[ there's a flicker of a frown at how.... it isn't casual, how he says it, but it is different. not what you're thinking. does he mean not the little green men? is he assuming that's what she's thinking? this isn't the first time she's really thinking about how they don't all come from the the same ideas of places, how new york could be one way for her, and some way completely different for someone else. but, almost in spite of herself, as he mentions being in new york, she thinks of her's. of home.
there's a sharp tightness in her chest at that. of home. of how they are sitting here, talking about home, while the water continues to rise. ]
Y-you were? [ the stutter isn't from anything specific, other than the fact amos's eyes are now moving, and he's moving, and she realizes a second or so later that he's moving to the window and kneels down, starts to... she's not sure. feel along the glass? she steps a half-step to the side as he kneels down next to her, and she blinks, her body not quite processing whether or not she needs to still feel relieved or if she should start feeling panicked again. the rise and fall of adrenaline is exhausting her, but karen knows that amos is right.
because what are they supposed to do, if the man from the other side of the window doesn't return?
she swallows, and with the binder still held to her chest, she starts looking around - trying to find anything that could be helpful. her eyes hover on something strange up in the ceiling, a dark shadow that looks...wrong, somehow. but his voice brings her back before too long. ]
Um. [ you grew up there? she shakes her head. ] No- I uh. I'm from Vermont. Tiny town in the mountains. I moved to New York a few years ago. For ah- it doesn't matter. [ she doesn't know if she has it in her to get into the why. ] Hell's Kitchen's been home for a bit now. [ amos is searching for something, and karen wants to help. she just doesn't know how she can, so she steps away from the glass, notices the way the water is almost cresting over his shoulders. she swallows. ]
[ He hears something in her voice, something — it stops the movement of his hands, and despite the water lapping at his shoulders, he turns his head to try and meet her eyes, to hold steady. ]
He will or he won't. But we got us.
[ Even to his own ears, even with the general I'm just here existing state of mind he inhabits daily, those words sound a little — less than encouraging. But it's all he knows. And he trusts in the two of them right now, while they're still here, and have an ability to control something about this situation.
Even if that means trying to tug on or break glass that doesn't have a chance in hell of budging. He sure hopes the guy comes back, though. And it's proving to be useless to find anything at all beneath the water, so Amos stands again, moves closer to her. For a moment, he reaches out to rest his hands on her shoulders, like maybe that could offer — something. What, he doesn't know exactly, it's just the way she's talking, the way she's holding that binder like it's a lifeline. It's a thought then, to ask more about — not Vermont, nah, it's New York that's home, she said. So he thinks about asking, in a minute, he'll come back to it.
Before he can say or do anything else, though, he glances around, just looking for anything at all that he might have missed, and as his eyes drift up, he sees those shadows, too. It's not normal, that's clear pretty quick, but what —
Suddenly there's a sound near the doors. It's almost faint, almost easy to miss with the rain and the water, but it's like a groaning sound, then a few mechanical clicks. What they don't know immediately is the guy did get it unlocked. The doors are about to swing open, but those shadows start to swarm and now it feels like the water in the building is swirling like a current, like they're being pulled up, at the same time the doors finally swing open. ]
Shit. Hold on —
[ Instinct, at least, takes over, and those hands on her shoulders grip her tighter, attempting to pull her closer before either one of them gets yanked away from the other, up into the — the fucking sky? ]
Edited (that feeling when you write a tag late at night and wake up and realize you wanted to add more sorry~) 2025-06-25 15:47 (UTC)
[ he stops, and karen almost feels bad for it - for distracting him, for sounding like she needs the help, the encouragement, or... not encouragement, exactly, but when amos pauses and looks back at her, it is that steadiness once again. whether or not what it is he says is encouraging (it's really not, in the grand scheme of things) but it is true.
they do have each other. and karen's not helping either of them by simply standing around. she holds his eyes for a moment, and then a moment before, before she nods - he's right. he is. they do only have each other. and if something happened to that man, just like this happened to them, then- karen takes a breath to steady herself (to uncertain results) and starts to look around them, frantic but now at least with a job. she doesn't find much in a way of cracks in the wall, anything at all.
