towerofanimus | [006] Ladies Night

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[006] Ladies Night

Characters: Mihli Aliapoh, Amelia, Naoto Shirogane and YOU for prompt one. It's a mingle thread, so party hard. Two is a closed scenario. Sorry fellas.
Setting: A severely depressed and existentially challenged Mihli Aliapoh gets paid a visit from some rather unlikely friends as she attempts to get absolutely hammered on floor 88 -- feel free to come drink! Some unspecified amount of time later, she runs into a stubborn, adorable girl with pigtails in the cathedral.
Format: Aaaaction~!
Summary: Wow, being brainwashed and skinned alive sure has a way of dampening a girl's spirits! Obviously it's time to get smashed and console each other. Who brought the peanuts?
Warnings: Language, angst, drunken antics, perhaps some graphic descriptions later, who knows.

[Good ole' whiskey. Or at least that's what she thought it was. It's not often that Mihli drinks, in fact, she can count on hand the number of times she's done it, and usually it'd been only to make a point; Maybe to demoralize some hot-shot merc, or to prove that she can hold her liquor better than some of her fellow soldiers despite her less-than-mountainous stature. Hell, there was this one time where she and General Zazarg sang and drank until the walls came dow--

....

Ok, rewind. Now that she's thinking more clearly about it, the reason the walls came down was because they were attacked, and maybe she can't exactly count the times she's drank on one hand. But maybe, just maybe two is sitting a little closer to the mark! The fact of the matter is, she swears this isn't a habit - it's a social hobby despite her amazing capacity for the stuff and near invulnerability in regards to actually getting drunk, but damn if it doesn't feel great to cut loose with an entire bottle right now.

She's rather fortunate to have even found any spirits around this dusty (smoky..?) old place - most of the bottles behind the counter were either too suspicious or most obviously NOT alcohol in the first place (here's lookin' at you, tomato juice.) so finding not just one, but three separate bottles of the stuff is a little more than just lucky. Which is exactly why she's taken to indulging herself on an entire bottle, leaning heavily over the counter, but still very much in control of her own thoughts - if a bit tipsy.]

[How cliche that she'd find herself on this floor above any other? But it'll do, especially now that she's tired as hell. Ever since being returned, Mihli made it her mission to keep away from any and everyone in this godforsaken place, spending most of her time sleeping on the forest floor, and even the maze when that'd become a chore, but never even close to the dorms. Being in proximity with other people didn't feel right after what'd been done, but more than that? She just couldn't deal with the fact that she was wrong. Plain and simple.

Arturia told her so. To steel herself and prepare for anything that the Administrators could've thrown at her, but maybe she'd grown so accustomed to the way things had been back home, or the fact that she had others to depend on. Wasn't as bad as being alone, but here the hope she'd grown to rely on was nowhere in sight, nor the people she was supposed to protect.

"Vana'diel's dead already, right?" There was no evidence to the contrary, and people who've been here for far longer have already accepted the fact that everything they knew and loved is gone. In a blink of an eye - no, even worse - in her SLEEP she'd lost everything. Every friend, every enemy, every man, woman and child she could've ever met, gone in an instance. So why the hell was she the one spared? It's infuriating, but more than that, after being toyed with so effortlessly and forced to kill and maim innocent people AGAIN, she feels dirty, used. They cut open her mind, revealed everything she was and anything she could've ever been and warped it.

But that's not even the kicker. The best thing is the fact that to this day she still has no absolute proof that her memories are even real. How else could they have mutilated her body, then returned it to its former state? She's read the Network - who hasn't? We aren't real. These bodies are fake. So how long has it been since she's actually been in this Tower? When do the true memories end, and when do the fabrications begin? Was she merely asleep? Crowded in some basement with the others until it was her time to dance on strings? It's ... tiring, to say the least, and attempting to decipher anything else in this mess is useless in and of itself when all she can do at this point is wait for the next nightmare to begin.]

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Cry? And waste tears on what, exactly? My dead world? My dead friends? My dead Mother? Why would- how could I even begin to crrry for something so absurd? I don't deserve to cry over something like that. Over memories I'm not even cerrrtain are my own.

..They're your memories, Mihli, trust me. I've only known one instance of where the Administrators altered memories..and they added things in. They didn't change the past, and they did it to more than one person. However..even if they were false memories, for right now, they're real to you..and you still feel sad about them. I don't think feeling sad and crying would be a waste..in fact, it would probably make you feel a bit better.

