oo1 ✦ let’s begin.

[richesse]

[ There’s a whisper through the murmur, more a breath of feeling than a fully formed thought. It’s sweet, and warm, and laughing—though it is not gentle, nor kind.

A voice follows the whisper, chased by darkness and shadows, the very suggestion of a nightmare. ]

Do you think we’re still dreaming? Or is this a living nightmare?

[ a hum, and another brush of teasing laughter, there and gone like a brief burst of memory, the last moment of summer that you can taste on your tongue before it’s irretrievably gone. ]

You’ve changed, haven’t you? We all have. What are you thinking, right now…? Who are you?

What are you?

Comments

[richesse]

[ a smile like the cutting flicker of a knife. predatory and saccharine. luring. a trap. ]

You’re right, of course. Then why not be friends?

[snaggletooth]

I'll introduce myself first — I'm Ivan.

[ Smiling is good manners, so he smiles back. To do that, does he have to physically do so, or simply think of what a smile looks like? He tries both. Unfortunately, a little bit of miscellaneous imagery slips in, of a machine hooked into his lips, pulling them into the correct position. ]

By the way, are you another human? I've only been assuming so far, haha... and, well, I'll be so embarrassed if I'm wrong.

[richesse]

Lortel.

[ boy, that sure is a thing. this guy is kind of demented, huh?

she can work with that! ]

Oh? What an interesting question. Of course I’m human. Well…

[ … ]

Or at least I was.

[snaggletooth]

[ Not a human anymore, but that would mean she's not one of the segyein, either, who it was always very important to say only acceptable things around... — that's a relief! This new form of communication has shaken his confidence somewhat. There's no way to prepare and practice his answers ahead of time.

Thoughts risk being revealed no sooner than they are born. ]

We're very alike, then, I think. Since it seems like you want to know these these things, it's not just my perception that's changing. Something seems to be happening to my body, as well.

[richesse]

[ what a strange question to ask. what other possible answer is there?

what sort of place did he come from?

all in due time. since the statement seems to invite question: ]

How so?

cw: skin gore, he's a bug

[snaggletooth]

[ Hm.

If she wants to know, then she probably wants to see. He can tell so far that she's incredibly curious like that, diligent. Perhaps there's a way to show her, too. He gets a sense of so many other things that aren't just words when he listens to her, after all.

Ivan concentrates on his own field of vision, imagines pushing it out into the impossible distance. He's looking at his arm, what it's become beyond the cuff of torn skin circling his bicep. It still looks like a human arm in silhouette, but the substance it's made of is vastly different, shining black. Deep grooves around points of articulation give it an almost doll-like appearance.

But, the fingers come to sharp points. ]

Disgusted?

[ Ah, that one snuck out. ]

love this for him

[richesse]

[ while her eyebrows fly up—

she reacts with neither true shock or disgust. she’s surprised, surely, but it gives way quickly to an abiding thoughtfulness. there’s an intensity to it, an almost single-minded focus. the feeling that pierces through the murmur is one of examination. ]

My, my. [ soft. ] You’ve been through a lot.

… no, [ she supplies, in answer to his question. ] But I do have more questions.

[snaggletooth]

[ No. No? Now that's hard to believe ~ ]

Ask away! ★ We're friends.

[richesse]

[ about a thousand questions flicker through her mind. where to begin… ]

… are you alright?

[ is it scary? ]

[snaggletooth]

[ A mote of surprise—small, but there. This question is about his own well-being... unexpected, after being lulled into an exchange he thought was purely analytical. ]

It really does look like it should hurt, doesn't it? Interestingly, it hasn't been bothering me at all. If anything, this arm's even stronger than my other one.

[ These are the correct circumstances to assert appreciation. ]

But it's very upstanding of you to worry, Lortel.

[richesse]

[ she’s not heartless.

besides, it’s to her benefit if he’s kindly disposed towards her. ]

Upstanding? I don’t see how. Isn’t it natural to worry in circumstances like this?

[ … ]

You have the most extreme transformation I’ve seen so far. It might keep you safe.

cw: human trafficking

[snaggletooth]

[ Dry heat, the stink of a concrete sluice, peering around the corner at a pair of emaciated humans fighting over something on the ground like dogs. They growl at each other. They don't even use words. Flashes of this find her. ]

Mm, I wouldn't have held it against you if you were only thinking of yourself. I think that's just as natural, sometimes, isn't it?

[ Countless humans have never even been in "circumstances like this," outside of controlled habitats where they're always fed on time, kept clean and comfortable as they're taught to be the best pets for their owners, until the day they're sent to the stage to die.

They live without any idea of what's out here in the world. ]

Hopefully you're also doing alright? Are you safe?

[richesse]

[ her memories respond to his, helplessly. dirty, cold streets. useless rags that are meant to pass for clothes. pervasive hunger.

what wretched, miserable lives. ]

… true. And I’ve done that, certainly. … but we’re meant to be more than our base impulses, hm?

[ she doesn’t want to return to those streets.

his question wins a more sincere smile. ]

I’m safe. I have shelter. Thank you, Ivan.

[snaggletooth]

[ These aren't moments he's lived through, but they almost could be. This body isn't shaped the same, but there's no difference in the devastation it feels, exposed to the elements. Ivan dwells on the details for longer than it takes them to dissolve away.

He's never before been let known so concretely that a another person was just like him. He was right to be interested in what she had to say. ]

Not always, but some humans are able to find something more important than themselves.

[ A small black-haired girl is laying with another girl in a field, fluffy and full of flowers yet her large eyes are focused on none of it, only the pink lips laughing above her. Ivan isn't looking at the two of them for very long before he glances to the side, at someone with sloppy silver fringe and a face blotted out by a bright glare that can't really be real, as though that's how he perceives him.

To quiet my fears
I'll drown in you ]

It's my pleasure, Lortel. I'll check on you again.