028 TEXT LIST TWO

[deadliestviper]

[After Silent Hill, Beatrix is in no mood to discuss her struggle or to explain what happened. It was exhausting, it was humiliating and dangerous and painful and sick and emotionally torturous, and all she wants to do is retreat to her cabin to lick her wounds. But she still isn't sure how many of her friends made it back, and how many are still in Silent Hill with that strange, sweet girl Zev.

Video would show her cut and tearstained face and her voice would crack under the strain of crying: text is the only good option to ask what she needs to.]

Who do I need to mourn?

[Sometime later, private to Thassarian and Sylvanas]

I owe you both a debt I can't possibly repay.

[Private to Jeryline]

I'm sorry.

Comments

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[deadliestviper]

[It's quite a bit later when she ventures to visit Ben, not because she doesn't want to see him but because she has to pull herself together, to check in with the infirmary. Her face is clean and her wounds are dressed when she knocks on his door for warning and turns the handle, peering in with a sad smile.]

Hi, sweetheart.

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[warisart]

[He isn't surprised that it takes her a while; no one is moving quickly right now, Ben among them where he's holed himself up in his room. He looks up from where he's sitting up in his bed, his bright brown eyes slightly too wide in his tired face, giving him an even younger appearance even though the circles are gone. He's still wearing the scrub top from the infirmary which covers the most massive bandaging around his torso, though he guards it nonetheless with slightly hunched shoulders and spine; his utility pants cover whatever is making one leg stiff where he's got it stretched out before him, the other folded neatly under himself, and additional bandaging disappears under one sleeve of the top.

He smiles, though, gentle and sad and sets his book aside, already visually checking her over from where he is.]

You still think that. Hello.

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[deadliestviper]

[Seeing Ben on a sickbed makes Beatrix hesitate for a moment, surprised he'd let her see him in a vulnerable state. But then it's not as if they're on fully unequal ground: she too moves stiffly and slowly to keep from disturbing her broken ribs, she too is swathed in bandages and stitches, most notably over a gash running from above her hairline down to her left cheekbone, her eye covered with a square of gauze. It's not as if they've got anything to hide from each other.]

Of course I do. God, what the hell happened?

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[warisart]

It was an extremely hostile environment. I was... separated from the group for much of our time there.

[It's not as though he has much choice, either. He doesn't want to be alone but he can't hide the injuries, and while it might be in his nature to do so thanks to his training, it's in his nature also to keep the people he values and trusts close.

But he still doesn't want to get out of the bed unless he has to. His smile, somewhat sheepish - how does one talk about being terrified to die alone, to die, and almost having to face it anyway? - fades towards a frown as he raises his good arm to touch his own left cheek just below his eye.]

Is it intact?

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[deadliestviper]

How? Did they just leave you?

[Instead of tensing in anticipation of a fight she moves closer, settling on the edge of his bed. If they had the ability to discuss it she might have insight, might have been able to talk about dying alone and unnoticed. Instead, the physical is far easier to explain, and she shakes her head.]

No. But it doesn't hurt as much as it did.

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[warisart]

No. They couldn't help it. I was let behind by the sirens, after being forced away by the fight we were engaged in.

It took me the rest of the time to find them, and I did my best.

[The frown becomes more pronounced at the answer, and he lowers his hand to his lap.]

I'm... sorry. There is a great deal of advanced medical science on board. Perhaps they will still be able to do something for you.

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[deadliestviper]

[She reaches out to lay a hand on his good knee, light and reassuring.] You did very well.

Don't you worry about it. [Her smile is still a little strained, but it's happier this time.] I'll see what can be done to fix it. Right now, there are people worse off than I am.

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[warisart]

[Everyone keeps telling him not to worry about things. He's injured, not dead - he'll recover, in a considerably shorter amount of time than most of the people around him, even. He was only doing what he was made and trained for. He's never been injured this badly, it's true, even the tactic Max used to kill him had been swift and clean, but he's not...

He's not weaker somehow, because he's injured. Is he? Ben's expression doesn't clear, watching her movement, her face.]

Are you worried about me?

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[deadliestviper]

I worry about you all the time.

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[warisart]

Then why don't you want me to worry about you?

[It's curious as well as matter-of-fact; he doesn't pause more than a moment before he's continuing, very reasonably:]

I'm designed to be more physically durable than the mass percentage of the passengers of this ship; there's less to be concerned with in my own recovery now that my abilities have been restored to the levels they were at previous to docking in the town. It is very nearly certain, providing nothing happens to exacerbate my injuries.

This is not the case for others. [This a bit pointed, bright eyes narrowing on Beatrix's face.]

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[deadliestviper]

A variety of reasons, most notably that I'm not upset if I'm injured. As long as I can live to fight another day, I'll take the hand I'm dealt.

[She squeezes his knee gently, reassuringly.] I'm glad your injuries are only temporary and you're back to your normal level of ability. Rest. Relax, and get better.

I've gone through nothing that hundreds of other humans haven't gone through before. All I lost was the use of an eye. I'll be fine.

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[warisart]

[Ben glances down at the pressure, then back up, still earnest.]

Neither am I. [This isn't entirely true, but it's true enough; he's certainly less upset about it than most others he's observed.] It does not prevent others from being distressed on my behalf.

Do not, as I have been told, discount your importance simply because it has happened before.