fossilised | Snowblind Body Shenanigans

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Snowblind Body Shenanigans

This is an open post for anyone set in Norfinbury. It's a random scenario where @Admin has (for mysterious meme reasons) decided to give Al his body back. This isn't game canon, obviously, I just wanted to play about with Al in his body as it will never happen in game. Action and network responses are welcome, as well as fudging the locations of characters.

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[Al has become used to his periods of unconsciousness during the night now. He still can't think of them as sleep, not without dreams or his real body to rest in, but they're at least predictable. Usually he wakes quickly and without any grogginess that would come from real sleep, but today everything has changed.

He wakes up slowly that morning.

As soon as he wakes up, he knows everything is different. He can feel the wooden flooring under his back, rough and splintered, and hear the thud of his heart beating in his ears. He lifts one stick thin arm in amazement to stare at it, almost uncomprehending as he looks at his fingers splayed out in front of his eyes. This must be a dream. It has to be a dream, his first one in years, but... God, it feels so real.

He's in a state of shock as he pulls up to unsteady feet and scoops up his tablet automatically. He can barely keep hold of it, his fingers have none of his usual dexterity and his hands are trembling violently. It's this trembling that causes his fingers to slip and activate the video feed. The camera is at a strange angle, but it shows the upper half of a teenage boy in an extreme state of emaciation. His ribs are protruding and his stomach is concave. He has long blond hair that hangs down over one eye, the other one is wide and staring in surprise.

His legs seem ready to fold almost at once, but he forces himself to walk to the door and open it. The sunlight on the snow almost blinds him, and the wind causes goosebumps to raise on his skin immediately. He sets one bare foot in the snow and gasps, a delighted and amazed sound.]

Wow, it's so cold...

[He laughs softly, unable to stop the sheer wonder bubbling out of him. Is this real? Can it truly be so?]

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[ Jesus caterwauling CHRIST. Once again Tim doesn't address the whole HEY YO YOU'RE AL thing because he is far too busy pressing his hands against his eyes in second-hand mortification. ]

Jesus - pants. Pants. Look, I get it, you can pee now. Nobody needs the visual.

[ Okay that's KIND of approaching the whole "this is Al right" thing. Sort of ]

[Pants... right. He glances down at his body and his expression is one of a renewed naked delight and astonishment. His lips suddenly curl up into a smile and he begins to laugh.]

--You're right, I guess I can now.

[Only Tim.]

I don't think I own any pants, I never... uh, needed them.

Might want to, uh, rectify that. Or get a sheet. Or something.

[ Pls. Don't laugh at your own junk, Al, that's so many kinds of wrong. ]

Or at least get inside away from the snow before you freeze your ass off. You just - you just got that thing, man.

[He can't stop the chuckles burbling out of him, but he does think Tim's advice is probably good. As much as he wants to sit here and revel in the sensations of cold and snow and ice, he doesn't want to experience frostbite and hypothermia.

But when he tries to lift to his feet again... it doesn't quite work.

He manages about halfway up before he flops back down unceremoniously. The muscles in his legs are too atrophied and he's already used them too much this morning.]

Um, maybe I'll just stay out here a little longer.

Or maybe you won't. You know, speaking as somebody with experience of freezing to death? I wouldn't - I really wouldn't recommend it.

[ You know that half-judgey, half-cautious look he gets when Jay's about to do something really fucking stupid? Yeah Tim is wearing that look right now. MOVE THOSE SHITTY LIL TWIG LEGS, YOUNG MAN. ]

There somebody nearby you can yell for?

[He could probably yell for any number of people, it's not secret that he's made it his purpose to gather together as many friends as possible into a team. But he doesn't want to. He doesn't want their first sight of him - especially Ed's first sight of him - to be sitting on his ass outside in the snow.]

I'll be okay, I can do it myself. Just give me a minute to rest, okay?

[He's obviously cold as hell with the amount that the tablet is jolting with his shivers, but he is just as obviously also still enamoured with the whole thing.]

Look, the - the way you are right now, you might not have a minute. Urgh...

[ He drags his hands down his face. What kind of stupid naive dumb goddamn idiot heads out in the snow without a stitch of clothiAL, IT'S AL, AL DOES THAT. AL DOES. ]

For-- don't make me head out there and get you.

[ It would be a horrid idea. For reasons that should be obvious. ]

[He wouldn't be immune now. Worse, his immune system is practically non-existent through the ravages of malnutrition, so going near Tim probably would be quite dangerous.]

I would like that.

[He smiles, content.]

I'd like the first time I saw you face to face, to be through my own eyes.