amos appears to be just as unsuccessful as he stands, and karen - without really thinking about it - also takes a step or so closer to him, almost subconsciously needing the comfort. she's still looking at the window when she feels his hands come to her shoulders, and it's what fully brings her eyes back to his own. she's exhausted, hanging on by a kind of thread, but she isn't giving up. she hasn't, not fully, and a large reason for that is because of him. when he looks at her, she expects him to ask her another question, something else to distract them both by the passing time, and she waits for his words to follow. she doesn't even think about how her hand comes up to grab the fabric of his (now soaking) jacket, or shirt, or whatever it is he's wearing - one arm still wrapped around the binder, but the other now clutched in the fabric of his clothes at his side.
he looks around - one last time - and it's karen's turn now to speak. ] Amos. Hey- [ it's an attempt to get his attention back on her, and not on whatever it is that surrounds them. not on the uncomfortable shadows in the ceiling, or the faces that haunt them in the water. she even goes as far as to let go of his side and set her hand on his chest, trying to get his attention back on her, trying to keep them both settled for just a little longer, when-
the noise. she freezes, suddenly unsure if she hallucinated it. it came from the window, from the creases along the outside of the glass, but...can she let herself believe it? can she get hopeful? she turns to it, wondering if that groan, if those mechanical noises, if it's working.
except that as soon as karen starts to think it might just be that easy, that this might be their way out, she starts to feel the tug. she frowns, her eyes moving upwards towards the feeling and-
shit, hold on. that's amos. his hands on her shoulders grip her tighter, and karen suddenly realizes what's happening, what that mass in the ceiling must be doing. her eyes widen, not even sure what to make of that, right as the glass at her back starts to make another groaning noise. the window, the window is opening, they just have to-
water and errant papers around the room start to lift halfhazardly upwards, pulled by whatever suction is dragging at them too, but karen refuses to believe it. no, not what they're this close. her eyes go back to the glass pane, and she convinces herself she sees it moving, barely, but it is- it's opening, and they're going to get out of here, they just have to-
karen let's go of the binder, using both of her hands to grab hold of each of amos' sides. the sound of everything around them starts to rise, something about the suction, whatever is trying to drag them upwards, creating a low roar that feels like it's growing, louder and louder. she leans in close, having to raise her voice to get over the noise of it. ]
The window! It's opening! We just have to wait it out! [ karen can feel the air tugging at her jacket, her hair. it's getting stronger, slowly but it is. she widens her stands a little, stepping back and pulling amos with her, that much closer to the glass. ] Hold onto me, okay?!
[ Amos. Hey — her voice, her hands at his sides first, then his chest. What she's trying to do (he thinks), it works for that fraction of a moment, keeps him from getting caught up in those shadows, the things he's been seeing in this room from the start, the way it's fucking with his head, and then — everything that's coming.
It'll come anyway, and it does. He almost covers her hand, in the way he thinks maybe he should, to acknowledge, to help her, too. But then everything just happens, and —
Guess you were right, he thinks, but doesn't say. The guy came back. Kinda.
Why the hell he thought if this guy actually did the thing and got the code entered, got them free, that things would just open up, simple as that, and they'd be able to get out of here. Why did he think even think that? Trapped in a flooded office that's shown him things he's been trying real damn hard to not even think about, things that no one and nothing should be able to know — why would anything that came next be normal?
Truthfully, he wasn't putting a lot of thought into what this would look like, exactly, if they did get rescued. Either they would die in here or get out. How exactly they would get from here to there — stepping back outside into that stormy night — he didn't care to think on, just figured he'd count them lucky for getting out at all.
But now, nothing just opens in a normal way, there's a whole thing now, where there's a not-small chance one or both of them might get sucked up into the goddamn sky, and he'd say he's at least a bit worried now. Not enough to convey much outwardly apart from an increased tension in his shoulders. His heart starts to pick up just a little, that feeling like they're on the edge of something and it's all about to break and if they don't hold tight enough to each other —
Alright, well, shit. Holding on to each other like hell is about all they've got for the seconds that tick by. He feels Karen shift her feet a little, and he does the same, trying to plant his legs more firmly, though he moves with her closer to the glass. He likes to think he's got a lot of strength, enough to keep her with him, but he doesn't entirely know what they're up against. It's a loud fury, everything all around them, and Amos' voice raises in return: ]
I got you!
