006 | degrading downgrade

[strike_you_out]

[For most, the experience of being a teenaged human in high school is not so intolerable, but for some, it is downright terrifying. Especially for those who have never been human and had no desire for ever becoming one.]

N-no, this isn't.... this is wrong. [panting; his voice is shaky. Panic attack is go.]

Clothing... someone else's; not mine. Hands

Comments

[endthem]

[goth boy Legato has been pretty quiet around his roommate so far, but this... this gets under his skin. Coming in from the other room, after hearing the muttering and various other freaking-out sounds, and narrows his eyes when he sees this]

[coldly] ...What's wrong with you?

[strike_you_out]

[At the sounds of someone approaching, Slugger tenses and lets the journal slip quietly from his hand. In its place he grips the handle of an aluminum baseball bat he dug out of the closet. Rising slowly in the doorway, he meets the "intruder's" gaze with eyes as sharp and dangerously alert as those of a trapped fox. Even his hair is a feral and bristly mess, barely contained beneath the cap he's wearing.]

[darkly] You. Out.

[roommates from hell: they do exist]

[endthem]

[Legato may be just as terribly, gnawingly, human as Slugger, but... something about seeing the other kid even more distressed over the change has a calming effect. He doesn't feel as out of control. So, he manages to meet his roommate's gaze with a dead calm. He can keep that much up, for now]

No.

You need to stop.

[strike_you_out]

[He shudders visibly with rage, hands coiling tighter and tighter around the grip of the bat which is now held menacingly at shoulder height. This is followed by a single step toward Legato, and then another. His whole body looks wound up and ready to strike, but attacking this guy is the last thing Slugger wants to do, especially not without knowing what kind of repercussions it could create.

As it is, he believes this room is his and he'll try to appear as formidable as a sixteen year old possibly can in hopes of scaring the uninvited visitor away. Once again, he growls--]

Out!

[endthem]

[Legato's not used to worrying about physical attack like this, but at least being used to working so closely with the inner workings and reflexes of the mind is helping him pay meticulous attention to Slugger's body language concerning that bat. Watching for the slightest muscle twitch saying that there is a bat on a collision course with his skull.

Keeping up that terminal calm, he doesn't back down a step. Standing as tall and unflinching as a gothy sixteen year old boy can... this is becoming something of a full-blown stand off]

No. We are both staying here, and I'm not going anywhere.

Now, answer me. What is wrong with you?

[strike_you_out]

[But it falls short of a full-blown stand off when Slugger realizes his opponent has him far outmatched in adamance. It also doesn't help that he's already fairly exhausted from the distress of losing everything that made him powerful in a single night. A single moment.

Heaving a tremendous sigh, he slumps forward almost doubled.]

...

What is wrong...

[Slugger lets out a few breathless laughs and shakes his head, as if there's something fundamentally unbelievable about asking such a question. He then peers warily up at the boy before him, still slumped over his bat.]

Who's asking?

[endthem]

[though he manages to keep up the supremely impassive expression, Legato is vastly relieved when the other boy finally slumps and lowers his weapon. Not only had he been rendered mostly harmless by the world change, this adolescent body is only increasing that horrible feeling of defenselessness. His own sigh is a deep and measured one.]

The person you are going to be sharing a room with for the time being.

[names could wait. His question was still unanswered. He can make an educated guess as to what is freaking the kid out-- from the bits of conversation he'd caught before, and sheer sympathetic recognition --but he has to be sure]

That being said, I think I deserve to know what is upsetting you.

[strike_you_out]

[And the vitriol swells once again. Snarling, he raises the bat and slams it down hard against the floor with a single, deafening CRACK.]

Everything. [through gritted teeth] This human flesh is not me.

[endthem]

Ah.

[eyes dart when the bat strikes the floor, but he still manages to hide his concern about being the only unarmed one in this exchange. Just barely.]

It's made all of us human. And it will do it again.

[a breath.]

The quicker you accept this fact, and the fact that it will not last, the easier this will be.

[...the creeper's way of saying 'you aren't alone in this?']

[strike_you_out]

[Slugger knows this is true--he's even heard similar words spoken before, but he's reluctant to accept it (at least not without the occasional outburst).

Finally, he straightens and takes a step back, looking pointedly away.]

You speak from experience...?

[endthem]

[coldly] Yes.

[hoping this is a good sign, but is still too reluctant to let his guard down]

[strike_you_out]

[A ponderous silence.

It looks like he's finished expressing himself with the baseball bat for now and it hangs from his hand at his side. His gaze eventually drifts back to Legato.]

We're sharing this room, why?

[endthem]

[he's much the same by the time Slugger's gaze wanders back to him. Calm and waiting, as if he has all the time in the world]

Because it dictated that it be so. I don't believe there is a reason beyond that.

This is where we've been assigned to stay, until further notice.

[strike_you_out]

[Listening, Slugger makes his way to the bed, its sheets and blanket strewn onto the floor as if someone leapt out of it in the most literal sense. Once there, he slides down to the floor with his back against the bed.

He doesn't know why, but this makes his body and his head feel better. The bat never leaves his hand.]

And who is it I'm assigned to stay with?

[endthem]

My name is Legato. There are two others. [and he doesn't give a shit who they are]

[strike_you_out]

[Two others? This is worse than expected (and it shows via his deepening scowl), but he'll deal. He'll have to deal because he has no other option except to leave the dorm, which is out of the question now that he's "human" and vulnerable.]

Slugger. [Just Slugger. At 5'9" he can't really be considered "Lil'" anymore.]

...I propose a truce: neither of us gives the other trouble and if the two others become a nuisance, we join forces to throw them out.

[Or more specifically, he'll club one or both of them over the head while they sleep and you help drag them out into the hall.]