MAIZEY!! MAI— MAIZEY, MA— SOMETHING. ANSWER, PLEASE— WHERE ARE YOU?!
[HE SHRIEKED, BOLTING INTO THE FOREST SHE USUALLY INHABITED, FORM BORDERLINE SOLID GREEN FROM HOW PANICKED HE WAS.]
MAIIZEYYY!!
@aroace-fleetway
"Reactor?!"
( Maizey rushed to him upon hearing him screaming, wings flaring out and propelling herself forward. )
"Reactor- sweetheart, what happened?!"
OH, THANK GAIA—
[HE GASPED, THROWING HIMSELF AT HER AND WRAPPING HER INTO A HUG.]
[EVENTUALLY, HE PULLED OFF, HOLDING HER BY THE SHOULDERS WITH THE MOST TERRIFIED EXPRESSION HE COULD MUSTER.]
SOME— SOMETHING HAPPENED. I— I THINK IT'S BAD. I—
[HE WAS TALKING AT A HARDLY UNDERSTANDABLE RATE, BUT UPON RECALLING EVENTS, IT ONLY GOT WORSE.]
ABLAILSLINGBROKEINTOMYFUCKIN'HOUSEANDSTOLEMYBLOODANDMYSTUFFANDSHEPISSEDMEOFFANDIKILLEDHERANDSHE—
SHE—
[HE WAS PRACTICALLY HYPERVENTILATING AT THIS POINT. HIS CHEST WAS HEAVING, LETTING GO OF HER WITH ONE HAND TO RUN IT THROUGH HIS QUILLS STRESSFULLY.]
"Slow down, slow down. Squeeze me all you need."
( Maizey tilted her head, crouching slightly to have her eyes level with his. )
"What's happening?"
[HE TOOK A DEEP BREATH, LETTING GO OF HER TO DRAG HIS HANDS DOWN HIS FACE.]
OKAY, SO...
I KILLED SOMEONE. BIG DEAL. HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.
[THE HAZARD, SURPRISINGLY, LOOKED A LITTLE GUILTY ABOUT THIS. HE GESTURED WITH HIS HANDS A BIT AS HE SPOKE.]
I THOUGHT IT WAS A LITTLE JUSTIFIED... BUT— BLAILSLINGS. ONE BROKE INTO MY HOUSE, RIGHT? STUCK ME WITH A NEEDLE, TOOK MY BLOOD, STOLE MY SHIT— YOU'D THINK IT'D BE A LITTLE JUSTIFIED WHEN SHE SAID SOME SHIT TO ADD FUEL TO THE FIRE.
BUT— BUT WHEN I KILLED HER...
[HE LOOKED DOWN AT HIS HANDS, BROWS KNITTING TOGETHER.]
SHE TURNED INTO YOU, MAIZEY.
SHE LOOKED JUST LIKE YOU— IT WAS SO FUCKIN' SCARY— I THOUGHT IT WAS YOU.
"..."
( Maizey stared blankly at Reactor. )
"You killed the Blailsling who was supposedly linked to me- Is that what I'm hearing? Crow--"
..
"Why would she do that?"
I— WELL, I-I THINK SO. [HE SHRUGGED, STILL LOOKING CONCERNED.]
I DON'T KNOW WHY— I REALLY DON'T. BUT... SHE'S DEAD. AND— PROBABLY STILL ON THE FLOOR OF MY HOUSE.
[HE CROSSED HIS ARMS, HOLDING HIMSELF WITH A LITTLE SIGH.]
I— I JUST—
MAIZEY, I CAN'T HELP BUT FEEL LIKE SOMETHIN' TERRIBLE JUST HAPPENED.
"Reactor, did she say why? Why she took those things?"
[ Maizey continued to look at him blankly, her voice strangely soft for the overall deadpan expression. ]
"From what I know, she's been nothing but helpful. She had gone out of her way to attempt to warn me of something- albeit being interrupted.. I struggle to believe her break in is malicious. Can you please help me understand why she was there before we move onto anything else? Because I feel that might be a bit more important, Reactor."
SAID SOMETHIN'... ABOUT HER— NO, THEIR CONNECTION TO US. TALKED ABOUT HOW HER FRIENDS WERE— WERE DYING? DYIN', OR GETTIN' HURT, AND SHE WANTED TO "SEVER THE CONNECTION" OR SOMETHING.
[HE SQUIRMED A BIT UNDER HER GAZE, REACHING AROUND TO FIDGET WITH HIS TAIL NERVOUSLY.]
AND THEN SHE SAID SOMETHIN' ABOUT PEOPLE CLOSE T' ME DYING— AND THEN I JUST... SNAPPED.
"What did you say before that happened, Reactor?"
( Maizey's eyelashes fluttered with very gentle blinking, pursing her lips slightly before sucking them back in. )
"I agree, that shouldn't have been done behind your back- violence is to be expected upon sudden intrusions.. But I wonder where it went awry. After that explanation- what was your response?" "What prompted that seemingly uncharacteristic comment from her?"
