| Babel; [Ask First; Closed to Charles, Hanako, Aleph, Eri] | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 20 2013, 12:19 AM (626 Views) | |
| Czernobog | Dec 27 2013, 09:32 PM Post #21 |
|
Best Influence.
|
"Safeguard? Perhaps. The fuckhead has trained himself away from malice -- not repressing it, but eradicating it -- so I was created without any. I don't hate anyone else. Only him." It stretched a bit, and reclined against the bench. "Though...mostly, you have it. I want to break his relationships with others and deny him strength. I don't want to kill anyone. Ideally, he would simply vanish and cease to be. He and I are in accord on this, though he is too cowardly to acknowledge that fact." The shadow perked up. "He's coming around again." Naoya's hands fumbled around the boots he wore beneath his school pants, and found no knife. "Damn. Suppose I'll have to improvise. This is going to be goddamn artless." The shadow pulled at his lips, forcing the corners up into a broad -- and, for once, even -- smile. With that, it raised its right hand, the one that it had just used to clear its right ear, and jabbed it into the same canal. Into the first knuckle...the second...and stopping a bit before the third. Immediately, he fell to his left, collapsing in a pile upon the ground beside the bench. Edited by Czernobog, Dec 27 2013, 09:35 PM.
|
![]() |
|
| The One True Nobody | Dec 27 2013, 09:53 PM Post #22 |
|
"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
|
Nevan made no move to stop the Shadow. Kyo screamed inside her head. You--you--you--! Nevan stood still, with her hands clamped behind her back, tilting her head to the side and watching Naoya collapse with a look of clinical detachment on her face. "Ergh... artless is a word for that, alright," she said. "Why the physical harm, that's the part I don't get... 'symmetry,' Penelope said, why the fixation on 'symmetry...'" Nevan knelt down beside Naoya, taking out Kyo's phone and typing out a message with a look of annoyance on her face, and then sent it, again to Shin's phone: shadow took over, jabbed a finger in naoya's ear might need a healer got it to say some things that might help understand it, I'll tell you later - nevan "So is your front face back in control yet?" Nevan asked. "I love it when my other self's plans come together. Kind of sorry about breaking the promise to stop you from doing that, but that part wouldn't be easy to figure out without a pattern and a pattern can't be established with only one injury..." Then, her smile vanished. "My front face should have thought about that before putting the reins in the hands of the face that's just obsessed with fixing people so she can feel good about herself, shouldn't she?" ...Nevan, you... "Why am I talking when I don't even know if you can hear me?" Nevan sighed, slipping her phone in her pocket and moving to put a hand on Naoya's shoulder. "Hey, there, sugar, can you put out a Diarahan? Well, first, let's get that finger out of your ear." |
![]() |
|
| Czernobog | Dec 27 2013, 10:49 PM Post #23 |
|
Best Influence.
|
The shadow had, unfortunately, vanished before having a chance to respond to Nevan's question. Naoya shook, a constant stream of air passing between his teeth and his lips in a way that was suggestive of screaming, but didn't actually produce any sound. He slowly pulled his finger free: it was covered in blood and thicker bits of viscera. He looked at it, and clenched his teeth tightly shut. Nevan's speech was muffled and he felt more nauseous than anything else. "I...I can't..." he began. He cast a diarahan on his ear, and it was returned -- cosmetically, at least -- to how it had looked previously. He still felt nauseous and things sounded muffled. "What? Er...what wazzat?" he rasped. |
![]() |
|
| The One True Nobody | Dec 27 2013, 11:17 PM Post #24 |
|
"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
|
Nevan sighed, and moved to help Naoya sit up. "Easy, there, easy," she said blandly. "It'll probably take some time for your hearing to come back. Of course, if it's anything like your leg, there'll be lasting damage... that happens, you know, when you really want it to. Like me... if you want to understand a Shadow... be a Shadow." Nevan winked her left eye, and then moved to the right, hoping that Naoya's other ear would be able to more clearly hear her. "Your uncle should be here in a little while, so just... sit back, and relax..." she said in a slightly breathy voice. "And don't worry about 'her,' she's still in here. Still okay. Still a friend, you know? She just wanted to put herself on the right wavelength... the right frequency... that's how you truly touch people, it's something she did a lot back when she was--haha, oh, but if I go into that I'd probably make you go all red and flustered again..." Nevan, you can let go now-- "Oh, will you please just give me five minutes!" Nevan asked in a harried voice, backing away from Naoya and rolling her eyes at the sky. "It's not like I can say anything you haven't admitted to yourself!" Why can't I hear half the things you-- "I told you, because you don't want to!" Nevan snapped, now sounding genuinely angry for the first time since taking control, stomping one foot down in the style of a classic children's temper tantrum. Folding her arms over stomach, she turned away from Naoya and began to walk, but then the turned around and walked back toward him, then away again, then toward--pacing, with a slight sway in her steps. "I can't do anything you don't want, I can't hide anything you don't want hidden, I'm you, I'm you, I'm--I'm--I'm--" She pulled her head into her hands and bowed it down, fingers digging into her hair behind her ears. "I'm you, so just trust me for five--fucking--minutes--!" I can't--Nevan, I can't hear-- "...Oh, for the love of--" Sharply, she whirled on Naoya, eyes wide with frustration. "You can hear me, right? Come on, you've got at least one good ear! You'll listen, right? Of course you'll listen, you're like me, trying to fix everyone and everything because that makes you feel better, you can't fix yourself but at least you can fix something, right?! SO FIX ME." It wasn't quite a shout, in fact it barely carried across the empty rooftop. But it was loud, sudden, a sharp increase in volume. And then Nevan stood stock still, staring at Naoya, that same wide-eyed look of frustration fixed on her face. Frustration, and maybe a little bit of hope. |
![]() |
|
| Czernobog | Dec 27 2013, 11:26 PM Post #25 |
|
Best Influence.
