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Post by Copper on Jun 30, 2015 8:22:33 GMT
Ricardo stumbled after Vincent in shocked silence, hand reaching up to touch the place where his Grandmother's hand had landed. The relatives did not move after then; their work was done. They had done enough.
--
Jack froze. This was nothing like he had spent an embarrassing amount of time imagining. It was too bold, too fast, too forward to be anything like the real Philip. He pulled away, pushing the other off with his free hand. "Who are you?"
Jack frowned, expression seemingly hurt. "What... What makes you say that?"
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AH, you're lying! More fire!
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Post by Silaluk on Jun 30, 2015 8:42:13 GMT
"Are you okay?" Vincent asked worriedly, reaching up to gingerly put a hand on Ricardo's cheek and examine the rest of his face.
--
I am Philip, he replied, looking hurt. He reached up to brush back a bit of Jack's hair. He was losing him... There was doubt.
Philip shook his head, running off into the darkness again. He saw a point of light and ran towards that. Eentually, he saw a person that looked like him, and he saw Jack too. And the ofher him was...
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Post by Copper on Jun 30, 2015 8:59:58 GMT
Ricardo shook his head silently, a tear falling from the corner of his eye. His cheek stung, but the words of his own family hurt more than that ever could.
--
Jack leaned into the impostor, tracing his lips with a thumb. "You got all of the little details wrong," he said softly. "You're missing the dimples. And the tiny scar on his upper lip. And his eyelashes are longer than that."
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 30, 2015 9:45:47 GMT
Giovanni took a deep, shuddering breath. Don't think about it. Just numb yourself. Stay calm, because if you're calm, she is. Cautiously, he placed his palm on the door, pushing it open slowly. Tessa hung back, entire body buzzing with a rush of adrenaline. She felt sick to her stomach. As Giovanni placed his hand on the door, she felt the immediate urge to run away and be sick. |
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Post by Copper on Jun 30, 2015 9:50:03 GMT
The room was dark and dingy, save for a lone lamp that provided some tinny, washed-out light. It smelled musty and old, like a wine cellar; the first few breaths of the dusty air were difficult for Giovanni to take in. In the center of the room, just under the ceiling lamp, sat a small coffee table. Upon it, sitting with an unnatural gleam, was a bottle of hard whiskey and a tall glass.
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 30, 2015 10:05:47 GMT
Tessa exhaled initially, as nothing jumped out at them. However, her gaze fell upon the table and her body tensed, mind immediately going to her own struggles with alcohol. It was a few moments before she remembered that Giovanni had been infinitely worse than her. In fact, whilst she had found it relatively easy to overcome (the chemotherapy had made it taste awful, and lowered her limit to just a few units), she wasn't sure if he was even recovered from it. Tentatively, she wrapped her hand around his wrist. "This is your fear, isn't it?"
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Post by Copper on Jun 30, 2015 10:13:03 GMT
Giovanni nodded, not taking his eyes off of the table. "I already know what has to happen." His voice sounded hollow and pained, even to him. "I need to get myself drunk to get past this." I don't want to, I don't want to, it'll get me in the habit again, please don't make me do this, I had a real problem, he pleaded silently to no one.
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 30, 2015 10:15:52 GMT
"No," she said quietly. "No, no, there must be another way. Can't I drink it instead? O-or you could pretend to drink it, couldn't you?" She made towards the table to take the bottle, staring down at it with round eyes.
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Post by Copper on Jun 30, 2015 10:18:16 GMT
The table moved away from her hand, the bottle wobbling on it's surface. Giovanni shook visibly, lifting his hands to his head. "N-no. It has to be me, I know it. I've had this nightmare too many times not to know how it goes."
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 30, 2015 10:24:52 GMT
Tessa pursed her lips, not knowing quite what to say. You have to be stronger now, for him. This isn't your fear. The thought made her nauseous; she couldn't remember what it was like to not be afraid - not since the seizures indicating her tumour had first started. How can I be as strong as he is? "I- is there anything you need me to do?" she asked at last, gaze trained on the table.
