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exsiliumlogs2013-11-16 11:12 pm
controlledvariable) wrote in exsiliumlogs2013-11-16 11:12 pm
[various] "secretly you love this, do you even wanna go free?"
Date & Time: 16th - 27thth; various
Location: all about the moon base
Characters: Steph, Saul, Jesse, Dick, Max Kearney, YOU
Summary: Steph's working against the mutiny and mostly having her trauma buttons pushed + aftermath
Warnings: Claustrophobia, panic attacks, someone's mind being messed with, discussion of sexual assault, violence, death, references to child abuse. I meant what I said about trauma buttons.
Notes: There's an open section for anyone who wants to run into Steph, whatever side they're on (or if they're neutral)! If you'd like something more specific, hit me up and we can work it out.
→ Saul and Jesse; 16th; 0400 hours
[So far, she's had no problems with the teleportation power that Jesse gave her; it's simple to use, all she has to do is imagine where she wants to be, and there she is. It means that as soon as she thinks transporter room and ends up in pitch black darkness, she knows that something has gone very wrong. Her first instinct is to try teleporting out, but she ignores it for the moment, knowing it's better to take stock of the situation before making any rash moves. She breathes in and focuses for a second, feeling the room around her. The air is cramped, stale, which means it's small and poorly ventilated, and there's no light source anywhere.
And now that she's paying attention, she can pick up the sickly smell of very, very old corpses.
It's all downhill from there.
Her fingers scrambled at her belt as she pulls out a torch, turning it on and shining it around the room; it's as small as she expected, three of the four walls smooth, but the final one has what looks like it might have been a door, once, but the metal is warped and twisted almost beyond recognition, and when she roughly shoves her shoulder against it, the thing doesn't even budge. The fact she's alone is only a small comfort, and she can already feel panic starting to rise in her chest.
Now she tries to teleport out, but nothing happens, as if she doesn't have the power at all.
She's trapped.
For a few long moments, she's frozen in fear, breath coming short and shallow as the light from the torch flickers, and she's terrified it's going to run out and leave her in the dark, before she realizes it's flickering because her hand is shaking so badly.]
C'mon, Brown.
[It's barely a mutter, her grip tightening on the torch and her other hand curling into a fist, gloved fingers digging into her palm.
That was a stupid move, because as soon as she's made a fist, she lashes out at the door, as if it might force it open, but all that happens is pain shoots through her knuckles and jars her arm. But she can't keep it together after that; she drops the torch and shoves both hands against the door. There's no metal, suddenly, no cloying smell of decaying bodies, just wood under her hands and the sound of her father shouting at her mom, or at her, muffled through the closet door as she scrambles at the wood and tries to push it open. It doesn't matter that there was never enough room in the closet to get a run up, to stretch her arms out and push on creaking metal, because the memories are so vivid and the panic so sharp that it's all she can see.
She loses track of time, all she can hear is her ragged, panicked breathing and her heartbeat in her ears and the thunk of metal as she tries to force her way out.
It isn't until she takes as much of a run up as she can and barges her shoulder against the door that she snaps out of the panicked haze, and that's only because the pain cuts through it so sharply, along with the sickening sound of her shoulder dislocating.
Between the fear and the pain, it's enough to make tears prick at her eyes, and she punches the door one last time out of sheer anger at how terrified she is, before leaning back against it and sinking to the floor, arm cradled across her chest. She digs the fingers of her other hand against her closed eyelids, trying to fight back tears and panic; that's not going to get her out of this, but she can't focus past that stupid, ingrained fear.
She tries to teleport again, and lets out a strangled sob when it doesn't work.
But while she hasn't calmed down, not by a long shot, if she focuses on the pain in her shoulder she can actually move past the panic, at least enough to start thinking of solutions.
The network is down, but--
There's a muttered string of curses, mostly self-flagellation for being so stupid. She has her communicator in her cowl, and Babs helped her fix it up so that it'll connect to both Babs' communicators, and to Saul's bluetooth earpiece. She should call Babs, but the communicator is part of her suit, which mean it's part of her weapon, so as soon as she remembers it's possible, it starts trying to reach to Saul.
She doesn't even realize she's murmuring please pick up over and over again.]
→OTA; 16th-18th; from 1200 to 1200 hours
[Once she's calmed down from the teleportation misadventure (and had a quick nap, at both Saul and Babs' request), Steph gets to work on fixing this damn problem. It's a little tricky for those first few hours while the gravity is still all over the place, but she adapts well enough. Her first priority is securing the spaceship, because if the Transporter room is out of reach, there's no way she's losing their other only option of getting the hell off this base, should something go wrong. As soon as she's happy with that, she starts on the long list of other problems that need fixing.
