[text] @drake [open]

[nonscriptum]

[ Recent events are enough of a push to get him to do what he was waffling about, but that doesn't mean he likes having to be the bearer of any news, let alone the kind where he gives mildly hypocritical advice. ]

i know it hasn't even been a week but apparently people are already biting the dust again, so

hi, i'm nate, and enough people have asked me about this crap that i should probably have made this sooner. i've been to another world like this before, the whole "kidnapped population of different people, different places" thing, got the t-shirt, so i might be able to answer some questions people have

death probably isn't gonna stick here, but that doesn't mean you should be testing your luck since there's always some kind of price with these things.

seriously, don't be stupid.

Comments

@dysmas :// text

[chardismastic]

[ The username is simple to figure out but the post itself... Is not. How the hell does Drake have prior experience on this too? (Because it's Nathan Drake so of course he does.) There are a lot of questions he wants to ask but also very much doesn't want to so. Eventually, after starting and deleting quite a few starts to this conversation (and some debate over whether or not to even reply at all): ]

guess you'd be the expert with that advice then

[ dealer's choice whether he means the "other world" part or the "don't be stupid" part. ]

[nonscriptum]

[ For the sake of their history Nate will assume it's the "stupid" part. ]

ha ha, hilarious

i'm being serious though

[chardismastic]

i'm aware. so was i.

[ Nate can con on a job, to work a heist angle like the pro he is. Outside of that? Not so much. ]

what kind of price are we talking about

[nonscriptum]

[ He would prefer Not To have this conversation, but if it contributes to someone else's edification, well... ]

i don't know, it's hard to describe? being less yourself. like stuff changes even if you don't know what it is

[chardismastic]

[ Same fucking hat, buddy. Actively asking Nathan Drake for information is torture. ]

sounds like some stephen king shit there

guessing you were wherever long enough to be sure of this. as in actually sure, sure, not just 'giant intuitive leap' sure.

[nonscriptum]

i will shock you to know i was there for over 2 years

[chardismastic]

the hell you were

when?

[nonscriptum]

right after scotland

just got picked up and put in another world. apparently time passes differently, so two years there was basically a split-second back home

[chardismastic]

yeah pretty sure it would've been pretty noticeable otherwise
jesus

[nonscriptum]

yeah

yeah, it was a whole thing. but i learned some magic out of it, so at least there's that.

[chardismastic]

i'm sorry what

you know what now?

[nonscriptum]

oh, didn't you know? i'm a wizard now

[chardismastic]

[ There is such a long delay before the next reply that maybe Nate thinks Rafe has just hung up and decided to ignore him. Then again, if Nate knows anything about Rafe, he should also know how incredibly impossible that is. ]

bullshit

[nonscriptum]

do you feel like a betting man today, rafe?

[chardismastic]

are you seriously offering to put on a magic show for me

[nonscriptum]

yeah let me just change into my criss angel outfit first

[chardismastic]

hilarious houdini
either put up or shut up

[nonscriptum]

i'll be a gentleman and let you name the time and place

[chardismastic]

[ He almost suggests a roof given that's likely where either of them are at any given moment but... Nah. Probably too soon. ]

the docks
whenever you get the rabbit stuffed in your top hat pal

[nonscriptum]

his name is howard thurston and he's offended by that gross stereotype

[ Jesus Christ, is he making jokes now? Is that the level they've reached? No, it's still sarcasm, sort of. ]

i'll be there

[chardismastic]

oh then please relay my sincere apologies or i won't be able to sleep tonight

[ Wait. That wasn't supposed to be friendly banter back. What. Stop that. ]

don't keep me waiting

[nonscriptum]

[ Nate doesn't know what scares him the most: the joking, the idea that he just volunteered to meet up with Rafe in person, or don't keep me waiting. The last time he read a message like that from this party was fifteen years ago, icy sheets of rain pelting the Hebrides.

He shuts his tablet before that vortex drags him straight back into the pit he crawled from, and takes a walk.

It isn't a long one and the air is warm, though it does occur to him when he arrives at the docks that this might have been a really, really stupid idea. ]

[chardismastic]

[ The same thought flashes through Rafe's mind as soon as he stows the tablet and several times along the way. Not that it's a long way, not from the beach he'd been wandering along — looking for anything of interest past the lighthouse flashing its beam on the far spit of land.

They arrive at almost the same time, with Rafe squinting in the dark to see if the blink of light is Nate and his lantern or just some other idiot out for a midnight stroll at noon. The wood creaks under their feet and the water is calmer than anything in the North Sea ever was, but Nate's not the only one flashing back to memories best left buried. ]

So.

[ He lets the word hang in the air, a single syllable packed with expectation and skepticism and...all right, yeah. A little curiosity. ]

[nonscriptum]

So.

[ Since he committed to this Nate has spent the last excruciating five minutes wondering which spell he ought to utilize. None of them are really offense-oriented in the impressive sense, as Taako informed him that combat spells generally come later in training, but he'd hate to burn that "magic missile" thing on showing off, and knowing his luck he'll blow up a building in the process.

For the good of Beacon's populace Nate therefore settles on something a little more mundane, albeit less explosive. With an elegant flourish Nate bows, and when he straightens up it might almost seem as though Rafe is looking in a mirror: the outfit is the same, black on black, the slick, tamed hair and the pale eyes, the set of the jaw. The only difference is the lack of apparent disdain, the smile on his face, and when the Other Rafe opens his mouth, Nate's voice comes out. ]

Abraca-fuck you.

[chardismastic]

[ Rafe's mouth twists into a cynical smirk, eyes rolling at the theatrics and ready for whatever it is Nate's about to pull out of his ass. It isn't as if he hasn't witnessed plenty of weird shit in Beacon already the past couple weeks, but... This is still just Nate.

Until it's not. ]

Jesus Christ.

[ His eyes go wide as he backs up a step to try and get away from...that. Because sure, it's like looking in a mirror — in a funhouse, maybe. No reflection he's ever checked has had a smile like that, crooked as either of their careers and uncomfortably familiar even now years later. Add in that likewise familiar voice coming out of his mouth... No. This is deeply freaking weird. ]