Hmmm? If this thing breaks on the first day, I swear--
[Oh, geez. He can't take his eyes off the road to check what the radio is doing, but breaking down on the side of the road is the absolute last thing he needs after a morning like this. It's a mercifully short drive, at least, and nothing else seems to be wrong..... until he pulls into the first parking space he finds, and actually looks around for the meeting place at the mouth of the trail.]
How is there nobody here?!
[You've got to be fucking kidding right now. For a moment, the horn blares as his grip on the steering wheel grows white-knuckled without thinking, the sound bizarrely distant and muffled, distorted. A place like this should be absolutely jam packed with groups coming and going, shouldn't it? Is he hallucinating right now? He's losing his goddamn mind to the tune of cheerful, energetic pop songs Kalim had found. If he weren't stressed beyond belief, it might actually be funny; this is hardly a fitting soundtrack for the horror movie his vacation feels like it's become.]
.....Is there even a point to still going.....? Could I make it home if I tried?
[Technically speaking, nothing is stopping him from just..... having his trip anyway. None of it needs other people to do anything for him so far. He could walk the trail alone easily and take in the sights. He could pick any room in that place, and cook and clean for himself. He could do absolutely anything he wanted--except enjoy himself, with this pervasive sense of dread hanging over him. But what if there's nobody that can get him back to the Scalding Sands? Or.....
What if there's nobody in the Scalding Sands to get back to? What if something happened? Maybe instead of picking either option, he'll spiral uselessly around hypothetical worst-case scenarios. That will surely help.]
no subject
[Oh, geez. He can't take his eyes off the road to check what the radio is doing, but breaking down on the side of the road is the absolute last thing he needs after a morning like this. It's a mercifully short drive, at least, and nothing else seems to be wrong..... until he pulls into the first parking space he finds, and actually looks around for the meeting place at the mouth of the trail.]
How is there nobody here?!
[You've got to be fucking kidding right now. For a moment, the horn blares as his grip on the steering wheel grows white-knuckled without thinking, the sound bizarrely distant and muffled, distorted. A place like this should be absolutely jam packed with groups coming and going, shouldn't it? Is he hallucinating right now? He's losing his goddamn mind to the tune of cheerful, energetic pop songs Kalim had found. If he weren't stressed beyond belief, it might actually be funny; this is hardly a fitting soundtrack for the horror movie his vacation feels like it's become.]
.....Is there even a point to still going.....? Could I make it home if I tried?
[Technically speaking, nothing is stopping him from just..... having his trip anyway. None of it needs other people to do anything for him so far. He could walk the trail alone easily and take in the sights. He could pick any room in that place, and cook and clean for himself. He could do absolutely anything he wanted--except enjoy himself, with this pervasive sense of dread hanging over him. But what if there's nobody that can get him back to the Scalding Sands? Or.....
What if there's nobody in the Scalding Sands to get back to? What if something happened? Maybe instead of picking either option, he'll spiral uselessly around hypothetical worst-case scenarios. That will surely help.]