Open MASQUE CARNIVALIA: MELANCHOLY HILL

Songs of pain, and soothing lullabies. Songs of happiness, and some that make us cry.
One song we share, the cross we all bear,
One that segregates, and one that unifies.​

It was early evening. It had caused the pearly clouds to turn a sickly mix of oranges and pinks from the setting sun, and on the farthest side purple was beginning to creep up, signaling where the moon would rise. Not that it could be soon through the dense clouds, anyway, but one could still get the basic idea where the moon would be.

It wasn't snowing anymore, though it indeed had left its mark. The carnival was covered in a white blanket, and it peppered the trees and left icicles hanging off of their bare branches. Frost topped off the tents and fallen stalls, and the never-ceasing wind blew through the hill.

All... we... wonder...
No one ever denies.
If once given life we must die. So...
Bow down with me, where summer fades into fall, and leave your hatchets of hate.
Bow down with me, and sing the saddest of all, the song we all serenade.​

Everyone had scattered off to do their own thing after reading over the note. That suited Jayy just fine, though. The others would've interrupted her train of thoughts, anyway.

Currently the Driftblim morph stood before the entrance of the park, her pale fingers laced into the chain-linked fence. This, of course, was to keep herself from floating off into the sky, which would then cause her to fade into unconsciousness from the air pressure when she was high enough, and before anyone ever knew it, she'd freeze once she hit the stratosphere. ... Well, perhaps that was a bit too pessimistic, but it was indeed what would happen.

Anyways.

She had used the fence to push her feet to the ground again—they had a thing for being in the air, naturally, as did the rest of her helium-full body—and simply stared at it for a long while, thinking of how she could've gotten out. Of course, she could float over the fence and onto the other side, but that was a bit risky. That barbed wire at the top of it didn't look too fine, and besides, where would she go after that? She couldn't control where she went. The wind did that for her, unfortunately, and once again that would take her high into the atmosphere again, just like a balloon.

Obviously, she chided herself in her mind, the men that brought us here thought of that as well. Clever, clever.

The more we know, the less we understand. Life, eternity, the savagery of man.
We want it all, aimed at the fall,
What is destiny within the masterplan?​

Nevertheless Jayy stood there, suspended, as she slowly let herself levitate a few inches from the ground. Her crimson eyes glanced over her shoulder to see the rest of Masque Carnivalia, blinking, as she observed the rest of the place. She would've gone out to check it all out, had it not been for her... airy-ness, but in the long-run that would've also meant interacting with the other six Carnies. It wasn't that she despised others, it was just that she saw no need in talking with them. Yet. Eventually I will have to work with them so we can get out of here. For now, though, she'd keep to herself. If anything, she would let someone else approach her than vice versa—Jayy would rather someone ask her for help than to take the assistance of others.

A quiet sigh escaped her lips as she looked up at the massive Ferris wheel, and blinked. With that strangely-colored sky in the background, Jayy could easily have called the scene brilliant, but given the circumstances, she didn't bother to gaze at it for its uncanny beauty. Rather she thought how perhaps that ride could be used to her advantage—she could see everything in the carnival whilst upon it, that much was obvious. Perhaps she could find some useful items that way.

Now, if only she could get up to it...

Hold on now, don’t leave, don’t let it go. Dance away the waltz of life.
Right or wrong, the seed we never sow—That’s our loss, our sacrifice.

What does the winter bring, if not yet another spring?​

The cold was already starting to numb Lester's fingers. He reflexively tried to stuff his hands in his pockets, but for one thing, he had no pockets, and for another, his right hand was a claw the size of his head. He felt a small wave of despair at the failed attempt, and gazed into the patterned eye on the claw. The eye, staring back at him, unblinking, unliving. It was a lot more companionship than he was used to.

He tore his gaze from it, and looked to the east, where the sky grew darker every moment. He wasn't sure how restfully he could sleep under all these conditions. He turned his head back to the entrance where he'd come from not too long ago. It wasn't all that far off-maybe a hundred and fifty meters. He could still see a single figure there, next to the fence. The little girl with white hair. Everyone else had broken off, but she had stayed there. He seemed to recall her floating, so it was possible she was stuck there without any way to anchor herself down.

Briefly, the thought crossed his mind to see how she was. The thought passed, and he began trying to distract himself by observing his new... "Clothes."

