I miss my sharp girlfriend

Prisoner! :D *cough*

Have you been really busy or something—? I miss you :(

@minimum-wage-damsel-stp

Oh, Damsel, hey. No, not busy. I've been, um... stuck here, actually.

She coughs a few times, staring blankly down at the concrete.

She smiles.

It'll have to get better eventually. Everything does! :D *cough*

She suddenly looks concerned, perhaps entirely afraid.

What do you mean, deaths? It took deaths? You died—?

[she puts her hand on Damsel's back, ineffectually trying to help]

Army. Where has she heard that before?

Hurting people. And killed Prisoner—?

She shakes her head. Those are just voices.

She's tense.

Aha... she- she killed you?

Another bout of coughing, more violent than the first, interrupts her.

She takes a step away from Prisoner.

How can you say that...? You— you died.

[Prisoner is helping her.]

She stays on her hands and knees on the floor, gasping desperately for breath and finding none. Her arms are shaking.

I can't reach the first-aid kit right now.

Prisoner! :D *cough*

Have you been really busy or something—? I miss you :(

@minimum-wage-damsel-stp

Oh, Damsel, hey. No, not busy. I've been, um... stuck here, actually.

She coughs a few times, staring blankly down at the concrete.

She smiles.

It'll have to get better eventually. Everything does! :D *cough*

She suddenly looks concerned, perhaps entirely afraid.

What do you mean, deaths? It took deaths? You died—?

[she puts her hand on Damsel's back, ineffectually trying to help]

Army. Where has she heard that before?

Hurting people. And killed Prisoner—?

She shakes her head. Those are just voices.

She's tense.

Aha... she- she killed you?

Another bout of coughing, more violent than the first, interrupts her.

She takes a step away from Prisoner.

How can you say that...? You— you died.

[Prisoner is helping her.]

Prisoner! :D *cough*

Have you been really busy or something—? I miss you :(

@minimum-wage-damsel-stp

Oh, Damsel, hey. No, not busy. I've been, um... stuck here, actually.

She coughs a few times, staring blankly down at the concrete.

She smiles.

It'll have to get better eventually. Everything does! :D *cough*

She suddenly looks concerned, perhaps entirely afraid.

What do you mean, deaths? It took deaths? You died—?

[she puts her hand on Damsel's back, ineffectually trying to help]

Army. Where has she heard that before?

Hurting people. And killed Prisoner—?

She shakes her head. Those are just voices.

She's tense.

Aha... she- she killed you?

Another bout of coughing, more violent than the first, interrupts her.

She takes a step away from Prisoner.

How can you say that...? You— you died.

[Prisoner is helping her.]

Prisoner! :D *cough*

Have you been really busy or something—? I miss you :(

@minimum-wage-damsel-stp

Oh, Damsel, hey. No, not busy. I've been, um... stuck here, actually.

She coughs a few times, staring blankly down at the concrete.

She smiles.

It'll have to get better eventually. Everything does! :D *cough*

She suddenly looks concerned, perhaps entirely afraid.

What do you mean, deaths? It took deaths? You died—?

[she puts her hand on Damsel's back, ineffectually trying to help]

Army. Where has she heard that before?

Hurting people. And killed Prisoner—?

She shakes her head. Those are just voices.

She's tense.

Aha... she- she killed you?

Prisoner! :D *cough*

Have you been really busy or something—? I miss you :(

@minimum-wage-damsel-stp

Oh, Damsel, hey. No, not busy. I've been, um... stuck here, actually.

She coughs a few times, staring blankly down at the concrete.

She smiles.

It'll have to get better eventually. Everything does! :D *cough*

She suddenly looks concerned, perhaps entirely afraid.

What do you mean, deaths? It took deaths? You died—?

[she puts her hand on Damsel's back, ineffectually trying to help]

Prisoner! :D *cough*

Have you been really busy or something—? I miss you :(

@minimum-wage-damsel-stp

Oh, Damsel, hey. No, not busy. I've been, um... stuck here, actually.

She coughs a few times, staring blankly down at the concrete.

She smiles.

