A Book of Strung Together Stories

>Taz: Make Up. [Vast Error]

They're sat together on a cliff, overlooking the shifting rises and falls of LoMaM. There's a light breeze, a gentle reminder of the Denizen who inhabits this planet. Taz stares out at it all as she takes a deep breath. It's calm here. Peaceful. As if the rest of the universe and all it's problems never existed.

She chances a glance at her companion. Arcjec hasn't said anything since they stopped here, entering some sort of unintentional meditation. She understands. On her own planet there'd been areas where an intense aura of anger and frustration could be felt. It would give her an adrenaline boost - a drive to reach her end goal. Arcjec's seemed to be a more calming presence, helping them to clear their mind and think. Not her usual cup of tea, but the planets were all different for a reason.

Taz turns back to the view. She sees this land in browns and reds, as if the land is caste under a permanent sunset, however Arcjec continuously claims it to be shades of grey. Monotone. It bugs her slightly. From what she's gathered through the consorts here, the colours with which you view LoMaM are based on your perception of the world. If they aren't seeing colours, then they're looking at things very black and white.

Or just through a pained haze.

She bites the inside of her cheek, trying to suppress the sting that comes with that train of thought. It's always hard for some reason, despite the fact she's spent the last two sweeps trying. She can't avoid the fact that some of this now is her fault. In fact she's never been able to, she just pretends she can.

That tends to be a recurring theme in this friend group, huh? All of them seem to just pretend they've dealt with things even though they really haven't.

The breeze picks up slightly, playing with her hair, before settling again. Taz takes another deep breathe, letting it out slowly. She's made her choice. They're not gonna get anything done if they don't fix this first (and maybe it can never be truly fixed, but they can at least try to repair the worst of it). It's time she face the consequences of her own actions. Up front and personal.

PO: "~Hey Arcjec...~"

Arcjec breaks away from their line of thought immediately, eyes going from cloudy and unfocused to sharp and trained on her. They nod to say 'go on'.

She hesitates. She doesn't know how to go about this; feelings were never really something she delved too deep into, for one reason or another. Too much trouble, too confusing, too complicated (too hurtful). She sighs as Arcjec cocks their head. She may as well cut to the chase.

PO: ~I'm sorry.~

It's out of her mouth before she can think twice about it. Taz's motto is to not think, just act, so for once she's putting it to good use. Arcjec remains silent but they're openly surprised - even if the only hint is that their eyes widen slightly. She barrels on before the pause becomes too awkward.

PO: ~I'm sorry +ha+ I hur+ you.~

PO: ~You didn'+ deserve i+. No+ by any means.~

PO: ~+here was a lo+ going on back +hen - +here s+ill is - bu+ +ha+ doesn'+ jus+ify wha+ I did.

PO: ~I panicked and lashed ou+ a+ you.~

PO: ~Even +hough you were just+ +rying +o help.~

PO: ~And +ha+ hur+ you.~

PO: ~So I'm sorry.~

It's awfully blunt. Straightforward to the point of being cold even. She wants to slap herself. A verbal apology won't make up for this, for what she did. Arcjec stares at her and Taz stares back until it becomes uncomfortable and she has to turn away from them. She looks back out over the cliff and only just notices that she's shaking slightly.