[ Ohhhhhh dear. And in magical bs museboxland where Al can suddenly get his body back out of nowhere, Tim can certainly get his contagiousness back for realsies instead of it being in his head.

Ohhh dear.

OHHHHH DEAR. ]

You know that's a bad idea!

[ The worst idea. One of the most astronomically awful ideas in the parade of terribleness that is Tim's stupid-ass life. If it weren't for the fact that he does know what freezing to death is like, he wouldn't even be considering this.

But he is, because. Marble Hornets crew. Bad decisions. It's kind of their thing. ]

God, I'm - Where are you. I can't believe...

[ Yeah he's just going to pull on his jacket and scarf while mumbling to himself in the angryworried-est of ways. Grrr fuss grr. ]

[WHAT A COINCIDENCE.

Because in magical bullshit museboxland, Tim and Al just happen to be in houses that are only a short distance away from one another, isn't that lucky? So lucky!

He knows he should tell Tim to stay indoors where it's safe, especially if he has Jay to worry about too, but for once he's not thinking of all that. He's just thinking of how wonderful it would be to see as many people through his new eyes as he can... and also how numb his lower half is starting to go.]

Um, the house we're in is just west of the eastern ice wall, pretty far north too.

[ WELL GOLLY GEE GOSH ISN'T THIS JUST A DAY FILLED WITH MAGICAL LEVELS OF CONVENIENCE.

As he finishes tying his garish rainbow scarf around his neck, Tim shoots the feed a glare that clearly says "did you just say the house WE'RE in. Did you fucking just. I swear to all that is unholy I am going to shit my fuck. You have people nearby. Yell for them, you little shit. I swear to god I should just sit my ass back down and make you do that. What the fuck are you doing. What the fuck am *I* doing. I hate you and I hate snowhell and I hate everything in my entire life."

It only lasts a second, though, because god fucking dammit he's going to have to haul ass as fast as he can. HUFF. ]

On it. If you die by the time I get there I - I'm going to be so pissed.

[ He cuts the feed and sprints outside like the angriest and least fashionable hero that ever lived. INCREDIBLE.

Meaning uh within a shortish amount of time Al should spot him stomping his way through the snow. He doesn't look pleased, but it's hard to be intimidating when you're five feet six and wearing a ridiculous doctor who scarf, man. ]

[Al would respond to that, he even has his mouth open to do so, but then Tim is gone so quickly that Al is left with his mouth hanging open like a fool.

The cold is really starting to set in after another few minutes. Al has no meat on his bones at all, just paper-thin skin and protruding bones. Yet, weirdly, the colder he gets the less cold he feels. The less he seems to be shivering and the drowsier he's getting.

He sees the shape of someone approaching, and even through the strange fog descending over his brain, he still has a moment of surprise when he actually has to look up to someone instead of down at them.]

Tim...

[Wow, he's shorter than Al imagined. Reminds him of Ed.]

It's you.

[Forgive him for his less than sparkling conversation, he's a little dazed.]

Wow, you don't say.

[ There are a lot of things Tim could get distracted by right now. The fact that Al is human, for one - though he's pretty fine with not understanding that, since the whole deal with him being in there in the first place was hard enough to grasp. The current state of the kid is much more pressing. The whole starvation theme he has going on is so much more real when it's not on the other side of a tablet screen.

With the situation as it is, though, Tim can't afford to even think about these things, let alone try to address them. Instead, he shrugs off his jacket and holds an arm out towards Al. ]

Come on, get - get up so we can put this on you. Jesus.

[ His scarf is pulled up all the way past his nose. He's pretty sure the sickness doesn't spread by breathing on people, BUT IT MIGHT WHO THE FUCK EVEN KNOWS YOU CAN'T BE TOO SAFE OH GOD OH MAN ]

[Al doesn't hesitate in pulling the jacket around his shoulders and buttoning it up slowly with clumsy fingers. It utterly swamps him - Tim isn't the tallest guy, but Al is roughly that height now too and with much less meat on his bones, so it kind of makes him look like he's wearing a tent for a dress.]

Thanks.

[It scratches against his skin in the most distracting way, threatening to overwhelm him with the simple joy of sensation again. But Tim being right there with his arm held out is enough to keep him focused for now.

He reaches out and wraps long and brittle fingers around Tim's wrist. His grip is weak and it's obvious that he's not going to make it to his own feet again any time soon.]

Um, I don't think I can get up.

[He sounds half embarrassed and half astonished at his own weakness. He has seen his body beyond the gate before, but he never really appreciated just what it would be like to inhabit a body that has been starved for nearly six years.]

Sorry.

