Outside the Devil's Nest- Tuesday night

[solo_sword]

Let it be said this was all Eric's idea. But she was genuinely curious as to whether there were maybe things that would work or not. She was sure staring at it wouldn't do much, but it still almost felt like doing something.

As they stepped outside and Jaina looked up at where she knew the stars were supposed to be, she said, "I don't know why I thought it'd be less creepy when I knew it was daytime."

Comments

[texted3times]

Eric glanced up too and gave it a little glare. "The stars and moon are all I see now. It's fucking rude to take them away."

And the weather should just know better, all right?

[solo_sword]

It was hard to glare when she was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Rude?" she repeated.

[texted3times]

It was better than terrifying?

"Rude," he said. "I'm comfortable with that."

[solo_sword]

"Then I'll go with that," Jaina decided, looking up again. "I keep expecting it to move, or do something. I probably shouldn't. That'd probably be a bad sign."

[texted3times]

"Well, it's better than if it moved to follow us," Eric replied, regretting saying that almost immediately because that cloud didn't need to be creepier.

[solo_sword]

"I think it's trying," Jaina said, and paused. "That was probably unhelpful."

[texted3times]

"Little bit," Eric agreed. "Go away!" he commanded.

The sky...did nothing.

[solo_sword]

"Glaring's not working either," said Jaina, glaring at the sky.

[texted3times]

"And throwing rocks seems just juvenile," Eric added.

[solo_sword]

"I wonder what would happen if I tried to move it," Jaina said, frowning. "Probably nothing."

[texted3times]

"Can't hurt to try, can it?" Eric asked.

[solo_sword]

"That might depend on what it is," she said dryly, but at least it might give some answers to what this thing was.

She knew she wouldn't be able to really make it go away, at least not by herself, but she focused all her energy on the blackness, trying to get some kind of feel for it.

She'd been expecting something. Some kind of darkness, or feel of movement, or some kind of energy in there. Instead it was like the exact opposite of that. It felt more like absence to her than anything.

"So that's not something I'd like to do again," Jaina decided, looking a little creeped out.

[texted3times]

"That bad?" Eric asked, looking almost concerned.

And when Eric looked almost concerned, he was pretty freaked out.

[solo_sword]

"It's like there's not anything there," Jaina explained, still frowning at the sky. "It's like looking into a void."

[texted3times]

"Like a black hole?" Eric asked, tilting his head.

[solo_sword]

"Kind of, but not exactly. A black hole sucks you into it. It has gravity, it emits radiation, it's there," she explained. "This... isn't anything. It's the absence of things. It's not that it doesn't give off a signal, it's that there's nothing there for a signal to exist."

[texted3times]

"That's fucking creepy," Eric declared, glaring more at it.

[solo_sword]

It was completely fucking creepy, and Jaina really was more scared than she'd let on. And yet, there was still time to turn things around. Potentially.

"I've never fought the absence of things before," she said. "At least it'll be a story."

[texted3times]

He didn't say "if there's anyone to tell it to." There was no point to it.

"Let's go back inside," he said. "The more stuff between us and it, the better I'll feel."

[solo_sword]

"This has really got you freaked out, huh?" she asked. And that, more than a lot of things, was what made her uneasy about this. When the guy who'd survived a thousand years got worried...

[texted3times]

He reached for her hand (for her benefit, of course). "It's just weather," he said unconvincingly.

[solo_sword]

It was beginning to occur to Jaina that if they got out of this and she could return home to life as normal, she wasn't going to be able to successfully push anyone away like she wanted to. Because she could fight anything that was thrown at her, but she'd still care about how they were doing at times like this.

"I can't wait till we get to who's behind it and we get to kick their ass," she said, squeezing his hand.

[texted3times]

"I'll even let you in front of me in that line," Eric said oh-so-gallantly.

[solo_sword]

Jaina smiled, a real smile, too. "Like I was going to give you a choice."

[texted3times]

"That's why I'm just giving in now," Eric admitted. "No point in wasting energy on lost causes."

[solo_sword]

"I've taught you well," she decided.

[texted3times]

"You keep telling yourself that," Eric said, bending down to kiss her.

[solo_sword]

She couldn't exactly argue with that, so she contented herself with kissing him back. She'd still call it a win.

"You sure you want to go back in there, or would you rather go elsewhere?" she asked when she drew back a little.

[texted3times]

"Let me go in quickly and threaten Jack," Eric decided. "He might drink all the rum otherwise."

[solo_sword]

"Probably a good idea," she said, not even having to think about that. Seeing as how she'd met Jack.

[texted3times]

"Want to come in too or see if glaring by yourself does something?" he asked.

[solo_sword]

"I'll come in," she said. While she was feeling a little more determined about this whole thing than she had been, she knew she'd be out alone here enough. Now wasn't the time. "It'd be weird if I did the Care Bear Stare by myself, anyway."