snowblindrpg | Event: Consolidation Theory, Part Four and Five

...

[ The guy looks like he's ready to lunge at him (or rather, the barrier behind him but Squalo's unaware of it) and for a moment, he does his best to brace himself for impact with no fucking arms to defend himself with. ]

[ He considers yelling at Enoch, telling him that there's nothing there and he's obviously fucked in the head, but there's little time and the best defense is offense. This fucker thought he'd left him vulnerable, well tough shit. He's not fooling Squalo a second time. ]

[ Almost instantaneously, he leans forward, and for a moment it's as if he's about to kiss the other man, but the next his mouth is landing on his throat in a spot where he knows the airway's weaker and closer to the surface. ]

[ His teeth catch in the bandages, preventing him from actually carrying out his plan, but he still manages to sink it in deep enough to draw blood before the static rushes in to separate them. ]

Edited 2018-05-06 11:01 (UTC)

[The initial resistance is instinctive. A yelp of surprise, hands braced on Squalo's shoulders to push him away.

And then reasoning happens, and with it, or rather, smothering it, guilt. If Squalo's going to kill him for what he did or may have done, so be it. Better him than his family in the next two cells. Better him than anyone else. He falls back, allowing gravity to assist his attacker in tearing away the bandages, and leaving streaks of blood where his teeth had managed to make shallow cuts.]

[Rhys is drifting part of the time, with his injuries and his memories and everything. But he's listening, kind of, keeping an ear out for any problems that he should at least try and deal with.

So the commotion from Enoch's cell raises him quickly, already knowing that Enoch had been... Not dealing well with things. Rhys had been to jail, he knows the sounds of a fight. The sounds of people trying to hurry each other with no weapons but their own hands and feet and teeth. He's on his feet fast, moving to the wall closest to that cell.]

Hey. Hey. What the fuck.

[ It could be him and then everyone else! If only their static friends weren't there to interfere. Alas. You can't always get what you want. ]

[ It's like being dragged off by an unknown force, which Squalo of course still struggles against, taste of blood in his mouth. Unfortunately, the fact that these things showed up right when he tried to ~~beat~~ bite up Enoch only serves to further his suspicions. ]

Voi!! Your buddies won't be saving your ass every time!!

Edited 2018-05-12 12:14 (UTC)

They aren't my friends.

[There's no force behind it. He'd hoped that Squalo's frustration could have been vented, since he's clearly unable to think the situation through as it is. But now it's only worse.]

[Rhys has one eye, a fucked-up shoulder, and a broken hand, but he's still got more to work with than Squalo does.

He's also got a lot of pent up anger and frustration that wants out. Drawing fire for Enoch is the least he can do.]

Instead of beating up on a guy that doesn't fight back, you wanna come over here and try your luck with me?

[Rhys paces the length of the Cell, remaining eye dark with fury.]

[ Squalo may only have half his limbs functional but he makes up for it with viciousness. If he'd tried to head back toward Enoch, he would find that he now seems to be held back by some kind of barrier as well -- but before he can get to that, his attention's caught elsewhere. ]

[ He gives Rhys a bare of teeth. ]

Sure thing. You wanna announce you're behind all this too?

No-

[Enoch climbs back to his feet, leaning on the barrier as if he could somehow push his way through. ~~Don't ask how he's managing to hold himself in that position, Squalo~~.]

Don't fuel it.

[Squalo, looking for a fight, might be spurred on by someone fighting back. It could exhaust him, yes, but Enoch isn't willing to take that risk.]

[Rhys scowls, under his bandaged face, and turns his head to keep the situation in his line of sight.

He doesn't actually want to fight, but he wants to get Squalo's attention away from beating up on Enoch, and he's willing to take a few shots to do that. It's not his first goal, though- he's willing to talk first.]

None of us are behind this. The town is setting up its own version of Friday Night Fights, by drugging and poisoning us.

[He gestures to his face and broken hand with his good hand.]

The guy running this? Save it for him. He's the one playing Death Match Barbies with us.

[ Squalo should probably find it strange Enoch is putting himself in potential harm's way to protect someone else, but he doesn't. These guys were both on the same team, right? It made sense. Still, he only gives Enoch a glance, focusing on Rhys. It might look like he's just glaring, but he's really examining the other man. What was the extent of his injuries?.. ]

Yeah, see, that is possible. Likely, even. It's also possible you're shitting me. [ He sort of gestures at him, with his chin because his arms are pretty much tied at the moment. ] You look pretty fucked up. Maybe you've traded your allegiance to make it stop. It happens for less.

Why do you think any of this was voluntary? I haven't heard a single account from one of you that paints our actions as anything but crazed. Does that sound like a decision anyone made in their right minds?

[Talking. Talking is good, if it helps keep Squalo from attacking Rhys.]

