Event | Turtle Dive | January 20 - 23 | Underwater zombies crave your briiiiiines

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all PCs
Date: January 20th - 23rd
Location: All Sectors
Situation: Tu Vishan continues swimming along the ocean floor after his monumental dive, but it turns out there are a whole bunch of undead that want in on the party!
Warnings/Rating: Underwater situations, violence, potential gore; to be updated as noted.

>See the comments of this post for various situations and areas available for tagging.
>Each header will be set for a date and/or area.
>Feel free to start your own header for specific situations.
>The Palace subplot will be run in a separate log.
>Refer to the two OOC posts for further details. 01 | 02

Comments

Sob. She'll keep on saying she's fine until she turns around and tries to eat him, won't she.

[trainwrecked]

[He's not going to stop watching her. Watching out for her? Whatever. This can't be good.]

[But when she says that, his eyes snap forward as though he's been caught peeking in on a woman in the bath.]

Yes, ma'am

Oh, I think I can make it a little worse than that...

[tendnottoweep]

[ Natasha smirks faintly at that response, amusement sneaking in under the grim focus and growing dread. She doesn't answer aloud, though, just starts off in the direction he'd indicated toward the bike shop - she might as well take the lead, so if they run into any trouble... well, what's the worst that's going to happen to her now? ]

Uh-oh...

[trainwrecked]

[He falls in with her, just a half-step back, taking his cue, silent (he's gotten better at that, though not nearly as good at her) and watchful. Only speaks up when they need to change direction.]

[The urge to just reach over and touch her, try to... somehow at least see if there is anything to do to make it better is very strong. Except that's clearly not what she wants.]

[They're descending towards the garage when he finally blurts,]

Does it hu-- I mean, how are you feeling?

[tendnottoweep]

[ She doesn't answer for a moment, dropping silently to the ground and pausing there. After a second or two she draws a deep breath and turns back to him. ]

It hurts, but I've had worse. That's not what worries me.

[trainwrecked]

Besides the whole thing where they... infect? Or just that?

[tendnottoweep]

[ She nods, lips pressed tight together. There's a long silence before she says anything more, her voice soft and low. ] I don't want to hurt anyone. I can't...

[trainwrecked]

[It takes a moment for that to process. But then he does, and his voice is as low as hers - and only more hesitant because he's asking permission for the promise he's giving.]

I won't let you.

[tendnottoweep]

[ Natasha nods, both permission and thanks. She reaches out with her uninjured hand, fingers lightly brushing his arm - it's a gesture of intimacy she wouldn't normally allow, but under the circumstances...

After a moment, she draws a deep breath and reaches into her belt, pulling out a pair of flex cuffs and offering them to Bucky. ] I'd rather not wait, if that's alright with you. [ She offers her gun next, eyes still steady on his face. ]

[trainwrecked]

[The air squeezes out of his lungs, between the request and the touch, his mouth dry, but he nods and reaches for the cuffs, then the gun - which he checks, quickly, efficiently. She has been careful with her ammo. Not surprising.]

[Bucky's eyes snap back to hers, and he takes her wrists without looking down on them, gently with the bitten one, applying the cuffs. He squeezes her fingers, warning that he's moving away, and jogs quickly to take the nearest container with fuel. Ending her life wouldn't be enough, to fulfill his promise. And, since he doesn't know how much time he will have, after, he'll be ready to do it immediately, his mind working hard to come up with how to do it with the least time in pain for her.]

[A consideration he's never made, not consciously. (He's never killed an ally, before.) (He's never executed anyone, before.)]

I... [no. Words are difficult. He takes a deep breath.] Back of the neck. Sever the spine and the feeling of pain.

[Almost asking for permission, or at least consent - or comment, if she has another preference. The rest... the other two words - they just won't cross his lips. Forgive me.]

[tendnottoweep]

[ She keeps her eyes on his face as he cuffs her, and has to hold back a little wince. He's not taking this easy. She can't blame him, but she didn't want to hurt him with this. That doesn't mean she's changing her mind. If she's going to die, she's doing it as herself.

Natasha nods at the suggestion, and draws a deep breath before she turns around, back to him. A momentary pause, and then she drops slowly to her knees on the floor - give him a little more time before the jiangshi can effectively attack him, make it a little easier to do what he has to.

Head bowed, eyes closed, breathing calm and even. This is easy for her. He knows what he's doing; she won't feel a thing. ] I'm sorry.

[trainwrecked]

[That's not fair, that she is apologizing to him. It doesn't seem right. But he doesn't argue.]

[Instead, he bows down so he doesn't have to speak out loud for her to hear.]

So am I, Natasha.

[Then he straightens, one hand on her shoulder, and takes the shot. Single bullet.]

[He waits a moment, to see if the reanimation is immediate, but, no, apparently it takes a little while. And that's enough for him. He lowers her gently the rest of the way to the ground, then kneels beside her for a moment, to press his dry lips to her still-flushed forehead, and sets on to make sure she won become one of those things.]

[He's had enough of the smell of burning flesh already in the last few hours, but it's worse, this time. More cloying, seeming to cling to his skin as he sets off in a lope towards the vehicles to do what he'd told her he would. Get to safety.]