week 6

[airlockedmods]

Week 6

[Six weeks. Twenty-three Champions whittled down to just seven. Where the halls of the station once felt crowded and loud now they're empty and echo when someone speaks too loudly. Again, the Champions will find themselves experiencing strange dreams on Sunday night but outside of the usual wake-up call there is no new floor announcement from CECE.

Like the trash compactor last week, the infirmary is pristine and sterile once again. As if nothing had ever happened.]


Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday



(( Welcome to Week 6! Don't forget to submit your memory regains and turn in your benefactor threads for sweet loot, too! There's going to be no AC this week.))

Comments

[playthedamncard]

...Maybe. [It's when his hand starts shaking, a minor tremble, that he puts the scissors down and runs his other hand through his hair as if he can muss it up in a way to make it look a little less like a chunk got burnt off.] I'm just trying to straighten my hair out. Would you believe one of the few things I haven't studied is hair styling? [As if that's what the problem is, like he couldn't just take a straight edge across his forehead and snip away. Besides, Akira's the one whose hair is probably never going to grow back in quite right.]

[le_mat]

You could just shave it.

[as if they had the equipment for that anyways. He pads over, leaning on the doorway]

[playthedamncard]

Tch, could you imagine? I'd look like a cancer patient. No, I like my hairstyle. I've had it for years and it's only gotten more refined as I've grown.

...Which isn't enough to make a damn cut so difficult.

[le_mat]

That explains the mullet.

It'll grow back. Need a hand?

[playthedamncard]

Hey. It's not a mullet...

[He considers the offer, and maybe he should scrap the whole thing, nobody cares about the burnt strands hovering over bandages or his stupid lopsided bangs, why should he--]

Might be easier. I could do the same for you, if you have any interest in fixing that mop.

[le_mat]

Might as well, it's been a hassle.

[the burns had turned what was once a practiced mess into a real one. Heat having had the curls tighten, and dead hair shed a constant annoyance. Not to mention making cleaning and wrapping a battle]

Here, sit.

[he pats the toilet seat, Kaiba being too much taller then him to do this standing up]

[playthedamncard]

[No he was just gonna lean over the whole time, huff. He gives his hair one more run-through before he stills, glancing up at Akira.]

This is stupid, and I'm a moron. Not this, this is still a good idea, I mean the...finding it difficult. It's not physically difficult. It's just hair.

[le_mat]

No, I get it. It's a change you didn't get to choose.

[the burns and sight loss were one thing. But having to adapt the day to day around the new unwanted reality... It was somehow even more damaging]

... I don't wanna look in the mirror and not recognize me, either.

[playthedamncard]

Change is the foundation of invention, even if necessity is the mother of it. Change shouldn't be frightening. I change the world with everything I create.

...But then. I chose to create it. I chose a look, I chose a style, I chose change when it suited me.

I should still be capable of doing something so simple. It's cosmetic, not permanent.

[le_mat]

... it's not a brand.

[it's almost like he pulled the word out of nowhere... But the burns made it appropriate. He's read of shaving and burning being used as marks of shame in the past.]

Petuu isn't doing it, you are. Or I guess I am.

[he reaches out, brushing the hair here and there to get an idea for length]

[playthedamncard]

[It's small, but he flinches at the word, then makes a motion between them.] No, this is a brand. The rest is just...humiliation, concession of defeat.

[le_mat]

[he reaches his other hand up, so Kaiba's head is just... kinda cupped now, fingers in in hair]

No.

[no logical debate on why he's wrong. No assurances that the others wouldn't think of it that way. It's almost childish in its denial, and that isn't HIS title. But he says it in a way that conveys utter conviction in its validness. Like a universal truth]

[playthedamncard]

[A firm rebuttal dies in his throat. Is it that simple, then? And if it is for Akira, then surely the same applies to him, right?

The understanding and the touch still him and silence him. For a second, he forgets to breathe, like everything inside of him is wound up so tight as to restrict his lungs. And at last, he glances away. Doesn't shake Akira off, by any means. Just...away.]

It's hard to see it as reclamation from this angle.

[le_mat]

Kinda hard for you to see anything, right now.

[Is that a joke? He's smiling, either way. He let's go of one side of Kaiba's head to get the scissors.]

I have no idea what what I'm doing, just so you know.

[Which could apply to... most things, honestly]

[playthedamncard]

[There's a flash of an amused smile, even if it disappears just as fast.]

As with everything else in this hellhole, I think we're all just making it up as we go along.

[le_mat]

That's fine.

[He takes the bangs between his finger, good eye narrowed as he took a good guess at where to start, and... 'snipsnip']

Isn't being adaptable what makes us human?

[playthedamncard]

[Listen, he's not expecting a work of art, so long as he isn't stupidly lopsided anymore.]

I know we can adapt, are adapting. I know we can overcome. It's just a lot at once. Between Yuri and Petuu, and Max and that farce of a trial. This, this isn't about vanity; it's control, and recovery, and maybe it's too soon for control and recovery. I just want the smallest semblance of normality. And it feels so out of reach, even though nothing is ever beyond my grasp.

[le_mat]

[He makes an agreeable noise, still trimming]

Well, D&D is today, right? Though I dunno if... it'll be hard, without Father Fisticuffs. We should all meet up, either way.

[He tilts his head]

You'll manage something.

[playthedamncard]

We've played through it all so far, why stop now?

[He breathes out a slow sigh.] I'm not used to this, showing weakness in front of anyone.

[le_mat]

Well, do you trust us to not take advantage of it?

[Not just him, but everyone here]

[playthedamncard]

Trust is a strong word. I trust you not to. That's why you get to sleep in my bed.

[le_mat]

[That makes his lips quirk a bit]

Well, then I'll cover that weakspot while you get things done.

[playthedamncard]

You make it sound so easy.

[le_mat]

'course it's not. But the idea is pretty easy. I'm gonna do it 'cuz it's what I decided to do. Make up the rest as I go.

[It was how he lived]

[playthedamncard]

...So long as I can help you in return. I don't want you thinking that I'm needy, that I'm unable to handle what comes my way. I've lived through a lot. I know you have, too. Accepting help is no easy task.