It'll have to get better eventually. Everything does! :D *cough*

She suddenly looks concerned, perhaps entirely afraid.

What do you mean, deaths? It took deaths? You died—?

[she puts her hand on Damsel's back, ineffectually trying to help]

Prisoner! :D *cough*

Have you been really busy or something—? I miss you :(

@minimum-wage-damsel-stp

Oh, Damsel, hey. No, not busy. I've been, um... stuck here, actually.

She coughs a few times, staring blankly down at the concrete.

She smiles.

It'll have to get better eventually. Everything does! :D *cough*

Prisoner! :D *cough*

Have you been really busy or something—? I miss you :(

@minimum-wage-damsel-stp

Oh, Damsel, hey. No, not busy. I've been, um... stuck here, actually.

She coughs a few times, staring blankly down at the concrete.

Perhaps Prisoner is asleep. Perhaps her mind has left her body as she stares into space. Perhaps she is fully aware and focused for each agonizing, agonizing moment of the same walls and the same door and the same tables.

Regardless of what she currently is, a small, tinny noise breaks through the silence.

Metal chipping against stone.

@stp-mw-razorcuts

(If I don’t move, she might not realize I’m here.)

“There is no one here!”

“Actually—— who is that? Who are you talking to??”

She gasps, half syllables struggling to squeeze between each breath. A broken torrent of ‘I’m sorry‘s.

[she hugs back, the blades sliding further through her flesh as she does so]

Thankfully she has someone to carry her out, to hold her close, to tell her everything will be okay.

...

She still wishes she could do the same.

But for now, just for now, they’re together, and that’s enough for her.

Until the next.

...

The sudden, piercing agony of a beartrap snapping shut, before Army pulls away, her eyes and lips different shades of crimson.

That... surprised me.

“But you’re still...” chip chip, “you’re still...” chip chip chip.

[She gets back on her knees and pulls out a chisel]

Army moves closer to Prisoner than is practical. Still, there’s remarkable room between where she’s chipping and where the stone ends.

...

Army begins animatedly describing the events with Harsh, Connie, and Sol in the alley as she works away. How she chased Connie over the rooftops only for them to disappear through a window, and how she went back to cut Harsh’s arms open only to discover their weird bug anatomy.

She pauses her chipping, for a moment.

Army realizes she’s blushing and averts her eyes. “HAHA!!! Anyway...!!!”

...

I greatly dislike having my role stolen, but—— yes, she spots it, obscured by the shackle it may be. It’s not careful, her examination, but it does not need to be.

[She pulls out the necklace]

I, um... thanks. I- you- you're and- uh...

[she pauses]

...

[she puts extra emphasis on 'when']

“I mean, my place is just a ways from here, but I can—— and even if not, I dun’ need ev’rythin’. They’re just mementos.”

“Maybe...”

“Bu’ really, my stuff isn’t that important, not if I’m...”

Army jolts in realization.

“Oh, wait, Razie!! And Ghostie!! I forgot—— I have a lotta friends here and Iunno how I feel abou’ leavin’ them... I think there’s a way to still talk to ‘em??? Not the same, though.”

“Oh!! Did I not talk about ‘er??”

Army shifts to look Prisoner in the eyes. Seems this memory in particular is... special to her.

“Now she jus’ stands there gaskin’ as I’m cleaning up the place when I ask her if she wants a ‘cut’ - which could mean aaaaanything really, you never know - and after a bit a’ finagling the timid thing comes in and takes a seat.”

“I ask her what she’d like, same as you, and she just lets me do whatever. And that’s when I realized somethin’ funny.”

“We’d actually met before, crossed paths in the basement here once a whiiile back. Gave her a nice slash across riiiiight across here——” Army traces the scar’s place with a finger, like a smile wider than lips could reach, “——but it musta healed or something cause it was barely visible.”

“You follow so far?? I know it’s slower than all the others, but it’s— uh, it’s——”

...

Yeah?

“She sorta felt like a doll, y’know? The sort that just sits there and looks pretty as they let you do whatever, so I thought ‘hey, why not give this doll a key to match?’”

