27 traps filled with new memories

[ectobabble]

[… "MARSHMALLOW. Now wake up, before your day gets any worse!"

There were stranger words to hear right before regaining consciousness, but Ray was at least pretty sure that now was NOT the time to be thinking of them. as he opened his eyes, instead of emptying his mind, he filled it as far as it could go. marshmallow marshmallow marshmallow marshmallow marshm--

the stone altar was a lot more comfortable than he remembered. and this didn't look like Central Park West.

and the people around him didn't look a thing like Idulnas ....

it was all a trick, had to be. Raymond Stantz, chosen Selector of Gozer, forced his mind back on track and uttered the only word he dared, as he glanced around the clinic.]

Marshmallows.

((OOC: And with that, Ray is canonbumped! Clearly, this is open to the clinic, but it's open over the journals, too!))

Comments

[ectobabble]

[feeling your guilt a little, Spike? it's cool, Ray forgives you]

So -- two weeks, then? [he's making an educated guess]

[common_name]

[It takes a good solid few moments for the world to start to come into focus. Things hit her in bits and pieces, small details. A bouquet of flowers on the bedside table. People filtering in and out. Snatches of conversation.

Until that last little bit somehow trickles through. It's as if it provides enough of a jolt to finish the job.

She tries to lift her head, but doesn't quite succeed. No, everything's still too... atrophied for that. Instead, all she can manage to eke out is a quiet question while she processes this information.]

Two weeks?

[gottaknockhard]

[Spike was about to respond to Ray, when another voice cuts in and closes his throat. If looks count for anything, those quiet words bring on more of an expression than he ever shows in public. The situation with the fridge may have hurt his reputation for keeping a cool head, but it's a rare thing to catch him so unguarded.]

Julia. [Once her name is out of his mouth, just like that, he starts to breathe again. He spares a glance at Ray that could almost be apologetic, but his thoughts are taking too long to clear for it to pass as something real.

Two weeks, and part of him thought...] Yeah, it's been about that long.

[common_name]

[That's when, for the first time, the presence of a different voice registers in her reality. Ray's voice she'd recognized almost instantly, but for some reason, everything else had taken longer. Yet when it does, it's unmistakable.

Spike.

She can move her head just enough to allow her gaze to shift, just in time to catch that (indeed rare) unguarded expression, the first real thing her eyes manage to focus on. It's been so long that she can barely remember the last time she saw it (or what it even looked like, really); walls, defenses had been so thorough and complete. But in that moment, that one brief moment as she takes it in, she almost smiles.

... Almost. The impulse is short-lived; it alone takes away almost any energy she might have managed to have, long before an action is even possible. Her gaze falters, her head gently settles back onto the pillow.]

What happened?

[ectobabble]

Yeah, what -- I mean -- when I heard you guys go down, I went up to your room, Spike, to see if I could help ... and then when I went to move Julia, to check on her, one of those sludgebuckets jumped out and bit me. I only had just enough time t' tell everyone where we were before I blacked out. ... So I wouldn't mind hearin' all that, either.

[he shifts and sits up]

I'm sorry, I'm being way too slow x(;; I'll do better

[gottaknockhard]

[That's a fair question. They both went after him, and if it isn't already obvious who sent them to the clinic, that should be proof enough. But this isn't the right time to bring it up. Besides, that wasn't really the question.

... Actually, he never did find out who took them here. He should have asked around.]

I guess someone took care of it. Most of the clinic has cleared out since then.

it's okay, I've been kinda braindead myself <3

[ectobabble]

Really? Oh, well, that's good to hear. [Ray grins, and turns to Julia] How're you feeling?