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[potentite]

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[splinten]

[His own anxiety is a reserved mirror, unexpressed except in how he stretches the back of his neck. But they have to focus.]

Yeah. I think it was— [He gestures vaguely down the hall. He thinks it was that way?]

[potentite]

Righto, um—

[Should he go first or wait for Dirk? He can't let this anxiety get in the way of helping someone. If something happens to them and they're too late, it will be all his fault. So he just starts heading that way at a brisk pace, frowning.]

[splinten]

[Does Jake want to go alone? No, he can't let him. Unless Jake wants to. Shit. He follows after after half a second, muttering.]

I don't have the katana. What about you?

[potentite]

[Jake shakes his head.]

I've been stripped cleaned, sorry. Um, I can do fine by some mano-a-mano tussling but...

[He really isn't sure what they're dealing with at the moment.]

[splinten]

You're probably the better of us at hand-to-hand, so at least there's that.

[There's Jake being here, is what he means.]

[potentite]

[The meaning is missed. Jake glances at him, frowning.]

Pure poppycock. Your punches carry a lot more oomph than mine.

[splinten]

I'm pretty sure we always hit even in arm-wrestling matches—

[Another scream, this one right beside them. In... the wall]

[potentite]

[He jumps and spins around, staring at it.]

In the walls? Oh goodness that's spooky. I saw a movie like that once and when they opened the panel, the poor soul was part of the ship. How do we, uh...?

[splinten]

I haven't gotten my hands on any tools so far. Maybe if we look for some weak spot in the design.

[He pauses and looks back at Jake.]

Are we sure we want to? This is horror movie territory.

[potentite]

[As much as the idea of some monster popping out scares him, he nods.]

If someone really is in trouble, we have to do something.

[splinten]

Yeah. Yeah, we do.

[Jake really is one of the best people Dirk knows. He focuses on the wall again, slamming it with his hand.]

Hey. Hey! Anyone hear me?

[potentite]

[When there isn't a response, Jake bites his lip, breathes in and then puts his ear to the wall, trying to listen. After a moment his eyes widen.]

H—Hey, um, fuck—

[He pulls back.] Barely there but I heard someone asking for help. Um, oh cranberries, uh.

[He hops from foot to foot, looking at the wall for weaknesses.]

[splinten]

Shit.

[He's concerned about it being something dangerous, but there's no way Jake's stopping, and Dirk isn't letting him to this alone. He seeks a weakness in the wall, and when he finds and edge, he starts pulling at it.

But when he does, he finds himself growing strangely tired. His movements slow down when the adrenaline should have them doing anything but.]

[potentite]

[Still, Jake notices, because he has spent quite a lot of time in Dirk's presence at this point and it worries him.]

Dirk? Are you all right? [He's probably tired. It makes sense. They just had a long day.] Do you want me to help?

[splinten]

Maybe, I... do not understand why I'm this tired. And that's kind of worrying me.

[Jake feels there's a reason but Dirk isn't so sure. He keeps trying to get at the panelling, but he's tired.]

[potentite]

[That only worries him more.] Just... can you peek in? If you don't see anything, you can stop. Or I can do it instead?

[splinten]

It's cool, I'm— [He pulls the panel free. And it's just metal and wire. Nothing but metal and wire.

Maybe it's the lack of anything there. Or maybe it's something else. Dirk finds himself practically slumping against that emptiness, trying to grip metal to keep upright.]

[potentite]

Dirk!

[Jake moves forward and hesitates only a moment before jerking forward and trying to steady him, one hand on the small of his back, the other on his arm.]

Dirk, what's wrong?

[splinten]

[At least it keeps him upright.] Fuck... Tired as all fuck here.

[And there's nothing even there. He stares at the wall, resisting the exhaustion as best as he can. But it's overwhelming him.]

[potentite]

[Jake glances into the empty space but he doesn't care about that right now. Maybe it was a trap. But this doesn't seem like a coincidence.]

Dirk, lean on me, okay? [Though, maybe he needs to say something else first.] It's okay if you hate me and are disgusted by my presence but um, at least let me help you somewhere?

[splinten]

[It sends a sinking feeling through him that has nothing to do with the lethargy.]

Jake, I'm not... I'm not, man. [He can't think of any better way to show it than to let his weight rest on Jake.

He can't think of much right now.]

[potentite]

[It's fine enough for now. Truthfully, Jake just assumes it's the exhaustion talking. With Dirk resting his weight on him, he wraps an arm around his waist to help him stay up and walking.]

Um... maybe water will help. Is taking you to the bar okay?

[splinten]

No alcohol.

[priorities]

[potentite]

No no, of course. I know. I wouldn't— It will be okay, I just... thought there might be water there. But we can check the canteen instead.

[It seems better to do that. Dirk doesn't need to be riled. And if there's no water there, well, he'll just go find some and let Dirk rest a bit.

Holding him and being close to him feels familiar, safe and natural. It hasn't been that long. Only several days. But he breathes and just tries not to let himself get too comfortable. Dirk is here and he's all right and he doesn't need to be burdened by Jake. Just walk him to the mess hall.]

[splinten]

[Dirk is still wiped out from that. His mind is trying to race, to figure out what happened and understand what's happening now and figure out a plan and response and succeed. The rest of him is just tired. It's tired and still and sluggish, and it follows Jake along, with the only point of strength being in the tightness of his grip on Jake.]