Ned § Video 03 § Day 95

[nedofpies]

[ Your friendly neighborhood piemaker is looking distinctly worse for wear, this morning. It's pretty obvious that he's sick, from the way he switches on the feed and immediately suppresses a cough, from the state of his face and the scratchiness of his voice. Still, he soldiers on in a rasp: ]

I've been here long enough to know how this works, so I'm not gonna do the whole, 'have you seen my friends, I can't seem to find them anywhere' thing. That's just depressing for everyone involved. So I'm just gonna get this over with. Here are the people from our house who seem to have gone missing last night: Jesse Finch, Galen Howard, and Kenzi- uh. [ He loses momentum and for a minute the façade of calm cracks and he looks devastated ] ...I never caught her last name, I guess.

[ It takes a moment to pull himself together and go on. When he does, it is with a type of grim, angry determination. ] I know people disappear all the time, here, but that seems like an awful lot to me for one night, so you guys might want to start counting heads and bracing yourselves in case something's up. If there are any other conspicuous absences, you might want to let everyone know so we can get an accurate idea of how bad it is and start damage control.

Comments

video;

[enchangement]

[ Have a shot of the sky from the roof of Charles and Erik's house, Ned. ]

Elizabeth. Comstock.

Ghoul? Fun Ghoul. Odd one in, odd one out.

Where is Daneel?

[ Because Ned is sick. And no one else is equipped to keep record. ]

[nedofpies]

Oh.

[ He only really ever knew Fun Ghoul as 'That Guy Who Killed Jesse Once', but he'd really liked Elizabeth, had felt protective of her in the same way (though to a lesser degree) that he does for River. ]

He's here. Thank God. [ Because River knows, more than anyone else, just how much Ned would lose it if he woke up and Daneel was nowhere to be found. It's almost unbearable just imagining it; the other three disappearing all at once has jolted his mind into picturing it as a when and not an if. ] Fussing like a mother hen.

[enchangement]

Good. Time by now, someone needs to fuss, or you will fuss in the wrong direction. [ River makes a small shushing sound. Ned's mind is occasionally as unkind as River's can be. ] Think about happy things. Create olfactory memory. [ Hug Daneel really tight and take a deep breath, Ned. ]

We need a record. Written, textile, complied. Will you ask if he will do it?

--> private video

[nedofpies]

[ Just choosing to think about happy things is easier said than done. Right now, he isn't even sure making a pie would make him feel better. In the state of mind he's in, he'll only think about how much Kenzi loved pie, about the face Elizabeth had made when she'd tried persimmon for the first time, about telling Galen to look up his shop if they ever got out of here, about Jesse telling him that baking pie was like its own form of art. ]

What good is a list going to do?

[ With everyone else he's been putting a brave face on it, but for River he lets the mask slip just a few inches. True, he's just asked people to speak up if they know someone else who's absent, but there's no real point to it. He'd only asked that because it seemed like the thing to do. It won't bring them back, and it won't help the people left behind stop it from happening again. ]

Could you- do you mind coming over? Promise I won't cough on you. [ He adds ] If you can stand being around my brain right now, I mean.

[video]

[bostonhowler]

Do you have tea? Or soup? I think there might be honey in one of my cupboards, if you don't mind it.

[nedofpies]

No, I, that's, I'm not-

[ Yeah, Ned knows Brigid isn't an idiot, he's so obviously sick it would be insulting to deny it. ]

I appreciate the concern, but I'm being very well taken care of.

[ Unlike Galen and Jesse and Kenzi who for all he knows are getting a three-for-one on horrific human experimentation and God knows what else. Just the thought if it makes him feel nauseous ]

Glad you're still here, anyway.

[bostonhowler]

[She hides a smile at the almost automatic denial. He can't hide how sick he is.]

Yes, I'm still here. I'm living in the lighthouse now. If you change your mind about the tea and soup, don't hesitate to ask.

Video

[recognize_an_opportunity]

You're sick.

[This is a generally useless observation, since he's pretty sure Ned has noticed, by now, that he is, indeed, sick. There's a pause, and then a sigh.]

I'm sorry about your friends.

[nedofpies]

[ There's undisguised relief in Ned's expression when he gets the message from Meyer. If he hadn't heard from him soon, he was going to evade Daneel somehow, so help him, and walk over to their house to make sure he and Charlie hadn't evaporated into thin air along with several of the other people he's come to care about, here ]

Thank you.

[ They are hollow and meaningless words, and he says them without really thinking ] It's possible they'll come back. [ He doesn't sound optimistic. Even with the precedent of Kenzi's disappearance and Jesse's death and rebirth, he knows better than to hope for the return of people who leave ] Bruce is gone, too. Has been for a while now.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

It's possible, but you don't think it's probable.

[It doesn't take a genius to recognize that, from Ned's tone of voice. He knows people have disappeared and come back before, but he also knows that there are those who haven't. There's no sense in hoping.]

I thought Bruce might be gone. That's too bad.

[And he really does seem to think it is. He's not one for forming attachments, but he certainly can't ignore the fact that Bruce had helped him after the tiger attack.]

[zen_navigator]

Jesse is gone as well. Pinkman.

[He sighs and then squints at the video screen.] You look like death.

[nedofpies]

Oh.

