halfnhalf | 003

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003 - Voice

[When the journal turns on, all it can see is nothing but the ceiling. At first, there aren't any noises, either. Well, nothing except the sound of clicking from what sounds like a mouse. After a moment of that, however, that stops, and then Teddy's voice is heard, sounding a bit unsure.]

...Billy? I think my laptop upgraded itself.

[Another sound, one of faintly playing music that might have been heard earlier, is paused as Billy's voice comes in a little further away.]

Upgraded how? Is it running better?

No, there's just... stuff that wasn't there before, like some games I've never heard of. Come here a second...

[Something's being shut and set aside for the moment, and then there's the sound of footsteps noise as Billy makes his way to where Teddy's sitting.]

Maybe it's just an added Christmas bonus. .... 'Slender'? Are you sure that's not a virus or something?

Beats me. Guess I won't tell unless I click it - I've got avast, don't worry.

...If you break your laptop you can't steal mine.

I steal yours to play Skyrim anyway, your argument is invalid. Now, let's see...

[A double click as Teddy gets the "virus" started. There's a pause, and then a rather low, unsettling sound.]

...This is not a great beginning, Tee.

The title screen's kinda flee-the-room worthy, but... hmm. Not very virusy to me.

'Flee the room' is a good way to phrase it. I don't trust those crickets.

What, think they'll jump out and eat you? All I'm doing is walking through the woods...

Walking through the woods in the dark with no music. Something is going to eat you.

Well, it's not gonna be crickets. I think I'm supposed to find the thing that'll eat me.

It said 'find 8 pages', so thanks for the mental image you just gave me. I'll never look at my bookshelf the same way.

You're welcome. ... Whoa, wait, what just - did my screen just -

[And a creak of the chair - with Billy having his arms around Teddy's shoulders and jerking back the way he did, he ended up yanking the chair a little.] Oh my god did you do that?"

No, it's - Me moving made it stop. I'm starting to believe your virus theory, B...

Then just turn it off, it's freaking me out.

Hold on, I want to see where this goes. ... Oh, a building. Not sure if want.

...Don't you dare go in there.

I'm thinking I have to. And you don't have to watch if it's bothering you, I think I'll be okay.

I'm fine, I just- no, seriously, I don't think you should go in there. That is a death trap.

There might be a page in there; that's what I'm supposed to be looking for, right? Eight pages that'll eat me...

That's still not funny. .....Why is that hallway so dark. You have a flashlight. Why is it dark.

III don't...

[Whereas Teddy sounds distracted and focused on the game, Billy's babbling is beginning to sound a little shaky. This part's seriously claustrophobic.] Why are you playing this. Why would anyone play this? ...Oh god, can you even get out of there? Did you trap yourself? You totally did, didn't you? You're gonna die.

Nnno I'm not...

[Billy's starting to breathe faster as Teddy goes around corner after corner. Teddy, however, is quiet; having Billy be scared for him helps him out during games - uh, viruses like this. But after a moment of that:]

Oh my god an exit, get out, get the hell out, this is the worst place in the world-

[Teddy, on his part, sounds amused, even if his voice is just slightly shaky: the only time Billy really swears is if he's scared, and it's funny to hear.] See? I made it out and I'm not dead. Still didn't find a page.

This is a stupid game. It's stupid and it's boring. Just play Skyrim or something, okay?

Maybe if I can find a page - oh, some tanks.

No, no, no, no no no no no no...

[Another pause, with more quiet no's from Billy and silence from Teddy... at least, until a certain point.] ... Hm.

Oh shit, what was that, what is that right there-

Calm down, just a tree, camera got weird on me.

No it's- .....um.

Tree.

Shut up.

Heh heh.

Okay... So far I'm finding nothing.

Nothing but- your screen's doing that thing again.

Yeah, I don't - [And just as Teddy lifts his hand to tap the screen - ]

What is that noise!?

Agh, it's - I can't - What the fuck -

[Briefly, there's the sound of the chair creaking - but this time it sounds like it's being forced back even further and even jostled. Following right after is Billy letting out a scream and loud, incoherent sputterings of "shit shit shit" before his footsteps are heard again, this time much louder and quicker as he runs away, and the door slamming.

