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

[bekommen]

[Somehow, being able to laugh about it all makes it feel a little less catastrophic. She continues giggling for a few more moments before rubbing her hands over her face.]

I feel like shit. Guess I should go sleep it off or somethin'.

[But she definitely has the feeling that things are going to be OK - not great, but tolerable.]

[thechoiceisyours]

Yeah. That's um... That sounds like a good idea. And drink like, a whole liter of water.

[That hangover is gonna be massive otherwise. But sleeping it off sounds like a plan; even though Chris hasn't been drinking himself he thinks he's going to do the same.]

[bekommen]

Hey now - none of that metric bullshit. That's how they talk in Canada.

[And fuck Canada. Drunk or sober, Nick's opinion of Canada doesn't change. She grins.]

[thechoiceisyours]

Liquids are totally measured by liter in the US, Nick.

[It's said with a small grin, even if the expression is still slightly shaky.]

[bekommen]

Yeah, but only in like, bottles of soda. And it's always just two liters. That's stupid.

[thechoiceisyours]

Um, wrong. One liter bottles are great. They're like, the perfect amount of soda.

[Mostly in terms of being the right amount for a night's worth of rum and cokes but whatever.]

[bekommen]

Where the fuck do you find those? In Canada?

[thechoiceisyours]

Nah, but somewhere almost as terrifying: a gas station.

[bekommen]

Oh, for fuck's sake, we got gas stations in Chicago. We even got 'em in Kansas, believe it or not.

[thechoiceisyours]

There's nothing like the gas stations in Los Angeles. I'm pretty sure the one near me used to be a mall or something.

[He's hugely exaggerating, of course, but it's still a pretty ridiculous gas station. And now that he's pretty confident that he isn't shaking anymore he rises to his feet, holding a hand out to help Nick up if she wants it.]

You should um, get to your sleeping it off plan, I think.

[bekommen]

Yeah ... you're prob'ly right.

[She does feel awfully tired. With a nod, she accepts the help up to her feet.]

Thanks, Chris.