I won't pretend that I intend to stop living

[mildwildchild]

Who: erryone in Pride
What: recovering from the events of December 7
When: late December 7/early December 8 - ???
Where: Pride HQ and wherever else they're allowed to go
Warnings: Carnies? references to I Will Twist the Knife


So maybe you've just gotten back from the most mellow kidnapping ever and you're itching to tell your bandmates about what went on with the cool helmeted guys while everyone else was at that stuffy party. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a little while to tell them, but that's okay - surely you can keep yourselves occupied until everyone else returns.

Or maybe you're one of those who wound up at that party of Naomi's, and your night was a little less fun. Now you're back at HQ, possibly with mended physical injuries and almost certainly with a few new psychological scars. Now's your chance to check in on your friends and bandmates who missed out on all the trauma and deal with things as best you can.

Comments

Kido | ota

[blindfoldcode]

[Tsubomi Kido is a goddamn mess. She was certain she was going to die, she was certain she was never going to wake up when she fell asleep with Celty, but here she was. Walking around. Not bleeding. Barely scarred from a wound that should have been goddamn fatal. Was she a goddamn cat? How many lives did she have?

Of course, she never lets her band see exactly how messed up she is. She ignores the nightmares, the yellow eyes, the jolting upright in the middle of the night when she's left alone. She's sore and weak and...

She's up in the mornings, trying to at least cook breakfast, though there's bags under her eyes. She's trying to grin at her bandmates and laugh it off. She's fine. Game night or movie night, she and Pinkie tossed the ideas up in the air. That'd be fun right.

She's totally okay.

She's totally okay except for the fact she keeps winding up in bars and coming back really late and not okay.

She's good at keeping to herself, but she's generally still in the middle of things enough that someone might notice something's off about her. She's dazed and quiet and--yeah she's not doing great.]

[wounds]

[You know who also ends up in bars far too often and far too late?

Genos.

So whenever they end up in the same bar, he slides next to her and orders his own drink.]

Holding up?

[blindfoldcode]

[Heeey it's someone she knows and that's less good than it ought to be.] I'm... [How does she answer this cleverly enough that she doesn't seem like she's shattering?]

Alive, I guess. You?

[wounds]

Still in one piece.

[It always seems to be his short hand for "I'm alive and nothing's happened."]

[blindfoldcode]

It's late. [She says it like she is not also out.]

[wounds]

Yes.

You're out. [That's not going to discourage him.]

[blindfoldcode]

I needed some space. [And apparently some substances as well.]

[wounds]

[Are you tired of being the mom friend?]

Is it helping?

[blindfoldcode]

[She is still being the mom friend. She's being mom enough to not let her band see her this way.]

I'm waiting for it to kick in.

[wounds]

Hm.

Alcohol's never done anything for me.

[blindfoldcode]

Hasn't for me, either. [That's not a very subtle hint.]

[wounds]

What've you been taking?

[blindfoldcode]

What I could find. [She's. Not a smart person, Genos.]

[sailorlaughter]

[If Pinkie herself has noticed something's off, she hasn't really said anything about it. But she's started to make breakfast most mornings - her muffins are actually surprisingly good - and she rarely if ever goes out on the evenings anymore. That's all she's got.

One day, she plops down next to Kido.]

Hey, you wanna watch cartoons?

[blindfoldcode]

[Kido is not just hungover. She is intensely hungover. She is mixing-substances-that-don't-go-together hungover. She swallows a groan at any noise above a murmur--Pinkie's included. She stares for a few seconds before she realizes what she's saying.]

Cartoons? [She runs her hand through her hair, trying to snap herself back to real coherency.] Sure, why? What's up.

[sailorlaughter]

CARTOONS, that's what's up!

[Pinkie turns on the TV, flipping to her new favorite show, Our Tiny Tapirs. She's partied enough to get hangovers, so she'll turn it down a bit - but you're kinda looking at her morning-after routine right here.]

You want breakfast? I made pancakes!

[blindfoldcode]

[Oh that was loud. She grimaces.]

Sure? [She still doesn't know how to say no to Pinkie.] You know I can make it, right? I like cooking... I know I've been out of it, but I'm fine. And I mean... there's chefs if you don't want to.

[sailorlaughter]

Nah, it's cool! I like to bake stuff! Why bother the chefs, y'know?

[Anyway, that's just another person to come in their penthouse.]

I've been learning more recipes lately! I'm even dreaming about it now! [Among. Heh. Other things...]

[blindfoldcode]

Dreaming about it? That's an intense hobby... [She says it like she is only a little bit suspicious. She is a lotta bit suspicious.]

[sailorlaughter]

[Pinkie leans in close and whispers:]

I'm an intense baker.

[blindfoldcode]

[Pinkie what even.]

I... can tell. [Jesus. Kido is almost sure her life is in danger rn.]

[sailorlaughter]

So anyway!

[And now it's gone]

We should totally bake together sometime! We can ice Snow Bear cookies!

[blindfoldcode]

[This is what Kido means when she tells Genos that Pinkie is going to kill her it really is.]

If you really want to, sure. I'm planning on making cakes, too, for a few friends when the holidays really get here.

[sailorlaughter]

Oooooh, what kind of cake?

[blindfoldcode]

Cake rolls. Vanilla cake, whipped cream and strawberries. [They remind her of someone. She wishes she knew who.]