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Post by Copper on Jun 30, 2015 10:39:19 GMT
"Keep me restrained, don't listen to anything I say, don't trust me if I say I'm drunk until it's obvious." He glanced at her before taking a seat in front of the table, tears brimming in his eyes. "And don't let me stop drinking. Pour it down my throat if you have to until the door opens."
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 30, 2015 10:43:30 GMT
"What then?" she asked in a whisper, kneeling beside the seat. "I can't get through this if you're not sober, Giovanni." I can't be strong enough for the both of us.
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Post by Copper on Jun 30, 2015 10:48:46 GMT
"We'll have to think of something," Giovanni managed to croak, placing his head in his hands. Tears trickled past his fingers, splashing onto he table. "We can't get past this room at all if I'm sober."
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 30, 2015 10:53:13 GMT
"I'm going to help you after this," Tessa promised, voice weak. She hated seeing him cry. "I've been pretty absorbed in myself for the past few months, but I'm not going to let you get addicted again."
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Post by Copper on Jun 30, 2015 10:56:41 GMT
He was silent for a minute before sniffling, wiping at his eyes. "Thank you. I'm going to need your help, I-- thank you." He felt sick to his stomach, reaching out of the bottle of golden liquid. His hands shook violently as he tried to grab it, and his fingers suddenly felt too weak to curl around the glass. "C-can you pour it for me?"
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 30, 2015 11:02:58 GMT
She nodded, not quite trusting herself to speak. This time, the table didn't move away as she reached for the bottle. She flicked her wand clumsily to open it, noticing with a sense of relief that her own hands weren't shaking so badly. Carefully, she emptied as much of the bottle into the glass as possible without spilling it before she passed it over to Giovanni.
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Post by Copper on Jun 30, 2015 11:10:24 GMT
The bottle refilled itself as Tessa put it down, something that Giovanni had fruitlessly hoped that it wouldn't do. Taking deep, shuddering breaths, he lifted the glass to his lips. As he had expected, the whiskey tasted awful.
...
By the eighth glass, the whiskey tasted like the ambrosia of the gods, splashing a pleasant orange-gold in the bottle. Giovanni poured himself another, babbling all the while. "Why did I ever give this up? This tastes amazing! And I can't feel any of my emotional baggage! Oh, God, why would I ever quit this stuff?"
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 30, 2015 11:28:44 GMT
Tessa didn't speak at all as she passed the next glass to him, her gaze flitting towards the door. Surely he's drunk enough now. How much more does he need to drink? She studied her cousin carefully, a little disgusted by his words, although this was overshadowed by her own sense of guilt. I should never have let him do this. There must be some other way of getting through. Something that we missed.
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Post by Copper on Jun 30, 2015 11:56:17 GMT
Three glasses later and Giovanni had moved from laughing to openly sobbing, head in his hands. "I just... Hate myself. So much. I hate that I used to be some pathetic addict who was drunk off of his ass half the time, and I hate that I don't bother to take care of myself, and I hate that I try to take care of all of you like some stupid mother duck because I'm lonely and need some validation to make myself think that I'm not as much of a wreck as I am. I hate that I'm so weak and always had to have Ricardo take the physical fights for me and that he never seemed to regret it either. And I hate that I always develop feelings for people who go prancing off with someone else and I hate that I even got addicted in the first place and I hate that I drink to try to distance myself from all of my own feelings and I hate that I ignore them all the time anyway!"
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 30, 2015 12:04:19 GMT
"Ssh, it's okay," she soothed, brushing his hair back from his forehead with a trembling hand. "Come on, just have one more drink. It'll make you feel better, I promise." The words tumbled from her mouth so quickly that she didn't even process them first, and she despised herself for it. "We can go soon, and we can find Nic, and everything's going to be alright." Tessa filled another glass, sweating under her breath as she spilled some down her front. The stench of the whiskey, combined with Giovanni's sobs, was making her feel sick.
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