Catch-all; Taichi

[momming]

Comments

[goalsides]

and everything else?
are you okay?
what the hell was that?

[momming]

[ ... ]

Would you like to come over for a bit, Taichi-kun?

[goalsides]

[there's a pause like he's debating even though he already knows the answer.]

yeah. where are you?

[momming]

The summer dorm. I can come outside if you'd like.

[goalsides]

[only if it won't hurt you is what he types first before he backspaces and tries again.]

sure. i'll meet you there

[and true to his word, he will be heading to summer dorm, eventually lingering in front of it and keeping an eye out for stray geese. just in case.]

[momming]

[ And the door will open in a bit. Otome's moving a bit gingerly, due to ribs, but she can smile when she spots him. ]

I'm functional, more or less.

[goalsides]

[it's easy to see that he looks relieved as soon as he sees her, but he also looks concerned all the same.]

I'd rather you be better than just functional but I'll take what I can get. Should you be walking around right now?

[momming]

As long as I don't run or walk too much, it should be fine. Ribs are just fussy little things.

[ Assholes. ]

[goalsides]

Supposedly we're still gonna have to go to class. [boo...hiss...] So try to take it easy.

[a pause.] Are they going to take a while to heal?

[momming]

They should be fully healed in six weeks.

[ So. A bit. ]

I'll try to behave myself in the meantime.

[goalsides]

[frowning intensifies.]

As long as nothing like this happens again, it should be okay. [but the way he says it indicates that he doesn't believe this is over.] What...even happened? It's like someone else was controlling you guys.

[momming]

[ She frowns, speaking quietly. ]

It was a strong compulsion, kind of like the other ones we've dealt with. I couldn't fight against it completely-- my body was just trying to hurt her, with everything it could.

[goalsides]

But it was just your body, right? Everything else remained the same. [still bad! still horrific! do not like!]

[momming]

I felt a bit as though my mind was trying to convince me she was a threat, actually. But it was nowhere near as powerful.

[goalsides]

[...don't like that.]

This better not happen again. [he will fistfight a bear.] ...but we should sit down.

[fussing? about her injuries? it's more likely than you think.]

[momming]

Ah... right.

[ Okay, sure, she will find a place to sit and settle, arm still wrapped around her ribs with only the slightest twinge of discomfort on her face. ]

[goalsides]

[he sits down next to her, keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn't overexert herself just in case.]

...you did the best you could, you know. [because he could hear things from the arena. i think. mods didn't say no so i think we could all hear.]

[momming]

[ by sitting, Taichi?? ]

I don't think I was able to do much of anything, honestly. [ given how it all happened. ]

[goalsides]

[it could happen???]

You didn't immediately try to kill her. I think that says a lot, actually.

[momming]

I didn't want to. I didn't believe in any of it. In punishing someone by taking their life into my hands, in being forced to fight her like that...

... I still feel a little sick.

[ It had all been so... gruesome. And it had been treated like a game. ]

[goalsides]

[it makes sense. the longer she talks, the more he frowns because this is very much not okay.]

It's over. [not that it helps since it happened at all.] It's not going to happen to you again. It can't.

[momming]

It might happen to someone else instead.

[ She's sure he's already thought about that. ]

[goalsides]

[judging by the slump of his shoulders, yes. he has thought about it.]

...we can hope not, but we do have to think about the possibility. Especially in case it's one of the kids.

[do not? send unqualified children?]

You don't know why you were picked, right?

[momming]

I don't, no. Maybe because I voted for myself?

But it might also be unrelated.

[ a mystery. ]

[goalsides]

You already got punished for that. If that's a second punishment...[he will throttle this goddamn bear!!!]

But if it's unrelated, that means it really could be just about anybody if this happens again.