[ Thing is, he knows she's got him, too. At least, as much as she can. She's a hell of a lot smaller than him, but he doesn't doubt for a second that she'll anchor with all her might. ]
[ he did come back - and karen will be relieved, at some later point, to know that her trust in this stranger was well placed. to know that the people here, even if they're distant, even with how dangerous she'll find this city to be, that someone will still show up. it is a core belief she holds close to her, that she held close to her back in new york, and now latches onto now. this belief, confirmed yet again. belief in people.
what followed was- it was unimaginable, unbelievable, and karen's not even sure she's processing it fully. her mind is instead on the mechanical thumbs and hisses she hears, the way the window is moving, and part of her wishes he had the ability to block the rest out.
but she didn't - neither of them really did. still, she had something to work towards, she had something she needed to make sure happened. and even as the force pulling them upward continues, growing more and more intense - if only marginally - with every passing second, karen knows they can't stay in here forever. with amos walking with her, closer and closer to the window, a plan starts to form. it isn't until her back is up against the window that she tugs amos closer too, blocking her up against the glass. his voice is loud even with the roar, I got you, and karen nods - counting to five and feeling how the window is moving against her side. the water is turning, coursing around them, so much that it's hard to tell where the crack is and how much it's growing wider. meets amos' eye for a second, as if telling him - some how, some way - that she has this idea, and she quickly squats down into the violent, dark water - just barely keeping her head above the water - to feel along the seam, just as amos had done not that long before. amos' body buffering her in is really the only reason she doesn't slip with the forces pulling at them both, but it still feels a little unsteady as she reaches along.
the gap is about six inches, but getting wider. when she glances through the glass, she still doesn't see the stranger, but she can't worry about that either. she tugs on the glass, trying to push it faster, but it doesn't budge - going as the same, slow speed. but karen has to believe it'll be enough. she has to. so she does.
when she stands, she's still pressed right into amos' chest, his hold keeping her tight, her body bracketed against the window. she coughs, not realizing she'd been breathing in water, but it doesn't matter. her hands are back on his chest, tugging herself closer to his ear to yell over the cacophony around them. ]
Trust me! Okay? And don't let go of my hand! [ she reaches down and grabs his hand, holding it between them and pointing to it, like he might not hear her. when she's confident he has, or when he's made some sign that he understands, she nods to herself - takes a breath - and then drops down into the water - trying to keep her hand holding amos' as much out of the water as she can, but it all becomes a little complicated as she continues to hold her breath and pushes herself flat against the floor, forcing herself into the slowly opening gap. it doesn't make sense that the water isn't spilling through, isn't making sense that she can reach through the gap and feel air on the other side, but it doesn't matter. it doesn't matter, because she's getting out, and amos is coming with her.
it takes a few seconds - her breath burning in her lungs as she waits - but finally, finally she pushes through and makes it out onto the other side and into clearer air. the rain is still falling, so it's hardly dry, but karen doesn't focus on that for very long. instead, she immediately turns and, upon getting her second hand around his larger one, starts tugging amos through after her. he's going to need a little more time for the window to keep creaking open, but it should be soon - only a couple of second.
her eyes glance upwards, through the glass, and see the unimaginable, unbelievable mass that fills the ceiling inside the room. it looks like... god. it looks like it's growing. fear, and adrenaline, push her focus back onto him. ]
[ The guy coming back doesn't inspire the kind of hope and positive feelings that they maybe should. That part of him just doesn't exist. Hasn't for a long, long time. But he does recognize the kind of goodness that is, where it comes from, the kind of people who have it in them so naturally. Some part of him maybe, once, a long, long time ago might've had it, too. He sure as fuck can't remember; it's only when it shut off for him, when he had to put it all away — yeah, he remembers that.
