Welcome to Gaia! ::

Still refusing to go anywhere near the hospital's front doors, Grant is content to wander the grounds outside where the fog hasn't completely swallowed everything up. It's the smell that draws him first -- the alluring scent of wood smoke, and the soft sound of idle chatter up ahead. The old wrestler walks into a clearing in the fog; a modest campfire and three people huddled around it: An old man like himself, a teenage girl, and a tiny young boy. When he greets them, they don't answer.

Well, maybe he can try chatting one of them up. He first sits down next to the old timer, warming his hands on the fire. "Nice li'l campfire y'all got goin' here," he says, trying to make small talk.

"I used to be a fisherman, y'know," the old man replies. "But these days, 'stead a' fish, all I seem to get are dead bodies. Just nothin' but body after body, y'know, but I kept castin' nets in the hopes of findin' some fish... Instead, I ended up gettin' the neighbors, the butcher, the college kids down the street..."

Grant's expression drops as the man continues to talk. "Oh," he frowns. "That's rough, buddy."

The old fisherman continues. "I think the day I finally gave it up was the day I reeled in my wife... y'know, you think you've seen s**t, 'til you've seen your most treasured person tangled in a net like a dolphin and bloated like ya left 'er in the tub for too long. I just didn't wanna do it no more. Everyone was screamin'..."

Grant's lips tighten and he awkwardly gets up. "Alright," he exhales, stuffing his hands into his pockets and making his way towards the boy. "Heya, Sport! You doin' okay out here?"

"I know why this is happening," replies the boy, who is looking right at him, his gaze worrisomely empty.

"Oh yeah? Why is that?" Grant asks, hoping the kid's answer won't be something as morbid as the fisherman's yarn. But the boy doesn't answer, continuing to stare blankly at him. "A-Alright then."

He gets up and sits next to the girl, who doesn't seem to acknowledge him when he sits down. What is with these people? He's starting to feel like a protagonist in a JRPG. "Heya, Miss! How ya holdin' up in the fog all like this?"

"I lied," whispers the girl, clutching her knees to her chest and rocking, staring into the crackling flame instead of looking at Grant. "I lied, I lied, I lied..."

"Oh, boy," Grant sighs. "At least ya got company here, right? You know any of these people?"

"I lied, I lied, I lied..."

It was obvious to Grant that he probably wasn't going to gain much here and lose only his mind if he stays, so he decides to stand up, stretch his arms, and leaves without so much as a 'goodbye.' The campfire's occupants didn't even to seem to notice that he'd left.