silver21

◈ 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐒 | Κάθαρσις ◈

Caught in a Snare

@DaftJive@Tlazolteotl

Damien watched as his mother left the enclosure. Then, he let out a long breath that he didn't know he'd been holding and rested his head forward against his chains. He sat there for a moment, breathing and trying not to cry. His heart reached for his mother shamelessly.

Damien pulled himself together and sat upright. He shifted in the chains until they loosened a bit. It was enough give to breathe better, but not quite enough to escape. He struggled, then paused. Struggle, then pause. And again, each time his efforts growing stronger.

"Even if you did escape, you'd never make enough." The tail had appeared again, teasing torment from the shadows at the edge of the enclosed space. "You have a job to do, don't you remember? Without me, you wouldn't be able to fund more than a week of your mother's care." Damien pushed harder against the chains, closing his eyes and grunting with the effort. "Think carefully, Damien. Your mother, or your friends?"

Both, he thought helplessly. Why couldn't he have both? He had the skillset. He had the motivation, the drive. How come what he did never seemed to be enough? It didn't matter that Viné's words weren't fully rational. Damien was past that.

Tears threatened to push past his eyelids shut against Viné's presence. He pushed with all his might against the chains, movements becoming more crazed with each attempt. Despite his efforts, the chains had not loosened any more. Damien shouted in rage as he kept trying anyway, the chain links beginning to bruise the skin beneath his fur.

◈ 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐒 | Κάθαρσις ◈

Caught in a Snare

@DaftJive@Tlazolteotl

Damien's heart ached as his mom spoke of him. He treasured the fact that she still had much of their earlier memories together. She had always taken being a mom as her most important role. Damien was endlessly grateful of that.

He gave her hand a squeeze. Then, "He always says he's fine, even when he's not. He thinks I don't know. But I know. I know he's not okay. And I know some of it..." Damien's throat tightened. He pressed his lips together firmly and willed himself to keep a dry eye. "Some of it is because of me."

Fuck. Satan dammit. He couldn't kill himself. Not yet, at least. Could he still be alive? Somewhere? Could he keep paying for his mother's residency at the memory care facility? Damien gave his mother's hand a squeeze and looked away. "You didn't leave the iron on. Stay with me." was what he wanted to say, but what he said instead was, "Maybe you did, Ma." After a brief moment, he painfully forced himself to let go of her hand. Would he be able to keep it up?

The image of Damien working outside of the vine barrier sped up. More phones rang, allowing only minuscule breaks in the noise. A dinging computer notification joined the cacophony like drill in the ear to any onlookers.

"You get back safely, okay? And it's not because of you." Damien said softly. He turned his head back to his mother. Too many words. He paused to give her a chance to keep up, then spoke again more slowly. "Your son doesn't hurt because of you okay?" Another pause. "I love you."

◈ 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐒 | Κάθαρσις ◈

Caught in a Snare

@DaftJive@Tlazolteotl

A voice pierced into his awareness, uncertain but warm. Like home. "Mom?" Damien forced his head to the left.

There she was, sitting on the floor beside him. His mom, whose presence never failed to soften his heart. Her existence was the same as he remembered in life---in real life. She had this air to her that reminded him of a butterfly. Delicate and beautiful, but possibly flighty if you moved too quickly. One would need an experienced net to capture her consciousness.

There! Damien found a opening in the chains and reached out his hand toward his mother's, gently brushing a claw against her fur like he always did. "No Ma, I'm not cold," he spoke in a soft and measured voice, filtering out as much pain as he could. For once, he was relieved that his mother didn't know where she was. How embarrassing it would be for her to see him like this. "Are you cold?"

◈ 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐒 | Κάθαρσις ◈

J̶͙̝̹͖͒̅̂̏͝͝ā̶̪̘̾̇̎̕y̷̗̦̖͊̀̑ͅ's̵̤̪̰̓͝ ̷̮̤̋̽C̸̭͓̤͓̘̱̑̀̾͝͠ą̸̟͈̯͖͐̉͛̾̕͠t̴̩̺͆̂̓͐̕ḣ̵͉͍̣ȧ̷̫̙̞̐͘r̴̛̛͉̟̓̌̿͛s̴̛̮̞̫̝͉͆̈̀ị̸̗͓͍́͑ș̴̛͊̐̋͝t̸̞͗͐

@JJ Doe@BaronOBeefDip@Tlazolteotl

Another person appeared. When would it stop? This person was also talking about things that made no sense. Was she somehow back in Wesley's catharsis?

Jay had responded to the woman's---Dr. Everson's---question with some even more confusing things to say. What did they mean that they got here by clicking a link?

Then Jay was looking at her. Sirpa's face tinged pink with slight embarrassment at not knowing what was happening. "Uhm." She looked from Jay to Dr. Everson. "I'm Sirpa...and I don't know how I got here." She glanced at the creature, hoping it would answer the woman's question about what was going on. Sirpa was definitely not one to have an answer to that.

◈ 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐒 | Κάθαρσις ◈

@TlazolteotlTails? 😳

Adventure is Out There!: An Amazing Digital Circus RP

Anybody can go next! I know Stanifly is taking a short break, so we can bring her characters along for the ride until she gets back.

