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[notaquaman]

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@zachtastic; video

[majorlazer]

Do you really plan on letting yourself get killed by crazy Jack?

[Zach knows he sounds and looks worried. He can't quite help it - he doesn't want to, but the one insane discussion he's had with Nathan left him a good, fun impression, and he doesn't want the only person with a sense of humor around here to get brutally murdered. Especially when the only person he's spent any time with was the first one to get strangled.

He doesn't want to care, but he sort of does.]

video;

[notaquaman]

Thank you for specifying the crazy one or this could've been really confusing.

[Nathan snorts, stretching his arms out over his head with a groan. His acting weirdly casual. Because, you know, why should he seem...at all worried or anxious about volunteering to be murdered?]

Depends on if he can get my good side on camera.

[majorlazer]

I keep on forgetting there's more than one. Why can't people have original names?

[Zach rolls his eyes. Of course.]

You don't even have a good side, dude.

Night 87; audio; @lockhart

[powersouls]

Nathan.

[She's not even going to explain. HE KNOWS WHAT HE DID.]

audio;

[notaquaman]

[He knows what he did. Is he going to act like it?]

Did you miss me?

[Nope.]

[powersouls]

You are so--

[She cuts herself off, largely because she doesn't even know how to describe how he is.]

Why would you ask him something like that?

text; @zd

[swatsflies]

Two things
Don't get yourself killed, man.
Also, how is it downtown? Find anything interesting?

text;

[notaquaman]

[Someone who isn't yelling at him! This is delightfully refreshing. Don't expect him to, like, be less of the natural dick that he is because of it, though he is pretty excited.]

lol nah i'll be fine it's cool
i'm not motivated enough for assisted suicide rn
anyway hey! it's p sweet
fucking creepy mostly tho? but a lot of useful shit and food so there's that

[swatsflies]

[It wouldn't be Nathan if he didn't act like a dick or mention dicks.]

Okay, cool.
Man, never thought I would be glad someone wasn't motivated enough.
How is it creepy?
Weird voices and waking up with scratches all over kind of creepy or something else?

Day 92, Afternoon; @lockhart; video

[powersouls]

[Tifa doesn't sleep... ever, really, or at least not reliably, so that night of insomnia along with the emotional whiplash of whatever was going on with the network has left her physically exhausted and emotionally drained. Her braid is more disheveled than usual, and there are obvious dark circles under her eyes. She went back and listened to all of the messages she'd received last night, including Nathan's, and it's shocking how disjointed and surreal their conversation sounds now, without those hallucinations.

Logically, she knows Nathan is fine, just like Angel and Rhys are fine. Still, she's using video in the hopes that he'll mimic her and she can see for sure, just to crush that last bit of doubt. She's too tired to keep her guard up when talking to him, for once, and there's a vulnerability in her voice that she's usually far better at hiding.]

Nathan? How are you doing?

video;

[notaquaman]

[So Tifa might get a bit of a scare because when Nathan fumbles for his tablet and turns on the video feed he's totally laying facefirst on the ground. In his defense, he honestly has no idea what she saw. At least not yet.

But then he groans and turns his body so he's looking at her. He's, of course, just as exhausted as everyone else.]

I feel like shit.

[It's a simple, elegant summary.]

Did you get any sleep after that gigantic fucking nightmare? Because I, honestly, don't know if I'm ever going to sleep again.

[He closes his eyes. So tired. So, so tired. Too tired to think about the things that she said to him the night before. He knows that she didn't really say them. He already re-checked the messages and all of them were gone. She only sounded terrified.]

[powersouls]

[Her breath catches in her throat when she sees him laying like that, and for one terrifying moment she thinks that maybe he was the exception, that he really was in trouble...

And then he rolls over, and she exhales sharply. He's fine. He's fine. She feels like she's been repeating those words like a mantra in her head for everyone she knows since she realized what was going on. She rakes a hand through her hair as she waits for her heartbeat to slow.]

No, I didn't.

[Lots of new material for the nightmare reel, though!]

Should I just... call you back later?

[He should probably try to get some sleep, even if he's having a hard time of it.]

night 93, @SceptredIsle; text

[keepscalm]

[England has already dealt with two difficult conversations tonight. What's one more?]

