text; + action options; (cw character death)

[sketchycharacter]

[locked to people who know Elena Fisher]

elena's dead

[....yeah that's all. Odds are good that Nate will not want to reply to questions, condolences or comments regarding the recent tragedy, though Chloe Frazer might. However, he can be found...]

wandering; Once the shock has passed—if it ever does—Nate wanders for hours. Fuck, maybe days, he doesn't know. He just doesn't want to go back to the house in Region 1 where she isn't.

Eventually he finds himself in a well-wooded park. For lack of anything else to do, he climbs a tree.

at home; When he finally does make it back, Nate parks his ass on the couch, where he'll be sleeping until—well, he can't count on there being an "until." Maybe he'll just live on the couch forever. Sorry, Pepper, Varric, etc.

at the ingress complex; Nate comes by the facility a couple of times, to ask for news or if they can guarantee that they'll be able to bring her back, because he knows that people have returned, and he knows that they don't always.

He walks away both times, unable to stand it if the answer is no.]

Comments

[pubcrawl]

[ Bull knew someone would've answered, there's so many people living in such a big house, someone is bound to be home. There are some he expects to answer the door and there are others he doesn't. Seeing Nate as the door's pulled open, Bull blinks down at him.

Woah, he doesn't look at all like he remembers. Frankly, the guy looks like shit. But who is he to judge? ]

Hey back to you. Varric around?

[sketchycharacter]

Maybe?

[He doesn't actually know. Between attempts at comforting him, his friends are giving him space and/or living their lives, because infuriatingly, the world didn't stop when Elena died. Except for him.

Nate shrugs and steps back. Bull can come in and check if he wants to. Or just hang out like he owns the place. He doesn't care.]

[pubcrawl]

[ That's an invitation as any. Bull accepts it and ducks his head to enter, straightening up. ]

Pretty quiet. Must be nice.

[ A glance around to see where he might look first for his short friend, Bull then looks down at Nate. He's quiet in his observation, making mental notes of how he looks, how he's holding himself. ]

Rough night?

[sketchycharacter]

[Quiet as the grave. Everyone's being all solemn and tiptoeing around for his sake.

He's mildly surprised that Bull doesn't go wandering off into the house to look for Varric, but maybe he's got more manners than Nate cares about at the moment. He snorts and tosses a glance over his shoulder.]

Well, my wife died on that fucking planet they opened up. So there's that.

[pubcrawl]

Ah... Yeah. [ Shit. ] Yeah, that would do it.

[ Shit.

Bull gives him one last once over. Now this is familiar to him. Will he end up sitting in bed with him and listening to him talk about his dead like he did with his roommate? ]

You ah, you start drinking yet?

[sketchycharacter]

[Nate can't read bracket text, but probably not. The future is a wealth of possibilities, though.]

Started, stopped. Thinking of starting again.

[Well, he is now. Nate ventures past the couch and into the kitchen, gesturing vaguely for Bull to follow him if he wants. Or not, he doesn't really care.]

You want any?

[pubcrawl]

Why did you stop in the first place?

[ This seemed serious enough to not take a break, to keep going. Numb the grief, never let it really reach you. He'd lost his partner... Bull couldn't relate to that kind of loss.

Only one time had come to being this serious, and Bull knows for a fact that he would've dealt with it by drinking. To them. For Them.

Maybe.

It's more of a scenario that he would deal with in the moment, if and when it came to it.

Doesn't mean he doesn't miss his Krem-a-la-Krem lieutenant now ]

Taking breaks, that's dangerous.

[sketchycharacter]

Passed out before I could die of alcohol poisoning. Sobriety was the unfortunate outcome.

[He's not self-centered enough to think he's the only one to ever face this kind of loss. He's exactly self-centered enough not to give a damn about whether other people's losses mean they can empathize.

Rifling through the kitchen cabinets, he locates one of the bottles that Dorian left behind. What a pal, leaving something to remember him by and wipe out other memories of the day.]

This'll do it.

[pubcrawl]

Probaby better that you passed out when you did. I didn't know her well, only from what Dorian's told me, but she might not have wanted that for you.

[ Bull waits while he digs something out for them. Should he wait for an invite to sit? Where, kitchen? Living room?

Fuck it. He moves to the table and pulls out a chair, lowering himself down carefully since he's unsure how sturdy it is. ]

Which is what?

[sketchycharacter]

Don't tell me what she'd want for me. I know that already.

[Both Bull and Dorian are right, though. She wouldn't want that. The thought is another dash of salt on the wound, except the shake cap falls off and dumps the entire container of salt right on it.

The chair creaks, but he doesn't give a shit if Bull breaks right through it. Chairs can be replaced.]

I dunno what this is. Dragon piss. [Metaphorically or literally, who knows. He sets the bottle and two...beer steins, not wine glasses, on the table.]

[pubcrawl]

[ His hands come up in surrender and he doesn't say anything else. Grieving men, they're snappy for a reason. They don't want you telling them what they already know, they don't want you telling them what's right; it just makes the process harder. ]

Going straight for the hard stuff. You ever had it before?

[ Bull's gotta give the guy credit. ]

[sketchycharacter]

First time was the other day.

[Was it a day ago or days? The fact that he can't remember bodes well for the potency of this stuff. That or it could be that the days all blend together now regardless of what he drinks. Could go either way.

Nate pours himself a stein of wine and pushes to bottle to Bull. He can pour his own.]

Bottoms up.

[pubcrawl]

And you're still able to speak? I'm impressed.

[ None of that likely matters in the face of grieving.

Bull gets himself a glass poured and lifts it. ]

Bottoms up.

[ Time for that first shot. ]

[sketchycharacter]

[Nate takes a mighty swig.

And chokes, half of it getting spit back out onto the table. Only a fraction of said swig makes it down his throat.]

Jesus. What the—

[Apparently, already being drunk is a pre-requisite for this stuff.]

[pubcrawl]

[ He's got his swig still in his cheek when Nate's spitting out the precious alcohol. That's about a typical reaction. Bull swallows his down and pushes up from the chair to fetch the cloth hanging by the stove. ]

You probably should've sipped that.

[ The cloth is dropped over the mess. Clean up in aisle one. ]

Burns, doesn't it?

[sketchycharacter]

A little.

[He wipes his face off with the back of his hand, then wipes that off with the cloth.]

What's brewed in this stuff?

[pubcrawl]

It's probably best that you don't ask.

[ Dropping back down into the chair he's reaching for his drink again, ready for another swallow. ]

Should we get you something lighter instead?

[sketchycharacter]

[Probably.]

Not that light.

[pubcrawl]

What do you have to drink around this place?

[ Wine? Something watered down? Water? ]

[sketchycharacter]

[What hasn't he already had by this point?]

Beer. Wine, probably. [He waves an arm toward the kitchen closet.] Whatever.