His entire upper half seemed to be an exo-skeleton or something similar. The clothes on his lower half were certainly odd, but clothes nonetheless. Rolling up his pant leg revealed more of his exo-skeleton. Then there was his claw. His left hand, thankfully, was left alone. What he at first thought may be a tight-fitting glove turned out to be his skin.

The words "Carnie" and "Freak" both rang through his mind repeatedly.

Lester was never a people person, but he knew he'd have to overcome that to get out of this place alive. He wondered if the girl was staying there not just because it was convenient to hold onto the fence, but because it made it easy for the other... Carnies to find her. Perhaps he'd pay her a visit a little later, but for now, he began rummaging through the stalls in hopes of finding matches, or even a couple of old blankets.

Thomas, now shivering in the cold winter air, peeks out of his tent. He had awoken a couple of hours ago to find nothing right with him at all. His right arm as basically a weapon, a spear from the wrist down. His clothes, well he couldn't even recognize them. He was in a yellow t-shirt and gray pants. How the colors worked together was beyond him. And to add to it, he had blue skin. Not baby-blue, but an actually blue. It was weird to be blue skinned, as Thomas has been almost white his entire life.

Thomas shook his head, "How is this possible? I was normal yesterday." He reached his free hand up to push his hair away, but touched nothing. He patted his head, knocking himself with his spear once. What he found was not what he wanted. A strip of hair, not two inches in length, ran the length of his head.

"Alright. What did these people do!? Was it not enough to take me away from home? Was it not enough to make me a freak? But now they remove my hair." Thomas was furious. Without thinking, he stormed out of the tent. Once outside, a breeze tore through him.

"God, am I going to die like this?" He shivered, his teeth chattering. He looked around himself. The tent he just walked out of, the sun draining the last few minutes of daylight, the girl on the fence... "A girl, on the fence?" He watched her for a few minutes. He grew curious. "I am not the only Carnie here. If I can find the others, we can get out."

Thomas looked at her, but his basic judgement got the better of him. Instead of walking towards her, he turned to his left. Immediately, a new figure caught his eye. "How many of us are there?" He looked, and even in the dim light the new stranger seemed to be red. "That's three total, that I can see. I know there were more than this in the beginning."

He walks towards the newest stranger. As he approached closer, he could make the red-skinned person to be male. He stopped, thinking. "If I do this, I won't be able to back out." He shook his head, deciding to greet the boy, who was rummaging through some of the stalls. "How curious."

"Hell... hello. My name is Thomas. And who are you?" Thomas' teeth chattered the whole time. He hoped the boy didn't hear them and could understand him.

Titus leaned against the fence, a distance away from the others, and tried to collect his thoughts. So... According to the note, I'm apparently I'm some half-Pokemon monstrosity in a carnival. Yeah, seems pleasant. He rolled his eyes. Thinking clearly wasn't the best option. He looked over at the others. So far there was a blue-skinned boy with a spear in place of a hand, a guy who seemed to be in red armor, and a girl who seemed to be trying to avoid leaving the fence, for whatever reason. At least he wasn't the biggest freak here.

He switched his focus to his two claws. They weren't very well coordinated, but it's not like Titus was used to being half-crab. He looked up at a tree branch, and plucked an icicle off and studied it. His shell seemed to be a decent insulator as well.

Titus looked back at the other "Carnies." He didn't like it, but it was obvious he wouldn't want to be alone. He sighed, and walked over to the red skinned one and the one with the spear. As he was walking towards them, he stopped by the girl standing by the fence. He realized the reason she hasn't moved herself was because she couldn't. She would just float off. At least she was smart enough not to let go. I suppose I should help her... He looked down at his claws again. Couldn't be much help to her with these.

What a pain this was. Those masked freaks should find a hobby or something. That bunch of idiots loved to play dress-up with real people instead of dolls. They were the really freaky ones. Sammy had only noticed the other Carnies for a moment before taking a "walk." She paced back and forth outside a tent, trying to answer questions in her mind.

Where am I? What happened to my friends? What did that note mean? Everything was just a jumble in her mind.

And good god, it was hot outside. She kept fanning herself and having to wipe sweat off her forehead. She sat down in the snow and only had some relief. Laying on her back didn't do much more. Strangely, the snow didn't melt on contact with her, so she wasn't getting wet. Or at least, the snow wasn't melting very fast. Either those freaks did something to the snow (if they could make seven people half-pokemon, why couldn't they screw with weather?), or she was nearly as cold as the snow.

