[Newt is relaxing and enjoying the days that follow a particularly unpleasant mission — and of course quietly dreading whatever mission might come next, considering they're moving closer and closer to the next. But ah, avoidance! His favorite! He'll just pretend summer break isn't just about over before school starts again. That metaphor works a little, right? Right.
He's in the middle of returning to the lab after consuming a plate of partly burned cookies when it suddenly goes totally dark. He lurches from the shock of it mid-step, and then looks around the inky darkness with round, startled eyes.]
Holy shit...! Wh-what's — Hey! What's going on!?
Don't tell me we're having an energy crisis again...! Christ...
[Of all the times to not have his phone on him, it had to be during a black-out. The familiar panic over his fear of dark spaces hits him like a sledgehammer, much like it had the first time he'd awoken on the Ximilia to a dark room (back when the lights were apparently harder to keep on; Clara had taken his hand and helped him navigate the dark back then).
His hands move to find the wall, and he paws along it with clumsy urgency. But after a moment, he forces himself to relax. It's just a little darkness, right? It'll fix itself sooner than later.
Oh—?
He can smell the faint smell of smoke. His mind ticks through a few people it could be, as he feels further along down the hall. Unaware that it's his buddy Kovacs, he calls out:]
Smoking in the dark, dude?
Maybe find a more appropriate time to nurse your addictions!
[ kovacs works his way to the kitchen from the infirmary, following a brief stop where he'd had to drop off a few books marta had left in his room. his venture for a meal now is only a result of his — no, no, he's not using that word — of marta scolding him to get some food in his belly so he can have some nutrients to counter all the cigarette smoke he's inhaling.
it's his annoyance at having to follow those directions that he lights up another one now, letting the newly lit stick hang in his mouth as he shoves the lighter back in his pocket.
that's when he notices newt down the hall, his own steps slowly as he sees him moving along a little ... out of balance? he's not drunk, is he?
with the question, he squints with his confusion, stepping over a little closer, eyes studying the strangeness of his friend's posture, holding himself against the wall so securely. ]
Hardly the dark, unless you count every time I blink. You feeling out for a secret door there or something?
[He looks and sounds relieved, though, at the confirmation of Kovacs’ company; it’s hard to be that afraid of the dark when one of the toughest dudes on the station is nearby having a casual smoke. Maybe he’ll take a cig himself, have a little pitch black smoking party to soothe his nerves…
His head lifts, and his eyes look — kind of in Kovacs’ direction? They never meet his eyes, seemingly staring through him in a way that some might find unsettling, as of his friend were an invisible ghost. The truth of the situation is more obvious when Newt continued to touch along the wall. For a moment, he wonders why he can’t see the reddish ember of a lot cigarette… maybe the guy just finished up and has a butt left.
Following his voice, he flounders to find the man’s arm or chest or whatever.]
Why aren’t you using your lighter, T.K.? You can’t just enjoy stumbling around in the dark like some kind of bat. Itachi or one of the meditate-y types, maybe…
Edited (I said dude twice in a row unacceptable) 2022-07-26 00:27 (UTC)
[ for a second, kovacs doesn't say anything at all, concern suddenly rising slightly as he watches newt continue to feel around, eyes completely unfocused as they stare off to nothing. something isn't right.
he finally reaches his hand out, snatching around the wrist of newt's outstretched arm. ]
Newt.
[ his voice is more serious now, taking a step forward. ]
[Newt startles slightly under the hand on his arm — not because he doesn't want Kovacs touching him, but because he too clearly hadn't seen it coming. His head tips toward the space where Kovac's fingers meet the skin of his wrist, but his stare when he looks back up is somewhere around Kovacs' left shoulder. Misjudging height, misjudging where the man's face would be.
Something about the way Kovacs says that makes his stomach burn cold.]
Um — n-no?
[He's not an idiot. The lightbulb moment isn't delayed. But he's gonna just sound stupid anyway, creaking out a nervous whine before his free hand gropes to rest over the crease of Kovac's elbow. He knows the answer, but he asks anyway:]
[ his breath stops short for a moment, and it's not hard to start putting the clues together, to consider what it is that might be happening here. he'd warned him about it, but kovacs had really wanted to believe that maybe it wouldn't be something so drastic, that maybe newt could get away with a small price.
he swallows, his other hand going over his friend's as he takes a careful step closer. ]
The lights are all on. Nothing's dark.
[ he says it plainly but dreads being the messenger. ]
If you can't see me, then ... then something's wrong with your sight.
[Well, Kovacs did warn him. That's the first, strangely numb thought he has. Newton had little doubt that his choice was the only real one — compared to returning home to the possibility of being re-possessed again, after killing people back on that train, fixing absolutely nothing. But even if it was his only choice, that didn't make what's piecing together any less violently shocking to his system.
