towerofanimus | Post event madness

Entry tags:

Post event madness

Characters: Shion, Xion, Rat, Potentially Reno later also open
Setting: Room 1-01 (for Xion) and floor 39 (gymnasium) (for Rat) and floor 3 (library) (open)
Format: I'm going prose but can change
Summary: Three threads in one! Post event Turkling cuddle piles, a general aftermathy post set in the library and then the inevitable and long overdue meeting of Rat and Shion
Warnings: mentions of event, mentions of ikky things, spoilers for No. 6, potentially Yandere Shion if he makes an appearance

[Room 2-6 going into 1-01, 1st November] When Shion awoke, back to normal, no longer the mutated bee he had been for the last week he lay for a moment taking in what had happened. Fear and disgust curled in him at what he had done and he lay for a long while trying to remember to breathe.

Slowly he sat up, glancing worriedly at Reno; after all he had tried to hurt his roommate many times. Despite giving him candy this last week he had tried to poison him and take his blood. It made him feel sick, Shion opened his mouth to speak, to tell Reno he was back to normal and that he was sorry when something caught his attention at the end of the bed.

He moved over to it, picking up the note, a prize... He picked up the jar and it took a little while for his mind to work out what he was seeing... This was a brain.

Shion dropped the jar, it fell to floor with a crash and feeling like he was about to throw up he bolted from the room. He darted into the bathroom and leaned against the wall trying to remember how to breathe, how not to throw up.

A brain... whose? It took him a moment; he still wasn't calm when he left the bathroom but instead of turning back to his room he went up the stairs. He reached Xion's room and knocked on the door before peaking in.

He hadn't seen her properly since she had died... "Xion?"

[Library, 1st and 2nd of November] As usual after the experiments and games that plagued the tower Shion took a while to get back into the rhythm of daily life. He began going back to work in the library, taking solace in the fact the books had to be put back to rights. With most if not all of the librarians incapacitated the last few weeks it was very much out of order.

Shion pushed carts of books and put things in order, finding calmness there.

[Floor 39, 3rd November] Shion had done his best to forget the horrors and get back to normal, training was part of that normality and his short time as a Zombie... and the death that had led to that made him aware that he still had much to learn.

He was also still shaken by the fact Sephiroth was in the tower; he knew he had barely survived that encounter and Sephiroth had let him go in the end.

So he was training again, waiting for Reno and Xion for their daily lesson.

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Having spent nearly the entirety of the previous month hiding, hunting, stealing and surviving, the three days of November had been surprisingly relaxing for Rat. He didn't have to worry about food, and he knew just enough to avoid the overtly dangerous inmates of the tower. He was bored, but that was nothing new.

One loose end that needed to be tied up, though, was his dear old roommate's presence. His mice had been spying on Shion for some time now, and so he headed to the gymnasium with the confidence of someone who had creepily memorised their quarry's schedule.

He had to admit, watching Shion attempt push-ups was entertainment gold... but he should probably announce himself.

"Trying to impress someone?" He asked, casually, though he had left a gap between himself and the other boy on a vague hunch.

Shion heard footsteps so he wasn't completely taken by surprise, he turned to answer with a small smile, "Not really, Reno just likes it when I can't even lift library books."

Then he realised who was stood there, who was speaking to him and his eyes widened.

No... This couldn't be... Rat... He could not be here. Not here. Not where they could hurt him.

Again.

Sorry Rat Shion is not available right now, he just stared in horror as if Rat were a monster from the deepest darkest corners of nightmare.

Okay, that was the opposite of progress. Against every survival instinct he had, Rat padded a few steps closer to scowl down-- no, scowl up and wasn't that an unpleasant surprise-- at Shion.

"Oi, I know I've seen better days, but you're gonna give me a complex."

Shion stared for a few more moments, because Rat couldn't be here. Not where he could be hurt again. After what the administrators had managed to do to him when he wasn't even living in the tower... what would they do to him now he was...

