deercountry | yes I knew it was no moonshine, it is real

[ It's been hundreds of years since humans reproduced through sex in her world anyway— not that anybody knew that, with the way that the androids controlled the cloning systems.

But off the cuff vulgarity is a hallmark of hers, and that disturbing reminder quickly passes. ]

Yeah, plans can suck a dick. [ The beasts don't seem to be out in as much force right now. Maybe this Black Parade thing really works. Gives her a night off at least. ] I don't know what a life without trouble even goddamn looks like.

Something like it, yeah. I'm new, I don't know the Dream like they do. But I know that place was---

[she presses her lips together, trying to think of a better word for it than bad or wrong, but lets it hang and only winces again - maybe her face conveys the word better than a word can. oh, wait - she's got the word.]

---hell. It was some kind of a hell.

It doesn't matter what it was.

[she's quiet again - walking where he walks, stopping if he stops, as unlikely as he is to do that.]

But what happened there matters.

[she thinks of her parents. of the memorial on the bridge. of vander and benzo and all of the others. ekko's mural. it might help robby to do something like that. to ...do something.]

[an equally good choice. she's relieved he didn't leave the choice up to her because ...it's not her strong suit right now. though she's not having any second thoughts about the design. she'll mix up the brightest and most neon of greens for the cracks in between the mirrored scales - deliberating a bit over where to place them, but using texture and color as a guide.

it looks like acid's spilling out from those cracks, but she steps back and presses her lips together, tilts her head.

and then remembers she's being watched. a look toward his minions, trying to suss out their opinions, should they have any that are easily readable. when she catches herself doing this, she huffs and rolls her eyes. maybe it would be better to just say it out loud?]

These blood effects really bite. I'm never this nervous, not even when I'm fighting at the Outpost.

[it doesn't quell the nerves completely, but it feels good to say it - she probably should have done that sooner. ah, yes - those horns. a bit of an oilslick silver there, there's some shift to it - mostly green, but the right light will catch blue, orange and even red. the finishing touch, though? the glowing paint. that's for the highlights - little slashing lines that suggest the rest of the monster when it's dark.]

Okay. No glitter for this one, but tell me what you think. And then we can take a look from one of the supply closets where it's dark, unless you can make darkness?

[maybe he can.]

[fang watches the next bit with interest - she likes the look of the glitter that's selected (she likes the look of any glitter, really) and it's an iridescent one with bits of silver in it that tops the cheeks, nose bridge and forehead. the omen doesn't have any commentary for this part.]

Nothing, I guess. You just keep catching me on good days. But I guess you got me there.

[is this a good day? well, no ...not for her brain, which she will now attempt to soothe with a deep breath, and another. oh, shit. she's forgotten to tell chizuru she's finished. she hopes she wasn't doing breathing exercises for too long.]

Sorry about that, Chizuru. You're all done.

[fang has fetched a mirror to hold up. see? she how helpful and well behaved she is, vi?]

He's very good at 'picking up what she's putting down', as Lance might say. She's still much better at reading human body language, even with these nerves running full force (full horse? nay.)

That gesture? That's exactly what she'd wanted to convey. It's hard to do in her state, but being understood is a bit of a balm.

She tilts her head, the universal 'bwuh?' gesture (also looks ridiculous on a horse), but she thinks on it. Snow could tell the herd exactly what had happened. Hell, she could even sort out the business with the corpses if need be. She can only refuse fresh carcass so many times before Wojciech possibly takes offense - maybe he already had.

Oh, no. She looks more nervous now, and she can neither control tail nor ears.

[off the cuff vulgarity? not minded at all. it's pretty welcome - vi's pretty hard to offend.]

What do you do for fun? Besides fuck shit up? Not that we can't go fuck some shit up, but...

...yeah, there's that whole trouble thing. It finds me. Always has.

[maybe a night off from fighting would be good for her?]

[ It's true, it doesn't matter what it was. Not whether it was a dream -- whatever constitutes as a dream or reality here -- but that it was. What was happening, the people there, those left behind. Robby thinks about the bodies, lifeless and left there. They couldn't bring anything back to bury, put to rest, and he's never thought about a thing like that so heavily before. He's never thought about his body after death, but he thinks about the one he and 2B left behind, and it drives him crazy.

