𝓡𝓲𝓵𝓮𝔂 𝓦𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓶𝓼 (
isawallflower) wrote2020-11-01 10:20 pm
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Entry tags:
RYSLIG; ic inbox
WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CHEERYCHERRY. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 019.46.820.17 *** CHEERYCHERRY has joined 019.46.820.17 <CHEERYCHERRY> It's Riley! <CHEERYCHERRY> Please leave a message! <CHEERYCHERRY> Please be someone with their priorities sorted out properly! | ||||
main: CheeryCherry
anonymous: panthera, aed
retired: gflynn (anon)
cw: gore, intrusive thoughts
Despair.
The freed claw drags on the floor as she scrambles backward. The other wraps into muscle and rips feathers and flesh from her arm. She shakes her head with a desperate whine. ]
No. No, no, no, n-n- no, jus- just- go. Leave, I- c-can't, can't—!
[ A moment of comfort means nothing. Not when once everything comes crumbling down she'll just be alone again, alone or forced to be the feral thing they expect of her.
You can't count on anyone. ]
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--She's hurting herself again.
Mukuro moves forward without even thinking about it, reaching first to take Riley's taloned hand, to stop her from carving into herself any further. She doesn't care if she gets hurt, instead. She can handle it, and the Fog heals. No, in fact, she pulls Riley gently towards her and right into another embrace, with her other arm wrapped around her and her snout resting over Riley's shoulder. The better to murmur to her, very softly:]
It's okay. I promise.
I'm not leaving you alone.
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That's why the hydra thought she was an easy target.
She could snap your neck again, so easily—
Riley shuts her eyes tight to keep the tears from falling. She tries to pull away, undoubtedly getting blood from her arm on Mukuro's fur. ]
No... N-no, you- you will— [ The words come out before she can stop them. ] You- you're- gonna hate me- everyone- everyone's gonna—
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No, I won't.
[Mukuro's voice is as gentle as her touch, trying so hard to keep the wolfish rumble out of it - the last thing she wants is to scare her.]
Riley, I promise, it's okay. You -
[She swallows, wonders if it's better or worse to mention this, before deciding it's better not to make Riley tear her confession out of herself again. So even though she's half-convinced Riley will be angry at her for the deception, if she remembers, Mukuro continues in a near-whisper.]
...You already told me. When you were - sick.
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No. No, that— ]
Tha- that...was a dream- n-no, that—
[ The only movement is her trembling. ]
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I saw you fall - you needed help, so I brought you home. You thought I was someone else.
[Someone better, that hissing voice reminds her, but she shoves it aside. Her stupid feelings aren't important right now. No, she's here for Riley, she's here to help clean out this old hurt. She speaks very softly, arms still around the harpy, holding her in a nest of warm fur.]
You told me - what happened. At your sleepover.
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Was someone with a lower voice. With fur. Who is here, actually here, not in one of her dreams or wild fantasies. ]
No. N- no, oh. Oh god. Oh g- god, oh—
[ Like that night, this feels so nice. So comforting and warm. But everything in her is screaming. ]
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Of being left alone.
It's an echo of a fear Mukuro has handled many times before. Not her own, but close enough to her heart for it to feel like second nature. She doesn't think twice, doesn't hesitate - just turns her head slightly to nuzzle at the harpy, closing her eyes and holding her just a bit tighter.]
It's okay.
[When she speaks, it's with the voice she used when they were small. Soft and reassuring, even if it's a different recipient, this time. It's okay, I'm here.]
Riley, it's okay, I promise.
I'm not afraid of you. And - I'd never tell.
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But now? Now, here? All the fight's gone out of her.
(Someone else who would sit by her side? Someone else who would carry her, hold her, tell her it's okay? No... No, this can't—) ]
No...! No, you're g-going to— ev- everyone's— going t-t-t- to— I ju- just- just wanted t-to— [ A thousand different things she wants to say at once, but none of the wherewithal to put the words together. None of the mental endurance. She shakes against Mukuro's fur, gasping in, choking out: ] I'm sorry—!!
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I know. I know you are.
[There's a pause, where Mukuro tries to think of what to say. She's always been clumsy with her words, always found it so much harder to speak instead of act - Riley feels so fragile under her hands, like she could break at any second, and Mukuro doesn't trust herself to fix anything when all she's good for is destruction. But she has to try. Because she's the one who's here, even if Riley deserves better. Riley needs her to try. So she nuzzles at her again, lets her clutch at her fur, and murmurs quietly into her pointed ear.]
Riley... You're not a bad person.
Bad people don't feel so guilty.
[Not like her.]
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No! No, I— I'm a monster—!!
[ It's the only thing she can concretely say, besides her apologies. Her shoulders shake and heave, her body trembles, her wings hang limp. She's a shrill, incoherent mess, and the only way they're going to get anywhere is if she can suck it up and breathe, but she just can't. ]
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'We all are' comes to mind, but that isn't what this is really about. 'I'm much worse than you' isn't exactly comforting, and the last thing she wants is for Riley to be any more scared of her than she might already be. But - it doesn't matter. Nothing she could say matters, right now; she doesn't need stupid platitudes. Even if Mukuro wasn't awful at talking, Riley can't listen. Not when she's this strung out and panicked. So. Instead, she pulls back just far enough to look Riley in the face, bright yellow eyes steady and piercing.]
Riley.
Look at me.
