|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2015 9:57 am
 |
|
|
|
It was unusual for Leeroi to be this silent. It seemed that after he got all his screaming out during the fight, he didn't have a single sound in him left to share. But Glitch knew better. The little blueblood hadn't lost his voice. His silence was intentional, and it made the hornbeast tense. For now, she travelled, hoping the two children on her back would spot something interesting enough to distract Leeroi from his mood. She could find some hope in happenstance.
Leeroi leaned backwards across Glitch's back, head on hers, arms lazily folded over him as he looked up and watched the stars. He laid completely still, fidgeting only to adjust when Glitch's uneven trot bumped him to one side. Psykgi faced him, applying first aid. Occasionally he'd glance down at her, but quickly turn his attention away, especially if she noticed.
He didn't know what to think. He didn't want to think. His lip quivered into a snarl. He was so excited for this adventure, his first trip with the Alternian Army. Now, he'd be returning home with nothing but scars and disappointment. He had won against Eridia and Azrael, but to what gain? He didn't even get the satisfaction of killing them.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2015 9:15 pm
|
|
|
 |
Psykgi worked on patching up Leeroi, herself fairly quiet as she tried to let the repetitive activity calm her down. Though he had few actively bleeding wounds for the swamp to infect, Psykgi was finding it difficult to treat him effectively. Her hand hurt, and the more she tried to ignore it as she manipulated the bandages, the more it hurt. Finally she had to stop, glaring at the unruly appendage in annoyance.
She wanted to comment on it – something amusing about not knowing how Leeroi managed to punch people all the time when she could only manage a single shot - but even she didn't feel like talking so much.
The... event... still bothered her a little. Sure, they had won. Winning, after all, was in the mind, and besides, Eridia would never win against her. Not so long as she threw those tantrums and was incredibly easy to mess with!
But Psykgi didn't particularly feel like a winner. In general, she was just glad that the altercation was over.
Wincing, she set to rubbing her hand, hoping to assuage the soreness. To little avail – her hand reddened as it began to bruise and swell slightly, aching with injury. It was not a desired outcome.
She continued to try to massage the pain away and, almost incidentally, her gaze went to Leeroi's upturned face. She noted the frustrated and distant look he wore, and she understood it. He feels the same way, she observed. Probably worse, knowing him.
Her hardened mood softened a little, and she put on her best smile for him. She didn't feel entirely behind that smile yet, but she knew that if she improved Leeroi's mood, she would improve her own as well. And that would be a real win, in reality and in her mind. At the thought, her mood improved a little.
”Here -” she said, forcing a little cheer into her voice, ”I still have a few snacks!” she rummaged into the remains of her pack with her good hand and pulled out a bag of chips -oily, salty, and full of relatively undamaged crunchy yumminess – and offered it to him.
It didn't address the problem, and she didn't think that it would be entirely enough to help him, but he certainly wasn't cheering up on an empty stomach. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:13 pm
|
|
|
|
At the crinkling of chip bag, Leeroi's head perked slightly. He sat up, glancing quickly between Psykgi and the chips, a plain frown on his face. He hesitated for a moment. When he finally decided to take the snack, he took them quickly, popping open the bag and leaning his head back, dumping half the contents into his open mouth. Crunching on the chips, Leeroi looked at the rest of the contents. Something in his chest tore at him, a sharp pain different than the dull ache that plagued him after their loss. He bit the inside of his lip.
Leeroi shook the contents of the bag, and then looked up at Psykgi. "Here," He offered, handing her back the snack. Stubborn, he turned his attention back down to the chips, away from Psykgi's eyes. "You finish it," He insisted, shaking the contents slightly to make sure he had her attention.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 2:43 pm
|
|
|
|
He had to be hungry, after the rigors of their adventure, and so Psykgi wasn't too surprised when he just dumped the chips into his mouth. She was, however, surprised when he offered her the rest of the bag. ”Hmm?” She blinked. A whole half bag? For her? She had neglected to bring extra snacks for herself, and had used all of her freeze-dried fruit bags hours ago. She wasn't ravenously hungry or anything... but still... The offer was appreciated.