Their walking have led them far, to where a small bridge crosses over where a river runs. Lumenflowers bunch together near its start, the sweet smell being carried along the water, the colour an oddly red-tinged. It's here that Robby does slow his walking, to come to a stop. Hands resting on the rough brickwork, and he isn't sure what he's doing anymore. It's just always like this, when he lets his head get fucked up, waging a war between the need to remember, and the part of him that doesn't want to. ]

You were at work. You didn't have to come out with me.

[ He might finally be acknowledging how crazy it is to drag out Vi like this, even if she came by her own volition. But people shouldn't do that, not for him. It's stupid, he's wasting her time -- it's no as if either of them can change anything.

He just needs to ride this out until it stops. That's how this works. ]

I don't do a whole lot of things I don't want to. So, I'm out here because I want to be. That's what friends do when shit hits the fan.

[it could be a glib response, it could be casual, but the hardness in her expression, the softness around her eyes and in her voice tells a different tale. she looks down into the water, leaning on the edge as she offers:]

What you saw, it ...it can change a lot.

[she doesn't elaborate, he doesn't need that - it's not useful. but it's true. the aftermath of revolution, her parents' broken bodies? that hadn't fucked her up nearly as much as watching helplessly as mylo and claggor were struck down - or watching vander make a choice about her that ended in watching the life leak out of him along with blood and shimmer. she still feels responsible, when she digs at it. she digs a little now and there it is.]

What if you did something for him, for them ...now? Something to put a pin in it, shine a light on it, let people know that it happened and---

[her fingers idly pick at the brickwork, fingernail edging out a little bit of mortar.]

---maybe they don't have to feel like they should forget.

Nothing you'd find exciting. [ Kainé, the absolute people person. ] I'll be singing... with Anna. Like at clubs, that kinda shit. But I still need more practice first.

[ She clears her throat, regretting that she just probably invited this woman to watch. Whoops. ]

I was always trouble.

[ A flat statement that offers no explanation. That's just how it is. ]

[ Chizuru moves over so she can look into the mirror.. and then lets out a content sound. ]

Miss Vi.. It's so pretty!

[ Judging by her tone, the girl genuinely seems to think that. It doesn't seem fake in the slightest - and neither does her smile, by the time Chizuru turns to face the other. She's definitely smiling from ear to ear. ]

Thank you so much for your help! If anyone asks me who did my face paint, I'll make sure to give you proper credit! [ Free advertising that Vi didn't even want in the first place.. Look at that..

She pauses for a moment though, the fingers of both of her hands interlacing as Chizuru seems to think. ]

You know though.. I'm not sure if the 'good days' thing is an excuse or not. [ A LITTLE BLUNT THERE.. But she means well, and there's an embarrassed edge at her tone, like Chizuru also feels a little guilty for calling it out like that, even though it's necessary for the next point she wants to make. ] But if it's not, then.. I hope to catch you on many more good days. I really enjoy being around you or talking to you, you know?

[ She shakes her head. ]

Besides, I need to make up for you helping me like this..!

As confusing as being a horse may be—he was a gryphon after all—his question hardly feels out of the blue given Snow helped Vi on horse related matters before. It's an easy connection to make, but Vi the horse is confused and awkward and uncertain. Some of that might be horse. Some of that might be—

No matter.

"You are okay," Duty declares to the horse with the calm confidence of a man who has often gotten his way, who has told comrades how things will go and had them believe him (and delivered upon those words). Honestly, it's not in the top hundred weirdest experiences of his life.

He raises one hand steadily and gently brushes her face. "You are okay," he repeats in low steady timber.

[ It's not a surprising response. Of course Vi's the type, I do what I want, but there's worth to the mention of friends. Unnecessary to some people, false to others; and Robby leans towards the latter out of experience, but here, with her, he takes in what she's saying.

It's good to have friends that believe it, and act on it. He'd come to her in the first place because she's one of the few comforts he has in this place. Laughably, he might have a few more here than he ever did back in the Valley.

But it's why he listens without impulse pessimism. Staring at the water, not trying to overthink anything; not letting the truth of it can change you give him reason to dig into the ways that's true. There's what comes next that gives him more pause, what she's suggesting -- a possibility he's never thought about before, and even now: ]

What do I do? [ How do you shine anything on an event like this? When: ] I didn't know the guy-- I mean, we just talked and I did some work for him, and I didn't even know the other guy. How do you bring something like that up?

[ To other strangers, people you don't know? Because who else is there to tell than the people who might've known either of them. Just, hey, this guy died, just like so many people here die.

(Because the thought of telling anyone he knows -- it doesn't occur to him as a possibility, or a potential. Why would it?) ]

Of all the things she might have expected, this isn't one of them. She's usually on the other side of this.

