silver21

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@Stanifly Gurl I LOVE how dramatic Vicis is 😆 He is such a fun character to read and interact with!

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Damien's Catharsis

@Stanifly@DaftJive

After Vicis introduced himself, Damien spoke. "The name's Damien." He gestured toward himself, then leaned forward toward the Sinner in playful intimidation. "Do you got a name?"

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Sirpa's Catharsis

@Tlazolteotl@Stanifly@JJ Doe

Mist appeared, forming her own image. Sirpa kept it in view for a moment, then looked away. She repeated this with the image of Jay---looking just long enough to see what was there, then averting her gaze.

Sirpa sighed and sat silently, letting the creature's words stew in her brain. She decided it was right and, as uncomfortable as it felt, she probably had more in common with Jay than she'd wanted to admit. That was the point. But it was okay.

It was okay.

It was okay.

The creature's voice echoed in her head. She didn't want it, but she allowed it. No, accepted it. She didn't push it away. Was she being open, or was she finding new ways to make herself uncomfortable?

"...something they know how to live with." That one stuck out. She'd thought about that before. She wanted to know how to live peacefully, and with grace, for more than a day or two. But what if she didn't really want that, and she instead wanted to hurt? She didn't really want to hurt, did she?

The beginning of a spike of anxiety was interrupted by the creature's gentle hands on hers. A tad unsettling visually, but otherwise comforting. Sirpa looked up to meet the creature's gaze as it spoke to her, her frustration from minutes before mostly pacified. She took a deep breath.

The lights in the room gradually brightened to their original state and the people around her started to move and look alive again. Sirpa looked from Jay to the creature and back again. She forced herself to speak.

"Sorry," she said, her gaze holding Jay's for a moment and then darting away. She paused to gather her words, lightly fidgeting with the blanket. She spoke in a measured tone. "Yeah, I just meant that out of all the places you could go, why choose here? It's..." Unpleasant? No, not really. The coffee shop was quite cozy, actually. "...odd here." She looked up at Jay again, awaiting an answer.

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@BaronOBeefDipOh no! Hurt shoulder is not yay! I hope you're able to get some rest soon! Lost sleep makes everything feel so much worse. Congrats to your sister, though!

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Damien's Catharsis

@Stanifly@Tlazolteotl@DaftJive

Damien chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. Not if you get caught, though."

Moments later, the bar shifted. He was no longer seated at a bar, but was instead in a booth with low lighting. Leafy green vines spilled out of pots suspended from the ceiling. Damien blinked. Maybe he was sitting here the whole time and didn't notice? No, that couldn't be right...

The moth appeared with a scraggly-looking Sinner. For a second, Damien felt pity for him. The faraway look in the man's eyes was all too familiar. Scruffy and unkempt, Damien felt that this was a human he wouldn't mind sharing company with. He scooted over in the booth to make room for him. The wyrm across the table was large and took up most of his seat.

"Be our guest," he said with a lopsided smile, motioning for the human to sit down. Either this guy would be welcome company, or he would have fun watching Vicis bully him for the rest of the night.

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Sirpa's Catharsis

@Tlazolteotl

"There was annoyance, when you labeled Jay a Normie."

Sirpa thought about responding, then decided against it. Afraid of having her mind read again, she just fixed her gaze on the floor. Fragments of thoughts pushed their way into her awareness, anyway. It was frustrating for her words to be taken the wrong way again and again when she meant no harm. And it was irritating when it had a dramatic effect.

Stop thinking.

Then, a warm blanket appeared. Sirpa's shoulder muscles relaxed a bit, and her mind softened. She found herself looking back at the being out of the corner of her eye. She listened as it spoke, and felt unexpectedly comforted as it tucked the blanket over her shoulder. She absentmindedly held onto the blanket at the hem with one hand. It was soft and warm to the touch.

Sirpa followed the being's gaze to the coffee shop windows. It was dark, a winter evening black as night. But in the light of the shop, she saw the fog. And something moving in it.

Sirpa blinked in a fleeting recognition. Something felt familiar about this, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Even so, it was unsettling. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself.

"Do you find comfort in fear?" The creature asked suddenly. The shape in the fog had left, but the discomfort it caused remained.