[ Ned hadn't really known him, had only spoken to him briefly while they'd been planting crops, but he'd seemed likable enough, if a bit odd. He'd been friends with the three in his house who had vanished, too. It's sad in a different way, when people he barely knows vanish. He worries about them less, then feels bad about worrying about them less, then wonders how well he would have gotten to know them if they hadn't been whisked off by forces unknown ]

That's a shame. Thanks for telling me.

[ He's gonna ignore the look like death comment, because if he doesn't acknowledge he's sick that means he isn't, right? ]

[zen_navigator]

No problem.

[To be fair, he didn't know Pinkman all that well, either. He'd just been the guy in the other room who he talked with every once in a while when they happened to be in the same room.]

Been eating the wrong sort of mushroom?

[hung_garian]

Well, you know what those crazy kids are like. They're probably off having a tea party in the woods or a threesome or something.

[He's well aware that they're not, that they're gone. Being serious about it makes it serious, though, and he's not entirely ready for that.]

video

[nedofpies]

[ Are you really trying to get a laugh, Gabriel? Bad timing. ]

They're really gone. Friend of mine confirmed it.

[ He really wishes that River didn't have to use her powers for this kind of thing, but it is useful. Good to have some certainty, to not need to rush around town frantically searching, wondering if maybe he made a mistake, if they are just not answering for some reason. ]

Here's hoping they're all back home and not... [ He trails off, not really wanting to finish that sentence. ]

video

[hung_garian]

They're not meaningful pause. Trust me, I'd know.

[Except that that's not necessarily true. He hasn't been keeping tabs on Jesse and Galen at all, he barely knew them, and Kenzi... well, he thinks he'd have noticed if she'd been hurt at all. But he can't be sure, not in this place.]

Kenzi'll be happy. Pizza delivery at last - she'll make herself sick.

[ video ]

[noblexcompanion]

Kenzi's missing?! Oh God...

That's quite a lot of people to vanish all at once. That can't be coincidence... I hope they're alright.

And I hope you feel better soon. You sound terrible.

[nedofpies]

Doesn't seem like a coincidence to me, either. There are others. People from all around town. Something's up. [ Ned laughs a bitter laugh that devolves into a cough before he adds ] Then again, when isn't something up.

[ He's really trying not to think about what might be happening to them. Best case scenario is that they are all back home. Kenzi's with her badass roommate, Galen and Jesse are together in New York, and they are healthy and happy. But hoping isn't going to change anything. It won't comfort him or help them. ]

I'll be alright. [ Being sick is nothing compared to having his friend snatched from the house in the night. He waves off the concern for his health impatiently. That wasn't why he made the announcement ] Do you know of anyone else who's gone missing, recently?

[noblexcompanion]

Missing? Not off the top of my head. A few people have been quiet lately and if people are going missing en masse I should probably make an active effort to check up on them...

Action

[thezerothlaw]

[Eventually, Daneel judges that he's waited long enough, and he approaches, lying his hand on Ned's shoulder.]

I am also concerned, Ned, but you will exhaust yourself this way, and you are still not fully recovered. You should return to bed.

[nedofpies]

[ Ned appreciates the fact that Daneel's left him to his own devices, up until this point. He's stayed in the house, answering people over the network and tidying fretfully. There's no way he's going to be able to clean up the chaos in his mind, so he uses the chaos of his surroundings as a surrogate. Of course, he's been stopping in between chores and at random, panicked intervals to search out Daneel in the house. He always had an excuse ready, a justification for popping a head in his room or looking into the hall when he hears him passing by, but in truth he's just checking to make sure he's still here, that he's close, that he, too, hasn't evaporated into thin air. ]

[ Under normal circumstances, a day of desultory cleaning wouldn't leave Ned feeling this worn out, but he is still in the throes of a rather nasty bug. So it's no great surprise when Daneel tells him to take it easy. ]

What if I want to be exhausted?

[thezerothlaw]

It will accomplish nothing, Ned, but increase the risk of your suffering a relapse. You must rest.

[Daneel takes Ned's hands in his, twisting their fingers together, and he leans forward to rest their foreheads together.]

I will make you tea, if you wish, and I will ensure you rest in bed. You should sleep, if you can.

[notrosesshadow]

You're worse.

[The rest of it is just too difficult to deal with.]

[nedofpies]

[ He'd thought it was a possibility that he would hear from Martha, when he sent out his message - if she was still around, that is. Which it appears she is. ]

I noticed.

[ It's... meant to be an attempt at humor, but his heart isn't in it and the joke falls flat. Her concern is appreciated, but his health is really the last thing worrying him right now. ]

There's no need for professional concern. It's just a little fever, and I'm being looked after. I've got a very fussy- [ A tiny hesitation, because what word should he even use? ] -friend taking care of me, making sure I don't overdo it.

[notrosesshadow]

Well, fluids are important. And rest. I know you're concerned. But it'll only get worse if you don't rest up a bit. Drink your tea and try to get healthy, fresh food. I could go look for the pharmacy if you need anything. A fever reducer or the like.

[She doesn't like being pushed away. And maybe she's a little more sensitive to it since the Doctor so thoroughly pushed her away yesterday. And maybe taking care of other people means she doesn't have to focus on herself because she's not ready to do that yet.]