Now he just — looks at people like Karen and this random stranger helping them, as the kind of people there should be more of. Not anyone like him, but them? Yeah. Yeah, and he'll stick to looking after the ones like them. Right now, that means just holding like hell to Karen's hand while she — shit, he doesn't know, but in a short span of time, he's learned to trust her. Kinda had to. So she says it, and he'll give her that much, he'll give her this thread to take it and see it through, which...it becomes clearer quickly, though he'd lying if he said it didn't worry him a little when she dropped into the water. But she'd looked at him, told him what he needed to know, both with her touch and with her eyes, and — okay, he trusts her.
He holds tight as she moves, and there's not panic in him, not fear, but this sense that if she doesn't come out okay on the other side, something just won't feel right about that. That's the most he can manage to feel at all about it, but he's also just focused on what he needs to do next when she's tugging on his hand. That adrenaline surges through him, he feels his heart kick up some extra beats. The seconds tick by, his grip stays on her hand, and all kinds of thoughts pass through his mind when he thinks about the water again, the faces, the things he's seen here that he shouldn't have been able to. That window opens slowly, slowly, enough of a gap for him now and then he's holding his breath and following her path to push through to the other side. He feels that rush of air eventually and knows he's closer, just needs to keep moving, as his lungs burn and then he's out, coughing slightly and moving carefully to his feet. He glances behind, he sees that — almost like a creature, about to swallow it all up whole, and they just feel way too close to the building now. His hand is still around hers, he squeezes, nods and speaks a little breathlessly. ]
Shit — move.
[ Go now, fast, he thinks. Fast as they can. They came this far, that thing ain't swallowing them up now, no way in hell. ]
[ really, she's not sure she thought all the way through this plan. she knew they both needed to get out, and she knew she didn't want to let go of his hand while doing it, but the moment her head ducked under the water all the way to coming for air on the other side felt a little more impossible than she was ready for. but she also had the adrenaline, she had the reality that there isn't another option, and she had her hope, and his hand in her's, and that... that would be enough.
she pulls as soon as he's through, her fingers digging into the muscles of his hand, and then his arm, and then tugging at his shoulders. how much help she actually is may be up for debate, but the desperation to get him free is what drives her. its only when they're both up on their feet, and her hand is back in his, that she really looks back at the shadow - the creature - the whatever it is. a kind of dread fills her gut at the sight of it, and it's a good thing amos is still thinking about what to do next, because the fear in karen's chest keeps her frozen. it's only when he squeezes her hand and nods, breathless, that she feels herself blink back.
( again - again. how many times has he brought her out of whatever it is she keeps seeing? how often is it going to take until they'e finally safe? )
but she nods, okay, okay- and then she's turning and, with her hand tight in his, she takes off into the rain. ]
[ The only thing he can really think about now is they're both out, that some kind of weird fucking — monster, void, whatever the hell — is right where they just were, and he's not gonna stick around to consider what it is. They just need to put distance between themselves and it. Through all of this, somehow and for some reason, she's been some kind of steadiness she didn't need to be. Just who she is. Says a lot about her.
So while he's not in the habit of holding hands with anyone, usually, for any reason at all, it serves a solid purpose right now because it means neither of them are getting pulled off into the darkness somewhere. He's not gonna let that happen. Not to him, sure, but especially not to her. And this is — well, it's okay. A grip on someone for a minute. Could be worse things. There are worse things. Like maybe, probably, that thing they leave behind now. ]
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there's a sharp tightness in her chest at that. of home. of how they are sitting here, talking about home, while the water continues to rise. ]
Y-you were? [ the stutter isn't from anything specific, other than the fact amos's eyes are now moving, and he's moving, and she realizes a second or so later that he's moving to the window and kneels down, starts to... she's not sure. feel along the glass? she steps a half-step to the side as he kneels down next to her, and she blinks, her body not quite processing whether or not she needs to still feel relieved or if she should start feeling panicked again. the rise and fall of adrenaline is exhausting her, but karen knows that amos is right.
because what are they supposed to do, if the man from the other side of the window doesn't return?
she swallows, and with the binder still held to her chest, she starts looking around - trying to find anything that could be helpful. her eyes hover on something strange up in the ceiling, a dark shadow that looks...wrong, somehow. but his voice brings her back before too long. ]
Um. [ you grew up there? she shakes her head. ] No- I uh. I'm from Vermont. Tiny town in the mountains. I moved to New York a few years ago. For ah- it doesn't matter. [ she doesn't know if she has it in her to get into the why. ] Hell's Kitchen's been home for a bit now. [ amos is searching for something, and karen wants to help. she just doesn't know how she can, so she steps away from the glass, notices the way the water is almost cresting over his shoulders. she swallows. ]
Amos- he'll be back.
