save her. He broke into a run, long legs carrying him fast and far. He was panting from the exertion of his semi-functioning body moving at such a speed by the time he reached the wall, and he wasted no time in reaching up and grabbing a crack in the brick.
Go to Page:
1, 2, 3... 16, 17, 18... 52, 53, 54
Confirm Action
Are you sure you wish to delete this post?
Confirm Action
Are you sure you wish to restore this post?
Confirm Action
Are you sure you wish to report this post?
Go to Top
This Page loaded in 0.015 seconds.
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Credits | Job Opportunities
