Noises off

[geometry]

Characters: AUquius (barely) and YOU!
Setting: Floor 14/THE VASTNESS OF SPAAAAAAACE.
Format: Do whatever.
Summary: ...Dude. Hey. You've been sitting here for hours. Equius? Hello?
Warnings: None. Unless Gamzee shows up...

[Planets are dying in the middle of fabricated space, all over the floor and walls of the Tower's fourteenth level. How long has this been going? Which planets are being destroyed? And why, dear god, is Equius Zahhak sitting in the middle of it?]

[None of these questions have gotten an answer, nor does it look like they ever will. Sitting in one particular corner of the room, strategically placed to be as invisible from the staircase as possible, is Equius. He's just sitting there. Staring. Watching them die. The pulse is gone, as it always has been, and that offers no comfort; but the visions, illusions, whatever they are, they put him at ease, though he really does not care enough at the moment to be concerned about this. Or anything else. In case it wasn't apparent enough that something's gone very wrong in that delicate little thinkpan, whatever expression was on his face before has now completely glossed over.]

[He's apparently content to sit here with his legs pulled to his chest and watch not-space implode around him. It's a fair bit better than running himself ragged over another fit of paranoia, anyway, and he just wants to stop for a second. A second. A second, really, that's all it is, except it turns out to be more than a second. Seconds melt into minuts which melt into hours he's been sitting here in the corner, and Equius has no intention on leaving, because it's quiet and peaceful and he's just... so... tired...]

Comments

[savedbyasong]

[Shion didn't like this floor, so many planets, so many lives on them. Entire eco systems, there one moment and then the next moment gone forever. If this was accurate to what was happening, with the rate universes were being destroyed then... one in a half a million people were being 'saved'.

It made his head hurt if he thought to long about it, and made him sad if he thought about it for only a moment. Usually he hurried through the room but today a figure caught his eye.] Equius? [He went over, he hadn't seen Equius in too long, before he had went to his doomed world, before the lights had all gone out. Had Equius been in the pods? Shion berated himself for not finding his friend earlier.]

[geometry]

[At some other point at his time in the Tower, Equius had probably done all those calculations as well. It was part of one of his little 'projects', utterly mindless things to take his mind off of the fact that they were presently trapped in a magical death tower and had no way out. Those thoughts were pretty far away from his mind, at the moment, though.]

[Equius jumps about a foot in the air when Shion speaks, quiet as he is. The combination of the present issue on his mind ("someone's out for my head"), and the valiant attempts he'd been making to drown out every sense he had, made it pretty unlikely that he would notice someone coming in. He realizes it's Shion soon enough, but had already pressed himself further into the corner as an instinctive measure, and by the expression on his face it doesn't look like he's coming out any time soon.]

[savedbyasong]

[Shion's concern turned to outright worry as he hurried over to where Equius was. He wondered what had happened to make him so much more scared than the last time Shion had seen him. He really should have looked for him sooner and made sure he was alright.] Equius it's me Shion. What's wrong?

[geometry]

[Shoosh, Shion, don't beat yourself up. You should be used to this behavior from Equius by now. But because you aren't, his displeasure is made even more obvious by the fact that even when Shion walked over and introduced himself, Equius jams his eyes shut and goes back to the curled-up position.]

Go away.

[savedbyasong]

No [It was said quietly but firmly. Equius was probably one of the few people in the tower who was less assertive than Shion. He stopped before he was next to him though, sitting a little in front of him.] Why are you scared?

[geometry]

[8(]

[Equius' soul was weak. And unfortunately, his fear was strong. So Shion will find him less than cooperative in his attempts to figure out what's happened.] Shion... [In some particular corner of his mind, Equius just doesn't want Shion to see him in horrible sorts, again. They'd already done that once, and coincidentally, it was just after... um... never mind. He was supposed to carefully avoid that train of thought, wasn't he? Yeah, he was. So much for that idea.]