|
Naoya flinched at the sound of her voice. Negan seemed to be having some kind of breakdown, going on a ranting tirade against Kyo. Apparently Nevan wanted to say things that Kyo didn't want to hear. Why did Kyo think it had been a good idea to hand the reins off to her manipulative, conniving, and -- above all -- dangerous persona? That was a conversation for later. Naoya decided to adopt the same stance he did with his shadow: compliant but not at all happy about anything that was happening. "Talk a mite quieter, 'n' I'll hear y' out," Naoya said, rubbing the right side of his head. "I got issues with th' way you're framin' th' issue, but it don't matter much. Talk quick-like." He rubbed the side of his head, careful not to smear blood on the hat that Chika had made for him. |
![]() |
|
| The One True Nobody | Dec 28 2013, 01:06 AM Post #26 |
|
"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
|
Nevan's mouth closed tight, her lips pressed together in a thin line. "I'm framing it in the most literal way possible, dammit. She only ever hears it if I'm all clever and inscrutible about it. All that in-your-face symbolism that could mean anything from prophecies of the end-times to... basic sexual frustration. Feh." The Persona walked around a did a little sexy twirl, stopping when she was turned to the side, arms at her sides and hands held out, one foot place behind her, toes to the ground--a simple, feminine stance that emphasized her form, looking a bit ridiculous with the boy's uniform on. "She won't listen, but she wants everyone else to know, oh yes," Nevan said flatly. "Wants them to know everything. Every little goddamn thing. Why do you think me and Morrigan are both so revealing? Look at me. Look at all of me. It's not about... sex or seduction, dammit. If it were ever about that she would have ascended when she got herself a new boyfriend. That was just the first hurdle, though: opening up to other people, letting them in, letting them see... the second was learning to see past first impressions and stop judging people, get to know them, learn what they're really like. She got the first two parts in her first week here, and she got them so easily. But she's been stuck on the last part for ages..." Nevan turned back toward Naoya, eyes flashing brighter yellow. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter, since apparently our Shadow has a life of its own in the ruins now," she said. "That's bound to speed things up. You see, there's a thing about me. I'm nowhere close to being the same as that other green-haired loudmouth, but we're the same in at least one way. Both of us, running around in circles obsessing over ourselves, our pasts, our fuck-ups, and everything that brought us here. If you ask me I've got more to feel bad about than she does. I mean, sure, she's a murderer... but she probably has some long, twisted, tragic list of reasons for being that way. Me, I was just so lonely that I decided other people didn't deserve to be treated like people." Her head tilted to the side and Nevan put on a mock-pout. "Me, I only ever stepped on people because I thought it was fun. Even Aleksandria at her worst was a better person than me. She wanted to cure her father. I just wanted to get off." She threw her hands up in the air and turned away again. "But that's not what anyone cares about. Never what anyone cares about. How much damage? How much damage did you do? How hard should we slap you on the wrists! Never what was going on underneath, never ever. So narrow-minded, all of you. None of you want to see the shadows." |
![]() |
|
| Czernobog | Dec 28 2013, 04:06 PM Post #27 |
|
Best Influence.