Beg pardon. Have you got a moment?

text;

[notaquaman]

all the time in the world friendo lol
whats ur pleasure?

[What are you talking about everyone was having a really shitty time not 48 hours ago? Nope, nope, everything's fine move along. Also, this whole Vicodin thing? Holy shit. For once, Nathan's glad he wasn't involved. Sure, he'd like to stir the pot, because it's what he does, but it blew up so fast he threw up his hands and watched the madness. He can't stop being amused.

It's a good way to ignore his own problems.]

[keepscalm]

I intended to message you earlier, but I've had some preoccupations.

[Sleeping after that horrific nightmare of a time, and then that whole Vicodin bullshit. Reasonable preoccupations for anyone, probably.]

I wanted to apologise for what you saw last night in my messages. I'm sure you've realised I didn't actually say any of it, but my colleague informed me that I appeared to be saying some rather dire things.

[His colleague...]

@zachtastic; video; day 93 - night; private

[majorlazer]

[It's taken Zach quite a while to gather up the courage to contact Nathan, after the network glitch. He's still reeling from all of it, but at least the events of the day - meeting up with people, that whole discussion about what to do with Jack - took his mind off things a little.

But at night, he still can't sleep, and Zach tells himself it's fine, since Jack needs constant supervision. Only when most of the house is quiet and asleep, Zach is full of restless tension, and his mind trails back to Nathan, getting murdered by - Hermann, of all people. The only one that would have been worse would have been Woody.

So Zach hunkers down in a corner of the bedroom, and starts a private message for Nathan. He can only hope nobody hears him, but he can't bring himself to make it text.]

Hey, so...I just wanted to - apologize. The other night was weird as fuck, and I guess you didn't really get what was happening on my side, right? It was just - it was not pleasant. But I know it didn't really happen and it didn't happen for you so I probably have no reason to apologize but. I don't know. It was fucked up.

video;

[notaquaman]

[Look at all these people coming out of the woodwork to...apologize? To him? To make him feel better? Jesus, this is so surreal. People don't act this way around him. People don't care about the shithead with an ASBO who pisses off everyone he talks to.]

We all saw a lot of shit that night. And nobody got any sleep and everyone was a fucking cunt without meaning to and we all feel like a flaming pile of shit...so it's all sorted. No apologizes necessary.

[His tablet balanced on his knees, he groans and leans back, resting his head against the wall.]

Fuck. I can't be the only one who thinks this was a bit much. Like, stay tuned for a word from our Satanic Sponsors.

[majorlazer]

You're definitely not the only one.

[Zach runs a hand over his face. He would like for Nathan to really get that he's sorry about what looked like Hermann, but at the same time, he's also appreciating moving on from the awkwardness of...sincerity. And feelings.]

It was crazy. I really, really wish there was alcohol somewhere in this hellish place. Would help with not thinking about it anymore. Imagine, a fully stocked bar? I'm not much into liquor usually - I'm a beer guy - but I'd down a bottle of whiskey right now, easy.

@SceptredIsle; voice; day 130

[keepscalm]

[The message comes after lockdown has finally ended. There's not much leading or pretence about it, mostly because he doesn't think Nathan would appreciate it.]

Oi. You all right?

voice;

[notaquaman]

Well, the puke stopped, so that's something. I'm still shitting my pants on the regular, but that's about normal.

[He's kidding. We can hope.]

@zd; video; morning 126

[swatsflies]

[ He aims the camera on the tablet down the firepole. ]

Hope you don't get sick easy. [ That's all the warning Nathan before Zell slides down the pole at a fast rate. He only slows down when he's close to the bottom. ]

How's that? [ Turning the tablet upwards to aim up the pole. ] This is the first place we found after the aquarium. Pretty cool, huh? [ Yes, he's excited about going down a firepole. ]

audio;

[notaquaman]

[In response to this message is a series of very fake but very earnest puking noises.]

@duster, text, day 141

[bywolves]

[ He's absolutely going to copy this message and send it right back to you, Nathan. ]

@makeme; text

[coyoteking]

ok man what the hell

did you make that spam thing up or??? did you get it from somebody else???

charlie is like losing his shit over it and i don't know how else to make him stop so like

did you do this or what

[notaquaman]

i don't know what ur talking about