Shion seemed frozen for a moment and then lurched towards Rat, "Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?" He looked over Rat, as if checking that he hadn't been mauled by a monster on the way to this floor.

Then he blinked... "I'm taller than you..."

Wow, Shion, spend some time worried about yourself, instead. The concern was at least familiar, and Rat would have considered answering honestly, if not for that last stinging observation. The glib reassurance on his tongue died unborn, and pure, tired irritation rose like bile in its place. He stepped back again, arms folding defensively over his chest. He'd managed to forget this part of Shion's personality. How convenient.

"You haven't improved at all."

Shion blinked at him, stung by the words. You have been here all this time, you still know nothing. You still are weak, you're still an airhead. You never could concentrate could you?

Words stuck in his throat as he tried to work out what to say, staring at Rat in disbelief, amazed that he was here and seemingly unharmed for now. He stepped closer reaching out to touch his arm; as if to check he were real.

"You're safe..."

Edited (because Elle is mean and so is grammar) 2012-11-04 21:14 (UTC)

"Safe, here?" He laughed at the thought, mirthless and quiet and still annoyed. He allowed the touch, with a slight shiver of foreboding, and forged on. "Well, I guess I'm safer than you, if you're still doing this sort of stuff without thinking about it. You were doing so well when I saw you before, too."

Edited (I didn't need to edit I just want to speak up in defence of grammar BT) 2012-11-04 21:17 (UTC)

"Before..." Shion's eyes flickered, he had assumed Rat was just new. He stepped even closer, "When did you see me before?" And why hadn't he shown himself?

"Were you spying on me again?"

"Of course I was," He stood his ground despite noticing that glimmer of something in Shion's expression, but shook the grip off his arm so he could lift both hands and form a caricature of mouse ears on either side of his head.

"You were so oblivious, I thought it'd be cruel to clue you in. Anyway, you were distracted enough."

"They came with you?" Shion should have known, he frowned again though, annoyed that Rat had known he was here and hadn't shown himself until now.

"And you didn't think to come say hello. Just how long have you been here?"

"They were in the trunk with my clothes. Considerate of the people who brought me here, huh? Maybe they didn't want me to be lonely, or maybe they couldn't decide which 'nezumi' was worth saving and compromised by grabbing all of us."

It looked like Shion had misunderstood again, though. His arms dropped, and he willfully suppressed another sigh. "Since the ninth or so, I reckon. You don't remember meeting me?"

"I met you?" Shion blinked, when had he met him... When could he have...

The man in the library... the man in a rat suit. The one throwing books. "That was you?" Shion blinked angrily, "You've been here all this time? And you never thought to tell me? You spoke to me and didn't tell me who you were."

His eyes were hurt and he shoved Nezumi as hard as he could; which was a lot harder than he had been able to before he came to the tower.

He staggered back, still more out of surprise than any difference in strength. Though the latter definitely helped, but he'd never admit that in the middle of what was apparently now an argument.

"Like I said, we didn't need the distraction," he shrugged. "A game like that, other people to protect are a weakness. Not," he added, reflectively, "That you survived, but I didn't know you'd do something stupid back then."

Edited 2012-11-04 21:47 (UTC)

People to protect are a weakness, you would just have slowed me down. Held me back, you would have been a burden.

Words he expected from Rat but loaded ones, ones that stung and tore at old barely healed wounds. He began to tremble again, staring at Rat again, "I didn't do anything stupid."

He was proud of surviving as long as he had...

"Huh?" Was he serious? Rat moved back to Shion in a flash, his turn to shove. "You go back to 'work' in that library when you know there're people out to kill you, and you don't think that's stupid? You get points for lasting that long, but don't think a couple of push-ups and half a month collecting sweets has changed you."

Anger rose in Shion, he had never been angry at Rat before, not like this but here he was still treating him like the boy who had barely left No. 6, after everything that had happened.

The anger jolted him from his moment of frozen panic and he stepped forward again. His voice was calm though there was underlying anger. "What else was I supposed to do, hide under my bed and wait for it to go away? I've been here almost a year Rat, there's nothing you can do except keep going on as normal." He stepped closer his voice rising.

