all the living are dead, and the dead are all living [open!]

[reassures]

Characters: Nill and OPEN
Setting: Her room (01-11), and then the halls outside the dorms.
Format: action!
Summary: A newbie joins the ranks. Said newbie doesn't handle it well.
Warnings: Possible vomiting and graphic mentions of death

(a.) - Open to roommates.

[Even an hour after waking up in what she assumes is her new bed, she can't get the shaking to stop or calm her stomach down. If she stays very, very still, then her joints and bones don't hurt as much, but the second she moves again it's splitting pain down every inch of skin she shouldn't have anymore.

She got herself killed. She got her boyfriend killed. He was dead, and she couldn't even hope he was still alive somewhere, because if he was-- what if it was a place worse than this one? What if he was stuck in some sort of hell?

He was dead, and she was... this. Stuck in another world, with a collar around her neck, worse than Heine's. (Trying to pry it off had proved useless. She debated trying to cut the tubes, but considering how snugly it fit... the last thing she needed was for it to explode and kill her again.) If the note she'd found was correct, then even Heine was gone now. Badou, Naoto, the Bishop... Everyone. What was she supposed to do now?

Maybe it didn't matter that much. She couldn't be sure, not right now. The best thing she could do was just... figure out who she was supposed to be living with, if anyone. Ask them what to expect here. That's why she's lingering near the door, trying to get herself under control again while she waits for someone - anyone - to come by.]


(b.) - Open to all.

[She's finally, finally managed to calm down a little. Every inch of her doesn't hurt anymore - it's all down to a dull ache, one she suspects will leave her soon enough if she can wait it out. She's just not willing to do that in the "comfort" of her room, and instead would rather go out and... what? Explore? Even the idea of that lends itself a certain level of exhaustion, but she can't sit in that room until... whenever she can leave. Her movement through the halls of the dorms is slow, and she glances at every door as she goes, as if that will give her some idea of what to expect from this place somehow.

She probably looks more lost than anything else.]

Comments

[reassures]

[It takes Nill a moment to process what Tohko just said to her. Even with that moment, she only actually registers the first half of what this odd girl says. She tries desperately to grasp at the rest of it, but nothing can drown out those six magic words.

The horror of the realization shows on her face, just a little.]

what do you mean "the person who builds our bodies"?

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko knew that this was a pretty terrible revelation to everyone that had been brought here, but..it had to be said. Better to know about this than remain ignorant when something huge happened where one needed to know in order to survive. So, Tohko sighed and tried to pat the girl on the head as she spoke.]

That's exactly what I mean. The body you have now isn't your original one. That's back at home. Right now, your soul has been stuffed into a wiremesh creation full of collar fluid, even if it doesn't look like it right now.

[reassures]

[Trying to pat Nill on the head probably gets the opposite reaction Tohko was looking for. Nill is not a young girl; she will always look a little young, and be just a little on the short side, standing at 5'4", but she's a good twenty years old now. Nill isn't paying attention to what Tohko's doing, instead glancing down at her hands, so when Tohko pats the top of her head she immediately slaps her hand away and takes two steps back from her.

Nill exhales slowly, but her breathing comes out uneven, her eyes wide when she looks up at Tohko again. There is no apology in her expression, just a growing sense of panic. She glances down at her hands again, and then at Tohko, before quickly turning around to walk away in the opposite direction.]

[tohko_amano]

[While it was the opposite reaction, it wasn't a reaction that Tohko was unfamiliar with, so while she flinched a little at the slap and rubbed her hand to sooth the pain, she knew that an apology had to be made, and a promise. So, looking a little surprised and apologetic, Tohko took a step forward and called out.]

Miss, I apologize! I usually pat people on the head to calm them down, but if you don't want me to, I won't do it with you. I didn't mean to surprise or scare you. However, you don't know everything about this Tower yet. I would feel terrible if you got killed due to a lack of information, so if you want to walk away, at least let me tell you everything else about the Tower first!

[reassures]

[She didn't want to be touched. She didn't want to touch anyone, either. It's the only thing Nill can manage to think clearly. It wasn't that she'd been surprised exactly - she just felt disgusting in her own skin, a machine with rubber all over it, and someone was trying to touch her.

She glances back at Tohko, just for a second. It doesn't last. She reaches the first corner and quickly turns into it, where Tohko can't see her unless she chases after her, and Nill doesn't stop.

Normally she wouldn't be so rash. She would realized there was information she needed that this girl could give her. She just-- needed a little bit. She needed to adjust to this. She'd ask someone else for help after that.]

[tohko_amano]

[Sadly, Tohko was a pretty stubborn person at the best of times and couldn't just let this girl go without telling her the rest about the Tower. Even if the girl hated her for patting her on the head, if she was better informed now, she could survive if she ran into a terrible situation later on.

So, calling out for her to wait, Tohko chased after her, but, for better or worse, unless Nill suddenly stopped, Tohko would eventually give up to catch her breath, since her endurance was lacking, even now.]