...oh god, Shion. Just... [DOES HE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THIS...]

[savedbyasong]

[Yes he does have to talk about this. Shion settled down, not getting any closer to the frightened troll.] Did someone hurt you? [He was willing to be patient, after all if Equius had seen him after the labyrinth- and Shion didn't remember if he had or not, which said a lot considering Shion's impeccable memory, he would have found Shion in an even worse state.]

[wrigurun]

[There was very little that was shorter than Wriggle's attention span, and when the elevator had taken more than a minute to arrive she decided to take the stairs instead. She would have been content to stay on the forest several floors below if it weren't for the animals. The mantra of 'up' repeated in her head as she made her way through the floors (especially when she found she could not fly) but all that was forgotten when she found herself in the middle of... what was it?

Wriggle drifted into the middle of the room, staring all around her in wonder. She'd never ever seen anything like this. It was kind of like the sky at night but there was so much more to it. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a slight sliver of red, orange and yellow but even that was enough to distract her. Approaching the pair of brightly coloured horns she was surprised to see someone she recognised, even if she couldn't quite place the name. Eric... Eiji... Equius! It was Equius!]

Hey, are you okay?

[geometry]

[Oh god, why does it have to be... who is that again?]

[Reluctantly, Equius opens one eye to see who had asked the question. The voice was female, and not the raspy horror-movie noise that Gamzee made from his voicebox. That meant that it was probably not the psychotic indigo, unless he had somehow found some way to switch bodies... which might have happened, oh god Gamzee can switch bodies, he's going to die. So the eye shuts and he goes back to huddling in the corner with a squeak.]

[wrigurun]

[They reaction is not what she expected at all. Or maybe it is. Wriggle can't quite remember Equius's exact mannerisms. Reaching out she places a hand on his shoulder and gently shakes him]

Is there something wrong? Can I help?

[geometry]

[Okay, you know, Equius is not a fan of physical contact on a good day. And today is definitely not a good day. So Wriggle gets the dubious honor of watching as Equius shrinks his entire body away from her hand as if it were a hot branding iron. After scuttling a few paces back, he finally comes out of that pillbug position, but he still looks absolutely terrified of something, possibly her. Is that face giving you flashbacks, Wriggle?]

[wrigurun]

[His terrified face isn't making her feel any better. Swallowing the lump in her throat she slowly turns around, expecting some kind of alien monstrosity to be lurking over her shoulder.

There's nothing but broken stars or planets and she breathes a small sigh of relief]

Geez, don't scare me like that...!

[And yet he still has that face]

You remember me, don't you? It's me, Wriggle!

[It couldn't be her that was scaring him, could it?]

[geometry]

[This face will haunt your nightmares for years to come, Wriggle. Search your soul; you know it to be true.]

[Wriggle's continued existence seems to give him pause. She hasn't turned into an evil horned monstrosity yet, at any rate, and that's something. Equius was willing to cut a lot of slack if it fed his paranoia, but considering what he'd seen of Gamzee on the Network, he probably wouldn't have waited this long. Besides, Gamzee wasn't even there when they met last, right? Somewhere through the fog of terror that had been laying over his mind for the past couple of days, Equius seemed to realize this, if slowly. And that's what leads him to speak -- quietly, and weakly.]

...are you sure?

[wrigurun]

Who else would I be?

[It's not a snide or sarcastic remark, but completely genuine. Wriggle is too simple to get paranoid about illusions or body switches and the thoughts never pop into her head. She dropped down besides him, not too close but close enough to touch him if she leaned over and stretched out her arm. She didn't though, and instead fidgeted with the tails or her cape. After a moment or two she speaks again, a little more quietly than before]

If you're scared about something you can tell me. I'm good at keeping secrets because I never remember them.

[mamadonna]

[ Dolorosa has stood just off from the stairs for a few minutes now. She was descending the stairs to relieve some stress from a conversation she'd just completed, and caught sight of Equius.