Hearing the words from someone else when she's frazzled to the bone is enough to strike her speechless. Quieted, the horse leans in to the touch, turning her head so her horn isn't in the way, huffing out a breath that's really just a sigh of relief. Her eyes blink away the human impulse of tears.

It's not just hearing the words, it's that steadiness that it is - that she will be and that she could even be now. Okay. In this moment. She can't recall the last time an adult had said this to her---

---oh, wait she can. That's a memory she hadn't expected to dredge up, either. But it's okay, too.

His voice becomes a simple soft murmur, rather than words. The sentiment is the same. Knowing where she is and what has happened, Duty can handle this latest unusual happening to his crew. He continues until he senses she truly is okay, at least for now.

"I'll leave word here, at Sanctuary, and at Achellion," Duty says, "You get their attention, they'll get mine." Whenever Vi needs it. It's hard being something else.

[Maul’s not big on physical touch from people, so letting someone put a bunch of makeup on his face is one of the closest ways he’ll come to really letting anyone get into his personal bubble. He has to fight down that urge to reach out and just hurt whoever is getting close to him instead of giving them the chance to do the same to him first, an instinct he’s kept close to his hearts all these years.

But since having some of his rougher edges sanded down, he’s getting a little better about being able to control that instinct and being able to surrender control to others, letting himself put a little bit of trust in those around him not to hurt him.]

I’ve been doing my best to keep it under control with meditation. Do you ever practice it?

[It’s just one of the many things that Maul teaches out of his home in Prufrock.

Maul gives a throaty chuckle when she asks if he’s able to make darkness.]

I have many powers but that is not one of the many abilities the Dark Side can grant.

[He grabs a nearby mirror and examines his face. His eyes go wide with surprise and then delight. He proclaims his pleasure with a single word.]

Magnificent!

[she can be fake if she wants, but man, does she have to want it. there's even less of a reason to be guarded in trench - fragments remain, and sure, she can put those walls back up any time she wants, but it's easier like this. she has less time for maintaining an appearance of anything now that she has to maintain ...her sister.

she means what she says, and she'd risk her neck for any of her crew here, and on the right day she'd risk it for a stranger.]

What's knowing him? You talked and you did some work for him. That sounds enough like knowing him to me.

[then there's the whole part where you tried to help him in that place instead of just worrying about yourself. a lot of people might have taken that route. and she wouldn't have blamed them - it was a hellish place. it was hard to even think straight, let alone worry about someone else's back. some people might have shat their pants and ran. lost their minds. just ...hid. she wonders sometimes if there are still people trapped there, because places don't just ...cease to exist, do they?]

Back home, after the revolt, people made a memorial on the bridge. Portraits, notes, candles, trinkets. Whatever they could find. But it stayed there for years, and we were always reminded.

[there's a softer tone in her voice as she relays all of this, a cautiousness - she doesn't want to pick too much at it. she's learned to accept it, she thinks. even with the possibilities that trench offers. she doesn't think her parents will be washing up on the beach any time soon. she sometimes hopes so hard for vander she can't breathe - but then she lets it go like she's let so many other things go - and she's able to breathe again after all.]

Years later, when I was locked up and people were still dying, one of my old crew---

---my old family---

---he painted a mural on a wall of all the people they'd lost. Another way to remember.

[she'd been on it, too.]

Maybe you just ask the other fishermen? His name, I mean. Maybe I go with you, if you want. Maybe you build something on the boardwalk. Doesn't have to be fancy, just ...honest.

So ...mind reading, then? Since you know what excites me. Or what doesn't, I guess. [vi: just rolling with it and cracking jokes.] Wait, really? Like, in Cellar Door maybe?

[she's unable to hide her interest now. she will absolutely come watch them perform. and the odds weren't looking great with all that cider, anyway, so she'll accept this loss.]

And here you are, finding me. But seriously, is it in Cellar Door? Cause if it is, I'm in. Do you two have a band? I'm in if it's somewhere else, too because lamps.

Edited 2022-11-26 02:15 (UTC)

You like it?

[her usual confidence is a little absent - normally she wouldn't ask this - and if she did, it wouldn't be phrased this way, or have such obvious hesitance in her voice.]

Wow, okay. Yeah, just send 'em my way. I'll make sure I ...do a great job just like this? [god. why did that come out like a question? whoops. get it together, vi.]

