[will i use baby icons this whole time probably now, but for now.
this girl is jen hallow. you would assume jen or jenny was short for jennifer, but it's actually short for something long and dated sounding and probably biblical. she's moved to town some [redacted] time ago to live with her aunt, an unpleasant woman most of the town children probably avoid, a mean church lady. she wears her hair in cute buns and braids and dresses in decent clothes, though not cool ones by any means.
the impression of her family situation is weird and religious and somewhat mysterious, but the impression of jen as a person is that she's moody and reserved and kind of unpleasant. would probably be a bully more often than she'd be spending time around these kids, except that she's equally rude and unfriendly with the popular kids as she is with everyone.
it is a mystery why she bothered showing up to this, but she seems more willing to be included today than she usually would be. maybe the way bev asked was nice.]
I still haven't agreed to play anything.
[but she will probably ultimately go along with whatever anyone else proposes, while acting disdainful about it.]
[ i probably won't stick to baby because i only have A FEW. but its fine. you get the picture.
this boy is ❚❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚ but refuses to go by anything but andy. new school, new name. he spends most of his days doing his absolute best to beg out of class and then escape out of a bathroom window or sidle out the door of the nurses office when no one is looking, a skinny blonde headache through and through. just an absolutely incredible escape artist. he has a certain charm though, even if his moods tend to cycle somewhat unpredictably from energetic to ... a bit dark. maybe he'll grow out of it.
he looks incredibly disappointed there aren't firecrackers, by the way. sticking his tongue out. ]
I hate cards. I always lose. [ he does seem to have extraordinarily bad luck with cards. ] Safari doesn't sound so bad ... Oh, have you guys heard of Lord of the Rings?
[ already kicking around and looking for a Good Stick. You know. One that looks like a Gun?]
[ mine aren't accurate no matter what because he's not a mauve-haired catboy now
the last boy is del mcgarry, a small and pale auburn-haired kid who looks at least one grade younger than he actually is. he and his brother bax — who's younger than him but already bigger, and pretty much his opposite in terms of appearance with a darker complexion and longer, wavier hair — have been getting kicked around in the foster care system for most of their lives. they get a lot of shit for it, for being these scraggly kids nobody wants enough to keep, but the one thing that really pushes del's buttons is any insinuation that his brother isn't his real brother. he's generally a fairly well-behaved (if sharp-tongued) kid who likes to read and does well in his classes, but he's ended up in detention a few times for socking kids in the jaw when they said the wrong thing.
especially lately. he's been even more protective of bax ever since georgie died.
today though, bax is off at baseball practice, and it's just del and his backpack full of ratty old books hanging with the other outcasts. ]
Yeah, 'cause you stink at playin'.
[ annoyed because he wanted to play cards... short legs are too much of a disadvantage in too many physical games!! ]
Beverly laughs and Ben hides a smile. Andy can be cool, it's a very slick thing to give authorities the slip, but his card playing abilities have a legendary stink about them.]
We can take turns stinking at whatever we like. Be glad Stan isn't here or he'd insist on cards. [Beverly says.]
Yeah, so he could clean you out. If we ever played for real money he wouldn't always be broke. [Ben ascertains. He also scouts about for a stick and, upon finding two primo guns-slash sword style branches, tosses one to Andy.] I've read Lord of the Rings! I though Aragorn was really cool.
I haven't. [Beverly looks between the three of them.] But it's monsters and wizards and stuff, right? I'm game. Just don't make me some dumb damsel, I'd rather be a dragon or an archer or something.
[Like it or not, Andy was the alpha by making one single suggestion. At least for now, until they decide to move it along.]
All right! [Ben says, picking a leaf off his new sword. He'd given Andy the nicer branch, and so will preen his until it's in good fighting shape.] Who's being what?
I'm hardly going to be a damsel, either. Looking at this lot, I'd be left unrescued for some time.
[she is probably not familiar with lord of the rings in the sense that she's read it a lot, but she knows the gist. anyway as soon as a game is suggested and she's included, she's in.]