There was something she would find inexplicably soothing about this room if the planets weren't all collapsing around him. She finds something in that deeply unsettling, and so she must eventually say something to distract herself from it. ]

Equius. What are you doing?

[geometry]

[...Oh god.]

[He recognizes the voice immediately, and it is more than enough to make him look up to confirm. Yes, of course, it's the Dolorosa. Had to be the Dolorosa. Oh god, and she'd already seen him like this, too... oh god. Equius pulls himself out of the hunched up position slowly, never taking his eyes off of her. God, why did he have to talk to people right now? Why did they have to see him like this?]

...I'm sorry.

[mamadonna]

[ It was to her detriment at the moment that she struck such an imposing figure, her posture straightened to accentuate her height. It really hadn't been her intention, but she was in a mood that had given her attention to care a momentary lapse.

She slowly approached through the void, careful to step around any errant worlds along her path. ] I was unaware that you were guilty of anything which would give cause to such an apology.

[geometry]

[He wants to plunge his head back down and return to being a senseless little ball again. That would be much easier than dealing with Dolorosa. Unfortunately, her mere presence is powerful enough to make that not happen. Maybe, if some corner in his mind, he has equated her adulthood with strength; if Gamzee comes, she can fend him off. So instead he just keeps staring at her.]

I'm sorry... you... have to see this.

[He doesn't sound scared, amazingly. It's more ashamed.]

[mamadonna]

[ She would try to pap him and he might or might not kill her for it. She isn't sure. There is the uncomfortable need to confront the fact that, despite his usually kind nature, he is unfortunately still a highblood in nature.

But she has more immediate concerns, like the scared little boy ahead of her. ]

There are far more unfortunate sights I have been made to witness. You are not so terrible a burden that I should regret having to be here. Tell me, what's the matter?

[geometry]

...I've... I've done something horribly wrong.

[His voice is extremely weak, but he's managed to spit out at least a part of what's happened. Of course, that's probably because he still feels bound to answer her due to being an adult, but hey -- whatever works.]

YOU RANGGGGG~?

[hystericull]

[The fourteenth floor. Gamzee hadn't been up here in so fucking long, and the last time he was, he was high off of his motherfucking balls, giving himself a bloody nose by tripping over his feet and not getting up off the floor because PLANETS. There was not a single shit left to give this time. The planets could all implode if they fucking wanted to. Worthless things in this worthless fucking Tower. Besides, he was on the hunt for another worthless thing.]

[Losing track of how many floors he'd already checked, the lanky atrocity stepped off of the staircase, reeking of irrational rage and ill intent. If this was a game of hide-and-seek, he thought to himself, moving around while hiding was mother--]

[FUCKING]
[CHEATING.]

[AgHHh, ShIT.]

[He wasn't going to find the stupid son of a bitch if he kept losing it like this. Wet breaths hissed through his fangs as he swept the floor.]

Little pissblo-od~ ♫

[He'd sung it on every floor so far, garnering a variety of expressions from bystanders that varied from bafflement to disgust. Those motherfuckers were not who he was fucking searching for, though. He could not care any less about anyone else at this point in time. There was someone so special he'd made an unspoken date with.]

Come out and pa-ay~ ♫

...Hahahahahahahahahaha. "Play," shit.

[geometry]

[If Equius was still before, then he's a corpse now.]

[Haha, see what I did there. Corpse. BECAUSE HE'S ABOUT TO BECOME ONE.]

[Those worthless muscles? Pulled as tight as they go. He's not speaking. He's probably not breathing, because if he breathes then he screams, and that's as good as dead. Even though he's as good as dead already. Why can't Gamzee just come and kill him? Maybe Wriggle can come back. She'll get the memo then. Not everyone is as they are upon your first meeting. No, it's just him, because he's a worthless sack of shit who'll never get his act together. Ahahahahoh jesus christ.]

