auroraexpress | (no subject)

....oh my god.

You really could be a vigilante.

If I am, that was the start of my career. Did you see? No scars.

[ Pushes her sleeves up, like, look at this nonsense. There are bite marks. ]

Certainly was a heck of a way too. If someone is doing weird puzzle dungeon, you probably ran right into a crazy mastermind or a conspiracy.

[WHY ARE THERE BITE MARKS????]

[ Why wouldn't there be bite marks! She's got basically every other kind of scar possible, might as well go for bingo. Rubs at them lightly, making a face. ]

I hope I punched them in the balls.

[ For so many complicated reasons. ]

And that guy I was with ...

I hope you did too.

...yeah, he wasn't looking too good. But he didn't seem to be in shock quite yet, so that's something.

Mmm ... [ Trails off into a low, wordless grumble, fidgeting with her hands now. ]

There was a lot of blood. I didn't know what to do about it at all. [ Shakes her head. ] And ... I don't know. I don't know how I felt about him. There's something complicated there ...

[ Is she a bad person? She feels like maybe she might be. ]

It can be hard in that situation. Though you might have learned first aid since. We should see, it's always a good skill to have.

Like...hated him, but also didn't want him like that complicated?

… Huh. [ Give her a second, she's thinking about that. ] Now that I'm thinking about it, I think I must have learned it. [ She knows what she should have been doing, how she could have been helping. ]

[ Slumps back, scooping the hat off her head to run her fingers through her hair. ]

I don't … I don't know. He's a bad guy, a thief. He's caused a lot of trouble for my dad, and that pisses me off. But when I looked at him, it was like … [ Gestures!! ] It wasn't just that I didn't wanna see him hurt like that.

Makes sense. If nothing else, you don't get hurt that much and not pick up some stuff. [Kind of hard when treatment can also hurt.]

[He looks towards the screen with a thoughtful hum.] He was hurt badly. You weren't at all. I'm guessing he protected you. And you're a good, hopeful person by nature. At least that's been my impression.

It takes being really jaded to not be grateful at that sort of thing. If you saw him as a troublemaker before, you probably weren't ready for that. It's hard to change an opinion on a person after you've thought of them one way for a while.

Edited 2019-07-25 00:21 (UTC)

[ Huffs a laugh … it's not one of her usual bright giggles. There's almost an edge to it, something faintly sardonic. ] No kidding. Ah, well … at least it's a useful skill, something that can help people. [ She doesn't doubt that it's going to come in handy here. ]

[ Twists the hat between her hands. ]

No. I mean — yeah, that's all true … or at least, it sounds right. But there's still something else. [ She glances at him, her smile wry. ] You know that feeling, when something's right on the tip of your tongue? That's how I felt.

It is. People always get hurt, be it minor scrapes or [Bleeding out. Apparently.]

....been having that all day. You think it's a bad tip of the tongue?

... Or something a lot worse. [ Twist, twist, twist - ah, no. It's brand new, she shouldn't fidget it to death. She quickly stuffs it back on her head. ] Not all of the trials are gonna be like today's.

[ Inevitably, things are going to get Bad. They'll just have to do everything they can to meet it and overcome it when it does. ]

[ She makes a tippy 'so-so' gesture in response to his question. ] It's definitely not a good tip of the tongue. Bad ... maybe. Probably? "Complicated" fits best.

[So much fidgetting.]

[And now he'll take her hand first this time!!! And points. He thinks they missed out on a few before.]

[But figures she can fuss with his hand or just hold it.]

We're dealing with a pretty dangerous foe. It's unavoidable. But all the better to have people who can help keep people alive.

Ah. Gotta love those complicated. Guess we'll need to get some more context.

[ Sorry Aoko doesn't think about earning sparks before she reaches out!! She doesn't start fidgeting with his hand, settling instead for holding on. Letting it centre and anchor her. ]

... [ She draws in a breath, holds it, and lets it out again slowly. ]

You remember earlier, during the game? I told you there was something I've been trying not to think too hard about.

[Dusk is good at multitasking and thinking one thing while doing another. We'll get those points with our constant touching either way!!!]

[Will keep holding her hand, squeezing hers gently.]

...yeah. [Though he's pretty sure he can guess at least part of it.] What's up?

[ tmw faito and dusk earn thousands of points purely because their hands are magnetically drawn together. ]

I've got some interesting scars. [ Glances back down at the few that are visible on her legs. ] There's all sorts. Burn marks, these little … weird, winding things … the bite marks … [ The one on her neck, which she's pretty sure goes all the way around. ] … And this one thing right over my heart. Dead center.

It feels silly to worry too much about it. What's done is done, and maybe ... maybe whatever experience I gained from these, I can turn into something positive here. Still, it's a little ...

[Every thread, POINTS.]

Terrifying?

You're....young. Really young to have marks like that. One or two near death experiences, sometimes that happens, but all this... [Looking over her arms. And his own, honestly. And how hers had to come in such a short amount of time because she's still young and she couldn't have been terribly young in her memory.]

But you did survive these things. Whatever happened, you lived, and you kept going forward, and you learned. And whatever we are, it's enough to get matching jewelry which I personally don't think is my usual style. You were still connecting with people.

You'll be able to help. That's what happens when you survive with people. You find a way to keep yourself alive and others alive.

Terrifying is one word for it, sure.

[ She has Complicated Feelings and trying to find the right words to express them is hard. ] Well … [ She pulls up a smile. ] It'll be fine. I'm alive and you're alive, and like you said, whatever we were before, we must have been close. I get the feeling I don't hold hands with just anybody. [ Gives their joined hands a bit of a squeeze for emphasis. ]

Now that we've both gotten back a memory, though … I wonder how we met? Your technology was miles ahead.

Certainly one. Probably a lot could apply.

[He smiles gently.] I kmow I don't. Feels weird with most people. [A pause.] The armor may explain that. But it feels normal with you. So you're someone special. [Squeezes in turn.]

So remember I'm here. For overwhelming, at least partially terrifying things. In this together.

....to be fair, from how I was talking and context of the surgery, I think I'm a human experiment. [Clearly she just means that part.]

… Yeah. You'd better remember the same thing. [ Her smile softens, almost fading, and what's left behind is a lot more real. ]

[ Human experimentation though!! ]

That, uhm, no, that's not what I meant. I meant … all of it? The armor, the interfaces, the ships you guys were using - it's all years ahead of anything on Earth.

Yeah, I will. You'll have back up if you ever have to smack the sense back into me, at least. Rean and Randy are mother hens too. [He's joking. Probably.]

....what. What do you mean, that...should be normal?

I don't think I've met Randy yet. What're they like?

[ ... ]

It is definitely not normal where I'm from. All of that stuff looked like it was from a sci-fi movie!

....what.

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