DAY FOUR - THE END

[inferis]

[After relieving the Event Horizon of its 'crew', The Lewis and Clark shudders. After all, it suddenly has a lot more weight in it than it's supposed to. The very fabric of space seems to twist and turn around the Event Horizon. Anyone looking through the windows will see the Event Horizon being pulled through a black hole...just as the Lewis and Clark starts to drop downwards.

Moments later, and the Lewis and Clark has crash landed on the grounds of Paradisa, the ship is damaged, but the people inside are safe. The stasis pods have opened up, allowing those who were asleep within them to wake up. And what a sight there is for them to see. The doors open, allowing the survivors of the plot to step outside and regroup. It's time to take stock of injuries, and deal with the loss of those who have died. The dead will have all appeared in the clinic, including those who were sucked into the black hole...well, most of them have]

[[OOC: No sections! Feel free to make your own | PLOT WRAPUP | PLOT CHAT | PLOT HUB]]

Comments

[encryptedlock]

[York, meanwhile, is sleeping on a chair next to her with one hand out to hold onto hers. It's been a busy day for him as well, but the minute he'd finished his other responsibilities he'd come right back here and hasn't left her side yet.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina notices he grip on her hand before she notices him and frowns minutely as she tries to figure out where she is. Last she remembered, he'd grabbed her hand and they were crashing and---

She surges forward in her bed as much as she can, reaching for the pulse point on his neck, which is currently obscured by the base suit.]

[encryptedlock]

Mhuh--

[York blinks groggily as Delta gives him an alert, and then her hand is cutting rather heavily into his neck because he was attempting to raise his head at the same time.]

Ow--welcome back to the land of the conscious?

[youfallback]

[She sighs with relief at his speaking and she carefully lays back down, finally tugging her hand away from his. Her head still hurts, but she's fighting through the disorientation as best she can.]

Sitrep.

[encryptedlock]

[York yawns and silently hands her a water bottle he'd been keeping by her bedside. She's got to be thirsty, and he's waving down one of the attendants for some food as he talks.]

We're back at the castle. Lewis and Clark landed there, using the broadest possible definition of "landed". Ten KIA, including South. I have her and four others in cryo downstairs, and the others are in cold storage. Lots of injuries.

[youfallback]

[Speaking of water, she feels pretty thirsty when she sees the bottle of water and accepts it before chugging down like half the bottle. Still, even water on a completely empty stomach doesn't feel that great. She lays back again, glancing around the clinic before settling her gaze back on him at the mention of South.

She remembers that part, for sure. Any appetite caused by the water is lost at the mention of the dead.]

Then we've got work to do. [She starts to sit up again.]

[encryptedlock]

[Yeah no. York gives her a Look, which she'll probably ignore.]

Given that you've been out for an entire day, you're going to need some food before you're any good to anybody. [And did she even eat on the ship?] Besides, just about everything has already been taken care of. What do you still need to do?

[youfallback]

[Carolina manages a sitting position by sheer force of will. Because, well, yeah she likely didn't eat anything on the ship. Still, she'll ignore his look and focus on getting her head together. Being out for 24 hours was such a huge waste of time. Dammit. It was just like the Project. She wouldn't be surprised to hear him say that he was leaving to do the right thing.

And the thing she has to do is the thing she always has to do, even more so now with South's death: train.] It isn't any of your business.

[encryptedlock]

Bullshit. You said "we" have work to do.

[Caught ya.]

Besides, you know as well as I do that it can wait ten minutes for you to have some homemade soup and fried chicken.

[He maybe had the cooks taking special requests okay?]

[youfallback]

[Carolina glares over at him but her stomach growls loudly at the mere mention of fried chicken. Dammit, why do stomachs need to be fed. She'll keep glaring as she lays back down, not at all happy about the situation but fuck if there isn't much she can do about it.]

It wasn't a "we" that concerns you.

[encryptedlock]

[Yeah, yeah, he knows what he heard.]

Right. Well, stay here for a minute and I'll grab you a plate. You want mashed potatoes and the whole deal?

[youfallback]

No. [Her stomach says a very loud yes, but her stomach doesn't get a vote right now. She sits up again, restless and not wanting to just wait around. If he turns his back or is out of the room for long enough, she'll make a dash for the hallway and her room.]

[encryptedlock]

[York sighs.]

All right.

[York puts his helmet back on. He will leave the clinic long enough to get food from the temporary stand set up outside (don't want to get it all contaminated). So if she is strong enough to sneak out, she'll see him right there.]

[youfallback]

[And she does manage to get up to her feet, waiting thirty seconds or so to try and clear a path through the lobby, as she's assuming he's going all the way to the kitchen. Once she steps outside, though she'll see that's not the case at all.

Shit.]

[encryptedlock]

[Yeah, that's not going to work. York rolls his eyes under his helmet.]

Back to bed unless you want me to get a doctor to order it.

[youfallback]

A doctor doesn't have any say on whether or not I stay in the clinic. [Inherent Freelancer distrust of doctors go. She'll just turn down the hallway and pretend she never saw him. Because that's the best strategy, really.]

[encryptedlock]

Actually, that is their job. But if you decide you want to recover your strength before doing anything stupid, I have your chicken right here.

[Cause he's pretty sure she can't actually take the stairs without collapsing.]

[youfallback]

[The smell of the chicken is overwhelming to her stomach and she tries to keep moving down the hallway, but she's so low on energy that she stumbles and sags down to her knees about halfway down.]

[encryptedlock]

[Called it. York doesn't go over to help her, though, not yet. He'll stand here with a plate of hot food and wait for her to come to him.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina can still smell that chicken and it's blasting her senses even as she tries to get up again and plainly fails, despite the assistance of the wall. No, she has to get upstairs and indulge in an MRE. Maybe she'll splurge and have two MREs.]

[encryptedlock]

[Or she could have fried chicken right here, right now. But no, she seems to be in a running against herself for Most Stubborn Idiot In The Castle and the reward is a fat load of nothing.]

Come on, Carolina. It's not going to kill you to take ten minutes to eat, but it will make it worse if you don't.

[youfallback]

[The biggest problem with eating the chicken though, is that it's a sign that a) she needed help and b) that she accepted it, meaning that she can't do everything on her own. Right now she'd rather do everything herself. She tries to get up again and utterly fails again and for a couple seconds, she's sure she might pass out again.

So she'll wish up an MRE and a fork where she's barely vertical where she's sitting against the wall.]

[encryptedlock]

[She didn't.

Yeah, she really just did. Here he was just trying to help her and she fucking spits in his face. York's been through a hell of a lot in the past few days and this is just enough to make him snap. Carefully, he puts down the plate he'd made up for her and then walks over to her in a state of barely contained rage.]

You know, you have really got to figure out the difference between your enemies and your friends. All I've been trying to do is keep you in one piece. I hope your fucking "work" crashes and burns, because that's exactly what's going to happen if you can't stop thinking about yourself for one goddamned second.

Fuck you.

[And he'll stalk off.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina tries to get up again as he comes over to her and fear presses up through her as she realizes just how fucking helpless she is in this moment. She tries to press herself further up against the wall, but she doesn't flinch at his words or at his sudden departure. She doesn't feel great about him leaving either, which confuses her. She tries to figure out just how to get up or to get the MRE into her system fast enough for her to get up faster, but she decides she'll just get up again.]

You said you wouldn't give up.

[By this time, though, he's gone, and she just sags back down in the hallway. Looks like she isn't going far anytime soon.]