We Should Be Bustin Ghosts, Not Blood Vessels [Elgen&Nadine]

We Should Be Bustin Ghosts, Not Blood Vessels [Elgen&Nadine] Feb 5, 2016 22:32:49 GMT -5

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Post by Nadine on Feb 5, 2016 22:32:49 GMT -5

Ah, naturally he’d laugh. Online hadn’t been helpful much of the time, but with enough sifting, it had offered some tidbits of truth. Not that he’d had to do any sifting what with his prissy databases or whatever. She let the outburst go with an eye-roll and a quiet, “When the anonymous are scared enough, they occasionally say things with a surprisingly solid core of fact. I don’t have the luxury of your second-hand source collection.”

And what else would she expect than Elgen choosing to be difficult after she’d so graciously, grudgingly let him into her house. Nadine crossed her arms and remained standing. She ought to be able to relax in her own home, but with so many unknown variables and possible unexpected actions (coughLuczcough), she couldn’t let herself unwind.

When Elgen took out his recorder she made sure to give it a distasteful, lingering look. Accountability was good, except of course when applied to herself. At least he’d accepted her conditions easily enough.

Nadine didn’t even have to hesitate to recollect thoughts. “ Come evening, I had left the salvage station to pick Lucz up from cram school. I hadn’t interacted with anyone unnecessary to returning to Novus or crossing classes. Before that.. I make an effort not to speak to anyone in the salvage zones. As for Lucz, he doesn’t recall much, but-”

“Hey!! I recall more than you!”

Oh, god damn. If Nadine were getting paid, it wouldn’t be enough. Now all she got for her trouble was headaches from rolling her eyes so hard she strained them. Lucz couldn’t just work with her for once. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she rounded on the corner from which the unwelcome voice had shrilled. “Lucz, honestly, honestly, can you let anything go without sticking your smart-ass nose into it?”

“No! Because I actually want help. Uh, to help.” He poked his head around the corner, only to immediately shrink back from her red-rimmed glare.

She inhaled deeply. Fine, this was fine. If he was going to throw himself to the wolves, she’d gladly let them feast. “You can’t leave after butting in. Besides,” she bared her teeth in a sarcastic grin, “you want someone to coddle you and tell you it’s ok, don’t you? Try him, because it’s not going to be me.”

Lucz shuffled out while giving Nadine a wary side eye. Then, more eagerly, he turned to Elgen. “As you heard from Naddie over there, I’d been in cram school. Nadine was late, as usual whenever she decides she needs to helicopter, and I was pretty much the last one there, so I was, uh, using the internet, but that wasn’t even when the creepy shit started happening, you’d think it would’ve been the middle class because irony and they’re fancy and shit, right? Anyways-“

“Lucz.”

“Anyways, after we were scanned at the gate-”

“Lucz! He hasn’t even asked for that!” Lucz’s flapping mouth snapped shut. God, he was so sickeningly eager to please. She turned back to Elgen and asked in a voice so calm it reached around to tense, “So, have you noticed any patterns in the accounts of those leading up to the attacks?” Something had to have prompted the question, whether sheer diversity of experiences or some common theme Nadine had missed.

SPOILER: Click to show

(hoooo boy sorry I took an unnecessarily long time w this!!)

We Should Be Bustin Ghosts, Not Blood Vessels [Elgen&Nadine] Feb 10, 2016 20:39:06 GMT -5

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Post by Elgen on Feb 10, 2016 20:39:06 GMT -5

Elgen was firmly focused on typing, but that didn’t keep him from sneaking a peek out of the corner of his eyes at her. Of course he wouldn’t miss her insisting on standing, as if this were some kind of competition. With how stubborn Nadine had proven within the first few minutes of their encounter, it was any wonder he’d managed to get into this apartment unit without having to resort to his bare hands. It was the perfect opportunity to tease, honestly. ”Oh, please don’t hesitate to sit down in your own lovely home,” he’d say. Elgen could clearly imagine the face she’d shoot him— that disapproving furrow of her brow and slight curl of her lips as some kind of retort came out of her mouth.

Stifling a chuckle, the man plopped himself on the chair just behind him, the force disturbing the pillows and cushions caught in the crossfire. Surely, this woman wouldn’t still continue to tower over a guest, would she? And if she did, then Elgen could bask in comfort the entire time while she stayed as unmoving as a mountain. Little petty pleasures they were, but pleasures all the same.

”Smart move to not talk to strangers. You never know quite what you’ll get when the salvage zones are involved. I didn’t think they’d have cram school down here in the sticks, though,” Elgen commented. Really, though, cram school seemed like such a “rich person” thing to do.

His fervent typing was halted by another voice, to which he finally looked up to acknowledge. Judging by her reaction, he didn’t think the boy was supposed to be out here right now. That thought made him smile. If only people would listen when Elgen told them that he always got his man.

”No, it’s alright,” Elgen commented as he tried to make eye contact with Lucz. ”He’s just the man I wanted to see.”

He gave a friendly wave as Lucz proceeded to show himself, though with all of the body language of a dead man walking. Elgen could only think of how smart this kid was to know fear when he saw it.

Refraining from asking him to go on with the rambling, Elgen instead paused to answer the question.

”From what we’ve gathered, an overwhelming sense of paranoia tends to happen right before. However, now with everyone being paranoid about the attacks, it’s hard to guess if it’s related or perpetuated by the media. The accounts themselves are varied for the most part, which makes it more difficult. Injuries, no injuries, injuries that pop up days after the assaults, not to mention some people have been attacked in their homes while others were on the street. All classes, as you know.”

But… There is something else we can’t explain that’s uniform in the majority of cases— strange noises. And I’m not talking footsteps or something mundane like that. It’s static. Within minutes of a static noise that seems to come from nowhere, that’s when interviewees say their assailants appear.”

Elgen leaned back, giving them a moment of silence to dwell on the information. ”We’ve tried looking into the cause. We don’t know of any kind of beast that generates that sound so that’s why we thought it was human. Vigilante, to be precise and as much as I want to trust that guess, something doesn’t add up.”