|
Naoya leaned against the side of the bench, but remained seated on the ground as Nevan monologued for a good long moment. He wondered: Is this what I sound like when I talk for a long time? After a moment, he cocked his head to the side. "I think y' mighta gone off-track there, a wee bit. You mentioned a third part, but th' only thing that comes t' mind is th' approach 'f 'fixin'' people -- fixin' 'em like they're things -- 'stead 'f helpin' 'em like they're people. 'N' I realize that this is kinda hypocritical t' say...but we may be, y'know, may be narrow-minded, but yer comin' across all gnomic as fuck-all." He spoke tiredly, resting his jaw on his right fist. After a moment, he checked the wound on his head, then peeled the hat off. There was a small spot of blood inside, and he rubbed it with the pad of his thumb, trying to scrape the blood from the fibers instead of risking grinding it in. "'N' I realize that this shit seems clear 's day to you, but communicatin' ain't worth shit if'n it don't take into account th' needs 'f th' listener. So run that by me, simple 's you can, 'n' avoid repeatin' th' obvious if 't all possible. Or did y' just wanna bitch 'bout Kyo not gettin' what you're sayin'?" |
![]() |
|
| The One True Nobody | Dec 29 2013, 05:54 AM Post #28 |
|
"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
|
Nevan sighed, and rubbed at her eyes, one hip tilted to the side, head bowed. Its overall stance was so unlike Kyo's--Kyo, who made a point to sit and stand in a mostly masculine way, matching her style of dress, unless she was being deliberately teasing or seductive. The Persona put her hands on her hips after a moment and turned back to Naoya. "The third part is me," she said slowly, and clearly. "The--third--part--is--me. And she's looking at it all backwards. She's looking at it so backwards that if I or anyone tried to tell her point-blank what she's doing wrong, she won't hear it. She'll write it off as well-meaning encouragement if it comes from someone else... and if she's not going to hear it, I can't say it. But I know! She knows! Deep down, somewhere in that sewer-brain of hers, she knows. She's known it all since before she got here, she's had all the pieces and just hasn't put them all in the right order yet." Nevan clicked her tongue and looked away. "And you're almost exactly the same," the Leanashe said. "It just comes out in a different way. Think about this, sweetie: it isn't just the things your Shadow tells you that are important. It's also the things it can't say." Nevan snapped her finger, a sour look of malcontent twisting Kyo's face. "I'm done. Have a nice fucking day," the Persona grunted, and then the yellow glow flicker out like a light being switched off. Kyo's eyes returned to their original mismatched green and yellow, and she stumbled a bit, putting her hand to her forehead and looking a bit faint. "Uh--well--that's new," she said in a worried voice. "I couldn't hear anythin' it was--why couldn't I hear--" Lightheaded. So lightheaded all of a sudden-- And she lost her feet, stumbled forward, landing on her hands and knees, head buzzing like a radio that had been tuned to the space between stations. Kyo felt, above all, more than anything, drained. At first she thought it was standard exhaustion, a few nights without draining anyone catching up to her, maybe... but a moment later, she registered something else: despite being fully charged with magic when she'd come up onto the roof, she now didn't have a single ounce of magic energy in her. It was as though she'd just used it all up firing spells everywhere, except she hadn't actually done anything... ...Wha...? |
![]() |
|
| Czernobog | Dec 29 2013, 12:09 PM Post #29 |
|
Best Influence.
|
Naoya patted the ground right next to the bench, on the same level he was on. This was the sort of situation that called for sitting on the ground and holding on to a bench for support, he felt. "C'mon. I get th' feelin' we got t' swap information a bit." He closed his eyes and dipped his head forward a bit. "Had a little bit 'f a chat with Nevan. Seems she's got some thoughts on th' way yer goin' 'bout handlin' yer issues." |
![]() |
|
| The One True Nobody | Dec 29 2013, 02:37 PM Post #30 |
|
"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
|
"...I know y'were talkin' to her," Kyo ducking her head a bit. "I could hear... you. But s'like... s'like my mouth was flappin' and nothin' was comin' out... damn, I feel like--oh, never mind, this ain't s'possedta be about me..." A few shakes of the head, and then Kyo managed to get to her feet and shuffle back over to the bench. When she sat back down, she put her head in her hands. All the overt femininity had gone from her movements and stance--when she sat, she just flopped down carelessly as she always did. "I could only ever hear her when she weren't talkin' 'bout me," Kyo said. "Figured if--if I was t' have any shot o' gettin' your Shadow t'say anythin' helpful, it'd be easier if I put myself on its wavelength, yeah? So I asked Nevan t'... urgh, wasn't expectin' whatever that was..." A sigh. "I miss Morrigan..." |
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · Taiyoutono High School · Next Topic » |
| Track Topic · E-mail Topic |
1:29 PM Jul 11
|







1:29 PM Jul 11