[ Jim's not as used to running long distances as Zack - he's fit enough, but he isn't a soldier yet, and the kind of endurance needed to jog all day just hasn't been built up. He jogs when he can, lopes when he can't, and the entire time keeps his tablet on like a beacon to whatever might be out there in the darkness. It's almost like being underwater or lost in stardust, Jim thinks more than once - the dream like, wavering shadows of the ice above him make him feel like he's drowning.
The stream of messages he sends to Zack and the rest of their friends is a comfort, though he's rapidly running out of things to say. He wants them here, and they can't be, and he's just going to have to keep moving because sitting down in the snow and stopping isn't an option.
He never thought he'd be so relieved to see the hospital in the distance, and even more as he gets Zack's message at the same time his tablet flashes the one-hour warning. It gives him an extra burst of energy and he's all but sprinting when he finally busts open the door. He's barely thinking about the fact that he's coming back here of all places when he barrels into Zack, arms thrown wide.
It's been less than twenty-four hours, but it feels like years. He's drained, both emotional and numb, and barely able to think beyond hanging on for as long as he can. ]
[ One moment, all he knows is dread. His tablet's flashing and there's no more word from Jim. Is he close? Is he going to make it? Or was he too far away? Maybe he'll just find another house to stay in, but another part of him can't help but dread that in all the rising panic he's heard from Jim's voice, thrumming higher and higher with each message, that that's everything Jim's fighting against. That he won't stop. That he'll just keep going, regardless of that warning. Not another night alone. Not another night without at least one of them with him. It's already so dark out. It's hard to see outside of the light of his tablet. Zack can only imagine how he's feeling out there hurrying as fast as he can to get somewhere- somewhere better than the anywhere of being alone, but what if, what if-
Then the next moment comes, quick as a flash. His only warning's the crash of the door as it opens and instinctively his knife hand's raised, ready for one of the anomalies, when he almost gets the wind knocked out of him instead by the crash of the warm body against him. It only takes the swing of those arms looping around him to connect the dots with what's happening before he lets his knife clatter to the ground, catching the cadet in the tight circle of his own arms. ]
You thought what? That I'd leave you here by yourself? Not a chance! [ As if to further emphasize that, he lifts the cadet briefly in the most crushing bear hug he can muster without actually bringing any harm to him. ] Gaia, is it good to see you!
[ Jim doesn't notice the knife, or even hear it clattering to the floor once it's dropped. Fine tremors are running through his body as he holds tight to Zack. Finally making it here doesn't feel like a victory, just a relief that he can stop moving. The worst hasn't happened, even if he feels deep down like it still might. ]
That it'd move you again, or you wouldn't make it in time- [ That I would be alone another night. But Zack is here, familiar arms warm and strong and safe even if it's just the two of them. Jim takes a deep breath that doesn't quite feel like enough before he breaks the embrace to look around them. Just checking that everything is alright and there are no monsters here. When he's relatively certain there alone, he's turning back to Zack and ducking his head, embarrassed at the overreaction. ] -It's good to see you too.
[ He's not lost to the way he trembles in his arms, minute as they are. It's hard not to feel them when he's holding onto the kid as close as he is. Nor is he lost to the words that accompany that feeling and the tone it sets if not only in the vocal fear. It's enough to get him frowning even as he lets Jim have his space again, lets him look around to prove to himself that it's just them. That nothing's followed them- and nothing has. He's checked. They're safe far as he knows. But he can't blame Jim.
It's only when the cadet looks back at him, when he ducks his head like that as if ashamed and says that- that's when Zack acts again. That's when he reaches out a hand and gently ruffles his hair with a softer expression. ] We're in the clear. I checked it out before you got here. Nothing's gonna bug us tonight. You eat anything lately? [ He honestly doubts it. Fear has a habit of making appetite a lost cause which might be why he's already going for his pack.
Besides, Jim seems like he could use as many distractions as possible at this point. ]
No. [ Jim's not admitting that he hasn't eaten anything since the night before, because he knows Zack well enough to know that Zack would do the same thing in a heartbeat, but he'd get an earful if he knew Jim did it.
