#aligula

There’s a few minutes of near silence. Aligula watches their companion, framing her face with her hands, and snickers when the suddenly music playing causes Femt to fall out of his chair. He rises with a growl, swinging his cane wide and pointing it at Despair.

“You did not figure it out that fast! You already knew how it worked, didn’t you?! And what is that racket you’re playing?!”

“Aww, don’t be mad just because he made you look dumb,” she finds herself saying, crawling across the table (Femt makes a noise of displeasure) to see what it is. “Oooh. For a guy with no taste, you at least have a pretty good ear.”

“I try to deliver,” he replies, dodging cane jabs with a smile. “I figured this place could use some pep, seeing what our dear Femt puts on day in and day out.”

“My music is perfectly fine, thank you! I won’t have you insulting it!”

“It sounds like it came out of the last two centuries,” Despair drawls in that way he does, leisurely but smug. It usually grates Aligula’s nerves, but it’s pretty fun today. “You’re living in the past, old man, try the present for a change.”

“He’s always been like this, stuck in his ways past their prime.” She sighs, laying down and listening to the soft rock. It’d be better if it was a love ballad. Or maybe something snazzy. “That’s why the city doesn’t give him two seconds worth their time anymore.”

“They do! They do, Aligula, when they’re not being droll and awaiting their next meal to just fall in their laps.”

Femt glances at Despair then, expecting him to join in again, but he’s whistling along to the tune coming from the phone. The King of Depravity growls and waves his cane around, slamming it down on the table hard enough to make the other kings jump from down the way.

“And you’re no exception, King of Despair! You’re just sitting there waiting for everything to fall into place, acting like you won’t have to do anything at all yourself! Even I hate to dirty my hands, but you take it to a new level completely with all your underhanded schemes.”

With a dramatic hmph! to boot. Aligula wishes she had some popcorn, because this was one of her favorite court shows. Despair picks at his ear for a moment (gross) and flicks the imaginary substance at Femt, grinning when the other steps away in disgust at the uncouth attitude. There’d be a rant about kids these days when he was gone for sure.

“I’ve got it set up where when one piece,” tiptoeing his fingers across the table, “knocks into the next,” his middle finger kicks out, hitting his other hand placed like a wall, “it’ll fall and knock into the one after.”

Both hands land flat on the surface, then slide back to the phone and turns off the music. It’s dead quiet; even the kings at the other end of the table have turned to look and listen. Despair, at the center of attention, seems to only grow in magnitude as he leans back and props his feet on the table, crossing his arms.

“I don’t have to do a thing until I’ve got what I need - and that’s all on Aligula. How’s it coming?”

Oh, it’s her turn. Aligula shrugs. “I’ve had better things to do and other things on my mind, but once I see a little proof I’ll think about it.”

Despair is mildly irritated - she can tell, ooooh - but shrugs right back, gesturing with his hand to her. “See? Just waiting on our friend here, and then I’ll be able to move my queen.”

“Are you playing dominoes, checkers, or chess?! Choose one!”

He lays his palms out in a what can I do? sort of motion, knowing Femt won’t be happy until something happens, and picks up the phone to mess with again.

“Who’d you steal this from anyway? I can’t imagine you’d use humanity’s technology so freely.”

Not since his paintings are what he watches the city on, obviously. Sleek and chic didn’t fit the madness that was their dear friend the King of Depravity, and Aligula leans in with a hum. Femt leans on his cane, looking over his nose at the device.

“I found it lying around on a morning stroll,” he finally confesses. “I thought you’d be interested in it, considering the body you’ve taken to use. It was open on some... Chitter site. I don’t have any use for social media such as that because I’m shown on every screen the city has to offer if I’m so inclined to make an appearance, so--”

“You couldn’t figure it out!” Aligula leaps to her feet, one hand on her hip and the other pointing triumphantly at her friend. Despair giggles beside her - an honest giggle - and it falls into howling laughter as Femt growls again.

“I don’t care about it! I don’t need it at all, so why should I bother trying to understand it?!”

Despair falls forward onto the table, grinning with a new light in his eyes as he works through the phone again. Aligula helps to play keep away by dodging every one of Femt’s swipes and grabs onto him when she hears a whistle, throwing up a peace sign at the phone’s shuttering click of the camera’s capture of their friendship. She cartwheels backwards at the next jab and doesn’t stop until she ends up by Despair, standing on her hands with her dress clenched between her thighs.

“Oooh, that’s a good name. How’re we gonna get the word out?”

“It’ll work itself out. But while we’re here, let’s just get him started.”

“Don’t you dare, King of Despair!” He nearly screeches (and Femt can screech, dammit), chucking his hat at him and laughing when it hits dead on. Despair narrows his eyes and throws it back with an odd glow in his eyes, ending the other’s victory curtly.