That does sound kind of funny 😆 I bet Caine would even do a mix of those two!

◈ 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐒 | Κάθαρσις ◈

J̶͙̝̹͖͒̅̂̏͝͝ā̶̪̘̾̇̎̕y̷̗̦̖͊̀̑ͅ's̵̤̪̰̓͝ ̷̮̤̋̽C̸̭͓̤͓̘̱̑̀̾͝͠ą̸̟͈̯͖͐̉͛̾̕͠t̴̩̺͆̂̓͐̕ḣ̵͉͍̣ȧ̷̫̙̞̐͘r̴̛̛͉̟̓̌̿͛s̴̛̮̞̫̝͉͆̈̀ị̸̗͓͍́͑ș̴̛͊̐̋͝t̸̞͗͐

@JJ Doe@Tlazolteotl

Jay's gaze bore into her own. Sirpa held it for a few moments, then shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Again, she got that feeling that Jay was looking past her at something further than she could comprehend. Were they talking to her, and expecting a response? Sometimes, it was hard to tell just in general when it was her turn to speak. She opened her mouth as if she were going to say something, then closed it and nodded. The light around her brightened briefly, emphasizing the feeling that she was being put on the spot, then dimmed.

The blanket was in her lap again. Did it ever leave? Sirpa tucked her legs close to her and held the edge of the blanket in her hands, twiddling it between her fingers. She was still listening.

◈ 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐒 | Κάθαρσις ◈

Caught in a Snare

@DaftJive@Tlazolteotl

The image of the baphomet seemed to be slowly crushed beneath an invisible weight much larger than himself. The image of the pistol lasted slightly longer and longer. The candle atop his head actively melting, the flame flickering. The phone rang. Papers piled. The phone rang. Papers piled. The phone rang. Papers piled. The phone rang. Papers
piled
piledpiled
piledpiledpiled
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piledpiledpiledpiledpiled
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piledpiledpiledpiledpiledpiledpiled
piledpiledpiledpiledpiledpiledpiledpiled

And the eyes, Damien's eyes dimmed to nothing more than shadowed sockets. The pistol seemed to whisper, "Make it stop." The weight upon him heavy with "please."

━━━━━━ ◈ ━━━━━━

Behind the barrier, below the heavy chains, Damien drew in a shuddery breath. And then another. The metal vines pressed deeply down onto his chest. His hand twitched, as if to grab something beside him, but his hand met nothing other than his personal prison.

◈ 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐒 | Κάθαρσις ◈

J̶͙̝̹͖͒̅̂̏͝͝ā̶̪̘̾̇̎̕y̷̗̦̖͊̀̑ͅ's̵̤̪̰̓͝ ̷̮̤̋̽C̸̭͓̤͓̘̱̑̀̾͝͠ą̸̟͈̯͖͐̉͛̾̕͠t̴̩̺͆̂̓͐̕ḣ̵͉͍̣ȧ̷̫̙̞̐͘r̴̛̛͉̟̓̌̿͛s̴̛̮̞̫̝͉͆̈̀ị̸̗͓͍́͑ș̴̛͊̐̋͝t̸̞͗͐

@JJ Doe@Tlazolteotl@BaronOBeefDip

Jay was speaking again, so Sirpa sat back down. She rubbed the places on her arms and legs that had been pricked as she listened, trying to focus on their words instead of the pain. It was sharp and immensely annoying, the kind of sensation that makes you itch underneath your skin and want to jump out of your chair. But Sirpa sat and listened.

To what she was listening to, she wasn't sure. Jay had started using a whole bunch of words Sirpa didn't understand. Yet somehow, they felt familiar. RP. IC. OOC. It was like she knew the words somewhere in her brain, but her brain couldn't access them. But she did her best to follow along with Jay's story anyway.

And then, suddenly, nothing. Quickly, Sirpa's heart raced. Did she just die? She tried to touch her body, to feel that she was still there, but there was no arm to move. Her breath quickened, but in reality---what even was reality at this point?---it was just the idea of it, because there were no lungs to breathe with either.

As suddenly as the world went away, it all came back with Jay's voice.

"...Sorry, I..."

Could Jay control existence? Sirpa shuddered and continued to watch and listen, inwardly begging Jay to keep talking. "How many of them are actually still here?" When they looked her direction, it was as if they were looking right through her to something that she couldn't comprehend. She turned around in her chair, then turned back. It did seem like one person who was here briefly was gone.

"If any of you are still here... you don’t need to stay on my account. I’ll understand."

Well, Sirpa sure didn't understand. But the creature was talking, so she just sat quietly and listened. She hoped they would keep talking, lest she lose herself again.

Adventure is Out There!: An Amazing Digital Circus RP

Ooo good question! I think for Patch, he would probably fill her with sand and have her stitches come loose so her body just kind of falls apart. Patch escapes her chonically ill body while in the circus, so something that would bring that back to her would likely be it.

What do you think he would do with Snix?

***also lightly bumping the IC!***