At least it does distract Jim, just like Zack wanted. He's not really sure he can take someone's word for it - even Zack's - but his stomach rumbling is at least a problem he can do something about. ] I wound up with one of the pillowcases, so we should have plenty. Kunsel said... [ Jim trails off, staring into a shadow before shaking it off. ] ... said he was swinging by the school to pick up some more rations.
Yeah, he's definitely going to dig out something to eat- which perhaps is moot considering the pillowcase mentioned, but he's had something specific in mind, even as he speaks over his shoulder. ]
So I heard. Then he's headed down this way. [ Still a ways away, but... he'll just have to trust Kuns. He's SOLDIER. He'll make it through and find his way back to them. Something else for him to worry about. Not Jim. Catching the cadet looking off to the side like that... Zack doesn't hesitate to rope the kid back in with an arm around his shoulders. He leads him to the closest wall where he decidedly trades out something wrapped in a napkin- ] Here, take a seat and eat this. [ Rather than wait for an answer, he helps collect that pillowcase- and then Jim's own pack to settle on the floor in exchange. ]
[ Jim lets himself be guided easily enough, though his gaze is still toward that shadow as he makes a vague noise of not-really-listening acknowledgment to Zack's comment about Kunsel. The offered napkin gets the same noise before it catches his attention enough to get him to accept it. He sniffs before looking - a habit picked up when he was blind - and then actually grins at Zack in acknowledgement before settling down and tucking into it.
The way he's eating might betray that he understated things a bit, or it might just be that he's a teenage boy. Either way, it's disappearing with speed - but not entirely. He breaks off a piece for Zack and offers it back easily. ]
-Here. Think there are some of those peanut butter cookies left from the school, too.
[ If he notices just how distracted Jim is, he doesn't say anything. But then what more is there to say in that sense that'll not just make him worry more? At least the quiet click as the door finally seals... that's reassuring in its own way. Not that staying in the hospital's his ideal spot. The tension under his own skin won't be going away any time soon, but...
But that's something for him to worry about. Not Jim.
Jim... At least Jim's settling in. And eating hella fast for that matter. It almost looks as if he'd been starving as Zack collects the knife he had forgotten before coming back and sliding down the the wall to settle beside the cadet. Just in time, too, as he's offered out the last piece of jerky. The SOLDIER hesitates briefly before taking it with a soft 'Thanks' and nibbling away. Just because he doesn't have much of an appetite doesn't mean he ought'a not eat when that might rile Jim up more. -But then he mentions- ]
Cookies, huh. [ He... is going to attempt not to look too excited over those. It helps if not perhaps in the best of ways that they're in the hospital. Doesn't stop him from setting his tablet down on the ground close to the pillowcase, so he can better see what he's doing. Doesn't stop him from glancing up here and there out of habit, but... There's a vague smile as he continues digging. ] ..Sure you didn't eat 'em all?
[ Being sealed into the hospital's less reassuring than it could be, that's for sure. Jim knows there's nothing outside but freezing to death, yet the feeling of being trapped in the place that makes his and Zack's skin crawl is heavy.
Jim can at least focus on Zack being a dork about the cookies. They're square things, uniformly brown things that Jim didn't realize were cookies until he ate one, but they're still cookies and Jim saved them for a night like tonight. ] Should be in one of those clear bags so they don't get crumbs all over the place. [ Jim holds up his own tablet to help Zack look. ]
[ The additional light from Jim's tablet definitely makes the task at hand much easier and Zack's smile grows the faintest bit wider as he redoubles his efforts. The only downside perhaps to the speed in which he recovers the cookies lays in the fact that the sooner they do eat, the sooner their minds will wander once more.
But that's really inevitable.
First things first though and that's yanking out one of those ziplocks with a- ] Ah-hah! [ He grins perhaps ridiculously so as he holds up the finding. So much for not looking excited. Or maybe it's not so much that as...
Well, they have cookies now. And he's going to be popping open that bag shortly thereafter and holding one out to Jim first, even as he prompts: ] Wanna know something gross?
[ Jim's accepting the cookie, though, and he looks intrigued waiting for Zack to continue. It's better than thinking about the way he keeps almost seeing a monster in the corner of his eye even though he knows the room is empty of anyone but them.