The lights and network are still down and the doors aren't under control; the latter two are the real problems, since it's tricky to communicate and get places with those systems offline. The doors don't bother Steph so much, except she's a little more cautious about teleporting places, mostly going places she's sure of, rather than trying anything too tricky and risking ending up trapped again.
Still, she moves around a lot, dropping into the housing wings occasionally to make sure everyone is doing alright, before heading out to do what she can about the technical problems. She's not, well, Babs, but if there's wiring that can be fixed or systems that can be hacked and taken over, she'll be making an effort to manage it, with varying degrees of success. As she goes (before the lights are back online) she sticks emergency work lights to the walls and over any working doors, to help people move through the base; they're from her belt, and the batteries will only last a few hours, but it's better than nothing.
She very rarely takes breaks, popping into the cafeteria long enough to grab something quick and easy to eat, or finding a spot near where Babs and Saul are set up to catch a few minutes of sleep. She's more likely to stop to talk to people, trying to coordinate efforts to get systems back online, or to figure out more of what, exactly, is going on. But her main priority is action, leaving the organization to people who are better at it. This isn't like the zombies, where she was willing to trust other people to hold down the fort, if she needed a break.
She doesn't know who she can trust or not, but she's moving about the base with purpose, and from the snippets of conversation that can be caught as she speaks into the earpiece in her cowl, it's clear she's trying to fix this. And it's clear she's not impressed with the situation, judging by the angry mutters and tension in her posture that never quite seems to leave.]
→Max Kearny; 19th; 0120 hours
[As soon as they've got the doors back online, she gives a curt goodbye to Jaime and Batwoman, then disappears towards the Transporter room. She knows she could likely take them with her, but once she's scoped out the situation she wants to go and get Jesse so he can disable anyone with powers, and she's not sure if there's a limit on how many she can carry.
Anyway, first things first, and that's reappearing in the housing wing a reasonable distance from the Transporter room, since she isn't entirely sure how far the field of... redirection magic extends, and she really doesn't want to end up trapped again. It's little further than she'd like to be, but it gives her a chance to sneak close and check things out before throwing herself into a fight, and hopefully there'll be less guards down this way.
That doesn't mean it won't be guarded at all, but when the only person she sees down the end of the hall is Max, she figures it's something she can handle herself, if this turns bad. Max is good, Steph's seen her fight, but she's good, too. And she's got anger behind her, which is always an advantage, so long as she channels it right.
Her hand goes to her staff, though she doesn't pull it free from her belt just yet.]
Please tell me you haven't thrown your lot in with these idiots.
[She does, actually, like Max. And anger aside, Steph doesn't want to hurt her friends, even when they're being completely fucking stupid.]
→ Dick Grayson + Saul Goodman; 19th; 0145 hours
[Max told her to find somewhere safe to wait this out, and Steph doesn't see any reason not to do it; she has no interest in this fight, even though she's sure she cared about the outcome a few minutes ago. But it doesn't matter, if she's stopped caring, it can't have been that important, so she tucks her staff back onto her belt and teleports back to the Housing wing. It should be safe there, out of the way, and anyway, she's kind of tired (when was the last time she slept?) so going to her room to take a nap doesn't seem like a bad idea.
She starts peeling off the Batgirl suit as she goes, tucking the gloves into her belt and folding the cape and cowl over an arm. The whole thing's heavy, and all that armor and symbolism seems a bit pointless. It really can't all be that important.]
→ Sonya Karimov; 19th; sometime between 0200 and 0230
[Saul tells her to stay put, but he's busy trying to co-ordinate something - she really wasn't paying attention to the details - and she really is kind of tired (and hungry; seriously, when was the last time she slept or ate?) so she decides to go find somewhere to take a nap. Saul might wonder where she's got to, but that doesn't really matter, it's not her problem, and anyway, she doesn't want to deal with someone being so... weird. About her.
It's easy enough to slip away, especially when so many people are heading in the opposite direction, towards the transporter room, since apparently something important is happening in there. Well, she knows what's happening, they're trying to take back the Transporter from the people who decided to have themselves a little mutiny, but none of it really matters. Who cares who's in control of the Transporter? It's not like it's going to change anything.
Someone runs past her, and she turns to watch them, before shaking her head and heading on her way again. At which point she bumps into someone.]
