Hallways always [OPEN]

[vandalization]

who: Vandal and any visitors. [OPEN]
what: Vandal is bed-bound, recovering from her month-long detainment and torture.
when: All this week.
where: The Medbay
warnings: very yes
notes: Tag in your own threads, it can be set during any point in the week.



The beep of the monitors is loud with her head this eerily silent. Whatever he did to her, between the needles and questioning, he separated it. Took something. Now that static in her head is far quieter. It's almost as maddening as when it was present.

Now she's almost lonely without it. Well- she was lonely before, but now even more so.

She doesn't sleep, no. It's not safe to sleep anymore. She wants to scream every time she's left alone, but it's not practical to have someone with her all the time. Prism is dead, the Gatherer is dead, but the way she goes back to that place every time she shuts her eyes.

So she lays in a space between waking and sleep, startling back to consciousness every tie she starts to drift. Shaking. Thinking about it. What it did to her.

She reaches up to smooth a finger over the gauze covering what used to be her right eye.

Ruined. He ruined her worse than the church did. The mental, the physical.

Everything. Ruined.

She wishes they'd have killed her when they found her.

But she's also a coward, and afraid of death, so here she sits and lets the stitches heal.

Comments

[percept]

"I know now isn't the time, but..."

He hesitates, fingers curling a little tighter around her.

"If you ever need someone to talk to, someone to listen, I am here."

He knows, more than most people, how it will be a while before Vandal will wish to discuss her ordeal, and he knows that forcing her to speak would only create more trouble. The best he can offer is a friendly ear when she's ready on her own terms.

[vandalization]

"Thank you, Perce." She'll take him up on it eventually. She still has a lot of things to say and he's the only one still out of the loop. She screwed things up so badly with Drift and Wing, though, now she's not sure.

Not something she wants to tackle right now, nor talking about what happened with Prism.

She scratches under his chin with shaking hands, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

"I don't know what I did to deserve people like you."

[percept]

"You're a good person, Karrie, and we care about you very much. I care about you very much."

He reaches up to stroke her hair, mindful of the bandages around her face, hesitating only briefly before leaning down to press a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Just remember that we are with you."

[vandalization]

Well that makes her want to cry for different reasons entirely. She's usually fairly affectionate with these mechs. It's easy, there's some amount of separation that makes it comfortable. But rarely do they return it so readily.

"I- yes. I care about you a lot, too. I'm glad you're here with me. Probably more than you know."

Despite the pain she'd gone through. The unspeakable things, at the very least she has this still. Worth more than anything.

[percept]

"I am happy to be here, Karrie."

It's really the least he can do after everything. She was there for him, after all, after his ordeal with Overlord. Keeping him company during his recovery, when he'd felt so scared and helpless.

He gives her another careful squeeze.

"You should try to sleep. It will help you to heal."

[vandalization]

"I know I just-" Her hands tighten, a comparably weak grip to what she's usually like.

"Just. Don't leave me. Keep holding me. Please." She's far too terrified of being alone, the contact and constant hum and vibration lets her know someone is still there.

Even if Prism is gone, the damage was done.

[percept]

"I won't move until you wake up."

He can do that much. Verbal comfort isn't his forte, but he can be there physically for her. He has nothing on his agenda more important than her, and he's more than willing to stay by her side until First Aid or one of the other medics shoos him away.

[vandalization]

That's just fine with her. She settles down and drifts off with no problem, lulled by the comforting sounds of the mech she's sleeping on.

It's incredibly nice, compared to how things have been.