maskormenace | 008 ♍ video ♍ sunday morning 3 a.m.

008 ♍ video ♍ sunday morning 3 a.m.

[ the camera clicks on to kanaya sitting behind the bar in the devil's nest, the only light in the room emanating from her skin, illuminating the bar and casting long shadows around her. hard to say whether she's having a late night or a very early morning, as she tends to do both.

there's something a bit off about her manner, a little lazy and limp, slouching a bit much for her generally prim posture. it's probably related to the glass of too red wine in front of her, the half-empty bottle of cabernet sauvignon next to the metal flask she seems to carry everywhere. her tone is quiet and pensive, putting a lot of effort into keeping her words coherent. it's an important topic she's discussing today. ]

So I think we can all recognize at this point that Earth is very fond of its holidays, but of the lot I think it's Mother's Day I find the most...challenging. On my worst days, I'd regard it with hostility, as if the very idea that motherhood is something to be celebrated is in itself obscene. But, that. That isn't right. My problem has always been that I've grown too bitter, it clouds the perspective. And even I have had the good fortune to know many lovely mothers, even if I wasn't able to become one myself.

[ her eyes have been lingering on her drink this whole time, swishing it around in a circle, but now she finally looks at the camera. ]

What I mean to say is that...it isn't unlikely, or even uncommon, for others to have more pleasant associations with motherhood. Happier stories to share, enough to fill an entire day. So, I'd like to hear them, if you're willing. However big or small it may be, I'd just like something to paint the occasion in a more positive light.

[ operation archangel participants: feel free to action at her, if you're staying at the nest! ]

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[ Most definitely not. ]

Are you still at the bar?

The Devil's Nest, if you know where that is. I can set out a beacon if you don't.

[ meaning she will stand outside and glow really brightly, which she is probably going to do anyway. ]

Maurtia Falls, right? A beacon will work.

Give me a few and I'll be there.

[ when she arrives, kanaya's leaning against the wall by the door with a cigarette. she has her glow turned up as high as it'll go, but in the near-noon light, it may not be as effective as she'd hoped. for someone as fond of sunlight as she is, she has big, dark sunglasses over her eyes.

maybe she's a little more hungover than she thought, but the blood she took a few minutes ago should help that soon enough. ]

[ It's impossible not to smell the alcohol when Peej descends, seizing the brief attention of a few pedestrians across the street. They look over once and then carry on with their business. Right, she had almost forgotten Maurtia Falls was home to surprisingly apathetic locals. ]

How much did you drink? Kanaya...

[ well, not everyone has super-senses. she showered and changed clothes, she put on perfume, she minded her hygiene. for the most part, you'd have to be a kryptonian to smell it that strongly.

she adjusts her sunglasses, holding her cigarette around shoulder level. ]

Two bottles, I think? I've half a mind to start a third, if this headache doesn't subside. [ she presses the cigarette between her lips, looking down the street. ] Let's take a walk. I've been sedentary for too long a stretch today.

Kanaya, you shouldn't even be drinking since you're not over twenty-one.

[ Stickler for certain human laws? Yep. She doesn't sound mad about it at least, just a tad exasperated. She flinches when the stench of the cigarette reaches her nose and waves a hand to blow the fumes away. ]

Only if you put out that cancer stick first.

I hope you realize how old you sound, right in this moment. [ who says "cancer stick?" ] You know how I feel about the arbitrary age restrictions humans put on things,

[ but she takes a long drag off of that cigarette she's still a week too young to smoke legally, far longer than anyone has a right to. it's easy for someone who doesn't really need to breathe. the ash reaches all the way to the filter, when she bends down to put it out under her heel. she exhales the smoke slowly as she takes a tissue from her purse to wrap the butt in, and a wet wipe to wash her hands, all the while still exhaling.

rolling everything up is a ball of paper, she rises back up, holding up her hands with a facetious grin. ]

There! All done.

You know not just old people care about that, right?

[ But the cigarette's been put out. She lowers her hand. ]

Thank you.

[ She will never understand why anyone would want to smoke knowing all the health hazards or what's so relaxing and/or "cool" about it either. She figures there's a number of ways to handle stress if that's the case. ]

We going anywhere in particular or is just a walk around the area?

