[She blinked and then paused in her walk, looking back at Lucy for a long moment. There was a little bit of shock there in her eyes, because 'gun that can't be loaded' was really distinctive, and she'd had a bad experience with that gun.]
[Lucy didn't notice Chloe had stopped right away, and had to backpedal a bit to avoid crashing into her or otherwise getting too close for Lucy's paranoid personal space bubble.]
You just... took me by surprise. I have never been to her home, so I didn't know that you two knew each other actually. [She shrugged.] I have... seen that gun before.
[Which was to say that that gun had involved a memory regain for both girls.]
[Chloe seemed unnerved by something, or at least a bit off-balance now. Lucy resisted the automatic impulse to immediately dig her fingers into that weakness, tightening her grip on the knife instead.
It was a stress response, nothing to worry about.]
[She didn't show any sign of reacting to those fingers tightening, though she was starting to develop an awareness and the shift didn't go completely unnoticed.]
It... triggered a hallucination for both of us while we were at a firing range. Not a very pleasant one, though it still doesn't shoot bullets. As harmless as a water gun.
Actually, water guns are more dangerous. [She frowned and then shrugged.] But it apparently reminded both of us something unpleasant. You'd have to ask her about what she saw. I don't like talking about what I saw.
[Mostly because pointing a gun at someone and firing to make them remember their traumatic past wasn't exactly a pleasant memory.]
No, not at all. Neither of us were hurt. We just had ... very disturbing hallucinations. [She shook her head.] I think hers involved what the gun was for. She called it an evoker.
[She frowned, shrugging.] I don't think she likes carrying it around right now. I last saw her with a spear.
[Hey, Minako was her friend too. She wouldn't have blamed her too bad if she'd honestly thought Chloe had hurt her. 'Course, not stabbing each other was usually a good thing.]
You have a point there, especially a gun that doesn't actually shoot. A spear is strange enough, is it not? [She managed a smile.] Have you seen it yet? The spear, I mean.
It was certainly unusual to see it out, though not half as unusual as seeing her dog fighting with her. [She shook her head. That was still definitely weird. Weird in a good way, but weird.]
[Somehow this is more objectionable than "sharp objects in the mail."
...though ugh, centipedes. Lucy didn't like them even when she was normal sized and were one of the few things that actually encouraged her to wear shoes.
[She heard the shift in the grass. A week ago, she wouldn't have noticed. Something might have taken attention away. But things were changing, and her reactions were starting to change with them. Both hands whipped out, blades spinning in them and coming to rest as she crouched.
She didn't look back at Lucy, instead nodding towards where the grass was moving. It was impossible to guess what was there, but she was certain they were no longer alone. Probably not a bug, or at least a really big one. They didn't usually make grass shift. Squirrel?]
[Lucy didn't notice the grass, but she did notice Chloe dropping into a stance and spinning more knives out of her cloak like something from a movie. The teenager just started backwards, barely avoiding stabbing herself in the leg.]
What?!
[Another grass stem moved, and...something crawled out. Something gigantic, with way too many fucking legs, translucent, segmented, good god. There must have been a drain nearby, or maybe the house centipede was terribly confused. Or curious. Its antennae wiggled towards them, even.]
[These things were, by the standards of centipedes, god-damned close to harmless. Their sting was painful but not actually hazardous to humans. However, that was at a normal size. Right now, it was actually threatening and hard to target.
Chloe frowned and started to maneuver herself to the other side of the thing, hurling one of her knives and aiming for the segmented joints amidst all of those legs. When she threw, it was not like someone hurling an axe in a spinning arc. The blade flew straight and true, in ways that throwing knives normally didn't go. There was more force than normal to it, and the bite of steel made the thing shriek horribly.]
Keep its attention divided, but don't get too close!
[Regrets for getting out of bed this morning could wait. Objections about how surreal this all was could wait. Now wasn't a time for thinking.
Lucy couldn't throw the knife in her hand like Chloe—even if she had the skill for it, it was her only weapon. Her knees bent and her weight shifted forwards on her feet, but—where did she even start?
One thing at a time. Some of the centipede's legs started thrashing in response to the blade in its exoskeleton; Lucy slashed at those, missing most. But she did carve some of the strange whiskers off of one, making the creature recoil and twist towards her.]
[The fact that the thing was recoiling now away from her gave her an opening. If Lucy could keep that up but at the same time stay away from its attacks and pincers, then they could theoretically whittle it down. She wished she had that spear right now, but the knives would do the trick eventually.
As it reared away, she took a second to watch for the transluscent plates to seem to open up and hurled another dagger. This time, she was aiming closer to the head, and as it bit in, the thing's thrashing was getting more frantic and ... as close to pain laced as could be for a beast like this. It started to twist, albeit more awkwardly towards Chloe as she bounded back, grabbing for another knife.
Those legs were like lashing, constantly whipping tendrils in the air, difficult to follow clearly with the eye as the girls fought the thing, the sounds it made awful at this size.]
[That was praise. Lucy was doing a good job. Her mind focused in on that like a laser, drowning out everything else. Her own wellbeing was a trivial concern.
She lunged in, and one of its sharp feet slashed her cheek, laying open a line along her cheekbone. No matter. Her knife hand swept back, cleaving the offending leg off at its midsection.