I'll be a warrior. [she seems satisfied by that, and also challenging anyone to try to tell her she can't be. she'll be a sword and board type warrior, though if she learns, during the course of the game, that she might also be able to do magic, her character will suddenly be able to do that as well.
anyway, once the game starts, it's obvious she wants to play and is in fact a bit bossy about it, but will throw herself in bravely to try to defend against any evil foes.]
[ okay BRITISH. sorry i won't break american kayfabe again. anyway he's very happy with his stick, thanks ben! friends for LIFE now. doing some cool practice swings. ]
I'll be a damsel. I don't mind if you lot want to spend all your time worrying about my health and rescuing me from certain danger. That sounds pretty nice, actually?
[Beverly's eyes light up as Jenny guns for warrior.]
Ooh, okay! Howabout I be your evil archnemesis? [She says with a grin.] We'll see who bests who!
[Meanwhile Ben beams at the thank you. He has spent most of his first year in Derry quite alone, and it wasn't until this very summer he's found people who are happy to speak with him, let alone let him come along. Maybe, we are love?
Beverly finds herself a weapon too, which she declares is a mace but really is just a branch with a quarter of an old wasp's nest on it (vacated, thank you, as are the wasps), and Ben trundles over to help Del find a perfect horn.]
I like Boromir, too. They're all really good, but I think I like him and Aragorn the best.
[You play! Jenny might take the lion's share of the lead, but frankly Beverly's just happy she agreed to come along. They have a stupendous duel, in which the wicked Beverly is dramatically slain after several harrowing blows. Andy is a damsel both desirable and formidable, and Boromir and Aragon lay waste to all that stands in their way to rescue her.
After a time, the terrible call of chores and supper beckons. Ben and Beverly split, but thank you for coming, and note that you're welcome to come by again next week if you like? More of the gang will be here. See you later!
You three weary warriors and maidens take much the same path back home, at least for a ways. Striding along the canal as it bends into town, though you're cutting through the park behind Derry High School, staying close to the water. You chat about this and that, maybe one of you kept your weapon from the game.
And then you see something bump the reeds along the edge of the canal. A big something, from the looks of it. Perhaps you should investigate?]
[yes, she'll carry a rock that she claimed was a weapon but also tried to really hit someone with a few too many times. but she has fun fighting bev and will even defend damsel andy from peril, too.
the game was fun, but now, as they're leaving, she feels self-conscious again. it's starting to get late, and she really does have to get home. the curiosity over whatever that thing in the canal is fights with her worry about the curfew.]
[ andy will definitely be keeping his very good first place stick thank you very much, partially because jen likely hit him with that rock "on accident."
he should be getting home too, probably, but he hates the curfew. it makes him itchy just thinking about being locked in that house all night with no way out. the worst feeling in the world is being trapped with no where to go.
glancing over at the others, but he won't wait for them to make a call about it. ]
Someone come with me, I'm not going alone.
[ but already heading down to the edge of the canal. to poke the Something with his stick. ]
[ del's honestly not sure if the family he's staying with now would even notice if he didn't come home before curfew... but his brother would, and he doesn't want to worry him. (besides, it goes both ways — he can't know if bax is safe at home if he's out here.) ]
Probably just a stray dog or somethin'.
[ ...
but that sounds fun, actually, so. he'll go over too, with the hollow reed of gondor in his hand. ]
Jenny may hang back while the boys tromp forward. Or she can come join them if she likes.
There is quite a thicket of reeds in the way, so it may take a few swipes of a Good Stick to brush them aside. Whatever it was doesn't move, and so waits wedged amid the thick stalks until the view is cleared.
It's a bit hard to tell at first, but you know this boy. He was a seventh grader, lightyears ahead of you in the hierarchy of kids. He'd been born with a birthmark splashed over half his face and took a hefty heap of shit for it, to the point where his parents had moved him to the Neibolt Street Church School. But he still hung around. He was helpful to a fault, often taken advantage of but his optimism bounced him back like a rubber ball.
Had, because most of that earnest face is gone. Some skin has been ripped away and there's a puddling socket where the right eye should have been. There's holes in and around the damage. Almost like pecks. Trailing down over his chest were the red has stained his navy blue button-up near to black.