“I went into the back to carve up a lil key, saying I’d grab a hair tie. ‘ventually, I did come back to put her hair in a bun——”

“——and then I poked a hole in the back of her neck...! The key fit perfectly.”

“Well... she didn’t say she worked here!! Didn’t say a whole lot about herself, though, so!”

“Alright, where was I?? I poked hole in her neck for the key I made, and wouldn’t you know it —— she still didn’t do much of anything!! Nothing to stop me, nothing to get away, nothing!!”

“Even as I twisted it into place, she just sat there. Looked into my eyes as I cut those old scars fresh, not a lick a’ fight to be seen.”

Army fidgets with the key as she talks. “Not that I’m complaining, it was fun watching her brace herself as I snipped off finger after finger. Even though she didn’t even try to get up, it was still so much fun!! I think she agreed, though she didn’t admit it. But you’re the only one who does, so no surprise there.”

“We had a nice chat as I did my thing about death, and how nothing really matters, and she asked me to kill her cuz’ she thought it might ‘stick’ for her.”

“I made her promise she’d come back soon as she came back to life before I cut her spine, and she did. But I haven’t seen her since so maybe she was right.”

“I’m... honestly sad she din’t wind up coming back. Doubt she’d get lost. Maybe she was lying ‘bout it, but I dunno. Really thought we had something, there.”

The stone is stubborn, and despite the time spent they’ve barely left the room.

...

“...”

“Think I should lean into it?? The ‘being a horrible person’ stuff?? I think it could be fun, going all-out bad guy.”

Army pauses her chipping. “And you know what a bad guy does??”

She wraps Prisoner in a tight hug with her free arm and laughs. “They take pretty ladies from their homes...!!!”

Her grip loosens. “...and bring them far, far away.”

[she starts laughing, harder than she has for a while]

I- sorry, i'm fine, i'm fine.

She’d take her away from here. She’d have to, if it meant seeing Prisoner smile like that again.

Far, far away.

...

But as far as they wish to go, even giving her enough space to leave the register is... immensely difficult. There is so much track to go and only so many hours in a night.

Eventually the sun rises, and with the dark goes Army’s welcome. Out in the open, things would only get worse for the both of them.

So for now, Army waves goodbye.

[she rushes to hug Army before she can leave]

Perhaps Prisoner is asleep. Perhaps her mind has left her body as she stares into space. Perhaps she is fully aware and focused for each agonizing, agonizing moment of the same walls and the same door and the same tables.

Regardless of what she currently is, a small, tinny noise breaks through the silence.

Metal chipping against stone.

@stp-mw-razorcuts

(If I don’t move, she might not realize I’m here.)

“There is no one here!”

“Actually—— who is that? Who are you talking to??”

She gasps, half syllables struggling to squeeze between each breath. A broken torrent of ‘I’m sorry‘s.

[she hugs back, the blades sliding further through her flesh as she does so]

Thankfully she has someone to carry her out, to hold her close, to tell her everything will be okay.

...

She still wishes she could do the same.

But for now, just for now, they’re together, and that’s enough for her.

Until the next.

...

The sudden, piercing agony of a beartrap snapping shut, before Army pulls away, her eyes and lips different shades of crimson.

That... surprised me.

“But you’re still...” chip chip, “you’re still...” chip chip chip.

[She gets back on her knees and pulls out a chisel]

Army moves closer to Prisoner than is practical. Still, there’s remarkable room between where she’s chipping and where the stone ends.

...

Army begins animatedly describing the events with Harsh, Connie, and Sol in the alley as she works away. How she chased Connie over the rooftops only for them to disappear through a window, and how she went back to cut Harsh’s arms open only to discover their weird bug anatomy.

She pauses her chipping, for a moment.

Army realizes she’s blushing and averts her eyes. “HAHA!!! Anyway...!!!”

...

I greatly dislike having my role stolen, but—— yes, she spots it, obscured by the shackle it may be. It’s not careful, her examination, but it does not need to be.

[She pulls out the necklace]

I, um... thanks. I- you- you're and- uh...

