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[swatsflies]

@ZD
Yo! I'm not in right now. Leave me a message.

((OOC: Zell may show messages to Jim Hawkins. If you do not want Jim to see/know, then please let me know.))

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grabby hands teal deer

[swatsflies]

[ He hasn't been sleeping well because everything feels empty and cold. So he's sitting up, watching Mochi and Morph sleep beside him when he hears the message chime. Zell holds his breath as he grabs the tablet to click on his messages. There has been a message or two from concerned friends, but he's hoping it's Jim. He's hoping he's back.

When he sees the name, relief floods him. He leans his head back and closes his eyes. Clicking voice message instead, not going to worry about waking the others up. ]

Hey, baby. [ He sounds tired but his tone has the usual warmth reserved for Jim alone. ] Where are you?

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim just wants to listen to that message over and over again. For him, it feels like he's just woken from a long night of sleep after the antagonizing way he'd died, but still.

It's Zell's voice, and it calms some of the panic of the hospital. Still, Jim finds himself hesitating to share too much, afraid of something nameless. Could he be sure of who he was talking to? ]

A long way from the bunker.

[ That was safe. It could be a couple of different morgues. ]

[swatsflies]

[ Presses his forehead against the screen. ]

I miss you, Stars. We're waiting at the high school for you.

[ Zell already wants to open the tunnnel and RUN until he finds him, but he doesn't know where Jim is. Which...is strange. It's strange Jim is using text and hasn't said where he is. ]

We all are. Everything okay?

[rattlingthestars]

[ Will they be there when he gets there? Will he be walking into a trap? ]

Everything's fine.

[ Everything is actually red-alert, not-a-drill, not fine, but Jim can't just say that. ]

Other than the dying.

[swatsflies]

[ That just makes him feel like something is wrong. ]

Stars... [ There's worry evident in his voice. ] Why aren't you talking to me?

[rattlingthestars]

[ There it is. Zell - if it is Zell, if none of this is a trick - knows him too well; of course he would spot something wrong. Jim sucks in a breath and lets out an explosive sigh, hands hovering over the keyboard. ]

Because I don't want to give too much away.

[swatsflies]

[ He stares at the screen for a moment or two. ]

Huh? What does that mean? What is there to even give away?

[rattlingthestars]

Location. Weaknesses.

[ Even now he can't bring himself to ignore Zell or put much effort into a lie, so he gets the truth, however careful it is. ]

Anyone could be listening. I could be talking to anyone.

[swatsflies]

[ Jim... honey. What did the mold do to you? Or is MN illness kicking in. ]

Wha?? Jim, it's me. You're just talking to me.

[ And he's pretty sure anyone who can spy won't spy on his inbox. ]

Is it the MN poisoning?

[rattlingthestars]

[ He is PERFECTLY FINE and all of this TOTALLY MAKES SENSE, okay. ]

How would I know?

[ About Zell or the MN poisoning. ]

They can make us see or think whatever they want. This could be a trick to get me to give up my secrets.

[swatsflies]

[ Oh no. ]

Stars, you know I can prove it to you. And I know all of your secrets already.

[ Does he need to send pics? ]

[rattlingthestars]

[ Does he? The real Zell - the actual Zell - knows most of them. There are some that he's held back, the ones that are too ugly to see daylight, but Zell does know more than anyone. ]

So prove it.

[swatsflies]

Alright, here I go!

[ He switches the tablet to video and then sets it up on a desk. Stepping back to give a wave. Then he'll start stripping off his coat and then his layers until he's just in his dumb tank top. Without pulling it up, he'll start tracing a hand over the mark that's been drawn there. ]

You left me a way to find you. To find home.

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim watches in silence, studying every familiar inch of Zell as it's revealed. It looks real. It all looks real. But he's not showing the mark...? ]

You died. After I drew that, you died.

[swatsflies]

Yeah, and I came back. Just like you did.

[ He'll give it a moment before pulling it up to show. Looky, mark. He just wanted to draw it on the outside first to prove he knew it before showing it. ]

See?

[ The scars are there, including what he got from his last death and when he was kicked from before coming here. ]

Need to see more?

[ He will strip completely in creeper high school for Jim ]

audio

[rattlingthestars]

[ He knew, alright, but - ]

You died.

[ Jim's voice is cracking, the tell-tell hitch of tears evident. ]

You died, and they saw your body, Zell.

[swatsflies]

Whoa! Hey, Stars. [His voice goes gentle as he walks up to the tablet. Leaning in to lightly touch his forehead to the screen. Something he does whenever they are apart like this. ]

I came back. Remember I couldn't feel anything and then we had that whole bullshit to deal with when you guys were kidnapped.

[rattlingthestars]

[ It calms him down, and Jim hates that it calms him down. He isn't turning on video, but he does press his face to the screen - his voice is louder when it comes through, the hitches in his breath more obvious. ]

Any of that could have been fake. This could be fake.

[swatsflies]

Hey... it's not fake. [ And then he'll snap his finger. Switching to talk in the language that Jim taught him. ]

I love you, nose.

[ He goes with the tease instead of Jim's name or boyfriend to show he really was there in person. ]<s/am

[rattlingthestars]

[ The video switches on and Zell is met with Jim's face, shocked and nakedly showing all the hurt he was trying to hide with the layer of text between them.

He's at a loss for words, no answer coming to him except the vague unease that's taken up residence in his chest.

He wasn't careful enough, though, and Zell can probably make out the hospital stairwell around him. ]

[swatsflies]

There's the face I love.

[ Tone still soft as he looks at the screen. He sees those stairs, and he feels his heart twisting at that. Jim is at the worst place possible and doesn't seem to believe in stuff? Or is paranoid? He's not sure which... ]

We're at the high school, Stars. I miss you.

[rattlingthestars]

[ The high school. It's a warren of rooms, many of them confusing and scary, and so easy to be set up as a trap.

Jim's eyes dance over the tablet, studying Zell's face for something - some tell of who he's talking to, what he's planning. ]

I'm coming back to the bunker.

[swatsflies]

[ Well he's relieved that Jim is telling him where he's going, but there's still nothing about meeting up. ]

Can we meet you on the way, Stars?

[rattlingthestars]

Why?

[ Jim's voice is too sharp, raspy from what he'd been doing before he got the nerve to make this call. He clears his throat, and tries to sound more normal; it's not very successful. He's talking too fast. ]

We still need to see what we turned on. Just - go back and do that.

[swatsflies]

[ He winces at combination of the why and the raspy voice. He gets it's something this place is doing to him, but it does hurt to see the doubt more clearly. ]

Yeah, we do need to do that. I just wanted to see you again.