”Oh! Thank you!” she said graciously, taking the bag. She set it in her injured hand and picked out a chip with her good hand, eating it with a single, very satisfying crunch. ”Mmm.” actually, the salt did hit the spot, being as they were in a wet and smelly jungle.
Psykgi preferred to take her chips one or two at a time, which gave her the opportunity to watch Leeroi as she chewed. He wasn't looking at her, she noticed, not more than he had to. Of course, the whole event had him down, she could understand that with ease, but what was this about her? Even when he had blamed her for his gerbil loss in Bloodfest, he hadn't acted like this. She reached for another chip and paused. Something else was going on here.
”Lee,” she started, gently. She would just come out and ask. It was the best option here. ”What is it?” |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:02 pm
|
|
|
|
Folding his arms, Leeroi shrugged off Psykgi's question. "It's nothin'" He mumbled. He managed to maintain eye contact with her for a moment, and then turned to the side, folding in on himself. He closed his eyes, face scrunching in on itself. He couldn't talk to Psykgi about this. He didn't want to talk to anyone about this, but especially not Psykgi. She looked up to him. She expected him to provide example, to be strong... Not the whiny loser he was being. "I'm fine." He punctuated.
Idly, Leeroi squeezed at his arms. His eyes stung, but he kept them firmly shut, keeping any threatening tears from escaping. He kept reminding himself that he had to be strong, that he was the hero, and that Psykgi was watching. If he was at home in his hive, he could cry and scream all he wanted. He couldn't here. He had to be bigger than that.
DraconicFeline the number you have dialed cannot be reached. please hang up and try again
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:47 am
|
|
|
|
Psykgi watched him close off. That bad, huh. she thought, eating the rest of the chips. If he didn't want to talk, she wasn't going to force him, but he was most definitely not fine and she had to do something about that. Hmm, But what? There wasn't much she could do that she hadn't already done – hugging was awkward from the way they were positioned on Glitch's back, and while he was so closed off he might not appreciate it. Listening was what she did best, but if he wasn't talking...
Well...
Maybe just one push, a subtle push, and then she'd leave it be. ”You know you can tell me anything, right?” she said softly, ”It would be ok. Even if it wasn't fine.” Well, not so subtle, perhaps, but it opened the door, it put the choice out there. She waited for his reaction. If he closed the door she had opened, then she would let it go and try something else. Sometimes the doors to the mind weren't always ready to be used, and sometimes they just needed... time... to unlock.
There would be other ways to help him, and Psykgi just had to have patience. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 11:37 am
|
|
|
|
Leeroi's posture tightened, still stubbornly trying to close himself off. "It's nothing, Psy," Leeroi mumbled, a heat rushing to his face. Every time he glanced at her, he felt warm and sick. But trying to redirect his gaze was hard enough. Strangely enough, he wanted to keep an eye on her. Was she using her mind tricks on him?
He glanced back up again, eyes connecting. Visibly, he flinched back, shoulders raising. Still, he found himself unable to break their eye contact. She caught him. She knew something was up, and for Leeroi to continue would mean that he was lying to her. And not even lying well. He let out a low whine.
He didn't want to break her trust. But he didn't want to disappoint her. He didn't want her to pity him, to look down on him in a moment of weakness. "I-I..." He mumbled out, stopping himself by biting the inside of his lip. No one besides his lusus had ever been so patient with him, so willing to understand. If anyone was capable of understanding, it was Psykgi. So why was this so hard?
"It's just... It's," The words came out of Leeroi's mouth like he was choking, water rising in his eyes. He untangled his folded arms, reaching down to grab his lusus' fur. How would he even tell her what was wrong? He could hardly wrap his thoughts around his own feelings. "I- I... I," He mumbled, fists grabbing his lusus's fur tighter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 6:20 pm
|
|
|
|
It was clearly not nothing.
