[Nick's too horrified to do anything but listen attentively to every word that comes out of his mouth and nervously chew at the cuticle of her index finger. It's all beyond fucked up, exactly like a stupid slasher movie, and she finds herself mentally screaming with disbelief at every awful part he reveals. Chris wouldn't lie about something like this, though - Nick's pretty sure she knows him well enough by now to know that much, at least, and that only makes knowing this worse.
She gasps when he says he shot himself, eyes going wide as saucers, then narrowing to angry slits in the next moment when he tells her Josh was behind everything.]
Are you fucking ki- no, I know you're not kidding, that's - that's incredibly fucked up, Chris. Jesus.
[She's filled suddenly with a white-hot fury, shaking her head, because she doesn't want to believe it's true, even as she knows it is. Josh seemed a little weird, but this was downright sadistic.]
[That she's so horrified--and angry--both makes him feel a little guilty for putting this all on her, and at the same quietly vindicated that someone else thought it was that screwed up. His friends had, of course, but they'd very quickly had other problems to deal with and the whole prank had been relegated to the back of their minds.
But the moment everything had quieted down--while he's been here--it's been impossible to pretend it didn't happen, even if he's begun to wonder off and on if he's overreacting and should let it go. He wants, on some level, to let it go, but he just... Can't.
That's part of what talking about it is all about; running isn't working, so facing it is the only option he has left. But although speaking with Josh early in the month had at least gone over better than when Josh had first arrived, nothing had been resolved. And he doesn't want to bring up painful memories for Ashley.
But that Nick thinks it's fucked up, and that she cares, may seem minor but is actually incredibly important.]
Yeah. I mean, he was... It was revenge for what happened to the twins, and he um... He has some... There's a reason why I didn't just tell him he's on his own when he got here.
[There's several reasons, actually.]
But... Yeah. That all happened, and then like, less than an hour later there were wendigos and the guy who was teaching us how to fight them got his head taken off like, five feet from me, and um... It just...
[Everything went even more downhill. He'd gotten someone violently killed right in front of him, he hadn't saved Josh, Mike and Sam hadn't been able to either, and Josh has to be dead. There was no resolution at home, and here it just seems... Wrong to dwell on it too much, no matter how much what Josh did haunts him. He'll have a lifetime to be hurt, but only however long he and Josh remain in this place to be with a friend he's known over a decade.
His vision is blurring but he doesn't bother turning away; he's pretty sure Nick isn't going to judge if she notices.]
We're uh... All from different points in time from that night though; Josh is from like, before anything started to happen. I think the last thing Ashley remember is when I... You know. She'd never seen a wendigo until everything went down here. Emily's from like, most of the way through the night, and Jess made it off the mountain like I did.
S-So um... Yeah. That's why we're all kind of twitchy.
[It's unbelievable - absurd, even. But she does believe him, and the full weight of the horrors he's described settles heavy on her heart. She covers her mouth with her hand for a moment, imagining what it must have been like to witness the things he's told her, then drops it, shaking her head again.]
You're a much better person than me, I'll say that. If anybody pulled that shit, they'd be missing some fucking teeth at minimum.
[It does explain a lot, though. Anyone would be traumatized after surviving something as awful as that - if they did manage to survive. Would she have been able to pull through, if she were in Chris' place? Nick honestly isn't sure. She's survived a lot of things, but nothing even remotely approaching this kind of unspeakably awful.
Nick finds herself suddenly overwhelmed with a wave of unfamiliar feeling - relief. She's glad he survived that horrible night, glad he lived to tell the tale - tell her about it. Glad he insisted on being her friend, most of all. She hesitates for a second - she isn't good at comfort, and she doesn't do physical touch often, but this is an exception worth making, or at least attempting to make. Then she steps toward Chris with her arms open, ready with a hug.]
[Chris offers a weak laugh at her comment, shaking his head a little.]
I don't hit very hard.
[But he did punch Josh right after everything happened. It hadn't been about the whole prank, really--a punch wouldn't make up for something like that--but rather one very specific part of it; Josh had hit Ashley, and Chris' normally almost impossible to ignite temper had snapped.
He isn't totally sure what she's doing at first, for just a moment, simply because Nick doesn't seem to be the hugging type. But to say he could use a hug is an incredible understatement, and though he's a little hesitant at first--the only women he ever really hugs are his mom and his girlfriend--he soon returns the hug firmly and tries not to end up crying. He's only partially successful, shoulders shaking a little, but at least he keeps it mostly under control.]
[She's not the hugging type - not since her father died, not since Andy decided there wasn't any point in remaining friends. It's been probably close to a year since she's hugged anyone, aside from the incident with Lloyd nearly tackling her a few months back. But - this is OK. This is important. She recognizes it immediately.]
I can show you how to hit harder.
[Throwing punches is one thing she's fairly good at. Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood:]
You tell anyone this happened and I will one hundred percent deny it. Got a reputation to uphold, after all.
[His voice is a little shaky and somewhat higher pitched than usual, as is normal when he's emotional, but he's not crying when he eventually pulls away. He even manages another tiny smile at her last comment, even if there isn't much behind it.]