( Maizey's mouth twitched, but she didn't show any outward signs of having an outburst or yelling, she was genuinely trying to level with him. It seems all she's had to do in the past while made masking frustration or even terror a bit more difficult. )
"Let us work through this."
I...
[HE CLEARED HIS THROAT, AVERTING HIS GAZE TO ANYTHING AT ALL— EVENTUALLY JUST STARING AT THE GROUND BENEATH HIM.]
I SAID IT WASN'T MY PROBLEM.
( The chirping of birds and cicadas immediately went quiet. )
"..come again?"
"No- no, itmf ftq tqxx pup kag vgef fqxx yq? Itmf ftq tqxx pup kag emk? Dqbqmf kagdeqxr."
IT WASN'T MY—
[HE SHRUNK DOWN WITH THE CHANGE OF VOICE, EARS LOWERING AS HE HELD HIMSELF TIGHTER.]
I WAS— I WAS ANGRY IN TH' MOMENT— I GET THAT WASN'T RIGHT OF ME TO SAY. I—
"..Wasn't your what?"
( Maizey closed her eyes for a second, reopening them after she seemed to have regained her composure. )
"I'm incredibly disappointed. Oh, goodness- your caution is justified but after hearing her admission of struggle, you decide to prove her initial terror of you right?"
"I do not care how angry you might've been, Reactor. I've seen much better from you and surprising amounts of self control and composure. I.. Understand everyone has their limits-"
"..."
"No point beating a point into you that you- already understand! Hah. Well, take me there. I'll see if I can fix this, you don't have to worry about it."
...MY PROBLEM.
[HE MUTTERED, TURNING IN THE AIR TO LEAD HER BACK TO HIS HOME, GLOW SIGNIFICANTLY DULLED.]
. . .
[AND THEN THEY WERE STARING AT THE STILL-FRESHLY CHARRED CORPSE ON THE FLOOR.]
[REACTOR LOOKED VISIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE, LETTING OUT A SHAKY LITTLE SIGH NOW THAT HE WAS FORCED TO ACTUALLY TAKE IN WHAT HE'D DONE.]
...I DON'T...
( Maizey crouched down next to the corpse, deciding to save comforting Reactor for after she dealt with the.. )
( She stared at that version of herself- charred and lifeless. )
( She gently rested her hands upon the lifeless version of herself, eyes fluttering closed. Instead of restoring Crow- she was bringing the other Maizey back as herself. ) ( She tentatively ran her fingers over the scars- gentle as she restored the tissue entirely. She softly hummed, after having restored the outside- her hands still lingered as though they were aiding the other Maizey's insides. )
[ Little white colored blooms sprouted in the other's fluff and hair. ]
"..There we go, she should wake up any moment now."
[MIRRORING HER ACTION, HE SAT BACK ON HIS HAUNCHES, GETTING A BETTER LOOK AT HIS 'HANDIWORK.']
I SHOULD... APOLOGIZE, TO HER. WH-WHEN SHE'S UP.
[HE RAN A HANDS THROUGH HIS QUILLS, BROWS CREASED, TAIL OCCASIONALLY FLICKING AS HE WAITED.]
'S THE LEAST I COULD DO.
@vandjonah
[The other Maizey sits up with a gasp, almost bumping heads with the other two. She looks around frantically, even behind her before looking back at the ones who had both killed and saved her.]
" Oh- I always hated feeling like that. .. dear godsdd .
"Dear- how did you.. Get like that? The- blue fur?"
( Maizey thought maybe.. Just maybe a few things could wait to be addressed before that big question. )
"Take your time, breathe-"
[The other Maizey only needed a few seconds of squeezing her eyes shut before she could calm herself down.]
Nono I get it- I need to work fast . I… we failed, we didn’t know we could help Them and we couldn’t stop the dayT . Every part of us was slowly replaced and no matter how I tried to heal them before the wounds overtook no matter if I tried to fight- dammit .
It’s his fault , right . ?
[REACTOR LOOKED AWAY GUILTILY, RUBBING HIS SHOULDER.]
IT... IT IS, YEAH. I DID THAT.
I UH... WANTED TO SAY SORRY.
[HIS EARS LOWERED BEFORE LOOKING BACK AT HER, FULLY SERIOUS.]
IT, UH, WASN'T RIGHT F'ME TO DO THAT. WHAT I DID. I WAS ANGRY, TIRED, CONFUSED, IT WAS EARLY— BUT I STILL SHOULDN'TVE.
I CAN'T MAKE UP FOR WHAT I DID, I GET THAT. BUT, UH... AT LEAST TAKE MY APOLOGY. Y'DON'T HAVE TO FORGIVE ME.
[HIS APOLOGY SOUNDED EARNEST, AT LEAST. THERE WAS THAT.]
( Maizey clearly registered the information, but didn't respond. She wasn't too sure how to respond- that's fucking cryptic. )
"You took his blood to help your friends- could anyone else lend something of their flesh to aid you in that endeavor? I've plenty of blood to give, practically unable to run out-"
( Maizey clasped her own hands together, nails digging into her own knuckles. ) "So, please- please share anything you know on how we could help you. I know many who would jump on the opportunity."
@vandjonah
