[For all that he's even got his rapier in his hand, the girl is faster than his ability to react with it. It's all he can do to throw his left arm up instead to catch the full brunt of the blow (and oh, that hurts, and he can't help the hiss of pain that escapes as the nails dig through fabric and into skin beneath), staggering backwards from the force of the impact.
He'd been trying to approach this with a bit of delicacy, but you know what? He's not in the mood for that anymore.]
And so you're taking your anger out on us instead, is that it? I'm sorry, but I don't recall agreeing to be an outlet for that.
[Now he does ready his rapier, lunging forward with the intent to stab in retaliation (2).
[ This — all of this — is familiar in ways Maika didn't want to think about right now. But when she'd faced down her lost memories, she did it with three of the people she loved best at her side. And she still nearly tore herself to pieces. What the fuck is she supposed to do here, for a stranger? Help that shadow shred something precious?
She makes to cuff the shadow with the back of her one hand (4), but with no force and no convinction, her aim is terrible. ]
So because they're gone, what... you'll just throw them away yourself? Easier than looking your own grief and regrets in the eye, isn't it? Punish the people around you instead. Punish yourself. Maybe someday it'll hurt enough that you can't feel the rest of it... That's the perfect escape. If you're a coward, that is.
[She definitely didn't expect the impact to feel like punching paper, and she stumbles out a little bit from the impact. Maybe it also makes it easier, feeling like the thing on the other side of her blows isn't human. But the pain looks real. Paper Aubrey(?) can have another uppercut (19).]
Get started! What's the deal with that asshole? Start yapping, and maybe you'll convince us you didn't want us to put your shit back together for you after all! Or maybe I'll trash this other picture I found and help you out, huh?
[Team tough love is really over here taking an extremely very much different approach from the others.]
[Ouch. This all hurts in ways far beyond just his arm, yet ironically that only serves to fuel his own anger. Why is she so surprised that her friends left? People are only friends for as long as it is convenient for them... that much Richard understands well now.]
Such is the way of things. I'm surprised it took you this long to learn.
[Once again he darts forward, this time swinging the rapier from above in a swift arc (14) rather than trying to stab. He learned his lesson from the last attempt.]
And now you're going to roll over and give up rather than keep on going.
Between the two attacks, her form tears apart, her eyes wide in shock.
Aubrey(?) opens her mouth to say something, but it takes a moment before anything comes out.
“...
I just... wanted to see us happy again. But...
It was never going to happen. It isn’t the same anymore. ...It’ll never go back to the way it was.”
Her form buzzes with static, before fading away into shadows. In her wake, a single item is left behind:
Daisy: Cute as a hair ornament. Wearing this will attract Aubrey’s attention, for better or for worse.
The rips in the photo remain, however - looking closely, there seems to be a room beyond the tear. And, thanks to all of the fighting, it should now be big enough for everyone to slip through. But before they do, characters may note that the light seems to shine on a nearby picnic basket set upon the grass. Inside are yummy sandwiches that couldn’t have been there before - anyone who pauses takes a bite will find their health and SP restored to full.
[ Maika stares at the space left by the phantom Aubrey before stooping to pick up the daisy in careful fingertips. It's probably not as fragile as it looks — things like this couldn't linger if it were — but just this once, she doesn't want to break everything she touches. ]
You can't. The past is already gone. You just get to decide if you're strong enough to move forward or not.
[ And she, of all people, can't promise that there'll be happiness in another form at the end of that. But she tosses a quick look at Kainé and Richard. ]
...Let's get moving. Looks like we haven't reached the end of this road yet, either.
[Richard merely nods his assent. He has nothing to say to any of this, not when the same worries and wishes swirl within the depths of his own heart. To speak otherwise would be hypocrisy and he knows it.
In a way, he's glad he doesn't have to try to answer her any longer. He wonders whether she'll be able to find what she sought in whatever place she may be now, whatever form her existence may take.
But in the end, none of that is really ultimately any of his concern.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
He'd been trying to approach this with a bit of delicacy, but you know what? He's not in the mood for that anymore.]
And so you're taking your anger out on us instead, is that it? I'm sorry, but I don't recall agreeing to be an outlet for that.
[Now he does ready his rapier, lunging forward with the intent to stab in retaliation (2).
... it's not very effective.]
no subject
It still definitely seems to hurt, though, because Aubrey(?) doubles over.]
...Obviously. Every single one of them left.
Mari's dead. Hero's left town, Kel's got new friends, and Sunny locked himself up for four years. And don't even get me started on Basil.
no subject
She makes to cuff the shadow with the back of her one hand (4), but with no force and no convinction, her aim is terrible. ]
So because they're gone, what... you'll just throw them away yourself? Easier than looking your own grief and regrets in the eye, isn't it? Punish the people around you instead. Punish yourself. Maybe someday it'll hurt enough that you can't feel the rest of it... That's the perfect escape. If you're a coward, that is.
no subject
[She definitely didn't expect the impact to feel like punching paper, and she stumbles out a little bit from the impact. Maybe it also makes it easier, feeling like the thing on the other side of her blows isn't human. But the pain looks real. Paper Aubrey(?) can have another uppercut (19).]
Get started! What's the deal with that asshole? Start yapping, and maybe you'll convince us you didn't want us to put your shit back together for you after all! Or maybe I'll trash this other picture I found and help you out, huh?
[Team tough love is really over here taking an extremely very much different approach from the others.]
no subject
Such is the way of things. I'm surprised it took you this long to learn.
[Once again he darts forward, this time swinging the rapier from above in a swift arc (14) rather than trying to stab. He learned his lesson from the last attempt.]
And now you're going to roll over and give up rather than keep on going.
no subject
Aubrey(?) opens her mouth to say something, but it takes a moment before anything comes out.
“...
I just... wanted to see us happy again. But...
It was never going to happen. It isn’t the same anymore. ...It’ll never go back to the way it was.”
Her form buzzes with static, before fading away into shadows. In her wake, a single item is left behind:
Daisy: Cute as a hair ornament. Wearing this will attract Aubrey’s attention, for better or for worse.
The rips in the photo remain, however - looking closely, there seems to be a room beyond the tear. And, thanks to all of the fighting, it should now be big enough for everyone to slip through. But before they do, characters may note that the light seems to shine on a nearby picnic basket set upon the grass. Inside are yummy sandwiches that couldn’t have been there before - anyone who pauses takes a bite will find their health and SP restored to full.
no subject
You can't. The past is already gone. You just get to decide if you're strong enough to move forward or not.
[ And she, of all people, can't promise that there'll be happiness in another form at the end of that. But she tosses a quick look at Kainé and Richard. ]
...Let's get moving. Looks like we haven't reached the end of this road yet, either.
no subject
In a way, he's glad he doesn't have to try to answer her any longer. He wonders whether she'll be able to find what she sought in whatever place she may be now, whatever form her existence may take.
But in the end, none of that is really ultimately any of his concern.]