[ video! ; forward dated to morning of the 21st ]

[itemfinder]

Trevor Kirby has opened communication!

[Somebody was tossing his communicator in the air while he tried to think of how to explain himself, but somebody happened to bobble the thing and turn it on (but not drop it!) in the process. So now somebody is giving the camera a somewhat panicked look.]

Shit. I didn't— uh. I mean, hi. I'm... Trevor. But that's not, that doesn't matter. What matters is, has anybody else figured out how we're doing the food thing? Because I don't really have a lot in my place, or any money really. I've been trying to look around, though. Or if anybody needs help doing... whatever it is you've got to do with nobody around, let me know?

Comments

[ it's the video that never ends ♪ ]

[biomagnet]

Where d'you think? I—

[ He still doesn't turn the camera around, though notably the image of his floor is beginning to shake just a smidgen. ]

You're in the City. Aren't you? Where else'd you be?

[itemfinder]

The Cave, then? I mean, yeah.

[Of course he is. Which, honestly, feels like it's forever away — but at least he's here. In the more general sense of the location.]

In the City. At the, by the daycare. When did you get there? Or, uh, wake up?

[biomagnet]

Daycare? [ What does that have to do with anything, Chivy? ] Since... weeks ago. Two—no, three. Definitely three.

[ Chivy's presence here is giving him far too much hope for him to handle, and reminding him of the ache and numbness where his power used to be. It's the most he can do to simply... talk. ]

[itemfinder]

It's... not important. Three weeks? Seriously? [He's really regretting not messing with his communicator earlier, but trying to figure out the City had seemed a lot more of an immediate concern.]

[biomagnet]

Three weeks. Chiv— [ He cuts off. Breathes, deep and audible, like he's trying to steel himself. ] It was just after you guys left.

[itemfinder]

Left? On the...? Oh. That was, was it really three weeks?

[biomagnet]

It really was. It's been... My power—

[ No, okay. We're not talking about that, because his voice is beginning to quiver. The camera pulls away without turning to him, still shaking. He's not the most macho of guys on the best of days, but that doesn't mean he's about to start crying on a public network. Absolutely not. ]

You're safe there, right? It's just the... food thing?

[itemfinder]

[Hold up, hold up, hold up.]

Yeah, that. Food. But you're, what about your power? [You get a very short window to either answer yourself or let him actually come to a conclusion, Sefton. Your choice.]

[biomagnet]

Nothing.

[ There's more to that statement than just a dismissal. ]

[itemfinder]

[There's a long moment of just silence, while Chivy tries that thought out in half a dozen different ways, and lets it connect with his lack of anything until out in the sands (but not yet with the fact that his knack is different now, that can come later).

And then he's moving, communicator hooked onto the handlebars of his bike in a stand he's very glad he was bored enough to put together, and very firmly not asking Sefton most of the questions he's thinking.]

That's good, unless they gave you shoes. They didn't give me gloves, so if you got shoes I want to know where. I mean, I have gloves now, but they're not mine. They're different.

[biomagnet]

[ During the entire silence, Sefton says... nothing. He's waiting, perhaps simply letting himself sit in the knowledge that Chivy is here too and maybe he's not alone, not as scared and terrified into complacency as he had been for three weeks straight. Maybe now he can actually start to move and make sense of what's been happening. ]

S' the same.

[itemfinder]

See, a little positive. Plus it means we're less likely to drown, I'm good with that. And my hands are warm. I don't— [This is the one person here who would actually understand that, and he's not sure he actually wants to try talking about it. Not seriously. He takes a breath before continuing.] I got a bike, though.

[biomagnet]

[ He gets it. He gets it all anyway, because it looks like they're both in the same boat, just set adrift at different points in time. ]

S' it... got a little basket?

[itemfinder]

[Chivy laughs, louder than he meant to and louder than the comment deserves, but it's something.]

Not yet. But I'm working on it. You open the rest of the day or do you have work or something? [Not that that changes anything, just he needs to figure out if he's just finding Sefton, or finding Sefton and distracting him from something he's actually supposed to be doing.]

[biomagnet]

[ Not that Chivy can see it, but he smiles at the laughter even if he doesn't join in. ]

... right. [ That's the sound of Sefton deflating under the weight of reality. ] Work. I've—got work at the library.

[itemfinder]

[Of course. Because nothing else about this has been easy.]

Somebody's always telling me I need to read more. I'll just have to stop by.

[biomagnet]

[ Because he's trying to think of everything except the important things right now, Sefton grasps on to perhaps the most inconsequential detail of that. ]

Your glasses?

[itemfinder]

Pretty much the same. [Even if he had a bike lock, there really isn't much point in using one, so he's just leaving the bike propped up against a building.] I don't think I'm gonna be able to keep talking on the way, I'll meet you in the library?

[biomagnet]

No—! [ Kneejerk reaction. He pauses, just for a moment, then blusters forward before Chivy can get all concerned. ] Just—just do whatever. I'll... I'm not going anywhere.

[itemfinder]

[He hears you but he is not doing the back and forth over this right now, he will be patient, even if it means worrying the whole ride.]

Don't make me track you down, man. I will do it.

[biomagnet]

You always do... [ Why would he start doubting that now? ]

[itemfinder]

Yeah. ... Yeah. [The repetition helps, sometimes.] Boarding, though, disconnecting. See you in a few hours.

[biomagnet]

Okay.

[ There's some hesitation... then, because he's Sefton, he cuts the link for both of them. ]

[ and here we swap to action, those few hours later ]

[itemfinder]

[Chivy didn't run all the way to the library. He didn't. He may have rushed, a bit, but really, there is no reason for anyone to say anything. At all.]

Prickly? You here somewhere?

[biomagnet]

[ The library is large enough that one would have to raise their voice to be heard far enough into the building to be effective, which gets Chivy some exasperated, aggravated and outright annoyed looks.

Sefton reacts by tightening his grip around the console he had been fiddling with and doing his very best not to let his stomach drop to his shoes. This is real, this is very real and suddenly he's not sure what he wants to do. His fight or flight reflex is screaming to run, except Chivy just did all that running for him, to get to him. He glances to his right from where he's nestled (hidden) himself at the end of the aisle, out toward the small central lobby. ]

Here. 'm here.