It's good to see Zack smile, though; Jim knows he's going to be tense until they're all under one roof again. ]
[ It's obvious, isn't it. How much he doesn't like that place. How much it's already bugging him. But still, he tries to hold that smile as he settles back down next to him. It's at least not so hard when Jim's prompting him like that and he huffs out a hint of a chuckle. ]
Of course. You remember when I told you about that one time half the barracks turned into TouchMes? [ He lets that reminder fall for a moment, letting Jim catch up with that train of thought before he continues. It gives him a moment to bite and chew thoughtfully on the cookie he plucked for himself. Then, he's making a face as he adds: ]
You know you get their instincts, too, right? Guess what those guys like to eat.
Flies? Jelly worms? [ If Zack was expecting grossed out about this, he probably shouldn't be telling this story to a kid who lives on a planet full of frog people. Not that Zack knows that. ] Did you have to go catch 'em some grub?
[ Jim picks at his cookie as he watches Zack settle into his story. ]
[ Not the exact reaction he was expecting, but. Well, some people just weren't that easily grossed out anyway, huh. He does chuckle a little at that question though. ]
Oh, believe me. They caught it, themselves, well enough. I'm pretty sure we didn't have to worry about any kind of bug infestation for the rest of the month. Not that the barracks were that bad, but you know.
[ He shrugs vaguely before another small smile tugs at his lips if not barely there. ] Makes me wonder how they felt about hanging with some guy from Gongaga though. TouchMe legs are considered a delicacy to some people from there.
[ That startles a laugh out of Jim, anyway, though it's a quiet one. ] Hope you let 'em know that while they were still frogs. You know... [ Jim pats his stomach and makes an 'mm-mm' sound. ] 'Sure am hungry for some touch-mes...'
[ It's what Jim would've done, if Jim were half as outgoing as Zack. ]
Man.. You're right. That's what I should'a done. [ He lightly bangs a fist against his own knee in what seems like disappointment. He's usually good at these things. Though if the faint smile and the shake of his head's anything to go by, he's not all that emotionally devastated over this. ] Too bad there aren't some of them around here, huh.
There are definitely a few people around here I wouldn't mind turning into frogs. [ Jim lets Zack fill in his own list, but they probably aren't that different. The smile that'd formed on his face starts to fade a little as he runs out of things to say and stares out into the darkness beyond their circle of light. He casts about for something almost desperately before the darkness can creep back in. ]
-Kunsel. [ Wait, that wasn't a complete thought. ] Ever get Kunsel good?
[ Okay, that. That gets him to laugh. Just a little bit. Just a hint before he shakes his head, watching Jim out of the corner of his eye... how his posture seems to change again. How awry he appears... Zack takes another bite from that cookie before he gently curls his free arm around Jim's shoulders. ]
Of course! [ Admittedly, he kinda has to think a second to decide which story to share, but... if the little smile's any indication, he's come up with a good one. ] You've probably noticed by now how attached he is to his tablet, huh.
If I didn't know better, I'd think he was a cyborg. [ Jim's tone is flat, maybe still a little distracted, but when he turns to look at Zack as he wraps his arm around him, there's mischief in his eyes. He had, after all, thought they were cyborgs for the first two months they traveled together. ] He was like that before Norfinbury, huh?
[ It's good to see that mischief all the same. Good to know that even through the fear, there's the Jim he knows underneath the surface. That resilient Jim that wants to push forward and brave through even the worst of moments. It helps him keep a smile, weak as it is. Cyborg, huh. That's new.
But the question gets a certain nod out of him and he... can't help how his smile grows a little more real, a little trouble-making. ] Like he couldn't live without it.
Guess who decided to hide it back when we were still cadets.
[ Jim gives Zack a flatly disbelieving look. Good job distracting him, since now Jim's busy trying to tell if Zack's messing with him. This story absolutely has to be crap, okay, because: ]
[ The more Jim looks to deny all of this, the more real and certain Zack's smile gets to the point of almost shit-eating grin. His eyes have that sure gleam that doesn't come from the mako in them as his attention finally shifts eye-to-eye with Jim. ]
I still ask myself that to this day. By the way, I also mailed a rumor out from it to half the company of him declaring his love for some girl in his contacts.
