Laughter Lines

Just A Little Impaired

It didn't matter. Nothing mattered all over again. The bird-girl said to go back into the demon-mouthed cave from hell and face some ages-old overpowered supernatural creature, like any part of that sentence had ever gone well for their group. Vivi dug her good heel into Chloe's side, giddiness sweeping her up like a ship at the top of a huge swell. Why not? Might as well ride this wave and brash her way through whatever they had to face in there.

A child's sobs echoed in her head. Terror sliced her breathing capacity in half.

She laughed at the fear. It was ridiculous. Unfounded. Nothing would touch her. Nothing had ever specifically wanted Vivi, or chosen her, or tried to steal from her. She alone was immune while her friends suffered horrible fates. So it didn't matter if she charged in headlong. And as long as she was at the forefront, Lewis couldn't be targeted. She whacked her heel in again.

The sobbing in her mind intensified, her guts knotting until she gasped.

Unreal. Up and down at the same time. On the one hand was a glittering minds-eye view of Vivi sweeping aside this errant "Mother" with a simple cantrip and a scornful expression. On the other, staccato flashes cycling through with her heartbeat; the cramping closeness of damp, moldering cave walls and stone painted with old, old blood and a cavern floor strewn with human bones and a single green eye rolling around, ever-watchful. No way out. No way out.

Her cheeks hurt as breath whistled through her clenched teeth. Her eyes streamed water. Why was Lewis doing this now? A moment ago he'd been angry. She could work with anger, she could roll it into her own momentum. She couldn't work with this... this... whatever it was he was going through now.

"Vivi-chan?" Chloe had curled her neck around to side-eye Vivi. "I don't think you should do what Ginny says right away. Also, you're kicking me a lot. I mean, it doesn't really hurt, but I don't like it."

Gut-checked by the Otaku again. Vivi's smile cracked off her face.

"I'm carrying you because I'm your friend and you're hurt," Chloe murmured, "and because I don't know what else to do, but that doesn't mean I'm just your pack-horse... right?"

Grandiose thinking. Failure to take into consideration the effects of your actions on others. Inability to gage properly proportioned response called for in a given situation.

Vivi lifted her glasses to rest on her headband and ground the heels of her hands into her eyes. "A minute," she mumbled. "Let me... a minute."

Okay. Breathe. One tangle at a time. First, was she required to run them into that cave right away?

She wanted to. But she wasn't aware of a time limit. She just had to talk with "Mother" before Arthur did. Arthur was safely out of reach for now and probably... gods alone knew where, actually. If "Mother" was in the cave, she could wait in there for a little longer.

Okay. Okay. She had some time. Probably. Okay, so the next question was... awww cabbage matchskids. The next question was a real no-brainer to answer. Who was she not listening to? Was she hurting someone or steamrolling them? Normally Mystery helped her catch that with a well placed whine, nudge, or gentle nip. Here, though, she was pretty sure she knew the answer herself.

Nervous, she cleared her throat, her pulse still hammering, the urge to march into the cave and do something crawling under her skin. "Chloe, I'm... you're right. I'm not thinking..." she bit back the outrage her own admission lit in her. "Not thinking clearly. I'm sorry. That I kicked you. Like you're a horse. You're not, you're really helping me out." Her thoughts drifted back to other instances of Chloe's careful attention, given while Vivi was in shock and dealing with the fallout of her memories being wiped. "Again. You're helping me out again. Like a good friend. I'm not, always. A good friend, I mean."