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[headlessfoal]

[ The psychology is simple. Small dark places, isolated and smothering. Cold, uncomfortable, impossible to sleep in, ambient noises coming every direction, indefinable in their threat and malice. No sense of time, no sense of agency. Vivi knows how simple it is. She's seen it, more than once. She's seen it done slick and longingly, whips and leather and purling laughter. She's seen it done with rust and stagnant water, lights flickering, screams echoing.

And she's seen it done in broad daylight, the psychology built out of nothing more than a looming frame, dominating the view of one cowering girl. Eye contact can be such an amazing tool. People are so fragile... They are just so, so fragile... ]

[ Out and about in the Garden this evening is a pink-haired little monster. She looks friendly, but... she's out for something. She's out for something and it's a good bet that you can feel her staring; stalking. ]

Comments

[gun_cata]

[ Larry's been unaffected by the singing. She's noticed some odd behavior, but when she's caught up in anything - like messing around with her latest gun-from-home replica - she could miss the end of the world.

When she goes out for an evening walk to pick up some food, whistling a tune, walking through the shadows of dark trees, Larry doesn't notice anything at first, but soon her instincts start to kick in. She's been hunted before.

A hand slips into her jacket. ]

[headlessfoal]

[Her flight makes no discernible sound, barely stirring the air. Her distance is enough to keep her brightly colored hair and metal-pierced face from giving her away. But she's hunted before, and watches the shadow below like a hawk.

She does wonder if the woman has heard the singing, if she had gone to have her worries soothed by that voice. Wonders if the back of her neck is tingling now. (Is that a break in her tune? A shift in posture; too far to tell for that.)

Vivi increases her speed, never taking her eyes off of her target, but moving round to watch her from the fore, keeping track of her pace and her direction. Calm, methodical. If only she were this focused at school.]

[gun_cata]

[ Nothing sounds out of the ordinary, so it's hard to guess at what could be around - maybe she's just paranoid. There isn't anything that couldn't just be the wind, anyways. Some kind of creature? People don't move this quietly, usually.

Yet she just... has a feeling, and picks up her pace. Her intuition rarely fails her, even if she'd love it if she was just rusty and paranoid right now. ]

[headlessfoal]

[ Ah! She's starting to spook. That's funny. Vivi's all smiles above, hands on her cheeks and grinning like a fool.

She comes down a little lower to watch, wonders how the woman knew she was there. She's been very quiet, very stealthy. She's been trained for stealth and ruthlessness. She should be using it. She's not meant for pacifism, and she'll get rusty, she'll get weak if she doesn't practice. She's always practiced with and on her sisters.

Sometimes they kill each other. Vivi's never cried over it. Others have, a girl in her sister's unit is completely broken over it, a willowy thing who ruins herself with coke day in and day out and cries and cries and cries.

Silly thing. Silly silly little thing.

Vivi takes a pebble from her pocket, skittering it out onto the path, leading out in front of Larry as if the throw came from behind. She's watching.]

[gun_cata]

[ ...hm. It's definitely something, but Larry isn't just going to pull out her gun and start blasting - that's never what you do. Someone innocent is more likely to get hurt in that case, no matter where you are.

She jumps a little at the pebble, but only turning slowly. That could be from... it should be from behind her. ]

Who's there?

[headlessfoal]

[ Vivi cups her hands around her mouth, pitching her voice out amongst the trees. ]

Who could it be!

[gun_cata]

[ A voice that sounds... familiar. Hm. She has to rack her brain for a moment, but at least it's someone willing to reveal themselves. ]

Damn, you had me pretty scared there.

[ You still have her really nervous there. ]

[headlessfoal]

[ She giggles brightly, still not lowering herself down into sight. ]

You scare easily.

[gun_cata]

I'd be less scared if I could see you.

[headlessfoal]

Ooooooh. I see.

[As if she really needed that spelled out for her.]

Just a second.

[She lowers, in silence. She lurks at Larry's back, in silence. And then she loops her forearm around Larry's neck and hefts. She's stronger than she looks that Vivi, her arm tightening as she presses her cheek to Larry's temple, very obviously watching her feet kick.]

See me now?

[gun_cata]

Just a...

[ Oh. OH. The moment she's lifted, just a moment too late to do anything about it, Larry kicks a few times before fighting to slip her hand under the arm around her neck.

She can breathe, for the moment, but it's difficult. ]

B-barely... ack...

[headlessfoal]

[Vivi giggles.]

You'd be happier unconscious.

[See, Larry, she's totally looking out for your best interest in this scenario.]

[gun_cata]

[ Still struggling! Though it's harder to get your fingers under a choke hold when the person can fly, and there are spots in her vision. ]

Why...

