When bleeding is feeling and feelin' ain't real

[queenofbass]

Characters: Marceline and anyone who wants to deal with her right now
Setting: Morning after Hitori Kakurenbo, tower halls
Format: Starting in prose but I'll match.
Summary: Marceline knows death, but never as awful as the game showed her. And it's more scarring than what she has experienced before. She doesn't deal well with this kind.
Warnings: Panicky, irritated vampire, mostly.

Marceline had been on her side as she woke up, the prickling at the back of her neck alerting her to danger and worrying her, but leaving her unable to do anything until her body recovered from the paralysis. She'd been facing away from her table. The resulting fit when she finally turned over and saw the "present" the lunatics running this insane asylum of a tower had left her was worse than any she'd ever had.

Hambo the Second. Sitting on the table. As repaired as if nothing had ever happened to the ratty little thing. The previous night's game hadn't even faded, and the phantom pain in her scars flared red hot. For an eternity (contained in a few faint flutters of her undead heart), it all came back as if she were reliving the event.

Attack. Claws, no bass, left it behind because what could this really call for besides herself and Hambo? Screaming. Not a chance. Plucked from air like nothing. Pushed down to the ground. Old scars reopened. Drained. Pain, red in the worst way. Pain like a brand. Screaming, hers. Fading slowly. Waking here.

Her nails had become claws again, but she couldn't use them, whether from fright or some sick remnant of concern for the tattered bear she couldn't say. With a quiet shriek she swiped the bear off the table, and shot out of the room, determined to get as far away from it as she could.

Comments

[myblueskies]

Romeo was as well as he could be after what had happened. He had been trapped in a state of awareness and sleeping for a very very long time and though he was used to these ever lengthening moments of sleep paralysis it had shook him. Not as much as last night had though, every time he thought the bad people had hurt them as much as they could they did something worse.

He had already gone to check that Molly was okay, that she had woken up same as him and hadn't disappeared again. He was desperately trying to keep his spirits up and not think about what had happened to him, to Molly, to everyone. Now he saw Marceline, who he had spoken to in the Midnight Man game, he had seen some of her earlier posts last night before he had died. He moved to her side and wrapped his arms around her. "It will be okay." He told her, hugging her tightly.

[queenofbass]

Scream and flight aside, Marceline was being rather rational. She was even planning the way to overcome this mess. Step one, bandage her neck up to hide the new scars she was sure she had, to cover the shameful reminder that she had failed. Step two, figure out what to do about that bear. Step three, avenge herself on whoever had thought murder bears had been a fun game.

Romeo's hug startled her, and she stiffened like a board, ready to attack until she realized who it was. She'd talked to this kid at the Midnight Man game. He wasn't going to hurt her, she was okay. The rush of panic that had flooded her system was harder to convince, and she kept the claws her hands had become far away to avoid hurting him.

"How? I died again, kid. I used up my extra life with the vampire thing. I should be in the ground for good, and yet here I am. In this crazy tower, with a killer bear in my floor just innocent and... and there. Please, just tell me how any of this is going to be okay." It came out harsher than she meant for it to, but she wasn't in much of a mood to consider her tone.

[myblueskies]

Romeo frowned when she spoke but he knew she was just sad and scared and angry. He had said some angry nasty things when Alfredo had died and when Molly had disappeared he had just wanted to scream at everybody. But it wasn't a good thing to do.

Romeo shook his head angrily because he didn't have an answer. He couldn't help anybody because the bad people were always stronger, always smarter and always better than him. But they had to keep their spirits up. Romeo hugged her tighter.

He wanted to cry himself, because he was scared and he wanted to go home, this place was so bad! Nothing this scary had ever happened in Milano and though bad things had happened he had never been so powerless.

Even when Alfredo died. Almost everyone he knew had died last night and he couldn't do anything, but they couldn't give up so Romeo pushed all those feelings to the side. Because he had to keep his spirits up.

"Of course it will be alright because we will make it alright okay! If we are sad and scared then that's what the bad people want and they will have won. We gotta keep going no matter how many times we die, and no matter what they do to us because they are big bullies and want us to be sad. They like it when we cry so we can't cry we just got to get up and keep living!"