Did the orb take my sight?
The orb apparently took his sight.
He tries to control his breaths, but he feels them quicken anyway.]
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit — [He clings to Kovacs' arm still, eyes wide and round behind his glasses, face turning a few shades paler, enough that his face is painted with brown freckles that nearly hadn't existed moments ago.] Oh shit! Takeshi, dude, I can't — I really can't see! Oh, fuck. What am I gonna — how am I gonna be able to work? How'm I supposed to —
[A wave of dizziness hits him, makes him sway on his heels.]
What do I do?! I can't stay like this!
[Hindsight will be a bitch, when his eyesight does return. Right now, though, he's reeling from the thought that he may never see any of their faces again.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sometime at the end of this month :)
He's in the middle of returning to the lab after consuming a plate of partly burned cookies when it suddenly goes totally dark. He lurches from the shock of it mid-step, and then looks around the inky darkness with round, startled eyes.]
Holy shit...! Wh-what's — Hey! What's going on!?
Don't tell me we're having an energy crisis again...! Christ...
[Of all the times to not have his phone on him, it had to be during a black-out. The familiar panic over his fear of dark spaces hits him like a sledgehammer, much like it had the first time he'd awoken on the Ximilia to a dark room (back when the lights were apparently harder to keep on; Clara had taken his hand and helped him navigate the dark back then).
His hands move to find the wall, and he paws along it with clumsy urgency. But after a moment, he forces himself to relax. It's just a little darkness, right? It'll fix itself sooner than later.
Oh—?
He can smell the faint smell of smoke. His mind ticks through a few people it could be, as he feels further along down the hall. Unaware that it's his buddy Kovacs, he calls out:]
Smoking in the dark, dude?
Maybe find a more appropriate time to nurse your addictions!
no subject
it's his annoyance at having to follow those directions that he lights up another one now, letting the newly lit stick hang in his mouth as he shoves the lighter back in his pocket.
that's when he notices newt down the hall, his own steps slowly as he sees him moving along a little ... out of balance? he's not drunk, is he?
with the question, he squints with his confusion, stepping over a little closer, eyes studying the strangeness of his friend's posture, holding himself against the wall so securely. ]
Hardly the dark, unless you count every time I blink. You feeling out for a secret door there or something?
no subject
[He looks and sounds relieved, though, at the confirmation of Kovacs’ company; it’s hard to be that afraid of the dark when one of the toughest dudes on the station is nearby having a casual smoke. Maybe he’ll take a cig himself, have a little pitch black smoking party to soothe his nerves…
His head lifts, and his eyes look — kind of in Kovacs’ direction? They never meet his eyes, seemingly staring through him in a way that some might find unsettling, as of his friend were an invisible ghost. The truth of the situation is more obvious when Newt continued to touch along the wall. For a moment, he wonders why he can’t see the reddish ember of a lot cigarette… maybe the guy just finished up and has a butt left.
Following his voice, he flounders to find the man’s arm or chest or whatever.]
Why aren’t you using your lighter, T.K.? You can’t just enjoy stumbling around in the dark like some kind of bat. Itachi or one of the meditate-y types, maybe…
no subject
he finally reaches his hand out, snatching around the wrist of newt's outstretched arm. ]
Newt.
[ his voice is more serious now, taking a step forward. ]
Can you not see me?
no subject
Something about the way Kovacs says that makes his stomach burn cold.]
Um — n-no?
[He's not an idiot. The lightbulb moment isn't delayed. But he's gonna just sound stupid anyway, creaking out a nervous whine before his free hand gropes to rest over the crease of Kovac's elbow. He knows the answer, but he asks anyway:]
Should I be seeing you right now?
no subject
he swallows, his other hand going over his friend's as he takes a careful step closer. ]
The lights are all on. Nothing's dark.
[ he says it plainly but dreads being the messenger. ]
If you can't see me, then ... then something's wrong with your sight.
no subject
Did the orb take my sight?
The orb apparently took his sight.
He tries to control his breaths, but he feels them quicken anyway.]
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit — [He clings to Kovacs' arm still, eyes wide and round behind his glasses, face turning a few shades paler, enough that his face is painted with brown freckles that nearly hadn't existed moments ago.] Oh shit! Takeshi, dude, I can't — I really can't see! Oh, fuck. What am I gonna — how am I gonna be able to work? How'm I supposed to —
[A wave of dizziness hits him, makes him sway on his heels.]
What do I do?! I can't stay like this!
[Hindsight will be a bitch, when his eyesight does return. Right now, though, he's reeling from the thought that he may never see any of their faces again.]