[center]
[h1]A Friendly Chat[/h1]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/28qjKqU.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/fwTScNE.jpg[/img]

[h2][color palevioletred]Zoe[/color] | [color a2d9ce]Callan[/color][/h2]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/3R5vYYi.png?2[/img] 
[color=silver]𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘   / /   𝕃𝕒 ℙ𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕒, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕   / /   𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟   / /  ~~𝟚𝟘𝟜𝟘[/color]

[sub]Collab with [@Lasrever] [@Baklava] [@Chasers115][/sub][/center]

Walking into the hospital left Zoe feeling uneasy almost immediately. The nurses flitting to and fro, the white walls and laminated floors, the smell of disinfectant that made everything seem so artificial... She couldn't help but be reminded of the last time she'd visited one of these places. It was all the same, right down to the looks of fear as people clocked the 'X' on her throat, and the mix of self-loathing and exhaustion that she knew haunted her expression.

[color=palevioletred][i]Talk about repeating history, huh?[/i][/color]

Of course, some of the others would hate her for her actions. She'd had them beat on that part for a while, though. Told herself it was inevitable, that what she'd done had just accelerated the process.

But they were all alive, and she'd kept them that way. Seemed unlikely that Callan would thank her for it, all things considered, and she wasn't sure what she'd even say to the girl. But she had to try and give her victim some kind of resolution. Not like Zoe was here looking for forgiveness-- She'd sunk far too low for that, had no right to burden Callan by asking. But there had to be some way she could fix things, even a little.

Yeah, she couldn't even convince herself of that one. She paused outside the door, apprehensive. [color=palevioletred]"...Callan? Can I talk to you?"[/color]

No response. After waiting for a couple of seconds, Zoe slowly pushed the door open, walking into the room as slowly as she could. She couldn't see Callan anywhere, and stopped just a few steps into the room, frowning as she glanced around. No-one had said anything about the turquoise-haired girl leaving, had they?

Between the running faucet and washing off her face, Callan didn't hear Zoe's voice from across the room. Her mind had long since drifted away from her conversation with Kusari and back to the Wisford fight. Periodically her eyes fell on her hand and she inwardly cringed at the memory, running her thumb along the creases of her palm. It was almost like it'd never happened, yet she still couldn't get it out of her mind. She couldn't say she knew exactly how Zoe's power worked, but... somehow it hadn't seemed like an accident. 

She buried her face in one of the clean towels left by the sink as she stepped out of the small bathroom-- still very much in need of fresh clothes and a shower, but a little less worse for wear. The door to her room creaked open then and Callan looked up, suddenly frozen in pure, unadulterated fear. It was strangely different from her fear of Misery. For all the shadow monster's power, she knew it would never hurt [i]her[/i]. The sight of Zoe in the doorway, however, insighted a feeling she wasn't sure she'd ever really felt before. 

[color=a2d9ce][i]She's back to finish me off.[/i][/color] The thought was irrational and she knew it. Zoe had said she wanted to explain herself. Callan felt she owed her that much. She tried to remind herself that she'd spoken with Zoe in the past without any trouble-- but that still didn't stop the sudden pounding in her chest. 

[color=palevioletred]"I wanted to--"[/color]

After catching sight of the door opening as the recovering arbiter walked in, Zoe took a moment to look Callan over. The girl didn't seem to be in a good way, to say the least, but Zoe wasn't about to point it out. Besides which, that wasn't what had caught her attention as she looked at her classmate.

It was obvious that Callan was absolutely terrified. Clearly she hadn't heard Zoe calling earlier, at least if the shock was anything to go by. Definitely not a good start to a situation this delicate. Hoping to reassure her classmate, Zoe took a step back.

