tsaf loop 2: nowhere to run

The weather is so ugly for stumbling around town with a bunch of injuries, Dakota almost wishes she hadn’t tried to kill Robbie Goodman. 

Almost. 

Waking up tied up in his garage and struggling to break free was already hard enough, and seeing that he booked it? 

Terrible. She’d find him again, and again, and again! For now, though.........she’s taking a well deserved break. 

Hmmmmmmmmm.........good thing she taught herself lockpicking while hiding from the cops! Ta-da!~ Home at last. Not her own home, but Lin’s.....hope they don’t mind the blood on her foot. 

“Liiiiiiiiiin!~” what can she say, she’s happy! She’s missed them a whole lot!

Dakota would see a few things in Lin's house a bit... Different to when they last were when Robbie confronted them in here.

The curtains were closed, in, well every room in fact, nothing could see in, nothing could see out.

There were also a surprising amount of things, scattered around the place. But, in an almost orderly fashion, books propped up like cover, chairs aligned as barricades, and yet, the coffee table with the workload on it still remained as ever, paper sheets littering the table as per the usual.

Just before Dakota cried out their name, Lin was nowhere to be seen in the main room next to the door. Instead, they were in the garden. A little bleep went off on their phone. They grabbed something next to them and waited there, stopping what they were doing. 

“Liiiiiiiin!” Geez...they really had gone all out, huh? She wasn’t complaining, honestly, the outside world was terrible right now, but...still. 

“I brought back your pistol!” She swings it around slightly, almost pulling the trigger by accident. Whoops! A shame she lost the gun she’d decorated, but at least she’d brought Lin’s back!

Well, that gunshot was all the reason Lin needed to have a full on panic attack outside. They can't hear Dakota shouting from outside.

They grab what they were holding outside and go up to the back door of their house, slowly opening the door to see what's there.

Very abruptly, they kick in their back door and storm into the room... And see Dakota standing there with their original pistol.

Well, ok well since losing their pistol Lin panic bought... A full on rifle. They were stood there, pointing it at Dakota for a few moments before realising who they were looking at, then immediately put it down.

 "Dakota!" They smile, before looking at Dakota, and their injuries "O-oh my God... What the- WHAT HAPPENED?"

Doesn’t matter. She smiled, half running, half limping towards Lin before pulling them into a somewhat loose hug. 

Her arms hurt way too much for a tight one, but just hugging them was enough. Just...ignore the blood on the white part of her jacket? It’s bothering her too :( 

“I missed you!~” her voice is sweet, cheerful, optimistic, everything it wasn’t a day ago. “Sorry for stealing your pistol, I promise I won’t do it again!” 

No mention of the amount of injuries she was carrying, of course.

... Lin doesn't know how to really respond to that... First they see Dakota covered in blood then finding out she stole their pistol... Kinda sus.

In that moment though, it's the least of their concerns. They realise how lightly Dakota's hugging them and well, gently hug them back. It doesn't bother Lin that there might now also be blood on their shirt. 

"Missed you too..." Their voice sounds quite panicked. "What the hell happened?" Lin looks deeply concerned right now, they'll ask about the gun later.

"...well....when?" She forces out a small laugh, staggering over to the cough with them and resting her head on their shoulder. 

Everything is fine now. She's home.  ".....I got beat up the day after the doxxing thing.........and then I visited Robbie, and I thought I had my BB gun but it was actually my real gun...I might have a concussion so I've been mixing them up...and I accidentally shot him a few times." 

A shaky sigh? This whole experience has been great for her acting skills, really. She grabs Lin's hand, squeezing it tightly.  

"...and....he knocked me out with...a rock, I think....and stabbed my foot multiple times....I had to stagger all the way back home."

Ok well, that's quite blatant to see through considering that Dakota just said Lin had stolen their gun as well. Never the less, Lin's just the tiniest but concerned 

"... O-Oh my god..." Lin doesn't do much when Dakota grabs their hand just, tries to tense it a little so Dakota squeezing it doesn't hurt (even though it didn't much). 

"You... Shot Robbie? Oh my goodness... He stabbed you afterwards? Like, once you were out?" Lin's concerned more for Dakota here but well, can't blame them as they're much closer to Dakota then they ever were for Robbie.

"....yeah....once I was out."  

She takes off her boot, showing Lin the brutal wound on her foot with a small wince. It's easier to pretend that it's not entirely her fault when Robbie hurt her on purpose as well.  

"....it's okay, though! I'm just happy to be with you again!" 

... Ahhhah that's... Not a pleasant sight to see your best friend with a lot of stab wounds in their leg. They gulp a little before just, getting out of their hug. 

"I uhm... We should bandage you up, then talk about it... Ok? That doesn't look very good... Could get infected if we leave it like this." 

They give her a little bit of a smile though it's a sorta, hide behind the pain smile. "Happy to see you too Dakota."

"There's not much to talk about." She's taking her sock off now, cringing as she sees that....yikes. Okay. Hrk. 

She's looking away. "...at least that's the only one that can get infected, right?" She tries giving Lin an optimistic smile, but fails. 

"I just missed you."