It settles down after that, once Femt’s done sulking at his wounded pride (muttering this and that about how disrespectful it was), and all the kings settle around Despair to make Chitters of their own. The phone remains as Femt’s personal, much to his obvious disdain and refusal to use it, and while Aligula doesn’t get one for herself (the name she wants is taken and she’s not adding numbers to it, thank you) it’s pretty amusing to watch everyone crowd the blond to point out what they want and get their picture taken.

She perches on the statue warily, scanning the stones for any sort of danger, and nearly falls off when a voice resounds from beside her.

“So you’re the girl? You’re not that much to look at, but I can kind of see why he’d like you.” The hand holding her from certain head injuries feels smaller than the glove shows it to be, and White follows it to the half-covered face of a cute sounding girl. She grins widely, the mask covering the top half splitting open to reveal a single amethyst eye, and White’s only happy enough that she’s lived here long enough not to be seriously freaked out anymore. “Actually, you are pretty cute! What’s your name?”

“It’s... It’s White.” She’s still a little on edge from the other girl appearing so suddenly and silently, but when the other releases her she scoots to a safer distance way to study her.

“I am Aligula!” Aligula stretches out, eye closing but smile never leaving her face. “I’m an unwilling friend of a friend, you could say? I don’t really like that guy, but he keeps hanging around and is pretty entertaining sometimes. If only because he and Femt always go for each other’s throats in the most passive-aggressive manner. It’s really fun to watch. Hey, how come I never see you around? Aren’t you someone pretty important?”

White’s not sure where to begin processing that information. So she’s one of that annoyance’s friends? Or... Kind of friend. Ally, maybe. She probably knows what he does with Black’s body then too. Aligula’s still waiting on an answer, apparently, watching her with a tilt of her head. One of her gloved hands pinches White’s cheeks lightning fast, laughter erupting from the pink haired girl at her winces.

“Don’t be shy! Come on, come on, tell me all about yourself! We girls’ve gotta stick together in this big city world, you know? And besides,” she drawls, letting go of White’s cheek and scooting closer, “I already know most of everything that’s going on, as half-truthful as it is from that piece of trash. So let’s talk!”

Aligula might be friendlier than that guy, but there’s no way White feels more comfortable at all. But she could be useful too. At least for digging for information.

“Well, if you already know, how come I have to tell you anything?”

“Because, White, I’m interested in hearing it from you yourself! Why else do you think I came alllll the way here when I could be visiting my sweetie pie instead? It’s because I-am-in-te-res-ted,” every pronounced syllable marked with a jab of her finger, giggling softly.

White considers the pros and cons. Laces her fingers together in front of her legs, unladylike in comparison to Aligula’s crossed ankles, and glances away in thought.

... Definitely more cons, but heftier pros. A wide smile tugs at the edges of her lips and she turns it to the other girl, squinting her eyes in some sense of sincerity.

“Can this... stay between us then?”

“Of course! It’s girl-talk time! Nothing gets out between us right now!” Aligula leans in, shrugging her shoulders. “Besides, it’s not like Femt or that other guy really cares what I have to say, just what I can do. I’m just the brains of us right now, as much as the both of them like to think they’ve got the city eating out of their palms. I just have grander plans than this stinkhole.”

There’s such confidence in her disgusted words that White’s honestly inclined to believe just that. Whoever said men ruled the world, anyway.

“Well, what do you want to know?”

“I’m mostly interested in hearing love stories, but I guess a girl who’s stuck at a hospital might not have that many,” she comments, laying back against the statue and looking up at it. White follows her eye (???) and meets Mother Mary’s gaze briefly, turning her head back down just as quick.

“... If you can keep a secret, I’ll tell you one. And I was wondering if you’d tell me what that guy’s been up to with my brother’s body too?”

“Ooooh, I can keep a secret! Especially if it concerns you-know-who!”

White blinks at the sudden face in her space, grin wide and teeth bared. “You-know-who?”

“The guy you like! So, so? Is it that All-Seeing Eyes kid?”

Aligula really did know more than she let on. That guy’s whole party must know, obviously, but... It makes her kind of uncomfortable that they’re basically watchers on the deal’s result. Like vultures waiting for their pick.

... It’d be nice to get this off her chest, anyway, so White sighs and lets Aligula lean against her.

“Leo’s a nice guy,” she ends up saying, eyes staring at the ground and tightening the embrace on her legs. “I know I’m only supposed to be using him, but... He’s really been nothing but nice to me. He races over every day he can to visit me, he tells me all about what the city’s like, lets me look through his camera... I only get to see so much of Hellsalem’s Lot because of him.”

And it had been just that at first.

Find the person with the All-Seeing Eyes of God, he’d said, and that’s where it begins.

And she did. Leonardo had been a little weirded out later and asked how she’d known his name, but she’d laughed and replied, “Who doesn’t know your name in the hospital, Mr. Full-Cast? That’s a rarity even in this city!” and that’d been that.

