Sixth Staff ♞ calm as a still pond in the middle of a thunderstorm

[beknightedheroine]

Characters: Sayaka Miki and any who encounter her.
Setting: Floor 31.
Format: Prose or action, I like either~!
Summary:  Sayaka needs a copy of Meditation for Dummies. You can bug her earlier or later on in her failed crusade of calm.
Warnings: Hinting at PMMM spoilers, also it's just kinda angsty whoops...

[Earlier:]

What was she supposed to do? Thinking 'I need to keep calm' did anything but make her feel calm, it just highlighted that she wasn't able to sustain it. She couldn't figure out an answer. 'Don't freak out' was a harder directive to fulfill than it sounded like, and it wasn't just a task that
would help her. There were other people at stake here.

Sayaka looked down at her soul gem with a scowl, where it sat neatly in front of her on one of the cobblestones. There was a small little twisting strand of dark she could spy sometimes amidst the blue, but.. there was no way she was employing the Grief Seed again until she absolutely needed it. On the practical side, Sayaka was pretty sure she had an idea of her limits now. On the other.. she'd used it thoughtlessly the first time, but that Grief Seed.. it felt a little sick using it. She'd definitely not throw it away. But Sayaka was far from ready to even look at it again, and it was stowed in her trunk even now.


Going to a quiet, out of the way place seemed more and more like a mistake now. What was she supposed to DO, just alone with her thoughts? She'd just chase her mind in circles. She'd been chasing her mind in circles.

 
[Some time later:]

This was stupid. With a huff, Sayaka climbs to her feet, stares down at her soul gem for another long moment - the mental image arises unbidden of actually seeing from the viewpoint of that tiny thing, staring up at a gloomy-looking girl with incredulity. She snatches the bauble up from the ground and takes off on a brisk walk across the cobblestones, utterly done with the mess for today. Stupid stupid stupid.

Comments

Earlier!

[theresnosuchthing]

[Soundless steps stop behind Sayaka as Kafuka leans in to look at the soul gem over her shoulder and speak right into Sayaka's ear.]

Oh, that's lovely!

[...what do you mean that's creepy?]

[beknightedheroine]

[The wheels on the gloom bus go round and rou--SCREECH.

She starts, falling forward and barely missing toppling over onto the lovely gem in question. Wow, that would have qualified for stupidest way to die; falling right on her own soul gem. Once Sayaka's recovered (and started rubbing at the ear that got spoken into), she gives Kafuka a sheepish look.]

Uh. Yeah, and it's got sentimental value, too. Really near and dear to me, that thing is.

[theresnosuchthing]

[ B E A M I N G ]

It's very pretty, what is it?

Later... have a creeper pseudo-Buddhist.

[vipassi]

[He didn't like the floors where powers didn't work; the less time he had to spend showing his current condition - pale, on the skin and bones side, and still weak - the better, and it didn't help that some things, like the faint scars ringing the red eye, were visible without his normal minor illusions to cover them. Besides, he was vulnerable, and he hated being vulnerable.]

[However, curiosity could get the better of him - and someone else willingly going and parking there was a curiosity, enough to've quietly slipped in and sat down, cross-legged, the trident across his lap.]

[It sort of looked like an attempt at something familiar to him...]

[A very restless and failed attempt, enough to be mildly amusing in spite of the setting; he didn't speak until she stood up.]

I think the idea is to let go.

exactly what i wanted for my holiday

[beknightedheroine]

<sub>[Of course she'd seen him earlier, fidgety as she was. She didn't comment on it or to him, though, because Sayaka was too busy trying to salvage something of her time and maybe suddenly achieve a state of serenity.

Most people didn't dig the power suppression all that much, either, but Sayaka was counting on it - some place where she couldn't burn any magic, no matter what, seemed like the smart choice of where to go to try and learn to keep herself in check to preserve it.

Of course it didn't work anyway so the point is moot.]</sub>

..how?!

_{[She seems like she'd stop with just that plaintive question, but nope, floodgates are open, sorry random guy who made the mistake of watching her be bad at meditation:]}

I just keep thinking in the same things one after another. 'I need to calm down,' and then I think about why I need to be, and then it's straight on to oh no I can't and bad things will happen, and then right back around!

[vipassi]

[Well, at least the extent of his current emotional reaction to her flailing is basically "popcorn.gif", as much as there isn't a whole lot of change in his expression or demeanor. It was such a beautiful little vicious cycle.]

Well, as long as you're sure you can't, then you won't be able to. [Self-fulfilling prophecies are a pain that way; of course, it might take a bit more work to get him to be less of a Zen ass about it.]

Creepy Round 2? [PMMM SPOILERS LIKE HELL]

[fallen_stage]

[Kuja only meant to pass by on his way to the upper floors. Sure, the girl looked sad, but it wasn't really his business.

Then he noticed something about the odd little gem.]

Pardon my intrusion, but why is your soul outside your body?

[beknightedheroine]

<sub>[Her first reaction is to splutter.