[ right? ]
no subject
He will or he won't. But we got us.
[ Even to his own ears, even with the general I'm just here existing state of mind he inhabits daily, those words sound a little — less than encouraging. But it's all he knows. And he trusts in the two of them right now, while they're still here, and have an ability to control something about this situation.
Even if that means trying to tug on or break glass that doesn't have a chance in hell of budging. He sure hopes the guy comes back, though. And it's proving to be useless to find anything at all beneath the water, so Amos stands again, moves closer to her. For a moment, he reaches out to rest his hands on her shoulders, like maybe that could offer — something. What, he doesn't know exactly, it's just the way she's talking, the way she's holding that binder like it's a lifeline. It's a thought then, to ask more about — not Vermont, nah, it's New York that's home, she said. So he thinks about asking, in a minute, he'll come back to it.
Before he can say or do anything else, though, he glances around, just looking for anything at all that he might have missed, and as his eyes drift up, he sees those shadows, too. It's not normal, that's clear pretty quick, but what —
Suddenly there's a sound near the doors. It's almost faint, almost easy to miss with the rain and the water, but it's like a groaning sound, then a few mechanical clicks. What they don't know immediately is the guy did get it unlocked. The doors are about to swing open, but those shadows start to swarm and now it feels like the water in the building is swirling like a current, like they're being pulled up, at the same time the doors finally swing open. ]
Shit. Hold on —
[ Instinct, at least, takes over, and those hands on her shoulders grip her tighter, attempting to pull her closer before either one of them gets yanked away from the other, up into the — the fucking sky? ]
no subject
they do have each other. and karen's not helping either of them by simply standing around. she holds his eyes for a moment, and then a moment before, before she nods - he's right. he is. they do only have each other. and if something happened to that man, just like this happened to them, then- karen takes a breath to steady herself (to uncertain results) and starts to look around them, frantic but now at least with a job. she doesn't find much in a way of cracks in the wall, anything at all.
amos appears to be just as unsuccessful as he stands, and karen - without really thinking about it - also takes a step or so closer to him, almost subconsciously needing the comfort. she's still looking at the window when she feels his hands come to her shoulders, and it's what fully brings her eyes back to his own. she's exhausted, hanging on by a kind of thread, but she isn't giving up. she hasn't, not fully, and a large reason for that is because of him. when he looks at her, she expects him to ask her another question, something else to distract them both by the passing time, and she waits for his words to follow. she doesn't even think about how her hand comes up to grab the fabric of his (now soaking) jacket, or shirt, or whatever it is he's wearing - one arm still wrapped around the binder, but the other now clutched in the fabric of his clothes at his side.
he looks around - one last time - and it's karen's turn now to speak. ] Amos. Hey- [ it's an attempt to get his attention back on her, and not on whatever it is that surrounds them. not on the uncomfortable shadows in the ceiling, or the faces that haunt them in the water. she even goes as far as to let go of his side and set her hand on his chest, trying to get his attention back on her, trying to keep them both settled for just a little longer, when-
the noise. she freezes, suddenly unsure if she hallucinated it. it came from the window, from the creases along the outside of the glass, but...can she let herself believe it? can she get hopeful? she turns to it, wondering if that groan, if those mechanical noises, if it's working.