[ it's hard to be concerned over health hazards when you're undead. she doesn't believe she'll live long enough for any lasting effects to matter anyway, even if they did take. ]

The juxtaposition is still especially indicative of a very aged attitude. "Oh you're too young to drink, put that cigarette out!" I don't need a mother, Karen.

[ and she just takes off down the street at a casual pace, letting karen follow on her own. ]

I don't have a destination. I just want the walk.

[ She shrugs her shoulders, sighing aloud and rolling her eyes skyward before following after Kanaya. She takes long strides until she's caught up with Kanaya, slowing her pace. ]

I'm not being a mother.

[ That jab actually makes her feel awkward. Wally has a tendency to jokingly liken her to a mother bear type, but it's one thing to hear it from Wally and another to hear it from Kanaya whom she views more as a friend than sister or daughter. ]

... did you still want to keep talking about the grub egg?

[ older women who take issue with her smoking always code a certain way to kanaya. it reminds her of renee, and how they'd always throw that accusation back and forth. she's just a little more sensitive about it today. ]

The matriorb. [ because there wasn't enough maternal terminology flying around already. ] It's a story I'm hesitant to tell already, I'm not fond of sharing my weaknesses.

Having the person responsible here only amplifies the complication. People tend to act too freely on such tales being told, thinking they have a place accomplishing a revenge that should be mine.

A revenge already accomplished to begin with.

[ She gives a nod and listens without interrupting Kanaya, allowing her to proceed at her pace. She understands what it's like to share a part of yourself that's kept buried and the inevitable discomfort that accompanies it, no matter who the other person is. ]

Someone from your world? [ Her lips tighten and brow furrows. She hasn't missed any other trolls, has she? She doubts it; they're pretty distinguishable in person and online. ] Who?

[ she stops in her tracks, raising an eyebrow. she'd have thought karen would have figured that out by now, when she saw that last altercation between them. there may be two options, but it is by no means a 50/50 possibility. ]

Maybe the one who publicly gloated about having killed me on his arrival.

[ It winds up coming to her quickly and her expression sours. That little twerp's magic actually hurt. For a young troll, he's packing a lot of power.

That worries her. ]

Homicidal Harry Potter? I should have knocked him out of orbit the last time we met.

[ kanaya manages a small chuckle. any joke at eridan's expense is a funny one. ]

Take solace in the knowledge that he has maybe half an hour left, when he returns to the meteor. Then he begins an intimate relationship with my chainsaw, the only lover he's ever deserved.

[ she lets out a sigh and continues walking, idly glancing in her purse, then letting it go with a frown. ]

But that was years ago, the wounds are no longer so fresh, though the scars remain. And we are still extinct, thanks to him. I don't need a revenge I've already gotten, I just want him not to be dangerous while he's here. The easiest way to settle that isn't as easy with imPorts.

[ by which she of course means her chainsaw and him hooking up again. ]

[ She doesn't like Kanaya's idea of revenge, but there's a small part of her that can't fault her for killing Eridan for what he's done. It's not right, but what's done is done. The important matter is that they avoid a repeat of that in this world. No chainsaws, please.

Peej extends a hand, placing it upon Kanaya's shoulder. ]

He hasn't come after you since the whole Hornets mess, has he?

[ she looks at the hand on her shoulder and deflates with a sigh. sometimes she doesn't even realize how much of her defenses she has up until someone slips through them. karen is her friend, she shouldn't be giving her as much attitude as she is today. ]

No, he hasn't. But I almost wish he would, a little. Just so it could be illustrated to him that the option isn't viable for him.

[ she looks karen in the eyes. ] He came fresh from a victory. A short-lived one, to be sure, but one he's yet to experience the end of. He'll think himself unbeatable. What he needs, what will kill the fight in him, is to be humbled. To see just how easily he can be beaten.

With that knowledge hanging over him, I think he'll be much less likely to act out, or thinking he has any power for nonsense like claiming the oceans as his.

[ she looks ahead, back down the sidewalk with a small amused smile. ]

That, or we could always break his wand. The look on his face was priceless. If only I had the presence of mind to recognize it at the time, but I was too far past anger.

