fourth; video (trouble seldom sees what she leaves behind, there's a typhoon blowin')

[bekommen]

[Oddly enough, this broadcast doesn't seem to have anything wrong with it - just a video feed of Nick sitting slouched at Delight's bar with a half-empty glass in front of her, and it's clear from the slur of her words that it wasn't her first.]

Hey! Hadriel. All'a you. Listen, I got somethin' to say, if y'all can take five seconds to quit your shitposting and listen to someone else for a change.

[She pauses to take a sip of her drink and grins sharply into the camera.]

Shitposting - that's what you kids these days are callin' it, right? [She laughs.] See, Chris? Even Grandma here can pick up on the new hip lingo sometimes!

[There's something dark and unfriendly in her words, despite the too-tight smile stretched across her face. Nick waves her hand, a silent whatever. That isn't what she really wants to say.]

The point, dear Hadriel, is this: I hate you. All'a you. Yeah, Emily, that's right - you ain't anythin' special! 'Cause I hate everyone here. Y'all are the single worst thing that's ever happened to me, and believe me, that a fuckin' accomplishment and a half.

[Nick pauses again to take another drink, expression sharpening as the grin fades from her face.]

See, I thought the worst thing that ever happened to me was my dad dyin' when I was a kid. Shit, did that ever suck beyond the tellin' of it. And then, y'know, I thought havin' to live with my shitball mother for the next ten years, that was at least as bad, if not worse. But hey, I survived that. I had one friend in that shithole town I grew up in, an' we both survived it, together, an' we left that shithole town, together, and then after a buncha years of stickin' together in the city, you know what that fucker did?

[She laughs, a high-pitched, hysterical sound that's anything but funny.]

He fuckin' friend-broke up with me! Can you believe that shit? Man. Surely that was the worst thing to ever happen to me, right? But no - wait, it gets better.

[She leans in to the camera and drops her voice, conspiratorial, like she's divulging a secret - which she is.]

So I went on one of those great American roadtrips, right? And I ended up in fucking Canada. And hey, fuck Canada - right Chris? Because in fuckin' Canada, that's where I Became a Nightbane.

[Nick pulls both hands up for the camera in a silent, sarcastic ta-da gesture.]

That's right! Uh, what's your name - Dean, wasn't it? Yeah. Y'ain't gotta go crawlin' through the caves to find a monster, 'cause guess what? [She points at herself.] I'm sittin' right the fuck here.

[The grin reappears on her face, looking more like an angry baring of her teeth than a proper smile.]

So congratu-fuckin'-lations, Hadriel - that is what all you beat out for the honor of bein' the absolute fuckin' worst thing that's ever happened to me. Give yourselves a big fuckin' pat on the back. Cheers.

[Nick raises her glass in a mock-toast and throws back the rest of her drink, then reaches over to kill the feed. She'll definitely regret this in the morning, if not sooner.]

Comments

Video

[knifecollecting]

[Jo doesn't know the girl, but still. She mentioned Dean, which got her attention, and then, well...]

Look, it sucks here, but it's not fair to just hate everyone. We're all as innocent as you, just as stuck here.

permavideo.

[bekommen]

[Nick's already laughing by the time she turns the camera back on to reply.]

Aww, you still think life's fair an' shit? That's cute, really. Lemme guess - you just got here, right?

permavideo.

[knifecollecting]

Don't be an idiot. I know life isn't fair. [She huffs, shaking her head.]

text

[skelebro]

THIS SEEMS EXCESSIVE.

[Yeah, the font's all wrong. Nothing to be done about it.]

permavideo.

[bekommen]

[Rolling her eyes:]

Yeah, well, no one fuckin' asked you, did they.

Video

[ushahin]

[The woman is clearly drunk. Ushahin wouldn't even respond normally. He has no patience for drunken fools. But she sounds so very...whiny. So he is forced to say something, looking decidedly unimpressed with Nick.]

Is that all? What very small problems you have had in your life.

permavideo.

[bekommen]

[That unimpressed-looking thing? Back atcha.]