"Your mice can't have been watching very hard if you don't think I've changed." Images flashed through his mind of Nezumi dying at the retrieval units hand over and over again and Shion was torn between wanting to keep Rat safe and wanting to punch him in the face.

"You've been here for one month, that's was nothing compared to what normally happens here, so don't act like you know more than me. You don't."

A year? He barely kept himself from recoiling in shock. Just how was that meant to work, when he'd arrived here straight from the tunnels of the Correctional Facility? Or had something kept him away, asleep, while Shion had to face everything-- he cut off that thought ruthlessly, along with the panic and confusion he'd suppressed even as he woke in the Tower that was bubbling beneath the surface again.

And then it finally hit him, the unsettling, niggling feeling he'd been getting. Shion's eyes were the wrong colour, some kind of glossy red. What the hell?

His eyes narrowed, his voice going as quiet and cutting as Shion's was loud. "Don't joke around. A year? Don't tell me you're some kind of imposter."

Shion shook his head, "Of course not. It's just this place, it does that. Time works strangely, physics doesn't even work in case you hadn't noticed, it is safe to assume that all the rules of the universe that we thought we knew don't work here." He could say that without fear now, he had gotten used to it, even if he didn't like it.

"There are even doubles of people, we may be from different worlds, even if everything seems the same." His voice was a little too high, he was still angry but it didn't stop him from pausing to explain.

"So you aren't even the Shion I know." He didn't know how to feel about that at all, but his immediate response was fear twisting into a defensive, painful anger, and he went with that. The Shion who had fought his way through the facility at his side... was that Shion dead? "I really don't know as much as you, then. If I did, I wouldn't have come looking for you."

"I might be..." It was a weak argument but it was the only one he had. They might be from different worlds or their worlds may be so similar that really it didn't matter.

His anger had disappeared completely now, to be replaced with fear. Not the panicked fear he felt almost every day but a deeper fear that Nezumi would turn around and leave, he hadn't seen him in almost a year and now he was here...

He stepped forward again and grabbed Rat's wrist, "It's me. I promise."

Because it had to be... This had to be the same Nezumi he knew...

Incensed, Rat was more than able to shake Shion's hand off again this time, even taking several steps back as he almost managed to convince himself to walk away.

"You can't prove that, can you? If you could, you'd be saying more than that."

No... Shion didn't follow that time just stood there wishing he could say more, wishing he had the answers but he didn't. He never had, not here.

He shook his head, "We can't prove anything..."

And that was that. He wasn't thinking clearly enough to continue the fight right now, and it wasn't a retreat if he'd announced it beforehand. It was more difficult here, when he couldn't claim he had a job to go back to. Maybe that was why Shion stuck with that stupid librarian assignment...

He made a wordless noise, half-laugh and half-curse, and turned on his heel to leave.

No... he couldn't leave. He couldn't... Shion began to tremble again because as much as Rat shouldn't be in this awful place he didn't want him to leave... He didn't want him to abandon him.

It had been a fear of his for so long and yet through everything Rat had stayed, despite Shion's shortcomings, despite his failings. He might get angry at him, shout at him, even hit him but he had never left. Not properly...

He couldn't go... Shion didn't know what to do. There were no words he could use, nothing to make him stay because he didn't have the answers. He couldn't explain it, he didn't know enough.

And Rat was hurt, he was sad. Shion could tell because if he wasn't sad he wouldn't leave. Shion had caused that and he couldn't let it happen. He couldn't let Rat be sad because of him.

So he stepped forward again, reached out to grab Rat's arm and pressed his lips to Rat's in a silent plea.

If he'd really wanted to, he probably - and only probably, because there was that slight uncertainty with this Shion - could have left anyway. But no, the weaker part of him had been hoping that the moment of crisis, of panic, would have jumpstarted Shion's brain or...

