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"Oh, fucking perfect." It's a muttered hiss that Misty won't miss whatsoever, but he lifts his head towards her voice regardless. "Miss Quigley, do be so kind as to help me get Nat on my shoulder. Now."

He's not going to bother waiting for her, instead just reaching down to grab Natalie's forearm to try and hitch her up.

"This was fast," she murmurs as they talk to each other, running a thumb over the break. "Instantaneous."

The idea of trying to document the scene the way she had with Tim crosses her mind: taking notes, taking pictures, solving the exciting murder mystery. But Taylor, ultimately, hadn't been entirely wrong back then. There aren't any clues here. John and Arthur have already contaminated the scene. Nothing and no one will be able to give them better information than Natalie herself, and for that to happen--

"No, not like that; be careful," she snaps, moving to cradle Natalie's neck when Arthur makes a grab for her arm. "One holds her legs, and the other holds her shoulders."

[Tell her we'll know how she died and who did it once we're clear!]

He does not want to bring Misty's attention to the fight going on or the fact that one of the combatants is the killer. That is not a distraction they need right now.

[Okay, Arthur, we're going to shift and just slide under her arms; our chest will hold up her head. Misty can take the legs; she's shorter and she can face forward with one leg in either arm. That way she can lead. ]

Edited 2022-12-12 00:03 (UTC)

"She is already dead, Misty, how the fuck can I make it worse?"

He is in no mood to acquiesce to her on the best of days, least of all when they are very much under threat, but he'll follow John's direction, and both arms get underneath Natalie's to cradle her with surprising delicacy to his chest.

"Face forward, Misty, take her legs and help me get her upstairs. We'll take the elevator there."

"Misty does as instructed, shooting a quick glance over her shoulder before facing fully forward. Her eyes are hard when she looks at Arthur's face, but she still says, "A little more to the right," trying to make sure that he doesn't bump into the wall as he walks.

[...she's right, a little more to the right. Not too much and you can use the wall to guide your shoulder. I'll tell you when the landing's coming up.]

He doesn't shift when Misty advises; only when John does, making a point to try and keep his shoulder close to the wall so he can feel it brushing on his sleeve.

"Miss Quigley, we can explain what happened to her," he says, his tone short and clipped. "But we need to get her and ourselves to safety. The infirmary."

"I didn't ask you what happened to her," she says, biting back the urge to point out that jumping on the defense makes people look suspicious. "And in case you haven't noticed, I am helping you get her to safety. Concentrate on walking, not talking. Left this time."

[She's guiding you correctly. I'll help as well, but you can follow her lead. I don't think she wants to drop Natalie.]

He doesn't hide the grimace of open displeasure, at having to follow Misty's directions; he just makes sure his grip is secure, over Nat's chest to give John the extra support.

"Elevator doors behind you." As they stop, she takes the opportunity to glance over her shoulder again. "The call panel's to the right of that. Hit the button with your elbow."

[...are you fucking kidding me, Misty?]

There's a huff inside of him. Don't worry, Arthur, he's also annoyed.

[Fighting her will just take more time. I'll guide you back.

Once we get in the elevator, Misty should put Natalie's legs down and tell someone what's happening. We'll be clear and protected by then, but whoever's fighting the killer might need help.]

Edited 2022-12-12 01:15 (UTC)

Arthur pointedly does not press the button, and it's only a little bit because he's rankling at Misty's orders.

"Miss Quigley, we can get Nat to the infirmary ourselves. Go back and call someone, find another warden to stop the fighting now."

"What are you-- I have her legs, I can't just drop her." Shifting around herself, she carefully turns until she's parallel to the elevator, awkwardly using her elbow to hit the button to ding the doors open. "My communicator's in my pocket. Where's yours?"

Ugggggh. No noise, but he's just a little frustrated. His voice holds a bit of that.

[Guide her to the idea, Arthur, just as you did for me early on. The sooner we're through with this, the sooner we can help Natalie and young Mandrake.]

