towerofanimus | Holy water cannot help you know

Entry tags:

Holy water cannot help you know

Characters: [AU1] Chidori Yoshino; OPEN
Setting: Anywhere, everywhere
Format: Action, but I'll match if you prefer prose.
Summary: Chidori can't quite get back into simply existing in the tower, especially after the month she's had.
Warnings: Mentions of body horror, suicidal thoughts, righteous fury, possibly language if she gets worked up enough.

[Everything is still the same, and she's not sure whether it's depressing or infuriating.

In the month without them there, despite everything they've been forced to go through, how much they've been cut into, 'enhanced', mutilated for the sake of 'science- the tower remains just as she remembers it before leaving. Nothing has changed, save for the fact that some have gone and more have come in their place. Unsurprising, as most things in the tower were at this point- it was just another part of the routine, something to be seen, noted, and taken in stride. Nothing she couldn't do, and nothing she hadn't done before. The only thing that was different was that it seemed that some of the other residents of the tower had taken to emulating their captors, using the others against her will.

She could still feel a twinge where she'd been run through again.

Medea, for her part, has been nothing short of insufferable; the steady chatter of her derision a steady stream of sound in the back of her mind. Every day is an even greater failure to her, but as ever, Chidori ignores her and continues about her days as best she can. But the strain from the last few days is evident in the way she carries herself, the frost in her gaze and the derision in her tone, when she can be persuaded to talk. But she keeps the anger controlled, a seething roil of emotions held in check beneath her usual impassive mask.

It won't be too long before she can't keep her hold on it anymore though.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Dave was on the floor with the floating island. His shoes and socks were sitting next to him as he dipped his feet into the water of the lake. Dave wasn't much of a swimmer (read: can't swim), and he wasn't dumb enough to do much more but put his feet into it.

He looked paler than usual though and tired. The last few days were kind of hard on him and he hadn't been feeling quite up to speed since his misfortune of running into Jin and Minato.

It doesn't help that he's been kind of trying to avoid Bro and Dirk both and this place was usually quiet and devoid of others.]

[The isolation was why Chidori made her way to certain floors to begin with- and this was one of the better ones in which to be alone. Too many people were showing up now that liked the flowers in the meadow, and it made it hard to want to continue visiting if she thought she'd be bothered there. So she came here instead, and was surprised to find she wasn't the only one who thought to keep away from people here.

She could have turned back, of course, but that would have been more trouble than she cared for at the moment.

Besides, this boy looked familiar at least- though it took her a moment to place him. The sarcastic one from the pod, she finally realized, and moved further onto the island. He was more or less quiet when he wasn't quipping. She could handle that.]

I'm not interrupting, am I?

[Better to ask, of course, than to have him lose his temper at her.]

[Dave wasn't really paying attention, or he would have noticed her approach in general. He snapped his head in her direction, his expression not changing in the least. He was trying particularly hard to just keep his poker face up more than usual. Better to act like things are ok than to make someone worry.]

Naw, I was just staring at water. I mean, someone must find that shit interesting, but I assure no live changing moments are taking place at the moment.

It's a free tower anyways. I'm not really going to stop you from hanging around this place. I didn't know anyone frequented here though. It's kind of a bit of a travel to get to this floor.

[Chidori only gives a wan smile and moves closer, settling nearby and leaning forward to peer into the water. When she sees nothing of interest, she sits back on her heels and settles her sketchbook in her lap, giving a careless shrug of her shoulders.]

I have climbed higher towers.

[He recalls climbing the tower before entering the Medium. That was a good memory, actually. His mouth twitches a bit, although no actual smile surfaces.

He glances at her sketchbook though.]

You draw?

Yes.

[She looks down at the book, as if she hadn't expected him to make note of it- she's so used to its presence that it's always strange when someone else notices it.]

A lot, I'm afraid.

[It keeps her busy when she can't find anything else to do.]

That isn't a bad thing. Drawing is a cool thing to be into.

[Not that he could ever really say that his ironic comics were masterpieces. They really weren't.]

There isn't a lot to do here sometimes, so it's probably better to have something to do than be bored as balls.

'Cool'?

[Chidori hasn't ever taken into consideration how 'cool' her hobbies may or may not be. She just does things because she likes to do them- or in some cases, because she has to. She tilts her head at him and then shrugs a shoulder.]

