nothing is working with me

[lipochrome]

Who: Open, but due to the content of the prompts, please PM me before tagging if we don't already have CR
What: Winter Mournings
When: December
Where: The Locked Tomb; Trench

Content Warnings: Marked in comment headers, but expect death, child abuse, self-harm, and Nona the Ninth spoilers throughout


[ starters in the comments! ]

Comments

[strongroots]

[ It's more the blur of the figure that puzzles Robby than seeking any recognition. None of this is recognisable, none of this is his, and the voice of the figure beside him helps to establish Kiriona's presence. Every memory is like stepping into the middle of a story he doesn't belong to, and this is no different.

Actually, the volunteering to murder and to be killed is pretty fucking new, and Robby would like to voice his opinion here, loud and clear and with eyes on Kiriona: ]

What the fuck?

[ Hello, excuse him? ]

[lipochrome]

[ Robby isn't supposed to be here. He's not supposed to see this. Kiriona likes Robby, which means they're supposed to stick to fighting, and shitty music, and not talking about their dads.

She can't kill Crux -- the old man -- while Robby watches. But if Kiriona chickens out now, she'll give Crux too much satisfaction, and that'll feel worse.

Time for a quick explanation, then. Kiriona does not sheathe her sword, but she does turn to Robby. ]

Look. It's fine. Someone has to die so we can open the Tomb, and that guy has fucked with me, oh, most of my life, and part of my death, too. [ A touch of desperation begins to creep into her voice. ] It's a good thing, see? It's gonna feel good.

[strongroots]

[ He shouldn't be here. He also wants to not start to recognise this, he doesn't want to hear her explanation. It would be hard enough to be standing here on an accepted murder, but shedding blood (with a group of witnesses, doing nothing, agreeing), the ritualistic nature (just like the church of ritetoir, people dying)-- ]

It's not real! [ He moves some steps towards her, hands coming out. Voice incredulous, expression more so. ] Fuck that guy, whatever he did, but what do you mean, it's going to feel good?

cw: child abuse

[lipochrome]

[ Kiriona backs away from Robby. She has to stay out of reach. If anyone touches her, she knows she'll crumple, like a rag doll or a little baby. All her resolve will evaporate like atmosphere without an airlock, and then what will she be left with? Nothing. ]

Because he'll get what he deserves. [ There's a part of Kiriona that's surprised Robby doesn't understand. ] He hurt me, when I was a kid. I couldn't hurt him back, but I can now.

It's gonna be worth it. It's all gonna be worth it.

[ She'll make him see. ]

[strongroots]

[ He doesn't take another step, but Robby doesn't back away. He knows someone telling themselves something too intimately, waiting for it to be true; he's been there when he didn't need to convince himself, and then when he started losing his grip on his conviction.

His shit isn't Kiriona's shit, but shit is still shit. ]

And then what? He's dead already, isn't he? [ And yet look at her, listen to her now. Robby gestures off, to nowhere in the room, but: ] There's a lot of shit in Trench, and I know you're going through a lot of shit too, but whatever you do here isn't going to change anything. But we can go back and do something about our lives there.

[ He's looking at her, pleading with his eyes as much as when he says: ] Please, Kiriona.

[lipochrome]

[ Robby begs her to stop, and guilt takes root in the space where Kiriona's heart should be.

He's right, of course. This is just a memory. Even if she can force the old man to apologize here, it still doesn't mean he apologized in real life. It just means Kiriona is exceptionally good at making up a particular kind of story.

Still, that shouldn't stop her. Instead, what stops Kiriona is this: she likes Robby, and she hopes that Robby doesn't mind being around her. (Friends is too much to ask; friendship is for other people.) She's pretty sure he knows what it's like to be angry -- really, truly angry -- about something that is just barely in reach and yet you can never have.

She could kill Crux, here and now. But she'd lose that. It wouldn't be worth it. Kiriona died for nothing. She won't kill for nothing, too.

Kiriona lowers her sword. She takes a deep breath. ]

Okay. Okay.

[ Still, because she's a petty bitch, she gives Crux a solid kick in the stomach. As he doubles over, wheezing, she turns to Robby. ]

Let's get the fuck out of here.

[strongroots]

[ He really didn't know what was going to come next. An argument, more reasons--and maybe there's enough where the guy deserves to die a slow and painful death, but Robby doesn't know how to handle even the threat of that possibility posed here. Maybe he's weak. Maybe he can never really get it.

But when Kiriona lowers her played, the breath held visibly leaves Robby, the relief evident. He doesn't care about the kick -- fuck, give him a few more, fuck that guy -- but he does come over to her now. ]

If you know the way out-- never been stuck in someone's memory before. [ There's something or another about a stag, but memories never ended this quickly, and he doesn't like this one. There's still an apprehension about what this memory is about, but Robby can add all the same, with a pause: ] Thank you.

[ For listening. ]