No, he hadn't really been expecting this. His objection to the grab died as fast as his reassurances at the beginning of their argument, but as he was yanked into a - still fairly subpar - kiss, much the same level of irritation rose in its place. Shion was similar - no, he was almost exactly the same, that much he could sense - but that didn't mean anything. This didn't mean anything. He pulled away, a snide response ready and waiting.

"No surprise, you haven't improved in that department either."

Reno's sense of excellent timing prompted him to step out and clear his throat at what he thought was just a quiet moment, ready to help prove Shion's identity when he-

Yeah. He should have known.

"Erh..." He was slightly embarrassed having walked in on an intimate moment like that, but the damage was done. "Having fun, kids?"

When Rat pulled away and Reno stepped out Shion's face went bright red, he didn't know what to do, what to say. He let go of Rat's wrist awkwardly.

"Reno..." How long had he been watching...

Rat, on the other hand, knew exactly what to do. Or at least his body did, filling in the blanks left by his brain. As soon as Shion let go, he darted backwards away from both of them, a knife appearing from under his cloak. Shit. How had he not noticed this guy arriving?

"Oh yeah, a real blast."

Feeling even more awkward he'd stepped out at the worst possible time, Reno scratched the back of his head, totally ignoring the fact Rat had just pulled a knife.

"...I'm going to go down to the bar. You two catch up, or something."

"Rat don't..." Shion moved between Nezumi and Reno, scared at what Rat would do if he deemed Reno to be a thread.

His eyes flickered at Reno emploringly. Begging him not to leave, because he didn't want anyone to leave, and they had to keep Rat safe...

The chittering of the mice stopped him; one had already managed to cross to Shion's shoulder and the others were relaxed, apparently used to seeing the guy - Reno - around Shion from their spywork. Rat straightened, expression smoothing out into a perfect mask.

"Don't what? We're done here."

Oh geez. Why can't the kids just kiss and make up? Reno was terrible at this kind of stuff, but he couldn't just leave when Shion was looking at him like that.

"You're done here? You're gonna come down here, wring Shion through an emo meat grinder, then just leave like that? Not gonna happen, kiddo. Shion, ya remember those throw and pin moves we practiced?"

Xion huffed and puffed up the stairways. They really needed to make more stops for the elevator. Her death had left her feeling much more... diminished than she would've suspected. She wondered if it had to do with the memories that weren't hers anymore.

Still, she was running late (partially because it was taking her longer to climb the stairs than normal), so she ran up the last few stairwells, ignoring how tight her throat was, and ran towards the familiar figures.

"Sorry I'm-"

As soon as she saw what was going on though, she skidded to a halt, just in time to see Rat straighten up. Her eyes darted around different people, the knife in Rat's hand... What had she just walked into?

She frowned, a little tense, "What's going on?"

Shion flinched when Reno spoke, because he knew Rat and he knew he wouldn't take well to being told off. At the question though he blinked, looking in horror at Reno because he couldn't hurt Rat...

His horror was interrupted by Xion and his sad eyes flickered towards her before returning to Reno. "I can't... it's Nezumi..." He couldn't hurt him...

"I didn't do anything to him, old man," because if he was 'kiddo', what did that make Reno? He sheathed his knife out of a combination of resignation and the chiding squeaks of his two remaining, undefected mice. He was letting all this unsettle him too much.

His gaze flicked to Xion, assessing her threat, recognising her as another of Shion's friends even through the strange, distracting shimmer around her face. An effect of the Tower? Her own ability? Or maybe he was just tired. He shook his head to clear it, and scowled at Reno and Shion again. "But you're welcome to try."

Patting Xion on the shoulder, he let her know he had it in hand.

"All I know is that you're not going to leave here until you guys come to a happy conclusion. Shion's done nothin' but talk about how awesome you were to me, how much he looks up to you, for me to just let you walk away from him like that.

That guy," he pointed to Shion, even with his white hair and red eyes, "is Shion. He's from No. 6. He's got no idea what the hell art or literature is, much less music to get a taste of it. He suffered some sort of parasite infection that turned his eyes that color.

