RE419S | audio | Day 20

[aluminumandash]

[ The walkie clicks on to a barrage of sound: crystal clear reception doesn't much matter when there's only a couple tarps between you and relentless downpour. Rust's voice—slurred slightly beyond the usual confines of a Texas accent, if you're listening for it—manages to break through the thunderclaps and drumming rain only because he's holding the transceiver right next to his mouth, gripping it tight.

His tone is urgent, and incredulous. ] Fuckin...elephant fell outta the sky.

[ Yep. ]



OOC: FOR THOSE NOT IN THE KNOW: Rust's being held hostage by Lalo and the walkie will be wrenched from his hands as soon as he sends this! Replies may come from Rust (under duress), Lalo, or both!

Also: mentions of animal death/dismemberment are extremely likely, we'll CW but let us know if there's something you want to avoid.

Comments

AP251C | voice

[desperate_times_right]

Shit’s been falling here, too.

Is - [There is absolutely no sane way to say 'is it important']

What kind of elephant?

DI481O | audio

[salamanca]

Chloe! Mamacita! You're alive! Heyyyy, how are you?

[ Lalo has clearly been drinking too. He's bombastic and loud most of the time anyway, but it's really cranked up to 11 right now. His voice isn't slurring like Rust's is, but his volume is uneven and his Hispanic accent is thicker than usual, more noticeable. ]

It's - [ little laugh; his glee barely contained ] - it's the one in the room! [ Pause for her to appreciate his genius. ] Get it? In the room? The elephant in the room? Eh?

[ Rust hadn't found it very funny. Obi Wan Chloe, you are now his only hope for validation. ]

[desperate_times_right]

Oh, you know. It sucks here, but I can walk a bit on my own now and I'm out of the rain so, could be worse!

[She does laugh at his joke, sorry Rust]

Think you two had enough of those already.

[salamanca]

Si, si! It could always be worse. No matter how bad! Remember that.

[ ^_~ if he had a lampshade it'd be on his head right now!!

also he is EXTREMELY pleased she laughed at his joke. suck it, hostage! chloe u r his new favorite. ]

Nah, nah! We're just gettin' started. Well, we *hic* we were getting started, and then we had to finish, because we ran out! But if we had more, we'd be getting started!

[desperate_times_right]

[She meant elephants in the room - she sees you two acting weird as hell around one another - but honestly that too]

For the best, maybe. How… uh, how far did this elephant fall?

[salamanca]

[ yeah ok >:( he's not the one doodling a state senator's name in his trapper keeper, lady >:( ]

FAR. I hear groaning, I look up, I hear this trumpeting [ he mimics an trumpeting elephant noise here; you can easily imagine him making a trunk with his free hand too ] and I see this, this elephant - plummeting, plummeting, then...

SMOOOOOOOOOOSH! It hits the ground hard enough to leave a crater, man! It was crazy!

[desperate_times_right]

[Whatever!!! You wouldn't understand a warriors’ bond]

[Chloe laughs, incredulous] Holy shit! And you guys are okay?

YL078T | Voice

[doomcame]

--the fuck. Are you alright?

[Thinking elephants are falling from the sky sounds like a dangerous level of wasted to be while out in a storm.]

HE412T | text

[timaeus]

What?

[Yeah, that's batshit enough to get him to respond.]

RE419S | audio cw: animal death

[aluminumandash]

Distressed. [ —is the first thing to come to mind, after dead.

The background noise has—incredibly—gotten worse, but Rust's voice has leveled some. ] What, like, male or female? [ Weird fucking question, but it's the kind of thing Rust's happy to go to work on: ] On the small side, no tusks I could see. But what I can see is severely fucking limited.

[ And not just by the storm. ]

[desperate_times_right]

I meant African or Indian. Might tell us something about where it got picked up.

[aluminumandash]

[ A short, sharp breath. Exhilarated. ] Fuck if I know.

What're you seeing, more animals?

[desperate_times_right]

If it doesn't have tusks and seems small, it's probably Indian. Saw a bunch a few months back when I was in the Western Ghats for work, they look weird if you're used to seeing African elephants in zoos and stuff.

Big fucking bird statue nearly beaned K, and Squalo says he saw tires and a drive shaft, but no car. So watch out for that, I guess.

[She stops talking, then suddenly she's back]

Oh yeah, and I found this weird kids’ toy, like a squid or something? It's - uh, it does stuff. Think it got flung here too.

Not here

[salamanca]

[ Hahahahaha! 😂 ]

[aluminumandash]

You're shitting me. [ A helpful assessment of the car parts flying every which way. ] Lucky no one's been fucking impaled.

[ A pause, then he speaks at a rapid clip. ] A toy? That what you said?

[desperate_times_right]

God, I wish. Made him even more paranoid than he was already.

Yeah, like a little stuffed animal. Had a really strong magnet in it.

[aluminumandash]

What's it do? There a— [ Another pause. His voice goes flat. ] You know, they'll put their name on the tag.

[desperate_times_right]

[Hm. She didn't think this through. She can't exactly say “it calls to me” and expect him to take it seriously]

Oh. Really? I kind of cut it apart. I'll take a look.

[aluminumandash]

[ Rust's not as drunk as he could be—could pass a sobriety test by the skin of his teeth—but he is operating under a potent mixture of rum and adrenaline, so what Dirk gets in response is an abrupt: ] You okay?

[ In tones of pure, unfiltered concern. ]

[aluminumandash]

[ Puzzled: ] Why'd you do that?

[desperate_times_right]

[Flatly, as if it's obvious:] There was a magnet in it.

[aluminumandash]

Yeah. [ He says, but it's ragged. ] Yeah, ah, was in a tight spot there. Banged up my wrist.

You got a roof over y'all's heads? [ Chloe is making it sound like this isn't the case! ]

[doomcame]

We do. We're as safe as we're going to get for now.

What about you? It sounds like you're right out in it. [There's some genuine concern in her voice. Not that anything can be done, any attempted rescue in this weather would be a suicide mission.]

[aluminumandash]

Appreciate you taking time away from that. [ A howling, torrential storm: probably not the time and place for dry sarcasm. ] What about this statue, you get a look at it?

[desperate_times_right]

[Listen, it's a lot more boring sitting in jail than doing this in a tent that almost got squashed by an elephant, okay?]

Not up close. Looked like painted wood, big raven sitting on a skull. About as big as K, so we’re lucky it just glanced him.