..After all, that's helped me a few times.

... But how can I even be so surrre of that? They toy with us, Tohko. Disable our gifts, cut us open, manipulate us. Those bastards have been in my head. Made me kill. Kill in ways I hadn't done in yearrrs, Tohko, they know me. And how to change me... I couldn't even contrrol myself as a fawned over them and the orders they gave me like some sort of child.

[She begins feeling over the skin of her face, securing it, as if it'll peel and fall off at any moment.]

I should be dead. This isn't my body. I'm a doll. How can you be so cerrtain any of what we've held dear is actually real?

I know they toy with us and mutilated us. You forget-they did the same thing to me too. They got into me, and I almost killed a good friend, and I tried to attack other, and I tried to kill a child.

[Tohko sighed, trying not to lose it again..and trying to find the right words.]

They know everyone here..but you're not a doll, even if that's not your original body. I'm certain that my memories are right so far and that everything I hold dear is real because I can remember it, feel it, smell it..I can sense it, and if there have been any changes, they been noticeable over time. They can't get away with alterations forever, so I don't think that they are altering us.

...I'm sorry.

[Sigh]

This is really only making things worrrse for you, isn't it? You were there too. It's selfish to think I was the only one hurt but it's just so hard to think clearly.

[..Have a warm smile in return, Mihli.]

It's alright. Things like this tend to fog up your head in the worst ways. Don't worry about it. It's alright. We were all hurt, and we all suffered. We..just have to choose how we deal with that and how we'll react.

I used to think it was strange how everryone acted when I first got here. People went along as if nothing had changed, life just kept moving. Guess it's just their way of coping.

[She finally turns to meet Tohko's smile]

How do you deal with everrrything that's happened? You always keep smiling, even when you're hurt. Why?

Not really..if you look carefully, really hard, you can see that this does effect people. They do move on and try to work on putting it behind them..but it does affect people. But..they do cope, in some ways. They endure.

[Tohko wasn't quite expecting the questions, but they were legitimate ones.]

I deal with everything here by reading and talking with others, trying to help them out, and apologizing. As for my smiling..there are quite a few reasons. But..it's mainly because that's the sort of person I wish to be: a person who can smile beautifully, even if they're in a lot of pain.

[Mihli finds herself absentmindedly staring for a moment before she laughs, shaking her head]

You're just a dummy.

[It's just like looking at Aphmau... How was this girl so similar to the Empress?]

A big, big, dummy. So you smile for others? To try and ease their pain? But where does that leave you? If you're so busy smiling for everrryone else, when can you smile for yourself?

[..While Tohko was happy that Mihli was laughing, she didn't really like the fact that Mihli thought she was being foolish.]

I can smile for myself when I'm smiling for others! By helping other people, I help myself. So, therefore, I'm trying to ease everyone's pain.

[Woah, woah there, Tohko. She didn't mean any harm! Actually, she's placing a hand smack-dab in the middle of Tohko's head and ruffling her hair like the girl always seems so intent to do to her.]

I figured it was something like that. A selfless girl who only wants to make other people happy, and a smile that never falters, even if you're torn up inside ... You really do remind me of Vana'diel. I hav- had a friend who reminds me of you from back home. An Empress. I served under her name.

[..Ah, so that was just Mihli teasing her like she usually did. Tohko couldn't help but smile at the hair ruffle. While she didn't usually get them, that didn't mean that she hated them. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I see..she sounds like a wonderful friend then. I'm sorry that she's not here..but you know, while you can't serve under me, we can both serve each other.

[Blink]

Is that some sorrrt of weird way of saying "Let's be friends"? I thought we'd concluded that fact long beforrre.

[It's so easy to forget that she wasn't actually alone all this time... Between pushing away the idea of help and thinking she could handle anything this place could've thrown at her alone, she'd forgotten this girl was always around to lend a hand. Actually, their "friendship" was rather impromptu now that she's thinking about it. This girl may have reminded her of Aphmau, but she didn't need protecting, she wasn't Mihli's Empress - but since Aphmau was all she knew, the only hope she'd ever kindled since losing her Mother to famine... perhaps, deep down, she felt a need to protect Tohko so that she wouldn't lose hope again.]

You have this knack for cheerrring me up in the dumbest ways, Tohko. We're already friends, aren't we? I doubt I'll be serving under anyone else's name anytime soon, but remaining your frriend is always something I can do.

[And with that, she finally manages a smile.]