[headlessfoal]

Because I'm going to practice my advanced interrogation techniques on you.

[A school project, Larry. Vivi is lifting them further from the ground.]

[gun_cata]

[ Definitely fading... fading... she's been interrogated before and it's not like there's anything interesting she'd know... ]

[headlessfoal]

[Here's a surprise, Larry! Vivi and her sister have the Abbey all to themselves, and there's a lovely cellar underground there. You're going to enjoy this.]

[gun_cata]

[ She'll be really, really surprised when she wakes up, and she's in what essentially is some kind of dungeon. ]

[headlessfoal]

[Vivi is sitting on a crate in the darkness, only a small amount of light seeping in from the tunnel up to the Abbey's interior. It doesn't bother her. She's very good at night hunting. Her sister had a teammate named Avian, an ornithopath. Vivi has raced the girl's hawks to snatch mice from the grass in the night. Quick, precise, deadly. When she remembers not to crash into the ground. When she doesn't get distracted picking out names for her new pet mice.

(She remembers being told to Crush them. and she can do that too.)

From her perch, Pegasus is grinning.]

Hey, you're awake.

[gun_cata]

[ Well... Larry's been kidnapped before. If nothing else, she could hold herself together from that experience alone - though her mind was hazy, as she looked up at the woman who'd grabbed her. Not at all like some of her enemies, happy in a way that didn't really gel with cruelty.

That just made her seem crazier than the rest. ]

Well, you didn't kill me... so I'd have to wake up sooner or later.

[headlessfoal]

Have you ever killed someone?

[She asks it blithely, in the open and naive way of an inconsiderate child.]

[gun_cata]

...never. Come close a few times though.

[ Unless you count times where she's blamed herself for someone getting killed. Larry would rather not, at the moment. ]

[headlessfoal]

[She hops down from her crate, coming over to stare down at Larry from close-up.]

Close totally doesn't count. You don't get shit for second place.

[gun_cata]

Just means I'm tied for first in not killing people.

[ An admirable goal in her mind. ]

[headlessfoal]

That's definitely dumb.

[She decides this, taking out a knife from the utility belt she cam here with.]

You get points deducted if you don't get your pink mist by senior year.

[gun_cata]

Good thing I don't go to your psychotic school.

[ Ah, that knife is a bad sign. Yeep. ]

[headlessfoal]

[ She balances the edge of the knife lightly along the ridge of Larry's nose. She's not supposed to talk about the school to outsiders, but Vivi's never been good at controlling her mouth. Some people have died because of it. ]

You're not special enough.

[gun_cata]

[ Larry's not moving a muscle if she can help it. She's goading a crazy chick with a knife - that's a little dangerous. ]

Not... crazy enough.

[cleaningstop]

[Oh dear, it seems as though Meiling has decided to catch an outdoor afternoon nap. Nothing bad could happen from this.

... Right?]

[headlessfoal]

[Nothing bad at all.

Vivi approaches her silently, floating of the ground, leaning in over the sleeping thing to stare at her intensely, Vivi's shadow cast over the other girl's prone form.]

[cleaningstop]

[She begins to stir and manages to wake up. Though really, it's more of a state half-awareness.

Actually, probably less than half.]

... Huh?

[headlessfoal]

[ Vivi reaches out and flicks her across the nose. ]

[cleaningstop]

Huh?!

[And she sits up!]

Hey! ...What was that for?

[headlessfoal]

[ The slap to the cheek is not overly forceful, could almost be construed as playful if it didn't sting just a little. And Vivi is still smiling. ]

What are you doing out here.

[ It isn't phrased like a question. ]

[cleaningstop]

Me? What was I...

[pondering. pondering!]

Oh! I was taking a nap, you see. It's very relaxing to have one outside!

[not that she would know anything about that.]

[headlessfoal]

Relaxing?

[She considers that with a grin.]

Who said you could relax?

[cleaningstop]

I... did?

Was I not supposed to?

[headlessfoal]

Abso-fucking-lutely not.

[You're in deep shit now, Meiling.]

[cleaningstop]

[Story of her life.]

... But why not?

[headlessfoal]

You're on my turf, and you didn't ask my permission. How can you relax being so rude?

[cleaningstop]

I-I'm sorry! I didn't know I was on your land!

... When did it become yours?

[headlessfoal]

Bitch, please.

[This... is said in such a way that suggests that... Vivi has heard other people utter this phrase without ever really grasping what exactly it's meant to signify for herself.]

[cleaningstop]

What?

[She's not sure what it means!

... Why did she call her a bitch?]

What was that for?!