estoria | [OPEN] I'm in here

Entry tags:

[OPEN] I'm in here

Who: Mary Kozakura (

immobileyes) and YOU
When: IC 2/27-3/01
Where: Residential District, right by the not-so-standing apartments
What: Mary tries to dig up things from her fallen apartment over the course of a few days, success is varied
Rating/Warning: None!

[ It was hard enough, waiting for the water level to go down enough so that Mary could return to where her apartment was (had been) without risk of drowning. Seto's hoodie, the jacket Hiro had given her... they were the only things she'd been able to find at the time, but now she can search for anything remaining from their apartment.

So feel free to come across a tiny teenager over the afore-mentioned days, getting drizzled on and trying to pry up pieces of the smaller rubble - and HNNNNNGHing at the bigger pieces of debris that she can't budge at all - as she hunts about. The stuffed animal she'd received from Lily is gone, the headband from Kaoru and Shiho has been twisted and bent beyond repair when she miraculously finds that... the dried flowers, from the bouquet Elza had given her... no sign of them. All of her tea...

Mary almost wants to cry, but not yet. She just keeps looking.

And don't be alarmed if she seems worn-out when you see her. It's not some weird elemental effect, she's just terrible at stamina. ]

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Famous last words. But okay, look- all that junk's so heavy, you're so flippin' cold, aaand I'm guessing you're not the looting type. So why even bother?

Because it's important! [ If her hair could bristle, man. Although it just might be, just a bit. ] A lot of this came from my friends!

Alright, alright, it's all important stuff from your friends, I got it!

[ He holds his hands up, palms out, in the universal gesture of peace (or at least, the gesture of holy-crap-calm-down). ]

No, seriously, you look like you're gonna have an attack or something, and then your death'll be on my conscience. Such as it is.

I'm not... gonna die.

[ Crash for a bit, maybe. ]

Could've fooled me.

[ Styx shakes his head. Kids. ]

How about you take a damn break first, then keep on not-gonna-dying? Your stuff can't possibly get any more waterlogged.

It keeps raining, though... if anything else falls--

[ Her shoulders droop. ] I'll have an even harder time.

[ Styx isn't particularly worried for Mary- hell, it's not even any of his business what this girl gets it into her mind to do. But somehow, for some reason he can't quite pin down, that cuts right through his apathy, and the goblin snarls in frustration, ditching any thought of tact. ]

Yeah, okay, you COULD stay here, just in case. But if anything else really DOES fall- [ Styx jabs an accusing finger at her ] - then someone'll be digging for YOUR broken body like you're digging for your stuff. Has that ever fucking occurred to you? Or did you skip out on self-preservation 101?

[ Mary jerks back when he snarls, half-expecting him to take off a limb-- but the words that follow hurt even worse, and she finds herself at a loss for words, only able to shrink down under the fierce weight of them. ]

...

[ Give her a minute. ]

[ Styx is used to having someone around to rein in his big mouth, usually with violence both actual and threatened (or, in Arkail's case, an angry growl from the terrifyingly large orc is enough). What he ISN'T used to is shocked silence or kicked-puppy-eyes. Sorry, Mary, he's too caught up in his caustic, rambling tirade to even notice. ]

It's enough of a fucking miracle that we AREN'T broken bodies lying under all this shit, ain't it? And you're pissing it away by digging for stuff 'cause you gotta have it NOW? How much did those khwarsan- [ Styx corrects himself without a thought ] - those humans rub off on you? How the hell did you survive this long?

That's... not it...

[ It's all she can manage, with a quivery voice and watery eyes. It's not that the humans rubbed off on her. When was the last time she'd had this many friends who thought of her, enough to give her things? Things she ought to have treasured more? ]

Oh really? What kinda stuff is so important that it can't be replaced, huh? Nothing's worth fucking yourself up for, unless you got so much greed in you that-

[ Belatedly, he notices that trembling voice and those unshed tears, and he finally shuts up- though it's less from dismay, and more due to confused disbelief. Hard-bitten, bloodstained outlaws are more his type of crowd, not fragile teens desperately trying to figure out their place in the world. ]

Holy shit, are you crying?

N-no--

[ Yep. ]

[ Styx runs a hand down his face, scowling at nothing in particular. Seriously, why the hell does Arkail get to be blown to smithereens with their planet? Why can't Styx be the one watching him from hell, laughing his ass off as the big dumb orc makes little girls cry? ]

Alright, alright, fine, you're not a horrible little greedy looter who's stupid enough to risk her life digging out some shiny knickknacks or money or whatever! Now c'mon, stop crying!

[ Gaze upon his totally smooth and not asshole-ish reassurances, o ye of little faith. ]

[ Yes, truly, this is the most reassuring and comforting thing she has ever heard, because of course she was beginning to wonder if she was a horrible greedy little looter-- ]

You shouldn't... [ SNIFF. ] s-say things like that in the first place...

[ Aw, jeez. Really? Sniffles?? Seriously, he's fine with angry people throwing things at him, trying to murder him, or threatening him with bodily violence, but crying at him- ]

Hey, c'mon now! Someone's got to say it! [ wait. ] Er, no, not the part where I accuse you of doing horrible shit, but the part where you shouldn't be fucking yourself up over knickknacks that can be replaced!

But they can't! They were things from my friends, so of course they'd be important!!

[ And some of those friends are gone. ]

[ Styx hesitates, visibly mulling this over. It really says a lot about the goblin that that possibility didn't even occur to him. ]

What, you mean like... gifts, or something? "Thanks for murdering this asshole like I asked, here's a little something in exchange"?

[ Aaand that probably says even more about Styx. ]

[ ... Styx... ]

Like... "thanks for being my friend" and things like that. I don't get things like that very often, so of course it's all important!

Wow. Seriously? Now that's sappy.

[ And then he remembers who he's talking to and how this whole thing got started in the first place. ]

- not that there's anything wrong with that! I mean, you can't go wrong with free stuff, right?

... Don't you have friends?

[ FRIENDSHIP IS AWESOME, OKAY-- ]

Back home? Oh, sure, everyone's falling over themselves to rub elbows with the amazing talking goblin.

[ Styx pauses, before heaving a sigh that's theatrical enough to maybe muffle what he's really feeling. ]

Right. Past tense. Scratch that, they're all dead. So... no, not really.

Oh. [ A pause, and then-- ] I'm sorry.

For what? You didn't- oh. Right. Uh, thanks, I guess. Same to you.

[ A little awkward, yeah. He's not used to well-wishers. ]

You seem to be doing okay for yourself, though. I mean, hey, you got friends and shit who'll give you stuff, right?

... It wasn't always like that. People here... seem to be okay with a lot of weird things.

Tell me about it. Hell, you could be a two-headed fire-breathing dragon and no one would even look at you funny-

Anyway, maybe you're just better at making friends than you thought.

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immobileyes - 2015-09-27 04:35 (UTC) - Expand

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