Sounds like you weren't really fuckin' listening.

[Becoming a monster is a huge deal, OK.]

[Action]

[thechoiceisyours]

[Chris is so not responding to this on the network, so the first Nick will see of him is when he shows up at the bar and confiscates her doubtlessly-existing newest glass. It's going down the drain.

He doesn't say anything immediately, just setting up some new espresso to make, and then fixing her with the patented Chris look of disapproval.]

[yes perfect]

[bekommen]

[Nick just slow-blinks for a moment, like she can't believe that was a thing that actually happened.]

Excuse you, I wasn't done with that.

[She stands up on the rail underneath her stool and leans over the bar, searching for a new glass on the back side of it.]

Anyway, don't you know there's sober kids in China, or wherever?

(same)

[bekommen]

Nah, dude, ain't nobody makin' me say shit this time. This is straight up, unfiltered Nick Rivenna here.

[She laughs - it's funny, right? - and mock-toasts the camera again with her newly refilled drink.]

[casperdisaster]

im sorry :(

[bekommen]

[Well, that's. Unexpected.]

The fuck are you sorry about?

video

[unfollowing]

[Emily should just ignore this bitch, but she can't. Sometimes she's petty, okay.

Arms outstretched, she laughs, every bit of the sound sarcastic, then flips her the bird.]

Stay classy, bitch.

[End video message.]

permavideo

[bekommen]

[Nick should ignore her, but she's fully into being an antagonistic asshole at the moment. So ...]

Yeah, like you'd know classy if it sat on your face.

voice

[64th]

Something is wrong with you. [ her tone says 'fuck you' ]

video forever, she's in a mood

[bekommen]

Sticks and stones, princess, [she says, grinning sharply, in pretty much the exact same tone.]

audio

[cowardley]

[ Ashley would never say she's incredibly close with Nick, but she can't just pretend like she didn't hear her network flip-out, even if it would be easier to deal with. ]

H-Hey, Nick, you, uh... do you want to talk or something? [ you know, one-on-one, and definitely not on the network. maybe she can save you from further embarrassing yourself. ]

permavideo for this hot mess

[bekommen]

'Eyyyy, it's Ashley!

[And there's something not entirely friendly about the way Nick smiles at her.]

Nah, I think I pretty much got it all covered already. Why, you wanna talk about somethin'?

Video

[prespangled]

You might wanna go easy on the drinking for awhile.

permavideo. also i laughed.

[bekommen]

Yeah, well, you might wanna rethink your cunning strategy of tellin' me what to do, pal.

[Private video]

[corundum]

[Hm. Well, this is an interesting little rant; it wouldn't have been, really, if it weren't for the mention of Dean and of being some sort of monster. Ruby can feel opportunity here.

But she makes sure only Nick can see the conversation, because she definitely doesn't want what she's about to say and do totally visible to everyone.]

Come on, it's not so bad here.

[She smiles, and lets her eyes shift totally to black.]

Even if you're a ~monster~

[And her eyes shift back to normal.]

Also, I hope you were being sarcastic about Dean because if you're expecting him to actually do his job you'll be waiting a long time.

[same]

[bekommen]

[OK, Nick realizes she's pretty goddamn drunk at this point, but she has never outright hallucinated before, and she's pretty sure of exactly what she just saw.]

Nah, not really. Dude seems like a half-empty toolbelt, y'know?

[But more importantly ...]

How did you do that?

now that i have internet again!!

[kickingand]

[ Inwardly he is groaning so hard. So, so hard. Outwardly?

.... outwardly he is groaning too oops. ]

Sittin' there drinking yourself stupid. What's your point.

wb to the land of the living!! c:

[bekommen]

Well, hey, if it ain't the Macho Scout Monster Hunter himself!

[She grins in an entirely unfriendly manner.]

Got a secret for ya, Dean, I was stupid well before I ever started drinkin'.

[And she has no intention of stopping, as evidenced by the fact that she has a fresh drink in hand and holds the glass up to take another sip.]