[ the hold on her is thick, her body still swaying a bit with the push and pull of the water. it feels like the words themselves are holding her here, thoughts and regrets, sharp words she'd only have turned on herself. maybe it would be better if she'd stay, maybe everyone would be better off, maybe-
it's the grip on her arm that does it - snaps her out of whatever trance had her there for who knows how long. it comes to her like a gasp, her whole body leaning back away from him and then coming back again. where before he'd seen something distanced and flat he now will watch as a kind of recognition surge back into it. not at him, but at the situation, at what they're doing, this place. karen looks around them, as if seeing the water, the level, the fact she's still standing here and she shakes her head. ]
How long- the water, it's higher. It's rising. We have to- [ that is when karen's eyes are back on the stranger's face, as if just not realizing it's his hand on her arm, that it's him that pulled her from the trance. she doesn't pull away from him- if anything, she reaches for his arms to steady her, some part of her overwhelmed with relief that she's not alone, though she also recognizes that means he's stuck in here too.
we need to get out of here he'd said, right? but they can't. karen looks around them, as if there might still be something in the water, something that isn't the shadows, the faces just out of view. she closes her eyes and shakes her head again, her grip on him still steady. ]
Wait- [ she swallows, and when she looks at him again, it's with a kind of settled determination. there is something to do. she doesn't know this man, has never seen him before in her life, but now that he's here with her she knows that she's not going to be getting out without him. whatever it is they have to do, whatever it is she has to, it'll be for them both. and maybe it isn't fair, that they don't know each other in the slightest, but she ties them both together so instantly, but there's something in his voice that tell her she should trust him. and maybe that gut feeling has burned her in the past, but right now? she doesn't have the privilege to second guess it. ]
There's a code, for the door. [ among these papers, in these desks. it's what she'd been looking for, back when... back however long it was ago when she was first searching. she takes a breath, her hands tightening on his arms. ] It has to be in here somewhere, but that's the only way we're getting out. Help me find it- please.
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it's the grip on her arm that does it - snaps her out of whatever trance had her there for who knows how long. it comes to her like a gasp, her whole body leaning back away from him and then coming back again. where before he'd seen something distanced and flat he now will watch as a kind of recognition surge back into it. not at him, but at the situation, at what they're doing, this place. karen looks around them, as if seeing the water, the level, the fact she's still standing here and she shakes her head. ]
How long- the water, it's higher. It's rising. We have to- [ that is when karen's eyes are back on the stranger's face, as if just not realizing it's his hand on her arm, that it's him that pulled her from the trance. she doesn't pull away from him- if anything, she reaches for his arms to steady her, some part of her overwhelmed with relief that she's not alone, though she also recognizes that means he's stuck in here too.
we need to get out of here he'd said, right? but they can't. karen looks around them, as if there might still be something in the water, something that isn't the shadows, the faces just out of view. she closes her eyes and shakes her head again, her grip on him still steady. ]
Wait- [ she swallows, and when she looks at him again, it's with a kind of settled determination. there is something to do. she doesn't know this man, has never seen him before in her life, but now that he's here with her she knows that she's not going to be getting out without him. whatever it is they have to do, whatever it is she has to, it'll be for them both. and maybe it isn't fair, that they don't know each other in the slightest, but she ties them both together so instantly, but there's something in his voice that tell her she should trust him. and maybe that gut feeling has burned her in the past, but right now? she doesn't have the privilege to second guess it. ]
There's a code, for the door. [ among these papers, in these desks. it's what she'd been looking for, back when... back however long it was ago when she was first searching. she takes a breath, her hands tightening on his arms. ] It has to be in here somewhere, but that's the only way we're getting out. Help me find it- please.