[ It says something for how crazy his life has turned out that this isn't currently more terrified than he's ever been. He isn't hiding from a superpowered psychopath who could turn him into soup by looking at him, so he's been worse. He figures it's less that he's desensitized to insanity and more that his brain can't quite keep up with everything he's witnessing.
When it hits him, after whatever drugs he must have been on don't wear off to reveal he's not locked away in some sort of Vought black box, he starts to realize just how bad this is. His phone doesn't have any signal and there is no backup coming. There are literal undead pushing him around. (But not eating his brains. Which is considerate.)
And... he's fairly sure they're asking him to smuggle drugs, which he dumbly accepts without the proper followup questions. He doesn't make it inside the rendez-vous before he takes a look at the powder inside and makes a very reasonable guess. ]
Can I ask you something? This isn't real, right? [ He asks the first person who passes by the tavern, all sincere and hopeful. Realizing he has opium on him he's quick to close the bag up and clarify: ] No, I haven't been — I don't take drugs.
[ That's kind of how he ends up alerting the local authorities monitoring the situation, but he's still trying to have a conversation. ]
Um. I know Haltham? I think we must have got our wires crossed, so maybe if you could point me in his direction.
FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BU—
Oh. That's... what is that?
[ Hughie stands up the moment the first harpy flies by, then immediately grabs onto the side of the horsecar as it rattles to the side. Suddenly he regrets how quickly he agreed to this insane offer to give him a ride.
Soon he sees where they're heading and he panics. He isn't a supe. If he slams into a canyon wall, he'll "pop like a water balloon" as an asshole once so eloquently put it. (And god, does he hate that he thinks of that right now.) He fumbles to the door and looks out to see if there's somewhere he can jump without dying horribly, but he quickly loses his nerve.
Looking around for anyone nearby, he hollers at them to see if they have any better ideas. ]
Can you ask them to slow down?
FRIENDS & FAMILY
[ For the moment, nothing seems to be actively trying to attack him and he isn't hurtling towards a quick death on the canyon wall. He knows he should be conserving his one functioning piece of technology, but he doesn't care. He just curls up on the ground away from camp with his earbuds in and cranks up the sound until he can't hear anything but the soothing voice of James Taylor blasting in his ears. Fire and Rain comes on, and he starts mouthing the words.
'Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain'
Then he sees another giant harpy fly by way too close to him and he squeezes his eyes shut and starts singing quietly to himself.
'I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.' — His breathing slows, shaky but steadying. — 'But I always thought that I'd see you, baby, one more time again.'
By the time the next track starts he's feeling more like himself, but he barely gets to sing the next bar when it abruptly cuts into silence. His eyes fly back open and he looks down at a black screen, cracked down the middle from their earlier excitement, and his expression falls. ]
Fuck. Come on, please just... [ He hits the side a few times, then washes his hand over his face when it blinks a familiar 'low battery' icon. He absolutely does not have tears in his eyes when he throws his hoodie over his head and lets out a muffled scream into his palms.
It's ridiculous. This entire situation is fucked and why was he such an idiot, he knows to keep his phone charged. But he calms a moment later and shakes his head. ]
hughie campbell | the boys | newbie
[ It says something for how crazy his life has turned out that this isn't currently more terrified than he's ever been. He isn't hiding from a superpowered psychopath who could turn him into soup by looking at him, so he's been worse. He figures it's less that he's desensitized to insanity and more that his brain can't quite keep up with everything he's witnessing.
When it hits him, after whatever drugs he must have been on don't wear off to reveal he's not locked away in some sort of Vought black box, he starts to realize just how bad this is. His phone doesn't have any signal and there is no backup coming. There are literal undead pushing him around. (But not eating his brains. Which is considerate.)
And... he's fairly sure they're asking him to smuggle drugs, which he dumbly accepts without the proper followup questions. He doesn't make it inside the rendez-vous before he takes a look at the powder inside and makes a very reasonable guess. ]
Can I ask you something? This isn't real, right? [ He asks the first person who passes by the tavern, all sincere and hopeful. Realizing he has opium on him he's quick to close the bag up and clarify: ] No, I haven't been — I don't take drugs.
[ That's kind of how he ends up alerting the local authorities monitoring the situation, but he's still trying to have a conversation. ]
Um. I know Haltham? I think we must have got our wires crossed, so maybe if you could point me in his direction.
FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BU—
Oh. That's... what is that?
[ Hughie stands up the moment the first harpy flies by, then immediately grabs onto the side of the horsecar as it rattles to the side. Suddenly he regrets how quickly he agreed to this insane offer to give him a ride.
Soon he sees where they're heading and he panics. He isn't a supe. If he slams into a canyon wall, he'll "pop like a water balloon" as an asshole once so eloquently put it. (And god, does he hate that he thinks of that right now.) He fumbles to the door and looks out to see if there's somewhere he can jump without dying horribly, but he quickly loses his nerve.
Looking around for anyone nearby, he hollers at them to see if they have any better ideas. ]
Can you ask them to slow down?
FRIENDS & FAMILY
[ For the moment, nothing seems to be actively trying to attack him and he isn't hurtling towards a quick death on the canyon wall. He knows he should be conserving his one functioning piece of technology, but he doesn't care. He just curls up on the ground away from camp with his earbuds in and cranks up the sound until he can't hear anything but the soothing voice of James Taylor blasting in his ears. Fire and Rain comes on, and he starts mouthing the words.
'Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain'
Then he sees another giant harpy fly by way too close to him and he squeezes his eyes shut and starts singing quietly to himself.
'I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.' — His breathing slows, shaky but steadying. — 'But I always thought that I'd see you, baby, one more time again.'
By the time the next track starts he's feeling more like himself, but he barely gets to sing the next bar when it abruptly cuts into silence. His eyes fly back open and he looks down at a black screen, cracked down the middle from their earlier excitement, and his expression falls. ]
Fuck. Come on, please just... [ He hits the side a few times, then washes his hand over his face when it blinks a familiar 'low battery' icon. He absolutely does not have tears in his eyes when he throws his hoodie over his head and lets out a muffled scream into his palms.
It's ridiculous. This entire situation is fucked and why was he such an idiot, he knows to keep his phone charged. But he calms a moment later and shakes his head. ]
This really isn't my day.
WILDCARD
[ Have at him! ]