Infighting Week Two

[animusmods]

Characters: any character participating in the Infighting event
Setting: pods, week two of the event
Format: any
Summary: All week two Infighting event threads should go in here, to keep things organized.
Warnings: horror, trauma, experiment results, impossible geometry, cabin fever

[Week Two Information]
[Week One]
Dax's Pod
Riki's Pod
Jason's Pod
End of Week Two

Comments

[moontothetide]

N-No, it, i-it doesn't. Lots of people, um, shave their heads. Even, um, even my ex-girlfriend did! [A complete and utter lie - one of the things Tara had liked about Willow was her brilliant red hair - but she thinks Willow would forgive her.]

I-I mean, um, that's not why she's my ex-girlfriend, I-I didn't leave, just because of that. S-Some people even think it looks nice.

[miseris_socios]

[He just stares for a moment while he processes all of that. ... Oh. Okay. He manages a tiny smile.]

I look better with my hair. I -

[He cuts himself off, rubbing his throat again. It hurts too much, and the extra breath he needs is just too painful right now.]

[moontothetide]

W-Well, um, of course you do, I mean, i-it's your hair, and...

[Tara brings herself up short at Ken's visible signs of pain, looking apologetic.] S-Sorry. I m-made you talk. You, um, y-you probably don't want to talk.

[miseris_socios]

[He shakes his head.]

It's better than staying quiet. There's been too much quiet in Jason's pod, aside from the surgeries.

[moontothetide]

...right. Surgeries.

[Tara seems to wilt very slightly at the thought. She can actually muster up hate, for Jason, and that scares her on a completely different level.]

Well, um, I-I'm Tara. [After a second's hesitation, she offers her hand for a shake.] W-What's your name?

[miseris_socios]

[He reaches out to shake her hand.]

Ken. Ken Amada.

[moontothetide]

Hi, Ken. It's... [She briefly debates with herself, before finally going with the trusted standby of:] I-It's, um, it's nice to meet you.

[It is, even if it is under deeply unfortunate circumstances.]

...nice job. Um, in, in not losing. Th-That's good.

[Dax still needs to win, but Jason's pod has suffered enough, especially if they can lose without losing.]

...I hope this is over soon.

[miseris_socios]

Thanks? I guess. I thought we were going to lose... some of us busted up some of the treadmills...

[That was fun to watch, even if the aftermath was horrific.]

[moontothetide]

[Tara at first looks startled to hear this, but...no, her expression settles back into one of sadness. She should have guessed. There's only so much some people can take.]

I, um...I-I wish we'd th-thought to do that.

That...th-that was brave. R-Really brave.

[This last is added in a slightly smaller voice, as though Tara's almost embarrassed to say it. They know they're brave. They know they're strong. It probably sounds less than useless, coming from her.

And she'd thrown up a fish head.]

[miseris_socios]

It didn't do much. Sayaka got strung up like a puppet, and Yu...

[He goes quiet, and honestly looks like he's going to cry.]

... Parts of him got taken away.

[He's not sure why he's telling someone else this - maybe it's because he knows the others have to win. Maybe it's because he can't just keep it to himself.]

[moontothetide]

[...oh.

Taken away, ripped out, used by someone else, denied. Oh, yes, Tara knows what that can be like - to experience, more than to watch, but she'd gathered that much from Willow afterwards, anyway.]

...m-maybe they can be put back.

[miseris_socios]

They better be. I don't know if... I could handle not having Nemesis with me anymore.

[He shakes his head.]

[moontothetide]

Nemesis? [Tara only knows that as the minor Greek deity, although she has encountered the concept of Personae before.] Is, i-is that like a...protective spirit?

[miseris_socios]

[She is more correct than she knows!]

She's my Persona - I can summon her for attacks. A lot of us here can.

[moontothetide]

Oh. Yeah, I...I-I've seen people, with those, around the tower. Well, um, one. A girl. Sh-She was...really nice.

[...] She, um, sh-she'll find a way back. Spirits like that, um, they always do. [For better or worse.]

[miseris_socios]

... Depends on which one.

[Sorry, he's still kind of suspicious of them... oh well.]

Yeah. I know Yu can summon a bunch of them... but Jason took them all away from him. I don't know how.