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 Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:21 pm
Mot was horribly worried about Riyo. The whole fiasco at the Trials had done a number on the feline. Without a second thought, he headed to the Demon Dorms, sending a short text to warn her that he was coming.
She had been acting strangely throughout the trials, and after what happened to her at the end... the mere memory of it made the boil sick. He couldn't imagine having to lose her in such a way.
He ran the rest of the way to Riyo's dorm, knocking on her door several times before just letting himself in. "Hello?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 4:01 pm
Riyo hadn't answered. Not the text message, and not the door. But it didn't really matter since the door wasn't even locked as per the usual.
Seeing Titus had helped. It had helped more than she could've assumed, but by no means was she okay. The ghoul had chosen to lay back down, clinging to her pillow as a means of comfort. She wasn't sleeping. Frankly, she probably wouldn't for awhile.
Nor would the demoness be doing much of anything. Apathy had taken over like a flesh-eating virus, swallowing everything she was. She didn't want to get up, eat, sleep, talk, or really think. Thinking most of all.
The voice made her ears perk, but nothing more. Her face stayed planted in her lifeless feather stuffed mock companion as she heard footsteps approach. Now who was this?
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 4:19 pm
No answer.
Mot's face was wrought with worry. Was she not here? Was she okay? The door had been unlocked, which thinking on it now, was a little strange. The reaper took off his boots and approached the bedroom area of Riyo's dorm room.
Finding her in this state was not unexpected, but not welcomed either. Mot padded his way over the ghoul, kneeling down beside her bed. "Riyo? How are you holding up?" He realized it must be a dumb question but the boil was too worried to think of something better. "I've been really worried."
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Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 5:54 am
How was she holding up?
There were many analogies to how she was holding up. Like a piece of rope tied to a two-ton tank. Like a school desk under the full weight of a colossus? Oh, she could go on.
But she didn't. She simply turned her head to look at him. Bloodshot eyes, tear stains from the long night, and a general look of displeasure. "Imagine how you would feel. It's somewhere in that ballpark." The ghoul offered. "Add a lifetime of emotional strain, a cup of self-pity-" because while other people weren't allowed to pity her, she could pity herself. "And a heaping helping of failure." Yep. That pretty much covered it. Now she wanted to talk even less.
The feline forced herself to shakily get up slightly, if only to switch to the other side so she had her back to Mot. "Now if you don't mind, I'm busy doing nothing."
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Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 6:20 am
Riyo's pity party was not without sympathy, but Mot knew she needed to get out of this funk. He listened quietly for now, until she turned her back in an attempt to get him to leave. Unfortunately for her, Mot gained some stubborn tendencies from his ghoulfriend.
"That's a shame." Mot said with a frown, standing up as if he were leaving. He moved around the bed, only to face her again on the other side. In fact, he climbed on and sat cross legged across from the feline demoness. "Hey, I could use a bit of nothing time. I think I'll join you."
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Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:17 pm
A shame? Mot made it sound like one of her cats ran away. That felt wrong. So wrong.
The ghoul carefully listened to his footsteps, prepared to scoff as she heard the door reopen and close, but instead he was right there. Popping her bubble. Did she even have a bubble anymore?
Riyo didn't say anything about the lack of space like she usually did. It didn't matter that she was under-dressed, but the fact that he was here acting like some kind of mediator did. "And what of the b***h you call a ghoulfriend? Shouldn't you be comforting her for whatever fate she faced?" Wow. Riyo hadn't realized she was so... Bitter. It was so acute she could practically taste it.
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Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 3:07 pm
Mot smiled calmly, shrugging at the feline's words. "I talked to her the other day. Don't you worry." He knew the two didn't see eye to eye. The b***h comment was ignored, or at least tolerated.
"But wow.. it's been a rough year, hm?" He said casually, leaning back on his hands. "That last venture was one of the worst.." He did seem to fall into a serious tone then, a frown on his face. "But that's the thing. That last bit of the trials didn't happen. You're still here with us."
Mot hunched over, resting his arms over his knees and looking down on the feline with a soft expression. Riyo hated a lot of things, and rarely ever admitted to liking much of anything. Or anyone. Still, she was a peer, and a friend. He hated seeing her like this. "I know you don't think much of yourself right now, and it will take time to find your own worth, but please know that I value your life highly. Please don't ever think otherwise."
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Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:02 pm
He talked to her.
After the valkyrie had threatened her life and made her feel worse than she already had, he talked to her.
Good job Mot.
And then he started making small talk. Riyo hated small talk. Even now the small talk was grinding at her. Maybe that's what he was trying to do. Annoy her enough so that she got up and did something about it.
"Am I, Mot? Am I still here? I don't feel like much of me is here." The ghoul glanced away from him, focusing her eyes instead on the sheets and the way they folded underneath him.
