001. (v1) [audio]

[snowtop]

[The audio clips on to some panicked breathing.]

I-I thought-- I--

Th-this place, it, i-it's su--s-supposed to be a s-sa-- sanctu-- safe p--place! A-And I--

F-First I ff--find a-a guy i-in the--the c-cold room, then I-- there--

Th-there's ink i-in m-- my-- my s--skin!

[Letters are crawling onto his fingers and they won't scrub out.]

Comments

Re: [Audio]

[thii2ii22tupiid]

We all have a ring of letters on us somewhere, we got it when they brought us here to mark us for some reason.

But the ones that walked off the page to your fingers, does it feel weird or bad or anything other than just now having little letters on it.

[Audio]

[snowtop]

[All of them, marked? But Xanth can't see any tattoos on himself at all. Thoughts start to emerge: maybe it's just in a spot he can't see. Maybe it's inside his body.

Oh no. Oh no. That thought has him getting even more worked up, but he can keep it in check. Sollux asked something else - focus on that instead. Focus on that and breathe.]

Uh-- no. It. I--It's not... doing.. a-an-anyth--thing.

[Nothing but flinging him into a panic!]

[Audio]

[thii2ii22tupiid]

Then its probably just ink. Calm the fuck down.

[Audio]

[snowtop]

J--"Just ink" d-doesn't d-do this...

[Audio]

[thii2ii22tupiid]

Fine. Magic ink.

[Audio]

[snowtop]

A-And magic d--does th-things! So, m--magic ink w-would do th-things!

Re: [Audio]

[thii2ii22tupiid]

Well, is it doing anything?

[Audio]

[snowtop]

W-Well not-- n-not yet, but.

[SOLLUX WHY ARE YOU NOT GETTING HOW THIS IS A TERRIBLE THING D: ]

[Audio]

[thii2ii22tupiid]

*He really isn't.*

And it might not, for all we know it just looks stupid. Stop fucking panicking.

[snowtop]

[Sollux has a point, but Xanth feels that he does too. There is really no telling what the ink will do yet.

And it's not like he can turn the panic off, Xanth thinks bitterly. But instead of snap, Xanth just closes his book.

What Xanth fails to realize is that he has stopped panicking. Thanks, Sollux?]