Well, there wasn't much use in standing around. She'd have to try and find the other... What were they called? Carnies? Well, she'd have to find them, or at least one of them to work with to try and get out. Looking back towards the entrance, she could still see the little one by the fence. Just holding onto the fence like she'd float away or something. Come to think of it, she may have been floating earlier...

Not that it mattered. She didn't waste much time getting back to the girl. It wasn't long before she was next to her, looking down at the top of her white hair. "So, if I'm not interrupting," She make little quotation marks with her fingers. "I don't suppose sitting by this fence has given you any great inspiration, has it?" There was also the weird crab-boy fairly close, but Sam paid him little mind. In these cases, it was good to hang with the smart kids, and small kids had a tendency to be smart. Some sort of compensation, or something.

By this point Jayy had redirected her attention to the fence, silently mouthing words to herself. She could possibly do something to get over it and find a way to not float off, but it wasn't at all easy. There were several facts to remember, like she couldn't simply waltz over and grab a weight of some sort, not to mention she couldn't do much after getting over the fence; for instance, society would brand her as a freak of nature and probe her with needles and scans to see what exactly she was. ... Wait, even if she did have a weight, how would she get it over the fence? It couldn't be as small as the holes between the chain links; it wouldn't be heavy enough. Maybe somehow she could launch one over the fence, but... Still.

Meh. This was getting nowhere.

She heard footsteps behind her and immediately looked over her shoulder again, forcing her feet to the ground. It was a boy—a strange one at that, a bit different than the others. He had huge claws, for one thing, as well as an exo-skeleton of some sort. Krabby. No, Kingler, more than likely, the girl said in her head, watching him as he walked off to some other guys some ways away. One of them was blue—literally, blue—while the other was reddish. Both had strange arms as well: the former had a spear and the latter had a claw.

Clearly we're offensive enough to win a war. With all these weapons so conveniently placed, there's no telling what they're readying us for, Jayy thought grimly, her red orbs falling to the dirt for a second.

Abruptly her gaze was lifted, though, when another bluish character came into view. Actually, into her personal bubble. On instinct Jayy pressed her back into the fence as piercing eyes bore down on her. A sharp tongue accompanied it, which only caused the Ghost elemental to frown further. Briefly she let go of her grasp on the fence, causing herself to float up, and gripped it again once she was floating higher than the other girl's height—a good six inches or so, really. She doubted that she herself was physically intimidating, but she knew that looking up to someone already had a sense of superiority to it. And from what Jayy gathered so far, she was going to need it with this one.

"... Interrupting?" Jayy repeated monotonously, an eyebrow raising. "Oh, no, of course not. Not at all." Her lips twitched when the icy-looking female made air quotes with her fingers. "To be completely honest and true, yes, indeed it has. I'm simply thinking on how I could escape this place without having to"—she mimicked the girl's quotations with her hands—"accept what I am. You see..." She let go of the fence again and floated up a couple of more feet. "I appear to be much more resistant to gravity than you. It wouldn't take much to float over this, wouldn't you say?"

Titus looked at the Glaceon morph. He could already tell he wasn't going to get along with this one. He noticed the Drifloon girl was floating back up to the top. "You might want to be a bit more careful there," he warned, "there's barbed wire at the top, though I'm sure you've already noticed." He turned to the Glaceon. "No need for that tone. We're all stuck in this... Circus, I guess, together."

He continued to observe his surroundings. There was still the red and blue ones over there, and he was sure there was more around. He walked away from Glaceon and Drifloon, and observed his surroundings. He was sure there were two more of them in the group. Might as well find them.

(Short post is short.)

Well, whoever the strange floaty-girl was, she was a little spitfire. "Oh, yes. I agree. Good luck with that. Tell me how it works out, Ballon Animal." But rather than leave, Sammy grabbed at the girl's ankle and tugged her down to eye level.

"So tell me all about yourself. You're a brainy girl, right?" She said, pressing one of the girl's shoulders into the fence.

This wasn't the smoothest introduction she'd ever had, but she didn't really have time for all the usual giggles that came with making new friends. She wanted out, and she wanted out quick. A smart girl that was basically a giant middle finger to Newton would be nice to have around.

