[ a gentle wave of the hand as the eyes tell him everything. a little shake of the head. ]
Hate it. A yoke I don't need in all of this.
[ if he gets in trouble, he gets in trouble. he'll take it. nudging the partitions for a bit of privacy in case someone like... comes in to get bandages or tape, they'll roll up the sleeves of their sweater. they examine what they can see of his eyes for the moment and then, serious: ]
gregor hesitates when prompted to take the hood off, but- he finally pulls it down, exposing insectile growths on one side of his face. bug features in the image.]
[ oh bugge. io's expression doesn't change so much as assesses exactly what's going on here. they don't touch, because insectile growths... are definitely a new one. and they don't really want to startle gregor out the gate or something. ]
Is this something that has happened to you? Back where you are from?
[ there's the soft sound of straw that crunches as io moves. ]
Do they hurt at all? Or... rather should they? Were this a normal circumstance... [ bc it ain't. ]
Shouldn't. I've... my body's reacted before. Stress, high emotion. Not like this, and not in a while.
[his procedure, unwanted as it was, didn't give him the same mutations and side effects as the rest. he shouldn't have these. his body's been more or less under control for a while, it can't...
[ i get killed by tiny bug appendages that's real that's real
but no, io will be careful. their touch is almost impossibly light considering they're pretty tall. there's another sound of rustling straw as they don't really seem phased by the wiggly parts.
thankfully for gregor... the effects of this week remain harmless, which is kind of nice, but they definitely startling and traumatizing so :) :) :) hateful. io remains careful, that's just their nature... ]
Seems docile enough. I think it may be just that... doesn't make it any better of course. Sounds like it was a bit of a scare...
[ yeah eunhyuk kind of traumatized us all with that. they allow gregor to put his little bugge leggies on his face back into the hood. io just sits on one of the cots, because its easier. their leg groans with a metallic noise. ]
Mmm, it is an understatement. Waking up like this was... a bit of a nightmare to begin with. Like a bad dream.
[ they pause and slowly reach up, unbuttoning the higher collar of their jacket. as they do, there's the sound of... sand. of cracking. underneath, is a human neck of course, and flesh that is splitting as though cracked, dried earth. beneath it, thin lines of blood. the jewel-like red of it glimmers in a thin line and then dries, fluttering away in flakes... into nothing, leaving their clothing unstained. straw and dry grasses emerge from the area, old stitches as though made from thread...
sometimes, you are a doll, perhaps. ]
Woke with something out of my worst dreams... disease I've been trying to cure... straw... inside me... I wasn't sure what to make of anything this morning.
So I understand the fear. [ quiet conviction, they look towards him with a level, but sunken gaze. ] I do believe this will subside, but to endure... it's exhausting. Isn't it.
[just as quiet. he's not staring, just taking in the sight; it's like corrosion, he thinks, but with only the body changing, rather than the mind being overtaken along with it. and arguably... that's worse.]
You're still yourself, but you're not. It's not the same. You know what you're supposed to see, when you look down, and you-- don't.
[you wake up in a nightmare. you wake up different. it never goes away.]
[ letting their hands drop, they just clasp them quietly between their knees. ]
You know what you are, but it makes you question who... or what precisely all of that entails.
[ unspoken: in the eyes of others, in the mirror, every window's reflection, it could be a mask, another actor waiting in the wings of the stage, what if you... aren't really yourself. ]
Covering up on a planet like this isn't so hard, at least. I suppose the only decent side to all of this is... I believe people here are more understanding than most.
[ THIS SHIP'S FULL OF FREAKS and they're all just as likely as the other to disappear. gives a very heavy-looking shrug. as they fasten the collar of their jacket back. ]
...they might not be that way about everything. Seems like the kinda place Rodya and Yuri and I come from isn't... much like anybody else's.
[he's gotten used to the reactions when he mentions things from the city, somewhat, and so it's-- hard to just assume they'll be understanding about it. the arm bothers some, too, he knows that already.]
Probably best for me to stay out of the way for a bit. If you don't mind.
Seems like it, yeah. Every time I've talked about home, people kind of... ah, y'know. Not that they don't believe me, but it seems like it's abnormal enough to them that half the things we see as normal throw 'em off.
rattles my sleep self for tagging u without my awake self's knowledge somehow.
Would you tell me more about it? What your home is like?
[ a quiet curiosity. ]
What is 'normal' to each of us differs so greatly, I have no metric for this... [ with a faint pinch of the brow ] ... but I would like to learn anyways, if it would perhaps better help me care for you should you need help.
For starters, then... the City's huge. Way bigger than, say, that last one we visited-- maybe that would've been about the size of a Nest, but then each Nest has a District surrounding out, and there's 25 of 'em in total. Nests are all watched over by the Wings that run the place, those're the most powerful companies in the City, but outside the Nests? You're on your own. Backstreets're usually run by different Syndicates, so you've just gotta follow the rules of whoever's turf you live in, or leave.
