GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

He felt hands pulling at him, lurching him on into the next room, but he didn't care enough to resist. Immediate pain didn't follow the motion, so with closed eyes he was left to assume it was Carlo dragging him into safety. He didn't care enough to open them to check. Either he was momentarily safe, or he was as good as dead and this would be over soon. Until the room stopped spinning, he wasn't feeling all that picky.

He listened to Carlo in quiet sympathy, noting from his voice that they were probably safe in the immediate sense of the word. The commando seemed strained, but so was he. It was when Carlo asked if he was okay that he opened his eyes to see what they'd survived to make it to. His eyes set on the swan boat, and all Cat could remember in that moment was getting slapped around in a dragon's throat.

Well, at least he knew why now.

A laughter broke from him, but it was sharp and hoarse as he put his face in his hands. "Nooo." Whether it was an answer to either of Carlo's questions or an outright denial of his current situation was difficult to say. Cat inhaled slowly, exhaling just as slowly. Once, twice, three times. "I get it now. I know why they wouldn't let us log out without dying. It was this quest, specifically." Then, he forced himself to stand, running a hand back through his hair while he looked around. "We'll be fine. Maybe there's ... an alternate route." He knew, even as he said it, that there was a fat chance. Sure enough, where there'd usually be some sort of door to a walk through, there was just a flat wall.

He wasn't willing to go back, that was for sure.

GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

Catharsis frowned at Carlo when he talked about logging out, but he didn't actually voice his disapproval. He didn't think he'd ever seen the guy this bad off. He was torn between habitual resentment at being thrust into the position of emotional caretaker just because he could see it was needed, and reminding himself of what Carlo had done for him ever since they'd first met at Blightfang. He inhaled slowly, rocking back once on his heels before shrugging.

"I don't see why not." He said, forcing his tone to appear as casual as it possibly could. He knew this was a big deal for Carlo, but he had no interest in embarrassing him or pushing the point. It was a tentative first step into the swan boat as Cat made his way in, expecting the thing to drop down or cage him inside, or for a monster to be waiting from below. Once he stood inside, there was nothing but the light rocking, the boat not even trying to take off without the second part of their duo. Inhaling slowly, he slid over to the far side of the boat, sitting as far as he could to give Carlo space. The commando might be too blind of his fear to notice the context of the situation, but Cat wasn't. There was no need to add onto the guy's stress if he was already being pushed to the brink.

He didn't say anything while he waited for Carlo to gather up his nerve, glancing over the side and into the water like it was normal, as if his own heart wasn't racing in his chest while he waited for the other shoe to drop. When Carlo finally sat down, though, the swan boat lurched into motion without missing a beat, and Cat winced. But ... nothing. He frowned, waiting for whatever might follow.

GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

When Carlo finally joined him, he sat a bit closer than Cat was expecting. He glanced at him, eyes flicking up and down, and noticed the way his hands were trembling. It was easy, then, to chalk it up to the fact that the guy was scared. Cat kept his eyes forward, pretending not to have noticed while he crossed his arms and leaned back. With Carlo sitting so close, it's not like he had anywhere to go, anyway. When the guy asked him not to tell anyone, he hummed a note under his breath and exhaled a soft, "Who would I even tell?"

He caught himself, though, on the habit of being vague enough to not actually be lying. He deliberated, eyes on the watery path ahead of them through the dark. "I won't. Don't worry." He corrected.

Catharsis was tense as a coiled spring, or something else, feeling worse because he expected something to be coming and ... nothing was. When the lights changed he jumped and winced, blinking rapidly to adjust as he looked through the room and shut his eyes tightly. Ah, of course. Of course it would do this. A balloon drifted right into his face, and he flicked it away in irritation, effectively uncrossing his arms. He looked down over the side, expecting to see something reach up from the water towards him, or feel something fall down from above, but ... nothing happened. Nothing, except for the swan boat slowing to a stop.

His heart beat began to race faster, but he kept his voice even. "It's probably just a resting point. For the couples thing." He said, but he kept his eyes over the side of the boat, waiting to be proven wrong. It was, really, his hope that it would just start moving again soon, and nothing more was going to happen. He could only guess how this was affecting Carlo, though, so he leaned back and looked at him. "Hey, while we're waiting, has anyone ever taught you any grounding techniques?" He asked, trying to keep Carlo talking and present with him. If something was coming for him, he would need him to at least be able to fire his gun. If nothing came, and the swan boat was set to start again after some time, then all the better.

No alternatives really occurred to him.

GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

There was something about being still that ate at Cat even as he didn't want to admit to it, folding his arms tight into himself as the smell of still water and cigarette smoke hung in the air. He hated it; it was familiar, a lie trying to drag down his guard. A painful heaviness grew in his chest, something he couldn't identify past knowing that it couldn't be from the simulation; it was a feeling he didn't recognize, and he could feel it hanging around his neck like a noose when Carlo spoke back to him, jolting him back into the present.

Cat heard it as a loud and clear, 'fuck off,' and his lips cracked into a sharp smile as a harsh laugh left him. "That's fair." He admitted, leaning back a bit more comfortably than maybe he should have. Carlo was tense, but it didn't seem to be because of him; even having just crossed a line, he didn't feel as worried as he probably should have. Still, it didn't mean he was happy to be there. Lazily, he kicked out with a long leg into the front side of the boat from his position of being slightly turned away from Carlo. The contact of his boot with whatever material the boat was made out of made a 'thunk' noise. He didn't actually have any hope that it would convince the swan boat to start up again, but it was worth a shot.

GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

It had worked! To Catharsis' relief, the swan boat started moving again. He turned to look at Carlo with an almost childish beam that didn't falter in the face of the soldier's glare. It was fine if the Commando was mad at him; he could be proud enough of himself for the both of them. His smile only faltered a little bit when he noticed just how close Carlo had drawn to him, drawing his glance away quickly and out towards the water. "You're right. I won't do it again." He said in lieu of any actual apology. The truth of it, of course, hinged entirely on the Empath's hope that he wouldn't have to.

His face only fell entirely when Carlo asked the personal question. He turned his gaze back to Carlo, not quite frowning but clearly not smiling either as his eyes drifted just past meeting that of the soldier's. He spoke slowly, as if still deciding which truths to give Carlo to potentially use against him later even as the words left his lips. "I was never in the military, no." It was an easy start; one he figured the guy would expect anyway. "I became certified as an EMT the moment it was legal, after I'd already left home." It was letting on that he had done so before turning 18, but that wasn't something Carlo would necessarily know, was it? "Depending on whether or not you count my work there, three or four years, I guess?"

He didn't like this, desperately wanting to change the subject, but if Carlo needed it to stay present, then-

Before he could open his mouth to try to redirect the conversation towards the soldier, a familiar tongue swept down and wrapped around him from above, and potentially Carlo as well if he hadn't been more watchful, yanking them back upwards at a nauseating speed before dropping them right outside of the entrance. Cat kept his eyes shut for a moment as he let himself be dropped on his ass, groaning as he heard the ping that told him the quest had been completed and he'd gotten his money for it.

Had it been worth it? Had it really?