So-this girl was a smartmouth, extremely small, also a balloon, and most likely thought her IQ was somewhere in the 300s or so. One of those people. Whatever. She was useful. That was what mattered here.

The weird crab kid told her not to use "that tone," that they were all stuck here together. She frowned at him. "Do you mind? We're having a conversation."

Lester didn't realize that someone was talking to him at first. After a coupled of seconds, he looked up and realized the blue person, who introduced himself as Thomas, was in fact, speaking to him.

"... Oh! I, uh-" He dropped a bottle he'd just picked up. It had some kind of fungus in it. He cleared his throat. "I'm, uh, Lester." He said. "Harrington." He added after a second. "I mean, that's my last na- you get it."

He coughed and started going through the stall some more. He looked at Thomas. He seemed pretty cold right then. Turning his head, he could see the... Kingler, it looked like, along with a lightly dressed blue girl and the small girl by the fence. It was tough to tell from this distance, but it didn't look like the blue girl was being all too kind. He had not context, so he couldn't tell for sure, though.

More icy words—as cold as her hands, really—as the girl had the pure audacity to touch her with those chilling palms of hers, let alone yank her down to her level. Her scowl only deepened as she felt the Glaceon girl start to push her shoulder into the fence. Jayy didn't care much to bark at her, though—sure, it irritated her greatly, but logic told her to act rationally. Fighting fire with fire in this degree wasn't the smartest thing to do, but really... She had felt rigid and, to be completely honest, helpless the moment she felt the ice touch her skin.

"... I—Wel—P-Perhaps," she stammered, as she was racking her brain far too quickly to really comprehend what she was saying. "Unfortunately that's all I am." She let her eyes narrow as she tightened her grip on the fence. "To... you, at least," she muttered as an afterthought, half-surprised she actually slipped up and let her thoughts break into her speech. That was a first.

She knew about people like this Ice elemental. She knew people like her personally. They thought they were "all-that"—if that's what the saying was—and were under the impression they could bully around anyone they wanted. Use power to push around others that were "inferior" to them. It was a psychological trick, in all honestly, to make the victim actually believe they were lower than the attacker. Simple acts to overpower others. She had seen this enough to understand all the mechanics of it...

But it wasn't about to work on her. Not Jayy.

Ruby eyes darted to the Kingler morph, whom had spoken up and in turn was struck down by this rude girl. She almost felt sorry for him, but forced her eyes to look away. Rather she glanced over at the two she had seen earlier—Escavalier morph, was it? He looked like it, at least. That other one... Hmm... Scizor. Had to be. He looked the part... But he didn't seem to be acting it yet. Not from this distance, perhaps. She vaguely hoped at least one of them could see what the Glaceon was doing to her, so she could brush this event away as if it never happened.

Sam's eyebrows arched a little. This was not what she'd wanted. Yes, she hadn't approached the situation very elegantly, but that was just... She wasn't even sure what this girl was on about. She let go of the girl and placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, that's because you just told me absolutely nothing. It's unfair to say something like that when we've only just met. You need to learn to open up. Here," Sam lifted her hand to her collarbone. "I'll start. My name's Samantha. I like basketball, skiing, and all the other things ninety percent of girls say they like. Easy, right?"

She stepped closer to the girl once more, then threw her arm over her shoulder. She even went as far as taking the girl's chin and turning her head so their noses were almost touching.

((PHYSICAL CONTACT MUAHAHA))

Lester's attention kept getting dragged away from him. That blue girl was being very insistent on... Something. Even from here, it was plain that the small one didn't care much for her. The Kingler must have said something, because the blue girl's head turned to him briefly.

After a few more seconds, he scoffed. "Just, uh, give me a second... Thomas." He left the other morph, going down to the entrance in what he gauged to be a light jog. His feet seemed to carry him pretty quickly, and he was down by the other three.

He overheard the Glaceon-morph say her name was Samantha. And for the first time in a long while, Lester said something without a single hesitation. "I think you're bothering her, Samantha." And after a single, commanding sentence, the feeling left him, and he was once more timid, unsure Lester. He regretted it pretty much immediately.