[color=palevioletred]"I can stay across the room, if that'd help. I-- I'm just here to talk."[/color] Her brow furrowed as she struggled to find the right words. [color=palevioletred]"Or explain, I guess. If you wanna listen."[/color]

Callan tried to force herself into a more casual stance, but her movements were stiff. It was probably best that she just go along with whatever Zoe wanted to do. Lest she anger her fellow mage. "[color=a2d9ce]Oh, that's... fine. Whatever you want,[/color]" she said, in spite of the fact that having Zoe back up seemed a whole lot more preferable to her coming closer, "[color=a2d9ce]We can talk.[/color]" She followed her words with a hollow smile, eyes trained on Zoe, noting every moment.

Zoe couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. She'd half expected Callan to just tell her to get lost. Not like the response wouldn't have been reasonable, even if it would've gotten on her nerves a bit. But this was fine. Good, even.

She decided to take a step back anyway in an attempt to give some sense of security to Callan. And herself, to an extent, because she was all too aware of how easily she could hurt her.

[color=palevioletred]"Sorry doesn't really cut it, huh?"[/color] Zoe finally looked at Callan's arm, the flesh where by all rights there shouldn't have been. What did it say that she still couldn't be sure this was a good idea?

[color=palevioletred]"You don't have to forgive me. I wouldn't in your shoes. But you can have the apology and say no more about it, or I can tell you why."[/color] If Callan didn't want to know, Zoe wouldn't burden her. But she figured the offer was the least she owed her classmate. She wasn't going to hide the truth, not if it led to [i]this[/i]. [color=palevioletred]"I just... Thought it might help, if you knew."[/color]

Zoe's glance at her arm didn't go unnoticed. The arbiter gripped her newly grown appendage out of sheer reflex-- as if that could prevent anything from happening. But again, she was thinking irrationally. Zoe was trying to apologize. And she should accept it, right? Her smile faltered a bit and she hesitated before finally answering. 

"[color=a2d9ce]Yeah,[/color]" Callan replied, "[color=a2d9ce]Uh. An explaination would be good, I think.[/color]" 

Zoe nodded, smiling bitterly as she stared down at the floor. [color=palevioletred]"I promised myself I wouldn't do it again, you know? That I wouldn't hurt someone who--"[/color]

Wrong thing to think about. Her expression threatened to crumple for a brief second. No. Callan didn't need to deal with that. She was already putting too much on her. Selfish, really.

[color=palevioletred]"It wasn't anything to do with you. I just... I didn't think you would kill her. You're strong, but you don't seem like the type to murder someone. So I had to."[/color] She spoke hesitantly, worried about saying the wrong thing. This was difficult to put words to, at least when she was trying not to freak Callan out too much. [color=palevioletred]"I didn't realise how fast it was working on you, but I knew that it was. It was the only way I could get her in range."[/color]

She went quiet for a moment, trying to gauge Callan's reaction. Had to be careful about this. If she dropped too much on her at once, it'd probably just freak her out more.

A frown settled onto Callan's face almost as soon as Zoe's explanation began. She wasn't liking this reasoning. "Again"? Nothing to do with her? Yet it was important to say she hadn't thought Callan could murder someone? THAT was why she'd taken her arm off? Every single one of the enemy mages had died. She'd seen their corpses-- or what was left of them. Beneath the residual fear, a clear spike in irritation caused her expression to harden, but an inkling of doubt kept her mouth shut. She recalled those frustrated feelings of sympathy as, in the gargoyle girl's last moments, she'd screamed and spasmed in pain as a bullet pierced her eye. A few more hits to the face and she would've probably passed out. And for all her rage concerning Savannah's death in that moment, Callan knew that would've been enough for her. Part of her knew Zoe was very likely right-- but the larger part denied it. 

Who the hell did she think she was anyway? Making a call like that? She almost bled to death because of her! Nonetheless, Callan waited. It seemed Zoe wasn't quite finished speaking. A good thing since Callan had no idea how to respond.

Yeah, Callan wasn't liking this one bit. Not that Zoe was surprised. The whole thing was a mess.

[color=palevioletred]"You know about Stigmas. I'm... not good at dealing with mine, obviously. Aaron, Gregory, you-- It kept happening, and I should've done more."[/color] Her fists clenched, expression twisted in disgust. Why was it that even now, she had to fight back a smile? What the fuck was wrong with her?