[ Okay, Zack's expression at least convinces Jim that he's telling the truth, which in a way makes it way worse. Because Jim's imagining Zack doing that here, to him, and - ]
Whatever he did to you, it wasn't enough.
[ Also Zack is never, ever touching his tablet. Ever. ]
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The stream of messages he sends to Zack and the rest of their friends is a comfort, though he's rapidly running out of things to say. He wants them here, and they can't be, and he's just going to have to keep moving because sitting down in the snow and stopping isn't an option.
He never thought he'd be so relieved to see the hospital in the distance, and even more as he gets Zack's message at the same time his tablet flashes the one-hour warning. It gives him an extra burst of energy and he's all but sprinting when he finally busts open the door. He's barely thinking about the fact that he's coming back here of all places when he barrels into Zack, arms thrown wide.
It's been less than twenty-four hours, but it feels like years. He's drained, both emotional and numb, and barely able to think beyond hanging on for as long as he can. ]
You're still here. I thought -
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Then the next moment comes, quick as a flash. His only warning's the crash of the door as it opens and instinctively his knife hand's raised, ready for one of the anomalies, when he almost gets the wind knocked out of him instead by the crash of the warm body against him. It only takes the swing of those arms looping around him to connect the dots with what's happening before he lets his knife clatter to the ground, catching the cadet in the tight circle of his own arms. ]
You thought what? That I'd leave you here by yourself? Not a chance! [ As if to further emphasize that, he lifts the cadet briefly in the most crushing bear hug he can muster without actually bringing any harm to him. ] Gaia, is it good to see you!
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That it'd move you again, or you wouldn't make it in time- [ That I would be alone another night. But Zack is here, familiar arms warm and strong and safe even if it's just the two of them. Jim takes a deep breath that doesn't quite feel like enough before he breaks the embrace to look around them. Just checking that everything is alright and there are no monsters here. When he's relatively certain there alone, he's turning back to Zack and ducking his head, embarrassed at the overreaction. ] -It's good to see you too.
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It's only when the cadet looks back at him, when he ducks his head like that as if ashamed and says that- that's when Zack acts again. That's when he reaches out a hand and gently ruffles his hair with a softer expression. ] We're in the clear. I checked it out before you got here. Nothing's gonna bug us tonight. You eat anything lately? [ He honestly doubts it. Fear has a habit of making appetite a lost cause which might be why he's already going for his pack.
Besides, Jim seems like he could use as many distractions as possible at this point. ]
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At least it does distract Jim, just like Zack wanted. He's not really sure he can take someone's word for it - even Zack's - but his stomach rumbling is at least a problem he can do something about. ] I wound up with one of the pillowcases, so we should have plenty. Kunsel said... [ Jim trails off, staring into a shadow before shaking it off. ] ... said he was swinging by the school to pick up some more rations.
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Yeah, he's definitely going to dig out something to eat- which perhaps is moot considering the pillowcase mentioned, but he's had something specific in mind, even as he speaks over his shoulder. ]
So I heard. Then he's headed down this way. [ Still a ways away, but... he'll just have to trust Kuns. He's SOLDIER. He'll make it through and find his way back to them. Something else for him to worry about. Not Jim. Catching the cadet looking off to the side like that... Zack doesn't hesitate to rope the kid back in with an arm around his shoulders. He leads him to the closest wall where he decidedly trades out something wrapped in a napkin- ] Here, take a seat and eat this. [ Rather than wait for an answer, he helps collect that pillowcase- and then Jim's own pack to settle on the floor in exchange. ]
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The way he's eating might betray that he understated things a bit, or it might just be that he's a teenage boy. Either way, it's disappearing with speed - but not entirely. He breaks off a piece for Zack and offers it back easily. ]
-Here. Think there are some of those peanut butter cookies left from the school, too.
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But that's something for him to worry about. Not Jim.