Sorry.
[It's an automatic response, she doesn't really care enough to be sorry, and she's already moving again without really acknowledging whoever it was.]
→ Saul; sometime fuck if I know
[As soon as she leaves Sonya, Steph reappears in her own, empty room. There's no cursory glance around to see if Ellie or Joel or Tess might have been around recently; they're not here, but it doesn't concern her beyond that. No matter how much she should be worride.
The only thing she really thinks is that she can finally get some rest. There's no relief behind it, but her body is exhausted after the past few days of barely sleeping, and it makes sense to her, that she should rest.
With her shoes kicked off and no worries to occupy her thoughts the way they normally do, she's asleep almost instantly.]
→ Ellie; sometime after the 21st
[The first couple of nights after... everything, she can't go back to her room. She knows she should, but all she does is send Ellie a text to let her know that she's going to be staying somewhere else for a while. She needs the familiar comfort of Babs, or Saul, or the feeling of safety that Jesse offers purely by existing and having the powers he does.
No one can do anything like that her again, so long as she's near him.
But she can't avoid her room forever, and she can't avoid Ellie forever; Steph needs to make sure that she's alright, after everything that happened. When she slinks into the room, she's not Batgirl anymore, dressed in tights, a tank top, and a rumpled, bright blue business shirt that looks at least three sizes too big for her. She feels guilty for having been away for so long, even if it's only been a few days, so her voice is a little hesitant when she speaks up.]
Hey, kiddo.
[Please don't be mad.]
→ Peter Rumancek; 25th ; late
[She tells Peter to come meet her in the VR room, and heads there to wait, wanting a few moments alone before she has to be around another person. It gives her time to set up the simulation, choosing something... completely different from anything she's made before.
The Guban plains are cold at night, but the bite of it is welcome, as is the sheer stretch of emptiness as far as the eye can see, interrupted only by sparse scrub and boulders, the sound of a stream in the distance. Last time she was here there were medical tents set up, vehicles parked and people miling about, but right now it's empty except for her.
She brought two glasses along with the bottle of tequila, and she forced herself to focus long enough to make a few sandwiches for them both, so they're not drinking on an empty stomach, and because she's noticed that Peter's been losing weight while on the moon.
She won't start drinking without him, but she does start on one half of a sandwich, picking at it slowly while she waits, trying to find something comforting in the fake night air.]
Location: all about the moon base
Characters: Steph, Saul, Jesse, Dick, Max Kearney, YOU
Summary: Steph's working against the mutiny and mostly having her trauma buttons pushed + aftermath
Warnings: Claustrophobia, panic attacks, someone's mind being messed with, discussion of sexual assault, violence, death, references to child abuse. I meant what I said about trauma buttons.
Notes: There's an open section for anyone who wants to run into Steph, whatever side they're on (or if they're neutral)! If you'd like something more specific, hit me up and we can work it out.
→ Saul and Jesse; 16th; 0400 hours
[So far, she's had no problems with the teleportation power that Jesse gave her; it's simple to use, all she has to do is imagine where she wants to be, and there she is. It means that as soon as she thinks transporter room and ends up in pitch black darkness, she knows that something has gone very wrong. Her first instinct is to try teleporting out, but she ignores it for the moment, knowing it's better to take stock of the situation before making any rash moves. She breathes in and focuses for a second, feeling the room around her. The air is cramped, stale, which means it's small and poorly ventilated, and there's no light source anywhere.
And now that she's paying attention, she can pick up the sickly smell of very, very old corpses.
It's all downhill from there.
Her fingers scrambled at her belt as she pulls out a torch, turning it on and shining it around the room; it's as small as she expected, three of the four walls smooth, but the final one has what looks like it might have been a door, once, but the metal is warped and twisted almost beyond recognition, and when she roughly shoves her shoulder against it, the thing doesn't even budge. The fact she's alone is only a small comfort, and she can already feel panic starting to rise in her chest.
Now she tries to teleport out, but nothing happens, as if she doesn't have the power at all.
She's trapped.
For a few long moments, she's frozen in fear, breath coming short and shallow as the light from the torch flickers, and she's terrified it's going to run out and leave her in the dark, before she realizes it's flickering because her hand is shaking so badly.]
C'mon, Brown.
[It's barely a mutter, her grip tightening on the torch and her other hand curling into a fist, gloved fingers digging into her palm.
