[Ahh, shit! Is it? Even to someone like him who's seen so much gore, fresh and rotting alike, it really did look indistinguishable from the fruit carnage. Or maybe he was just distracted. Either way, there's no getting out of this one, either.
Things just keep piling up. He'd like to wake up any moment now and find out this is all some stress dream trying to tell him something, but of course he has no such luck.
Whatever. Just be honest and get this over with.]
That kid was being a little wise-ass, so I roughed him up a little. [No shame here. It's not like it's the first time he's punched a kid.] Made a mess of the fruit he had, too. Real shame...
[ She knows exactly the sort of things he's capable of. Never mind the way he was in the ring all those years ago; she'd seen him kill plenty of people with just his fists. And the fact that there's blood on the floor... that's not exactly comforting either.
Peony lowers her shoe again, stepping back into it. Her posture is more defensive than before, but she also just flat out doesn't like the sound of that. She can remember how nervous Ethan had been when he'd said Luna and Mallory's names -- what sort of things have they been putting that poor boy through? ]
So... because he talked back, you went that far? He's just a kid, Mallory. This isn't -- he's a good boy. He helped me out when I first arrived. He didn't deserve it, no matter what your temper might think.
[Junko Enoshima was 'just a kid,' he wants to snap back. The Student Council, the Reserve Course, your class, those were all 'just kids.' But he doesn't, because even he'll admit it's an unfair comparison to make. He clenches his jaw tightly, looking down at her. He's neither defensive nor intimidating (well, no more than he naturally is), simply standing his ground.]
You should know better than to just trust somebody like that.
[She doesn't even trust him and Luna completely anymore, does she? So why the hell should she put her belief in some brat she's known for a week?]
Something... weird happened, when I hit him. I don't think he's totally harmless.
[ Kinder than her own best friends, in some ways. He'd been friendly and polite and enthusiastic; and maybe some of that was because he had no reason to suspect her, but... it had been nice, to be treated normally. Like she was the person she acts like (the person that she used to be, that she still remembers like a distorted fever dream), not this ghost that she's become.
Peony takes a deep breath, forcing her voice as even as possible. ]
I'm not totally harmless. None of us are. So what? Whatever it is about him, I don't care. At least he doesn't-- [ treat me like the filthy piece of Despair that I am and maybe I want to pretend too sometimes!! ] --at least he doesn't hate being around me.
[She could have slapped him with all her might and it'd leave less of a sting. His shoulders droop in immediate defeat, all the tension just leaving his body. If only it could feel as relaxing as it sounds. His heart is sinking, sinking...
That's what she thinks, huh?
The worst part is he doesn't know if he can deny it. He doesn't hate her, of course. But being around her, being around Luna, being around anyone lately - it's all just a reminder of his mistakes and the things that have hurt him. The people he's hurt. So maybe he does hate it, a little bit.
He exhales deeply, shifting his gaze to the stain at their feet.]
...Fine. I'll get the kid some flowers or something. Happy?
She'd said it half-thoughtlessly, but there's the confirmation of it right there. It's the sort of thing she might've teased him about once upon a time, just to rile him up and get him shouting, but that sort of defeated response says a lot.
Peony knows exactly what it feels like to be stabbed in the heart, and she can say with confidence that it hurt less than this. She wants to cry, but what rises instead is a detached numbness, which is also familiar: she'd felt like this in the few seconds of awareness she'd had, once the knife had slid home and all of that brainwashing -- all of it, all of it -- had broken long enough for her to know exactly what she'd done, to herself and to the people she loved the most.
Not for the first time, she misses her Despair. At least she could have gotten something out of this.
Her voice comes out quiet, small, flat. ]
Mmm. Don't worry about it. Just focus on what's important to you.
[ Luna, obviously. Peony opens the door and then steps away. He's free to go. ]
Be careful with your walk. It'll be bad if you hurt yourself more.
[ And then she wanders past him, towards her bed. ]
[One thing's for sure, he hates being in this room right now. He doesn't offer more than a noncommittal grunt of farewell as he stalks off, unsure if he can muster up the energy to punch a hole in the wall on the way out.
