recommence | 2 - {audio}

So! Uh. Hi, everyone.

Question for the masses.

[Bennett fidgets a bit with his communicator, fingers audibly shuffling up the side and back down.]

If, if I haven't met you yet, my name's Bennett Marrow. I was a professor and researcher, back home. I-- I had a little bit of a second job, too.

[Evasive, but he's getting to it.]

Um, my question is kinda... multi-part, bear with me here.

So, we've-- we've been here for a little while, some of us longer than others, and, uh. I'm, I'm always looking for ways to understand the world around me. Aaaaand, uh, obviously, there's-- there's a lot to understand here. So, if anybody has any information about the nature of the Black Tide, or-- or, the previous ship that I've heard about, the MS Elegante-- could you please contact me? I would love to interview anyone who would care to step forward so we all have a log of information about our, uh, houseboat. Boat-home. This will not be confidential and I will be happy to share it with anyone who needs it at any time.

Also, on the, uh, confidential side of things. I, uh-- I know there are some other nonhuman and supernaturally-inclined beings-slash-people on this boat. If you need any help-- if you need anything, please let me know, okay? I'm-- I'm never going to tell anyone, but I know how-- h-how terrible it feels to try and find the help you need all alone. I'm, I'm a werewolf myself. I, I ran into a few of you last weekend.

I used to run a network for the supernatural crowd so I could bring help to anyone who needed it. I might not have all the tools I used to, but I know I can build that network here again.

[He sighs and runs his hand through his hair, fiddling with the communicator again.]

This-- this got kinda long. Sorry, everyone. Anyway. Um, I'd normally tell you to meet me at my room if you didn't want to talk over the network, but, uh, it's-- it's flooded entirely right now, so I'm, uh-- you can find me in the back corner of the shopping area. I've made a little, uh, cave.

Hit me up if you need anything. This is, is, B-bennett Marrow, signing off.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Bennett carefully takes the paper back, but the sound draws his attention immediately.

Those threads.]

I-- I want to help you.

[He blurts it out before he can stop himself. Inwardly, he cringes, but after a brief hesitation, he holds the paper pad back out.]

How can I do that? How can I help you?

[Ben, if this guy has a name, you don't even know it yet. Calm down.]

[Hound sighs. For all of his cold-shouldering, this guy just keeps coming back for more. Honestly, Bennett made him feel bad about himself a little, here. It was difficult to keep the guy at arms' length knowing that he was that wolf from before, the big dumb lug of a dog that had instantly endeared himself to the Nameless. Next full moon, the possibility of having a canine companion was an almost irresitable luxury - but would become a human again after. A speaking, thinking, remembering human, and that was the awkward part.

If Ben was only a wolf all the time. He'd be easier for Hound to talk to.

The pad of paper hangs in the air for a few long moments as Hound agonizes over his options here. This... No, this was a bad idea. Finally, he takes it from Ben, and writes his prognosis down slowly.]

You can't.

[He decides to give Ben a piece of advice, writing a second part;]

Don't make trouble. Thank the captain every chance you get.

[He glances at the paper and runs both hands through his hair, scrubbing at his scalp, as though that's going to jumpstart some thinking to get out the words he feels like he needs to say.]

I-- I'm not trying to make trouble, I'm-- I'm trying to keep t-trouble from happening! If everyone knows the ways things work, we can all stay safe, stay out of trouble. That's all I'm trying to do. I'm trying to understand.

[He wants to tell Hound that rules can't be followed without understanding the why behind them, but he gets the feeling it is a lesson the poor Nameless had already learned.]

I haven't had, had the chance yet, but I will thank her. And... and I will help you, because I can. I-- I've never met anyone I couldn't figure out how to help.

[Ben gets this creeping feeling that he's going to get smacked upside the head for saying as much, but there it is.]

[Its hard to watch. Bennett is so painfully sincere in his desire to help Hound that it makes the Nameless wince. The guy's a human now but he's still got one of the biggest sets of puppydog eyes that Hound has ever seen on another man. The professor's still an untested idealist as far as he's aware, and - hey, if he's going to stick his neck out, there isn't much he can do to stop Ben from doing that.]

I can't give you any hints.

[He's very quick to write this next one down, like he's suddenly rushed;]

ONLY TRUST
- Kenna
- Mica
- Percy
BEWARE SAM

[He circles that last part almost feverishly, holding it up for Ben just long enough for Hound to register that he read it once; the Nameless then rips it off of the pad of paper, letting the rest clatter to the floor.

Hound then busies himself with fishing his lighter out of his pocket and burning it, doing another quick shoulder-check as he did so.]

[If Ben's sincerity is hard to watch, Hound's panic at destroying the note is near impossible. It's too fevered, to messy to be some kind of act. Hound is likely absolutely terrified for his life. Granted, someone put those stitches in his face and Ben sincerely doubted that Hound did it to himself. Other than the facts that Hound has given him, though, Bennett is only certain of one more thing:

This ship is absolutely no safe haven.

He crouches to retrieve the pad of paper, speaking softly as he stands again.]

I-- I understand. You-- uh, I-- I don't think you need to say anymore. Thank you for, for meeting with me. And, and the information. I'll-- I'll keep and eye out, see if there's anyway I can pay you back.

I just have one last thing I wanted to ask, though.

[He holds out the pad of paper for Hound to write.]

I-- I never got your name?

[He's so reluctant to take the pad of paper again, but it's such an innocent question. Hound sighs, takes the writing utencils from Bennett again, and begins;]

My name is

[When he sets the pen down on the paper to start the first letter of his name, his arm is yanked by an invisible other, and it makes him draw a line right off of the page. Hound clenches his eyes shut and takes a breath to steady his nerves; he tries again. He sets the pen down on the paper, and just as before, his hand works as a planchette for an unseen force that makes him scribble instead of write.

He stops himself, rips the sheet off and tosses it over his shoulder. He writes on the fresh sheet;]

Hound

[He hands the pad of paper back to Bennett. The Nameless tested something out; he's done writing, now. His lips might be sewn, but his dejected expression can say that much for him.]

[Bennett matches the Nameless' gaze with mute horror, concern and something a lot like awe. There is so much more here than he could have guessed originally. His mind is running at a hundred miles a minute, trying to dig back into half-remembered texts that he knew sat at home on his library wall, through old catalogues and databases he'd compiled over the years of phenomena... all in hopes of identifying exactly what Hound had run afoul of, what exactly was cursing him this way.

Ben's fingertips brush at Hound's when he takes the paper back, and his breath doesn't quite catch up to his desire to speak.]

H-hound. Hound, thank you. I-- I'm sorry to put you through the trouble of....

[What? Hound's not done anything but quizzed him, berated him and looked mildly hurt at various lines of questioning.]

...a-all of this.

[But still.]

It, it means a lot, really. Thank you.

[He has to figure out how to help you.]

2 - {audio}

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject