snowtop | 003. (v2) [video]

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003. (v2) [video]

[At first, there is no sound; there is only the image of Xanth's forearm. Lines of letters curl around his fingers, twist around his hand, and spiral onto his arm. The ink, jet black, is stark against his pale skin.]

Th-this-- it means I-I've been-- t-too quiet, right? I-It... it wants me to-- t-to say... s-something.

[It's been a while since he's checked in, made sure people knew he hadn't vanished, but there is nothing to say.

The feed remains set on Xanth's arm.]

I'm... o-okay. I'm s--still here.

A-Are... are you guys... o-okay, too?

[He heard that crack some days ago. No one has called for help on the journals, so no one was hurt in the expedition that came after, and no one had been hurt during the initial bang.

Or so he hopes.]

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[She hadn't thought of that yet. A flash of worry appears on her face as she drops the next books in; again with no results. She squashes down her worry. It'll be fine.]

Ah, it's probably one of these. Don't worry.

[What would Myka do?]

If for some reason they're not it, not that they wouldn't be. Just if it isn't one of these we'll just have to look for more books.

...w-well we-- we can't-- we can't drop a-all the books i-in the library i-in that-- that little bag...

[Or, technically, they could! It would just take days upon days upon days.]

[Another book, still no reaction. She quickly dumps them out.]

We'll find it before we have to tear up the library.

[She doesn't sound confident. She puts in new book. Nothing.]

Can you read what any of the words say? It might tell us what book it's from.

[Xanth looks down at his arms. The letters slowly shift and swirl, soe recognizable but others entirely foreign. None of them, however, spell words.]

N--No. I-I don't know i-if they even a--are words. I-It's... it's more like s-somebody put-- put letters i-in a soup a-and then... p-poured it over m--my arm.

[She drops in another book, damn. That sounded wired. She manages to resist the urge to grab his arm.]

Mind if I look?

[She nods toward his arm.]

S--Sure.

[Xanth extends his arm for Claudia to examine as she pleases. The letters aren't exactly poured, as he described - they're instead in twining, spiraling lines. The letters may still shift, but they aren't progressing any further up his arm.]

[Claudia hesitantly grasps his arm and moves her face in closer to examine it. She runs her fingers over the words with her other hand. She studies the words, but can't make out anything. There is real concern in her voice.]

Do they hurt?

[Xanth feels the urge to pull his arm back, but he ignores it. It's nothing against Claudia, it's just... he feels a little like a specimen.

But then she actually sounds worried, and that feeling dissipates.]

N--No. Th-they don't... really f--feel like a-anything at-- at all. I-I... I can't even f-f-feel them... move.

[But he'd be more disturbed if he could.]

I guess that's good. I mean, that is good.

[She lets go of his arm.]

The guy I told you about. You could read every word on him. Those marks really hurt him. He was unconscious after an hour.

How long have you had these?

[OK maybe, just maybe she might be willing to admit this could be something different. Maybe.]

[Oh. Well. Xanth is especially glad it's looking like Claudia's wrong - that sounds extremely unpleasant.]

A-A... a while. Th-they showed up th-this-- this morning.

[For a while, he thought they were ink smudges. For a while longer, he couldn't muster up the effort to make an entry.]

B-But they-- they never h-hurt, even when they s-started a-- appearing...

You should be hurt.

[She says to herself. Realizing how that sounds, she quickly tries to recover.]

Uh, I'm happy you're not!

... m-- me too.

[AWK-WAAARD]

Um.

[...]

S-So, do, d-do you... s-still think it's... the-- the artifact th-thing?

[She doesn't exactly like admitting she doesn't know anymore. Especially since she'd been so insistent on coming into his room and messing with his stuff. She bits on the edge of her lip.]

I, I'm not sure. Maybe I just haven't found the right book but

[She trails off.]

[Xanth rubs his arm, fingers running along the letters.]

W-Well you-- y-you can-- keep trying. I-If, you know, you'd-- l-like.

I'm gonna... t-try to-- to wash this off a--again.

[She smiles at him.]

Yeah like that would work. But what I'm going doesn't seem to be all that helpful.

[Xanth shrugs.]

H--Hey, it's, i-it's worth a-- a try.

[And that's why Claudia's over here in the first place; it was worth a try.

Xanth makes his way over to the tiled alcove, then fiddles with the shower to get it working. A small trickle of water pours from the spout. The water pressure here sucks, but it's all Xanth needs to get his arm wet and start scrubbing at the letters.

The ink smears, then flows with the water down the drain.]

[Claudia moves to get a better view. When the ink actually does wash off her jaw drops. She stares at it for a moment.]

Seriously? Come on! Water?

It-- i-it's not-- that simple.

[Xanth frowns down at his arm, despite the fact that the ink is so easily washing away.]

I-I, I-- I tried this, before I... w-went to the journal. I-It... didn't work. N-Now, it does.

It's... w-weird.

So what? The journal gets lonely, and doodles on your arm til you write something?

I--I don't know. I-It's-- it's some kind a-alert, I-I think, that-- th-that you're supposed to... t-to talk. Or write. O-Or something.

The-- the place I was in b-before, it, it had something like this, b-but that just... spat water a--at you.

[The last of the ink washes away and Xanth turns the shower off. Then, he goes for a towel from his closet and begins to dry off.]

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003. (v2) [video]

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[Commentlog] Would the words come off if they there rubbed? Or just with cold water?

[Commentlog] yes! once a post is made, the ink washes away with water :D

[Commentlog] Sorry school ate me :(

[Commentlog] aw no worries! welcome back \o/

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