third ( video ) late day 38

[gleans]

[ To anyone who has seen Galen over the course of this insanity, it's worth noting that when he appears on the feed, he looks more... present, and more like himself, than he has in days. He also looks exhausted, but that's a little, tired smile on his face. ]

Hey, uh... I hope everybody's okay. [ His nose scrunches a little, edging his glasses back up. ] I, uh. I wanted to apologize in case I like... you know, weirded anyone out while I was... gassed up? Is that what happened? Uh -- and is anyone else... coming down, I guess? I feel like shit, but I don't like... see anything. Anymore.

[ He clears his throat, scratches his head. ]

And hey, Anna, can we talk?

Comments

[magnets]

I was just sayin' what he was-!

[ WOW, okay, this is not at all going how he expected. Cue Jesse's agitation getting a little riled. ] Look, man, you might be a faggot? But I ain't. Why you pullin' this? I'm just tryin' to talk at you.

[gleans]

[ Galen scoffs, losing any of the teasing tone he might've had. At home, he can deal with this shit, but this place is small and he is so done with this week. ]

You can talk at me without taking shots at my private life, man, what are you, sixteen?

[magnets]

[ This is not at all how this was supposed to go. He liked Finch! Finch was a cool guy! And now here he was pissing off his boyfriend. ]

You'd know if I was takin' shots - it ain't like I asked how many dicks you've had up there. I was just makin' conversation 'bout all I know. Je-sus.

[gleans]

[ He laughs incredulously. ] Look. I get it. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you don't have much experience in this area, so, tip, dude: not a conversation topic. Also none of your business.

[magnets]

I'm just sayin', where I'm from? If you're gettin' laid? You're lettin' everyone know about it. [ He really does look apologetic, though, probably cursing himself inwardly for this shit. ] Butt stuff outta the question. Alright already.

[gleans]

Okay. Good. [ Now that he's calming a little, he feels like maybe he overreacted -- but in his experience, conversations that start like that usually aren't well-intended. Galen sighs, visibly deflates a bit. ]

How'd you two meet, anyway?

[magnets]

[ Jesse shrugs his shoulders, mostly just glad that little debacle was all over and done with for the time being. ] Word came down from the wrist things. When the, uh - shit was startin' to go down.

I told him he looked like shit. Guess we kinda hit it off.

[gleans]

[ Heh! ] Something about that doesn't surprise me. Did you like... get here just as shit was getting crazy?

[magnets]

Hell yeah, bitch, I show up outta the blue sky with no explanation, everyone's just startin' ta trip balls. Is this shit always like this?

[gleans]

Pants-on-head crazy? Nnnot really. Generally crazy? Yeah, kinda. Like, for example, sometimes you're lucky enough to get an alternate universe clone.

[magnets]

Uhh.

[ Says Jesse eloquently, and then, ]

Come again?

[gleans]

If you ever come across a guy who looks exactly like my Jesse, just with longer hair... that's what I mean.

[magnets]

[ Oh, he relaxes a little. ] Okay, like- what? Like that's your freaky way of sayin' he's gotta twin?

[gleans]

A twin from some other universe that he isn't related to, yeah. Like I said: crazy. Just ask him.

[magnets]

Okay, so, like- one'a those what's-it-calleds. A droppagang. Er.

[gleans]

... Doppelganger. Yeah. He's pretty alright, though. Calls himself Ghoul.

[magnets]

Yeah, that's- [ 'What I meant,' dies in replacement of a sheepish kind of rub to the back of the head. ] For real? He looks just like him?

[gleans]

Yeah. [ He'd mention Party, but he feels like that'd be in bad taste. ] And that's the low-level weird. I mean, as you've seen. But we've also had like, boxes with airborne shit that mess up your senses, and like... localized earthquakes. And stay away from the woods.

[magnets]

I heard about that, fuckin' lions and shit in the woods. Is that for real? [ A beat. ] And hey, what's with all the airborne shit here? They just pumpin' crap into the air 'til we go nuts? Huh? That's not real responsible with your hostages.

[gleans]

No idea. I guess that's the fastest way to drug this many people, since, like -- fucking with us and seeing what happens looks like their M.O.

[magnets]

Why not the water? That's what I'm sayin'. Whatever happened to good ol' fashioned roofies? Nah, they gotta be all fancy and shit.

[gleans]

I think the how of the drugging is kind of low on the list of things to worry about. The last thing could've been in the water too, though, who knows.

[magnets]

I'm still kinda wonderin' about the 'what', mostly. You ever heard'a anything that can cause that kinda shit like we were seein'?