Crystal Voice to All!

[hellofishies]

[ Arkady's voice has a slightly Cockney accent to it and when she speaks she sounds chipper enough. Perhaps a bit too chipper given the circumstances, but that was just the way she was. Pretending to be happy when everything inside was the opposite always just seemed easier to her. ]

'ello everyone! I had something that I thought maybe might be important to tell people. Or two somethings! I think there were three but one got lost. If I find it, I'll tell everyone again. [ She pauses for a second and then continues on ]

I tried to look out as far as I could see but when I got to the mist it just stops. It goes and goes and then there's the mist and it just... ends. [ And it really didn't feel good to feel like she was falling off the entire world. Her voice is a bit more quiet when she speaks again. ] Just like back home...[ she trails off for a second and then comes back with a more clear sounding voice. ] Something very big and very powerful would have had to happen to just make things be nothing. But what...?

[ There's another brief pause before she starts up again. ]

And also the people here! Their memories all jigsaw-y. Fragmented pieces that aren't completely put together. I don't know what it means yet. Or why. Maybe they were put together from something else? Maybe they're not from here either? Or maybe they're not real. They don't feel like the not real people where I was last. They were robo-people and they were very bad. They hurt to touch though and these people don't feel like that.

I just thought I'd share!

[ And that is where she almost ends things. But at the last second she adds something else: ]

I got a lot of fishies to cook! I'll be making things in the blue building if anyone wants to try them!

Comments

[hellofishies]

Should have, could have, would have. It's all the past now. [ She shook her head in response and reached a hand out to put it on his. ] You didn't cause anything that happened. Bad people that played with things they didn't understand did. Maybe you could have done more if you'd spoken up sooner. Or maybe you couldn't. There's no way to know, is there? It's silly to blame yourself for other people's actions. And even more silly to blame yourself for should haves.

[chaosvessel]

[He didn't say anything for a moment. She was right, of course, and his friends had helped him realize it a bit even before he'd been pulled from his world, but...]

I know. [He lapsed into silence again, his gaze distant.] Sometimes...my mind...wanders. I lose track of time, hours, days. I...have trouble telling the difference between reality and nightmare. When that happens, it's hard to remember.

[hellofishies]

Oh sweets... [ she frowned and squeezed his hand and let out a tiny chuckle. ] I know how that goes. You get lost in the past and it pulls down. [ She tilts her head. ] Did it happen sometimes back in the other place?

[chaosvessel]

[He nodded once, almost imperceptively.]

It happens when I let my mind wander. The past seems...closer, then. [He frowns, looking over to her.] It happens to you also?

[hellofishies]

Maybe you shouldn't let your mind wander too much then. [ She gave him a very bright smile and then a nod of her head. ] It used to happen more often before I died again. Now things are less scattery. But if I use my powers too much, I get lost. Space case they all said.

[chaosvessel]

I don't try. [He scoffs at that, the closest sound he's made to a laugh around her and it sounds alien.] I...don't think you're scattered.

[hellofishies]

Well, if your mind wanders, find me. I bet I could find something to keep you preoccupied with. [ Just a hint of a smirk touched the corners of her lips and she wondered if he might actually get the implications. Probably not, but maybe it was worth a try? ] No? Not anymore. I used to be a bit worse. Sometimes I go back to it. So, I understand losing yourself a bit.

[chaosvessel]

[He did not get the implications and he frowned slightly, looking over to her and blinking in slight confusion. It was nice to know someone understood, an odd sort of comfort he hadn't realized he'd been searching for.]

...distraction is usually what causes it.

[hellofishies]

Oh. [ She frowned and then burst out into a laugh. ] Silly sweet boy. You didn't get what I meant at all did you?

[chaosvessel]

[He looked down, then, frowning, unhappy he seems to have missing something.]

...no.

[hellofishies]

[ She laughed again, a quick burst followed by a shake of her head. ]

That's alright. Maybe it's for the best.

[chaosvessel]

[He couldn't help but feel as though she was making fun of him and he was sure he didn't like that. He frowned, then actually made asked a question that was definitive.]

What did you mean?

[hellofishies]

Mmmmm. [ She tilted her head and continued to grin at his question. ] Well, I'm not sure now.

[chaosvessel]

[His brow furrows slightly at that.]

I think you do.

[hellofishies]

[ She giggled lightly and then shook her head. ] Nope, definitely not!

[chaosvessel]

[He frowned at her for a moment before that ghost of a smile returned and he shook his head with a scoff. Even in her darkest times, her resilience of spirit was one of the most beautiful things about her.

He had no idea how to say that, though.]

[hellofishies]

[ She let out a bright laugh and then reached out and put a hand on his cheek. ] Silly boy. [ With that she leaned in quickly and put her lips to his. ]

[chaosvessel]

[30 years. It had been 30 years since the ideas her casual touch initiated had even occurred to him. He reacted instinctively, in ways he didn't know he was any longer capable of, but pulled back just as quickly, as a feral heat surged across his skin and he felt the beast within him rise.

He wrestled control again quickly, but the sudden surge of emotion had almost been enough to rip his tenuous control from him.

He moved away from the table, hand moving to his chest hoping to rein in the clenching pain swelling there, where it always did when the monster Hojo created tried to come forth. It was several breaths before he was able to speak again.]

I'm sorry. I wasn't.... [Another breath.] Prepared.

[hellofishies]

[ Her eyes turned white and began to glow with his reaction. ] It's okay. You need to relax, sweets. [ Her voice was calm but firm and she tried to send a bit of her influence out. Something was happening and all she thought about was that she wanted him to calm down. At the same time she didn't want to take complete control. Maybe a little psychic push could help calm down everything that had gotten all stirred up. ]

I'm sorry. [ The apology was whispered, with her clearly trying to keep any of her own emotions out of the situation. How many times had something like this happened? All the time. She did something without thinking and it just made everything bad. Maybe that was all any of the Freakangels were really good at. ]

[chaosvessel]

[He shook his head, her apology boring through the fog the near transformation had caused in his mind. How many times had someone apologized for something he had no understanding of?]

It...wasn't your fault. Why are you apologizing?

[hellofishies]

It was though. I shouldn't have. [ Clearly. She hadn't thought it through and she was kicking herself for that. Maybe she shouldn't have at all. Maybe it wasn't something he'd wanted. Maybe she shouldn't have wanted it herself. She shook her head and looked down. ]

I'm sorry.

[chaosvessel]

I just...wasn't expecting it. [He managed to regain control of the beast within him and took a deep breath to calm himself before looking back to her.]

There...is a creature within me that reacts to...changes. You didn't know.

[hellofishies]

I knew I just...didn't think I'd surprise you so much. [ She wasn't sure what to think of having had such an affect on him really. ] I'm sorry.

[chaosvessel]

[If he were honest, he'd had no idea it would have effected him this much, either.]

I...didn't... [Know you wanted that?]

[hellofishies]

[ She frowned a bit and then tilted her head upwards and gave a lopsided smile. ]

Silly boy. How could you not know?