"Truthfully... I've never thought very highly of myself." Something that would've been hard to admit before didn't seem like such a big deal now. It felt like she was reciting a fact that the ghoul had been familiar with for a long time. "I tried to hide it under what knowledge I could acquire to build myself up into something respectable. I held my nose high if only to keep people from seeing the truth. I guess I've been trying to convince myself more than anything, but obviously that didn't work... So why do you think so highly of me? How is it that you see me as something respectable when I can't even see myself that way, huh? You don't even know me that well..."
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:11 am
"Your worth isn't in what you can do, or how much you know." Mot explained softly. Riyo was nothing if not awfully over critical. It was hard to try and help her, but he felt it was worth it.
"You're not perfect, but no one is. We aren't supposed to be. I may not know you as well as I'd like to, but time can change that. I value your life because deep down, I know you're a good person. Back there, when you were.... turned in that illusion... I felt such despair that I'd lost a friend." Mot's voice went quiet, his fists clenching around what material he could grasp from his chaps.
"I don't care what you have to offer to me, or anyone. I care about you anyway."
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:14 pm
Riyo was silent for awhile after Mot explained his feelings, her own hands clutching the red sheets surrounding her. What... What was she supposed to say to that? "I.. Don't understand how you can feel that way, Mot."
The ghoul paused before she explained. "I can't enjoy the presence of others knowing that I'll never get anything from them. Which is why I'll never understand you, Mitsu, or Xiu. Hel, at the very least, gets a challenge out of me. And I'm pretty sure Titus hangs around for the same reason. But all you get is ridicule and glares. Why do you let me treat you like that? I know I'm doing it. I do it for a reason. So why do you just sit there and take it?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:28 pm
Tough questions.
Mot looked visibly puzzled for a while. Not only on the right way t answer and please Riyo, but also on what he really felt on that matter. He didn't like being ridiculed, but at the same time.. tricky..
"Maybe it's just me but.." He started cautiously, rubbing his neck. "..but it feels like you only do stuff like that out of fear. Not hate."
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 6:32 am
Riyo fell silent.
It was a bold suggestion the cowboil had just made. That she was afraid. The ghoul wanted to tell Mot to ******** off. Be like Titus and say childishly how she wasn't afraid of anything, even though it was far from the truth.
"You're right."
Riyo finally sat up, hunched over as her hair practically devoured her facial features. "Congratulations. I think you're the first one to figure it out." Her head turned away from him to peer out the window. there were a few rays of light shining through. "I push people away because I don't want them to know what I'm hiding. Like some sick game of poker. I don't want them to see through my hand, because I'm not holding anything good. Nothing... Has been good."
Looking back down, her brow furrowed. "I've tried to use my chips conservatively, but there aren't many left at this point..."
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:20 pm
He was right...
The fact Riyo admitted it made the boil raise his brows in surprise. Congratulations? he wasn't so sure it was a feat worth celebrating. He listened silently to the ghoul, always willing to lend an ear. "You don't have to hide." Mot insisted, "If you've got nothing left, nothing to offer, we'll stand by. At least I will."
The reaper paused a moment, trying to think of a way to get through. "Talk. About anything. Even if you aren't looking for advice, just an open ear. I'm not going to judge you, Riyo. I just want to help." No ulterior motives, just genuine concern.
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 6:42 pm
Somehow Riyo wasn't as sure as Mot was.
"People have promised me similar things, you know." The ghoul mumbled, finally managing to kick her feet out of bed and onto the floor. The cold surface was a reminder that she could feel. One toe, two toe, three toe, four toe, five. She moved all of them as a silent indication that they all worked. Yes. She still had her hands and feet. Her body was still comprised of soft tissue and porous surfaces. But was she really still Riyo?
"When I was very little, we used to have maids in our house. I vaguely remember them being kind-hearted people. In fact, for the year or two they were around, it was like I had a family. They made me presents and told me bedtime stories, even though it wasn't in their job description." Instead of recalling those memories with a fondness, they seemed to make her... Sadder. "They told me they'd be there as long as I needed them. Shortly after that, most of them either quit or were fired in the span of a week. And after that... I was alone." It was a memory she didn't really care to recall. The first time she realized she was alone. How sad she'd been.
"You know. I wasn't quite honest with you about the time I ran away."
It was something she had recalled on a whim. Something important.
"I didn't go looking for treasure. I was trying to find my father." Now it seemed like the act of a naive, desperate child... But back then it was the last hope of a lonely ghoul who didn't want to be alone.
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 7:09 pm
Mot frowned. Empty promises were a hard thing to make up for. But he felt in his heart he'd never let a friend down. Not on purpose, anyway. Still, Riyo seemed to be opening up a little bit. He was learning about her.
It was becoming more and more evident that she had abandonment issues. Big time. Was Mot biting off more than he could chew in trying to help her?
"Your father..?" Mot frowned. To not have a father.. sometimes he'd wished he didn't have his father. But after the trials, he suddenly wanted to try and get to know that man better. Annoying or not, he was his dad. "So it was just you and your mother growing up.. I'm going to take a wild guess and say.. it wasn't a happy childhood."
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