not so starry-eyed anymore
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
MIA - Regular - Ragdoll Cat
Played by: lancydulac Offline
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#1
Samuel
ffilc a no denooram ,taob denrutpu na ni efil yM
doolf gib taerg a em thguorb uoY
With hardly any idea of who he was or what he was doing anymore, Sam was for once free of the usual worries and insecurities that held him back. Whether this was a good thing or not was up for debate, but with none of his usual shame or awkwardness he had decided when he woke up to head to Nate's house, going quietly out of bed to not wake Zephyr and sneaking through the streets (crashing into several things as he went) to get to the door.

He knocked a few times, probably more than was necessary, then slumped against the frame as he waited for Nate to answer, feeling all at once thirstier than he ever had but too tired to ever consider drinking again. Sweat thick with fluid beaded on his skin and he continually forgot where he was, having to remind himself every few moments by touching the bricks of the house before him.
tfil a em evag uoy dnA
tfig a tahw ,erac oT
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
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Posts: 2,792 | Total: 4,183
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#2
NATE

So many knocks at the doors recently, so many strangers and dangers and bumps in the night. Nate doesn't know what to do with himself, with the fact, except slink from his vigil in the bedroom, at the windows, to the door. He moves as slowly as he can manage, steps further stymied by his shaking legs, the house colder than he remembered it ever being before. Perhaps it's a good thing, perhaps if he's lucky, the person, the monster who has knocked will lose interest before he can make his way down.

His hand is on the knob, when suddenly a memory sings in his ear, sweetly as any number of monsters. There could be any number of things on the other side of the door. It takes so little to simply knock. A test, a challenge will have to be issued. Nate slumps heavily against the door, head thumping against the wood last as he clears his throat. "Hello?" It comes out as loudly as he can manage, without straining himself. "Who goes there?"
So unscrew my head and rinse it out
Polish my thoughts, turn into doubts
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
MIA - Regular - Ragdoll Cat
Played by: lancydulac Offline
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Posts: 3,135 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#3
Samuel
ffilc a no denooram ,taob denrutpu na ni efil yM
doolf gib taerg a em thguorb uoY
There was a while before there was any noise from the other side of the door, enough time that Sam began to consider turning around, barely even remembering why he'd come here in the first place; before he could gather the motivation to move again, there was a thud then Nate's voice, muffled and croaky but clear.

"It's me! Um.." Struggling for a moment to remember his own name, laughing at that, Sam stood and quietly giggled for a few seconds before he regained his thought. "Sam. I'm not..very well, and I know you're a doctor, but also maybe Ascended? No, you are Ascended, I did that." Having lost what he was trying to say, he pressed a hand to the rough wood of the door, as if trying to will it open through his fingers. "Can you let me in? Please?"
tfil a em evag uoy dnA
tfig a tahw ,erac oT
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
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#4
NATE

It's me! Nate doesn't know a Me, but he recognizes the voice, recognizes the babble of laughter that comes through next. The true name of the voice comes back to his mind the same instant it comes to the voice. "Sam." There is a tangle of something that wells up in Nate as he thinks, memories of happy nights, of drinking and coming home to a warm bed and a cool body. It's a strange thing, remembering a sensation so keenly without being able to touch it any longer. Sam did that.

Nate doesn't want to open the door, not really, but he is a doctor, he has a duty, and as much as he might not like Sam, for whatever reasons are escaping him at the moment, that's not a reason to condemn to the terrors that lurk outside. Shaking hands fumble with the lock, the knob, then a hand reaches out to grab the front of Sam's shirt and drag him into the house. The same hand then presses the other ascended against the door, pinning him there with both strength, and his wide-eyed stare. He's almost too close, skin shiny with fluid sweat, spots of colour in his cheeks that shouldn't be there without blood.

"Are you sick? A... a fever?" The words are hissed out, quiet now that they're inside. Ever mindful of those above, those outside. "What's not very well?"
So unscrew my head and rinse it out
Polish my thoughts, turn into doubts
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
MIA - Regular - Ragdoll Cat
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,135 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#5
Samuel
ffilc a no denooram ,taob denrutpu na ni efil yM
doolf gib taerg a em thguorb uoY
Sam was glad to hear the door opening, but he certainly wasn't expecting to be grabbed and dragged in. Letting out a gasp of surprise as he was, then pinned against the wall, Sam widened his eyes at Nate. This felt oddly reminiscent of a few times they'd had when the Outlander had first arrived back at his home in the Hollowed Grounds, but they were miles and seasons away from that now; the context, the relationship, it had all changed.

It took barely a second for Sam to notice that something was deeply wrong with Nate when he was so close. Panic began to rise in his chest from it's current background-hum as he thought of how many of the people he knew seemed to be suddenly ill.