When you do, keep them close.

Confessing that she didn’t have many people to talk to nailed that down.

Keep an eye on them.

Easy. By then he was visiting without prompting, as sporadic as it got sometimes (and as lonely as she felt without anyone around, mounting to an irritation Leonardo never got).

That’s how you can help your brother out, Mary, he had ended his instructions, three years ago and still fresh in her mind. White props her chin on her knees and stares across the way, the weight against her a little comforting.

“... I guess it’s been kind of hard lately,” she murmurs, “to keep convincing myself I’m just using him.”

To Aligula’s credit, she doesn’t seem bored at all. “Guess you reaaaally appreciate him, huh. Is that all?”

When White doesn’t reply readily, Aligula pinches her side hard enough that a yelp to jump out of her throat. The blonde ducks her head away, hiding her frown, and tries on the label. Appreciation. Gratefulness. Relief?

... It feels like it could work.

“Yeah, I think so. I think he likes me a lot,” Aligula cackles beside her, clapping her hands together happily, so it’s probably true (and even if that’s part of the plan too, it makes her ears burn), “but there’s no real use in getting close to someone who’s just a tool you need to get someplace, right?”

No matter who or what it is, if it’s useful to you you should get as much as you can out of it. If you need it to fulfill your goal, then use it to your advantage. That’s what’s the most important thing is. That’s why--

“What if he got hurt?”

“-- Leo’s always getting hurt.”

“I mean,” Aligula wraps her arms around White, slides them past her defenses and rests her arched cheek against her shoulder, “what if he got hurt because of you?”

White worries her lip, wondering if Aligula knows more than she lets on - though it’s obvious she does, with White a puppet dancing in the play - and shakes her head.

“Whatever I can do to get my brother back, I will.” She hesitates, just for a second, and forces the rest out. “Even if that means that Leo gets hurt. It’s his own fault for trusting people so much and not being more careful.”

“Now, isn’t that love!” The arms squeeze around her, trapping her more, and there’s a sigh past her cheek. “Well, it’s not the ooey-gooey romance me and my darling have, but it’s love! Something that refuse wouldn’t know a thing about, huh? He’s always so mean and bored looking. A real grouch.”

White giggles half-heartedly, nausea churning her stomach. She can’t be up here anymore. She’s gonna fall and throw up. Or just the second. Probably just that.

“It wasn’t that interesting of a love story, but it’s definitely better than what I’ve been hearing.” Aligula pats her back. White forces a smile easily in return, too used to pretending she’s fine these days. “I guess I should go... That guy wouldn’t like it very much if he caught me hanging around here. It’s his turf or something.”

And he’s probably wary of letting others see just how his plans are going. It’s all been very hush-hush the past few years, after all. And he liked his surprises.

White nods, closing her eyes and wishing there was a breeze to settle her nerves. “It’s, um, it’s been nice, Aligula. You can visit any time.”

“No, I think this’ll be my one and only time. I only got lucky because Femt’s busying our fellow noble with rock-paper-scissors. Your brother’s not very good at them.”

“Never has been,” she replies fondly, wondering if the thing in Black’s body was a graceful loser or if he tried over and over until he won once. Aligula stays quiet a moment, then squeezes her tight with a loud sigh.

“Don’t let go of that love, White! Hold onto it tight! Squeeze it until it gives its last breath!” White thinks she’s about to have her own last breath just as she’s released, coughing slightly. “That’s how life is lived! Not with chaos or at the cost of others, but for yourself and those you love! Got it?”

“Got--” She coughs again, clearing her throat and blinking away tears. “Got it. Thanks for the advice.”

Aligula stands up, brushing off her cute dress, and waves off the gratitude with a hand on her hip. “Girls have to stick together. And especially girls with a big heart. Listening to you just makes me realize how good I’ve got it with my honeybunches, but just remember what I told you and it’ll go your way.”

The wind finally comes, picking up the beginning of fall and swirling the leaves around, and White cranes her neck to keep the hair from her eyes as she watches the other girl.

“There’s nothing wrong with being selfish, either.” It’s an oddly quiet mention, like she wasn’t some weird girl with amazing hair and a metal mask plastered to her face. “But it’s nicer to do things in the name of love. No matter who or what stands in your way, you can power through easily with that. Love conquers all!”

White nods slowly before a new gust of wind whips her hair into her face, blocking most of her view as Aligula hops off the statue and disappears from sight. It dies down in time for her to see the tips of the other girl’s pink hair disappear into the trees and she lays back against the statue, sliding her head back against the calves of Mother Mary until they’re locking eyes again.

... No matter what Leo is to her - acquaintance, friend, someone she’s genuinely grateful for knowing - it won’t stop her from doing what she needs to bring Will back. That’s the most important thing. It’s all she’s living for right now, that one chance, and no one’ll stop her from thinking otherwise.