NATE
There are signs, shifts that Nate doesn't notice, can't notice, in the state he's in, the way he's worked himself up. Twitches, shifting, the slightest dip of breath into a chest. All lost on him, in his grief. Voices cradle around him, cloying, whispering things, reminding him how this is his fault, how it should have been him, how things would be better if it was him. If he wasn't the way he was, perhaps things would have gone differently.
Just as his sobbing begins to soften, as he tries to pull the pieces of himself back together, a voice solely in his head screaming for him to Stiffen up, boy, the cadaver beneath him gasps back to life. That single breath, that confirmation of life is enough to shatter the illusion, white, clinical walls flickering before peeling away, before becoming familiar, friendly once again. All at once, the little bit of control he's managed to grasp is gone, and sobs begin to shake Nate's body, for a different reason at least.
When his answer comes, it is a stumbling thing, words tripping over each other in a tongue that's not his own, but that keeps him distant from the icy claws of fear and guilt buried in his chest. "Ek het gedink... ek is so jammer, ek weet nie hoekom nie ... ek kon nie stop nie." Every word is barely intelligible, hiccuped out around lingering sobs. He hasn't risen yet, a small mercy that means he just needs to shift a little bit to wrap his arms around Sunjata, to let his fingers roam over a face that is still too cool to the touch.
Just as his sobbing begins to soften, as he tries to pull the pieces of himself back together, a voice solely in his head screaming for him to Stiffen up, boy, the cadaver beneath him gasps back to life. That single breath, that confirmation of life is enough to shatter the illusion, white, clinical walls flickering before peeling away, before becoming familiar, friendly once again. All at once, the little bit of control he's managed to grasp is gone, and sobs begin to shake Nate's body, for a different reason at least.
When his answer comes, it is a stumbling thing, words tripping over each other in a tongue that's not his own, but that keeps him distant from the icy claws of fear and guilt buried in his chest. "Ek het gedink... ek is so jammer, ek weet nie hoekom nie ... ek kon nie stop nie." Every word is barely intelligible, hiccuped out around lingering sobs. He hasn't risen yet, a small mercy that means he just needs to shift a little bit to wrap his arms around Sunjata, to let his fingers roam over a face that is still too cool to the touch.
The streets are only empty when I need someoneThere's nothing to see here, move along!
