[The call is answered almost immediately, though there's a lot of sounds of moving fabric and the crackles of a receiver being tossed about for a second.
There's a muffled voice far in the background of someone that sounds half asleep. Barrett, what the fuck, man--]
Sorry-- [His voice is hushed but firm and urgent when he finally presses the phone close enough to his mouth.] H-hold on. Don't hang up, Morgan, I'm here. Don't hang up. I'll take it outside, Pat, go back to bed.
[There's a groan and some more distant mumbling of displeasure, more sounds of movement - of someone getting up, throwing covers aside, fumbling for something, the faint sound of keys and the click of a door--
The echo of a hallway can be picked up as Barrett keeps his voice quiet, still very audible on the move and a little out of breath.]
( There's not really any sound as Barrett shuffles and moves about, not a sound of confirmation or a person on the other end of the line.
When Barrett addresses him again, the line stays quiet for a few moments still.
Then, finally, there's the sound of him, a little muffled and not up by the receiver - he's probably left his phone on his pillow by his head. )
... Hello...
( His voice is weak and his speech, the way he rounds his vowels and works his way around the consonants, is a little inarticulate. But, he's talking. )
( It takes him a few moments to find the word he wants to put here - it wasn't natural to him before his week asleep, and it certainly doesn't come instinctive to him now. He has to sift for it. )
... Congratulations.
( There we go. He sets it there like a phrase at the front of a greetings card - maybe not natural on his lips, but the sentiment is genuine. It's more succinct, anyway. )
Did you just... come back from your steak?
( The one that Yael was going to get him when they won. )
Hard to tell if Mithrun's underreacting, or if that's just Mithrun - though he does seem a little out of it overall, so maybe a bit more of the former than solely the latter. )
No. Not right now. [He swallows tight, a breathiness over his tone that shows the crack in the wall, the bit of emotion that fights to come to light.] It's okay. I'm just glad you're okay. Nobody could find you.
...Do you want me to come down there? When I get back?
( Barrett's tone... He wonders if maybe he shouldn't have said it...? Or maybe... he shouldn't have felt it. He feels like... he just learned that about wanting before he fell asleep... )
... No... You can wait. ( Not about Mithrun's wants. ) You can... come when you want.
[It slips out before he can stop it, a combination of the stress of the last week, the lack of sleep, the enormous amount of exertion he's placed on his body in the last 24 hours and the immense relief and worry in tandem churning his heartbeat to pound hard in his throat.]
It's... it's not about what I want right now, Morgan. It's okay.
What I want... might not be what's good for either of us right now. Right?
...Yeah. I'm not going back to California until the morning. So it can't be right now.
[There was nothing he could do for impossibilities.
He settles to a seat, uncomfortable and cold against the sidewalk. Now that the adrenaline isn't quite pumping as hard through his veins, the fatigue starts to settle into the crevices of his words.]
You can call me, though. Whenever you want. I'll call you back as soon as I can.
( He feels like he was just talking to Barrett yesterday, at the beach party... so he can't say he misses him, but ... he thinks he would like seeing him.
Like he only just put together the sounds he heard when Barrett first picked up and his voice now: )
No. My teammate was. We're sharing a room right now, at the hotel.
I only just got back. [From where? Who knows!] Someone from Fragment told me your caretaker finally contacted them and told me what happened. You've been missing for a week.
I called you as soon as I found out. Couldn't really sleep after that.
[He doesn't know if this is something he should be sharing when Morgan is still so out of it... but...
...]
You were dead on the bridge for a week without respawning. Nobody from Fragment could find you here in the real world, either. Not until today, when your avatar finally woke up.
Everyone told me you just got up and logged out around noon today.
( rattle. rattle rattle rattle. he's wiggling the metal side railings along his bed because he can't remember how to get them down or how to just climb over them. )
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Re: 9:28 PM
There's a muffled voice far in the background of someone that sounds half asleep. Barrett, what the fuck, man--]
Sorry-- [His voice is hushed but firm and urgent when he finally presses the phone close enough to his mouth.] H-hold on. Don't hang up, Morgan, I'm here. Don't hang up. I'll take it outside, Pat, go back to bed.
[There's a groan and some more distant mumbling of displeasure, more sounds of movement - of someone getting up, throwing covers aside, fumbling for something, the faint sound of keys and the click of a door--
The echo of a hallway can be picked up as Barrett keeps his voice quiet, still very audible on the move and a little out of breath.]
Hey. Hey, can you hear me?
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When Barrett addresses him again, the line stays quiet for a few moments still.
Then, finally, there's the sound of him, a little muffled and not up by the receiver - he's probably left his phone on his pillow by his head. )
... Hello...
( His voice is weak and his speech, the way he rounds his vowels and works his way around the consonants, is a little inarticulate. But, he's talking. )
... Did I miss your game?