[color=palevioletred]"I don't think you'll wanna know what goes on in my head."[/color] She frowned, looking down at her hands, the pinkish scars that covered them from who knew how many incidents. [color=palevioletred]"It's not an excuse either way, I should be able to control it. But..."[/color] Zoe trailed off, looking doubtful. If she wasn't so weak, she could just come out with it, couldn't she? Burn the bridges, make it so Callan knew how dangerous she was to everyone, not just her. They'd listen if she warned them, right?

But Zoe was afraid of what that meant, so this was the most she could do. A half-offer, with a pretty good chance that Callan wouldn't ask for any detail. After all, the girl probably just wanted rid of her by now.

[color=palevioletred]"Point is, I was never a good person, so I've no hope pretending otherwise. All I can do is try and keep you guys alive."[/color] She shrugged, struggling to get her meaning across and aware of how callous it sounded as she did. It was true, anyway, and she'd succeeded in the end. [color=palevioletred]"You probably hate me, and the others will too, but if it means you're still breathing to do it, then I can deal with that."[/color]

Callan's expression didn't budge for a while. The generic response would be to say it was fine and pretend to move on. Would probably get her to leave faster anyway. Then she could proceed to avoid the issue. Avoid Zoe and pretend it never happened. But it [i]wasn't[/i] fine-- and Zoe apparently recognized this. Callan had seen it all first hand. Zoe could kill a person in mere seconds-- and she didn't even have to touch them to do it. Arguably, Callan could do the same. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Zoe was [i]willing to do it.[/i] 

As for her little anti-hero spiel... Callan wasn't buying it. Having done a bit of reading on stigmas, a twinge of sympathy for the girl tried to surface. It was snuffed out quickly. Ernie and Emma were both aberrations and they seemed to deal with their stigmas just fine. So much so that Callan often forgot they were aberrations at all. Or was she missing something? 

Had it been just a stigma-related issue, perhaps this would've been easier-- like with Sander. It still bothered her that Zoe thought she was so incapable. She wanted to say she'd had it. She'd had everything under control. But that was way too far from the truth. It wasn't like Zoe had been any better though. What? Did she think she was better than everyone else? Because of her moral ambiguity? Because she could kill a person without blinking an eye?

"[color=a2d9ce]Are you done?[/color]" Callan said the words coldly, immediately regretting them. "[color=a2d9ce]Thanks for making sure I came out of it alive and all, but... I don't need you looking out for me.[/color]" 

She should've stopped there.

"[color=a2d9ce]If you can't control yourself, then maybe you shouldn't be getting so close to me. Or especially the others.[/color]" It wasn't her fault, was it? She was forced to use her ability. To fight with everyone. But, finally averting her eyes, the words kept coming. "[color=a2d9ce]And I'd rethink my motto if I were you. If you keep abusing your ability like that,[/color]" --Misery came to mind-- "[color=a2d9ce]You might end up pissing off the wrong person.[/color]" 

Zoe clenched her fists, speaking coldly as she forced her voice to remain level. [color=palevioletred]"I hope that's not a threat, Callan. I really do."[/color]

She could have taken hatred. She could have taken insults. Hell, she'd come prepared to have her ribs snapped into fourteen different pieces if Callan reacted badly. That was fine. What she wasn't going to do was sit around and listen to some patronising lecture, especially as she finally absorbed what Callan had actually said.

[color=palevioletred]"As for the rest of it, you think I've not been trying?"[/color] Zoe's eyes flared with anger as she raised her head, and something sharper crept into her tone. She knew Callan had a right to lash out, knew she deserved worse, but the other girl didn't understand a thing she was talking about. [color=palevioletred]"Believe it or not, there's a reason I'm such a bitch to you guys. Don't talk to me like I'm a goddamned idiot, when you're the one that's treating everything like it's some kind of fucking fairytale."[/color]

