superwoman
Characters: Bastet (felinemystique)
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 13, around 8am
Location: Bastet and Sniper's place, Section 2
Rating: PG-13 for language
Summary: The events of the past days catch up with her.
(ooc: Warning for tl;dr. Posting early because I'll be in meetings all morning.)
Bastet had become withdrawn since hearing about her friends' disappearance. While she wasn't the type to expect fairness from the Sphere in any form, it still seemed unaccountably cruel that four people she cared so deeply for would disappear all at once. While the visitors from the new island had provided distraction the other day, it wasn't such an immediate concern here in the morning quiet of her home.
She'd stayed with Drake a while after learning the news. Throne and Want had been two of his strongest sources of support, and she was worried about how this would affect him. Much of his development in being able to open himself to people had been due to their friendship, and their loss was devastating him. Eventually, she had to leave, going home to break the news to Sniper. Her pain flared anew at the look on his face, the disbelief and anger and grief knowing the girl he'd considered a little sister was again gone--as far as either of them knew, for good this time.
She'd gotten out of bed before Sniper this morning, taking care not to wake him. She knew she'd seemed distant even to him; but she couldn't deal with everyone else's pain in addition to her own. She'd successfully walled hers off, reducing it to a dull, distant ache; but it had the affect of making her far more aloof than usual.
Once again, she'd taken on the responsibility of making rounds to break the bad news to people. It was hard, but they needed to know. But as with Sniper, seeing their grief made her own well up again, and each time it was harder and harder to fight it back down.
She was also keeping an ear to the ground for news of Dash, Gundam and Crow. Not only did Dash and Crow not need to find out about this over the journal, but their disappearance concerned her for their own sakes; she'd lost enough friends this week as it was.
She quietly moved around the kitchen, making herself tea; she'd get something to eat in the Market. Mugen rubbed against her ankle, quiet for once; the mood of the house had affected him, too. She squatted to scratch him behind the ears, but didn't speak to him as was her habit. She found some leftover chicken and rice in the fridge, setting the food and a dish of milk on the floor for him. She was no longer allowed to touch the coffee machine, or she would have had some ready for whenever Sniper woke.
She swallowed the last of her tea, a lemon-ginger blend she'd discovered not long after her arrival. She remembered, with a sudden, painful twist, climbing in Throne and Argent's window to leave both lemon-ginger and peppermint teas to help with Argent's frequent stomachaches. He hadn't particularly wanted to talk about them at first, but Throne was never one to let up on a subject he wanted to discuss. He'd been the same way about Sniper, she mused, setting her mug in the sink.
"Not all of the dudes here are completely hopeless." he waggled his head noncommittally as the both of them sauntered their way to the stall. "And when I say hopeless what I really mean is completely mental or gayer than a unicorn wrapped in a rainbow. I mean," and here Throne's tone shifted to something slightly less teasing, his eyebrows shooting up pre-emptively in a question mark, "there's that one guy who seems alright. You know... the naked weapon shack guy."
Bastet blinked. "You mean Sniper?" She did like his easy-going nature and fully appreciated his smart-ass streak. "Okay, fine--so far at least, he's neither crazy nor an asshole. And he likes women." He'd never said anything, but she had noticed him discreetly checking her out when they'd met. She'd flirted easily with him, but hadn't considered actually pursuing anything.
"Yeah, Sniper," he said, "that's the guy. Seem harmless enough, though maybe a bit mouthy?" He leaned forward, bowing down towards her and then adding with a wink and a whisper, "I know your type." Settling back, Throne gave a quick laugh and then tilted his head to one side, saying, "It's about time you had a guy treat you proper, B. You know, dinner, conversation,whatever business you want to get up to, but -- you know -- without having to end the evening with an ass-kicking."
"Yeah, he's definitely got a mouth on him. You should have seen him and Taisa get into it over that damn race." She snickered. "And, I will admit, he's a good-looking guy." Hell--she guessed she was actually starting to consider him. But she couldn't help but wonder what had prompted all this. "What's with the sudden interest, though? You haven't even met him in person--why are you so sure he's one to go for?"
Tilting his head to one side he shrugged nonchalantly, looking up and down the row of stalls, his gaze alighting on this person and that as he spoke before turning back towards Bastet. He shrugged. "Well, for one, he seems actually normal compared the usual lot that you attract, no offense. He seems to have a general sense of decorum about him. And yeah, I'm pretty sure I saw him once wandering around the Marketplace and the guy is seriously easy on the eyes." As soon as Throne said this, he caught himself and added quickly: "If, of course, you're into a guy like that. Which, you know, I'm not."