Teddy, however, just breathes heavily for a few seconds... before he lets it out in one long breath, then gives a brief pause as he looks around.]

... Billy?

[And more footsteps, much softer now that Teddy's walking to the door, where all that can be heard is muffled shrieking.]

B, it's okay, it's over now - let me in?

[... At least his voice is only shaky compared to Billy's screaming.]

((ooc: As Billy will spend the rest of the time being under a blanket, Teddy will answer for the most part, though the former might interject at some points. If you want Billy in on it for a threeway thread, just say so and we'll drag him out! For the record, replies will, in Luceti time, be answered about ten minutes after the entry, seeing how they must console each other after such a near death experience.

Also, the video we used for reference. Have fun!))

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... that lap machine can really do something like that?

[CURIOUS AND YET NOT SURE IF WANT.]

It can be kind of fun... But yeah, it is, uh, troublesome. Especially if you haven't played it before.

[And since Teddy's pretty sure his suspicion is correct...] Do you know how to work your laptop? Billy and I are pretty much experts if you want to learn more about it. Or... I am, Billy is when he's not hiding from the world.

[That smile on his face turns into a grin as he follows the slow pulling of his hand; it's more the fact that now he, too, can hide away with his boyfriend. He shifts his weight around, using the hand that's not Billy's death grip to give him a little more room to slide under the covers, and once his head is under -

Well. It's very, very dark under here. But he can feel Billy's body heat, at least, and hear his breathing, so he moves his hand to try stroking his cheek. He'll probably get his finger up Billy's nose instead.]

Hi.

[If only it were as easy as "horror video game". God, he can just imagine the knowing look and solemn nod Eli would give from that alone...]

It's... It was kind of like a horror story. Only actually playing through it.

... not really. We don't exactly have these back home... neither I or my housemate [partner. boyfriend. He'd rather use those terms, but he hasn't spoken to this guy before.] really know what to do with this. It's not like the set up at the Dome... I know how to work that, but.... [YEAH.]

So, yes... we'd both like to know more about it, please. [In other words. HALP.]

Edited 2013-01-14 08:32 (UTC)

[Up his nose- or right in the eye, more like. Ow. And with one hand gripping Teddy's and the other holding his side of the blanket down, he has no defense against the sudden attack except to latch his teeth around the offending digit. Congratulations, Teddy, you've been bitten by your boyfriend, and not in the good way.

At least it isn't terribly hard, since at the last second Billy realizes who it is, but it doesn't stop him from holding on long enough to mutter in a somewhat incoherent voice (again),]

Uuh 'ot 'y eye.

[Ugh, ugh. Bringing back terrible memories by making him relive it, you awful people. Billy moans dramatically and goes back to pillow-burrowing. It's much safer that way.]

He didn't have a face. Why didn't he have a face...

Playing through it? [Billy r u ok...] You mean, like a story that you watch instead of read?

[He has a very very basic idea of what television/movies are supposed to be like from books that reference them, but that's about it.]

I thought there'd be some kind of virtual reality or something in the future. All we do is connect to it through our laptops and see everything from the screen. Ours are probably slower, too... [Though he can't really imagine a speed faster than what's out there now.]

Good to know cat videos are still a thing, though. I knew it.

Yeah. See, there's this screen, and the story actually plays out on the screen. And you control the character. So... you're living through the story.

[He crosses his arms and looks suspiciously at his now possessed laptop.] We got attacked by this faceless man who was stalking us in this one.

You've come to the right people, then.

... But probably tomorrow. It's getting dark out, and if Billy wants in on this, he won't want to go out at night. Not after this. [He turns his head with a little grin.] Right, B?

[He definitely doesn't want to go out at night right now either, but it's more fun to poke at Billy for this.]

Eh. VR games aren't as great as you'd think. They make most people nauseous and way too much exercise is involved, so they still haven't caught on with the core gaming market. Can you imagine playing an RPG and actually having to walk everywhere? Sure, you move twice as fast in the game, but that's still a pretty intense work out! And you know, that aside, the laptop is a hard act to follow.

[Teddy you've got her speaking nerd now. Way to go.]

