Sea monster attack!

[kore_npc]

Who: The kidnappees, rescuers, and whoever wants to wait on the beach with towels. See here for an explanation.
When: Afternoon Day 102
Where: The beach
What: The device holding the sea monster at bay has been without power for two days, and now he's... lonely. Or angry. Angry and lonely. But now he's kidnapped some new friends!

The network has been spotty, cutting in and out for a couple days now, but luckily for everyone currently in the monster's grasp, Stane happens to be standing in the middle of a decent signal area.

"The sea monster is taking people! Hurry!"

Comments

team awkwardly standing around?

[zen_navigator]

Dirk had expected this, but that doesn't make him feel any better about it actually happening. He's not going to get too near the water, but he's watching the efforts from further back on the beach, feeling a bit helpless and definitely not wanting to dive in and battle a giant...whatever it is.

It feels a bit heartless to just head back to the house, so he's left standing watch.

[nedofpies]

Ned spots Dirk by his rather distinctive mop of hair, can see the worry and defeat in his posture even from a distance. He walks over to where Dirk is standing, arms folded tightly over his chest, trying and failing abysmally not to worry about the people who have been taken, the people who have gone out after them. There are people he cares about out there, and he feels completely powerless to help them.

He's not sure he'll be able to help Dirk, either. But he'll offer what consolation he can.

"Guess it came true, after all."

[zen_navigator]

"I guess so." He doesn't look up at Ned when he comes over, choosing to keep looking out at the disturbing battle instead. He tucks his hands into his jacket pockets and hunches in on himself a little bit. Even if he did want to go out there, he couldn't. "Do you know how to swim?"

[nedofpies]

Ned knows what that kind of hunch means: it takes one to know one, after all. Dirk is feeling responsible, perhaps, or at the very least some flavor of bad about this whole thing. None of it is his fault, of course - he'd warned people. But Ned knows that guilt doesn't require rational basis, and often finds a means to worm its way in despite rational evidence of innocence.

When Dirk asks if he knows how to swim, his tone is far from accusatory, but Ned feels a prickle of defensiveness nonetheless, masking a rather deeper feeling of disappointment in himself, and fear, and uncertainty.

"I know how to swim. Who doesn't know how to swim? I just don't know how to fight giant sea monsters while swimming."

It's a weak excuse, perhaps. He'd told himself he would only do more harm than good out there, getting in the way, but maybe that's just a lie he's telling himself. In his self-doubt, he is shorter with Dirk than perhaps he ought to be. Ned knows it, knows he shouldn't take out his feelings of frustration and helplessness on Dirk.

[zen_navigator]

Dirk jerks his head to the side to look at Ned, his expression tight and unamused. Is Ned trying to make fun of him, he wonders, or just being defensive himself? "Though I did have wonderfully attentive parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gently were not overly fond of sea jaunts." By which he means is that he is that someone who doesn't know how to swim, Ned.

His mouth tightens as if he's about to explode with something else, but instead, he looks away from Ned again. "I can't say I blame them, given current evidence."

[nedofpies]

It takes a few seconds for Ned to connect why Dirk is telling him about his parents not liking going to the ocean and what Dirk is trying to say. Ned hadn't intended that comment as a barb, had tossed it out carelessly, thoughtlessly, assuming that he wouldn't offend. But if Dirk can't swim, it explains why he would bring that up, and also why he looks so completely unamused. The past times Ned has spoken to him he always looked... content, if not happy. That dark expression is new, to him.

So he chews the inside of his lower lip, now finding that it was, in fact, possible for him to feel worse, despite all odds. Not only is he not helping to save anyone, but he's upset Dirk in he process.

"Sorry. I didn't- that was a stupid thing to say. I do that a lot. Say stupid things without meaning to. Which isn't an excuse, I know, but I didn't mean to... be a jerk."

[zen_navigator]

"A misunderstanding. You didn't realize I would take offense." Notice that he's not excusing Ned or saying he's fine. He's obviously very not fine with the whole sea monster scenario.

And what if he did cause the attack? Maybe that's a thing that can happen in this universe. Who knows. "I didn't expect it to happen. I mean, I knew it could, but it's a giant squid...thing!" He thrusts his hands out at the ocean. "Kraken!" There's a part of him that feels impressed with himself for the fact that this has come true. And then another part of him is horrified at that first part because there are people out there getting attacked. "Why was anyone out there?" He warned people, after all.

[nedofpies]

"People were being careful," Ned insists, though he's had the same question himself. He doesn't want to think about it like that, even for a moment. It's not their fault they were brought to this place, that the power is out, that there's a sea monster snatching people left and right, "I think it... reached pretty far inland."

Which is just...horrible, isn't it? They're between a rock and a hard place here, except it's between an inhospitable ocean with a kraken and an inhospitable forest with monsters, mechanical and organic.

But he thinks he might have some idea what drives Dirk to say that and ventures, in a softer voice, "You did warn everyone. I'm sure that helped when people were coming to the rescue. They knew Stane meant it when he-" it's a feeble sort of reassurance, but it's the best he can manage at the moment.

[zen_navigator]

"-Started yelling about a giant sea monster, yeah." He presses out a lungful of air, takes a deep breath. There's really not much he could be doing right now. That doesn't make him feel less like he should be doing something, but it's worth repeating to himself. "There was a woman from one of the houses on the beach. She's staying in my spare room. Safe and sound." Which is really one victory among a mess of failures, but it's something for him to cling to. And brag about. Just a little. She is very attractive. And occasionally blue.

[nedofpies]

"Safe and sound is good," Ned agrees, stomach in knots of worry for the people who aren't. No one is ever really safe, in this place, but it's possible during the intervals to forget about the danger, at least to a degree. Necessary, in fact, to do so. Otherwise they'd all go insane. But it's front and center right now and Ned can't seem to keep himself still; he fidgets, shoving his hands in his pockets, taking them out and crossing his arms, kicking at the sand.

"What's her name?" he asks, distractedly, because it's better than offering the unpleasant response that the girl who lives in the same house as him is out there right now, maybe dying. She's only a kid and so woefully optimistic about the world. Ned's not really sure he can cope living in a world where the life of someone that bright, that innocent can be snuffed out so pointlessly.