She closed her eyes, other memories coming back unbidden. The way Argent had covered for her sudden, visceral rage upon meeting White Moon, who was then calling himself Reverie. She and Throne coming up with rules for their kingdom of hedonists, slurping plum wine straight from the air due to the gravity disappearing. Argent rubbing her feet while Drake and Throne tried to explain homosexuality to him. Throne's face alight with boyish excitement as he'd watched her destroy the space invaders above the market. Leaning against Argent's side as he read aloud--complete with voices--from his horrible romance novels during that awful time when Drake died and Kisuke disappeared.
They'd given so much of themselves to her, and she considered them both family. And now they were gone.
She stared unseeing at the grey morning through the window, her hands clenching at her sides. There was no question that she would miss Want and Ran as well. Ran's acidic remarks and sharp intelligence hadn't hidden the fact that she genuinely cared about people, and despite her general mistrust of adults, she'd become one of Bastet's closest friends. And while she'd never quite understood Want's intimidation around her, she still enjoyed teasing him and talking to him and just generally hanging out with someone who actually tended to think before they acted.
But Throne and Argent had been among the first people she'd genuinely grown close to here. Some of the first people she felt she could just go to whenever she felt stressed or down. She was glad they'd made it out of here but it hurt knowing she'd never see them again.
Her eyes stung. "Goddammit," she muttered. She didn't have time for this. She didn't. People were still missing, those left were in bad shape, Fugue was screeching about an invasion from that new island, her friends were fucking idiots who couldn't stay alive for five minutes at a time, and she knew, she knew the chances of them not going to Rivelata were slim to none--
A lump grew in her throat, and to her horror, she could feel her breath starting to hitch. She forced her breathing to slow, leaning back against the wall.
"Fuck," she whispered. She deliberately placed her hands over her eyes as she slid down the wall to the kitchen floor, holding herself together by sheer force of will. She'd never cried before; at least not that she remembered. She hadn't had time when Sniper died; as soon as she'd gotten home after his death in the Wilderness, she'd had to fight zombies and help get Section 1 evacuated.
Mugen nosed at her arm, but she ignored him. Her eyes were burning, her throat was burning and all she could do was keep her breathing slow and even.
Bastet didn't know how long she sat on the kitchen floor before she heard the bedroom door open, but a moment later she was being pulled onto Sniper's lap. She curled against him, her fingers grasping his shirt as his hair brushed her face. The tears started as soon as he touched her, but if she concentrated on keeping her breath slow and even, she felt like she wasn't completely falling apart.
She was glad they'd gotten to go home--but, damn it hurt knowing she was likely to never see them again.
(ooc: Scene in italics is taken from this log.)
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 13, around 8am
Location: Bastet and Sniper's place, Section 2
Rating: PG-13 for language
Summary: The events of the past days catch up with her.
(ooc: Warning for tl;dr. Posting early because I'll be in meetings all morning.)
Bastet had become withdrawn since hearing about her friends' disappearance. While she wasn't the type to expect fairness from the Sphere in any form, it still seemed unaccountably cruel that four people she cared so deeply for would disappear all at once. While the visitors from the new island had provided distraction the other day, it wasn't such an immediate concern here in the morning quiet of her home.
She'd stayed with Drake a while after learning the news. Throne and Want had been two of his strongest sources of support, and she was worried about how this would affect him. Much of his development in being able to open himself to people had been due to their friendship, and their loss was devastating him. Eventually, she had to leave, going home to break the news to Sniper. Her pain flared anew at the look on his face, the disbelief and anger and grief knowing the girl he'd considered a little sister was again gone--as far as either of them knew, for good this time.
She'd gotten out of bed before Sniper this morning, taking care not to wake him. She knew she'd seemed distant even to him; but she couldn't deal with everyone else's pain in addition to her own. She'd successfully walled hers off, reducing it to a dull, distant ache; but it had the affect of making her far more aloof than usual.
Once again, she'd taken on the responsibility of making rounds to break the bad news to people. It was hard, but they needed to know. But as with Sniper, seeing their grief made her own well up again, and each time it was harder and harder to fight it back down.
She was also keeping an ear to the ground for news of Dash, Gundam and Crow. Not only did Dash and Crow not need to find out about this over the journal, but their disappearance concerned her for their own sakes; she'd lost enough friends this week as it was.
She quietly moved around the kitchen, making herself tea; she'd get something to eat in the Market. Mugen rubbed against her ankle, quiet for once; the mood of the house had affected him, too. She squatted to scratch him behind the ears, but didn't speak to him as was her habit. She found some leftover chicken and rice in the fridge, setting the food and a dish of milk on the floor for him. She was no longer allowed to touch the coffee machine, or she would have had some ready for whenever Sniper woke.
She swallowed the last of her tea, a lemon-ginger blend she'd discovered not long after her arrival. She remembered, with a sudden, painful twist, climbing in Throne and Argent's window to leave both lemon-ginger and peppermint teas to help with Argent's frequent stomachaches. He hadn't particularly wanted to talk about them at first, but Throne was never one to let up on a subject he wanted to discuss. He'd been the same way about Sniper, she mused, setting her mug in the sink.
