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

[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.]

[wounds]

[He looks vaguely worried, but she's not his bandmember to worry over.]

Take care of yourself.

[blindfoldcode]

I'm working on it. Hoping it'll help me sleep. [Or wear her out enough that she literally just passes out.]

[wounds]

A bar's not the best place to pass out.

[blindfoldcode]

Drag me upstairs if I do, then. [She takes another drink. Someone really ought to tell her this shit isn't gonna mix well.[

[wounds]

Don't know what you took. But mixing alcohol and anything is a recipe for disaster.

[blindfoldcode]

[She looks at him. Looks at the glass. It takes her a minute before she shrugs.]

I'm already running on borrowed time.

[wounds]

You can't keep tabs on your bandmates like that.

[blindfoldcode]

Yeah, well. I'm not so great at it to start with. Two of them got kidnapped and Molly and Tiger nearly got killed while I was bleeding in the garden.

[You can walk away from this, Genos. Kido's a fucking mess on the inside.]

[wounds]

[You know what heroes don't do?

Walk away.]

Nobody could've known how badly that party would go.

[blindfoldcode]

You haven't been here too long. When you get Pride members together like that, it tends to go south.

The gala was a disaster, but at least no one got hurt. Then there was the torture carnival. And now this.

[wounds]

More reason to look out for each other.

[blindfoldcode]

I was useless to them at the carnival. And... hey, I was the only one of us who got hurt at the party, right?

They've got other people looking out for them. They'll be okay. I'll be me again in the morning.

[wounds]

Kido.

They still care about you. It'd still hurt if you weren't there. [An ache in his chest, someone he respects, someone he's missing-] What you do is still important.

[blindfoldcode]

Do you think I'd be here if I wanted to think about that?

[wounds]

[He comes out here out of a habit that's been programmed into him.

It feels right and completely off at the same time.]

Being here won't erase anything. Neither will drugs.

[blindfoldcode]

You would be really surprised. [Programming is such bullshit. But Kido's has led her to believe that this is the norm. The whole... living on the streets for two years thing and all.]

[wounds]

Everything will still be there. [No matter how much she tries to drown it- she still has her band.

She still has another monster who cares.]

[blindfoldcode]

[She stares at him, long and hard. Her eyes aren't as sharp as normal, but the're at least not red. Then she takes another drink, looking somewhat defeated.]

So why are you here, if you're not trying to drown the bad shit?

[wounds]

[He stares back, gold and black hidden beneath his sunglasses-- he doesn't seem to blink.]

Force of habit.

[Alcohol can't do a thing to him, but his programming says he does this. And so he does.]

[blindfoldcode]

It's a shitty habit. It must get boring. [Watching other drunk and high people.]

[wounds]

It hasn't yet.

[He shrugs one shoulder. Of all the bad habits he could have ended up with, this one seems tame.]

[blindfoldcode]

[She nods. Silently. And then with a groan, drops her face into her crossed arms on the counter.]

I still feel like shit.