[she pauses]

...

[she puts extra emphasis on 'when']

“I mean, my place is just a ways from here, but I can—— and even if not, I dun’ need ev’rythin’. They’re just mementos.”

“Maybe...”

“Bu’ really, my stuff isn’t that important, not if I’m...”

Army jolts in realization.

“Oh, wait, Razie!! And Ghostie!! I forgot—— I have a lotta friends here and Iunno how I feel abou’ leavin’ them... I think there’s a way to still talk to ‘em??? Not the same, though.”

“Oh!! Did I not talk about ‘er??”

Army shifts to look Prisoner in the eyes. Seems this memory in particular is... special to her.

“Now she jus’ stands there gaskin’ as I’m cleaning up the place when I ask her if she wants a ‘cut’ - which could mean aaaaanything really, you never know - and after a bit a’ finagling the timid thing comes in and takes a seat.”

“I ask her what she’d like, same as you, and she just lets me do whatever. And that’s when I realized somethin’ funny.”

“We’d actually met before, crossed paths in the basement here once a whiiile back. Gave her a nice slash across riiiiight across here——” Army traces the scar’s place with a finger, like a smile wider than lips could reach, “——but it musta healed or something cause it was barely visible.”

“You follow so far?? I know it’s slower than all the others, but it’s— uh, it’s——”

...

Yeah?

“She sorta felt like a doll, y’know? The sort that just sits there and looks pretty as they let you do whatever, so I thought ‘hey, why not give this doll a key to match?’”

“I went into the back to carve up a lil key, saying I’d grab a hair tie. ‘ventually, I did come back to put her hair in a bun——”

“——and then I poked a hole in the back of her neck...! The key fit perfectly.”

“Well... she didn’t say she worked here!! Didn’t say a whole lot about herself, though, so!”

“Alright, where was I?? I poked hole in her neck for the key I made, and wouldn’t you know it —— she still didn’t do much of anything!! Nothing to stop me, nothing to get away, nothing!!”

“Even as I twisted it into place, she just sat there. Looked into my eyes as I cut those old scars fresh, not a lick a’ fight to be seen.”

Army fidgets with the key as she talks. “Not that I’m complaining, it was fun watching her brace herself as I snipped off finger after finger. Even though she didn’t even try to get up, it was still so much fun!! I think she agreed, though she didn’t admit it. But you’re the only one who does, so no surprise there.”

“We had a nice chat as I did my thing about death, and how nothing really matters, and she asked me to kill her cuz’ she thought it might ‘stick’ for her.”

“I made her promise she’d come back soon as she came back to life before I cut her spine, and she did. But I haven’t seen her since so maybe she was right.”

“I’m... honestly sad she din’t wind up coming back. Doubt she’d get lost. Maybe she was lying ‘bout it, but I dunno. Really thought we had something, there.”

The stone is stubborn, and despite the time spent they’ve barely left the room.

...

“...”

“Think I should lean into it?? The ‘being a horrible person’ stuff?? I think it could be fun, going all-out bad guy.”

Army pauses her chipping. “And you know what a bad guy does??”

She wraps Prisoner in a tight hug with her free arm and laughs. “They take pretty ladies from their homes...!!!”

Her grip loosens. “...and bring them far, far away.”

[she starts laughing, harder than she has for a while]

I- sorry, i'm fine, i'm fine.

Perhaps Prisoner is asleep. Perhaps her mind has left her body as she stares into space. Perhaps she is fully aware and focused for each agonizing, agonizing moment of the same walls and the same door and the same tables.

Regardless of what she currently is, a small, tinny noise breaks through the silence.

Metal chipping against stone.

@stp-mw-razorcuts

(If I don’t move, she might not realize I’m here.)

“There is no one here!”

“Actually—— who is that? Who are you talking to??”

She gasps, half syllables struggling to squeeze between each breath. A broken torrent of ‘I’m sorry‘s.

[she hugs back, the blades sliding further through her flesh as she does so]

Thankfully she has someone to carry her out, to hold her close, to tell her everything will be okay.

...

She still wishes she could do the same.