That was a stupid move, because as soon as she's made a fist, she lashes out at the door, as if it might force it open, but all that happens is pain shoots through her knuckles and jars her arm. But she can't keep it together after that; she drops the torch and shoves both hands against the door. There's no metal, suddenly, no cloying smell of decaying bodies, just wood under her hands and the sound of her father shouting at her mom, or at her, muffled through the closet door as she scrambles at the wood and tries to push it open. It doesn't matter that there was never enough room in the closet to get a run up, to stretch her arms out and push on creaking metal, because the memories are so vivid and the panic so sharp that it's all she can see.
She loses track of time, all she can hear is her ragged, panicked breathing and her heartbeat in her ears and the thunk of metal as she tries to force her way out.
It isn't until she takes as much of a run up as she can and barges her shoulder against the door that she snaps out of the panicked haze, and that's only because the pain cuts through it so sharply, along with the sickening sound of her shoulder dislocating.
Between the fear and the pain, it's enough to make tears prick at her eyes, and she punches the door one last time out of sheer anger at how terrified she is, before leaning back against it and sinking to the floor, arm cradled across her chest. She digs the fingers of her other hand against her closed eyelids, trying to fight back tears and panic; that's not going to get her out of this, but she can't focus past that stupid, ingrained fear.
She tries to teleport again, and lets out a strangled sob when it doesn't work.
But while she hasn't calmed down, not by a long shot, if she focuses on the pain in her shoulder she can actually move past the panic, at least enough to start thinking of solutions.
The network is down, but--
There's a muttered string of curses, mostly self-flagellation for being so stupid. She has her communicator in her cowl, and Babs helped her fix it up so that it'll connect to both Babs' communicators, and to Saul's bluetooth earpiece. She should call Babs, but the communicator is part of her suit, which mean it's part of her weapon, so as soon as she remembers it's possible, it starts trying to reach to Saul.
She doesn't even realize she's murmuring please pick up over and over again.]
→OTA; 16th-18th; from 1200 to 1200 hours
[Once she's calmed down from the teleportation misadventure (and had a quick nap, at both Saul and Babs' request), Steph gets to work on fixing this damn problem. It's a little tricky for those first few hours while the gravity is still all over the place, but she adapts well enough. Her first priority is securing the spaceship, because if the Transporter room is out of reach, there's no way she's losing their other only option of getting the hell off this base, should something go wrong. As soon as she's happy with that, she starts on the long list of other problems that need fixing.
The lights and network are still down and the doors aren't under control; the latter two are the real problems, since it's tricky to communicate and get places with those systems offline. The doors don't bother Steph so much, except she's a little more cautious about teleporting places, mostly going places she's sure of, rather than trying anything too tricky and risking ending up trapped again.
Still, she moves around a lot, dropping into the housing wings occasionally to make sure everyone is doing alright, before heading out to do what she can about the technical problems. She's not, well, Babs, but if there's wiring that can be fixed or systems that can be hacked and taken over, she'll be making an effort to manage it, with varying degrees of success. As she goes (before the lights are back online) she sticks emergency work lights to the walls and over any working doors, to help people move through the base; they're from her belt, and the batteries will only last a few hours, but it's better than nothing.
She very rarely takes breaks, popping into the cafeteria long enough to grab something quick and easy to eat, or finding a spot near where Babs and Saul are set up to catch a few minutes of sleep. She's more likely to stop to talk to people, trying to coordinate efforts to get systems back online, or to figure out more of what, exactly, is going on. But her main priority is action, leaving the organization to people who are better at it. This isn't like the zombies, where she was willing to trust other people to hold down the fort, if she needed a break.
She doesn't know who she can trust or not, but she's moving about the base with purpose, and from the snippets of conversation that can be caught as she speaks into the earpiece in her cowl, it's clear she's trying to fix this. And it's clear she's not impressed with the situation, judging by the angry mutters and tension in her posture that never quite seems to leave.]
→Max Kearny; 19th; 0120 hours
[As soon as they've got the doors back online, she gives a curt goodbye to Jaime and Batwoman, then disappears towards the Transporter room. She knows she could likely take them with her, but once she's scoped out the situation she wants to go and get Jesse so he can disable anyone with powers, and she's not sure if there's a limit on how many she can carry.
Anyway, first things first, and that's reappearing in the housing wing a reasonable distance from the Transporter room, since she isn't entirely sure how far the field of... redirection magic extends, and she really doesn't want to end up trapped again. It's little further than she'd like to be, but it gives her a chance to sneak close and check things out before throwing herself into a fight, and hopefully there'll be less guards down this way.
