( closed ) the only ones who need love are the ones who don't receive enough

[gradenine]

WHO: roland and certain people
WHAT: roland came back after disappearing mysterious and realized some really bad things. plotting comment for reference.
WHERE: the garden
WHEN: around the middle of the month, before the event
WARNINGS: body horror, violence, talks about murder and other nihilistic shit. also major project moon spoilers. see his opt-out for more info.


[ roland emerged out of the darkness like a dream.

or rather, he stumbles into the relatively new location as if he woke up from a horrible nightmare, clutching at his head as he makes his way towards the tea-party setup. this was the last place he'd remembered before vanishing, but the details were foggy. he wasn't even aware how long it's been. all he knew was that he met someone terrible who gave him equally terrible news, but he's used to disappointments -- even more so in this desolate imitation of a city.

someone had left green tea on the table, still hot. binah had told him that green tea is good for him, so he may as well take the load off and hope that the drink will clear his mind, and make him forget the bad news he'd received from argalia.

ah, yes. argalia is here, angelica's own flesh and blood. angelica had come back wrong, he gleefully. right. totally normal.

...

luckily, this isn't the first time this abnormality has taken over roland. he's used to the way the muscular sinews bloom across his body like a second skin (or even a flesh wound), the multitude of eyes blinking themselves open and roving their pupils around to scan the area. a gnarled leg of a bird sprouts from the top of his head, flexing its digits. his own left arm, meanwhile, has morphed into a bulbous club made of muscle and claw, which he is using to thrash at a nearby flowerbed for speaking out of line. ]

Why is he here... Why. Why. Tell me...

[ "i know why he's here," the half-dead flowers insist. "nothing ever goes my way. this city is out to get me, too."

but just because he's too engrossed in destroying the flowers within reach, it doesn't mean that the bulging eyes won't notice whoever comes into the garden, their unblinking gazes boring into anyone's eyes should anyone stumbles this sorry sight. he is making quite the ruckus, after all. ]

Comments

[gradenine]

[ roland's possessed body moves on its own, but the rational side of his brain can acknowledge the fact that this woman is a decent fighter in her own right. she could give the higher sections of liu association with that fancy footwork. furthermore, the reason why she even manages to land a hit on him is because the abnormality that's draped over him was already severely weakened thanks to this world's machinations...

but that did not seem to stop her. roland's many eyes blink wildly at the snake-like thing that slithered out of yuki, and he cries as the snake coils around his body, tripping onto his own two feet and falling onto the ground. ]

What are you-- doing...?!

[ "that's probably her E.G.O. not bad for a special grade." "haha... why do i always get myself involved with women like her..." ]

[unimportant]

[ RCT is complete, the throb in her head dulling and her vision back in focus. That club hits hard, it could have knocked her out if she wasn't made of sterner stuff. She wonders if power suppression is also playing a factor into him the way it does her.

Her output needs a bit more time to recover, so she'll buy it with talk. She stands from her crouch and keeps an eye on him, Garuda still curling tighter to keep him grounded. ]

Roland, how can I help you? I don't want to hurt you, but I might not have a choice at this rate. Can you hear me past that thing on you? Can you give me a hint?

[gradenine]

[ he squirms on the floor, gurgling various noises from his throat. this abnormality hasn't dealt with whatever yuki has on her, and it's baffled. it doesn't feel like an E.G.O... probably? it's confused. ]

K-Kill me.

[ yeah, idk what she expected. whenever roland tries to open his mouth, the abnormality's regurgitated voices are just going to take over him anyway. but luckily the flowers --

"just beat the shit out of me. i can take it. i'm used to it." ]

[unimportant]

[ Killing him might be the kindest thing right now. She doesn't like the idea of it, not until an alternative doesn't exist. But then she overhears the flowers and hums. ]

Yeah, I guess if you're unconscious you can't hurt anyone. I could also figure out how to undo your damage. [ Body and Soul are separate and coexisting. Even if his body is in this state, his soul may be unharmed. If so, he should be fixable. ] Sorry Roland - I just don't have the heart to kill you.

[ Her burnout period is over. Virtual mass starts ticking up in Garuda, like a power cell getting charged through its body. Power suppression works in her favor for once, as the limit she can hit is perfect for keeping him in place. He'll feel the shift too, the restraining wrap getting heavier as Garuda's mass increases on a conceptual level. ]

Can you forgive me? I guess I'm a little weak for you.

[gradenine]

[ dammit, so she's not killing him either. how lame. not that roland can attest to that right now, on account of this worm-like abnormality constricting the hell out of him. the abnormality makes a choked, almost squelching sound as he wriggles about in its grasp. ]

Don't... say that. There's no fixing me.

[ "don't open your mouth," the flowers continue to make gossip around them. "stop saying things like that." "you'd only... remind me of her." ]

[unimportant]

[ "Of her"? Who does she remind him of? She doesn't know Roland enough to be certain, the only person he's ever brought up to her is his wife. Is that who... she really hopes not. That would be tragic in too many ways that can't be helped.

It's also not what should be on her mind. She shakes the thought away and returns to the moment. ]

Whether you can be fixed or not isn't important to me. I just can't stand to see a good person get hurt because they were dealt an unfair hand.

[ The world is unjust enough as it is, and so she won't add another weight to the tipping scales. It's cowardly perhaps. It also keeps her from ever being called the strongest.

Garuda continues to build in mass, heavier and heavier, enough that the ground beneath him is starting to dent from the weight. This would be so much faster if her output wasn't being held back, but it at least means she won't have to worry about him dying. The constriction is going to rob him of air at some point and he'll slump unconscious. She just needs to keep him talking and buy time, hoping whatever is possessing him won't break free. ]

Don't resist. You'll black out faster. Hopefully this will be a memory sooner than later.

[gradenine]

[ constriction is surely A Way of going out. the monster possessing roland continues to writhe around, choked noises spilling out of his mouth. of course he wants to break free. free from the city's influence, both here and there; from everyone's whims; from everything else.

he can already feel his consciousness slipping. later on, he'll laugh over how this world made this abnormality comically weak despite its ALEPH status. later on, he'll apologize and explain to yuki about what the hell happened here. but for now, before he breathes his temporary last: ]

You don't... understand. If I die, my memory...

[ "i can finally forget," echo the flowers before he faints. he doesn't revert right away, but he will at the stroke of midnight like a cursed fairytale. he is thoroughly suppressed, and that's what matters. ]

[unimportant]

Yeah, yeah. Complain to me about it later, ok?

[ She waits a couple minutes to make sure he's not stirring awake again, only because she doesn't particularly like sneak attacks. Jump scares always get her in the movies, so being part of that experience in real life is not for her! Virtual mass will steadily decrease until gone and Garuda unwraps from his body. She lets out a tense breath and kneels down, gently stroking what bits of his hair she can touch between all sinew and gore attached to him. It doesn't bother her beyond the discomfort of seeing a person corrupted. She's seen far worse cases of transfiguration. ]

Sorry I can't do more for you. Try to rest up. I doubt you'll stay like this forever with how this city works.