[Her voice is still low and quiet, but right now, it's demanding her attention. As much as it hurts to see Riley like this, Mukuro has plenty of experience handling panic attacks - she's not about to let Riley just sit here and deteriorate.]
Everything will be okay.
Just breathe along with me for now.
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Wolf eyes catch avian nevertheless.
They're captivating. Beautiful in their calculation, beautiful in their efficiency.
Riley hiccoughs in her sobs. ]
But— b-but I c-can't— [ Her protests are whimpers, too soft to be real. The moment reminds her of countless nights where Cairo would talk her down, or—
Or of what she thought was a dream. Reality focuses in from the fractured kaleidoscope of her fevered memories of that night. This isn't the first time they've talked about this. This isn't the first time Mukuro has reassured her.
She remembers that now. ]
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Good. See, you can do it.
Just focus on me.
[She breathes in, slow and deep, filling her lungs almost entirely before starting a controlled exhale. Modeling for Riley.]
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Another gasp. Another. Another...until they slow to the deep breaths Mukuro's demonstrating. ]
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That's it... good, you've got it.
You're okay, Riley.
[She speaks in a low murmur, soft enough that Riley needs to stay close and focused to listen, but with more warmth in her tone than usual. It's hard to stay distant and dead when you're this close with someone, and when the situation is this close to your heart. They're still so intertwined - Riley was one of the first to break past Mukuro's usual aversion to touch, and it feels almost completely natural now to keep her arms around the harpy in her lap.]
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But that's not true anymore here. The walls she hadn't even realized she had slowly broke over the months, eroding away with every act of care and love. It left her at the perfect place to accept Mukuro. And yet still, she didn't think she'd receive this kind of affection back.
Sobs break into her deep breaths, but she keeps going, alternating between full breakdowns and slowly resetting her panicked mind. ]
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
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[Mukuro murmurs back to her without any hesitation. She knows Riley can't just turn it off - when your emotions overflow that badly, you can't stop everything leaking out the broken cracks even once you calm down a little. You're stuck at reduced capacity for a while. She's had a lifetime of experience with breakdowns like this.
One hand comes up to rub Riley's back - just like the last time she'd come here to help. Just another gentle attempt to help keep her grounded, reassure her that she isn't alone.]
You're doing good. Take all the time you need, it's okay.
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Eventually, after minutes of this, the sharp hitches are all gone. The tension in her hasn’t left, won’t leave, but that’s normal. Her body’s fully limp now, though. She’s not half-stuck. Her forehead rests against Mukuro’s shoulder. ]
…Thank you.
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Its okay. I told you... I want to help, if you need it.
I don't mind - being here.
[The opposite, in fact. It feels good to be useful - and to be gentle, rather than fierce. It's rare, and she's not as good at it. But she's trying.]
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Not— not just for this. For...that night.
[ Mukuro brought her to safety. After everything...
It makes her hold on tighter, as little she can. ]
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Of course.
I couldn't just leave you there; you were really sick. I was - worried.
[So much so that Mukuro had to act immediately, rather than find someone else to help. For the best, it seems.]
...I - promised. Right...?
To - to help you.
And I - it's the least I could do. To make up for - everything.
[For hurting her, for killing her, for losing control of herself and betraying Riley's trust in her.]
cw: drugging, parasite talk
[ To admit this feels wrong. To open up further feels wrong. And yet, Mukuro already knows what she's tried so hard to keep hidden. She knows her biggest and greatest secret. Isn't a little vulnerability warranted?
It's obvious, what she's saying. And yet— ]
I- it- it tried- tried to- keep me calm, but it only made- made me m-more...
[ And then Mukuro killed her. And yet, despite that, Riley won't let go. It's a strange and upsetting contradiction, as her pulse still pounds when she thinks of it, of teeth descending on her and just how easily her bones shattered—but at the same time, she remembers tender care, singing to her on the beach, the smallest, most imperceptible smile.
It's complicated. It's all complicated, far more than Riley's ever let herself be, and now, now—
She's too tired to fight that. ]
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...I know. And I - I'm sorry, Riley, I didn't mean--
[She swallows a little, and tries again. Because she did mean to, in the end. It had been a very calculated move. Much moreso than her panicked feral fighting had been before it.]
I never wanted to - to h-hurt you. I didn't - I wasn't thinking right, I don't - I don't know. I've never felt - so panicked, n-not - not in ages, I can usually stay calm, I should've been - better.
I'm so sorry.
cw: self-harm mentions
As her fingers curl into Mukuro's fur, as they grip tightly, her blood smears on the pelt for the second time in so many weeks—though this time, Riley inflicted those injuries on herself. This time, it's really her. This time, they aren't fighting one another. ]
It—[ She practically whimpers. Presses her forehead against Mukuro's chest. ] I h- hated...watching. A- again. A-and— Steve and— and Atem, wh-when they— had- had one of those things in them, it—
[ She takes just a moment, to try and get one thought clear in her head. ]
Y-you were— scared. I n-never... Never wanted...to make some- someone... T-to trick someone, like that again.
S— sorry.
[ The fear. She understands it. Having someone you trust piloted by someone else, how much it can fuck with your head. How horrified she was, when she thought she killed Steve. How much you'd do anything not to have your body taken away from you. ]
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cw: self-harm discussions, this thread is a nightmare
cw: self harm and abusive homes, hooray
cw: self harm and abusive homes, continued!
cw: hoo boy, see above
cw: hoo boy, see above
cw: Very Bad Parents!!
cw: Parents SO Bad!!
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cw: therapy malpractice mention
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