That doesn't mean it won't be guarded at all, but when the only person she sees down the end of the hall is Max, she figures it's something she can handle herself, if this turns bad. Max is good, Steph's seen her fight, but she's good, too. And she's got anger behind her, which is always an advantage, so long as she channels it right.
Her hand goes to her staff, though she doesn't pull it free from her belt just yet.]
Please tell me you haven't thrown your lot in with these idiots.
[She does, actually, like Max. And anger aside, Steph doesn't want to hurt her friends, even when they're being completely fucking stupid.]
→ Dick Grayson + Saul Goodman; 19th; 0145 hours
[Max told her to find somewhere safe to wait this out, and Steph doesn't see any reason not to do it; she has no interest in this fight, even though she's sure she cared about the outcome a few minutes ago. But it doesn't matter, if she's stopped caring, it can't have been that important, so she tucks her staff back onto her belt and teleports back to the Housing wing. It should be safe there, out of the way, and anyway, she's kind of tired (when was the last time she slept?) so going to her room to take a nap doesn't seem like a bad idea.
She starts peeling off the Batgirl suit as she goes, tucking the gloves into her belt and folding the cape and cowl over an arm. The whole thing's heavy, and all that armor and symbolism seems a bit pointless. It really can't all be that important.]
→ Sonya Karimov; 19th; sometime between 0200 and 0230
[Saul tells her to stay put, but he's busy trying to co-ordinate something - she really wasn't paying attention to the details - and she really is kind of tired (and hungry; seriously, when was the last time she slept or ate?) so she decides to go find somewhere to take a nap. Saul might wonder where she's got to, but that doesn't really matter, it's not her problem, and anyway, she doesn't want to deal with someone being so... weird. About her.
It's easy enough to slip away, especially when so many people are heading in the opposite direction, towards the transporter room, since apparently something important is happening in there. Well, she knows what's happening, they're trying to take back the Transporter from the people who decided to have themselves a little mutiny, but none of it really matters. Who cares who's in control of the Transporter? It's not like it's going to change anything.
Someone runs past her, and she turns to watch them, before shaking her head and heading on her way again. At which point she bumps into someone.]
Sorry.
[It's an automatic response, she doesn't really care enough to be sorry, and she's already moving again without really acknowledging whoever it was.]
→ Saul; sometime fuck if I know
[As soon as she leaves Sonya, Steph reappears in her own, empty room. There's no cursory glance around to see if Ellie or Joel or Tess might have been around recently; they're not here, but it doesn't concern her beyond that. No matter how much she should be worride.
The only thing she really thinks is that she can finally get some rest. There's no relief behind it, but her body is exhausted after the past few days of barely sleeping, and it makes sense to her, that she should rest.
With her shoes kicked off and no worries to occupy her thoughts the way they normally do, she's asleep almost instantly.]
→ Ellie; sometime after the 21st
[The first couple of nights after... everything, she can't go back to her room. She knows she should, but all she does is send Ellie a text to let her know that she's going to be staying somewhere else for a while. She needs the familiar comfort of Babs, or Saul, or the feeling of safety that Jesse offers purely by existing and having the powers he does.
No one can do anything like that her again, so long as she's near him.
But she can't avoid her room forever, and she can't avoid Ellie forever; Steph needs to make sure that she's alright, after everything that happened. When she slinks into the room, she's not Batgirl anymore, dressed in tights, a tank top, and a rumpled, bright blue business shirt that looks at least three sizes too big for her. She feels guilty for having been away for so long, even if it's only been a few days, so her voice is a little hesitant when she speaks up.]
Hey, kiddo.
[Please don't be mad.]
→ Peter Rumancek; 25th ; late
[She tells Peter to come meet her in the VR room, and heads there to wait, wanting a few moments alone before she has to be around another person. It gives her time to set up the simulation, choosing something... completely different from anything she's made before.
The Guban plains are cold at night, but the bite of it is welcome, as is the sheer stretch of emptiness as far as the eye can see, interrupted only by sparse scrub and boulders, the sound of a stream in the distance. Last time she was here there were medical tents set up, vehicles parked and people miling about, but right now it's empty except for her.
She brought two glasses along with the bottle of tequila, and she forced herself to focus long enough to make a few sandwiches for them both, so they're not drinking on an empty stomach, and because she's noticed that Peter's been losing weight while on the moon.
She won't start drinking without him, but she does start on one half of a sandwich, picking at it slowly while she waits, trying to find something comforting in the fake night air.]
why hello there
Why? Are the other idiots nicer ones?