But for now, just for now, they’re together, and that’s enough for her.

Until the next.

...

The sudden, piercing agony of a beartrap snapping shut, before Army pulls away, her eyes and lips different shades of crimson.

That... surprised me.

“But you’re still...” chip chip, “you’re still...” chip chip chip.

[She gets back on her knees and pulls out a chisel]

Army moves closer to Prisoner than is practical. Still, there’s remarkable room between where she’s chipping and where the stone ends.

...

Army begins animatedly describing the events with Harsh, Connie, and Sol in the alley as she works away. How she chased Connie over the rooftops only for them to disappear through a window, and how she went back to cut Harsh’s arms open only to discover their weird bug anatomy.

She pauses her chipping, for a moment.

Army realizes she’s blushing and averts her eyes. “HAHA!!! Anyway...!!!”

...

I greatly dislike having my role stolen, but—— yes, she spots it, obscured by the shackle it may be. It’s not careful, her examination, but it does not need to be.

[She pulls out the necklace]

I, um... thanks. I- you- you're and- uh...

[she pauses]

...

[she puts extra emphasis on 'when']

“I mean, my place is just a ways from here, but I can—— and even if not, I dun’ need ev’rythin’. They’re just mementos.”

“Maybe...”

“Bu’ really, my stuff isn’t that important, not if I’m...”

Army jolts in realization.

“Oh, wait, Razie!! And Ghostie!! I forgot—— I have a lotta friends here and Iunno how I feel abou’ leavin’ them... I think there’s a way to still talk to ‘em??? Not the same, though.”

“Oh!! Did I not talk about ‘er??”

Army shifts to look Prisoner in the eyes. Seems this memory in particular is... special to her.

“Now she jus’ stands there gaskin’ as I’m cleaning up the place when I ask her if she wants a ‘cut’ - which could mean aaaaanything really, you never know - and after a bit a’ finagling the timid thing comes in and takes a seat.”

“I ask her what she’d like, same as you, and she just lets me do whatever. And that’s when I realized somethin’ funny.”

“We’d actually met before, crossed paths in the basement here once a whiiile back. Gave her a nice slash across riiiiight across here——” Army traces the scar’s place with a finger, like a smile wider than lips could reach, “——but it musta healed or something cause it was barely visible.”

“You follow so far?? I know it’s slower than all the others, but it’s— uh, it’s——”

...

Yeah?

“She sorta felt like a doll, y’know? The sort that just sits there and looks pretty as they let you do whatever, so I thought ‘hey, why not give this doll a key to match?’”

“I went into the back to carve up a lil key, saying I’d grab a hair tie. ‘ventually, I did come back to put her hair in a bun——”

“——and then I poked a hole in the back of her neck...! The key fit perfectly.”

“Well... she didn’t say she worked here!! Didn’t say a whole lot about herself, though, so!”

“Alright, where was I?? I poked hole in her neck for the key I made, and wouldn’t you know it —— she still didn’t do much of anything!! Nothing to stop me, nothing to get away, nothing!!”

“Even as I twisted it into place, she just sat there. Looked into my eyes as I cut those old scars fresh, not a lick a’ fight to be seen.”

Army fidgets with the key as she talks. “Not that I’m complaining, it was fun watching her brace herself as I snipped off finger after finger. Even though she didn’t even try to get up, it was still so much fun!! I think she agreed, though she didn’t admit it. But you’re the only one who does, so no surprise there.”

“We had a nice chat as I did my thing about death, and how nothing really matters, and she asked me to kill her cuz’ she thought it might ‘stick’ for her.”

“I made her promise she’d come back soon as she came back to life before I cut her spine, and she did. But I haven’t seen her since so maybe she was right.”

“I’m... honestly sad she din’t wind up coming back. Doubt she’d get lost. Maybe she was lying ‘bout it, but I dunno. Really thought we had something, there.”

The stone is stubborn, and despite the time spent they’ve barely left the room.

...

“...”

“Think I should lean into it?? The ‘being a horrible person’ stuff?? I think it could be fun, going all-out bad guy.”