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 Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:05 pm
"Maybe." she said finally, leaning her head back against the wall and closing her eyes. Maybe if she closed her eyes she could pretend her companion wasn't in tattered pieces. Maybe if she closed her nose, she would not smell the charred flesh, the moist air, the smell of... euck.
"I'm pretty pathetic, coming and talking to you like you would be able to understand what I am trying to say." she said finally, looking up at him from her position on the floor. "Maybe I thought with you tied up, you'd have to listen, but you're tired and you're sick, and look what we've done to you." she reached up, stroking her hand over the charred ends of his hair. She didn't mean to. "I told you once that if you killed me, you'd see a human girl, do you remember?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:30 pm
As she closed her eyes, he wondered if he could do the same. The quiet, the dark, and the heaviness of the conversation was proving exhausting and only appealed to taking a long rest even more. The dog, Elliot, had stopped barking and had quieted down to a small whimper somewhere in the distance. Was it night time or did it give up trying to call out?
Her examination of him wasn't denied. Tired and sick pretty much summarized it, and he watched her come close again, a matter of a step or two in such a small cell, and touch the tips of his hair. Funny, but he used to hate how wild and messy it looked, but now it was even worse. Picking up a few strands lifted up a matted, burnt chunk of hair that peeled, causing him to wince as a scab was pulled off the side of his head and part of his ear. It passed, leaving a dull heat and a coolness that told him his ear was bleeding.
Watching her, he looked up at her. Pathetic? From a enemy's standpoint, she was failing to hurt him and was talking to him as a person. From the standpoint of a person, a human being, she wasn't anywhere close to pathetic.
"I remember.....in pajamas and fuzzy socks. Or was it slippers?" It was a long time ago. Still, even back then, he showed no mercy. He attacked her on the docks. It was different then.
"Back then, we were fighting face to face....on our feet.........and now..." He let that thought trail. Now, it was different. He was tied down without the dignity and respect to let him fight for his life. They robbed him of that.
"You know, if you kill us, it will be the same. Every one of us." Tanzanite. Uranophane. Dioptase. Primase. Helicase.
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:39 pm
"Slippers, I think." Scylla said finally, and looked up at him. "Next time, if we meet like that again, just sing Kumbaya with me. I didn't want to hurt you, but I have to defend myself. You know that." He'd learned the hard way.
It was several minutes of silence that she watched him, touching his hand every so often to keep him awake, an unkindness, trepidation and thoughtfulness warring on her face. "I think, Wolframite, I'm going to be human for you a little sooner than if you'd killed me." She didn't power down, but instead reached out, squeezing his thin leg lightly.
She didn't reach out to undo his bonds, though she reached out and massaged lightly along his arms and legs as she spoke, careful to avoid the broken bones. It would get the blood flowing, a little at least. "You can have fifteen minutes, Cyclops, before I have to wake you up. Close your eyes. I can give you that much." It wasn't much. A meager offering, one person to another.
Jada was slightly appeased. Scylla was disgusted.
Sometimes, being at war with yourself was harder than being at war with anyone else.
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:17 pm
He didn’t like being touched. A private person, Ladon and Wolframite did not let people go near him. He only just got used to being hugged, and even recently, being held. These were all from very close people. People he might never see again. Reflecting on it, he wished he’d done more with others, but here now, he couldn’t object to being touched in any way. At least time this was a helpful pain, as Scylla moved down and rubbed his legs and arms lightly, being mindful not to make this too awkward for them both, but also knowing that even a bit of circulation to his stiff, sore legs would help just a little. It sent a fresh wave of painful prickling in his limbs, but for once, it was a pain he was thankful for. He knew it was for a good reason, and once she was done, she offered him a show of kindness he never expected.
Rest.
Even 15 minutes was a blessing, and he watched her, clearly stunned and confused as she offered that moment. He wasn’t about to deny it or question the offer too much, but he wondered briefly if it was too good to be true. If she was softening him up a bit before hurting him, but after a moment, he honestly felt she wouldn’t do that.
Leaning back, he slowly closed his eyes, eager to get to sleep and get a few more precious seconds of rest. Just as he leaned back and let his body sink into the stiff chair, he spoke. “If....If there is a next time..... I’ll sing with you.” Then he shuffled his shoulders a bit, and breathed out. It would take him only a minute to fall asleep.
The dog stopped whining now. Elliot must be asleep too.
"....but I'm not a good singer." He whispered.
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