09| Visual | I'm Okay (Trust Me)

[goodluck_kobra]

When the tablet turned on it showed a Kobra Kid who looked fundamentally different from the angry young man who'd sent a visual broadcast a few days ago, smoking and trying to find out what was wrong with his brother. This Kobra seemed relaxed and wasn't wearing his sunglasses, his hair hung in his face and he was wearing new clothes, black jeans

Comments

[tothelightshown]

"Oh no. Not you too, Kobra!"

Over the last few days, it had become glaringly obvious that there was something wrong in Taxon. Not with the city itself, for once, but with the prisoners that populated it. People had changed. Sometimes they were barely recognisable. Although it was nice to see her friend looking more relaxed that she'd ever imagined possible, it wasn't him. Not really. It was a game and she could only hope that it would be over soon.

[goodluck_kobra]

"What do you mean?" Kobra asked, eyes wide. "And you can call me Mikey. This codename thing was kinda childish," he said, echoing the words of his brother that had angered him days before. Right now Kobra disn't see why he'd been so upset about it. Gerard had had a point after all.

[tothelightshown]

"No," DG disagreed fiercely, "It was the name that you chose. It means a lot."

In a world were your choices were taken away from you - like the Zones that Party Poison and Kobra Kid had no choice but to call home - that sort of thing meant a lot. It was all that people had.

[goodluck_kobra]

"I was 13 when I chose it. I thought it was fitting then, but I'm too old for this now," Kobra pointed out with a smile. "Don't worry about it. I'm not sad. Just beginning a new era of my life."

[tothelightshown]

"You weren't a few days ago," she pointed out, but it was mainly for her own benefit. Trying to get through to someone who was as far from their real self as 'Mikey' currently was ... well, it was practically impossible. And she'd had a lot of practice since arriving in Taxon.

"Just try and stay out of trouble until you get back to normal, ok?"

[goodluck_kobra]

"Why would I get into trouble?" Kobra asked. "I'm a good citizen, I won't get into trouble, I promise. And I'm normal now. More normal than I ever was."

[tothelightshown]

"This ... this is not normal, Kobra. Mikey. Whatever you're calling yourself." She shook her head in angry desperation, then gave up. "I wasn't talking about trouble with the cops."

[goodluck_kobra]

"What other kind of trouble would I get in?" Kobra asked, obviously confused.

[tothelightshown]

"The sort of trouble that suicidally cheerful people get themselves into all the time," said DG, her words barely above an irritated mutter. Speaking to him was a bit like speaking to an Extra. The replies were there, but they weren't real.

"It doesn't matter."

[goodluck_kobra]

"Of course it matters," Kobra protested. "I like you, so your opinion matters to me," he added, slightly shy. "But you don't have to worry, I promise."

[tothelightshown]

"Friends worry about each other," she reminded him, "It's just what they do."

Especially in a city like Taxon. There weren't many prisoners left at the moment and they needed to look out for each other if they were going to keep going.

[goodluck_kobra]

"...right. Friends." It's kind of a foreign word for Kobra. Sure, Ghoul and Jet and the kid are not family by blood, but family in every way that counts. So for him there's always just been family and...all the others.

"You don't have to worry about me though."

[tothelightshown]

"I'll try not to, but I'm not making any promises."

She wouldn't have been able to keep it, after all.

"If you do get into trouble, call me on the tablet, ok?"

Maybe someone who wasn't currently glitched would be able to get him out of the trouble that he got himself into.

[goodluck_kobra]

"Will do," Kobra smiled. He was sure he wouldn't get into trouble though. "Thank you, you're a good friend."

[tothelightshown]

Curiously enough, DG was convinced that the opposite was going to occur.

"I'll talk to you soon," she said with a wave, switching off the tablet and readying herself for whatever else was going to happen this week.