Maybe it's just a terrible excuse, and I'm the best behaved person in Trench. [a sly look at fang, who is still smiling.] I hope I have a whole bunch of good days. Who knows, maybe you've just willed it into being. Wouldn't that be something?

I like talking with you, too. You have a good face for painting.

[...]

...it's also perfectly fine without paint.

[now she is just going to laugh through her nerves. what is conversation.]

Murderbot doesn't smile. That's simply a fact. But it lets the movie play out and watches the horse that is crew, with the movie theater marked off limits. It lets the noise canceling world canceling nature of the room give Vi a little bit of a break from it all.

That has to be healthy for her.

[she will casually (and joyously!) fist pump into the air behind him. because honestly? she's really proud of this one. it's different than the usual animals, it's cool looking, not ugly but pretty scary as far as facepaint goes.

she grins.]

Oh, yeah. I found a good one this month, been repeating the phrases and doing the breathing every day. A bunch of times a day when I have to ...paint people. Or talk. At all. I was trying to get better about doing it more often anyway, guess Trench was like "hey, would you like some help with that?" and then gave me liquid worry for blood. I bet you're better at it than I am.

Yeah, that'd be a little on the nose for the 'dark side', I guess.

[she nods in the direction of the mostly empty closet, opens the door and no need to shut it - it's dark enough to see the effect. there's a mirror on the wall, too - probably for makeshift checking of glowy work. she looks stupidly proud. he said magnificent!]

I take no responsibilty for any pants that might get stained after seeing that without warning. [...] Well, depends whose pants I guess.

[ See, usually Chizuru wouldn't question the uncertainty on the other's part too much. Maybe it's since she doesn't know Vi well enough yet to know just how uncharacteristic it is on the other's part, or maybe she just figures that everyone has something they can get a little insecure about.

But the current display on the other's part.. It's a little bit much, and it leaves Chizuru staring at the other for a moment. Blinking, starting to look more curious, and then just outright asking-- ]

Is.. something wrong, miss Vi? You seem a little worried..

[ You could leave out that 'a little' part, Chizuru. Honestly. But she wants to be nice here! ]

Does the paint look strange to you..?

[ Robby's heard about those: the small memorials that people put together, even if it's just a car accident, an unfortunate passing. Flowers gathered in the place that it happened, the ways they mark the memory of someone gone, even if you only see that it's occurred than by knowing a name.

He notes the mention of a revolt, the personal quality of it. Vi's life has been hard, he knows -- for her to even think of this, to know just through experience. And more than this, her time locked up more than his own stint in juvie. Their talk of how even good bread is a joy to her. Robby doesn't know if it's her experience that comforts him, or just Vi alone -- the one he shares American snacks with, the parkour, the odd jobs. One of his nice things about being here, and it's why he'd come to her in the first place, hadn't it?

There'd been no particular expectations, except for Vi herself. And this time he doesn't feel the need to protest, or to question her offer. ]

...I'd like that. If you could help me find the names.

[ Because he's been too ashamed to go down there himself, and he admits, breathing out- ] I don't know how to do it. I mean-- without looking like an idiot.

[ Feeling like one. And then there's the question of what to leave, and Robby isn't certain he can think of anything right then. One thing at a time, maybe. ]

[Vi gets some serious side-eye from Maul for that particular comment when he's admiring the face paint. But hey, her sister's weird, she's also kind of weird, it must just run in the family. He continues to admire the painting, especially glowing bits he can see in the gloom.]

Hmmmm, in that case I shall have to show this to Reaper. He loves the macabre.

[He's certain his husband will be delighted to see the intricate details of the face painting up close and then probably get them all smudged up once they have sex. What a shame Reaper is cagey about people seeing his face, Maul would have loved to see what Vi could do with his face.]

Cellar Door. Fuck, we live in Cellar Door.

[ She shrugs, taking a gulp of cider. She's not sure how she feels about people watching her. Too many things. Things that are hard to admit to feeling. ]

She's been doing shows for a while now. Just thought... I'd be part of them too. Can't really call it a band. It's just us.

Edited 2022-12-02 07:00 (UTC)

[she catches that side eye, even in the dark.]

Some Trenchie's gonna shit their britches.

[she's certain of it. maul has the confidence and air of actual danger to pull this off in a way where it looks ...still cool, but very monstrous.

there's always someday. a different day, for reaper. maybe. it's not like she's going anywhere any time soon. when the black parade ends, she'll still paint a face or three. why not?]

Reaper's your guy? [a bit of a grin] I hope he like it.

yes I knew it was no moonshine, it is real

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