[This room isn't very big. He's dead. He's good as dead.]

[So, you know, he's just going to sit here.]

[You know.]

[No big.]

[hystericull]

[Why did they always have to hide?]

[Why did they think it would prevent their deaths? Did they believe that he'd get fed up, quit looking for them? Hahahaha, oh man.]

Pleaseeee... I be askin' on you real nice-like to GET YOUR MOTHERFUCKING ASS OUT HERE WHERE I CAN FUCKING SEE IT.

[He coeed the first part, almost in a soothing cadence. Before you could decide if it was a soothing cadence or not, the sentence shifted, and he was back to screaming at the swirling, galactic destruction being played out before him.]

I like you, motherfucker. I fuckin' like you. Playin' games with me like this. Don't get none of your motherfucking worries all on, brother. I'll be searchin' at you for what's the rest of my mother fucking life before I'm lettin' you all up and get your escape on of me.

I'm a very. PATIENT. MOTHERFUCKER.

[He hummed happily, unaware of the descent he was making into that blinding, furious madness. Gamzee stalked the floor - there was only so much ground to cover before he'd find Equius, no matter how small the boy made himself.]

[He was not in the mental state to contemplate exactly why he was here, but if he were, he would probably conclude that it was not so much that Equius was terribly antagonistic - in fact, he was entirely the opposite - but that he was the easiest to let his anger out on. So submissive, so uncertain, so nervous - Gamzee fed off of energy like that. The first taste he got of it, he'd press and press until he'd squeezed every negative emotion he could out of the person.]

[That, and, okay, the yellowblood just had this knack for pissing him the fuck off, for making him want to wrap his hands around that neck of his and squeeze.]

[He was getting ahead of himself, though. Before that could happen, he'd have to find the motherfucker. He'd have to commend him for being silent as the fucking grave. Motherfucker was good at this game. He'd obviously played it before.]

[A few minutes later, Gamzee rounded the last section of the floor, taking slow, lazy steps, but keeping himself on alert, snapping his head around to search every last inch until--]

[Oh. Well, he'd never managed someone of Equius' size could make themselves that tiny. That needle-toothed grin of his swallowed up the entirety of his face.]

Found you, motherfucker.

I win.

Feel free to snipe Equius at any point during these extremely drawn-out proceedings.

[geometry]

[Running away worked most times, actually. Distract them for long enough and they lose interest, head off for something else with only a few insults to leave behind. Of course, those were all... ahem, simpleminded individuals, with blood that did not condition for violence at all. It was all the environment. Therefore, they had no reason to continue the hunt after their short attention span had been expired, and only then was when it was safe to come out and collect your bearings and flee.]

[Gamzee Makara, though, he was a different matter, a matter that Equius truthfully had never seen in person. Even when Captor had arrived in the meteor with the intent to kill, that wasn't even his mind speaking, that was the lack thereof -- the insanity that had come from an outside source, the horrorterrors. Sure, they had already established a while ago that the Tower was a horrible place with a penchant for making people go batshit crazy. But that wasn't what happened here, oh no. Most of the dangerous residents in this place had to be made batshit crazy for it to work; like the horrorterrors, the Tower was the source.]

[Gamzee, Gamzee did it himself.]

[It was probably waiting all this time, for some stupid idiotic yellowblood to come along and attempt, once, just once, to be of use. Yeah, be of use. Great job you did there. Only thing you're of use for to Gamzee is a punching bag.]

[See, there's a beautiful thing about this whole situation. Gamzee Makara, he was waiting perhaps for a way to milk the negative energy, of which there was in spades. It didn't take a genius to see that Equius was scared, scared panicked trapped cornered submissive, that was just how he was. Or how he had been made. There wasn't much of a difference in situations like this. Anyone in their right mind would want to go and hide from a threat, and obviously Equius was no different. It was what happened afterwards that changed.]