”You...?” she trailed off. Clearly, he was having trouble articulating something. That wasn't surprising – he wasn't very good at words. Puzzles, sure – puzzles and the sometimes arcane rules of videogames, especially RPGs. Words were her thing.
Maybe she could offer a few?
”Are... angry?” well, he was often angry... but not as angry as he had been with Eridia. Perhaps he was still feeling a little bit of that? ”Are... frustrated? He often was, though typically, from what she had observed, that involved throwing controllers at tele-visual pixel planes or breaking letter-input boards. ”Are you...” she hesitated a moment, ”Confused?” that might be it? Though she wasn't sure if he would admit it, even to her. Confused about what, though?
Another thought occurred to her. ”Are you hurting?” she asked quietly, concernedly. ”Is it... inside?” she asked, gesturing to her own torso. Physical problems were not her main strength, and if it was outside, there was little she could do that she hadn't already done. For inside physical pain, she knew that med kit had a few pills for physical pain. Those were more 'numb the body so they can hit things until they fall apart' but they would work, perhaps? If not, she could always use her 'mind tricks' as Lee was so fond of calling them, and see if she could trick him into not hurting so much. That was a good use of a mind trick, right?
Kimbley Kitty Is it bigger than a breadbox
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 9:48 am
|
|
|
|
Leeroi released his grip on his lusus and wrung his hands, breaking his gaze from Psykgi to watch his hands as she performed her diagnosis. Her words stung, but not in a painful way. Each clue gave him clarity and solace, filling him with a strange, but not uncomfortable warmth. Very subtly, he nodded with her suggestions, completely silent.
A tear ran down his sniffnode and onto his hands, and then another followed. He turned his watery eyes back up to Psykgi, fidgeting some more before he opened his mouth to speak.
"I'm mad at Eridia," he said, voice raised. The mention of her name alone made his muscles tense. "She ruins everything." He added, eyes narrowing. She was always a thorn in his side, ruining all of his hard work. He wanted her dead, and nothing less. Face turning blue, he paused, leaning forward and playing with Glitch's fur again. He let out a low grumble, kneading at the hornbeast's back.
"This was supposed to be fun, you know?" He said suddenly, looking up at Psykgi. "You 'n me... adventuring, kicking rebel butt... 'Cept this time, without controllers." He laughed sadly, gaze faltering for a moment. "It started out fun, but..." Leeroi paused, fumbling a moment before grabbing his head, letting out a loud frustrated growl in the place of actual words.
"I'm just tired of losing all the ******** time!" He shouted, swinging his arms down. His face was blue again, and his breaths heavy. Feeling the water rising in his eyes again, he gave smaller scream and covered his face, trying to hide the oncoming torrent of tears from Psykgi. He curled in on himself, sobbing softly.
"I don't want to be a loser..." He whined into his hands.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 9:13 am
|
|
|
|
Psykgi nodded understandingly as Leeroi spoke: She knew his feelings. She understood. Heck, she felt pretty much the same way. It had all been pretty great until that purpleblood had come alone and ruined it. Psykgi had even been enjoying it, and she knew that Leeroi had been having a blast riding drones into battle. And then Eridia had come along and screwed everything up. She'd tried to kill Leeroi and had injured Psykgi's fist with her face and really had ruined everything.
Crying was a healthy outlet for emotions for a troll, as healthy as aggression or talking or painting ones face and howling curses to the sky. But... it hurt to see him cry like this, so frustrated, so absolutely betrayed by the adventure he had been promised. His tears pulled at her and, though she didn't want to cry, exactly, she did want to sulk a little. She'd been looking forward to adventuring together too, and though she had certainly gotten an adventure, it hadn't exactly lived up to expectations.
But sulking would do nothing for her. She'd already had her fill of it as she'd bandaged Leeroi up and, truly, sulking was just plain against her nature. Talking to Leeroi was more her thing. But what could she say to him that would naturally ease him? That wouldn't be artificial and shallow?