And then to immediately pick the soul in question back up, uncomfortable with not holding onto it when someone she doesn't know is able to call out what it is, right off the bat.]</sub>

--That is, it's, I..

It'sreallycomplicated! I - how could you tell?

[fallen_stage]

[Woah, obviously a sensitive point. Kuja smiles, trying to look less intimidating, and shrugs.]

It's a special talent of mine. Did I overstep myself, Miss?

earlier;

[ofdewandglass]

[Feferi's still trying to get a feel for the tower, and today, she's found herself on Floor 31. It's kind of beautiful, even if it is haunting. It doesn't take her long to spot Sayaka, and she approaches quietly.]

It's kind of eerie how pretty it is here, don't you think?

[beknightedheroine]

_{[Eyes snap open, then take a couple leisurely blinks - oh hey, company. Company she sort-of knows from being roommates with, but never legitimately spoke to before now.]}

Eerie's a pretty good word. I might've picked 'suspicious,' but there's only so much you can make leery eyes at in the tower before you're sick of the eye strain, heh!

..the rocks are a different touch. _{[She clicks her nails against the cobblestones a few times as she says that, as if just remembering they're there and possible to force noises out of.]}

[ofdewandglass]

Suspicious works too, and so does 'unsettling', 'creepy', and 'eerie'. But you're right. This place is freaky enough that you would get eye strain if you tried staring at everything.

[Feferi nods. She vaguely recognizes Sayaka, too.]

We're roomies, right? I'm Feferi.

Earlier

[doublechecks]

Penny for your thoughts?

[To be honest, he was on the way to the 38th floor, but he can't help noticing her being well. Alone. Which is why he's going to plop down next to her.]

[beknightedheroine]

..Just a penny? C'mon, these are some heavy thoughts I got here. We'll need a shipping cost, too.

_{[Hey, Lelouch. You're good for bantering. She's gonna latch on to that.]}

[doublechecks]

Is it as heavy as a freight train, I wonder...

[Well, he sure can provide it.]

Earlier

[mustlovedogs]

[Oh, hey, it's that girl from when he first showed up... She helped calm him down before, so he should at least repay that, right? That's why rather than moving on and letting people deal with their own problems, he crouches down beside her.]

Hey. Feeling down?

[beknightedheroine]

_{[Sayaka doesn't physically react to her new company, keeping her eyes trained on the little gem in front of her.]}

Could be downer. This is the 31st floor.

_{[She can certainly snark, though.]}

[mustlovedogs]

Er...well, yeah, but, that's not what I mean...

[Talking to people, especially girls, is hard enough already!]

A-anyway, What's up?

[moontothetide]

"...h-hey."

Tara had come up the stairs in front of Sayaka to see the girl sitting cross legged on the floor. After a second's thought to take in the situation, she decided to speak up.

The girl kept her voice low and soft, just in case Sayaka didn't hear her. She knew attempted meditation when she saw it, especially one that used a stone for a focus. So she didn't want to disturb the girl just in case she was properly meditating...but, well, Tara had seen others like Buffy struggle with it in the past, and thought she knew what that looked like as well.

[beknightedheroine]

Sayaka's eyes snap open nearly immediately when Tara speaks up, pretty much an easy cue that she was succeeding at anything but meditating.

"Hey back to ya."

[moontothetide]

Pretty easy cue, actually. Tara smiles in sympathy before taking a seat across from Sayaka, on the other side of the gem.

"I mean, I, I hope you don't mind me saying, but...i-it's okay. Lots of people have trouble meditating. I-It's, it's harder than it looks."

Later because I'm a hipster

[morituramfides]

Jin had been trawling down the stairway on the outside, back to his typical aimless wandering. And it always seemed like whenever he ran into this damn kid she was freaking out or moping over something. Go figure.

"You seem downright chipper." Still, he did stop his stairway expedition, one hand in his pocket, the other holding his briefcase.

[beknightedheroine]

"A woodchipper, maybe," she nearly nonsensically quips, before actually registering who it is. "--Oh, hi Jin."

For all accounts, she could be worse, at least? Sayaka mainly looks put out, instead of miserable, which is a marked better mood than she's been often caught in.

Later:

[fracta_anima]

"Hi Sayaka!" Minami says as she passes the girl in the hall, a smile on her face. She'd seen her around, but hadn't really had a chance to talk to her since the party a little back. Minami didn't know why she hadn't tried harder to talk to the girl again, it just hadn't happened.

Well, now was the best time to make up for that! Right?

"How are you doing?"

[beknightedheroine]

She nearly doesn't catch the greeting, stopping short a few seconds late with an "Oh."

Minami's voice is somewhat difficult to place, but they must've traded names at some point, since that was a 'hi, Sayaka,' and not just a general 'hi.'

...well, might as well be some sort of social, even if she's feeling nothing but. Sayaka whirls to face Minami, pulling on a forced grin.

"Eh, I'm not doing not half bad! How about you?"