"Um...um...yes. Sick. A fever. I think...I...my thoughts are all muddled, I..." Sam shook his head, struggling with the right words. "I'm constantly thirsty and I want to stand in the sun? But that's bad for us..and...and you're sick too, aren't you? Oh, Gods..."
tfil a em evag uoy dnA
tfig a tahw ,erac oT
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
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#6
NATE

Nate is already nodding as Sam speaks, symptoms rattled off and checked against a list in the doctor's head. "You're... not the only one. Sunjata too, and um... Remi, apparently." It isn't much, but every scrap of information that he can pull together will be helpful, will help beat away this illness. "Thirsty ho-" He begins, wanting to clarify, but stopping himself as Sam continued.

"Why would you say that?" Why did people keep saying that? He isn't sick, he can't be sick. It's simply not possible. Sure, Sam might be ascended as well, but he'd only returned to the Voice recently, had lost everything before that. Perhaps he was still missing some things. Things Nate still had. "I'm not sick. I'm... I've been busy. I'm tired."

A thought seems to suddenly occur to him, and his wide, crazy eye is locked on Sam's face again, searching for something, though even Nate isn't sure what. "Why are you here Sam? Why did you come here?" The hand gripping the cartographers front shook him a little, demanding answers.
So unscrew my head and rinse it out
Polish my thoughts, turn into doubts
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
MIA - Regular - Ragdoll Cat
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,135 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#7
Samuel
ffilc a no denooram ,taob denrutpu na ni efil yM
doolf gib taerg a em thguorb uoY
Hearing that Remi was ill too was a surprise: The man was strong, magically and physically powerful and as far as Sam knew, a Demi-God; if he could fall prey to this illness, it had to be serious. When he'd first fallen ill he'd assumed it had to be something that was affecting only Ascended - Sam didn't know if it was better or worse that it seemed to be nondiscriminatory in it's victims.

However, he suddenly had a much more urgent matter to deal with: the paranoid, intense energy Nate was giving off, the strength in the hand pressing him against the wall. He was obviously sick, clearly delusional much the way Sam had seen others be, but pointing that out seemed like it might well prove to be fatal.

"I-- I--- I was worried, about being ill?!" He half-asked, half-explained, unsure what answer Nate was looking for that might make him less angry. "That's all. I just wanted to see you. You're a...a doctor, and an Ascended too. I can leave, if--if you want."
tfil a em evag uoy dnA
tfig a tahw ,erac oT
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,792 | Total: 4,183
MP: 0
#8
NATE

A shudder runs through Nate, the note of panic in Sam's voice striking some chord deep within him. He blinks, then shifts back, releasing the other man quickly. "Worried. That... makes sense." As did what followed. He was a doctor, was ascended.

"No, no, don't leave. Come," Nate reaches out again, grabbing Sam around his upper arm and dragging him deeper into the house, "here, come in." Half dragging the redhead around, he decides on the living room as his stopping point. His half unwilling houseguest is deposited in front of the couch while Nate stands, a hand stroking his chin.

More than once, Nate almost begins pacing, his body leaning dangerously before he thinks better of it, and straightens again. After a moment, Sam is fixed with another intense stare, the doctor leaning forward to speak. "You said... fever, and thirst... the sun, I... what else?"
So unscrew my head and rinse it out
Polish my thoughts, turn into doubts
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
MIA - Regular - Ragdoll Cat
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,135 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#9
Samuel
ffilc a no denooram ,taob denrutpu na ni efil yM
doolf gib taerg a em thguorb uoY
Thankfully, it seemed that something he said worked to calm Nate down; Sam could have cried with relief as he was dropped away from the wall, knowing full well how strong (and how much larger) Nate was: it would not be difficult for him to make it so Sam didn't leave. Now free, he took several steps away, wanting to create a good amount of distance between them.

Unfortunately, it seemed Nate was determined to have a hand on him: as soon as he was once again dropped, this time on the couch, Sam shuffled up to the furthest end from Nate.

"Um...I...I um..." Sam tried to think through both his fear and the thick fog that had descended on his mind for the last few days, rubbing his temples as if it might help the thoughts to formulate. "I keep seeing and hearing things and...nothing anyone says makes sense sometimes. Even if I know it actually does, I can't...understand it."
tfil a em evag uoy dnA
tfig a tahw ,erac oT
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,792 | Total: 4,183
MP: 0
#10
NATE

There is so little room for things in Nate's mind right now, and Sam's worries, his fears, simply don't have the room to even occur to Nate, not in his paranoid, addled state. While no part of him truly believes Sam would intentionally work against him, that doesn't mean the other can't be used, can't be a pawn, bait of some kind. This is what occupies him, trying to silently work out who, and why.

"Hallucinations." The word is dropped with the solemn weight of a casket closing, Nate's face stony, utterly still, for just a moment. Then he almost chokes on a giggle and has to double over, struggling to stay on his feet while he does. "Do you feel strange? Not real?" There's an affected tone to his voice, as Nate mimics words even he can't recall the source of, save for the fact that it's a movie from his childhood. His next words are all him though, unblinking eye once again locked on Sam. "Have you told anyone else?"