[no, the moment they were heading over that way, she would follow. she doesn't really want to walk home alone in the dark, and it's a long way. and besides, it was a fun day, at least so far. she still wants to join in on the game.
but then they see what's there. she knew him. he was always so kind, even when she pushed him away. she stumbles backwards, away from this, and screams.]
[ yeah, he'll definitely keep at it with the stick - poking and prodding until he can see what it is? surely if it takes this much work then it's worth seeing whatever is hidden under there. at first he just stares in shock.
yves had always been so nice. enough that he'd felt guilty when he'd looked at the birthmark too long, or noticed himself noticing it. but he can't exactly look away now. it takes jen screaming before he realizes what's happening - the sound shocking him out of rapt silence and sending him stumbling backwards as well. Falling onto his ass in the reeds and immediately getting soaked. ]
[ del wasn't really able to get a good look at what andy was poking from where he was standing, and it's only after the others stumble back that he's able to get close enough to get a good luck. which maybe isn't the smartest thing to do, approaching something two bigger kids just jumped away from, but he's always been pretty fearless.
...
he'd expected, like, a big snake or something, maybe. or some half-eaten dead animal. not an actual fucking dead body, and especially not the body of someone he knew. someone who'd always been kind to both him and bax, who'd never acted like they were anything less than full blood brothers, who'd helped him get his kite out of a hedge without being patronizing about it. ]
Oh, shit.
[ he backs away too, and turns to stare at the others with wide eyes. ]
What should— [ he swallows. ] We need to tell someone, right??
[i'm glad no one on this cyoa headcanoned that their 50s child actually hates yves.
she's in shock, just a little. this just isn't something that should be happening. not to another kid, not to yves. she scrubs at her face, embarrassed at tears welling up, but then, what can she do? she doesn't want to have to see this, she doesn't want to have to see him like that. he always had such a nice smile. who could think someone was ugly when they smiled at her like that? but now, he's - it's awful to look at, and she can't.
and then, horrible, selfish, another thought comes to her. she's going to be in trouble, isn't she? a mix of nasty feelings, the fear of the trouble she'll be in when some authority figure comes into the picture and asks why they were out here in the first place, and the miserable guilt at thinking that way when she should have been like del, immediately jumped to the right answer. to find someone, get them.]
[ no definitely not hate. in fact, probably a little of the opposite? i mean. that's a confusing feeling to think about, isn't it? that maybe just because a cool older boy is nice to you doesn't mean they actually like you.
picking himself up out of the soggy edge of the canal and trying to squeeze out his jacket, backing himself away from the corpse - glancing over in fear at del's suggestion too. it is ... probably the right thing. but if they tell, if someone finds this ... they'll never be allowed out again, will they? curfew will get tighter. guardians will get more strict. doors will shut that might never open again.
going to sort of pull jen over into a half-hold, half-hug. sorry that he's damp with what is probably corpse-water, but he's backing up. back to the path. gesturing at del to come too. ]
No--! No way. Maybe we just go home. What if ... [ what if someone blames them? ] Someone will find him.
[ he doesn't know what kind of family yves has, if he has any siblings who are waiting for him to come home and wondering where he is, but if anyone ever found his brother out here like this and just pretended not to see it— ]
You want to just leave him to the fuckin' vultures 'til then, and whatever did this gets to just—
[she honestly is not going to argue for one side or the other. despite any bossiness and bravado, she's not particularly brave in a situation like this. she's scared of what will happen if they tell, the consequences that might bring. she's also scared of what will happen if they leave. she also hates the idea of leaving yves to be eaten, devoured by vultures, or for someone else to find him. she thinks del is right about that, feels ashamed to be so cowardly and to care so little, wishes she was braver and more responsible like him.
in times like this, it's easier not to take a stand. to just go along with what the people who are more confident and forceful are telling you to do. wait for whatever is happening to pass and just get through to the other side. so it's up to yves and del to argue it out.
she'll take her damp half-hug, though. it's nice, thanks.]
[ he'll wait politely for del to finish arguing with a corpse an then chime in. ]
No, I don't want to just leave him-- [ his voice definitely cracks on this ] But we can't.
