[Some more than others. He doesn't really count himself in that mix. The feeling of guilt, for not doing enough for Josh, for turning that handle and sealing his fate (or so he thought). He doesn't deserve to be spoiled for that. Not when Josh isn't with them. ]
Yeah. I could use a whole lot of happy endings, right now. All the cheese, all the time.
[They can pretend the world is really like that for a little while. That people get their wishes granted and no one gets hurt in the process. ]
[Psh, he would get plenty of arguments if he tried to say that he didn't deserve it. Sam and Mike would definitely back her up there, and if Matt and Jess were filled in on what happened, Ashley is sure they'd be on her side too.
Who knows what Emily would think. He didn't have any hand in what happened in the basement, but with how stressed out everyone was....
No. No thinking about that. Just. No.]
We'll probably get diabetes from that much Disney fluff, but hey. Worth it, right? Especially if it helps... [She waves her hand.] You know.... this.
[IT WILL BE A VALIANT FIGHT BUT THEY WILL DEFINITELY COME OUT ON TOP :|]
And speaking of this... [She doesn't wave her hand around this time, but she does scan the dismal-looking all they've been occupying for a while now.] We should probably get out of here. Or... find where they want us to go next. It's getting a little weird.
I feel you. I mean... what happened to me wasn't as bad as what happened to you, but my head feels like it's about ready to split open.
[Being knocked out twice in only a couple of hours is just.... not good for you, it seems. Her wrists hurt too, judging by how she's rubbing at them over her gloves. She's sure those cuffs that Josh used to string her up in the first trap messed her up somehow, but she hasn't really stopped to look....]
I guess. We're probably gunna be waiting a while longer, if that's the case. [She nods towards some doors still closed.] I think they're still talking to a couple of us.
A busted eye isn't anything compared to a busted leg. That you then had to run on a few times. I'll probably be fine with an icepack and some Advil.
[Sorry Chris. You put her before you? She's gunna do the same to you. Nevermind that getting hit hard enough to knock her unconscious twice in just a couple of hours would be enough to raise suspicions about a concussion....]
... I hope so, too. But... they're all strong, right? They'll be okay.
[Except maybe Jess. God.... she doesn't know what happened to Jess, and she almost doesn't want to. Seeing someone normally so carefree and peppy turned into that... she's not sure whether she should be angry, scared, or just. Cry.]
[He opens his mouth to argue, but...no, okay. His leg does really fucking hurt. Still, better to run on it than get caught by one of those...things. ]
They are, but...I dunno. There's being strong in the face of adversity, and then there's being strong in the middle of a waking nightmare. I mean, shit, did you see Jess?
[It looked like she'd got a broken everything, up to and including her spirit. It's no surprise Mike thought she was dead.]
[Ashley shakes her head. If they hadn't gotten into that mess with the wendigos, if they hadn't been thrown into Josh's fucked-up revenge scheme... just looking at Jess would've given her nightmares, probably.]
It's like... I dunno. It's like they picked up a different person, not Jess.
[It's deeply, deeply concerning. How much of her has been ripped away. He shakes his head, he's tried to understand this, any of this, give some REASON for it all happening. He can't. It's just a nightmare none of them will ever escape. ]
[Josh had suffered, and he hadn't done enough for him, and in doing so he lost his best friend forever. Over ten years of friendship torn apart in the space of one night. Josh had lost himself to the darkness, and he'll be damned if he'll let the same thing happen to Jess. ]
Or at least make it so she knows she's not alone in it all.
It won't happen. What she went through... even if we don't know the specifics, we all had run-ins with the wendigo. We all had to run and hide from them, and we all saw a lot of fucked up shit.
It's... it won't just be us going in blind to how she feels when we try to help her. We really can sympathize, so... that would help.
[He gives a long, slow exhale. An attempted release of tension, of the sick, horrible feeling in his stomach that things have been fucked up for them for the rest of their lives now. That there's no going back from any of this. ]
[This time, when Ashley reaches up, she does put her hands on his cheeks. She's not going to force him to look at her, but... it's contact, a comfort she's sure he needs right now.]
I am. We screwed up with a lot of things in the past, but we're different now. Nobody's going to let that happen again.
[He tenses, just for a moment. This is still so new, this closeness. He;s still coming to terms that it's happening. The panic only lasts a second, before he closes his eyes, leaning into it. Taking the strength he can from her. ]
[The barest hint of a smile crosses Ashley's face, and she lets the thumb of her unbloodied hand run across his cheek. Maybe it's a bit forward, a bit inappropriate, but... he needs this contact. This comfort. Awkwardness will just have to be shoved to the side for now.]
[That feels so nice. More to the point, it feels right. One of the few right things he's experienced in the last twenty four hours. He opens his eyes, offering a small smile. ]
[Maybe it's too forward. Inappropriate, even. The full scope of their trauma hasn't even really settled in completely yet. But that brief smile... it tugs at something inside of Ashley, and the desire - the need - to keep comforting Chris is just too much.]
... C'mere.
[Her hands move from his cheeks back to his shoulders, and with the gentlest tug - more than enough to resist or pull back from if he doesn't like it - pulls him towards her and down a little, so she can wrap him up in a hug.]