except that as soon as karen starts to think it might just be that easy, that this might be their way out, she starts to feel the tug. she frowns, her eyes moving upwards towards the feeling and-
shit, hold on. that's amos. his hands on her shoulders grip her tighter, and karen suddenly realizes what's happening, what that mass in the ceiling must be doing. her eyes widen, not even sure what to make of that, right as the glass at her back starts to make another groaning noise. the window, the window is opening, they just have to-
water and errant papers around the room start to lift halfhazardly upwards, pulled by whatever suction is dragging at them too, but karen refuses to believe it. no, not what they're this close. her eyes go back to the glass pane, and she convinces herself she sees it moving, barely, but it is- it's opening, and they're going to get out of here, they just have to-
karen let's go of the binder, using both of her hands to grab hold of each of amos' sides. the sound of everything around them starts to rise, something about the suction, whatever is trying to drag them upwards, creating a low roar that feels like it's growing, louder and louder. she leans in close, having to raise her voice to get over the noise of it. ]
The window! It's opening! We just have to wait it out! [ karen can feel the air tugging at her jacket, her hair. it's getting stronger, slowly but it is. she widens her stands a little, stepping back and pulling amos with her, that much closer to the glass. ] Hold onto me, okay?!
no subject
It'll come anyway, and it does. He almost covers her hand, in the way he thinks maybe he should, to acknowledge, to help her, too. But then everything just happens, and —
Guess you were right, he thinks, but doesn't say. The guy came back. Kinda.
Why the hell he thought if this guy actually did the thing and got the code entered, got them free, that things would just open up, simple as that, and they'd be able to get out of here. Why did he think even think that? Trapped in a flooded office that's shown him things he's been trying real damn hard to not even think about, things that no one and nothing should be able to know — why would anything that came next be normal?
Truthfully, he wasn't putting a lot of thought into what this would look like, exactly, if they did get rescued. Either they would die in here or get out. How exactly they would get from here to there — stepping back outside into that stormy night — he didn't care to think on, just figured he'd count them lucky for getting out at all.
But now, nothing just opens in a normal way, there's a whole thing now, where there's a not-small chance one or both of them might get sucked up into the goddamn sky, and he'd say he's at least a bit worried now. Not enough to convey much outwardly apart from an increased tension in his shoulders. His heart starts to pick up just a little, that feeling like they're on the edge of something and it's all about to break and if they don't hold tight enough to each other —
Alright, well, shit. Holding on to each other like hell is about all they've got for the seconds that tick by. He feels Karen shift her feet a little, and he does the same, trying to plant his legs more firmly, though he moves with her closer to the glass. He likes to think he's got a lot of strength, enough to keep her with him, but he doesn't entirely know what they're up against. It's a loud fury, everything all around them, and Amos' voice raises in return: ]
I got you!
[ Thing is, he knows she's got him, too. At least, as much as she can. She's a hell of a lot smaller than him, but he doesn't doubt for a second that she'll anchor with all her might. ]
no subject
what followed was- it was unimaginable, unbelievable, and karen's not even sure she's processing it fully. her mind is instead on the mechanical thumbs and hisses she hears, the way the window is moving, and part of her wishes he had the ability to block the rest out.
but she didn't - neither of them really did. still, she had something to work towards, she had something she needed to make sure happened. and even as the force pulling them upward continues, growing more and more intense - if only marginally - with every passing second, karen knows they can't stay in here forever. with amos walking with her, closer and closer to the window, a plan starts to form. it isn't until her back is up against the window that she tugs amos closer too, blocking her up against the glass. his voice is loud even with the roar, I got you, and karen nods - counting to five and feeling how the window is moving against her side. the water is turning, coursing around them, so much that it's hard to tell where the crack is and how much it's growing wider. meets amos' eye for a second, as if telling him - some how, some way - that she has this idea, and she quickly squats down into the violent, dark water - just barely keeping her head above the water - to feel along the seam, just as amos had done not that long before. amos' body buffering her in is really the only reason she doesn't slip with the forces pulling at them both, but it still feels a little unsteady as she reaches along.
the gap is about six inches, but getting wider. when she glances through the glass, she still doesn't see the stranger, but she can't worry about that either. she tugs on the glass, trying to push it faster, but it doesn't budge - going as the same, slow speed. but karen has to believe it'll be enough. she has to. so she does.