He's not sure the effect of mentioning Arthur's ward to him right now might be but he has to hope that it reminds Arthur of what's important here.

[The legs can be put down for a moment; feet go on the ground anyway and we're holding her top half.]

"Misty, I can carry her on my own," he says, and it's not a snap but it is unbelievably tense. "What I can't do is use any sort of communications device to make the call myself, mine is in my jacket-" the one he is conspicuously not wearing "-and John is attending to his inmate. That bastard downstairs also killed mine, and is no doubt going to kill whoever he's fighting, whom we don't know to be able to identify."

He is trying very hard not to loose his patience but this is so fucking trying. "Please, Misty, call someone. We're not going to let anything happen to Natalie, and we are wasting time arguing."

Edited 2022-12-12 02:07 (UTC)

"Her neck is broken; you're not carrying her over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Whatever happens to her body while she's dead comes back to her during the death toll. We can't let her head flop around."

As she relays this not-entirely-correct assessment of how death tolls work, she wiggles one of Natalie's legs under her arm, pinning it there as she pulls out her communicator.

"Take her head in first; I need to be near the doors so I can press the button." Into her communicator, she adds, "Level [X], hallway. Two, maybe three down."

The message is then sent off to Dracula, who she hopes to god is not alone on infirmary duty today.

[That does not match with what I was told, not that it's worth the argument. She's probably being overly protective.]

He knows he would be. He knows he is. The fact that they got Nate to the infirmary before coming to get Nat is something he's just going to have to live with, even if he stands by that choice. Even if it was the smart call.

[If you turn your head, Arthur, I can guide you backwards. As I recall, there's a slight lip between the door and the floor, so lift your feet a little higher than you would normally on the way out.]

...does he want to argue about whether they should be going backwards? Is Arthur still blind, Misty? For fuck's sake? Yes. Does he think it will do anything more than make them carry Nat for longer? No.

On my way. comes from Dracula's communicator.

"I cannot believe that's accurate," he grumbles - simultaneously to John's complaint, incidentally - but he turns his head, lifting his feet as John advises to get inside.

But he's not ~~tame~~ polite enough to keep quiet on the brief fact: "If you can help it, please don't make me walk backwards more than necessary. Having John with me doesn't mean I can see any better."

"And you wonder why I don't want you carrying her by yourself. Turn around, then; I'll go backwards."

But first, she'll press the button to send them up to level two.

[...that doesn't even make sense. We wouldn't be going backwards if-]

No, no. Arthur does not need him to start getting frustrated. Arthur needs him to be calm and give directions and keep things as smooth as possible through all this.

He's proud of how calm he sounds when he speaks.

[It shouldn't take too long. Then you can go to young Mandrake and I can stay with Misty and Natalie. I'm sure the infirmary has some way to help us get them to a room that isn't so awkward.]

Arthur doesn't need John being frustrated to feel a flash of the cursed emotion himself.

"Miss Quigley, my strength is not in question."

He could certainly go on, about how the only reason she refuses to leave and be reasonable about this whole thing is her pathetic, obsessive hero complex with regards to Natalie, when she is dead and won't even know that Misty is helping her--

--but he is being responsible, and keeps all of that inside. Clenches his jaw with the effort of it, but he keeps it in.

"Okay, well, good thing we're talking about your navigation," she mutters, internally grumbling at Arthur's ridiculous insistence on picking fights now, of all the times--

Keep on task, she reminds herself. Arthur doesn't fucking matter.

The doors slide open, and she steps out backwards, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder.

"Don't you dare let me bump into anything. And don't use the excuse of being blind, either; I know he's talking to you in your head."

[Is there some reason you can't walk sideways? The hallway is wide enough.
Or at least slantways. Or- wait, wasn't she walking facing forward before when we were going down the steps?]

Edited 2022-12-12 04:12 (UTC)

"Face forwards, Miss Quigley!" he snaps, and it's a lot more vicious with his fraying patience. "By the time John warns me you'll have already hit something. Be fucking sensible!"

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