001 { video } un: PRONGS

[heorot]

[ thankfully enough, james somehow managed not to hit send on the impressively awful posts he had started to type up/has been typing up for the better portion of about three hours. something to also note: this typing and not sending has all been happening while nursing a couple of bottles of alcohol, all of which can kind of be seen floating a bit awkwardly in the background when the video finally comes to life.

in the foreground, though, is james, looking tired and a bit of a mess. his words are slurred when he speaks, his movements carrying that fluid weight that is telling (if the slurring already wasn’t) to just how much alcohol he’s been consuming. and while he’s not holding a bottle in the video, he does seem to look right off the screen for a longer moment than necessary, as if he’s trying to decide if it’s worth reaching, but decides against it. ]

We’re-all foockin’ cursed, ‘ren’t we? [ his words trip over themselves, stumbling and rolling to a stop. the worst part is that james seems to notice and pause. then he blinks, and then another, before he seems to focus back on the camera. ] Like- you ever think maybe we shouldn’ta been woken up in the first place? Mayb’ none of us shoulda been. ‘Cause have you noticed how many are gettin’ sent back? ‘hoo just are here an' then aren’t? I’ve had- [ his face drops for a second, out of the drunken anger/annoyance/general upset demeanor to something darker, something pained.

but then he takes a breath, and the look fades. ]

Doesn’ matter. But ‘as anyone noticed? That somethin’s off? There’s gotta be something, right? A show, clue, whatev’r? There ‘as the sic’ness an' all, an' the pilotin’ instead of the transport, but-

[ he stops, his eyes going a bit wide for half a moment as he looks off the screen. was that a burp? or...yeah, let’s not go there. he takes the second, but then reaches down next to where he’s sitting and pulls up his wand, reaching to grab one of the hovering bottles and tapping it with the end of his wand. in a matter of seconds, the bottle refills with a dark brown liquid.

james hiccups, then takes a swig from the bottle. ]

Oh, also- [ he sways a second where he sits, before turning back to the camera. ] 'nyone want whiskey? Rations are short an' all that but I’ve got. [ he grins, waving his wand and bottle to the camera. sorry olympia. should he have mentioned that before? ] Jus lemme know.

[ and then the feed cuts. ]

Comments

[heorot]

N-nope. [ was that a hiccup? the world may never know. ] Olympia. But 'eh- it's not like I can't do this all the time anyway.

[ casually waving bottle. ]

[playingfetch]

I dunno about that. I'm pretty sure people die if they do that all the time.

[At long last, he manages to shift properly into the frame, so that he can mostly be seen and is mostly in focus. Mostly!]

What sickness? . . . Maybe I oughta be asking someone sober.

[heorot]

Sounds lika challenge to me.

[ because james potter is aggressively competitive and he definitely won't die. nope. not at all.

and then there's the questions, and james just sort of...blinks. ] Sickness? What sickness?

[playingfetch]

That's what I'm asking you. You mentioned something about a sickness in your message.

[He's too new to have experienced the sickness, and no one's told him it happened yet. It's concerning news to walk in to!]

Right around the time you were saying we're all cursed.

[heorot]

Oh! We're you 'ere back when everyone was getting sick? After the 'plosion?

[ he keeps talking even as he takes another drink, so uh. sorry for not being able to be understood? ]

[playingfetch]

[Yeah the second half of that is hard to make out, even if Lancer did know any explosion had happened—but luckily, enough of it is decipherable that the important part still makes it through. Man, he can't help but be a little jealous of the level of drunkenness going on here.]

Nope! Brand new, just a couple weeks. I never heard about any of this, so you got my interest.