[ it is a sickening thought, isn't it? to be left alone, and cold, for whatever is out there to keep consuming. pulling jen in tighter, obviously to comfort her, and not for himself. not because he's suddenly cold and terrified too. del is right, but right isn't smart.
they can't be the kids that found a corpse. a target. ]
[ fuck. he hates this, but... he guesses it's true. if whatever did this finds out they told, it might come after them and their families, and then...
he grimaces, but finally nods. it still feels like shit, but at least yves won't end up being out here alone for days if they make sure someone finds him. ]
[That he won't. It's hard work, and messy too. All three end up soaking their pants as they work to haul the older boy loose, shoes muddied and palms slick with gritty canal water. As a thing both dead and waterlogged Yves gives them no quarter. They're sweating and panting by the time they haul him halfway, there's a hum of an engine in the distance.
The three decide that's close enough, and to depart for the day. Do they take their weapons with them? Maybe, maybe not. The mood is soured for certain.
Yves is found by a passing motorist not an hour after they leave him, and by 9pm the Derry grapevine all knows that another body has been found. It's not until two days later that the name is released, but that's a while aways yet.
All three of you make it home.
((Please respond to your respective top level below.))]
[Del, you arrive at your foster house. It's a squat and mean looking thing, even if it's two stories. Something about how the roof is built flatter than any other sloping peak on the block speaks to the stiff nature of the people taking care of you. It's as if they started taking on the personality of each other, house and household looping in one compact, narrow eyed inflexibility. Our way or the highway, and you know damn well you can't make it out there, don't you?
Rather that going through the front door and catching hell for making a mess, you've gathered small bits of gravel on your way. You slip around back, and pit the stones at the window of your shared bedroom until Bax pokes his head out. He helps shepherd you inside and fetches you a change of clothes and tucks your old ones into the laundry downstairs. Pray they don't hear the machine start, but they do have the Ed Sullivan show on top volume.
You wait, alone, in the second story bathroom, clad in boxers and an undershirt and wiping yourself clean with a towel. And suddenly there's a rustling sound. Something near the sink.]
[Andy, you drag your heels to your Grandma Wynne's house. She and her husband Greg weren't thrilled to take you in, even just for a spell, but your parents had been at their limit. Misbehaviour and too many close calls have worn their nerves thin, and they were already too good at fraying each other's nerves to begin with. Better to sort that mess out without worrying about a second mess with a rebellious streak a mile wide. You try to sneak in around the back way, but Greg steps out the same time as you with today's trash in hand. He drops the bag and raises a hand, threatening to fetch you upside the head if you do NOT hose off your feet in the yard before entering your poor Grandma Wynne's good house, young man. And he may just decide to do it anyway, if the mood strikes.
You clean up, you change, you take a scolding of a lifetime, and you are sent to your foldout cot in the basement, tucked amid packages, knickknacks, disused furniture and old crates. All the stuff you put away to forget about. The guest bedroom on the first floor is for good company.
While you take a seething refuge on your cot, something thumps at the back of the room. A sort of wooden sound.]
[Jen, you step quickly and nervously to your Aunt's foreboding house. The thing has a nasty look about it — you've never liked the black-painted moulding around the doors and windows, and something about the chipping gray paint (formerly an eggshell white) reminds you of coffins. Like you're walking right into one every time you go through the front door. You trudge up and try the handle, only to find it's locked.
Suddenly, you remember the time. Your Aunt participates in a book club with about five or six other equally sour old hens, and she won't be back until around eight thirty. You're not wearing a watch, but you don't need to to know you've got at least an hour before then. You're not only late for curfew, you're locked out of the house. Quickly you clambor around the back — no dice. Locked too.
You could knock on a neighbour's door. You don't know them well because neither of you are well liked, but you could try.
There's a hum from somewhere up the road. It pricks at your ears, steals your attention.]
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holyspirits) wrote2025-03-09 04:46 pm
no subject
this girl is jen hallow. you would assume jen or jenny was short for jennifer, but it's actually short for something long and dated sounding and probably biblical. she's moved to town some [redacted] time ago to live with her aunt, an unpleasant woman most of the town children probably avoid, a mean church lady. she wears her hair in cute buns and braids and dresses in decent clothes, though not cool ones by any means.
the impression of her family situation is weird and religious and somewhat mysterious, but the impression of jen as a person is that she's moody and reserved and kind of unpleasant. would probably be a bully more often than she'd be spending time around these kids, except that she's equally rude and unfriendly with the popular kids as she is with everyone.
it is a mystery why she bothered showing up to this, but she seems more willing to be included today than she usually would be. maybe the way bev asked was nice.]