For once I'd like to give you a reason to smile for yourself, not everyone else.

Of course we're friends! It's just a small reminder of the fact, I suppose.

[After all, with how crazy things had been lately, and with Mihli's attempt to push Tohko away and ignore her, sometimes a small reminder helped both people out, whether they realized it or not. However, at Mihli's words, Tohko couldn't help but chuckle a little bit as her smile grew. But, this time, it wasn't a mask. It was an actual, genuine smile from Tohko.]

They may be dumb ways, but if they're cheering you up, than they must be alright! And I've never served under anyone before, and I'm not sure if I ever will..but I'll always be your friend! That in itself is a reason to smile for me.

[..And Mihli was finally smiling! Have a headpat, happy catgirl.]

[..... Ffff- was she starting to blush? Mihli grunts, crossing her legs and resting an arm over the back of her pew]

I'm still not your housecat, so don't go getting too comforrtable with your fingers behind my ears.

~~even if it feels pretty good.~~

[Mihli was, but Tohko knew better than to mention it and made Mihli mad. Even Tohko had that much sense. However, Mihli did..mumble something, so while Tohko was still smiling, she looked a little puzzled.

Don't worry! I won't..but what did you mumble? I couldn't hear it..

E-eh? ...It's nothing.

[And now she's just gonna slooowwwlly lean over back towards Tohko until she's resting against the girl's shoulder, arms crossed.]

Thanks. You're sure everything's alrright? Last week was tough for everyone.

Oh..alright then.

[Well, if Mihli didn't want to talk about it, that was alright. Tohko didn't mind the fact that Mihli was resting her head on her shoulder..but Tohko did move her head so that it slightly connected with Mihli's.]

No problem. I'm always happy to help out a friend! ..And last week was horrible..but I've apologized to everyone..and I cried a little bit..so I'm alright now. Everything's fine.

[She can't really imagine you crying, Tohko, but it's not something she's in a rush to see either.]

Damn, you're a lot tougher than you look. It's hard for me to come to grrrips with it myself. Sometimes I'm not sure how to take this place. Getting used to death as a regular occurrence, it's ... different to say the least.

[Tohko's presence is nice -- enough to still Mihli's racing mind at least. It was easier to trust her words, you know? Far easier to place your trust in someone close. Easier than placing trust in yourself when you're just not sure about how things work anymore. Or if you're really you.]

Nothing really prepares you for it.

Edited 2013-04-23 16:09 (UTC)

[It's not something most people are in a rush to see, so it's probably a good thing that she doesn't cry often.]

Not much really can prepare you for this place..stories can help, but even they don't have everything sometimes. But..most stories do have something important that's needed to get through this place, no matter how bad it gets.

[While Tohko placed her trust in both Mihli and herself-as well as a few other friends-it was nice to talk everything through with Mihli..especially since the girl had tried to hide for a few days and worried Tohko.]

Stories, huh? ... That reminds me.

[Mihli reaches into her armor, pulling back a leather compartment to produce a small, wilted paper crane. It's seen better days and the edges are stained with blood and muck. Not quite edible anymore.]

[Tohko watched as Mihli pulled out the crane. While it had probably seen better days and could use a bath, it did make Tohko smile, and she patted it's 'head' as she spoke.]

A crane? You know, there's a legend back home that says if you manage to make a thousand paper cranes and wish for something, your wish will come true.

A thousand? One of the things was tough enough... Anyway, the fact that you didn't get any gifts was pretty crrrrappy, so I folded you that. *shrug* Wrote a poem inside but it got all smeared in all the fighting. Some gift, right?

[She makes a face. Somewhere between irritation and genuine embarrassment - just look at that frown. It's hard for her to keep her cool admitting this, but to be honest with you she's glad the poem she (tried) to write inside is smeared and bloodied. Never was easy for her to get into the sappy stuff, but it was Tohko's birthday, so screw it, why not?]

Oh..it actually wasn't that bad! After all, I did get a gift, in a way..but thank you so much! It's a wonderful gift! I'll treasures it. Really..thank you.

[Tohko actually didn't mind if things weren't sappy-as long as they were tasty.]

Maybe you can try writing something again later on, if you want.

Good, least some of the bozos in this place can apprrreciate a reliable friend. Maybe I'll write another one some other time, can't even remember what I jotted down on the darn thing.

[Was that a huff of relief? Almost like she wasn't expecting you to like it, Tohko]

Edited 2013-04-24 17:20 (UTC)

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