[ jeff doesn't try to fool himself into believing he can get the gate open and dodge the oni's fury - it's one or the other, and while dodging might buy him some more time, it also leaves a window of opportunity for the oni to find someone else. for someone to get trapped, expecting the gate to be open only to have to waste time doing it themselves and risking getting caught. it's a no brainer for jeff - he's here to look after everyone else in whatever way he can.
but he still gives it a solid attempt. the second the doors begin to slide open, jeff gives it his best shot to get out of the way of the oni's kanabo, but he's just not quick enough, and when he hits the ground, his vision swims and his ears ring and the shout that leaves him feels like it's knocked out of him involuntarily, coasting on whatever air's left in his lungs.
opposite of david, things seem to move a little to quickly fort jeff after that. he feels the vibration of footsteps sprinting past him through the gates more than he sees the people they belong to, and he thinks - good. so long as everyone else makes it out, he's done his job, followed the plan as closely as he could.
and then meg screams, and that's - that's not right. why is she still here? jeff struggles a little, tries to push himself up onto his hands even though his head is spinning and he's pretty sure he can feel blood starting to pool in his mouth, and it's a fight to lift his head up. when he does though, he sees the blurry figure of meg just barely crawling out to safety, and two more slinking near the edges of the exit.
go, jeff thinks. opens his mouth to try and say it out loud, but all he can manage to do is cough. get the fuck out.
it's quick after that. a sword through the chest, fingers in his mouth. he feels like he chokes on his own blood, and by the time the oni raises his kanabo, jeff's already close enough to blacking out that he can barely manage to put up any kind of fight.
it takes about a day for the entity to spit him back out into the woods. alive, but maybe not well. coming back from death is never easy, but some times are rougher than others and when jeff comes to, slumped against the base of a tree, he doesn't move for a while. doesn't feel like he can, honestly, his entire body aching, head fucking splitting. it feels like if he tries to move too much too quickly, he might be sick, so he doesn't really try. he drags his knees up a little so he can limply rest his arms on top of them, and lets his head hang forward, his hair falling in his face.
he'll get up eventually. head back to camp and try his best to carry on like he doesn't feel like freshly cooked roadkill, like this shit is just. normal. like he didn't get his face beaten in in front of meg and vittorio and- ]
Fuck. [ he opens his eyes, stares down at his lap. his voice is barely more than a rough rasp. jeff swallows and inhales around the static crackle of anxiety that flares up in his chest. ] David.
[ fuck fuck fuck. did david make it out? jeff's pretty sure he'd be stubborn enough to try and fight the fucking oni with his bare hands if given the chance, so jeff can only hope that vittorio had the sense (and the strength) to push him out before he could do anything stupid. ]
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but he still gives it a solid attempt. the second the doors begin to slide open, jeff gives it his best shot to get out of the way of the oni's kanabo, but he's just not quick enough, and when he hits the ground, his vision swims and his ears ring and the shout that leaves him feels like it's knocked out of him involuntarily, coasting on whatever air's left in his lungs.
opposite of david, things seem to move a little to quickly fort jeff after that. he feels the vibration of footsteps sprinting past him through the gates more than he sees the people they belong to, and he thinks - good. so long as everyone else makes it out, he's done his job, followed the plan as closely as he could.
and then meg screams, and that's - that's not right. why is she still here? jeff struggles a little, tries to push himself up onto his hands even though his head is spinning and he's pretty sure he can feel blood starting to pool in his mouth, and it's a fight to lift his head up. when he does though, he sees the blurry figure of meg just barely crawling out to safety, and two more slinking near the edges of the exit.
go, jeff thinks. opens his mouth to try and say it out loud, but all he can manage to do is cough. get the fuck out.
it's quick after that. a sword through the chest, fingers in his mouth. he feels like he chokes on his own blood, and by the time the oni raises his kanabo, jeff's already close enough to blacking out that he can barely manage to put up any kind of fight.
it takes about a day for the entity to spit him back out into the woods. alive, but maybe not well. coming back from death is never easy, but some times are rougher than others and when jeff comes to, slumped against the base of a tree, he doesn't move for a while. doesn't feel like he can, honestly, his entire body aching, head fucking splitting. it feels like if he tries to move too much too quickly, he might be sick, so he doesn't really try. he drags his knees up a little so he can limply rest his arms on top of them, and lets his head hang forward, his hair falling in his face.
he'll get up eventually. head back to camp and try his best to carry on like he doesn't feel like freshly cooked roadkill, like this shit is just. normal. like he didn't get his face beaten in in front of meg and vittorio and- ]
Fuck. [ he opens his eyes, stares down at his lap. his voice is barely more than a rough rasp. jeff swallows and inhales around the static crackle of anxiety that flares up in his chest. ] David.
[ fuck fuck fuck. did david make it out? jeff's pretty sure he'd be stubborn enough to try and fight the fucking oni with his bare hands if given the chance, so jeff can only hope that vittorio had the sense (and the strength) to push him out before he could do anything stupid. ]