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Barrett slows on his way down the hotel stairs as his heart skips a beat. It's him. It's weak, and he doesn't sound well. But it's him.
...
He clears his throat quietly, trying to swallow back the emotion that wants to well up.]
Yeah. Yeah, but it's okay.
We won.
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... Congratulations.
( There we go. He sets it there like a phrase at the front of a greetings card - maybe not natural on his lips, but the sentiment is genuine. It's more succinct, anyway. )
Did you just... come back from your steak?
( The one that Yael was going to get him when they won. )
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He carefully exits the bottom of the stairwell and out into the night air, brow furrowing.]
No. Not right now. We didn't end up going for steak.
...Morgan. Do you know what day it is today?
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( He closes his eyes... )
... Saturday?
( They've definitely told him it's been a week, he's just not remembering they've told him. )
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It's... next Saturday. The 9th. I'm in Illinois right now.
[He tries to keep it gentle. Tries to keep it the same way he does with Booker when he wakes up in a daze.]
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( Huh.
Hard to tell if Mithrun's underreacting, or if that's just Mithrun - though he does seem a little out of it overall, so maybe a bit more of the former than solely the latter. )
... Then I guess I can't see you...
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No. Not right now. [He swallows tight, a breathiness over his tone that shows the crack in the wall, the bit of emotion that fights to come to light.] It's okay. I'm just glad you're okay. Nobody could find you.
...Do you want me to come down there? When I get back?
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... Yes...
( He has... an impending sense something bad will happen if he says it. And yet, it's not enough to hinder him.
In a gentle tone, undemanding but firm, and, maybe in some disoriented way, hoping, he continues: )
... Come here.
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Okay... [A shaking exhale, his hand running over his mouth.] Okay.
I can be there Monday if I fly out. Day after tomorrow. I can talk to Hani.
But I can wait if you need it. If you want to rest and get stronger for a bit.
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... No... You can wait. ( Not about Mithrun's wants. ) You can... come when you want.
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...
[It slips out before he can stop it, a combination of the stress of the last week, the lack of sleep, the enormous amount of exertion he's placed on his body in the last 24 hours and the immense relief and worry in tandem churning his heartbeat to pound hard in his throat.]
It's... it's not about what I want right now, Morgan. It's okay.
What I want... might not be what's good for either of us right now. Right?
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... )
... Whether it's good or not... You can't come right now... right?
I'll be here if you come later. It's okay.
( Said like a promise that he won't disappear... but how much can a person promise that, really. )
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[There was nothing he could do for impossibilities.
He settles to a seat, uncomfortable and cold against the sidewalk. Now that the adrenaline isn't quite pumping as hard through his veins, the fatigue starts to settle into the crevices of his words.]
You can call me, though. Whenever you want. I'll call you back as soon as I can.
Okay?
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( He feels like he was just talking to Barrett yesterday, at the beach party... so he can't say he misses him, but ... he thinks he would like seeing him.
Like he only just put together the sounds he heard when Barrett first picked up and his voice now: )
Were you sleeping?
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I only just got back. [From where? Who knows!] Someone from Fragment told me your caretaker finally contacted them and told me what happened. You've been missing for a week.
I called you as soon as I found out. Couldn't really sleep after that.
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He's quiet for a brief time, the distant but soft sound of him breathing, at least, audible. )
... I remember...
( Golden sun, and the strong scent of iron; the sound of idle murmuring, and... )
... I saw the clock tower... I couldn't breathe...
( ... )
... I couldn't send an email. Sorry.
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His heart clenches again. Damn it. He wishes he were there, not out in the cold, not thousands of miles away.]
...Okoto told us what happened. What he talked to you about. It's okay.
The bridge across from the clock tower is where we found you.
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... Huh. )
... "Found me"...?
( Something about that feels weird to him, and it's apparent in his tone, but he can't articulate it right now. But hopefully Barrett can elaborate. )
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[He doesn't know if this is something he should be sharing when Morgan is still so out of it... but...
...]
You were dead on the bridge for a week without respawning. Nobody from Fragment could find you here in the real world, either. Not until today, when your avatar finally woke up.
Everyone told me you just got up and logged out around noon today.
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...
There's the sound of fabric shifting... Then the clink of metal... It sounds like someone trying to move. )
... I'll go log on.
( Don't ask how he thinks he's going to do that (get home?) from the hospital, )
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[His voice is suddenly firm.]
Morgan, you're in the hospital. You can't log on to Fragment right now.
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I won't know what's going on if I don't play.
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Morgan, you need to get better first. You're not gonna learn anything else if you don't.
[He was barely holding information as it was.
Barrett's voice cracks a bit.]
Fragment isn't going anywhere. Stay where you are. Please.
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/3 ok ur good
somewhere shay sighs in relief
just a bit of unease somewhere in shay's life
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