Certainly, telling him he hadn't lost wouldn't work! He knew as well as she did that the fight with Eridia and Azrael, and the campaign they had waged against the rebels, was very definitely not technically a win. That did not change, no matter what psychological tricks Psykgi played in her own head.
However...
”You're not a loser, Leeroi.” she said honestly. She scootching forward on Glitch's back to touch his arm, rubbing it firmly – she would have liked to hug him, but it was just not possible on Glitch's back. This contact would have to do, for both of them. ”You'll never be one, not to me.” |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 6:22 pm
|
|
|
|
Why did her words always do this to him? Leeroi's bile sack twisted and squeezed, nearly threatening to jump out of his throat. His face was hot, cheeks blushing bright blue as a smile crept up his crying face. Quickly, he decided he didn't care about the nervous feelings eating him up, that he needed to be close to her. Pulling closer, he reached for her arm, grabbing it gently. In a flash, his head was on her shoulder, crying hard onto her shirt. He sobbed loudly, squeezing her arm tighter.
He screamed, cried, and sobbed, shaking hard under Psykgi's hold. He tried to erase away the memories of the night, the terrible losses that made him feel like a failure. He could delete the save, couldn't he? And pretend it never happened? He could try again, and do it perfect this time, just by avoiding Eridia and her goon.
His thumb twitched over Psykgi's arm, reminding him of her presence. His thoughts came to a halt. No, he couldn't forget today. What happened today was important. His grip went soft. He rubbed his thumb over Psykgi's arm again, sobs quieting as he thought. Sniffling, he raised his head to face Psykgi again.
He gave her a stifled laugh, wiping his face with his other arm. Today was important because Psykgi had been there for him. And he had been there for her. They were both going to come out of this as stronger friends— no, as a stronger team. And when they got bigger, they were going to be unstoppable.
"Thanks, Psy," Leeroi muttered, hand trailing down to hold her's. The blush on his face became apparent again, but his nerves had finally subsided. Smiling, he pressed their foreheads together. "You always make me feel like a winner," he said, laughing sadly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 3:26 pm
|
|
|
|
Psykgi was surprised that the hug – if that was what it was – was not as awkward as she had suspected it would be. She held him close as he cried into her shirt, smiling a little as his unarticulatable feelings poured out of him in wordless screams and sobs. Equally wordlessly, she stroked him gently. Sometimes, words were inadequate.
This was the way things should be, she felt. Sure, his grip on her arm hurt, sure he was getting blood and tears all over her, sure she was tired and achy and things had gone fairly wrong... but that was okay. This felt... right.
As he raised his head, sniffling, to face her, she felt unburdened. It was as if his outpouring of feelings had washed away some of her own, leaving her lighter and feeling better. She smiled at him as he held her hand, enjoying the way their closeness felt. It was a hard feeling to put into words – though Psykgi certainly would try later – but it was good, overwhelmingly, definitely good.
”I'll never think of you as anything else.” she said softly. She knew what this was or at least she had a pretty good idea. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2015 10:45 am
|
|
|
|
Everything hurt. He ached from the fight, from the damage that Eridia had done to him. Now his cheeks hurt from smiling so hard at Psykgi. He didn't mind it, though. A heavy feeling in his chest was telling him that it was all okay. That everything was going to be good and happy again soon, because of her. "Same," he mumbled. He hummed, like a small laugh, nuzzling their foreheads together. Everything would be alright.
Leeroi ran his thumb over Psykgi's hand, stopping at the rough feeling of it. He pulled away from her, taking her hand close and studying it. It was all bruised and bloodied, how did he not notice it earlier? A sadness stirred in him. He had to look out for her more. "Let me fix that," he told her. Leaning over, he reached into Glitch's carrying bag and took the medkit back out. Most of the contents had been wasted on him, but there was more than enough to patch up Psykgi. Wordlessly, he set to fixing her up. He had never dressed someone else's wounds before; it would take him a while to figure things out for himself. Thankfully, they had a long journey left ahead of them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2015 8:20 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
