[That's a loaded question. Jay (perpetually uprooted, never safe, never comfortable, even before all this) doesn't have much experience with the concept of 'close friends.' Jay's always known people. He's even hung out with some of them. He's been part of 'friend groups', a quiet satellite who keeps his mouth shut, doesn't offend, but isn't interesting enough for anyone to spend time with one-on-one.
'Still shitty' to see them die, though, isn't it?]
Didn't know them too well, but I knew them. We worked on a student film together. It wasn't anything to write home about.
[No movie was worth this, but definitely not Marble Hornets. (The footage was still worth preserving, though, no matter what Alex said.)]
( Death is shitty to see no matter what. The first person she saw die was her babysitter, and she knew her really well. Then it came a lot of people dying she didn't know so well, but it was hard in other ways. There's something about it that sticks long after it's over like it sinks down inside of them somehow.
Can't be washed away. )
Tim said you guys were in danger where you were from but it was more complicated than zombies.
It's not really hard to be more complicated than zombies, but I figured it must have been really intense.
[That's more than Jay could've ever imagined Tim would tell anyone. Tim always said Jay made too much of their lives public knowledge, but if something happened to them, how else would people know? (How else would they be remembered?)]
You're right. It was.
[There's a significant pause between messages.]
Most of it was really boring, to be honest. But a "Rosemary's Baby" kind of boring.
[She's a kid, Jay.]
There were huge gaps of time where nothing happened, but that didn't mean we were any less in danger. I think waiting made it worse. And then sometimes we would forget. what happened. I mean we would forget what happened.
[Alex believed it was memetic, or at least that's what Tim said. Like it could be spread if people knew too much. It can't be true (because how could it, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers?), but the threat still hangs over Jay's head.]
( clementine lifts her eyebrows in confusion, because she has no idea how a baby is boring. they're kind of a lot of work, but she gets it's a reference to something that she doesn't actually know about. she was eight when the apocalypse happened so there's a lot she never learned and a lot she never was remotely exposed to. )
Wait, you completely forgot what happened sometimes?
That's scary. Like something got right into your head to take it. Wonderland's supposed to be able to take our memories away but that sounds... faster.
( and what's strong enough to have that kind of power outside of this world? she's never heard of memory loss happening where she's from but walkers- walkers are easy. they're like wild animals. shoot them. put them down.
[Jay doesn't want to think about it. He doesn't want to think about it any more than he has to, but if that thing comes here (and it will) (because why wouldn't it?) she has to know what to watch out for. He owes her at least that much.]
It was definitely fast. Lost seven months all at once.
[Jay snaps his fingers in real life, catching himself before conceding that there's no good way to translate the motion into text. He leaves it undescribed.]
Happened a lot. Usually just a few hours at a time. Three weeks is the longest Tim lost that I know of.
[He already decided he had to warn her. He just needs to figure out how, without making things worse.]
Look, if you ever
[He stews over the partially finished message for nearly half an hour before accidentally hitting send.]
wait sorry If you ever start having really bad coughing fits and think you're missing time, let Tim and me know. I hope you don't but if you do maybe we can actually return the favor.
It'd be hard to live if you can't trust the life when you can't remember or don't know if you remember everything or not.
( he lost seven months at once? what the fuck. at least walkers and people are easy. they're not complicated, not overly powered. she's small. she's a kid, but she's learned how to use that to her advantage. this? this sounds like something impossible to fight against, and what's the purpose of taking memories and time from them like that?
clementine gets this isn't easy to talk about, which makes that warning have more meaning. he wants to tell her so she can be prepared. it's one of the best things someone can do for her.
even if she's inwardly just utterly confused about what can cause coughing fits and someone to miss time, she'll know who to go to- )
[He's snort, say that "hard" was an understatement, but this is coming from somebody who survived a zombie apocalypse. As far as Jay knows, the damage in his world only extends as far as the cast of one lousy student film.]
[It's just their lives that got screwed up, not everyone's.]
[And then she thanks him. He's...Jay's not used to that. He knows the information he risked his life trying to find is useful, because it has to be, but he can't remember the last time somebody else agreed.]
( Clementine has a skewed version of normal. It's not like other people's versions of normal at all, and she has lost all ability to truly feel safe. There's only constantly being aware at all times. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
'Still shitty' to see them die, though, isn't it?]
Didn't know them too well, but I knew them.
We worked on a student film together.
It wasn't anything to write home about.
[No movie was worth this, but definitely not Marble Hornets. (The footage was still worth preserving, though, no matter what Alex said.)]
no subject
Can't be washed away. )
Tim said you guys were in danger where you were from but it was more complicated than zombies.
It's not really hard to be more complicated than zombies, but I figured it must have been really intense.
no subject
You're right. It was.
[There's a significant pause between messages.]
Most of it was really boring, to be honest.
But a "Rosemary's Baby" kind of boring.
[She's a kid, Jay.]
There were huge gaps of time where nothing happened, but that didn't mean we were any less in danger. I think waiting made it worse.
And then sometimes we would forget.
what happened.
I mean we would forget what happened.
[Alex believed it was memetic, or at least that's what Tim said. Like it could be spread if people knew too much. It can't be true (because how could it, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers?), but the threat still hangs over Jay's head.]
no subject
Wait, you completely forgot what happened sometimes?
That's scary. Like something got right into your head to take it. Wonderland's supposed to be able to take our memories away but that sounds... faster.
( and what's strong enough to have that kind of power outside of this world? she's never heard of memory loss happening where she's from but walkers- walkers are easy. they're like wild animals. shoot them. put them down.
and people are just... people. )
no subject
[Jay doesn't want to think about it. He doesn't want to think about it any more than he has to, but if that thing comes here (and it will) (because why wouldn't it?) she has to know what to watch out for. He owes her at least that much.]
It was definitely fast.
Lost seven months all at once.
[Jay snaps his fingers in real life, catching himself before conceding that there's no good way to translate the motion into text. He leaves it undescribed.]
Happened a lot. Usually just a few hours at a time.
Three weeks is the longest Tim lost that I know of.
[He already decided he had to warn her. He just needs to figure out how, without making things worse.]
Look, if you ever
[He stews over the partially finished message for nearly half an hour before accidentally hitting send.]
wait
sorry
If you ever start having really bad coughing fits and think you're missing time, let Tim and me know.
I hope you don't but if you do maybe we can actually return the favor.
Seriously, thanks for getting us out of there.
no subject
It'd be hard to live if you can't trust the life when you can't remember or don't know if you remember everything or not.
( he lost seven months at once? what the fuck. at least walkers and people are easy. they're not complicated, not overly powered. she's small. she's a kid, but she's learned how to use that to her advantage. this? this sounds like something impossible to fight against, and what's the purpose of taking memories and time from them like that?
clementine gets this isn't easy to talk about, which makes that warning have more meaning. he wants to tell her so she can be prepared. it's one of the best things someone can do for her.
even if she's inwardly just utterly confused about what can cause coughing fits and someone to miss time, she'll know who to go to- )
You're welcome.
Thank you for the warning.
no subject
[It's just their lives that got screwed up, not everyone's.]
[And then she thanks him. He's...Jay's not used to that. He knows the information he risked his life trying to find is useful, because it has to be, but he can't remember the last time somebody else agreed.]
You're
also welcome.
Hope you don't need it.
Are you somewhere safe for now?
no subject
and she has lost all ability to truly feel safe. There's only constantly being aware at all times. )
I'm somewhere safe.
I'm okay.
Take care of yourself.
no subject
[Just a couple more days and it'll be over. Just a couple more days.]