[A great example is right now.]

[It's a real shame that Equius had himself in such a compressed position. Otherwise, Gamzee would get to see the truly magnificent degree of terror etched onto his face. As it is, the eyes were the only thing visible, but they were pretty impressive in their own right, so Gamzee would have to settle.]

[There's absolutely no way that Equius could summon the strength to move right now. It just would not happen. His muscles would not let it. Equius was presently in the middle of that singular moment where-- where it was over, and everyone involved knew it was over. It was over and, as Gamzee mentioned, he had won. This is the moment of sick, delicious realization where Equius finally registers that Gamzee has reached him, and is looking at him with the sort of beastliness in his features that even trolls should never be able to possess. And try as he might, nothing in his brain is going to work properly -- those limbs that are presently curled up into the tightest possible ball... not even the willpower of the Sufferer himself could make those limbs move.]

[This is all normal. It's what happens when a predator has found their prey.]

[In the next second, the sensation will have lessened, just enough to let Equius regain control of his brain and spine and nervous system, and from that second forward he will be able to coordinate his body and mind in a way that might possibly allow him to escape.]

[The brilliant part is, this will happen, but the body will never move. Equius will not let it.]

[After all, this is Gamzee's job. This is what he was born to do. This is what the Grand Highblood was born to do, too, and because Equius is not stupid, he will have realized that there must be some connection between the two. So, he'll do exactly what he did with the Grand Highblood.]

[Slowly, carefully, in the most unassuming and nonthreatening manner possible, he loosens the tangle of limbs. And then unwinds it. And then it is gone.]

[There is no trick here. Equius is sitting with his legs crossed, palms on the floor, allowing Gamzee an unobstructed shot at his chest.]

don't wanna finish too soon, lest equius be displeased with his performance ;o)

[hystericull]

[Maybe, at one time, he would have balked at anyone who dared compare him to his ancestor. That prejudiced, faith-destroying, culling machine was nothing he aspired to be.]

[At one time.]

[But the fucker was gone from here. Gamzee didn't have to set stubs on him for one more motherfucking second. Didn't have to hear the heresies spill from his rotten maw, didn't have to have those limbs pummeling him or tearing his clothes for being out-of-line, for not bending to his every whim.]

[It was totally different! These cullings were totally motherfucking different. He didn't want that motherfucker back. Not that he was ever going to come back. Why would he? Why would he ever come back? He wouldn't. He won't. He won't. He won't. He won't!]

[This feeling of power, of dominance, bloodlust and greed and entitlement was something entirely unique. It was something only he felt. Something only for him to feel. He knew it. These thoughts rolled over and over in his pan, on his tongue as he grinned down at Equius, offering himself to him like a perfect lowblood should.]

You got it all motherfuckin' figured the fuck out, motherfucker. You all were to being gettin' straight up in the under motherfucking standing of it all while I was getting my search on at you, wasn't you?

[He chuckled, so lightly, twirling a club through his fingers idly.]

FROM NOW THE MOTHER FUCK ON, YOU WILL BE KNOWING YOUR MOTHERFUCKING PLACE. YOU CANNOT BE EVEN THINKING ON GETTING THE WICKED CONCEAL OF YOURSELF UP AND ON FROM THIS MOTHERFUCKER'S RIGHTEOUS JUBILANNIHILATION.

[The screeching was coming from his own mouth, he realized belatedly. The fact that Equius had resigned himself to death just solidified Gamzee's new-found superiority complex.]

[With more babbling, never-ending sermons of place and order and death that whispered in a voice that certainly was not his own, Gamzee raised his weapons, raining down on the troll before him until there was nothing but a golden mess of pulp and bones.]

[After the gleeful punishment had been exacted, Gamzee paused for a moment, stooping down to collect a pair of arrow-shaped horns with a trembling hand.]

Ungrateful motherfucker. Can't be all leaving here without getting at paying your motherfucking tithe.