Now, I'm not expecting you to act like he's your Shion, but he's a Shion, and you two need each other, because you're gonna be all you got from home in this giant shithole."

It wasn't taking too much to figure out what was going on. He was from Shion's world. But... Shion was different somehow. Either from a different time, or a version where things had gone differently.

At the hand on her shoulder, Xion glanced over and up at him, biting her lip worriedly. Maybe... there was somehow she could help too though? Especially considering the matter of multiple worlds.

She finally speaks, though her voice is quiet, hesitant. "You're not the only one this has happened to. Even if they're not how you remember, they can still be friends, or people you can trust." Like the other Riku, or the other her.

Shion petted the mouse on his shoulder and blushed more as Reno spoke. He watched Rat intently, willing him to understand. To know that it was him; even if he was different than what he knew.

He smiled gratefully at Xion, he knew she had many people from her world, and those from worlds that were similar but different than hers. Reno had had another him in the tower.

"They're right... And I can't be too different, I mean I am sure that all Shion's in all worlds are complete airheads." He smiled hoping the joke would reassure Rat, stop him from doing something stupid.

His smile wasn't that convincing though, since he wanted to cry and it showed in his eyes.

Rat raised an eyebrow as the barrage of justifications began. They got points for trying, anyway. As improv performances went, he'd rate it a six or seven out of ten. They believed what they were saying, even if that stank of emotional investment, and, okay, the girl seemed honest, but Rat had been shot at too many times by suits like Reno to even spare a thought for trust.

Everything they said made sense, in the twisted, bizarre way things pretended to make sense in the Tower, but it didn't change the fact that when this Shion looked at him, about to cry, he was seeing some other 'Rat' from a dead world. They weren't friends. They were strangers in the shape of people they'd lost, and if he got too involved, he was going to end up in a bigger mess than he had back home... Or maybe that was just projection, and Shion was right: he really was simple as this in every possible iteration of the universe.

If he walked away, just where was he going to go? The tower was big, but it wasn't large enough to prevent a hunt, especially when his mice were about to mutiny.

His objection was less verbal and more just a quiet sound of surrender.

"If you're done, I think I'd prefer to be thrown across the room now."

Really? That was all the kid was going to say? Reno shook his head and glanced over at Shion. "I can arrange that for ya."

But the look in Shion's eyes, that one that meant he was close to crying, stopped him from actually following through. "You know what, let's let this guy figure it out by himself. He's strikin' me as the type that's gotta learn things the hard way."

It was obvious Rat didn't trust the situation, or the Tower, or anything about it. Not that Reno blamed him, he was exactly the same when he had arrived, having to face what the Tower had to offer.

Xion knew that expression, looking at Shion. And so she did something that he'd done for her several times, when she'd been nervous or upset. She reached forward and grabbed Shion's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. At the same time her mouth twisted as she looked half-reprovingly, half-imploringly over at Rat.

She could vaguely guess how Shion felt after all, not welcomed by someone you knew to be a friend in your own world. In her case, it was because they'd actually forgotten, but Axel's suspicion when she'd first spoken to him back when he'd first arrived... it was all too familiar.

Still... maybe Reno was right. Maybe they just had to let him figure it out.

"You need what friends you can get here," she said quietly, as a sort of last bit of advice. Referring not to Rat personally, but in general. Friends, allies, people you could trust and rely on... they were beyond invaluable in the Tower. She was glad she'd found the two standing beside her.

Shion took Xion's offered hand gratefully taking comfort in it. He didn't want to leave Rat though. But he knew that pushing would just make Rat leave anyways and perhaps if he were given time...

His voice was cracked as he spoke, "If... if you want me to go I will... But they are right. This isn't a place you can survive in alone. Not even you..."

He looked down, not sure what to feel, hoping that Rat would stay but suspecting he would take the offer and tell Shion to leave. Shion would just have to protect him... without Rat knowing.

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Post event madness

[Floor 39, 3rd November]

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