[log] Event: Breaking Down [open]

[snowblindmods]

Characters: anyone pulled into the Escherverse
Location: Escherverse
Date: Morning 220 - Night 221
Summary: All alone/Even when I was a child/I've always known/There was something to be frightened of
Warnings: general horror, violence warnings; make sure to put more specific warnings in the subject lines!

Comments

[godsspeed]

[ This one is of little interest to him. She has nothing for him. But wait - that voice is familiar. With a beat of his wings, he crosses the distance between them and bends down to examine her. ]

No. I am not a bee.

[ He doesn't sound anything like how he did before, when he was borrowing a human body. Now he speaks in four hissing, whispering voices at once, underscored by an unearthly ringing. ]

Your light has also been stolen.

[spoileralert]

Uh.

[ God, that's unsettling. It's worse, she thinks, because she can't see what's wrong with him. Just the freaky sounds he's making, and the distinct lack of anything that sounds remotely like footsteps. ]

I guess?

Are you gonna attack me anyway?

[godsspeed]

No. There would be no point.

[ And normally he would also think it wrong, to hurt a human (a friend?) just to save himself, but now? He finds it difficult to care. And difficult to worry that he doesn't care.

It doesn't matter, though. The end result is the same. There's no reason to hurt this one. ]

Are you... okay, without it? You don't look like you're dying. [ The smilodon face turns toward her and sniffs, curious. Its breath is hot. ] At least, not more than humans usually are.

[spoileralert]

I don't know.

[ Humans. How many people here aren't human? A lot, unfortunately. She dismisses that line of thought. ]

I passed out when I lost it, but I seem to be okay now? I don't really know what it is.

[godsspeed]

It's important. [ Which isn't really an answer, but the truth is Castiel doesn't know what it is either. Just that his is gone and he wants it back. ]

I'm like this now because someone stole mine. Useless and crumbling away. You should be careful. [ It's more reprimand than concern. As time goes on he finds himself caring less and less for the troubles of these hairless apes. There are so many of them, and they never seem to learn. ]

[spoileralert]

[ She can't help the shudder that wracks her whole body. Is she going to turn into a monster too? But she feels fine. ]

It's hard to be careful when I can't see.

[godsspeed]

Oh. You've been blinded. [ Of course. Physical bodies are so fragile. The bee's head turns to examine her now, his long antennae reaching out to tap gently at her face. ]

Was it the one who took your light? Or a death-curse? [ He remembers seeing her name in the obituaries earlier in the day, before all of this had started. It could be either. ]

[spoileralert]

[ Even without sight her body is aware of the closeness, and she flinches away before the antennae can touch her. ]

Death-curse. Which is probably why whatever it was got me in the first place.

[godsspeed]

[ If ever a bee could look affronted, Castiel does now. He doesn't press the issue though, and straightens up again now that he's done examining her. ]

Unfortunate timing. [ He feels some vague awareness that this is normally where he'd express condolences, but now he doesn't see the point. This is her problem, not his. ] Count yourself lucky that you didn't come to greater harm. There are not enough lights left for all of us. Many are more than happy to fight to take back what belongs to them.

[spoileralert]

Y-yeah, I'm... counting myself lucky.

[ John tried to eat her. FOR NO REASON. She really hates her life right now. ]

You haven't... taken it, from anyone, have you?

[godsspeed]

No. But I will. [ The implicit disapproval or hope that he hadn't goes sailing right over all four of his heads. Castiel isn't good at reading tonal cues at the best of times, and right now he's very distracted by how important the lights are. ] I won't die here. Not while there's still work to do.

[spoileralert]

You think I'm going to die?

[ The thought's crossed her mind, but shouldn't she be dead already then? ]

[godsspeed]

Of course. You were always going to die. [ He means this in the sense that she's a human, and no human can truly live forever. It doesn't really occur to him that this isn't immediately clear without context, and even if it did his empathy has slipped far enough away from him that he likely wouldn't care. ]

The lights are vitally important. If you have the opportunity, you should try to take yours back. I doubt you could, but it's better to fight than wither away.

[spoileralert]

Withering away's not so bad. I hear there are way worse ways to die.

[godsspeed]

Really?

[ He sounds genuinely surprised - disbelieving, but curious. ]

To watch the workings of your own inescapable form seize and decay out from under you? To perish a withered husk in mind and body? Is this what you would wish for yourself? [ It's always struck him as one of the worst parts of being a mortal creature. An unnecessary cruelty inflicted upon them, that their bodies were designed to fail even if they bested all other obstacles. ]

cw: violence???

[spoileralert]

Better than being shot by someone you love, bleeding to death knowing more people are going to die and you could have stopped it.

[godsspeed]

Oh. That is worse, yes.

[ Existential dread aside, it's something he's had close brushes with himself, and each one tore away a piece of him. ]

You sound as if you speak from experience. My condolences.

[spoileralert]

[ Now she's getting condolences from a bee monster? How much does her life suck that she gets condolences from a bee monster? ]

It was a close call. I got away.

l a t e,,,,,,

[godsspeed]

Even so. A bodily wound lasts only as long as a person lives. Emotional wounds can persist long after death. [ And often do. It's where ghosts come from, after all, and what Hell uses to keep itself running. Even those souls in Heaven aren't shielded entirely from their Earthly regrets. ]

:') in good company

[spoileralert]

Pretty sure this one won't last that long. He's dead now anyway.

[ Because that's obviously the only factor here. ]

[godsspeed]

[ It's difficult to produce ethereal ringing that sounds incredulous, but Castiel manages. ]

But you remember. And you're alive.

[spoileralert]

And I don't have to worry about it ever again. Problem solved.