[ drabbles ] Under Pressure - Weathership

[medigel]

monsters inside me

She couldn't hear him or Thane. Nevada's soft voice was overpowering.

Stormy continued to sway in place, her arms twitching in half-forgotten movements. Coupled with incoherent moans and partial sobs, she might have been just another patient loosed from the facility's security failure.

Tears started to fall. She spoke a little louder but it was in Spanish, pleading. "Por favor..." Her hands clenched and loosened as her knees wobbled. Her thin cotton shirt stuck to her skin with sweat.
 

[medigel]

ghosts

"Sorry," she mumbled again. "Sorry...But yeah. Sorta. I can't stop thinking about it." Was it just a dream if it entered her waking life?

Stormy turned her head and gave him a weak kiss in return. "You too?"

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

ghosts


He smiled tiredly at her, not out of amusement, but out of gentleness. He lifted his hand and trailed his fingers down the side of her face, absently sliding down her cheek and her jaw.

"Just...my thoughts aren't really settled," said Gale. "My mind keeps racing on more than usual.  

[kuropeco]

tea time


It was talking about it while not exactly talking about it; a roundabout way of discussing her prior mission, but at the same time it was still talking; and Gale would much rather have this than the terrible, oppressive silence that had been a part of her before.

His fingers drifted up her shoulder and gently across the back of her neck, absent and light. His other hand lifted the teacup to his lips, and he wasn't looking at her.

"As many as it took."  

[kuropeco]

monsters inside me


She looked almost mad, and he would have thought she was had he not known her as well as he did. Stormy looked ghostly pale in the dim lighting, her limbs long and thin, terribly so, sweat dampening her brow, her neck, her back; he could see the outlines of her shoulder blades beneath the shirt.

Gale got to his feet and stepped around in front of her, one hand reaching tentatively out to slide his fingers against her cheek, cradle her tear-stained face in the palm of his hand.

"Stormy," he said quietly again. "Can you hear me?"

medigel

 

[medigel]

tea time

"Even if it meant losing people like Bix?" she asked quietly, still watching him.  

[medigel]

monsters inside me

She felt unusually hot.

Stormy flinched at his touch, her breath hitching as if she couldn't breathe. She stared through him, a look of horror and grief frozen on her face.

Her body convulsed a little before she began to sink to the floor and hold her head, sobbing and gagging alternatively. More Spanish tumbled out of her, slurred together as if drunk.
 

[medigel]

ghosts

She found herself able to return the smile just a little. "Heh. I think you've rubbed off on me s'far as that goes...Wanna talk about it?"

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

tea time


A long pause.

"Maybe," he said finally, and he was staring resolutely at his teacup, lowered onto his saucer, his thumb smoothing over the porcelain handle. The thought of losing Bix (he'd already been through that once and had hardly been able to cope) was devastating, but the thought of losing Stormy was terrifying.

"You're more important to me than anyone."  

[kuropeco]

ghosts


He'd moved his hand to absently trace lines up and down her arm and shoulder.

"I was just trying to figure out what the hell happened during our mission," he said with a small sigh. "There was so much confusion; and the division leaders, as usual, just disappeared, the bloody gits..."  

[kuropeco]

monsters inside me


Her skin was burning. She felt like she was on fire.

He felt lightheaded with fear and worry as she collapsed in front of him, and Gale sank to his knees in front of her. Panic made his fingers shake as he grabbed her thin shoulders (too thin too thin) and held on, his throat tight.

"Stormy, it's me, it's me, it's Gale."

medigel

 

[medigel]

tea time

She studied him in the silence and wished she had had the same luxury of time for her decision. Her gaze softened at his answer, and Stormy leaned forward to kiss his temple. "I know you wouldn't ever get into that sort of situation," (she prayed), "but I was curious." Just in case. Strange how she could barely think of herself as worth anything while Gale thought of her as everything even after all this time.

She sat back down and grabbed her cup and saucer again for want or something warm in her hands. Another long pause fell between them.

"There...was a horseman there," Stormy began, hesitating in fear of the coming judgment. "A thing made of silver moths. I followed one away from the lair to investigate while the rest went in." She could hear the soft flutters of wings surrounding them. "Something happened while I was out. There were six in there, but two had died. It let me choose which two could go with me and which two could be kept."

She was shaking slightly now, her eyes on the kitchen table.

"I let it take Jack and V," she said in a lower tone, brows knitting in distress at the recollection. "I could've fought it or tried going in and getting everyone myself, b-but I was scared. I'm a God damn hunter and I was scared, Gale, 'cause it didn't have to give me a deal at all. We were all in its clutches anyway. I had to stay alive, though, I-I had to for you, for Evan, for all of you."

Then the rest came spilling out. "So I let it take them to save two others and then it said I owed it three for all three of us escaping a-and then three moths dug under my skin to remind me and they're still there," she whispered as her shoulders rose defensively, seeming to lose a few shades of color. "I can feel them."
 

[medigel]

ghosts

"Yeah...It's not a mission until we get ditched," Stormy joked as he stroked. "Since we're supposed to be, y'know, competent enough to know what to do about things we know nothing about." Then she frowned. "Whatever that virus is, maybe some of the techs know. The ones who made most of the antivirus, I mean. Maybe we should investigate, see what that's all about."

She doubted this would be the only incident with those contagions. And as they both had similar needs to know things, it'd at least keep them preoccupied.
 

[medigel]

monsters inside me

Crumpling to the floor, she struck a startlingly familiar figure: like the prostrated beggar in the abandoned schoolhouse. Stormy continued to shake, her breathing labored, strained noises leaving her like she was trying to scream and couldn't. Her nails dug deeper into her scalp and then dragged down past her neck, tearing imaginary holes to let whatever disgusting thing sitting inside her out. It wasn't working fast enough.

She gagged and threw up what little she'd had for dinner, shuddering. Clarity slowly came in bits and pieces.

"Bathroom," she pleaded weakly.

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

monsters inside me


He managed to shift slightly, arching backward just in time to keep Stormy from vomiting on him. One hand was still on her shoulder, and he was bent on one knee, his heart thundering in his chest, his throat feeling dry, as though he'd swallowed sandpaper.

Gale lifted his hand, thumb brushing briefly over the side of her face, wiping away some of the sweat.

"Come on," he said softly, and moved around behind her, sliding his hands beneath her arms and trying to help her to her feet.