[reaching for a cigarette...
remembering he's in the medbay. he stops.]
If you're not born in a Nest, and you don't get in by company sponsorship, it's just about impossible to immigrate. It's not like just packin' up and going in there, they're sealed off.
[ tilting their head they are listening attentively. i'm sorry you are in here in the medbay, where smoking is most definitely a no no... but they sit up a bit, a low whistle. ]
Here I thought the last one was enormous... So it's a city run entirely by these companies... Hell of a way to have to live.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Hate it. A yoke I don't need in all of this.
[ if he gets in trouble, he gets in trouble. he'll take it. nudging the partitions for a bit of privacy in case someone like... comes in to get bandages or tape, they'll roll up the sleeves of their sweater. they examine what they can see of his eyes for the moment and then, serious: ]
Hood first, perhaps? At your comfort.
[ bundled bugge........... ]
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[he'd hate it in his position too, after all.
gregor hesitates when prompted to take the hood off, but- he finally pulls it down, exposing insectile growths on one side of his face. bug features in the image.]
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Is this something that has happened to you? Back where you are from?
[ there's the soft sound of straw that crunches as io moves. ]
Do they hurt at all? Or... rather should they? Were this a normal circumstance... [ bc it ain't. ]
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[his procedure, unwanted as it was, didn't give him the same mutations and side effects as the rest. he shouldn't have these. his body's been more or less under control for a while, it can't...
he hopes it can't.]
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... With the effects we've encountered as of this morning, it's likely to be temporary.
May I touch the area? Briefly?
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[just... in case. he still remembers...
no, it won't be that again, it won't.
the little face bits Are wiggly, though, yeah. sorry io.]
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but no, io will be careful. their touch is almost impossibly light considering they're pretty tall. there's another sound of rustling straw as they don't really seem phased by the wiggly parts.
thankfully for gregor... the effects of this week remain harmless, which is kind of nice, but they definitely startling and traumatizing so :) :) :) hateful. io remains careful, that's just their nature... ]
Seems docile enough. I think it may be just that... doesn't make it any better of course. Sounds like it was a bit of a scare...
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[y'know, we might be Slightly on edge about people transforming and all! thanks eunhyuk! thanks.
after io's done, gregor pulls the hood back into place.]
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Mmm, it is an understatement. Waking up like this was... a bit of a nightmare to begin with. Like a bad dream.
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... and going a little still at that phrasing, for a moment.]
-yeah. Yeah, I get you. Leaves you wondering if you're gonna wake up.
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sometimes, you are a doll, perhaps. ]
Woke with something out of my worst dreams... disease I've been trying to cure... straw... inside me... I wasn't sure what to make of anything this morning.
So I understand the fear. [ quiet conviction, they look towards him with a level, but sunken gaze. ] I do believe this will subside, but to endure... it's exhausting. Isn't it.
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[just as quiet. he's not staring, just taking in the sight; it's like corrosion, he thinks, but with only the body changing, rather than the mind being overtaken along with it. and arguably... that's worse.]
You're still yourself, but you're not. It's not the same. You know what you're supposed to see, when you look down, and you-- don't.
[you wake up in a nightmare. you wake up different. it never goes away.]
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You know what you are, but it makes you question who... or what precisely all of that entails.
[ unspoken: in the eyes of others, in the mirror, every window's reflection, it could be a mask, another actor waiting in the wings of the stage, what if you... aren't really yourself. ]
Covering up on a planet like this isn't so hard, at least. I suppose the only decent side to all of this is... I believe people here are more understanding than most.
[ THIS SHIP'S FULL OF FREAKS and they're all just as likely as the other to disappear. gives a very heavy-looking shrug. as they fasten the collar of their jacket back. ]
... But if you need a break, you're welcome here.
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[he's gotten used to the reactions when he mentions things from the city, somewhat, and so it's-- hard to just assume they'll be understanding about it. the arm bothers some, too, he knows that already.]
Probably best for me to stay out of the way for a bit. If you don't mind.
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[ a slow hum, like they're thinking of something distant, before a shake of the head. hm. ]
Your home... it's something people can't quite fathom?
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rattles my sleep self for tagging u without my awake self's knowledge somehow.
[ a quiet curiosity. ]
What is 'normal' to each of us differs so greatly, I have no metric for this... [ with a faint pinch of the brow ] ... but I would like to learn anyways, if it would perhaps better help me care for you should you need help.
[ im just a doctor man. ]
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[reaching for a cigarette...
remembering he's in the medbay. he stops.]
If you're not born in a Nest, and you don't get in by company sponsorship, it's just about impossible to immigrate. It's not like just packin' up and going in there, they're sealed off.
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Here I thought the last one was enormous... So it's a city run entirely by these companies... Hell of a way to have to live.
What part of this did you come from...?
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