And of course cat videos are still a thing. I'm from the Japanese side of the internet. We'll give up cat videos only after they pry them away from our cold, dead hard-drives.

No computer is worth getting my face eaten off. And if I wasn't morbidly terrified right now you'd be one step away from sleeping on the couch tonight.

[THAT IS ALL HE'S GOING TO SAY ON THE MATTER.]

Ow.

[Yeah, just because he has super healing doesn't mean these things don't hurt. It's not enough to draw blood or anything, but a bite (and not the good kind) is a bite.

But he kind of deserved it, accidentally poking Billy's eye and all. So, once Billy lets go of him, Teddy lets out a quiet laugh - it's still a little shaky, but he's trying not to let it show - and moves his hand again, this time pulling his boyfriend close and resting his chin on top of his head.

And with Billy this close, he might feel Teddy shifting. Not much, since he doesn't want to rip his perfectly good hoodie he got from Pepper, but enough to be bigger, more capable of just wrapping his boyfriend up and keeping him safe.]

Sorry about the poke. I swear I was aiming for your cheek.

Sort of. That's more like a movie. With a game, you've got a controller to make your character move and stuff through the story.

A lot of them aren't horror. We just didn't realize this was one of them until the end...

[And he does sound genuinely sheepish. Yeah, he thought it was creepy, but he didn't expect a jump scare.]

So it's like a video game, only you're living inside it?

[Misinterpretation, go!]

That does sound pretty creepy. If it broke, you could get stuck inside it forever!

[The moment he feels Teddy shifting against him, Billy relaxes, slumping back against the blond and curling up as close as he can comfortably get. People can say whatever they want about him dating a Hulk-sized alien (though if they know what's good for them, they'll say it out of his hearing range), but nothing makes him feel quite as safe as being eclipsed and protected by the massive limbs and body of his shapeshifted boyfriend. Like nothing in the entire universe can touch him as long as Teddy's right there.

Not even stupid slender faceless monsters.

He finally pulls his face away from the pillow just long enough to bury it in the material of Teddy's hoodie, free hand clenching in the material.]

...S'okay. Sorry I bit you.

[There's something to be said about instinct, but words (for once) escape him.]

[And then comes a loud protest-]

I knew! I told you! But no, you just had to keep walking! Our blood is on your hands.

[Captain Hindsight strikes again.]

Oh, wow, I can imagine... In our time, getting exercise is like, a thing now. We've got fitness games disguised as dancing games and everything. But walking from Lake Hylia to Kakariko Village in real time has to be killer... Still sounds amazing, though. Gamers in my time are practically dying for virtual reality to become a reality.

[And now, once he has the chance, he's totally going to program Hyrule into the Battledome to do just that.]

Really? Most people here use games to relax. But that's a different culture for you, I guess...

[Considering how many people have jobs that would probably constitute as hard labor in other worlds though, it makes more sense.]

But. Hold on. You know Zelda?

[A little knowing smile at the word couch.]

Tomorrow's fine. I have it off from work, and I need to let Itachi know. [A demanding mew off-screen and Law's attention turns.] ... oh, you're hungry? Guess it's about that time. I'll be there in one second, Amaya.

It'll probably go better when everyone's fresh.

[ dryly, for she hides her concern well: ] If the rig's haunted or possessed or something, I might know some excellent electronic cleanses. Ritual, magical debuggings.

[Because he's not sure if it's safe to actually approach them yet.]

What are you two doing?

...

[ a pause, and then very dryly - ] Sounds like you're having fun.

[She doesn't pick up most of the conversation, only paying attention here and there as she dresses the morning kill. With no Gale, no regular hunting partner, the journal's become nice company. Especially when the entries speak aloud.

But there are some words Katniss does here. Words like "games" and "something's going to eat you". Words that make her pause in her work, placing the skinning knife down on the nearby stone as she stares closer at the journal.

"Tree." "Camera." And then screaming. She scowls, glaring at the book as if it'll automatically give her video feed. When it doesn't, she lets the squirrel drop to the ground and turns on her own. It's hard not to look worried. Not when games are involved. Games and people she's slowly learned to rely on.]

Teddy? Damn it, Teddy! What just happened?

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003 - Voice

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