when she stands, she's still pressed right into amos' chest, his hold keeping her tight, her body bracketed against the window. she coughs, not realizing she'd been breathing in water, but it doesn't matter. her hands are back on his chest, tugging herself closer to his ear to yell over the cacophony around them. ]
Trust me! Okay? And don't let go of my hand! [ she reaches down and grabs his hand, holding it between them and pointing to it, like he might not hear her. when she's confident he has, or when he's made some sign that he understands, she nods to herself - takes a breath - and then drops down into the water - trying to keep her hand holding amos' as much out of the water as she can, but it all becomes a little complicated as she continues to hold her breath and pushes herself flat against the floor, forcing herself into the slowly opening gap. it doesn't make sense that the water isn't spilling through, isn't making sense that she can reach through the gap and feel air on the other side, but it doesn't matter. it doesn't matter, because she's getting out, and amos is coming with her.
it takes a few seconds - her breath burning in her lungs as she waits - but finally, finally she pushes through and makes it out onto the other side and into clearer air. the rain is still falling, so it's hardly dry, but karen doesn't focus on that for very long. instead, she immediately turns and, upon getting her second hand around his larger one, starts tugging amos through after her. he's going to need a little more time for the window to keep creaking open, but it should be soon - only a couple of second.
her eyes glance upwards, through the glass, and see the unimaginable, unbelievable mass that fills the ceiling inside the room. it looks like... god. it looks like it's growing. fear, and adrenaline, push her focus back onto him. ]
C'mon- c'mon-
no subject
Now he just — looks at people like Karen and this random stranger helping them, as the kind of people there should be more of. Not anyone like him, but them? Yeah. Yeah, and he'll stick to looking after the ones like them. Right now, that means just holding like hell to Karen's hand while she — shit, he doesn't know, but in a short span of time, he's learned to trust her. Kinda had to. So she says it, and he'll give her that much, he'll give her this thread to take it and see it through, which...it becomes clearer quickly, though he'd lying if he said it didn't worry him a little when she dropped into the water. But she'd looked at him, told him what he needed to know, both with her touch and with her eyes, and — okay, he trusts her.
He holds tight as she moves, and there's not panic in him, not fear, but this sense that if she doesn't come out okay on the other side, something just won't feel right about that. That's the most he can manage to feel at all about it, but he's also just focused on what he needs to do next when she's tugging on his hand. That adrenaline surges through him, he feels his heart kick up some extra beats. The seconds tick by, his grip stays on her hand, and all kinds of thoughts pass through his mind when he thinks about the water again, the faces, the things he's seen here that he shouldn't have been able to. That window opens slowly, slowly, enough of a gap for him now and then he's holding his breath and following her path to push through to the other side. He feels that rush of air eventually and knows he's closer, just needs to keep moving, as his lungs burn and then he's out, coughing slightly and moving carefully to his feet. He glances behind, he sees that — almost like a creature, about to swallow it all up whole, and they just feel way too close to the building now. His hand is still around hers, he squeezes, nods and speaks a little breathlessly. ]
Shit — move.
[ Go now, fast, he thinks. Fast as they can. They came this far, that thing ain't swallowing them up now, no way in hell. ]
we can probably wrap/fade to black soon-ish???
she pulls as soon as he's through, her fingers digging into the muscles of his hand, and then his arm, and then tugging at his shoulders. how much help she actually is may be up for debate, but the desperation to get him free is what drives her. its only when they're both up on their feet, and her hand is back in his, that she really looks back at the shadow - the creature - the whatever it is. a kind of dread fills her gut at the sight of it, and it's a good thing amos is still thinking about what to do next, because the fear in karen's chest keeps her frozen. it's only when he squeezes her hand and nods, breathless, that she feels herself blink back.
( again - again. how many times has he brought her out of whatever it is she keeps seeing? how often is it going to take until they'e finally safe? )
but she nods, okay, okay- and then she's turning and, with her hand tight in his, she takes off into the rain. ]
good to wrap here if that works for you!
So while he's not in the habit of holding hands with anyone, usually, for any reason at all, it serves a solid purpose right now because it means neither of them are getting pulled off into the darkness somewhere. He's not gonna let that happen. Not to him, sure, but especially not to her. And this is — well, it's okay. A grip on someone for a minute. Could be worse things. There are worse things. Like maybe, probably, that thing they leave behind now. ]