{ LITERALLY THO ITS SO FUNNY...poor Steven Gets More And More Confused With Every Single Reply Lmao } - Tumblr Posts

[Steven was baffled by the kid's alleged black eyes, but frankly, so was Nanashi. Now that he thought about it, the kid's presence felt more ominous or malicious than innocent and curious. It felt like they knew what was going to happen...and they were happy about it. Was that just his mind twisting his own fuzzy memories, or was he onto something...?]

[Nevertheless, Steven accepted the information...though he probably didn't understand or even believe it. Nanashi was beginning to doubt himself here. They resembled a ghost more than an actual child.]

[Nanashi's question wasn't borne of ignorance -- moreso the fact that, well...the culprit hadn't acted in years. A kid in the back room was uncanny, sure, but he was more inclined to accept their presence as a coincidence. Maybe it was a kid who'd stowed away as they closed up for the night, or maybe his theory that they were a ghost had some credence to it. Whatever it was, the last thing on his mind was a killer from the 80's making a comeback.]

[Either Steven knew something else that Nanashi didn't, or he'd leapt to a conclusion that...probably wasn't accurate. He was too tired and unsure to contribute right now, so he'd leave it at that.]

[Tugging at the steering wheel had been stupid and reckless, but he'd acted on impulse -- if he hadn't, they would have ran that poor kid over. In hindsight, however...that was definitely the kid from last night. If he'd been able to put two and two together in that moment, he would have realized how abnormal that scenario was. Then again, it probably wouldn't have changed anything -- on the off chance that it wasn't him hallucinating, he'd rather save a life.]

[His actions had, of course, had consequences. Between Steven slamming on the brakes and the spinning of the car, he felt sick to his stomach -- that, and a seatbelt digging into his hanging-by-a-thread corpse was indescribably painful. He uncontrollably coughed; specks of blood sprayed the glovebox and the floor of the car. Blood pooled on the fabric of his shirt, likely from some reopened wounds. At least his shirt was already red, eh?]

[Steven's exclamation worsened the situation, riddling him with guilt on top of everything else. He choked out an apology, finding his throat even worse for wear now.] ❝ S...s-sorry...sir. ❞

[Nanashi didn't protest. He exited his side of the car, withholding an explanation until he felt well enough to speak. Rushing to his feet had some ill effects, though; not long after he was on solid ground, his stomach expelled itself...maybe literally. The resulting puddle, like the discharge from his coughs, had nothing but blood and viscera in it. Don't think about it.]

[Nanashi entered the backseat, his entire body trembling from the shock and utter agony. He believed in the reasoning behind his actions, but boy, was he paying for it.]

❝ The...kid. Th-There was a kid...on the road. ❞ [Nanashi forced out, sinking into his seat.] ❝ I-I'm sorry. ❞

That's to be expected. Trauma like that-- it tends to leave accurate but limited memories, especially this soon after the event. Nanashi might have focused on anything from how many floor tiles he saw in the back room to the springlocking itself; details about the child might be completely inaccessible at this point.

...oh, well. It was worth a shot.

Except--

"Black eyes...?" Steven echoes, struggling to make sense of what Nanashi means. A trick of the light? Something as simple as very dark brown irises? Blown pupils, maybe? He has no idea.

"Okay, uh. Good to... know."

Steven's gaze flicks toward Nanashi, surprised by the question. Nanashi knows about the company's long, unfortunate past, doesn't he? How naive does someone have to be to see a child in the back room after hours and not jump to the obvious conclusion that there's something really, really wrong going on? It must just be the general near-death confusion clouding the guy's mind. Bell debates with himself for a moment before settling on a response that's unlikely to upset the poor kid too terribly.

"No! No, of course not. Uh, I just wanted to make sure." There's no need to go into things right now when Nanashi's clearly not all there.

Steven barely gets out a confused "huh?" before Nanashi goes crazy, yanking on the wheel and sending them careening off the road.

Things happen too quickly for Bell to fully comprehend, but one moment he's slamming on the brakes, and the next--

"Wh--" He blinks, dazed, pressing an uncoordinated hand to his face to push at his glasses. There's an odd sort of pain in his abdomen where his seat-belt has bitten into him, and he can't quite tell whether he's slammed his head against something, but overall... that could have been worse.

"What the hell, Nanashi!" there's not much force to his words, and they come out more shocked than angry. He should probably make sure that none of the other employee's wounds have reopened, but at the moment, all he can do is stare straight ahead and reel from what just happened.

"Th-th-- you need to go sit in the back. I'm going to-- I don't think the car's banged up too badly, but Jesus! What did you go and do a thing like that for!"