[He does, indeed, need to bend a little what with the awkward height difference and all, but that hug is more than welcome. It's something true, something solid. After a night of crap that should only exist in bad horror movies, he welcomes something he knows is real.
He returns the hug, giving her a gentle squeeze and taking a few, deep centring breaths. He doesn't know if they're going to be okay after all of this. Hell, he doesn't even know if they'll learn how to cope with it at all. But so long as he knows Ashley is safe, that she's alive, then not all is lost. There's still a glimmer of hope in an otherwise exceptionally shitty world.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Yeah. I could use a whole lot of happy endings, right now. All the cheese, all the time.
[They can pretend the world is really like that for a little while. That people get their wishes granted and no one gets hurt in the process. ]
no subject
Who knows what Emily would think. He didn't have any hand in what happened in the basement, but with how stressed out everyone was....
No. No thinking about that. Just. No.]
We'll probably get diabetes from that much Disney fluff, but hey. Worth it, right? Especially if it helps... [She waves her hand.] You know.... this.
no subject
Sure, totally worth it. Nothing like diabetes inducing movies to help -
[To help make them feel like they hadn't just been put through hell. ]
Yeah. This.
no subject
And speaking of this... [She doesn't wave her hand around this time, but she does scan the dismal-looking all they've been occupying for a while now.] We should probably get out of here. Or... find where they want us to go next. It's getting a little weird.
no subject
[Something good and strong so his leg stops ACHING.]
Maybe we have to all go as a group? I dunno. Someone around here's gotta have some answers.
no subject
[Being knocked out twice in only a couple of hours is just.... not good for you, it seems. Her wrists hurt too, judging by how she's rubbing at them over her gloves. She's sure those cuffs that Josh used to string her up in the first trap messed her up somehow, but she hasn't really stopped to look....]
I guess. We're probably gunna be waiting a while longer, if that's the case. [She nods towards some doors still closed.] I think they're still talking to a couple of us.
no subject
[There's still some bubbling anger there. That Josh would hit her. He turns to frown at the closed doors. ]
I hope everyone's holding up alright.
no subject
[Sorry Chris. You put her before you? She's gunna do the same to you. Nevermind that getting hit hard enough to knock her unconscious twice in just a couple of hours would be enough to raise suspicions about a concussion....]
... I hope so, too. But... they're all strong, right? They'll be okay.
[Except maybe Jess. God.... she doesn't know what happened to Jess, and she almost doesn't want to. Seeing someone normally so carefree and peppy turned into that... she's not sure whether she should be angry, scared, or just. Cry.]
no subject
They are, but...I dunno. There's being strong in the face of adversity, and then there's being strong in the middle of a waking nightmare. I mean, shit, did you see Jess?
[It looked like she'd got a broken everything, up to and including her spirit. It's no surprise Mike thought she was dead.]
no subject
[Ashley shakes her head. If they hadn't gotten into that mess with the wendigos, if they hadn't been thrown into Josh's fucked-up revenge scheme... just looking at Jess would've given her nightmares, probably.]
It's like... I dunno. It's like they picked up a different person, not Jess.
no subject
[It's deeply, deeply concerning. How much of her has been ripped away. He shakes his head, he's tried to understand this, any of this, give some REASON for it all happening. He can't. It's just a nightmare none of them will ever escape. ]
What the hell did those things do to her.
no subject
[Because the LAST thing Jess needs is to be reminded of is what happened to her.]
If that's one thing about our night up on that mountain remains a mystery... well. That's okay with me.
no subject
[Josh had suffered, and he hadn't done enough for him, and in doing so he lost his best friend forever. Over ten years of friendship torn apart in the space of one night. Josh had lost himself to the darkness, and he'll be damned if he'll let the same thing happen to Jess. ]
Or at least make it so she knows she's not alone in it all.
no subject
I'm all for being there for her and helping her however we can, but... we also need to make sure we don't hurt her even more.
no subject
[The argument dies before he can speak it. Of course she's right. They can't just keep poking at it, like stopping a scab from healing. ]
I just... I don't want the same thing to happen to her, y'know? That she ends up feeling like she can't come to us. That's she's alone.
no subject
It's... it won't just be us going in blind to how she feels when we try to help her. We really can sympathize, so... that would help.
[Or so she hopes.]
no subject
I really hope you're right on that one, Ash.
no subject
I am. We screwed up with a lot of things in the past, but we're different now. Nobody's going to let that happen again.
no subject
One for all and all for one, right?
no subject
Exactly. And that's how it should be from now on.
no subject
Yeah. It really should.
no subject
... C'mere.
[Her hands move from his cheeks back to his shoulders, and with the gentlest tug - more than enough to resist or pull back from if he doesn't like it - pulls him towards her and down a little, so she can wrap him up in a hug.]
no subject
He returns the hug, giving her a gentle squeeze and taking a few, deep centring breaths. He doesn't know if they're going to be okay after all of this. Hell, he doesn't even know if they'll learn how to cope with it at all. But so long as he knows Ashley is safe, that she's alive, then not all is lost. There's still a glimmer of hope in an otherwise exceptionally shitty world.]