(The boards are still there, crisscrossing over the damage by the stairwell. He could just break them...)
The cherry trees are in full bloom this time of year, and it's with a bittersweet nostalgia that he passes beneath their fluttering cascade. We'll still be together. This wasn't supposed to be how things turned out.
Ah. What a shame that the company he hates most is his own. Guess he's stuck with that one.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Things just keep piling up. He'd like to wake up any moment now and find out this is all some stress dream trying to tell him something, but of course he has no such luck.
Whatever. Just be honest and get this over with.]
That kid was being a little wise-ass, so I roughed him up a little. [No shame here. It's not like it's the first time he's punched a kid.] Made a mess of the fruit he had, too. Real shame...
[You had so much potential, strawberries.]
no subject
[ She knows exactly the sort of things he's capable of. Never mind the way he was in the ring all those years ago; she'd seen him kill plenty of people with just his fists. And the fact that there's blood on the floor... that's not exactly comforting either.
Peony lowers her shoe again, stepping back into it. Her posture is more defensive than before, but she also just flat out doesn't like the sound of that. She can remember how nervous Ethan had been when he'd said Luna and Mallory's names -- what sort of things have they been putting that poor boy through? ]
So... because he talked back, you went that far? He's just a kid, Mallory. This isn't -- he's a good boy. He helped me out when I first arrived. He didn't deserve it, no matter what your temper might think.
no subject
You should know better than to just trust somebody like that.
[She doesn't even trust him and Luna completely anymore, does she? So why the hell should she put her belief in some brat she's known for a week?]
Something... weird happened, when I hit him. I don't think he's totally harmless.
no subject
[ Kinder than her own best friends, in some ways. He'd been friendly and polite and enthusiastic; and maybe some of that was because he had no reason to suspect her, but... it had been nice, to be treated normally. Like she was the person she acts like (the person that she used to be, that she still remembers like a distorted fever dream), not this ghost that she's become.
Peony takes a deep breath, forcing her voice as even as possible. ]
I'm not totally harmless. None of us are. So what? Whatever it is about him, I don't care. At least he doesn't-- [ treat me like the filthy piece of Despair that I am and maybe I want to pretend too sometimes!! ] --at least he doesn't hate being around me.
no subject
That's what she thinks, huh?
The worst part is he doesn't know if he can deny it. He doesn't hate her, of course. But being around her, being around Luna, being around anyone lately - it's all just a reminder of his mistakes and the things that have hurt him. The people he's hurt. So maybe he does hate it, a little bit.
He exhales deeply, shifting his gaze to the stain at their feet.]
...Fine. I'll get the kid some flowers or something. Happy?
no subject
She'd said it half-thoughtlessly, but there's the confirmation of it right there. It's the sort of thing she might've teased him about once upon a time, just to rile him up and get him shouting, but that sort of defeated response says a lot.
Peony knows exactly what it feels like to be stabbed in the heart, and she can say with confidence that it hurt less than this. She wants to cry, but what rises instead is a detached numbness, which is also familiar: she'd felt like this in the few seconds of awareness she'd had, once the knife had slid home and all of that brainwashing -- all of it, all of it -- had broken long enough for her to know exactly what she'd done, to herself and to the people she loved the most.
Not for the first time, she misses her Despair. At least she could have gotten something out of this.
Her voice comes out quiet, small, flat. ]
Mmm. Don't worry about it. Just focus on what's important to you.
[ Luna, obviously. Peony opens the door and then steps away. He's free to go. ]
Be careful with your walk. It'll be bad if you hurt yourself more.
[ And then she wanders past him, towards her bed. ]
no subject
(The boards are still there, crisscrossing over the damage by the stairwell. He could just break them...)
The cherry trees are in full bloom this time of year, and it's with a bittersweet nostalgia that he passes beneath their fluttering cascade. We'll still be together. This wasn't supposed to be how things turned out.
Ah. What a shame that the company he hates most is his own. Guess he's stuck with that one.]