[After excusing herself to use one of the infirmary bathrooms, where she could be sick and cry privately, Libby wipes her face, smooths her hair and rejoins the others. It's still obvious that she's been crying, but she doesn't look gross with it anymore.]
Neil, I need to speak with you. Something's happened.
[She places her hand on his shoulder and gently leads him into an isolated corner. She will not and cannot keep him in the dark about something like this, as much as it might scare him. A healthy level of fear might keep him alive.]
[Neil's sitting on one of the cots, looking bored as hell as he looks through entry after whiny entry on his communicator. When Libby comes back from the bathroom, he looks up, thoroughly disinterested expression on his face.]
Yeah?
[Okay, so he's slightly worried, now that he sees her face. He lets her guide him to a corner.]
Things have a taken a turn for the worse. An inmate by the name of Clapet apparently panicked over the food shortage, and decided to take matters into his own hands.
[She bit her lower lip, and took one of Neil's hands in both of hers.]
I assume you already know Billy, or Doctor Horrible, because you both work in the kitchen. Billy and another man named Emil Blonsky were found murdered in Clapet's room.
[Her mouth quivers, and she tilts her face away as she utters a harsh, dry sob. She won't let herself completely break down in front of the person she's sworn to protect, though.]
They were butchered, and some of their remains were cooked.
[She wills herself not to vomit again. It's hard; even when she and the other tail-section survivors of Flight 815 were left without food, none of them had even thought about that. Sometimes, they were able to catch a few fish or a small wild fowl, or locate some fruit--but when they had nothing, which was most of the time, they all just went hungry. And this isn't even life or death yet! There's still food in the kitchens, and none of them are close to starving. It makes her feel like she's never NOT feel sick again.]
I wish that were the end of it, that nothing could be worse than what was done to them...but the dead aren't coming back to life anymore. It seems as though revival vanished along with everything else, and we're only finding out now.
What... [Neil recoils away from Libby, as though by bringing him this news, she's somehow endangering him. He doesn't even know the men who died, really. Seen Billy around, sure, but barely ever talked to the guy. Blonsky was barely even a face to him. But still, he'd seen them, practically daily. These were people he shared this stupid, fucked up boat with, and they were butchered and cooked, like this was a scene lifted from a 70s cannibal movie.]
No. No. [He looks away from Libby, at some dark wall, his expression grim, before cracking the smallest of smiles and letting out a bitter, humorless laugh.] They were cooked? [He looks at her.] What kind of fucked up nightmare is this place?! What am I doing here? Seriously, what the FUCK am I doing here?
[Libby doesn't know how to answer that, because sometimes she wonders the same thing. Sure, he needs to break a cycle of self-destructive behavior, but he's not prison material!]
Neil...
[She steps towards him again and enfolds him in a hug. She can't answer his question, not to his satisfaction or even hers, so there's no point in trying. It's not the time for philosophical debates.]
I'm sorry...but I'm going to keep you safe, I promise. Nobody will hurt you.
[He stiffens when she hugs him, but doesn't shove Libby away. Instead, he just sort of endures the physical contact, although he doesn't really welcome it.]
Oh, what, with your gun? [He scoffs, but the bitchiness is mostly half-assed. He doesn't really have it in him right now to push things.]
Yeah, well... [He's a little deflated. All of his walls seem kind of pointless right now. They're not about to come down, but he's not in the mood to scoff at her, either.] Hope it won't come to that.
[She can't die here when nobody's coming back to life--talk about being cut off from home--but if Neil's in danger, she'll give everything to save him.]
no subject
Date: 2010-11-17 06:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-17 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-17 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-17 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-17 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-17 07:19 pm (UTC)I'll take you to the kitchen for work each day, at which time I'll stand as an armed guard, but you're staying with me. End of discussion.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-17 07:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 05:24 am (UTC)It's not that I don't trust you, Neil--it's that I don't know everyone who can't be trusted. I only want you to be safe.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 05:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 05:41 am (UTC)You can laugh at me once this has all blown over without anyone being attacked, but until then I'm taking precautions. Okay?
no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 05:44 am (UTC)FORWARD-DATED to after Clapet's victims have been identified.]
Date: 2010-11-18 05:50 am (UTC)Neil, I need to speak with you. Something's happened.
[She places her hand on his shoulder and gently leads him into an isolated corner. She will not and cannot keep him in the dark about something like this, as much as it might scare him. A healthy level of fear might keep him alive.]
no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 06:06 am (UTC)Yeah?
[Okay, so he's slightly worried, now that he sees her face. He lets her guide him to a corner.]
What's going on?
no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 06:28 am (UTC)[She bit her lower lip, and took one of Neil's hands in both of hers.]
I assume you already know Billy, or Doctor Horrible, because you both work in the kitchen. Billy and another man named Emil Blonsky were found murdered in Clapet's room.
[Her mouth quivers, and she tilts her face away as she utters a harsh, dry sob. She won't let herself completely break down in front of the person she's sworn to protect, though.]
They were butchered, and some of their remains were cooked.
[She wills herself not to vomit again. It's hard; even when she and the other tail-section survivors of Flight 815 were left without food, none of them had even thought about that. Sometimes, they were able to catch a few fish or a small wild fowl, or locate some fruit--but when they had nothing, which was most of the time, they all just went hungry. And this isn't even life or death yet! There's still food in the kitchens, and none of them are close to starving. It makes her feel like she's never NOT feel sick again.]
I wish that were the end of it, that nothing could be worse than what was done to them...but the dead aren't coming back to life anymore. It seems as though revival vanished along with everything else, and we're only finding out now.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-20 04:41 am (UTC)No. No. [He looks away from Libby, at some dark wall, his expression grim, before cracking the smallest of smiles and letting out a bitter, humorless laugh.] They were cooked? [He looks at her.] What kind of fucked up nightmare is this place?! What am I doing here? Seriously, what the FUCK am I doing here?
no subject
Date: 2010-11-20 05:15 am (UTC)Neil...
[She steps towards him again and enfolds him in a hug. She can't answer his question, not to his satisfaction or even hers, so there's no point in trying. It's not the time for philosophical debates.]
I'm sorry...but I'm going to keep you safe, I promise. Nobody will hurt you.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-20 07:01 pm (UTC)Oh, what, with your gun? [He scoffs, but the bitchiness is mostly half-assed. He doesn't really have it in him right now to push things.]
no subject
Date: 2010-11-21 02:42 am (UTC)With my life.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-21 04:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-21 09:13 pm (UTC)[She can't die here when nobody's coming back to life--talk about being cut off from home--but if Neil's in danger, she'll give everything to save him.]
You'll be alright, no matter what.