No, 'sfine -

[ Welp. It isn't like Tim doesn't have experience with picking people up and carrying them around. It's just that it's usually Masky getting up to all that stuff, so Tim doesn't remember it and only sees it in tapes and also he doesn't really think slinging Al over his shoulder like an empty sack is really the best way to go here and YEAH.

Whatever. He'll just treat this like he did when the tall thing incapacitated Jay to the point where he couldn't walk. Meaning that he will fuss in a calm and businesslike manner, because he's actually surprisingly capable when he's not losing his fucking mind. ]

I'm gonna lift you up. If I hurt you, say so. I don't - don't wanna snap anything.

[ Teeth chattering slightly, he hooks his arm under Al's and pulls him - carefully - into a standing position. He doesn't let go, so he's still bearing Al's puny-ass weight, but Tim figures this is way less emasculating than just whisking him off his feet would be.

WHAT A GUY. ]

[He does his absolute best to support as much of his weight as possible, though he's honestly touched at how well Tim is coping with this. His legs tremble so violently that the shudders travel all the way up his spine and nearly make him fall back down again.]

Mm, I'm okay. I think I can walk if you don't let go.

[That might be a gross overestimation of his own abilities. He slumps suddenly sideways into Tim, only keeping his feet by the grace of having a solid and helpful Tim-shaped leaning post next to him.]

Ha-- whoops--! I don't remember it being this hard before.

You're doing fine. Come on.

[ He carefully starts walking, taking it slowly and offering as much support as Al needs. Even if that means essentially dragging him. HE'S HELPING.

As they reach the doorway to the nearest building, Tim freezes with his free hand on the door handle. ]

Are - are there people here? Right now, I mean? 'Cause I can just - I can just drop you off here, so...

[ He hunches his shoulders slightly, further burying his face in that ridiculous scarf. HISSSSSSS PEOPLE HISSSSSSSSS ]

Yeah.

[For the first time in the whole morning, Al's expression falters from that awe-struck smile, turning into a slightly worried frown at the closed door.]

My brother is in there.

[Can Tim possibly understand what a massive thing this will be?]

I don't know how he's going to handle this...

Well, he - he'll be happy, right? I mean, you seem pretty happy about it, so.

[ He still doesn't open the door. It feels like he's carrying the plague or something. ]

And I'm guessing less people will think he's the, uh, the little brother now.

[ Because you're a FUCKING TWIG ]

I don't know.

[Now there are two of them nervous to go in the front door, this will clearly end well. He's frowning more completely at the door now, a sliver of fear in his eyes.]

We've wanted this for so long, but... I don't know how they did it, and Brother is sure to worry.

Does it matter how they did it?

[ Knowing Al, it probably does. Tim's pretty sure that he's already trying to calculate the cost of a new body in souls or something. Jesus.

He's also pretty sure that this means Al isn't going to go in on his own. Fuck this fuck everything fuck snowhell fuck. ]

If - if we're quiet, we can probably avoid disturbing him until you're ready. Right?

Yeah.

[Whether that's in answer to the question about it mattering, or if they could avoid waking up Ed, is unsure. Perhaps it works for both, because Al isn't offering up another answer.

Instead, with a soft 'oh' of surprise, his legs finally give out properly and he sags next to Tim. Whoops, sorry about that, man.]

[ Welp. That decides it. With a huff of annoyance aimed more at himself than anyone or anything else, Tim oh-so-quietly presses down the handle and opens the door before helping to bundle Al inside. This is so many different kinds of terrible.

With the door safely closed behind them, he offers Al a questioning look. He isn't sure where Shorty McBigbrother is likely to be, so he doesn't know where he should be heading in order to best avoid him. PLS ADVISE?? ]

[Al is equally eager not to wake Ed for now, not until he's had the chance to sort through this and try to figure out what it means. He's only just now starting to realise that his real body will be more of a hindrance here than he could have imagined. He doesn't want to be a burden on anyone, but how can he help to be when his legs won't even carry him for five damn minutes?]

Um, that one, there was nobody using it but me.

[He answers the unspoken question in an undertone, nodding towards one of the closed doors off to the side.]

[ He nods silently, then holds up a finger for quiet. Tim is a grizzled veteran when it comes to sneaking through abandoned buildings, and unlike certain idiot friends of his he's actually good at it. NOBODY'S GOING TO WAKE ANY SNOOZING BROTHERS ON HIS WATCH.

Meaning yeah he's scooping up Al and carrying him into the other room because now is not the time for stumbly bumblefuck footsteps. Sorry about the brief indignity, kiddo. He puts Al down again once the door is shut and immediately begins rummaging around for anything even vaguely resembling clothing. ]

We have to - you know, we have to get you warm. You got any sheets around here? ...Pants?

Snowblind Body Shenanigans

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