Jim... At least Jim's settling in. And eating hella fast for that matter. It almost looks as if he'd been starving as Zack collects the knife he had forgotten before coming back and sliding down the the wall to settle beside the cadet. Just in time, too, as he's offered out the last piece of jerky. The SOLDIER hesitates briefly before taking it with a soft 'Thanks' and nibbling away. Just because he doesn't have much of an appetite doesn't mean he ought'a not eat when that might rile Jim up more. -But then he mentions- ]
Cookies, huh. [ He... is going to attempt not to look too excited over those. It helps if not perhaps in the best of ways that they're in the hospital. Doesn't stop him from setting his tablet down on the ground close to the pillowcase, so he can better see what he's doing. Doesn't stop him from glancing up here and there out of habit, but... There's a vague smile as he continues digging. ] ..Sure you didn't eat 'em all?
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Jim can at least focus on Zack being a dork about the cookies. They're square things, uniformly brown things that Jim didn't realize were cookies until he ate one, but they're still cookies and Jim saved them for a night like tonight. ] Should be in one of those clear bags so they don't get crumbs all over the place. [ Jim holds up his own tablet to help Zack look. ]
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But that's really inevitable.
First things first though and that's yanking out one of those ziplocks with a- ] Ah-hah! [ He grins perhaps ridiculously so as he holds up the finding. So much for not looking excited. Or maybe it's not so much that as...
Well, they have cookies now. And he's going to be popping open that bag shortly thereafter and holding one out to Jim first, even as he prompts: ] Wanna know something gross?
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[ Jim's accepting the cookie, though, and he looks intrigued waiting for Zack to continue. It's better than thinking about the way he keeps almost seeing a monster in the corner of his eye even though he knows the room is empty of anyone but them.
It's good to see Zack smile, though; Jim knows he's going to be tense until they're all under one roof again. ]
But you're gonna tell me anyway, huh?
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Of course. You remember when I told you about that one time half the barracks turned into TouchMes? [ He lets that reminder fall for a moment, letting Jim catch up with that train of thought before he continues. It gives him a moment to bite and chew thoughtfully on the cookie he plucked for himself. Then, he's making a face as he adds: ]
You know you get their instincts, too, right? Guess what those guys like to eat.
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[ Jim picks at his cookie as he watches Zack settle into his story. ]
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Oh, believe me. They caught it, themselves, well enough. I'm pretty sure we didn't have to worry about any kind of bug infestation for the rest of the month. Not that the barracks were that bad, but you know.
[ He shrugs vaguely before another small smile tugs at his lips if not barely there. ] Makes me wonder how they felt about hanging with some guy from Gongaga though. TouchMe legs are considered a delicacy to some people from there.
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[ It's what Jim would've done, if Jim were half as outgoing as Zack. ]
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Wait. A moment. ]
Man.. You're right. That's what I should'a done. [ He lightly bangs a fist against his own knee in what seems like disappointment. He's usually good at these things. Though if the faint smile and the shake of his head's anything to go by, he's not all that emotionally devastated over this. ] Too bad there aren't some of them around here, huh.
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-Kunsel. [ Wait, that wasn't a complete thought. ] Ever get Kunsel good?
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Of course! [ Admittedly, he kinda has to think a second to decide which story to share, but... if the little smile's any indication, he's come up with a good one. ] You've probably noticed by now how attached he is to his tablet, huh.
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But the question gets a certain nod out of him and he... can't help how his smile grows a little more real, a little trouble-making. ] Like he couldn't live without it.
Guess who decided to hide it back when we were still cadets.
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[ Jim gives Zack a flatly disbelieving look. Good job distracting him, since now Jim's busy trying to tell if Zack's messing with him. This story absolutely has to be crap, okay, because: ]
How're you still alive?
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FRIENDSHIP
IS MAGIC
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I still ask myself that to this day. By the way, I also mailed a rumor out from it to half the company of him declaring his love for some girl in his contacts.
[ He'd been lucky.
Way too damned lucky to have survived this, Jim.
But believe him. Kuns got him back, alright. ]
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[ Okay, Zack's expression at least convinces Jim that he's telling the truth, which in a way makes it way worse. Because Jim's imagining Zack doing that here, to him, and - ]
Whatever he did to you, it wasn't enough.
[ Also Zack is never, ever touching his tablet. Ever. ]
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