not your burden to bear

awareness is the enemy of sanity

It’s been a couple of days since the drownings. Finn thinks so, anyway. He can count the hours of sleep he’s had - sleep without pale little faces bobbing in the water behind his eyes - on one hand. That has made time sort of blur together, and so when he emerges into the dark, grey afternoon, it’s for only one reason. He heads to the nearest herbalist, intent on trading for the strongest sleeping draught available.

This is easily done, thankfully, because Finn can’t work with his state of body and mind in such a mess. Still without an umbrella, he simply lets the rain have him as he walks back through the streets to the inn, a paper bag in hand with his means to rest within it. Haulani is empty, mostly - the rain is a steady and relentless thing, driving away business and stifling the sound of voices and footsteps.

It could be argued that the rain is the reason he doesn’t see them coming, but the reality is that Finn barely sees the way ahead. So they grab him - a couple of men, rough, dirty, soaking wet and seeing an easy target - and yank him into the mouth of the alleyway, raining punches and rifling through pockets. His glasses are back at the inn, and that’s really the only thing important to him; he doesn’t even have it in him to fight back, with that in mind.

for once you hear the screaming

it never stops

FINN