I still haven't agreed to play anything.
[but she will probably ultimately go along with whatever anyone else proposes, while acting disdainful about it.]
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this boy is ❚❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚ but refuses to go by anything but andy. new school, new name. he spends most of his days doing his absolute best to beg out of class and then escape out of a bathroom window or sidle out the door of the nurses office when no one is looking, a skinny blonde headache through and through. just an absolutely incredible escape artist. he has a certain charm though, even if his moods tend to cycle somewhat unpredictably from energetic to ... a bit dark. maybe he'll grow out of it.
he looks incredibly disappointed there aren't firecrackers, by the way. sticking his tongue out. ]
I hate cards. I always lose. [ he does seem to have extraordinarily bad luck with cards. ] Safari doesn't sound so bad ... Oh, have you guys heard of Lord of the Rings?
[ already kicking around and looking for a Good Stick. You know. One that looks like a Gun?]
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the last boy is del mcgarry, a small and pale auburn-haired kid who looks at least one grade younger than he actually is. he and his brother bax — who's younger than him but already bigger, and pretty much his opposite in terms of appearance with a darker complexion and longer, wavier hair — have been getting kicked around in the foster care system for most of their lives. they get a lot of shit for it, for being these scraggly kids nobody wants enough to keep, but the one thing that really pushes del's buttons is any insinuation that his brother isn't his real brother. he's generally a fairly well-behaved (if sharp-tongued) kid who likes to read and does well in his classes, but he's ended up in detention a few times for socking kids in the jaw when they said the wrong thing.
especially lately. he's been even more protective of bax ever since georgie died.
today though, bax is off at baseball practice, and it's just del and his backpack full of ratty old books hanging with the other outcasts. ]
Yeah, 'cause you stink at playin'.
[ annoyed because he wanted to play cards... short legs are too much of a disadvantage in too many physical games!! ]
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Beverly laughs and Ben hides a smile. Andy can be cool, it's a very slick thing to give authorities the slip, but his card playing abilities have a legendary stink about them.]
We can take turns stinking at whatever we like. Be glad Stan isn't here or he'd insist on cards. [Beverly says.]
Yeah, so he could clean you out. If we ever played for real money he wouldn't always be broke. [Ben ascertains. He also scouts about for a stick and, upon finding two primo guns-slash sword style branches, tosses one to Andy.] I've read Lord of the Rings! I though Aragorn was really cool.
I haven't. [Beverly looks between the three of them.] But it's monsters and wizards and stuff, right? I'm game. Just don't make me some dumb damsel, I'd rather be a dragon or an archer or something.
[Like it or not, Andy was the alpha by making one single suggestion. At least for now, until they decide to move it along.]
All right! [Ben says, picking a leaf off his new sword. He'd given Andy the nicer branch, and so will preen his until it's in good fighting shape.] Who's being what?
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[she is probably not familiar with lord of the rings in the sense that she's read it a lot, but she knows the gist. anyway as soon as a game is suggested and she's included, she's in.]
I'll be a warrior. [she seems satisfied by that, and also challenging anyone to try to tell her she can't be. she'll be a sword and board type warrior, though if she learns, during the course of the game, that she might also be able to do magic, her character will suddenly be able to do that as well.
anyway, once the game starts, it's obvious she wants to play and is in fact a bit bossy about it, but will throw herself in bravely to try to defend against any evil foes.]
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[ okay BRITISH. sorry i won't break american kayfabe again. anyway he's very happy with his stick, thanks ben! friends for LIFE now. doing some cool practice swings. ]
I'll be a damsel. I don't mind if you lot want to spend all your time worrying about my health and rescuing me from certain danger. That sounds pretty nice, actually?
[ maybe ... we are love now, Ben? ]
no subject
[ rolls his eyes ]
Anyway, if you're doin' Aragorn, I guess I can be Boromir.
