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"Who else is gonna do it? I ain't got time ta wait fo' anyone else...as soon as them docs get any clue of what we might be plannin', it's gonna be too late. s**t...can't be dat hard. All she did was cut at her neck 'til she found it. I been through worse. Just -try- ta be careful. I know you ain't a doc, but I guess if I die, at least I'm done wit' this ********' place."

Jamal shot Billy an appraising look. "Gimme da bottle."

Jamal wordlessly tipped the remaining contents down his throat, greedily sucking it dry, then examined the container. He sighed when he then realized the bottle was plastic.

"Well, I was -gonna- suggest breakin' da bottle...but ain't gonna work wit' a plastic one....s**t. I left my knife back at ma' tree."

"Yeah...smuggled it 'round fo' awhile...they neva' tried ta take it...walked out of da cafeteria wit' it." He shrugged, tapping his chin thoughtfully as Billy started to slide back beneath the water. Now WHAT in the hell was that damn drunk going to get?

The fleeting notion that this wasn't the best of ideas cross Jamal's thoughts as he was left on his own.

By the time Billy had returned, Jamal had smoked at least two cigarettes, the butts laying cold at his side, and he had started to nod off. The noise of his 'companion' hauling himself up from the water woke him easily though. Jamal snorted noisily and rubbed clumsily at his eyes before focusing on the offered bottle.

"...well, dat'll work...what da ******** do he want glass bottles fer anyway?" Jamal inquired as he reached out to take the offered bottle. Seemed like an odd thing to want to hoard. Booze or weed was a different matter entirely.

He examined the bottle thoughtfully a moment, trying to decide the best way to break it without shattering it into pieces that would be too small for a decent knife. He took it by the neck, and, after a pause, unceremoniously smacked it against a rock outcropping. Jamal was left holding the bottle's neck, which he carelessly tossed into a dark corner, then went to examine the shards, turning each of the larger pieces over with an extended claw.

"Prolly a good thing ta go by...not askin' questions," he commented drolly as he picked up a promising fragment and turned it this way and that, checking the smoothness of the broken surface by running a claw down it. It looked sharp enough...

At Billy's request, Jamal shot the octopus man an annoyed glare. He wasn't into sharing all that much...but Jamal'd rather have the man's nerves curbed to a delightful nicotine buzz than be drunk and careless. The tiger produced one of the few remaining cigs and lit it, balancing his chosen glass hunk on his forearm while doing so.

"Make it quick. I wanna get this ova' wit'. I know you ain't no doc, but there ain't no one else dat's gonna cut me open if I asked 'em to...I jus' don't wanna think 'bout it anymo' before I chicken out."

Jamal gingerly handed over the glass shard, eyes lingering on the tentacle with a slightly fearful quirk of the brow. The thing looked flexible enough...and Billy looked to have rather good control over the things, so really, it shouldn't be that bad, right?

"No, I ain't sure...but I ********' bet there ain't gonna be no one else on this ********' rock dat gonna do it," he responded bitterly with a snort as he gently pulled off his do-rag, pulled the ends of his dreads/braids up inside the cap part, and then tied it up again with the bow in the front so it wouldn't get in the way of the 'knife'. He then rubbed his cheek anxiously and shot the octopus man a veiled expression of worry before again looking at the glass knife.

"Jus'....don't make too big o'va mess," managed the tiger in a quieter tone as he stiffly knelt on the stony ground, forcing himself to pull his gaze from the cutting utensil.

"'N' don't tell no one how I died if this don't work out. Well, maybe 'cept Antony. She'd unda'tand, I think. The rest'd think I was a ********' idiot fo' tryin'. I ratha' it be a myst'ry...'cause maybe they'll keep all keep tryin' 'n' someone'll make it."

With that, Jamal slid unsurely down flat onto the ground, arms curled about his head so his face was cradled in the crook of his forearms, making breathing easier.

He took a deep breath, ears pulling back tight to his skull.

"Even if I tell ya ta stop, don't. Keep goin'."

Jamal grunted as he felt the strange appendages wrap securely about his arms. Already the tiger was starting to panic, the feeling of confinement definately not kosher.

"I...I think so. I mean, da girl ripped up her neck pretty bad...so I ain't sure...but yeah. I guess, jus' keep goin' til ya find it?"

Jamal winced at the pulling and at the slight nicking, then clamped his eyes shut. Dammit, just get GOING already.

"Ya do this right 'n' I'll get ya some mo' smokes..." he mumbled almost inaudibly. "A s**t load of 'em."

Now, what was that damn prayer thing he learned way back when he was just a kid and got hauled to church almost every day....