No problem. S-Same here, you know? I-I'm like, super calm about everything, r-remember?
[He's been told that several times by people here, and it feels like a total lie whenever something like this happens.]
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no subject
She gasps when he says he shot himself, eyes going wide as saucers, then narrowing to angry slits in the next moment when he tells her Josh was behind everything.]
Are you fucking ki- no, I know you're not kidding, that's - that's incredibly fucked up, Chris. Jesus.
[She's filled suddenly with a white-hot fury, shaking her head, because she doesn't want to believe it's true, even as she knows it is. Josh seemed a little weird, but this was downright sadistic.]
Who fuckin' does shit like that? Motherfucker.
no subject
But the moment everything had quieted down--while he's been here--it's been impossible to pretend it didn't happen, even if he's begun to wonder off and on if he's overreacting and should let it go. He wants, on some level, to let it go, but he just... Can't.
That's part of what talking about it is all about; running isn't working, so facing it is the only option he has left. But although speaking with Josh early in the month had at least gone over better than when Josh had first arrived, nothing had been resolved. And he doesn't want to bring up painful memories for Ashley.
But that Nick thinks it's fucked up, and that she cares, may seem minor but is actually incredibly important.]
Yeah. I mean, he was... It was revenge for what happened to the twins, and he um... He has some... There's a reason why I didn't just tell him he's on his own when he got here.
[There's several reasons, actually.]
But... Yeah. That all happened, and then like, less than an hour later there were wendigos and the guy who was teaching us how to fight them got his head taken off like, five feet from me, and um... It just...
[Everything went even more downhill. He'd gotten someone violently killed right in front of him, he hadn't saved Josh, Mike and Sam hadn't been able to either, and Josh has to be dead. There was no resolution at home, and here it just seems... Wrong to dwell on it too much, no matter how much what Josh did haunts him. He'll have a lifetime to be hurt, but only however long he and Josh remain in this place to be with a friend he's known over a decade.
His vision is blurring but he doesn't bother turning away; he's pretty sure Nick isn't going to judge if she notices.]
We're uh... All from different points in time from that night though; Josh is from like, before anything started to happen. I think the last thing Ashley remember is when I... You know. She'd never seen a wendigo until everything went down here. Emily's from like, most of the way through the night, and Jess made it off the mountain like I did.
S-So um... Yeah. That's why we're all kind of twitchy.
no subject
[It's unbelievable - absurd, even. But she does believe him, and the full weight of the horrors he's described settles heavy on her heart. She covers her mouth with her hand for a moment, imagining what it must have been like to witness the things he's told her, then drops it, shaking her head again.]
You're a much better person than me, I'll say that. If anybody pulled that shit, they'd be missing some fucking teeth at minimum.
[It does explain a lot, though. Anyone would be traumatized after surviving something as awful as that - if they did manage to survive. Would she have been able to pull through, if she were in Chris' place? Nick honestly isn't sure. She's survived a lot of things, but nothing even remotely approaching this kind of unspeakably awful.
Nick finds herself suddenly overwhelmed with a wave of unfamiliar feeling - relief. She's glad he survived that horrible night, glad he lived to tell the tale - tell her about it. Glad he insisted on being her friend, most of all. She hesitates for a second - she isn't good at comfort, and she doesn't do physical touch often, but this is an exception worth making, or at least attempting to make. Then she steps toward Chris with her arms open, ready with a hug.]
Hey - c'mere.
no subject
I don't hit very hard.
[But he did punch Josh right after everything happened. It hadn't been about the whole prank, really--a punch wouldn't make up for something like that--but rather one very specific part of it; Josh had hit Ashley, and Chris' normally almost impossible to ignite temper had snapped.
He isn't totally sure what she's doing at first, for just a moment, simply because Nick doesn't seem to be the hugging type. But to say he could use a hug is an incredible understatement, and though he's a little hesitant at first--the only women he ever really hugs are his mom and his girlfriend--he soon returns the hug firmly and tries not to end up crying. He's only partially successful, shoulders shaking a little, but at least he keeps it mostly under control.]
no subject
I can show you how to hit harder.
[Throwing punches is one thing she's fairly good at. Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood:]
You tell anyone this happened and I will one hundred percent deny it. Got a reputation to uphold, after all.
no subject
[His voice is a little shaky and somewhat higher pitched than usual, as is normal when he's emotional, but he's not crying when he eventually pulls away. He even manages another tiny smile at her last comment, even if there isn't much behind it.]
No problem. S-Same here, you know? I-I'm like, super calm about everything, r-remember?
[He's been told that several times by people here, and it feels like a total lie whenever something like this happens.]
no subject
[Nick tugs the hem of her jacket to straighten it.]
You're secret's safe with me.
no subject
[He takes a few deep breaths, trying to get it all together again, and his voice is steadier when he speaks again.]
So um. Scavenging trip.
[They have a job to get back to.]
no subject
[She nods, shoves her hands in her pockets.]
Where you wanna start?