Nate rises again, his body moving robotically, limbs straightening before his core does. He blinks, looking at Sam on the couch as if it's the first time he's seeing his fellow ascended, as if he's surprised to find the other man there. "Sam you... you like tea, don't you? Would you like a tea?"
So unscrew my head and rinse it out
Polish my thoughts, turn into doubts
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
MIA - Regular - Ragdoll Cat
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,135 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#11
Samuel
ffilc a no denooram ,taob denrutpu na ni efil yM
doolf gib taerg a em thguorb uoY
"Um...yes. Yes, Hallucinations." Sam repeated, his own mind taking Nate's tone and running with it, deciding in a split second that the symptom had to mean his upcoming doom. The laughing didn't help at all: of course Nate would laugh knowing he was close to death, the man seemingly dedicated to making Sam miserable ever since he'd broken his heart. Sam clutched his hands close to his chest, overcome with a heavy, oppressive fear. "I f...feel real, right now. It's everything else that isn't real."

As for whether he'd told anyone else, he tried his best to remember; but his memories of the last week were vague, swapped places and shifted as he tried to recall them. "I don't know."

The offer of tea, something that would normally calm him, only made him more suspicious. "...What kind of tea?" Sam asked, clearly skeptical.
tfil a em evag uoy dnA
tfig a tahw ,erac oT
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,792 | Total: 4,183
MP: 0
#12
NATE

Stroking his chin, Nate nodded thoughtfully. "Everything else, hmm?" Seemingly without his notice, the motion of his fingers grew more exaggerated, until he was stroking up his cheeks, considering the dull sensation curiously. "I feel real." He declares, leaning in like he might reach for Sam to administer the same test, before thinking better of it and leaning back again. "I believe you're real."

Perhaps it was for the best Sam couldn't recall. If Nate could put names to his paranoia, it would lead bad places. But it didn't stop the flare of frustration, his jaw working and he tried to not snap again. "You should be more careful. There's bad things out there right now."

"I don't... something Vai gave us, I think. It's... herbal." Nate clearly wasn't expecting his offer to be met with such hostility. "There's coffee too. Um, whis- no, water?" Entertaining guests wasn't exactly high on Nate's list of skills, and his options were limited in terms of refreshments. But Sam clearly needed something to steady him.
So unscrew my head and rinse it out
Polish my thoughts, turn into doubts
Samuel Wordsworth
Book maker/seller

Age: 34 | Height: 5' 5" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 28 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 25 - Int: 1
MIA - Regular - Ragdoll Cat
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,135 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#13
Samuel
ffilc a no denooram ,taob denrutpu na ni efil yM
doolf gib taerg a em thguorb uoY
As Sam watched Nate stroke his face, the motion growing more exaggerated over time, he began to see the skin tear with it; flesh appearing, as Nate tore away at his cheeks, fluid pouring out; he curled up in the sofa, put his head in his hands so he didn't have to look, only dared to peek when he heard the Doctor get closer: ...and of course, when he did, Nate's face was entirely normal.

He frowned as he was snapped at, forgetting his fear in an instant as his annoyance at Nate took over. "I can take care of myself. It's not like you care anyway."

Vai's name calmed him a little in regards to the tea, though he wasn't sure if he trusted Nate handling hot liquids at the moment; then 'water' was mentioned and he remembered his deep hatred of it, shuddered and shook his head. "No. No, no. Water is going to hurt me, if I have it. I'd rather not."
tfil a em evag uoy dnA
tfig a tahw ,erac oT
Nate Wrenzaok
the Lone (Free) Ranger
"Doctor" / Guildmaster

Age: 37 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 10 - Strg: 55 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 50 - Luck: 46 - Int: 1
PEMOTA - Mythical - Starwhale (narwhal) RAMOTH - Mythical - Dragon (Biopulse)
Played by: Johnnie Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,792 | Total: 4,183
MP: 0
#14
NATE

Nate really isn’t sure why he and Samuel can’t be friends. There seems to be a constant cycle of slights, the others annoyance always sabotaging olive branches. ”Why wouldn’t I care?” He demands, only just barely refraining from rolling his eyes at the other ascendeds assertion that he could take care of himself. After all, Sam barely watched Mia.

Making his way to the kitchen felt like entering a different world, one where he was calm, rational. ”No water.” Nate agrees easily, moving through cabinets to find a mug, a spoonful if loose tea leaves and a spoonful of sugar each finding their way into it. Then, a squeeze or two (or three or more) of lemon, Nate trying to fill as much of the mug as possible with the lemon juice, if only so he had to deal with the smallest amount of water.

The concoction he returns to Sam with is hot, but it cannot realistically be called tea. Lucky for them, they can’t taste, so it should hve the same calming affect.
So unscrew my head and rinse it out
Polish my thoughts, turn into doubts


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