Cruel. Another good word for her. Murderous, callous, cruel. But something about the way Callan spoke got on her nerves, and she'd been on edge since the battle ended. Confusion, conflicting emotions, doubt-- It wasn't fair to take it out on someone she'd maimed, but fuck it. Callan wanted her to push her away, so be it. She smiled, tauntingly. [color=palevioletred]"So if that's the game we're playing then tell me, how many more people have to die before you figure out how the world works? I might be a murderer, but we both know who won that fight."[/color]

At Zoe's tone, her composure slipped for a moment. Callan hadn't meant what she said as a threat so much as a warning, but in her case she supposed they were kind of the same thing. Either way, Zoe was getting mad and that wasn't good. Callan grit her teeth, looking wounded as Zoe continued. Thinking of Savannah, her words hit a little too close to home. A couple different responses came to mind as frustration and guilt bubbled up inside her. Zoe was still wrong. Hers wasn't the only way to get things done. She didn't care how "effectve" she'd been. 

Zoe was smiling now. Proud of her accomplishments, if Callan had to guess. Rather than taunt her, however, Zoe's expression only succeeded in making Callan feel more disturbed. She stared hard at Zoe's shoes, too scared to say anything else that might set the girl off. She gripped her arm more tightly as she spoke, "[color=a2d9ce]If you're done explaining yourself, you can leave now.[/color]"

[color=palevioletred]"I don't think there's much left to say."[/color] Zoe noted Callan's lack of response to the accusations with a sense of grim satisfaction. She didn't know exactly what had gone down in the fight, but she'd managed to strike some sort of nerve. Part of her felt sorry for the girl, another held an odd sense of regret. Like maybe they could have been friends in a better world. Trying to put the idea out of her mind, she looked towards the door. One last jab to get under Callan's skin before leaving. [color=palevioletred]"I can promise you one thing, though, Callan: We're not as different as you think we are."[/color]

'Not as different'.... Those words stuck in her head. Callan glared, but she couldn't deny that she'd felt it was true back when they'd first met. But now.... no, of course not. She wasn't at all like Zoe. The part of her that mattered wasn't anyway. Perhaps the sick creature residing in her shadow could sympathize with Zoe's bloodlust, but not her. She wanted to win, but she didn't want to kill anyone if she could help it. Surely she didn't need one to have the other... though this last fight didn't really help her case. Not only had they slaughtered their enemies, but several of their own had died, too. Savannah... that guy from the cafeteria... all those other people....

"[color 33ec06]Am I...interrupting something?[/color]" Came the voice from the door.

It hadn't taken Marcus very long to find the hospital, especially with Brent also there, the two pairs of eyes probably hadn't been necessary in finding the building. Likewise, getting someone to point him in the direction of Callan's room hadn't been that difficult either. 'Girl with aquamarine hair' was a pretty good descriptor, and had given him a room number to go find.

He was a little nervous to talk to her; she'd lost an arm, a lot of blood, and there had been the 'incident', and he was honestly not sure how she'd be handling any of it. Gripping the plastic bags tighter, he'd found her room. However, he wasn't quite sure what kind of situation he was looking at when he got there.

Callan looked up at the familiar voice. The tension in the room was thick enough to slice with a knife. She couldn't decide if she was happy to see Marcus or not. It seemed she might have to talk about what happened to Savannah before the night was through after all. Heaving a sigh, she did her best to make her tone casual-- but she'd never been a very good actress. 

"[color a2d9ce]Nah. She was just leaving.[/color]" Callan said, eyes on Zoe. 

Zoe wondered if she'd pushed it too far. Pretty pathetic, how she couldn't even talk to someone she'd hurt so badly without getting in a fight. Still, it had to be said, didn't it? The way she thought, the brutality, the way she gave in to her stigma - It was what needed to be done, and it always had been. The way of the world, the strong tearing down the weak. She'd always been right, again and again, and Callan needed to see it on some level. Wouldn't let herself think about what it meant if she really was wrong.

She walked over towards the door, pulling it open and stepping aside to let Marcus past with a nod. [color=palevioletred]"Go ahead. I'll leave you guys to it."[/color]