text; + action options

[sketchycharacter]

[The following is actually a series of three separate posts to the network; all three are posted in fairly quick succession, likely before anyone can reply to the first two, though they are open to comments.]

how do you make it so not everyone can read one of these things

[like thirty seconds later]

oh

[a couple of minutes later LOCKED FROM CERTAIN PEOPLE NAMED ELENA FISHER]

so a bunch of people use this system to pour their hearts out and get other people to do the same which usually seems weird to me. i mean just because you say it over the mid doesn't mean you won't run into people later and make it really weird and awkward. i don't know maybe that's just me.

except what the hell i'm pretty drunk right now so why the fuck not!

RIDDLE ME THIS, CREWMATES. pretend for a minute that you're a complete asshole who somehow got the most amazing woman in the world to marry you, fucked it up real fast like dropped a grenade on it bad BECAUSE you're a complete asshole, got her to take you back and start over and then fucked it up again.

what do you do? asking for a friend.

also the first person to make a suggestion that actually works can have some of my alcohol stash. everyone else can fuck off i'm not sharing.

[action options - feel free to go from a network thread to one of these]

[OPTION 1: DRUNK. Nate is pretty toasted as he wanders around the ship, but not so much than he has trouble getting around with just an occasional stumble. Alcohol tends to loosen his lips, so he'll gladly (well, not he's not real glad about anything right now) talk to anyone who makes the poor life decision to talk to him first.

[OPTION 2: DRUNKER. Jeez, he's getting to be a real mess now. Nate makes a trip to where the Mess Hall used to be so he can pour one out in honor of the lost bar. What a hideous waste of alcohol. Afterward, he visits the observation deck to drunkenly look at the stars, and will stay there.

[OPTION 3: DRUNKEST. Oh god he's so unhappy. Look at this complete wreck of a man who's making the observation deck a pretty unpleasant place to be. He is completely wasted. (Existing CR only for this option please—basically, if they've had at least one conversation, you're good.)]

Comments

[sketchycharacter]

[What the fuck. This is the second time Nate has been violently (minorly) attacked by a friend today. Sure, it's not like he doesn't think he deserves it, but still. Fucking rude.]

Ow!

[Is that a whiny tone? It's a whiny tone.]

What the fuck, Isha? Of course I fucking love her. She's the best thing that ever happened to me. I've never loved anyone like I love her.

[Oh wow this is getting personal. More than it already was. Thanks, alcohol.]

[diamondhack]

I don't believe it. Not with the way you're acting.

[Maybe she's trying to get a rise out of him, maybe not, but the point stands.]

You fucked up, fantastic. We all fuck up, as much as I hate to admit it. Now, there's two ways you can do this: prove that you give a damn and want her back, or keep sitting here drinking yourself into a stupor. Now.

[She stares him down hard, without missing a single beat as she takes a swig out of the bottle.]

Tell me. What are you willing to do? Because right now, all I'm seeing is someone who isn't even the Nathan Drake I know. The Nathan Drake that I know doesn't give up. The man next to me is a bloody coward.

[sketchycharacter]

[That makes him bristle—seriously, how dare she suggest he doesn't love Elena—and that's probably all that keeps him from snapping back or even walking (staggering) out, because bristling takes concentration in his state.

So he listens. And glares. And then just sighs.]

Anything. I'm willing to do anything.

[diamondhack]

Do you think she'll believe that of you right now? [She sighs.] I'm an expert in waiting, Nate. I've constantly played the long game. I've had to listen and learn. She's not going to tell you what she wants. But watch her, and listen. I can't tell you what to do, but she'll offer cues without even knowing it.

[She takes another swig. Q cocks his head and whimpers a little. He might feel a little bad for Nate right now.]

If she wants her space, give it to her. If she wants to fight back, let her fight it out. She's going to have her own way of coping, and you clearly have your own as well. It's unfortunate but you're going to have to let some of this play out before you can make your move.

[sketchycharacter]

[No. He doesn't. Because he hasn't.

Nate sits there for a long moment or few, quiet, and it's only the fact that he's gone absolutely still that says he's heard her—really heard her—at all. Eventually, he sighs and his shoulders slump.]

Are you only being this sincere because I'm drunk and you think I might not remember that you were tomorrow?

[diamondhack]

The fact that you're telling me this assures me you'll remember tomorrow. Which means you're under the pain of death if you go around claiming any of this happened.

[Is it a joke, is she serious? Who knows. There's not much of a reputation to maintain anymore, not since Mythos went by the wayside, not since she lost her arm.

It's on the tip of her tongue, the sincerity. This isn't her usual M.O. But she's changed She knows it. She'd lost family, gained family, lost it again, and found some other new form of family. Unfortunate how people change people.

Mechanical fingers flex absently. Fingertips gleam in the light. She lost an arm, and with it a lifestyle, a reputation, an entirely carefully constructed persona. Everything fell apart when she was given the new limb.]

You have no idea what I've lost, Nate. You don't have to lose her. I've seen marriages fall apart over less. I may have caused it once or twice, myself. If she's this important to you, don't lose her. You're a terrible pain without her in your life.

[sketchycharacter]

[Pain of death, sure. It's tempting to view that as a mercy right now. But then that'd be the easy way out.

He's got no comeback for Isha, no dumb joke at hand like it always is. Maybe it's because there's just no more room after all the space he filled with alcohol tonight, or maybe because he can tell she really is being sincere. It's not just to give him shit.]

I'm a terrible pain all the time. [He lifts his bottle and takes a long slug.] But I don't intend to lose her if I can help it. We'll...talk later, once I've sobered up. I'll figure something out to say.

[The words might come easier when he's not drunk off his ass.]

[diamondhack]

That sounds like a much better plan than what you're doing right now.

[Isha's never been big on touch, or rather, hasn't been as the years went by. Even less now but...

Q takes up her moment, bumps his head gently into Nate's side with a whine. She would've perhaps offered a hug, if she were more inclined towards it, if she still weren't so obsessed with keeping some sort of reputation.

Some sort of order and familiarity.]

[sketchycharacter]

Be hard for it to be worse.

[He mutters it, more to himself than to Isha. He's not completely un-self aware. But when he'd come face to face with how badly he'd screwed up and how deeply he'd fooled himself into believing otherwise and how helpless he felt to fix it...tossing himself into the abyss of drunkenness had seemed easier, if not better.

He sighs and pats Q, then slides his arm around the metal pet and slumps/leans on it. At least the robot dog still likes him.]

[diamondhack]

I could think of a few ways it could be worse.

[Said wryly. After that, she offers nothing else for a long moment. It's not that she doesn't know what to do in these situations, it's just that she'd rather not do anything and not be involved.

Too late for that now.

She finally, finally simply bumps his shoulder with hers.]

You'll live. And you'll get her back. I have faith in that.

[sketchycharacter]

[He's slow to react, but when he does, Nate lifts his eyebrows as he looks at her and a ghost of a smile appears.

He recognizes that shoulder bump. It's a shoulder bump of friendship.]

...thanks, Ish.

[Here and now, it's really nice to know that someone does.]