Blood welled at the cut, began to spill down her cheek. It didn't matter. She was dong a good job.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Lucy made a face.]
...that stupid clock.
no subject
Probably. [She shrugged.] My watch does not work either. They seem to like sending incomplete and broken gifts.
oops, repeated myself
They sent my roommate a gun that can't be loaded.
[At least, Lucy was mostly sure it couldn't be.]
no subject
[She blinked and then paused in her walk, looking back at Lucy for a long moment. There was a little bit of shock there in her eyes, because 'gun that can't be loaded' was really distinctive, and she'd had a bad experience with that gun.]
You live with Minako?
no subject
I do. Why?
no subject
[Which was to say that that gun had involved a memory regain for both girls.]
no subject
It was a stress response, nothing to worry about.]
...did it do something?
no subject
It... triggered a hallucination for both of us while we were at a firing range. Not a very pleasant one, though it still doesn't shoot bullets. As harmless as a water gun.
Actually, water guns are more dangerous. [She frowned and then shrugged.] But it apparently reminded both of us something unpleasant. You'd have to ask her about what she saw. I don't like talking about what I saw.
[Mostly because pointing a gun at someone and firing to make them remember their traumatic past wasn't exactly a pleasant memory.]
no subject
...what kind of memories were those?]
Was she hurt?
[Lucy's voice sounded...a bit odd. More focused, a shade colder.
Answer carefully, Chloe.]
no subject
[She frowned, shrugging.] I don't think she likes carrying it around right now. I last saw her with a spear.
no subject
Pretty sure she wouldn't take a gun to the bakery.
no subject
You have a point there, especially a gun that doesn't actually shoot. A spear is strange enough, is it not? [She managed a smile.] Have you seen it yet? The spear, I mean.
no subject
[So like, for five seconds. It had some weird feather thing on it? It almost looked like a stage prop. With an actual pointy bit on it.]
no subject
We fought a centipede. I don't suggest that.
no subject
[Somehow this is more objectionable than "sharp objects in the mail."
...though ugh, centipedes. Lucy didn't like them even when she was normal sized and were one of the few things that actually encouraged her to wear shoes.
Hopefully they didn't run into another.]
no subject
I honestly didn't think he'd do anything. [She shook her head. She'd really expected the spear to be the thing that would be more important.]
Don't get that dog mad. He's... surprisingly smart.
no subject
What the fuck was today even.
Chloe didn't seem like the kind of person to tell elaborate jokes like that. And...Lucy could always just ask Minako, whenever they got home.
Lucy just...shook her head, rubbing her temple with her free hand.]
no subject
She motioned Lucy to follow and started off again, smiling back.] Oh, don't worry. It's bound to get weirder before it makes sense.
no subject
Thanks.
[The grass on the edge of the sidewalk stared moving against the breeze, a few moments after Chloe said that.]
no subject
She didn't look back at Lucy, instead nodding towards where the grass was moving. It was impossible to guess what was there, but she was certain they were no longer alone. Probably not a bug, or at least a really big one. They didn't usually make grass shift. Squirrel?]
no subject
What?!
[Another grass stem moved, and...something crawled out. Something gigantic, with way too many fucking legs, translucent, segmented, good god. There must have been a drain nearby, or maybe the house centipede was terribly confused. Or curious. Its antennae wiggled towards them, even.]
no subject
[These things were, by the standards of centipedes, god-damned close to harmless. Their sting was painful but not actually hazardous to humans. However, that was at a normal size. Right now, it was actually threatening and hard to target.
Chloe frowned and started to maneuver herself to the other side of the thing, hurling one of her knives and aiming for the segmented joints amidst all of those legs. When she threw, it was not like someone hurling an axe in a spinning arc. The blade flew straight and true, in ways that throwing knives normally didn't go. There was more force than normal to it, and the bite of steel made the thing shriek horribly.]
Keep its attention divided, but don't get too close!
(OOC: Roughly, "Oh shit!" or "Oh fuck!")
no subject
Lucy couldn't throw the knife in her hand like Chloe—even if she had the skill for it, it was her only weapon. Her knees bent and her weight shifted forwards on her feet, but—where did she even start?
One thing at a time. Some of the centipede's legs started thrashing in response to the blade in its exoskeleton; Lucy slashed at those, missing most. But she did carve some of the strange whiskers off of one, making the creature recoil and twist towards her.]
no subject
[The fact that the thing was recoiling now away from her gave her an opening. If Lucy could keep that up but at the same time stay away from its attacks and pincers, then they could theoretically whittle it down. She wished she had that spear right now, but the knives would do the trick eventually.
As it reared away, she took a second to watch for the transluscent plates to seem to open up and hurled another dagger. This time, she was aiming closer to the head, and as it bit in, the thing's thrashing was getting more frantic and ... as close to pain laced as could be for a beast like this. It started to twist, albeit more awkwardly towards Chloe as she bounded back, grabbing for another knife.
Those legs were like lashing, constantly whipping tendrils in the air, difficult to follow clearly with the eye as the girls fought the thing, the sounds it made awful at this size.]
no subject
She lunged in, and one of its sharp feet slashed her cheek, laying open a line along her cheekbone. No matter. Her knife hand swept back, cleaving the offending leg off at its midsection.
Blood welled at the cut, began to spill down her cheek. It didn't matter. She was dong a good job.]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)