PC: Nimona

[rizomata]

Comments

[sharkgirl]

[it is probably better than wherever she just was, so nimona lets her have that one.]

Yeah. I'd never seen an ocean up close before I got here, so I didn't know it smelled good. [her cat ears that she's got today flick.] It's nice. Makes me wanna be here all the time.

[rizomata]

I've been to sea before, but... it was the same for me, up until recently.

[ she leans all the way back and eases herself down onto the bed. ]

I... the other place, it was just...

Everything smelled horrible. Everywhere.

[sharkgirl]

[she frowns, leaning forward a bit.]

... Yeah? [...] Where'd you go?

[she actually will just get up and wander over to sit on the bed too.]

Not to make you think about it too much, just - Nico made me talk about mine, and it felt better after.

[rizomata]

[ lying on her back, staring upward...

she hesitates, but after a bit, she answers. ]

It was a hospital, but... it was like everything was made of rotten meat.

The walls. The floor. The furniture. The people.

[sharkgirl]

[well! bad!

she brings her knees up to her chest, hugging them.]

Gross. [is the easy answer, but - more seriously:] ... That's - horrible. Jeeze, no wonder you were glad to get out here.

[rizomata]

Yeah...

We just wanted to get out, but these creatures kept trying to stop us... so we had to fight the whole way, and it just kept getting worse.

[sharkgirl]

Is that how you got shot?

[she glances over at her.] Because of the creatures? Or something else?

[rizomata]

Yeah. They called for backup, and just as we almost reached the exit, a whole group of them showed up with guns and opened fire.

... It was a miracle that we got through it.

[sharkgirl]

No kidding. [hmmm... she lays back on the bed, too.]

I'm glad you did, though. [just so she knows.] You looked - bad, like you weren't all there, when you guys came out.

[rizomata]

[ she rolls onto her left side and pulls her legs up with some effort. ]

... Everything looked like a nightmare, so we couldn't clearly see what was around us, and... what we were doing.

... until the end.

[sharkgirl]

[oof. a pause, and then:]

Until the end? [she is already anticipating something absolutely horrendous.]

[rizomata]

Something happened, and it was like a veil was lifted. We could see everything for what it really was.

It wasn't the world that was screwed up. We were.

[sharkgirl]

[it's funny because she's like. pretty sure she knows who this adventure was based on and she hates it]

... You were seeing everything like it was meat and stuff but it wasn't. [oh no] So the creatures...

[rizomata]

... They were people. Just people, who we hurt and killed and...!

[ she stops herself, tensing and curling her body more tightly, even though it hurts. ]

[sharkgirl]

No, come on. They weren't real, you didn't... [she says, immediately, and shifts, moving forward a little. a beat.]

... Can I give you a hug? [before anything else. she just wants to make sure it's okay.]

[rizomata]

... Huh?

[ ... ]

I, uh... if you want to... sure.

[sharkgirl]

[she does want to! so she scoots a little closer, and pulls rita into a hug. she's not so bad at it.]

... It wasn't people you knew, was it? [:\]

[rizomata]

[ ...

she doesn't answer.

but after some hesitation, as if she doesn't really know what to do... she does reach back, and buries her face into nimona's shoulder. ]

[sharkgirl]

[that's fair, because like, what do you do or say to this.

but she's okay at this. carefully, when rita hides her face, nimona wraps her arms around her and rests her hand on the back of rita's head.]

I'm sorry. [she mumbles.]