He/Him, TTRPG Designer, Co-Founder of @huntsmenshydra. Business inquiries [email protected] | PFP by @bigbyshand | Banner by @theeverdrift
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ALT Panel 1: Val stumbles backwards, flailing her arms, as Audrey looks at her with a motherly smile, a beam of light literally emanating from his face like it's a spotlight. Panel 2: The light beam dissipates slightly as Val falls on her butt and crushes a few errant pizza boxes with a "CRK". Panel 3: Audrey continues smiling sweetly and says "Val, that black mold thing ... was a lie, wasn't it." Panel 4: Val begins panicking, flopping over from the pizza boxes onto her shins and stammering "I -- I was trying to buy time to CLEAN MY ROOM. B-but -- I couldn't even do THAT because --"
ALT Panel 5: The joy vanishes from Audrey's expression and is replaced with surprise as Val seemingly pauses speaking for a few seconds. Panel 6: Tears well in Val's eyes as she can no longer meet Audrey's gaze or hold her composure. She says "Because I'm a fuck-up. And you shouldn't be friends with me." Panel 7: Audrey squats down to touch her shoulder, saying "Val ..." Panel 8: Still crying but now with a frustrated, tense expression, having an outburst, Val says "Oh, WHAT, Audrey???" and raises her hands up to gesture towards him.
ALT Panel 9: Val, now standing on her knees and slightly exceeding Audrey's squating height, gestures back at her very messy room littered with mail, takeout bags, and cans, and says "You gonna tell me I'm not a GROSS LOSER?? Are you gonna look me in the eyes, in the middle of this DUMPSTER of a room, and DENY REALITY???" Panel 10: Audrey, looking bored now and looking away from Val, replies "Okay. You're a loser, Val." Panel 11: Val has her eyes wide and mouth agape. The background is totally white. She is shocked that he actually said it. Panel 12: Closeup of the part of Val's room with the now-crushed two pizza boxes. There is also a paper towel roll, a box from a delivery, an unopened envelope, two used paper towels, and a takeout bag there on the stained floor. Audrey continues to speak, saying "looking around here, there's no denying that you're LOSING."
ALT Panel 13: Closeup of Audrey's mouth from the side, as he says "But" Panel 14: Audrey puts his face close to Val's with a wide-eyed, intense expression, which she seems to match out of surprise. "What GAME are you playing, exactly?" he says, "On what DIFFICULTY?" Panel 15: Audrey's expression turns back to his usual one of compassion as he and Val look at each other and he says "Nobody is good at EVERYTHING, VAL. And we're all made to play games in life that aren't DESIGNED for us." Panel 16: Audrey puts his arms between his knees, still in squatted position, and puts his palms together. The sunlight from the window illuminates him in a warm glow and he winks, his one open eye glistening. "But I think we can find a way to beat this one. In co-op mode," he says "What do you say, girlie?"
ALT Panel 1: Audrey is knocking on the door at Val's second floor, outdoor entrance apartment. He's wearing a green sweater-dress with a striped pattern resembling trees, blue tights, and cream-colored ankle warmers. He's got two bags from the convenience store in his right hand and his red purse slung around his left shoulder. Panel 2: He waits, smiling contently, as there is no response to the knocking. Panel 3: "Val?" he says, raising his hand to knock again. Panel 4: The view splits between two sides of the door, revealing that Val had already been quietly standing there on the opposite side, her forehead on the door and her eyes clenched shut in frustration. "Yeah Audrey, I'm here," she responds. "Oh! Did you get rid of the black mold?" asks Audrey.
ALT Panel 5: "Yeah. Yeah, I did," says Val. Audrey looks away from the door awkwardly, holding the strap of his purse, and asks "Then, um ... may I come in?" Panel 6: Val shuts her eyes tight in anxious anticipation and grasps the door handle, unlocking it with a "click". Panel 7: Audrey gingerly steps into the room, looking down at the unopened mail on the ground as Val stands behind the door holding it, eyes still shut, and a fly buzzes by in front of them. Panel 8: Audrey looks forward at the room and his eyes widen.
ALT Panel 9: Val scrunches up, her shoulders rising around her neck as she keeps her eyes shut tight and furrows her brow with anxiety. Surrounding her is darkness, because she can't see right now, though the door is there because she can feel it. She thinks, "I can feel Audrey's gaze on me now. I wonder how he's looking at me ..." Panel 10: In her imagination forms an Audrey with a comically disgusted face, leaning away and biting his lip. "Disgust?" she thinks, "That would make sense." Panel 11: The imagined Audrey now has an expression of pity, his eyes gloomy and pained looking down at her. "Pity?" she thinks. Panel 12: The imagined Audrey now has a rageful expression, mouth tensed, brows furrowed, pupils turned into concentric circles. "Or ... maybe hatred?" she thinks.
ALT Panel 13: Val is in a white void, eyes still closed, down on her knees and with her fists clenched in frustration, sweating. "I don't want to open my eyes," she thinks, "BUT. I can't keep them closed FOREVER. Can I? Perhaps ... Just a peek ....." Panel 14: Val's room behind her now becomes visible as she ever so slightly opens just one eye, still tensing her shoulders and biting her lip nervously. Panel 15: Audrey has a calm smile and looks at Val with gentle, loving eyes as four tiny doves around the panel carry two banners spelling out "MOTHERLY LOVE." The background bursts with light. Panel 16: Val is getting, metaphorically, absolutely obliterated by the light of Audrey's gaze. It is, metaphorically, literally disintegrating her as she throws her hands up feebly to defend herself and yells, the light erasing nearly all color in the panel.
