MoM IC Inbox

[flightforfreedom]

You've reached Poe Dameron. I'm off flying something or trying not to get killed, so go ahead and leave a message and I'll get back to you eventually.

 

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Re: 20 hours post nightmare house

[flightforfreedom]

[The answer isn't immediate, but arrives about ten minutes later.]

Yeah, I'm here.

You alright, bud?

[He knows it's a stupid question as soon as he types it, so almost immediately after follows:]

Where are you?

[reexamined]

In the woods.

I'm glad you're back.

[flightforfreedom]

yeah. Me too.

keep wondering if it was some kind of crazy fever dream.

[There's a pause before the next text.]

... Should I come over or would you rather be alone.

[reexamined]

If it was, would it change anything?

I would not mind company. I'm only preparing firewood.

[flightforfreedom]

Yeah. I'd have a much easier time forgetting it.

I'll head over. Is Bodhi okay?

[reexamined]

Bodhi is alive.

[He will not speak on his levels of "okay."]

[flightforfreedom]

Not reassuring, bud.

[But he's on his way. Eventually a carpet can be seen overhead, before slowly gliding down into the woods.]

Kay?

[reexamined]

[He doesn't know if he can be reassuring right now, so he didn't make an attempt.]

Hello Poe.

[Kay calls out, next to a fallen tree with an X spraypainted on it. He's snapping off thinner branches on it right now. There's a number of stumps nearby, some with mold already growing over the tops.]

If you would rather go somewhere other than here, I will go with you. I am only...

"Keeping busy."

[flightforfreedom]

I - don't have anywhere to go. [He jumped off the carpet and it sagged immediately, only stopped from hitting the ground by Poe catching it and then rolling it up and setting it next to a tree.

He doesn't look like he's slept. The dark circles under his eyes are still there, but at least he doesn't feel as twitchy as he did when he finally got out of the house.]

Chopping wood actually sounds... like an amazing idea right now, I'll be perfectly blunt with you. Happen to have a spare axe?

[reexamined]

[Kay looks down to the tree, gestures toward an axe stuck halfway in it that he'd been using to cut it down, and continues to break off branches, thicker ones now that the small ones have all been removed.]

Anything small enough to fit in the fireplace is good enough. I don't care how you do it. I'm have no information on proper tree cutting procedure. I could download it, but I also don't care.

[flightforfreedom]

I grew up on Yavin, Kay. [He said it before he thought about it - even the word sending a painful pang through him, though the only outward sign of it was a slight tightening of his features, a slight furrowing of his brow. He grabbed the axe and then grabbed one of the branches, dragging it over toward a stump.]

Believe it or not, I know how to chop wood. [It would have been easier with some kind of plasma blade, sure, that he could just slice through the branch like butter, but his dad preferred the axe, for the work out.]

Poe preferred it too, for his dad.]

[reexamined]

My point was more that I don't.

[He's only learned by trial and error here. One can probably tell, from the lack of clean cuts, and from the fact that at some points it looks like he's just straight up punched the tree.

Still, he's silent after that.

Ah yes. This sure is Two Dudes cutting down trees like Men, definitely Not Talking About Their Feelings.]

[flightforfreedom]

You're a lot less likely to throw your back out and end up in bed for a week if you do it wrong. [He pointed out. It made a difference. He glanced to see the punching mark, and it was telling that even the smile that it brought was very small, and muted.]

If I could punch trees, I would.

[And then he starts swinging the axe down to split the branch. Like a Man. With no Feelings.]

[reexamined]

You can. It would just hurt you a lot. You are soft.

[Yep just gonna keep chopping off branches on his own here too. With his hands though, because Poe has his axe.]

[flightforfreedom]

Yeah. You're telling me. [It's muttered, half under his breath, and his chopping starts to get a lot more vigorous and a lot less thoughtful, but eventually he has to stop and take a break because - as stated many times - he is a pilot, and not a boxer, and even his fleet training hasn't been as thorough since he ended up here.

He was getting even softer.

He sighed and kicked one of the free bits of wood into a pile he was making - smaller logs that he would then split later.]

[reexamined]

[Kay continues his own work- he doesn't suffer from exhaustion, or tiredness. He waits until he hears Poe stop for a few moments before continuing.]

I didn't mean it as an insult.

[flightforfreedom]

[Poe runs his sleeve over his brow to wipe off the sweat. He didn't really dress for this, but oh well.]

I know, Kay.

Just frustrating that it's true.

[reexamined]

[He pauses now, looking to Poe.]

Why is it frustrating? All humans are soft.

[flightforfreedom]

[Poe, on the other hand, is definitely not looking at Kay.]

Yeah. That's kind of the problem.

I shouldn't be here, Kay. Not after that.

[reexamined]

[Oh. Yes. Alright, guess this is coming up now.]

... I'm sorry, Poe. I... am responsible for what happened to you. All of it was my fault.

[Poe wouldn't have been in the theater if he hadn't been trying to get Kay out, wouldn't have gotten sucked into his own dream if Kay had woke up faster, wouldn't have had to destroy his own dream if Kay hadn't pushed him to, wouldn't have lost his foot if Kay hadn't shaken him, wouldn't have died if Kay had been more careful-

It all was his fault, he's known this since he left the house, and honestly he's been waiting for Poe to finally acknowledge where the blame should go.]

[flightforfreedom]

Kay, you weren't even there for half of it.

[He grabbed one of the logs and put it on the stump, before swinging down to split it with a giant crack into two pieces.]

I don't know who - or what - designed that place, but it is their fault. [He grabs another log, sets it up.] Everything in that damn place was a psychopath's wet dream, and the fact that they put you and Bodhi and everyone else through it --

[Another swing and a crack.]

[reexamined]

[An imPort designed it. A psychopath, as Poe says, is probably accurate. But it's over, and there's no sign of this Narrator since.]

Poe.

[Noted: Building aggression mixed with stress and lack of sleep.]

[flightforfreedom]

What. [He snaps the word and then instantly regrets it, grimacing. He rests the axe down on the stump, still holding the handle but no longer chopping.]

Sorry.

What is it, Kay?

[reexamined]

Perhaps wood cutting is not the best task for you to undertake right now.

[flightforfreedom]

I am going to respectfully disagree with you.

[He leans over to grab another piece of wood.]

I'm fine, Kay. I just- it makes my blood boil, thinking of everything here that-- it should be okay, it should be fine - maybe not great, or even good, but fine, and then ---

[Swing - CRACK]