worn_wings | ➶ ][ driftfleet ic inbox

carl.

right

if you think i'm not gonna find out, you don't know me

ask me something only i would know.

you wanna play games

[ he'll play along, though he doesn't believe it. not for a second. if whoever this is wants to delay the trouble they're gonna be in, why not. ]

what'd we talk about after judith

before or after you called her little ass kicker?

[ It's a sobering question, so he goes with an attempt at humor to deflect at first. Everything is fine. ]

we talked about mom. how i had to be the one to do it.

you told me about how your mom died when your house caught fire..

[ So it's completely impossible that this is Carl. That's just facts, the way he sees it, there's things you don't come back from and they were way beyond that point.

They were face to face, and Carl was dead.

But no one else would know that. Not even most of their folks from home. ]

some kinda trick

...okay

[ Then the feed switches over to video, and it's definitely Carl, eye socket exposed and still looking like death warmed over. The background behind him should be familiar, since it's the same place Daryl woke up on when he originally came to the fleet. ]

..Some trick, huh?

[ Well, he has literally no idea what to do with that. ]

...How?

Wish I knew. Kinda wished they hadn't. [ Because this? Coming back? It sucks, and now he really has no where else to go. ]

[ He just... shakes his head. Impossible. ]

I don't know how long we'll be stuck here, but..yeah.

I'm sorry for...what happened. [ He chokes on the last bit. It's hard to get out, to accept that he got people killed. ]

Jesus.

[ What the fuck does Carl have to feel sorry for, he died. It's not on him, anything that happened after. It's on them for not getting there in time.

Maybe this is just-- maybe he's losing his mind. Seeing ghosts. ]

Don't gotta be.

I panicked.

[ It's not like him. He wasn't this panicked at home- back home, he had a plan, and there was suddenly no time. ]

Should have just stayed on the ship.. at least it would have been contained.

What the hell happened?

[ That's the part he really doesn't get. Not that he really expects an answer, unless this is real, in which case... well, what the hell did happen?! ]

[ It's harder to lie like this, even harder to lie to Daryl. He tried with Maggie when he called her before everything happened, but he thinks she saw through that. Knew better, maybe. Carl frowns, resting his head against the wall behind him. He's so fucking tired. ]

It just happened.

[ That doesn't make any sense, and they both know it. Daryl's flat stare says as much-- sorry, kid. He's not buying it. ]

Somethin started it.

[ He sighs wearily, not looking at Daryl. ]

Then you know what started it.

[ Really, he feels like he doesn't know anything.

This doesn't seem like a productive line of conversation, though. If this is real, Carl's not gonna wanna relive it. ]

You really alright?

[ Give or take. He's probably not really okay. Who could be? ]

[ He offers a smile that doesn't quite reach its mark. ]

Sorta.

[ Not really at all. ]

[ About what he expects. On the other hand, he's talking and probably not craving human flesh, which is actually a literal fucking miracle so how bad can it be? ]

Maggie know?

I let her know first. Didn't really talk to her face to face.

[ Because she would worry and ask questions, and Carl's not sure how much he can handle of that right now. There's... a lot to process. ]

[ Not quite trusting himself to speak, he nods. It's good, Maggie should know. He should-- well, they should talk about it, but what the hell are they gonna say?

After a moment, he steadies, careful. ]

Anything we can do?

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