Jayy cringed when the girl suddenly let go of her, and sighed shakily. She knew it wouldn't last for long, so perhaps she could break away while she—Samantha, or whatever her name was—introduced herself and what she liked to do. However, when the opportunity rose to get away, she had missed it. The other female's arm was thrown onto her shoulder, causing the Driftblim morph to flinch and grip the fence with both hands all the more tighter. Her head pressed back against it just as her body was, her cheek getting imprinted with the grooves of the chain links. She wasn't at all enjoying herself. Not one bit.

Why wouldn't this girl take a hint?

And then, of all things, Samantha had forced her to look back at her. Jayy could almost taste the icy breath of the girl when her face was so close to her own. Naturally the pale-skinned girl was confused and didn't know what to do—other than clench her teeth harder or tighten her grip even more on the fence, that is. "... J-Jayy," she stuttered, finally working up enough courage to jerk her head away. "My name is-is Jayy." She didn't say more than that, though. She didn't play any sports, and she didn't even know what other girls her aged actually did. Stereotypically—and with the help of graphs and such, of course, for physical evidence—she assumed all they did in their spare time was text and gossip and watch TV. But Jayy did none of those things like them: she didn't text or gossip, and only watched the tube when a good documentary was on.

So really, what was she supposed to say?

But then, finally,she heard another voice speak up. A deeper one—definitely male. Red eyes glanced over to the figure behind Samantha, and blinked. It was the Scizor guy. She had heard what he said but still didn't dare move, and rather looked back at the Glaceon to see if she'd budge this time. If not Jayy was not going to be a happy camper, and worried slightly she might obtain worse injuries than just her aching palms.

Alyx had been a lot of places, but she never saw a sky like this one. It was a swirl of colors, bright to dark as the moon began to rise. The cold didn't bother her at all, and the oncoming night felt comfortable. Right.

This... form... felt so alien, so strange. It had taken her a few tries behind a group of tents walkng right. Even now she looked down at the paws that were where her feet should have been, her head heavy from the horns on her head, but somehow her tail kept her in balance. So strange. At least now she could walk with confidence that she wouldn't fall flat on her ass when she approached the others.

She'd been watching of course, the little scene playing out by the fence. Watching the girl clinging to the links for dear life made her grateful for whatever form she had. At least she wasn't floating off into space.

There seemed to be an argument. She knew it was none of her business, but it wasn't like that poor girl could just walk away. She made her way over to them, the girl on the fence, the Scizor boy, and the scantily dressed ice girl.

She came in time to hear the fence girl say her name, Jayy. Alysx grunted loudly so the Glaceon girl knew she was there, and stood behind the Scizor boy, crossing her arms.

Samantha gave a little smile when Jayy said her name. She seemed to be having a hard time going on, though. Samantha was just about to suggest a few things she figured smart girls liked to do, when a new voice came from behind.

"I think you're bothering her, Samantha."

Sammy's head turned slowly to the source. A boy, who looked to be morphed with a Scizor. Next to him was suddenly another morph, Houndoom by the looks of her. The Houndoom grunted at her. Sammy took a deep breath, then stared at the boy, a finger still on the underside of Jayy's chin. So, maybe Jayy wasn't the most comfortable with contact, that much was apparent to even the most antisocial freak. But she'd dealt with Jayy's type before. Who thought they were high and mighty because they read a few more books than the average bear. There weren't many ways to convince those people you're worth their time.

"Alright," She said, sliding away from Jayy. The kid had looked determined for a second, but he turned pretty meek afterwards. She gave him a long hard look. So far she hadn't made a whole lot of friends. She walked in a semicircle around the Scizor boy, a single finger gliding from one shoulder to the other. "I'll be back after I cool off a bit. This heat is really getting to me. Until then..." She rested a palm on the Scizor boy's cheek. "Maybe you two should get acquainted." She whispered. Without another word, she glided away, moving past the Kingler and Houndoom morphs, who she passed a soft smile to. She headed down a path for a while, then slipped into a tent, and promptly slapped her palm into her forehead.

Thomas realized the time it took Lester to answer him. "So I ain't talking loud enough. Dang it." As Thomas looked around again, Lester said something else.

"Just, uh, give me a second... Thomas."

Thomas looked dumbfounded. As Lester went off to join the group at the fence, Thomas stared at his feet. "Am I always such an idiot? Or so awkward?" He watched the little scene at the fence go on, but he could only think about the cold air around him.