You should try and learn to do something new. It might help.

Yeah. Like, it's pretty nice that you do it. [He wasn't sure what other word other than nice. Yeah, it was nice.]

I guess. This place is big, but there isn't a whole lot to do about finding a good hobby to keep you preoccupied. I stick to the media room, but there's only so much you can do in there for so long.

Oh- thank you, then.

[Her expression clears, and she settles back down carefully, motioning in his direction with the sketchbook.]

You play video games then? Jin and I play a lot, some days. Though... there is a boy who looks a lot like you who goes to the music room a lot. [A pause, and she raises her pencil.] Do you mind?

Sometimes. I usually just stick to the music equipment. It was kind of a hobby of mine, and I guess I might as well take advantage of the fact that the equipment is there. [A beat.] You must mean David Lalonde. I guess that makes sense since we're kind of the same guy with different circumstances.

[Uh. UHHH. Hopefully his ears didn't turn red or anything. He's just a little taken aback.] Naw. I ain't bothered.

The music room can get quite difficult late enough in the evening.

[Especially with the instruments playing themselves.]

Yes, that's his name, I think. The one with all the purple. [She flashes him a look of vague amusement- she almost wants to start color-coding the both of them.] Besides looks, are the two of you really so similar?

[Even if his ears do go red, Chidori certainly isn't going to mention it. She flips to a clean page and starts sketching.] Thank you, then. It's been a while since I had a proper model.

Yeah, I know him. [Well. It's complicated. Not sure how to explain.] Kind of? I mean, we're obviously different, but there's some similarities. But we're definitely not clones of each other.

[Even if they were, he would deny it. He doesn't like people treating them as the same person.] Don't proper models get naked and stand on a stage with like sticks and sheets? I'm telling you now, it costs extra to get me to do that.

Well- the differences should be obvious enough to anyone that's spoken to you for more than a moment. [In other words, if someone doesn't get it, they're an idiot.] Besides, it isn't like you're as hard to tell apart as the Minatos are.

[Her mouth twitches in amusement at his jibe about models, one brow rising.]

Not necessarily- however you'll find I don't much care for that sort of thing, so if you'd like to get paid for it, you'll have to ask elsewhere.

They still confuse me. [He's spoken to both and it's still jarring.]

It's okay. I still need to figure out my stage name. Can't really flaunt my real name down incase I want to consider different career routes.

It's pretty easy for me.

[She grew up with one of them for one thing, and Medea can sense their Personas for another, so maybe it's easier for her than most.]

Hmmm... will you go the food route, or the awful innuendo route?

[Yeah...he doesn't get those perks.]

The awful innuendo route of course.

[A quiet sound- a laugh, but it might as well be a loud breath for all that she tries to keep him from hearing it.]

Hmmm, I'm afraid I'm terrible at that, otherwise, I'd offer to help brainstorm.

It's cool. I've always been told if you use a pet name and the street you live on, it would make the best porn star name. Too bad I didn't own a pet.

I could just be really blatantly obvious too. Something like Dick Princess or something. [Knight of Blowjobs? Hmm.]

Favorite food then?

[Her mouth twitches.]

My, that seems a little too blatant, don't you think? I'd think you'd be at least a little more subtle.

Somehow, I highly doubt any of my favorite foods would make for very sexy names.

People aren't expecting blatant. It would shake things up a bit, but I'd probably go for something classier. [This is the most serious conversation.]

Oh come now, I'm sure someone out there will find a name like 'pizza' highly erotic.

[So droll.]

Well, it cannot be difficult to be at least marginally classier than 'Dick Princess'. At least put a 'lord' in there somewhere.

[The absolute seriousest.]

You think someone would go for a dude named Ramen?

[Because that's classy right?]

Lord Testicles the 2nd. That sound majestic enough to real in the winners?

[No one can compete with how serious these two are right now.]

College boys who can't cook, perhaps?

[Absolutely classy.]

Will you wear a monocle?

[She is completely serious- about the monocle, at least.]

I think I can dig college boys wanting me. It sounds scandalous. Like a forbidden love.

[What.]

And a crown. I will only be dressed as the most proper hooker.

Floor 35

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