"Not all of the dudes here are completely hopeless." he waggled his head noncommittally as the both of them sauntered their way to the stall. "And when I say hopeless what I really mean is completely mental or gayer than a unicorn wrapped in a rainbow. I mean," and here Throne's tone shifted to something slightly less teasing, his eyebrows shooting up pre-emptively in a question mark, "there's that one guy who seems alright. You know... the naked weapon shack guy."
Bastet blinked. "You mean Sniper?" She did like his easy-going nature and fully appreciated his smart-ass streak. "Okay, fine--so far at least, he's neither crazy nor an asshole. And he likes women." He'd never said anything, but she had noticed him discreetly checking her out when they'd met. She'd flirted easily with him, but hadn't considered actually pursuing anything.
"Yeah, Sniper," he said, "that's the guy. Seem harmless enough, though maybe a bit mouthy?" He leaned forward, bowing down towards her and then adding with a wink and a whisper, "I know your type." Settling back, Throne gave a quick laugh and then tilted his head to one side, saying, "It's about time you had a guy treat you proper, B. You know, dinner, conversation,whatever business you want to get up to, but -- you know -- without having to end the evening with an ass-kicking."
"Yeah, he's definitely got a mouth on him. You should have seen him and Taisa get into it over that damn race." She snickered. "And, I will admit, he's a good-looking guy." Hell--she guessed she was actually starting to consider him. But she couldn't help but wonder what had prompted all this. "What's with the sudden interest, though? You haven't even met him in person--why are you so sure he's one to go for?"
Tilting his head to one side he shrugged nonchalantly, looking up and down the row of stalls, his gaze alighting on this person and that as he spoke before turning back towards Bastet. He shrugged. "Well, for one, he seems actually normal compared the usual lot that you attract, no offense. He seems to have a general sense of decorum about him. And yeah, I'm pretty sure I saw him once wandering around the Marketplace and the guy is seriously easy on the eyes." As soon as Throne said this, he caught himself and added quickly: "If, of course, you're into a guy like that. Which, you know, I'm not."
She closed her eyes, other memories coming back unbidden. The way Argent had covered for her sudden, visceral rage upon meeting White Moon, who was then calling himself Reverie. She and Throne coming up with rules for their kingdom of hedonists, slurping plum wine straight from the air due to the gravity disappearing. Argent rubbing her feet while Drake and Throne tried to explain homosexuality to him. Throne's face alight with boyish excitement as he'd watched her destroy the space invaders above the market. Leaning against Argent's side as he read aloud--complete with voices--from his horrible romance novels during that awful time when Drake died and Kisuke disappeared.
They'd given so much of themselves to her, and she considered them both family. And now they were gone.
She stared unseeing at the grey morning through the window, her hands clenching at her sides. There was no question that she would miss Want and Ran as well. Ran's acidic remarks and sharp intelligence hadn't hidden the fact that she genuinely cared about people, and despite her general mistrust of adults, she'd become one of Bastet's closest friends. And while she'd never quite understood Want's intimidation around her, she still enjoyed teasing him and talking to him and just generally hanging out with someone who actually tended to think before they acted.
But Throne and Argent had been among the first people she'd genuinely grown close to here. Some of the first people she felt she could just go to whenever she felt stressed or down. She was glad they'd made it out of here but it hurt knowing she'd never see them again.
Her eyes stung. "Goddammit," she muttered. She didn't have time for this. She didn't. People were still missing, those left were in bad shape, Fugue was screeching about an invasion from that new island, her friends were fucking idiots who couldn't stay alive for five minutes at a time, and she knew, she knew the chances of them not going to Rivelata were slim to none--
A lump grew in her throat, and to her horror, she could feel her breath starting to hitch. She forced her breathing to slow, leaning back against the wall.
"Fuck," she whispered. She deliberately placed her hands over her eyes as she slid down the wall to the kitchen floor, holding herself together by sheer force of will. She'd never cried before; at least not that she remembered. She hadn't had time when Sniper died; as soon as she'd gotten home after his death in the Wilderness, she'd had to fight zombies and help get Section 1 evacuated.
Mugen nosed at her arm, but she ignored him. Her eyes were burning, her throat was burning and all she could do was keep her breathing slow and even.
Bastet didn't know how long she sat on the kitchen floor before she heard the bedroom door open, but a moment later she was being pulled onto Sniper's lap. She curled against him, her fingers grasping his shirt as his hair brushed her face. The tears started as soon as he touched her, but if she concentrated on keeping her breath slow and even, she felt like she wasn't completely falling apart.
She was glad they'd gotten to go home--but, damn it hurt knowing she was likely to never see them again.
(ooc: Scene in italics is taken from this log.)