A chill ran up the length of his spine. He turned on his heel, "Maybe running will do me some good. Warm me up a bit." He began jogging; between the tents, the stalls, and the fences. His pace grew faster and faster. Soon he was running full out, not even thinking of what he was doing. "When did I get this fast? Those creepy guys must've gave me steroids or something."

He stopped, almost on a dime, and looked back at the fence group. There was a girl, who looked awfully blue, walking towards a tent. "Maybe I should go find out what's wrong with her. Maybe not. Maybe run a few more laps." Deciding on the former option so that he didn't stand here waiting on Lester, Thomas jogged over to the tent she entered.

He used his free, non-speared, hand to pull back the flap on the tent. "Are you okay?"

The words left his mouth, and he wished he was still at home. "I am never this social. I guess being morphed into a Pokemon has changed me drastically."

The smile that pulled at Samantha's lips sent a chill down the Ghost's spine. More so than her icy touch, at least, as she could list off the many different meanings to it. It could possibly be one in triumph, as perhaps the Ice elemental was grinning because of the fear Jayy was showing, or maybe because she had finally gotten an answer, or—

She silenced her thoughts abruptly as she saw the blue girl look back at the two morphs behind her. A new one had come behind the Scizor boy; Houndour or Houndoom, probably... No, she looked more like a Houndoom. She held her breath as Samantha stared at the boy—or was she gawking at the girl that grunted at her? Jayy wasn't sure—with a finger still under her chin, and exhaled a deep, trembling breath as the Glaceon finally let off. She dipped her chin as she watched the girl circle around the boy that had spoken up, and bit her lip. Would the Ice woman shoot him down for speaking up? Jayy hoped not. She didn't want others to be effected just because she couldn't hold her own against someone else.

"Maybe you two should get acquainted."

At this point, however, Jayy didn't want to be near anyone. She didn't want to make acquaintance with the others. She wanted to be alone.

Perhaps floating over the fence for at least a small amount of isolation would be grand.

She looked up at the Scizor morph as Samantha walked off, but forced her eyes away. "... Thank... you," she said to him slowly, raising her gaze briefly to the Fire Carnie as well. But soon after that she had forced herself down to the ground and began to stalk off, which was an odd way of doing so, really: the best she could do was walk alongside the fence and grab it again with every step she took. Jayy knew she must've looked silly doing this, but she didn't care. All she needed was to follow the fence to at least another side of the carnival so she could, at the most, hear herself think.

Vesta blinked at the commotion surrounding her.

"People, please..." Vesta muttered. "Especially...Samantha, right? Just calm down. We can't find a way out if everyone's all frazzled. We need to form bonds....FRIENDLY bonds."

She did a quick glance at Samantha. Oh, how she hated those popular girls.

"By the way, I'm Vesta." she said.

Titus watched both Samantha and Jayy walk away. It was official: He couldn't stand Sam. He felt really bad for the Drifloon Carnie, but thought it was better to leave her alone for now. Honestly, how could someone treat another person like that? He'd seen it before, dozens of times, but Jayy couldn't even walk away. That was just unfair.

Oh well. Thinking about it won't change anything. But he was glad there was people willing to stick up for her. Even if Samantha will be a problem, there will also be people who are actually helpful.

Titus turned away from the others, and walked towards the tents, just in time to see a blue/gray shape speed by. He looked back at the Scizor and Houndoom morphs. "Um, do either of you know what that was?" A bit of realization dawned on his face. "That reminds me, what are your names? We're all stuck here together, so that'll likely be important."

Titus took a quick look at Vesta. "Okay, so there was one more."

Lester felt his spine shiver at the frozen touch of Samantha. She placed a hand on his cheek, and he felt the warmth draining away into her palm. "Maybe you two should get better acquainted." And then she was off on her own. Lester took a moment to breathe.

Another Carnie introduced herself as Vesta, and looked to be an Arcanine. Lester looked after the girl walking-or maybe "hobbling" was a better verb-away now that the Ice Morph was gone.

The Kingler Morph asked for everyone's names. He did a double-take, and coughed. "I'm, uh... I'm Lester-jus-just a second." He said quickly, then walked after Jayy. It didn't take long to catch up to her slow walking pace.

"Hey-I mean, uh, you're... It's Jayy, isn't it?" He asked. "I just wanted to see-or, you know..." He had to take another breath. "Are you okay?"