[Rhys knows better than to jump in and dogpile. Squalo is unbalanced, uncertain, and while Rhys is more than happy to draw fire, to challenge the other man and get him away from Enoch, he is also cunning enough to know that when it comes to talking him down, it's better to let him process, let them take turns trying to get through to him.

So he backs off just a little, swiping at his weary face. When Squalo looks him over, he'll see a man of about 5'10" and in lean but solid shape, in spite of the weight he's lost recently. His left hand is completely bandaged, covering multiple broken fingers and hand bones, and he holds that arm to him as though he's suffered a recent and severe shoulder injury. Rhys's right eye is also completely covered in bandages, with severe scratches and bruises showing underneath the tape as though his eye had been clawed.]

[ A SHORTY, THEN. Squalo decides he could take him in a fight, but it seems the talking had just been bait. To what ends, he can't say - whatever mind games are being played here, he's certainly not onto any of them. ]

[ He gives Enoch a long look, and there's just a hint of a smile in the corner of his lips, a little unsettling considering the circumstances. ]

Why do you think I think it was voluntary?

[ Yeah. His fucked up -edness is way deeper than that. ]

[....His head thunks against the barrier in frustration. Or doesn't thunk at all on empty air, to Squalo.]

Are you honestly saying you think that sort of thing is normal?

{SHORTY? EXCUSE YOU. He's 5'11" in boots! Which he doesn't have right now. But he'll still fuck you up given the chance. He's mean for a runt.]

Trust us. There's no deals here. If there was, we'd have taken them the first time around, when they skinned us alive.

[He gestures to his brow, where a criss-cross of white thornlike scars are visible in a line around his hairline. Rhys's world, in its own way, is similar enough to Squalo's that he can follow the man's train of thought...no matter how fucked up it is.]

We're lab rats here. We don't have anything they want. So you wanna come over here and try and beat it out of me? Go for it, but you aren't gonna get anything we aren't already telling you.

[His tail lashes in quiet agitation.]

[ There's no thunk for Squalo, but the sentiment's still pretty clear from the way Enoch's head seems to hang. ]

[ He raises his eyebrows, skew smirk tugging at the left corner of his lips. ]

No. I'm saying you've been compromised, and I don't care about the sob stories and whys, but about eliminating the threat.

[ SO UH YEAH. is that really any better ]

[ --hOLY SHIT IS THAT A TAIL HE'S SEEING don't mind his eyes just sort of following the swashing ]

[Enoch has to remind himself, very firmly, that Squalo is still relatively new. He has not seen. He doesn't really understand.]

We're all "compromised". As long as outside forces have access to drugs and machines that can alter our thoughts, as long as we're here in Norfinbury. If you truly care about eliminating the threat you should care about why, because if you think we're the core of the threat, or if killing us would solve it, you're mistaken. It's Miller, and anyone else who would abuse the power and means intended to keep us healthy.

Well, shit. Guess we're all gonna die then.

[ He levels him with a stare, contemplating, the amusement rather misplaced yet still there. ]

Hey, you could be onto something there. They can't keep bringing us back indefinitely. If I die and stay dead, I'm counting that as a win.

[Yes, that is a tail.

And Rhys, for his part, is just tired and wants some fucking quiet. He didn't expect the "sob story" to get him any feels, but at least now Squalo knows what's going on.

Information, not sympathy. Rhys has dealt with guys like Squalo far too many times before. He knows exactly what he can accomplish here and what he can't.]

You should sit down, shut up, and save your energy for a real threat, then.

If we get a chance to move, we're gonna have to be ready for it.

Agreed. We aren't dying so long as nobody makes wide-reaching and frankly idiotic decisions about others' lives.

[A hint for the increasingly obviously willful obliviousness.]

So save your strength for Miller, and escaping from this town alive. It isn't beyond us yet.

[ where does he get one of those also wHAT THE HECK ARE YOU MAN ]

Sounds like a plan.

[ Maybe blowing the whole town is the answer. Just how does one go about that? He would probably need at least one functioning arm for it, that would be fucking nice. But if he had that, he would no doubt be less inclined to mass suicide. ]

Great. You sit on your ass saving your mojo and wait for your big bad. I'm gonna stay in shape and try to do something fucking useful.

[ Aaand he's leaving. Time to get his favorite brainiac friend interested in that electronic door. ]

[Shhh. Rhys is Norfinbury's sexiest devil, okay? And it's just a tail. Geez. So excitable, Squalo.]

Have fun storming the castle.

[Rhys can't resist that last stab. He's tired and in pain and bitchy as hell. His tail continues to lash back and forth like an angry cat's, but the rest of him backs down, away from the cell wall he can't get through.

Fight averted, that's good enough for now.]

You get these cell doors open, we'll be right there, dude. Trust me.

Event: Consolidation Theory, Part Four and Five

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cw: Noisy Black

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