Sirpa looked in the direction of the being, but did not make eye contact. It was odd. She had been asked some version of that question before from other people. "Is anxiety comfortable?" "Do you like being depressed?" "Why do you do this to yourself?" She didn't mean to do "this" to herself. If she could stop, she would. But maybe the creature had a point. Discomfort felt familiar. But comfort in fear?

"I don't know," she said after a moment. "...I don't think so." If anything, maybe she liked the comfort she could get amidst fear?

TADC RP

One more RPer and I'll get it up and running!

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@DaftJiveOh Silas can perceive Sirpa if you want! She's just not gonna perceive him. Unless he's not gonna be by Damien and Vicis anymore. I just need to keep Sirpa and Damien out of each other's perceptions for my own sanity 😅

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Sirpa's Catharsis

@Tlazolteotl

Sirpa looked up when the being's hand touched hers. It wasn't the tiger thing anymore, but some other odd-looking creature that was just as frightening and comforting at the same time. She held its--their?--gaze as it stared at her uncomfortably. Then it spoke, and the coffee shop around her started to fade as if someone turned the brightness down on her surroundings. The other people in the room slowed. Sirpa couldn't tell if they had stopped or were just moving verrry slowly.

"What the fuck?" Sirpa's eyes searched the room, then looked back at the creature. Could it read her mind??? What was happening? What- "No, I-"

Then she saw Jay again, like a hologram. She watched as they spoke. How was this happening? Or really, how was she still surprised that something like this was happening after Wesley?

She looked back at the being when it spoke with her voice in a mixture of fear and, yes, still surprise. Mostly fear. This was creepy. Sirpa instinctively gripped the armchair more firmly.

"They had already told you. You asked anyway. Was it not the answer you were looking for? Or did you think they were lying?"

Again, her voice was small. "No, I-" She faltered. "No offense, but this place is scary, kind of. Why would someone want to come here to talk about their issues? Why not somewhere less...creepy?"

Jay disappeared. And the coffee shop...changed? The vision was sharper than the fireplace. It was like someone tore her visual field like a sheet of paper and put two other pictures on each side of her view. How?

Then everything went back to normal. Well, mostly normal. The room was still dark. The people were still frozen.

"Did you not believe us when we said you were always able to leave? Is that why you are willing to use Jay to test it?"

"I..." Sirpa's voice trailed off.

Truth be told, with all the commotion, she had forgotten that someone had said that they could leave. She could leave, so why hadn't she yet?

Sirpa looked around the armchair again toward the door of the coffee shop. It looked like a house door, wooden with a round, metallic doorknob. It felt blocked. Locked. Fake, or otherwise off-limits. Was that why she had assumed she couldn't leave? Why did she assume that? She imagined herself standing up and leaving herself. She could just go, right? But it felt like she couldn't.

She thought about what the being had said to Silver Blade. "So if you're stuck here? That's 'cause deep down you don't wanna leave."

But she did. Didn't she? Right? Was this another thing she just couldn't perceive in herself? No, she did want to leave. She wanted to be at home, comfortable in front of the TV with a warm cat on each side. She wanted the stillness of her home. She wanted to be in bed, asleep and cozy. She wanted to be home.

She wanted to be home.

Again, there was that rushing feeling. Was it anxiety? She didn't know anymore. It didn't matter, anyway. The creature was speaking again.

"Is that what makes someone a Normie? Expecting the worst of others?"

Painfully aware again that they--it?--could apparently read her mind, Sirpa looked back at the creature. Her face flushed. "No, um," she said, embarrassed, "I'm sorry. I know it sounds like it's mean. It's not." Sirpa looked down and away. She fiddled with the ridge in the fabric of the armchair and pulled her legs in closer. She spoke again, just loud enough to be heard. "It's just someone who's normal. Someone who's not...different." Different. Like the snarl on her mother's face when Sirpa pleaded innocence throughout childhood. Responding was not the same as talking back, Sirpa was sure of it. How come she had to understand adults but she wasn't allowed to be understood herself?

"I don't know what's wrong with her. She's just different."

Different like the top of her class. Different like getting abandoned at her middle school lunch table. Different like the sound of a word that was spoken so often that it became alien.

Sirpa felt a shudder move across her chest. She pushed her thoughts aside. "Expecting the worst of others?" She spoke in a near mumble, "Sometimes they do, I guess." She made herself smaller in the armchair. She wished the being would leave.

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@DaftJiveSirpa will not be perceiving Silas. That would be too confusing for me lol