[ with the unspoken caveat that no one else gets to be faramir in that case because that role is RESERVED ]
There anything that'd work for a horn around here?
[ goes to hunt for junk in the grass... maybe there's an old funnel or something that can have its day in the sun as the horn of gondor ]
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Ooh, okay! Howabout I be your evil archnemesis? [She says with a grin.] We'll see who bests who!
[Meanwhile Ben beams at the thank you. He has spent most of his first year in Derry quite alone, and it wasn't until this very summer he's found people who are happy to speak with him, let alone let him come along. Maybe, we are love?
Beverly finds herself a weapon too, which she declares is a mace but really is just a branch with a quarter of an old wasp's nest on it (vacated, thank you, as are the wasps), and Ben trundles over to help Del find a perfect horn.]
I like Boromir, too. They're all really good, but I think I like him and Aragorn the best.
[You play! Jenny might take the lion's share of the lead, but frankly Beverly's just happy she agreed to come along. They have a stupendous duel, in which the wicked Beverly is dramatically slain after several harrowing blows. Andy is a damsel both desirable and formidable, and Boromir and Aragon lay waste to all that stands in their way to rescue her.
After a time, the terrible call of chores and supper beckons. Ben and Beverly split, but thank you for coming, and note that you're welcome to come by again next week if you like? More of the gang will be here. See you later!
You three weary warriors and maidens take much the same path back home, at least for a ways. Striding along the canal as it bends into town, though you're cutting through the park behind Derry High School, staying close to the water. You chat about this and that, maybe one of you kept your weapon from the game.
And then you see something bump the reeds along the edge of the canal. A big something, from the looks of it. Perhaps you should investigate?]
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the game was fun, but now, as they're leaving, she feels self-conscious again. it's starting to get late, and she really does have to get home. the curiosity over whatever that thing in the canal is fights with her worry about the curfew.]
...It's probably nothing.
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he should be getting home too, probably, but he hates the curfew. it makes him itchy just thinking about being locked in that house all night with no way out. the worst feeling in the world is being trapped with no where to go.
glancing over at the others, but he won't wait for them to make a call about it. ]
Someone come with me, I'm not going alone.
[ but already heading down to the edge of the canal. to poke the Something with his stick. ]
no subject
Probably just a stray dog or somethin'.
[ ...
but that sounds fun, actually, so. he'll go over too, with the hollow reed of gondor in his hand. ]
CW: eye/face gore
Jenny may hang back while the boys tromp forward. Or she can come join them if she likes.
There is quite a thicket of reeds in the way, so it may take a few swipes of a Good Stick to brush them aside. Whatever it was doesn't move, and so waits wedged amid the thick stalks until the view is cleared.
It's a bit hard to tell at first, but you know this boy. He was a seventh grader, lightyears ahead of you in the hierarchy of kids. He'd been born with a birthmark splashed over half his face and took a hefty heap of shit for it, to the point where his parents had moved him to the Neibolt Street Church School. But he still hung around. He was helpful to a fault, often taken advantage of but his optimism bounced him back like a rubber ball.
Had, because most of that earnest face is gone. Some skin has been ripped away and there's a puddling socket where the right eye should have been. There's holes in and around the damage. Almost like pecks. Trailing down over his chest were the red has stained his navy blue button-up near to black.
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but then they see what's there. she knew him. he was always so kind, even when she pushed him away. she stumbles backwards, away from this, and screams.]
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yves had always been so nice. enough that he'd felt guilty when he'd looked at the birthmark too long, or noticed himself noticing it. but he can't exactly look away now. it takes jen screaming before he realizes what's happening - the sound shocking him out of rapt silence and sending him stumbling backwards as well. Falling onto his ass in the reeds and immediately getting soaked. ]
Fuck!
no subject
...
he'd expected, like, a big snake or something, maybe. or some half-eaten dead animal. not an actual fucking dead body, and especially not the body of someone he knew. someone who'd always been kind to both him and bax, who'd never acted like they were anything less than full blood brothers, who'd helped him get his kite out of a hedge without being patronizing about it. ]
Oh, shit.
[ he backs away too, and turns to stare at the others with wide eyes. ]
What should— [ he swallows. ] We need to tell someone, right??