He tries anything funny I'm not going to play nice.

[ There's nothing fun or satisfying about having to take down kids, but she learned a long time ago sometimes there's very little choice in the matter. Eridan doesn't strike her as the type to have a heart to heart. She saw the look in his eyes back then: he sets his mind on a task and is relentless. ]

His magic really did hurt, though. I won't lie. Kryptonians don't always fare too well against magic, but I suspect he's a lot powerful than I took him for then?

By no means play nice, he doesn't deserve nice. By all means continue to call it magic, he gets mad at that. [ she ain't even kidding, he's a dumb boy would should be mocked, call it magic right to his face. ]

But in a way, I feel...responsible for him. As though it will have to be my job to ensure this planet doesn't pay by his actions the way I had. Not even necessary culpable, just. Obligated.

[ still, just thinking about it, she finds her hand moving to her belly. ]

But he is plenty powerful. I could show you results, but this is hardly the place for me to go topless. [ few people really have seen her scars, that are left. rose is perhaps the only one. ] But he was strong enough to overpower Sollux, and his psionics are capable of moving planets. If he had the chance to grow in that power, there's no telling how much greater it could become.

[ Her skin crawls at the thought of whatever Eridan's done to her. It's hard to conceal it in her eyes, let alone her expression. Her lip curls unpleasantly. ]

I understand. [ She's a superhero, so naturally she feels responsible when someone dangerous from her world shows up and is left to their own devices. ] What exactly does he want? Power?

That, I would say, is precisely what he's after. He's from a royal caste, and even though it would never afford him a crown, that fact has never made him any less imperious. He's never been smart enough to understand the difference between power and respect.

[ if it was a phase he might have grown out of it eventually, but kanaya doubts it. on alternia he'd only grow up to be even worse.

here on earth, with kanaya hovering nearby waiting for him to fuck up? the best they got was him not being an outright murderer. it's such a small thing to ask, but that's about the best they can expect. ]

Attention, also. Especially sexual, not that he'd know what to do with it if it was ever given to him.

[ and she's sure karen would love that. ]

Oh... oh! Ew.

[ Her face screws up in response and that earns a little gag. ]

I don't want to know.

[ There hasn't been any news of any angry trolls with bad taste in clothes attacking anyone, so it looks as if Eridan's laying low or nothing has provoked him yet. ]

And he's responsible for destroying the matriorb?

As an afterthought, almost.

Only after blinding one person and maiming another. I was on the other side of the room, on my way out to hatch it when he barged in. He'd just killed our future empress, I wasn't about to just do nothing in the face of that.

But then, as if he hadn't done enough already to make me want to kill him, he shot the orb first. After that, well, what tends to happen did when a melee fighter attacks a ranged marksman. I wasn't fast enough to close the distance that first time.

[ by now, she's hugging her arms across her belly, feeling suddenly self-conscious, as if anyone who passed might see right through her. she keeps her voice flat, trying to filter out even the slightest emotion from the words, and almost laments that she finds it so easy.

it isn't even sadness or anger she feels anymore, as she tells the story. just a deep bitterness, the embers left on burned out wreckage. yes, it was devastating, but once everything's already devastated, what does it do from there? have the years really turned her so cold? ]

He said he was going to help me with it, not two minutes before. I can't help wondering sometimes if he hadn't entered that room with the intention of destroying it, or if I had given him the idea by telling him what it was for.

But I have no doubt that he did exactly as he meant to do.

[ The small hairs on the back of her neck rise, as if they were charged. As she listens, anticipating with each word for the story to take a darker turn (which it does, of course it does), there's an unnerving sensation that runs down her spine. ]

Why would he do that? He knew it was an entire generation of trolls, didn't he?

[ It feels like a ridiculous question when humans have done the same. History is filled to the brim with humans butchering one another for no real reason. ]

What is wrong with him?

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glowsferatu - 2015-07-02 06:15 (UTC) - Expand

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008 ♍ video ♍ sunday morning 3 a.m.

private | video; i'm not sure what warnings should go here but there's death talk in here

private | video; death talk and some possibly troubling attitudes toward motherhood

private | video

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