i_speak_softly | Sixtieth Theory [Action]

[Luceti is a cruel and perverted world. That's the only possible explanation for why Don revives from his death-by-drowning at the bottom of the lake. He thrashes for the surface with none of his usual graceful movement, and crawls ashore, panting and trying to figure out what happened.

He knows he died.

He remembers there is a price for being restored to the living world.

He lies in the rain, wondering if it will ever end.

When he has enough breath back to sit up, he does so, and carefully checks himself over for what the Malnosso took. Limbs, senses, memories… all seem in order. He stands and walks, and his legs work. He speaks a few words, and his voice is still there.

It doesn't seem possible that the Malnosso brought him back for free, and he's scared for what hidden deficit might reveal itself later.

He has his mask, belt, and pads. All his other gear is absent, hopefully still at home where he left it.

He starts walking.

He knows it will take some time to travel from the western lake to the village, but he knows the way and he's not in a hurry. It will be good to get his thoughts together before he sees his housemates.]

((Don's death penalty is a language disorder called aphasia. Reference post is here, and linked from the index post at the top of his journal. Meet him anywhere on his way back to House 55.

Plotting note: In the near future, Don will want to go to the clinic to find out what's wrong with him. If your character works there, and especially if they would recognize aphasia, please hit me up via PM.))

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[ someone else is travelling the same path. the western lake is the location of a hidden little treehouse of certain significance to the slayer and -- now that she is herself able to walk around and not be in pain -- she's eager to visit all of her old haunts.

on the way back? she keeps a slow pace. she's barely been on the path for a few minutes when she sees the turtle's shell in the distance.

she squints. is it...?

buffy speeds up. ]

Hi, Don.

April. [Is he ever relieved to see you.]

[ she quirks an unsure look in the turtle's direction. perhaps she'd best assume the name confusion to be a joke. right? ]

Hah. Good one. What are you doing way out here?

[... Nope. He gestures back in the direction they came from.]

I was the cat and I just reservated in the lick. [He runs a hand down his face, seeming irritated by all of this.] What dude is that?

[ buffy summers is no stranger to creative linguistics. she's really a big fan of it, in the end. but she needs to pause and think through what don has just tried to tell her. ]

...If you were the cat, then where's your tail?

[Well that's rude.]

[Reprimanding:] April.

[ buffy's a smart girl. she's starting to perhaps think that something's very very not right. her mind doesn't leap to the truth; it instead leaps to the assumption that this is a shift.

great. ]

Don. Bear with me for a moment. [ she touches a concerned palm to his elbow -- as if the physical act of steadying herself and him at the same time might lend some clarity. ]

[Raises a brow. Go on.]

There's something a little off with your...[ hmm. how can she test this. ]

Tell me. Where are we, right now?

[Frown.]

Walking to the villain. A few mine that way.

[He points down the path.]

[ village.

miles.

okay. okay, she deciphers this much. the previous statement about cats is still lost on her. ]

And -- once again -- what's my name? My full name?

April, um... Winter.

[Huh. It shouldn't be that hard to think of his friend's family name.]

Buffy Summers. [ she corrects him. gently. ]

[Isn't that what he said? But her tone sounded like a correction, not a confirmation.]

[He takes a step backwards, confused and afraid.]

...You're calling me April again.

[That's not right. He hunches his shoulders against the rain and the sense of impending disaster.]

I'm sorry. I don't... Please help me.

...I'd love to help you. Just -- speak slowly, okay? O-or...even more slowly.

[ she gives his elbow a squeeze and tilts her umbrella towards him. inviting him under. ] We'll get through it together. The path and the rain and the...whatever this is. A Shift?

Edited 2012-07-08 13:40 (UTC)

[He moves closer, and speaks more slowly, but not any more clearly.]

No. When the villain rained I got the cat. I just got back from being that but I have a lot. You understickle?

When the village rained, you...got the cat.

Got the cat?

[ no. no she doesn't understickle. ]

Got the cat.

[How to explain this in the least gruesome way. He settles for drawing a finger across his throat. Dead.]

[ her face darkens. ]

Killed?

[Shakes his head vehemently.]

Uh-oh.

...A-an accident?

[Nod. His own fault.]

I'm...sorry to hear that, Donnie.

[ she's about a second away from dragging him into a hug. ]

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