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she's in shock, just a little. this just isn't something that should be happening. not to another kid, not to yves. she scrubs at her face, embarrassed at tears welling up, but then, what can she do? she doesn't want to have to see this, she doesn't want to have to see him like that. he always had such a nice smile. who could think someone was ugly when they smiled at her like that? but now, he's - it's awful to look at, and she can't.
and then, horrible, selfish, another thought comes to her. she's going to be in trouble, isn't she? a mix of nasty feelings, the fear of the trouble she'll be in when some authority figure comes into the picture and asks why they were out here in the first place, and the miserable guilt at thinking that way when she should have been like del, immediately jumped to the right answer. to find someone, get them.]
It's - who? Do you know someone?
no subject
picking himself up out of the soggy edge of the canal and trying to squeeze out his jacket, backing himself away from the corpse - glancing over in fear at del's suggestion too. it is ... probably the right thing. but if they tell, if someone finds this ... they'll never be allowed out again, will they? curfew will get tighter. guardians will get more strict. doors will shut that might never open again.
going to sort of pull jen over into a half-hold, half-hug. sorry that he's damp with what is probably corpse-water, but he's backing up. back to the path. gesturing at del to come too. ]
No--! No way. Maybe we just go home. What if ... [ what if someone blames them? ] Someone will find him.
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[ he doesn't know what kind of family yves has, if he has any siblings who are waiting for him to come home and wondering where he is, but if anyone ever found his brother out here like this and just pretended not to see it— ]
You want to just leave him to the fuckin' vultures 'til then, and whatever did this gets to just—
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in times like this, it's easier not to take a stand. to just go along with what the people who are more confident and forceful are telling you to do. wait for whatever is happening to pass and just get through to the other side. so it's up to yves and del to argue it out.
she'll take her damp half-hug, though. it's nice, thanks.]
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No, I don't want to just leave him-- [ his voice definitely cracks on this ] But we can't.
[ it is a sickening thought, isn't it? to be left alone, and cold, for whatever is out there to keep consuming. pulling jen in tighter, obviously to comfort her, and not for himself. not because he's suddenly cold and terrified too. del is right, but right isn't smart.
they can't be the kids that found a corpse. a target. ]
... What if we pull him up? Just to the road?
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he grimaces, but finally nods. it still feels like shit, but at least yves won't end up being out here alone for days if they make sure someone finds him. ]
...Yeah. Okay.
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The three decide that's close enough, and to depart for the day. Do they take their weapons with them? Maybe, maybe not. The mood is soured for certain.
Yves is found by a passing motorist not an hour after they leave him, and by 9pm the Derry grapevine all knows that another body has been found. It's not until two days later that the name is released, but that's a while aways yet.
All three of you make it home.
((Please respond to your respective top level below.))]
Del
Rather that going through the front door and catching hell for making a mess, you've gathered small bits of gravel on your way. You slip around back, and pit the stones at the window of your shared bedroom until Bax pokes his head out. He helps shepherd you inside and fetches you a change of clothes and tucks your old ones into the laundry downstairs. Pray they don't hear the machine start, but they do have the Ed Sullivan show on top volume.
You wait, alone, in the second story bathroom, clad in boxers and an undershirt and wiping yourself clean with a towel. And suddenly there's a rustling sound. Something near the sink.]
cw: emeto
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Andy
You clean up, you change, you take a scolding of a lifetime, and you are sent to your foldout cot in the basement, tucked amid packages, knickknacks, disused furniture and old crates. All the stuff you put away to forget about. The guest bedroom on the first floor is for good company.
While you take a seething refuge on your cot, something thumps at the back of the room. A sort of wooden sound.]
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Jen
Suddenly, you remember the time. Your Aunt participates in a book club with about five or six other equally sour old hens, and she won't be back until around eight thirty. You're not wearing a watch, but you don't need to to know you've got at least an hour before then. You're not only late for curfew, you're locked out of the house. Quickly you clambor around the back — no dice. Locked too.
You could knock on a neighbour's door. You don't know them well because neither of you are well liked, but you could try.
There's a hum from somewhere up the road. It pricks at your ears, steals your attention.]
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