[queenofbass]

Whoa. The kid had some guts, and that was something she could respect. If, you know, it was a normal situation. But she really was sad and scared and angry, and worst of all, confused. If she died again it was supposed to be game over, she had thought. This tower was taking everything she thought she knew and turning it inside out and upside down.

The manner of her death didn't help her any either, and she was fighting down tears. She wasn't going to cry. She didn't want to. If she cried, she lost, and that was the only point she was willing to concede on at that time.

"And again I ask, how? Look, I'll even give you the keep living- I don't intend to die for good so easily." Her face was grim, and the look in her eyes said she absolutely meant that. "But look at the facts, we don't have much control here. They're bullies, yes, but they're bullies in control. And they're going to do anything they can to show us that... even bring back those lumping bears." Marceline couldn't hold back a shudder at the thought of the toy that was likely still in the floor.

[myblueskies]

Romeo wanted to cry as well. But he couldn't! He couldn't cry because someone had to help everyone who was. Marceline reminded him of himself just after Alfredo had died, scared and sad and wanting to give up because he couldn't do anything and everything was against him.

The Black Brothers didn't exist here, but Romeo would be a very bad leader if he didn't at least try and help everybody. Because Marceline was right, they had no control, the bad people had all the control.

But that was just how things were. In Milano the bosses had been in control, here the Bad people were in control. They could do horrible horrible things yes, but the more they were sad the more they would win.

You couldn't show people who controlled you how much they were hurting you. You just couldn't!

"If they bring back the bears they bring them back! We will fight them and if we die we will come back and fight them again! If we sit about crying they will think they have won. And they haven't won! Because we wont let them!" He was shouting now, if she wasn't an adult he would probably have shaken her.

[queenofbass]

It couldn't be helped- a quiet laugh bubbled out of Marceline's chest, almost scared, growing and growing to worrying-frantic levels of hysteria. This kid had guts! She should have guessed he was tougher than she gave him credit for; he hadn't shown much worry or even fear in the Midnight Man game. It was the determination of youth mixed with some resolve that a kid Romeo's age shouldn't have had to have, and it wasn't so much amusement as a mixture of emotions that had her laughing.

It took a few minutes and a couple of whooping breaths to settle her down, and she let herself sit on the floor to regain her lost composure. Her arms wrapped around her stomach, and she shot him a faint grin, all nerves and disbelief.

"You just don't give in, do you?" she managed, a light chuckle following. "All right. You've won this match. Besides, I wouldn't be... well, I guess I wouldn't be me if I just gave in. Came too far to let these losers win." She leaned her head back to thump against the wall, still trying to quell the panic in her chest. It wasn't going to go away just because she acknowledged she couldn't just stay down. The fear would still remain. But Romeo's point had hit home, if the people in charge knocked her down seven times, she'd just have to get up eight.

And maybe, someday, hopefully, get a few hits in on them to show them that the vampire queen did not take well to being knocked down.

[myblueskies]

Romeo frowned at first, figuring she was probably laughing at him. But she didn't seem to be, and laughing was better than crying so he laughed as well, nervously but laughing all the same. Glad that she wasn't crying any more.

He nodded at her new found determination, they were going to beat the Bad People and they were going to be okay. He reached out and clasped her hand. "We wont give in and we will make sure the Bad people know we wont let them hurt us!" He raised his fist to his heart.

"I'll help you I swear, I'll protect you and make sure you can always get up when you think you can't!"

[queenofbass]

Marceline's confusion, her shock, showed clearly on her face. How was he going to-- why would-- he barely knew her! But it was a sweet sentiment, she supposed, and she reached up for a moment to ruffle at his hair, before she clambered back to her feet.

"And I'll try to return the favor. We'll show these guys who they're dealing with!" she laughed.

[myblueskies]

Romeo grinned as she ruffled his hair and stood up with her. He nodded at her words, "We will! We will show them that they can't do bad things and we wont let them hurt our friends anymore!"

[queenofbass]

She laughed again, quietly, and started to walk away, still too shaky to float. Besides, the tap of her shoes on the ground helped to remind her she was alive. The sound seemed, even to her, hesitant, and she took a longer stride to see if it helped.

It didn't. But it did give her a couple of steps to wave casually back toward Romeo, a small grin on her face as she said "thanks, kid," just loud enough to be heard.

[myblueskies]

He grinned at her and waved. "You're welcome miss!" Then turned and skipped off.