*Fortunately he sends another message a few seconds later. His hood is still up (cause its cold) but his mask is off. He doesn't look so great under it. His face is rather gaunt and terribly pale (lack of proper nutrition or sunlight for years will do that). His hair is messy and clearly cut by himself with no style other than to keep it short. He has a similarly scruffy and patchy start of a beard that's only barely beyond its five-o'clock-shadow phase but already obviously uneven. His eyes are rather hollow and haunted, but he smiles anyway. Its awkward and out of practice, but its a real smile.
His voice is still hoarse though. Getting your sanity back doesn't east years of speaking as little as possible.*
Uh, hi. I-
*He cuts off for a few moments to cough. At least he doesn't spit anything up.*
--I'm different...for now. My death price is...I-I don't know. Loss of self? But I'm....
*Oh god, where was he going with this? What did he even want to say? He could have just...pretended everything was normal. But Zell was...his friends deserved to know. And he wanted to pass on something he'd never get the chance to do again.*
Thank you. While I can, I wanted to say-- *Short coughing spell goes here.* --to say thank you. For willing to be my friend.
[ WHOA!!! IT's a face. Well more of a face than the jawline.
He's swapping to video to give a wave back. ]
Yo! Do. Do you need a razor? We have an extra one. [ That's...not important, but it came out before he could really think about it.
Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. ] It's no problem, man. [ Really, it was... startling when he realized they were friends all those months ago, but now it's normal. Brian is a friend, and this is another version of him. Maybe before whatever broke him...
Maybe this is the Brian the Brian he knew didn't want to be. ] Where did you wind up at?
ignore that i'm at work and too lazy to make font small pls
Yeah, actually, that'd be great. You have no idea how hard it is to keep a beard from being annoying under a mask when you don't have a razor.
*It certainly wasn't the important thing to say, but it was very Zell-like. He frowns a bit at the question and sighs.*
As far away as possible, back in the entrance. I'm coming right back but...I don't know how long it will take.
Hey...y-you're still down in the rubble area, right? Have you, ah, have you talked to Jade? Is she alright? I sent her a message I just...I wanted to make sure.
[ Grinning widely in responds. ] I can hand it over to Jade, then. [ Pausing. ] And yeah! I checked up on her. We're staying close to her in case she needs it.
[ So they are around the gate area, too! He can't exactly answer if she is alright. She did lose Brian and he's super far away. ]
You still remember everything, then? I mean, of course you do, but... [ Gesturing up and down. ] You're still you, right?
[ He feels his stomach drop at that. Brian isn't allowed to sound depressed. ]
Regular Brian didn't want this, but you still have all of his memories and feelings. Maybe some day when he. You. When you're ready and want to, then you can work to be like this?
[ That is depressing. It doesn't sit right in him, but he's not even sure what to do. ]
But now you've gone back to this. [ It's weird. He's not sure if he should be excited or worried that it'll mean Brian wasn't Brian any more. He's not even sure how their friendship even started. It just happened along the way, and he knows he would protect Brian or help him out. ]
Whatever you decide, I'll support it. I don't want to be Epps, and I'll kick anyone's asses if they try to force it.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
@zd; text
Welcome back :)
1/2; text
yeah, i
*Then it cuts off there.*
2/2; video
His hood is still up (cause its cold) but his mask is off. He doesn't look so great under it. His face is rather gaunt and terribly pale (lack of proper nutrition or sunlight for years will do that). His hair is messy and clearly cut by himself with no style other than to keep it short. He has a similarly scruffy and patchy start of a beard that's only barely beyond its five-o'clock-shadow phase but already obviously uneven.
His eyes are rather hollow and haunted, but he smiles anyway. Its awkward and out of practice, but its a real smile.
His voice is still hoarse though. Getting your sanity back doesn't east years of speaking as little as possible.*
Uh, hi. I-
*He cuts off for a few moments to cough. At least he doesn't spit anything up.*
--I'm different...for now. My death price is...I-I don't know. Loss of self? But I'm....
*Oh god, where was he going with this? What did he even want to say? He could have just...pretended everything was normal. But Zell was...his friends deserved to know. And he wanted to pass on something he'd never get the chance to do again.*
Thank you. While I can, I wanted to say-- *Short coughing spell goes here.* --to say thank you. For willing to be my friend.
video
He's swapping to video to give a wave back. ]
Yo! Do. Do you need a razor? We have an extra one. [ That's...not important, but it came out before he could really think about it.
Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. ] It's no problem, man. [ Really, it was... startling when he realized they were friends all those months ago, but now it's normal. Brian is a friend, and this is another version of him. Maybe before whatever broke him...
Maybe this is the Brian the Brian he knew didn't want to be. ] Where did you wind up at?
ignore that i'm at work and too lazy to make font small pls
Yeah, actually, that'd be great. You have no idea how hard it is to keep a beard from being annoying under a mask when you don't have a razor.
*It certainly wasn't the important thing to say, but it was very Zell-like.
He frowns a bit at the question and sighs.*
As far away as possible, back in the entrance. I'm coming right back but...I don't know how long it will take.
Hey...y-you're still down in the rubble area, right? Have you, ah, have you talked to Jade? Is she alright?
I sent her a message I just...I wanted to make sure.
no subject
[ So they are around the gate area, too! He can't exactly answer if she is alright. She did lose Brian and he's super far away. ]
You still remember everything, then? I mean, of course you do, but... [ Gesturing up and down. ] You're still you, right?
no subject
*He sighs.*
Yeah, I'm...I remember being here. I don't know if I really count as me anymore but this is only temporary anyway.
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[ She might head back... which is pretty iffy. But if it'll make her happy, then it might be for the best. ]
Yeah, it's not you to me. I mean it is you, but... [ Vague wave of his hand. ] I'm glad you're back.
no subject
I told her. And I told her I'm heading back as soon as I can.
Ah...heh, its...its weird to me too. I don't even know how to explain it or how I feel about it. But I guess it doesn't matter much in the long run.
*He sounds kinda depressed about that. Resigned to something that's not necessarily good happening.*
no subject
Regular Brian didn't want this, but you still have all of his memories and feelings. Maybe some day when he. You. When you're ready and want to, then you can work to be like this?
[ But it's ultimately up to Brian. ]
no subject
*He can't quite look at the camera for that. Kind of ashamed and kind of depressively accepting of it.*
no subject
But now you've gone back to this. [ It's weird. He's not sure if he should be excited or worried that it'll mean Brian wasn't Brian any more. He's not even sure how their friendship even started. It just happened along the way, and he knows he would protect Brian or help him out. ]
Whatever you decide, I'll support it. I don't want to be Epps, and I'll kick anyone's asses if they try to force it.
no subject
Thanks man. That means a lot.
When I go back to normally I'm sure I'll want to stay that way, anyway.