[ It's mocking, more than a little, because Max is tired and angry and she just wants things to get fixed and to be not here. (There are other ways. She's thought of them. She just has enough endurance left to try for the smarter ways first.) ]
oh boy C8
No, they're not idiots.
[She gets the reasoning behind this, she does, it's just that she thinks it's a really fucking terrible way to go about it, and that even if they "win" it'll be pointless as soon as Exsilium is fixed.]
Just let me through, Max, we don't have to make a big deal out of this.
oh boy indeed
[ Because personally she thinks almost everyone on either side is an idiot right now, and she's including herself in that. Nobody's going to be coming out of this one with a clean face. ]
You're not getting through, Steph. Just go. [ There's a slight shift in how she's standing that Steph will notice, the subtle motions of someone setting their body ready for a fight. She doesn't want to hurt Steph, likes the girl pretty well and understands her fighting spirit well. But Max has chosen a cause, and she's not inclined to let it go that easily. ] I really don't want to fight you.
no subject
Instead, she unhooks her staff from her belt and flicks it out.]
If I go, it's only to come back with reinforcements. [sry2say] So you might not want that, either.
no subject
I can take them. [ A calm assessment, and Max tilts her head to the side, shifts into a more obvious stance. ] You sure you want to try this, Steph?
no subject
Don't get cocky, you can't even take me.
[She's sure.
Which is why that's the last thing she says before making a run at Max. And disappearing just before she reaches her, only to reappear again behind Max and take a swing at her legs with the staff.
She could've gone with a punch or kick to the back of the head, but she doesn't want to hurt Max too badly.]
no subject
It's an adjustment, but she catches her balance and makes a grab for the staff, face settling into something more stern as she reassesses.
Taking Steph down otherwise would have been possible without running any risk of falling into - dangerous habits. Taking her down if she can teleport?
Slightly more interesting. And risky, mostly for Steph. ]
no subject
Bruce had voiced how frustrating it was, once, and she'd never really looked back.]
You can't win this, Max.
[Teleporting again, this time to the left of Max, a feigned jab with the staff at chest level while Steph aims a kick at her knee.]
no subject
She ducks under the staff, flings herself backwards until she has a little space, a moment of time. ]
I'm sorry.
[ It's a useless apology, doesn't mean anything in the actual run of things. She knows that, but she still wanted to make it. There's no outward gesture of indication, nothing to show what she's doing, but within a moment Steph will start to feel - well, less and less. ]
no subject
[She's already moving again, but something's wrong, and she doesn't know what it is, except that it feels a little like something's taking away all her fight.
The confusion gives way to a flash of anger and determination, and she stops advancing if only because for a moment all her focus goes on trying to block out whatever this is that Max is doing. She knows tricks to keep telepaths out, how to focus and keep her thoughts locked down, but that isn't this, and the more seconds that pass the harder it is to remember why she's doing this.
Or why she's fighting at all.
It feels like her anger is slipping through her fingers, no matter how much she scrambles to hold onto it. And then it's just gone, the last look she gives Max is one of panic, before even that's out of reach.
She looks down at her staff in her hand, and collapses it.
There's no reason for it to be out, not when she doesn't need to fight anyone.]
no subject
That last look makes her feel somewhat guilty, but instead she shakes it off and steps towards her. ]
Hey. Go find somewhere safe, Steph, okay? Find somewhere where there's no fighting and stay there.
no subject
Instead, she nearly asks why she should go somewhere safe, why does it matter? But then...
Why not?]
Okay.
[Agreeing is easier, and she doesn't even think about saying goodbye to Max - she aws really angry with her a minute ago, anyway, even if that feeling isn't there anymore, she can still remember it - just disappears, teleporting closer to her room, since it'll be safe there.]
no subject
Steph will be fine in a few hours. The ability to feel emotion will seep back in, bit by bit, and then she'll feel - angry, and hurt, and betrayed, and probably somewhat confused. She'll be all right, but there will be no way to change that Max took control from her in the worst of ways.
The second time Max got out of prison she spent a lot of time going out and sitting in crowds, changing people's moods minutely. A little boost here, a little soothing of stress here. Just trying to make something better, to prove to herself that she hadn't been broken beyond repair, that she was a good person. This feels like undoing all of that, and she's just so tired.
She's so tired and she's hurt so many people and she's not entirely sure why she's still fighting. But she doesn't really know what else to do, so after a moment she starts moving again. Next step. ]