[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. )
... Yes. I think... I was testing to see if it had poisonous properties... and if those properties would come into effect when fished up ahead of official release. Lumina Cloth has no fishing locations yet... if I'm remembering right.
( He closes his eyes, the sound of fabric shifting as he lies back down, his voice a little less far from the receiver... )
... And it wasn't associated with the ID of a fugu fish. It was associated with the ID of an Acanthaster - it fought me. So I wondered if it functioned as a fugu at all...
( In short, everyone who speculated he would get himself killed testing the game was absolutely right. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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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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... )
... Did I scare you?
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[Part of him doesn't want to say anything. But he'd already kept in enough that he'd regretted.
...]
Yeah. I...
I didn't think I would see you again. Ever.
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... Sorry. I didn't think it'd kill me. So...
( Don't sound like that... )
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...Nobody could have known. [Almost. Almost. He should have. Somehow.] It's not your fault.
I'm just glad you told somebody about the dungeon. Even if we couldn't figure it all out after that.
Do...you remember putting something in your mouth? Your throat was all scratched up.
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Mm...
...
Oh, that was... )
... Fugu. Pufferfish. I fished one up in Lumina Cloth.
1/???
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/3 ok ur good
somewhere shay sighs in relief
( Said in a "good job" tone. )
just a bit of unease somewhere in shay's life
All I guessed was that it was a quill. Maybe for a fish you ate. Everyone else did the rest.
[A tiny victory. But he won't pretend he figured anything useful out.]
Isn't fugu poisonous?
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... Yes. I think... I was testing to see if it had poisonous properties... and if those properties would come into effect when fished up ahead of official release. Lumina Cloth has no fishing locations yet... if I'm remembering right.
( He closes his eyes, the sound of fabric shifting as he lies back down, his voice a little less far from the receiver... )
... And it wasn't associated with the ID of a fugu fish. It was associated with the ID of an Acanthaster - it fought me. So I wondered if it functioned as a fugu at all...
( In short, everyone who speculated he would get himself killed testing the game was absolutely right. )
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[...]
The one that DV sent you.
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